maandag 17 mei 2010

Nakba Dag in Israel: "We zullen de fout van 1948 niet herhalen"


To Aharonovitch we say, don't rejoice in your incitement against the Arab parties and leaders and the Islamic Movement. Those who incite against us, their natural place is under our shoes. Mr. Aharonovitch, if you call for our transfer, you are the first who should leave. We will continue to stay here as long as the za'atar (Middle Eatsern herb) and olives are here."
 
He warned, "Mr. Aharonovitch and all those hiding behind you, don't put us in a corner because the more radical one among us will go mad. We will all rise and defend our present and our future and our children's. We must not despair; we won't despair."
 
He referred to the settlements as "a spreading cancer" and said: "There is a cancer called communities inside the West Bank. This disease is spreading in occupied Jerusalem and in the Golan Heights. We know this cancer has managed to establish 1,000 factories and has managed to produce 3,000 products. We call on you to avoid buying from this cancer. Put all these products in the dustbin, choke the economy of these communities. This cancer should be choked until the occupation ends and is lifted from all of Jerusalem."
 
Aldus de woorden van een Israelisch staatsburger, die in Israel werkt, belasting betaalt, van sociale voorzieningen gebruikt maakt, en zijn mening vrijelijk uit, en daarbij geregeld zijn haat tegenover dit land en de Joodse inwoners ventileert. Hoever mag je gaan in het demoniseren van je eigen land? Mag je openlijk tot haar vernietiging oproepen? Of daarvan dromen? Mag je een deel van de inwoners met een kankergezwel vergelijken? Mag je oproepen tot geweld tegen alle of een deel van de inwoners? Mag je haar vijanden openlijk prijzen en hun de overwinning toewensen? Ik weet niet of en wat van deze dingen in Nederland geoorloofd zijn, maar denk dat er zeker wel grenzen zijn. Van een land dat veel vijanden heeft en in een bijna voortdurend conflict met een ander volk en een deel van haar buurlanden is verwikkeld, verwacht ik wat dit betreft minder tolerantie. De oproep van een rechts Knessetlid om mensen die dergelijke taal uitslaan het staatsburgerschap te ontnemen, verbaast me dan ook niet. Het zal er niet snel van komen, ook niet onder deze zogenaamd zo rechtse regering, want Israel kent wetten en een onafhankelijke rechtsspraak en daarin zijn de rechten van het individu behoorlijk goed geregeld.
 
RP
-----------

We shall not repeat mistake made in 1948
15-05-2010,08:37
qassam.ps/news-2816-We_shall_not_repeat_mistake_made_in_1948.html

 
Al Qassam website - Thousands of members of the Arab sector gathered in the Galilee village of Kanna on Friday evening to mark the 62nd Nakba Day – the "Day of The Catastrophe" following the establishment of the State of "Israel" – in an event organized by the Islamic Movement.

Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the movement's Islamic branch, delivered a harsh speech in which he praised Omar Said and Ameer Makhoul who were arrested earlier this week on suspicion of espionage.

Salah turned to Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and warned him, "Mr. Aharonovitch and all those hiding behind you, don't put us in a corner because the radical one among us will be crazy."

Ahead of the annual event, the Islamic Movement feared it would not be able to hold the rally due to an impending law prohibiting any events related to the Nakba, but the rally was eventually held as planned.

The movement's leader did not spare his criticism of the Zionist establishment and its leaders. He promised the event's participants that the Palestinian refugees would soon return to their homes in the Galilee and Negev and in the cities of Haifa, Lod and Akko.

"There is no escape but to return to our land, our country, our villages and our towns. The right of return has no alternative. We shall not repeat the mistake made in 1948 and shall not agree to take money in return or become citizens of other countries."

Salah went on to slam Zionist entity over the arrests of Omar Said, a Kafr Kanna resident, and Ameer Makhoul.

"The Israeli establishment, know that you will not break our will, you will not buy our freedom. You have arrested Dr. Omar Said and Amir Makhoul, whose job was to reveal the crimes of the Israeli establishment," he said.

"If you think that with this arrest you will take revenge against political groups in our society like Balad, you are wrong. Balad, the Islamic Movement, Hadash and the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee – all share one hope, one pain, one future, and one present. Those who go against one of us, go against everyone. We are all Omar Said, we are all Ameer Makhoul."

At this stage Salah turned to the internal security minister. "To Aharonovitch we say, don't rejoice in your incitement against the Arab parties and leaders and the Islamic Movement. Those who incite against us, their natural place is under our shoes. Mr. Aharonovitch, if you call for our transfer, you are the first who should leave. We will continue to stay here as long as the za'atar (Middle Eatsern herb) and olives are here."

He warned, "Mr. Aharonovitch and all those hiding behind you, don't put us in a corner because the more radical one among us will go mad. We will all rise and defend our present and our future and our children's. We must not despair; we won't despair."

He referred to the settlements as "a spreading cancer" and said: "There is a cancer called communities inside the West Bank. This disease is spreading in occupied Jerusalem and in the Golan Heights. We know this cancer has managed to establish 1,000 factories and has managed to produce 3,000 products. We call on you to avoid buying from this cancer. Put all these products in the dustbin, choke the economy of these communities. This cancer should be choked until the occupation ends and is lifted from all of Jerusalem."

Before concluding his speech, Salah turned to Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and called on them to unite. "From here, from the Galilee, we call on you to unite against the occupation until the state of Palestine is established with Jerusalem as its capital."

Salah's deputy, Sheikh Kamal Khatib, spoke before him and vowed that "The Nakba will not be repeated. It will not happen again. We are staying here and won't go anywhere."

Mohammed Zeidan, head of the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee, referred to this week's arrests were as a persecution of the political leadership in the Arab sector.

Campus Jihad in de VS in hun eigen woorden


In Amerika is op campussen een zeer gevaarlijke ontwikkeling gaande. Radikale anti-Israel en moslim organisaties prediken er openlijk de jihad en geweld tegen burgers. Lezingen van pro-Israel sprekers worden met geweld verstoord, en Joodse studenten geintimideerd. Hieronder het zoveelste voorbeeld hiervan. Ook in Europa worden bijeenkomsten met een pro-Israel karakter of waaraan Israelische Joden deelnemen steeds vaker verstoord of vinden er luidruchtige tegendemonstraties plaats.
 
RP
-------------

Campus Jihad--In Their Own Words



Right on the heels of the article in the previous post, the Muslim Student Association groups at UC San Diego and UC Irvine have provided excellent examples of the problem of overt hate speech on many American university campuses.

At UCSD, David Horowitz spoke earlier this week. I'm not a great fan of Horowitz, but this video is worth watching. He is, rather easily, able to get a member of the UCSD Muslim Student Union to admit that she supports the terrorists of Hamas:
(you will note that she does use Horowitz' term "Hitler Youth Week" when noting the activities taking place on the campus as "Israel Apartheid Week"; she may not be familiar with the use of "air quotes". So don't think that there is an actual event called "Hitler Youth Week" at UCSD. I'm not sure about the University of Tehran, though.)

The video is posted here.

The MSA at UCSD then issued a cleverly worded non-apology which Robert Spencer carefully dissected to show that while they condemn actions taken against "civilians" or those who kill "unjustly", neither one of those terms apply to the deaths of Israeli women, children and senior citizens.

But that's really just the warmup act. The headliner for this week's Excess of Evil roadshow is an hour away up Interstate 405, where the UC Irvine MSA inflicts their annual special guest star Amir Abdel Malik Ali onto the campus community. Malik Ali's hate speech should be completely shunned in any civilized society; yet he is proudly promoted by the MSA at Irvine. In addition to the blood libel staples such as blaming Israel for the September 11 attacks, and blaming Zionists for the two US wars against Iraq (since "the neo-cons are all Zionist Jews"), he was also quoted as telling moderate Muslims that their desire to be liked was turning them into "house slaves in the mansion of a racist, imperialistic and destructive America." But Malik Ali shares the hate-- he also claims that the Matthew Shepard Act (making assault based on sexual orientation or gender identity a hate crime in the same fashion as other hate crimes) is a Jewish plot, and he has pretty much declared the entire non-Islamist world as the enemy: "Sooner or later, Today's Muslim students will be the parents of Muslim children; and they should all be militants."

This week, Malik Ali got confronted-- Roz Rothstein, the founder and executive director of StandWithUs , challenged this purveyor of hate speech . In response, Malik Ali gives us the triple play--support for Hamas and Hezbollah, support for jihad, and likening Zionists to Nazis.  See the video here.


Of note, the European Union (not noted for its love of Israel) specifically cites, in its Working Definition of Anti-Semitism , two examples: "Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination" and "Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis". Actually, just read that whole document, since Malik Ali has managed to hit most of the definitions provided there. This definition was also cited and adopted by the US State Department in 2008 in its Report on Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism.

Now Malik Ali has the right to spread his poison; the First Amendment protects him. But campuses aren't obliged to give him a space and a microphone, just as newspapers aren't obliged to publish his screeds. And those who wish to give him a forum, using public money that is given to the Associated Students at UCI for student programming, must be held accountable for their choice to invite him--not once, but year after year after year.

Tell the UC Irvine administration that enough is enough. The MSU continues to host hateful speakers on its campus, inciting division and marginalizing Jewish students who support the state of Israel as the "new Nazis" on campus.

Tell the UC Irvine administration that this is dangerous and needs to stop. MSU should be sanctioned and placed on probation because they foment hatred against one specific group on campus: the Jewish group.


Please send the link to the video, and your own note to:
chancellor@uci.edu
mngomez@uci.edu
president@asuci.uci.edu
president@ucop.edu

(Please send a copy to info@standwithus.com)
 
============
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the author. Originally posted at http://www.bluetruth.net/2010/05/campus-jihad-in-their-own-words.html. Please do link to these articles, quote from them and forward them by email to friends with this notice. Other uses require written permission of the author. Distributed by ZNN. Subscribe by email to ZNN-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
 
 

Synagoge in Worms aangevallen door brandstichters

 
De aanslag veroorzaakte door snel optreden van de brandweer gelukkig alleen roetschade aan de buitenkant, maar de beveiliging van alle synagoges in Rheinland-Pfalz is gelijk opgeschroeft.
 
Germans destroyed the synagogue in Worms in 1938 during the Nazi period and the place of worship was rebuilt in 1961. Authorities said there was no serious damage to the Synagogue.
In sharp contrast to many Jewish institutions and synagogues in Germany, the Worms synagogue does not have a police presence or barricades protecting the building, according to Schindler-Siegreich. The synagogue dates back to the year 1034.
 
Toen ik in Berlijn was (zie foto) viel me de strenge bewaking van alle Joodse instituten op. Ik vroeg me zelfs af of dat niet ietwat overdreven was, maar dat blijkt helaas niet zo te zijn. Het is een schande dat zoiets weer kan gebeuren, en in- en intriest dat alle Joodse gebouwen tegenwoordig blijkbaar extra bescherming nodig hebben.
 
RP
------------

German synagogue attacked by arsonists




Perpetrators' note demands that Jews "give Palestinians peace."
 
 
BERLIN - A synagogue in the German city of Worms was attacked by arsonists on Monday.

The attackers left a note linking their torching of the synagogue with the Israel-Palestinian conflict, according to a report in the regional paper Wiesebadner Kurier. German police found eight copies of a note written in "awkward" German, claiming responsibility for setting the place blaze.

"So long as you do not give the Palestinians peace, we are not going to give you peace," stated the note.

Public prosecutor Klaus-Peter Mieth said there was still an open question regarding the authenticity of the note. However, Levi Salomon, who heads a task force combating anti-Semitism for the 12,000-member Berlin Jewish community, told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that he could not rule out that German Palestinians had set the synagogue afire. 

While there are no current statistics on the rise of Islamic anti-Semitism in Germany, according to Salomon, he has observed an increase in expressions of  Muslim hatred of Jews. Observers of the attack said they believe the perpetrators could have been extreme leftists, neo-Nazis or radical Islamists. What unites these groups, they said, is their common hatred of Israel.

"We are a small minority in Germany and we have such a history," Stella Schindler-Siegreich, the head of the Jewish community in Mainz, told the Kurier after traveling to Worms.

Germans destroyed the synagogue in Worms in 1938 during the Nazi period and the place of worship was rebuilt in 1961. Authorities said there was no serious damage to the Synagogue.

In sharp contrast to many Jewish institutions and synagogues in Germany, the Worms synagogue does not have a police presence or barricades protecting the building, according to Schindler-Siegreich. The synagogue dates back to the year 1034.
 
 

Hamas krant publiceert verzonnen interview met Gilad Shalit


Hamas' psychologische oorlogsvoering over de hoofden van levende mensen en hun gevoelens gaat gewoon door, en mag eigenlijk niet verbazen, behalve wanneer je van de "Hamas is zo redelijk en pragmatisch geworden" school bent natuurlijk. Maar waarschijnlijk zien de meeste Israel critici absoluut niet in waarom dit zo verwerpelijk is, behalve wanneer Israel hetzelfde zou doen natuurlijk.
 
RP
-----------

Made-up Schalit interview published



http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=175791
 
Writer quotes soldier as 'saying' he is healthy, treated well.
 
 
In yet another move possibly aimed at putting pressure on Israel to release Palestinian prisoners, Hamas on Monday published a fabricated interview with captured IDF soldier St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit.

The interview was published in the movement's official newspaper, Falasteen. The 'interviewer,' a political commentator, wrote that he had interviewed the soldier in captivity with a translator at his side, only to wake up and realize that it was all a dream.

The writer described Schalit as looking healthy and weighing about 60 kilograms. "I am now on the verge of completing my fourth year in captivity since falling hostage to the resistance movement," Schalit was quoted as saying in the 'interview.' "I was injured, but I underwent treatment and now I am in good health, as you can see."

Schalit was described as looking favorably upon his Hamas captors. "It would not be an exaggeration to say that I did not expect to be treated so well," he was quoted as saying. "We were taught at school and in the army that Arabs are murderers and criminals who ought to die … [but] they are people who have feelings and love life."

The captors, Schalit 'said,' "treat me in a cultured and humane manner, the opposite of what has been said." The writer ended the fabricated interview with a plea from the captured soldier to his "people," to "help" set him free.

An animated film released by Hamas military arm Izzadin A-Qassam Brigades in late April featured the soldier's father Noam Schalit as an old man, awaiting the return of his son in a coffin with an Israeli flag draped over it. Not unlike Monday's made-up interview, the film ends with Schalit the elder waking up at the protest tent in Jerusalem – that, too, was all a dream.

De moefti, de Joden van Turkije en de Holocaust

 
Uit een artikel op HoeiBoei van Necla Kelek, een Duits-Turkse vrouw:
(het merendeel gaat over de Armeense genocide)
 
Overigens was Hitler over de genocide en het optreden van de Jong-Turken exact geïnformeerd. In zijn proces, waarin hij zich moest verantwoorden voor de putsch van 1923, beriep hij zich op het voorbeeld van de Jong-Turken. En voor de overval op Polen in 1939 veegde de "Führer" alle bezwaren tegen de vernietiging van de Poolse elites met de aanwijzing van tafel: "Wie praat er tegenwoordig nog over de vernietiging van de Armeniërs?" Hitler zocht bovendien de strategische samenwerking met de moslims tegen de Joden. Deze vond hij in de moefti van Jeruzalem, de meest invloedrijke vertegenwoordiger van de moslims in het Midden-Oosten.

Hadj Mohammed Amin al-Husseini, zo heette de moefti, organiseerde sinds 1916 opstanden tegen de joodse bevolking in Palestina, ook de strijd om de Klaagmuur, waarbij in 1929 honderden Joden en Arabieren stierven, komt voor zijn rekening. Met de machtswisseling van de nazi's in Duitsland openden zich nieuwe perspectieven voor hem. De moslims zochten contact met Berlijn, boden aan om opstanden tegen de Britten op touw te zetten, vroegen om wapens en kregen deze. Al-Husseini was daarbij diegene die aan de politieke, religieuze en militaire touwtjes trok. Toen in het begin van de oorlog in 1939 de situatie ook in Jeruzalem onveilig werd, vluchtte de moefti naar Beiroet en deed in zijn eigenschap als leider van de Arabische wereld de Duitse "Führer" Adolf Hitler een aanbod tot samenwerking toekomen. Het kwam tot een pact van de duivel tussen de halve maan en het hakenkruis. Het lukte de moefti om in 1941 via Istanboel en Rome in Berlijn te komen. Hier werd hij ontvangen door Hitler. Hij drong er bij hem op aan om de Arabieren officieel te steunen in hun "strijd om een Arabische natie". Hitler gaf opdracht om al-Husseini op de loonlijst van de nazi's te zetten. De moefti werd niet moe om de strijd tegen de Joden in Arabië te organiseren.

Toen de moefti in 1942 hoorde, dat de Duitse kant onderhandelde over de uitwisseling van 5000 joodse kinderen uit Slowakije, Polen en Hongarije tegen Britse krijgsgevangenen, intervenieerde hij bij zijn vriend Heinrich Himmler – want als deze kinderen over enkele jaren volwassen zouden zijn, zouden zij het "joodse element" in Palestina versterken. Himmler verbood daarop de uitwisseling. Iets dergelijks herhaalde zich, toen de regering in Boekarest bijna 80.000 Joden uit Roemenië naar Palestina wilde laten uitreizen, net zoals bij de onderhandelingen over 5000 Bulgaarse kinderen in februari 1943 – in plaats van naar Palestina werden ze naar de vernietigingskampen getransporteerd. Het religieuze hoofd van de Palestijnse moslims bleek een waakzame handlanger van de Holocaust te zijn.

Terug naar de Turken en hun relatie tot de Joden in hun land. De minister van integratie van de deelstaat Nordrhein-Westfalen is er in zijn boek "Die Aufsteigerrepublik" voorstander van om de jonge, van oorsprong uit Turkije afkomstige, jongeren de empathie met de slachtoffers van de Holocaust mogelijk te maken door hen ermee in aanraking te brengen "dat het juist de jonge Turkse republiek onder Atatürk was, die aan duizenden vervolgden in de nazitijd asiel gaven". Helaas moet men vaststellen, dat ook ministers in dit land vaak over dingen spreken waarover ze zich slecht hebben geïnformeerd.

In 1933 nodigde de Turkse regering dertig, later 200 Duitse wetenschappers uit om in Turkije een nieuwe universitaire opleiding op te richten. Het waren meest racistisch vervolgden van de "Noodgemeenschap van Duitse wetenschappers in het buitenland", o.a. de architect Bruno Taut, de uitvindster van de inbouwkeuken Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, de componist Paul Hindemith, Ernst Reuter enz. met hun gezinnen; in totaal 1000 personen. Toen Atatürk in 1938 overleed, werden de meeste contracten niet verlengd en veel van de emigranten werden in 1944 ondergebracht in interneringskampen. Het "neutrale" Turkije verlangde op druk van de Duitse regering vanaf 1938 een "bewijs van Ariërschap" van vluchtelingen en probeerde de vluchtroute van joden via Turkije af te sluiten. Met de eigen Joden ging men niet beter om.

Volgens informatie van joodse organisaties hadden zich vanaf het begin van de oorlog bijna 20.000 Turkse Joden in Europa gevestigd – een enorm aantal, gezien de 82.000 Turkse Joden die in Turkije zelf (1927) stonden geregistreerd. In Berlijn hadden ze zelfs een eigen synagoge. Na de besluiten van de Wannsee-conferentie over de "Endlösung" van de joodse kwestie werden de regeringen van tien Europese landen, ook die van Turkije, er door de Duitse minister van buitenlandse zaken in juli 1943 geïnformeerd over de mogelijkheid om "Joden met het staatsburgerschap van het betreffende land uit het Duitse machtsgebied naar huis terug te halen". De Turkse regering maakte hier geen haast mee. Ze verzocht de Duitse ambassade herhaaldelijk om een verlenging van de termijn. De ambassade op haar beurt maande Turkije meerdere malen aan om toch eindelijk te reageren. Toen Turkije desondanks niets ondernam om zijn mensen terug te halen, nam de veiligheidspolitie in Brussel de regie over. Op 13 januari 1944 deelde deze aan het ministerie van buitenlandse zaken mee: "Inmiddels is een serie Turkse joden overgedragen aan een concentratiekamp. De sleutels van de woningen van deze Turkse Joden zijn via de ambassade in Parijs overhandigd aan het voor België verantwoordelijke Turkse generaalconsulaat."
http://hoeiboei.blogspot.com/2010/05/de-moslims-en-de-holocaust.html
 
 
 
 

De legaliteit van de Israelische kernwapens

 
Sommigen argumenteren de laatste tijd dat er met twee maten zou worden gemeten, omdat Iran geen kernwapens zou mogen ontwikkelen, terwijl iedereen zwijgt over de kernwapens van Israel.
Vic Rosenthal legt hieronder het verschil uit tussen de Israelische en de Iraanse kernwapens, en betoogt dat de kernwapens van Israel zeer waarschijnlijk wel hebben bijgedragen aan vrede in het Midden-Oosten, althans aan het uitblijven van oorlogen tussen Israel en haar buren sinds 1973. Ik ben geen voorstander van kernwapens, maar als er één land is dat ze nodig zou hebben, is het Israel wel.
 
Wouter
____________

Israeli nukes are legal and pro-peace

May 8th, 2010, by Vic Rosenthal
http://fresnozionism.org/2010/05/israeli-nukes-are-legal-and-pro-peace/
 

George Jahn of the AP writes,

VIENNA — Israel's secretive nuclear activities may undergo unprecedented scrutiny next month, with a key meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency tentatively set to focus on the topic for the first time, according to documents shared Friday with The Associated Press.

A copy of the restricted provisional agenda of the IAEA's June 7 board meeting lists "Israeli nuclear capabilities" as the eighth item — the first time that that the agency's decision-making body is being asked to deal with the issue in its 52 years of existence…

The 35-nation IAEA board is the agency's decision making body and can refer proliferation concerns to the U.N. Security Council — as it did with Iran in 2006 after Tehran resumed uranium enrichment, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons…

The latest pressure is putting the Jewish state in an uncomfortable position. It wants the international community to take stern action to prevent Iran from getting atomic weapons but at the same time brushes off calls to come clean about its own nuclear capabilities.

This article obscures an important point, which is that the IAEA — and the UN — have no authority over Israel's nuclear capability. And it gives the impression that Iran and Israel's nuclear programs are both in some way in violation of international law, and that if action is taken regarding Iran it should also be taken toward Israel. This is entirely false.

The IAEA was created in 1957 as "the world's 'Atoms for Peace' agency." The idea was that the IAEA would supply fissionable material and know-how to countries that wanted to use atomic energy for peaceful purposes in return for strict controls over how these would be used. To that end it set up a system of inspections; if a country was found to be using IAEA-provided materials for military purposes, the information would be passed to the Security Council for action.

The IAEA's authorized functions are listed in its founding Statute. They do not include interference in nuclear activities that are not related to material supplied by the IAEA, unless the parties involved have voluntarily agreed to involve the IAEA, as was done with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

In 1970 the NPT came into being. It recognized that five nations already had nuclear weapons — the US, Soviet Union, UK, France, and China — and in effect granted them a monopoly. Signatories on the treaty agreed that they would not develop nuclear weapons themselves or contribute to the proliferation thereof and would accept IAEA supervision over their peaceful use of atomic energy.

Israel already had several weapons in 1970 and chose not to sign the NPT. So it is not in violation of it. And it is not subject to IAEA inspection.

Indeed, Israel's nuclear weapons are exactly as legal under international law as those of the US.

Iran, on the other hand, did sign the NPT. It is required to permit IAEA inspections of its nuclear installations, and the IAEA has determined that Iran is probably developing weapons in violation of the treaty, but Iran insists that its project is entirely for peaceful purposes. Nobody honestly believes that.

North Korea, which has tested (it's not clear how successfully) a weapon was a party to the NPT, but withdrew from it. Two other nuclear states — India and Pakistan — did not sign the treaty and so are not bound by it.

Israel has always suggested — but not stated explicitly, since it has never admitted to possessing nuclear weapons — that they would only be used defensively and only when there was no alternative. The closest it may have come to doing so was in the early stages of the 1973 war, when there was a possibility of enemy penetration into Israel beyond the pre-1967 borders. Some believe that Israel armed some weapons in the knowledge that the US and USSR would detect this, both as a deterrent to intervention by the USSR and a spur to the US to resupply Israel with conventional weapons.

In 1991, it's said that weapons were put on alert in the event that Saddam would fire Scuds with chemical warheads at Israel (he did not). Syria also has a large quantity of chemical warheads which have not been used, probably from fear of nuclear retaliation.

The IDF has multiple delivery systems, which include submarine-launched cruise missiles and IRBM/ICBM's in hardened land installations, giving it a second-strike capability. As I wrote yesterday, an Iranian nuclear attack on Israel, no matter how 'successful', would trigger a response that would in essence eliminate Iran as a modern state. Israel's missiles can also reach far beyond the Middle East, a fact which was highly relevant during the period that the USSR was supporting the Arab nations.

One might say that the form that the Mideast conflict has taken since 1973 — a low-intensity war involving non-state proxies and terrorism combined with stepped-up political and economic pressure — has been determined by the presence of Israel's nuclear deterrent. Not good, but better than the alternative.

So it's not surprising that Israel's enemies have recently begun a diplomatic campaign for Israel to sign the NPT, to declare the Mideast a 'nuclear-free zone', etc.

Bad idea. Israel's nuclear weapons are probably the most 'pro-peace' factor in the entire Mideast equation. Probably the best policy for Israel is to continue its policy of official ambiguity along with continued development of low-fallout nuclear weapons technology — i.e., neutron weapons, electromagnetic pulse weapons, etc.

 

Gemiddelde Israeli niet meer enthousiast over religieus Jeruzalem


Nu Jeruzalem Dag achter de rug is, is het tijd voor Shavuot, het wekenfeest. Een van de hoogtepunten van dit feest, waarin de ontvangst van de Tien Geboden wordt gevierd, is een nacht vol studie en lezingen:
 
The ancient Jewish tradition of tikun leil Shavuot, studying Torah the entire night on the eve of the holiday commemorating the reception of the 10 commandments on Sinai, has been rapidly taking on a new form in recent years. It is no longer just a religious custom, but an integral part of the annual calendar for many secular Israelis as well.
 
Dr. Micah Goodman, a lecturer on Jewish philosophy at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and director of the Ein Prat Academy, is one of the speakers who will appear at half a dozen venues on Shavuot night, speaking and leading study sessions with a wide variety of audiences.
"It is clear to me that the religious have lost their monopoly on Shavuot," he says. A decade or so ago, Shavuot night study took place almost exclusively in synagogues, but now nearly every community and cultural center in the city has a full plate of pluralistic lecturers on offer.
 
RP
------------


Published 02:41 14.05.10 / Latest update 02:41 14.05.10
 
Election of Nir Bark as mayor has yet to produce any tangible proof of a change in the demographic figures that point to Jerusalem becoming, a decade or so from now, a city split between an Arab side and an ultra-Orthodox Jewish side.
By Anshel Pfeffer
 
 
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin is the quintessential Jerusalemite. He hails from a family that traces its roots in the city back over two centuries, he starts every interview with "Shalom from Jerusalem" and he is a staunch believer in the right of Jews to build their homes in every corner of the city, east or west.
 
So when on Jerusalem Day, last Wednesday, he made a pessimistic speech at the Knesset's special annual session in sharp contrast to the high-flung rhetoric of the other speakers swearing allegiance to the city's "eternal unity," the media did well to sit up and take notice. For five minutes.
 
Rivlin bemoaned the lack of enthusiasm shown by most Israelis in the day marking the capture of the eastern part of the city in the Six-Day War.
 
"Jerusalem's day of celebration has become an occasion only for one sector," he said, admitting what has been evident for years, that those dancing and marching in the streets with flags are almost exclusively drawn from the national-religious community. "Jerusalem is no longer a focus of identity for Israelis and has ceased to inspire the wider public," Rivlin continued, "I fear that we are in a post-Jerusalem era."
 
He acknowledged that it was mainly the politicians' fault: "We have sinned against Jerusalem with endless talk of its borders and boundaries and lack of attention to content and a relevant vision." Rivlin is that rare creature on the Israeli right wing, a man who is still capable of seeing the suffering of the other side.
 
"How can we expect Jerusalem to inspire all" he asked, "when it suffers from severe discrimination between the Arab and the Jewish sectors?" But he remains resolutely of the opinion that the entire city, including even outlying Palestinian villages annexed in 1967, must remain part of one entity under Israel sovereignty.
 
Politics aside, Rivlin's diagnosis is right-on. Even if a majority of Israelis still say they are against any sharing of Jerusalem in a future peace agreement, they ceased caring for the city long ago. They rarely visit it, on Jerusalem Day or any other, they regard it as a depressing, boring and even dangerous place and certainly wouldn't consider living there.
 
The election a year and a half ago of secular Nir Barkat as mayor has yet to produce any tangible proof of a change in the demographic figures that point to Jerusalem becoming, a decade or so from now, a city split between an Arab side and an ultra-Orthodox Jewish side, with a dwindling number of secular (and moderate Orthodox ) enclaves in the west of the city and settler outposts in the east - if we are not almost there already.
 
I may be wrong, Barkat's election might be a sign of the trends reversing, but I have yet to see the proof.
 
And yet, despite my gloomy pessimism, I would like to point out one positive development, one small example of a secular renaissance in Jerusalem which will be on display for a few hours next week.
 
The ancient Jewish tradition of tikun leil Shavuot, studying Torah the entire night on the eve of the holiday commemorating the reception of the 10 commandments on Sinai, has been rapidly taking on a new form in recent years. It is no longer just a religious custom, but an integral part of the annual calendar for many secular Israelis as well.
 
Dr. Micah Goodman, a lecturer on Jewish philosophy at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and director of the Ein Prat Academy, is one of the speakers who will appear at half a dozen venues on Shavuot night, speaking and leading study sessions with a wide variety of audiences.
 
"It is clear to me that the religious have lost their monopoly on Shavuot," he says. A decade or so ago, Shavuot night study took place almost exclusively in synagogues, but now nearly every community and cultural center in the city has a full plate of pluralistic lecturers on offer.
 
"Secular people don't usually feel comfortable in a synagogue," says Goodman, "but they have no shortage of places to go anymore. Every where I go is packed.
 
It has become the fashionable thing to do and I hear my students talking about which is the hottest place to go this year."
 
This is not just a Jerusalem phenomenon. Tel-Aviv's secular yeshivas, which have been set up over the last few years, are also taking part. But the sight of large groups roaming the streets at two in the morning, seeking the next intellectual attraction, is peculiar to the capital.
 
Secular Shavuot used to be the Zionist festival of agriculture and many kibbutzim still hold their nostalgic Bikurim festivals with tractors and children dressed in white holding up produce.
 
For the rest of mainstream middle-class Israel, it is merely an opportunity to buy fine cheese and white wine, and that is certainly how Shavuot seems in the media and in advertising.
 
Beneath the radar, though, something more fundamental may be happening. Through inattention, occupation and sheer laziness, we have got the Jerusalem we deserve. It may be wishful thinking, but for one night a year, the dual-monopoly that the Haredi community seems to have, both over the cultural identity of Jerusalem and over Torah study, seems to crack.
 

zaterdag 15 mei 2010

Enquete: haredi meerderheid bedreiging voor Israel

 
Ik vind de uitkomsten eigenlijk nog vrij gematigd, gezien de groeiende invloed van de haredim en het feit dat zij de staat wel veel geld kosten, maar zelf weinig bijdragen en ook voor het merendeel niet in dienst gaan. Het is echter duidelijk dat de verdeeldheid toeneemt, en het gevaar van meer religieuze dominantie lijkt reeël. Uit Jeruzalem trekken de seculieren al jarenlang weg uit onvrede met de dominante aanwezigheid van de ultra-ortodoxen.
Met een steeds groter percentage aan ultra ortodoxen is het niet langer te verkopen dat zij niet in dienst hoeven en niet hoeven te werken voor hun geld.
 
RP
------------


Poll: Secular public believes haredi majority endangers state
http://www.ynet.co.il/english/articles/0,7340,L-3885786,00.html
 
Gesher poll finds most seculars think state should withdraw benefits to ultra-Orthodox sector
 
Ynet
Published:  05.06.10, 13:37
 
 
A Ynet and Gesher poll has discovered that many secular members of Israel's population are concerned with predictions that the ultra-Orthodox sector will soon be a majority in Israel and believe this constitutes a major risk to the state's existence.
 
The haredim, their education, and their prevalence in the workforce are matters that have caught headlines recently.
 
The poll was conducted among 501 people – a sample of adult Jews living in Jewish cities in Israel.
 
The first question was, "What will you do if Israel becomes mainly ultra-Orthodox?" For 41% the answer was: "It would sadden me out of fear for Israel's existence", while 37% said they would be fine with it, and 12% said they would leave the country because they do not want to live in a "halachic state".
 
Those polled who define themselves as secular expressed more concern for a haredi majority, with 56% of them saying they would fear for Israel's existence. However 87% of religious and 92% of haredim were convinced that the secular minority would not suffer from an ultra-Orthodox majority.
 
Participants in the poll were then asked whether the state should attempt to prevent the demographic tilt. To this, 37% answered that all benefits to haredim should be withdrawn, 32% said nothing should be done because "whatever will be will be", 10% supported encouraging secular immigration, and 10% said they would be pleased with the change.
 
The results show that of the secular people polled, 50% would stop all benefits to haredim, while 52% of religious participants said they would take no action. Of the haredim polled, 75% said they would be pleased with the change.

The third question asked, "Which of the following proposals do you believe would better incorporate haredim into society?"

To this, 40% answered they should serve mandatory army service, 28% preferred national service, 21% recommended occupational training that would allow them to better incorporate into the workforce, 3% called for affirmative action on accepting haredim to jobs, and 4% said the state should not become involved.

The results showed that of the seculars polled, 47% believe mandatory IDF service would help haredim assimilate better, 37% of religious people believe occupational training would help, and 42% of the haredim want affirmative action.
 
Ilan Gael-Dor, general manager of Gesher, responded to the findings by saying, "It is clear to everyone that the haredim currently constitute a significant portion of Israeli society and the non-haredi population is concerned they will 'take over'.

"The poll proves that the Israeli public is open to accept the haredim, but at the same time believes they must take on a larger portion of the national responsibility, through army or national service. At Gesher we believe it is very important to extend the dialogue with the haredim and oppose slogans that only widen the gaps."

Arabische wapenwedloop dreiging voor Israel

 
De tijd dat Israel met gemak alle Arabische legers bij elkaar aan kon, is voorbij. De Arabische landen hebben hun legers gemoderniseerd en kopen op grote schaal modern wapentuig in. Wanneer de miljardensteun van de VS aan Israel weer eens wordt gehekeld, is het goed dit voor ogen te houden.
 
RP
----------
 

Arab arms race: What does it mean for Israel?

Arab regimes are investing heavily in defense industries as well as beefing up their armies. They are evidently motivated both by the decline of the United States, which can no longer be counted on as an ally and military force in their view, and by the constant muscle flexing of Iran.  This build up of armament quite a different proposition from purchases of foreign arms in the past. It gives these states the possibility of independent action, not tied to strings in Russia, the United States or European capitals. It will probably mean better assimilation and integration of weapons as well. For Israel, in the event of war, it can no longer be assumed that Arab armies are paper threats only. The numerical advantage will be turned into actual strength.  We need to give some thought to what happens if these increasingly impressive capabilities were to be used against Israel.
 
Ami Isseroff
==============
 
Robert Bailey

Wednesday, 12 May 2010 07:59 
 
Local arms manufacturing in the Middle East and North Africa region is set to grow. Robert Bailey outlines some of the projects and collaborations that are underway
 
Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) defence industries are becoming more self reliant as they shift from direct equipment purchases to local production. Where technology transfer has for more than two decades been an established part of headline-catching, multi billion dollar offset programmes, the focus now, for even the smaller countries, is to require technology transfer as a first step to developing their own armaments manufacturing capability.
 
Nevertheless, the MENA region is still a hugely lucrative market for Western arms manufacturers. Its spending on military equipment continues to be the highest of any region outside North America and Europe. Saudi Arabia's defence expenditure alone totalled more than $38 billion in 2008, ranking ninth in the world.
 
After maintaining a low profile for many decades, the UAE has emerged as one of the world's largest purchasers of advanced military equipment. Scarcely had the delivery of 60 of the latest Lockheed F-16 fighter aircraft been completed – to add to the 50 Mirage 2000 fighters acquired in 2008 – than the UAE authorities availed themselves of the Abu Dhabi defence exhibition, which was staged in early 2009, to order four giant Lockheed Martin C-17 and the smaller C-30 military transport aircraft, and jet fighter trainer aircraft from Italy's Alenia.
 
The federation is also negotiating a $9 billion package for Lockheed's terminal high-altitude air-defence system and Patriot air-defence missile systems. Three more Airbus A330 tanker aircraft are also slated to add to three already purchased and due for delivery in 2011.
 
Another relatively new armaments market is Algeria, which is pursuing a major modernisation programme. In the past two years, the growth in annual defence spending has more than trebled to 33 per cent. Potential suppliers have been courting Algeria's top brass since an arms embargo was lifted in 2005. These include the UK, whose defence minister visited Algiers in October for talks with President Bouteflika.
 
However, it was a sign of the times that the Anglo-Italian group AgustaWestland discovered, when negotiating the sale of an extra 100 helicopters to supplement a completed $600 million order, that the deal could well depend on agreeing to a large proportion of them being assembled locally.
 
Libya is another country that has emerged from pariah status to be wooed assiduously by arms suppliers. Since the lifting of the international arms embargo, several countries – notably the UK, France and Russia – have beaten a path to Tripoli to offer equipment and military training.
 
France is reportedly negotiating a $6.4 billion arms package, including the supply of Rafale fighter jets, which could hinge on offering some local production and assembly. However, the Libyans may be more inclined to stick with their traditional Russian suppliers. A number of contracts involving the supply of Sukhoi-30 and MiG 29 fighter aircraft, as well as helicopters and the modernisation of Russian-supplied tanks, were confirmed in October.
 
Russia's state armaments marketing organisation, Rosoboronexport Russia, is active in other Arab markets. It has offered to supply Lebanon with MiG 29 fighters to beef up its depleted air force, as well as air-defence missile systems and T90 main battle tanks. It is also working on $2 billion worth of contracts with Saudi Arabia for the sale of 150 helicopters, T90 main battle tanks and BMP infantry-fighting vehicles.
 
Retraining Iraq's Russian-equipped army has been a long and complicated process. However, with more than $8 billion of orders for US helicopters, tanks and armoured combat vehicles in hand, Iraq is well on the way to rebuilding its equipment inventory with American arms. Most of this materiel was financed with aid, but as oil revenues improve, Iraq could become a leading defence market in its own right.
 
Another important defence provision that relates particularly to Iraq is security services. G4S, formerly Group Four Securicor, has 40,000 employees working in the Middle East, a large proportion of them in Iraq where it has nine branches. The British security firm, Aegis, which processes and monitors all private security operations in Iraq, also has a large presence with 15 branches.
 
Although the US Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain, and many other navies regularly visit Gulf waters, the Gulf Cooperation Council is assuming much more responsibility for its own security; naval and air defences are being reinforced. The Sultanate of Oman has taken delivery of the first of three state-of-the-art 2,700-tonne Corvettes from the UK's Vosper Thorneycroft group, as part of a $715 million deal. Meanwhile, Bahrain's navy is reportedly seeking to buy three new frigates.
 
However, MENA countries are now looking to develop their own capabilities. Arms production was pioneered by Egypt, which built its industry on the back of the Arab Organisation for Industrialisation, an abortive attempt in the 1980s to create a pan-Arab military industrial complex. Egypt has relied heavily on US military assistance and now builds US-designed tanks and other military platforms.
 
Offset, where typically the supplier invests 35 per cent of the value of a defence project in a local industrial undertaking, was pioneered by Saudi Arabia with the launch, in 1984, of Boeing's Peace Shield programme, followed by British Aerospace's Yamamah programme. Now it is widely used as a stepping-stone to local production.
 
For example, the UAE's $817 million Baymunah naval programme involves the design, construction and outfitting of six Corvettes. The first ship was built by Constructions Mecaniques de Normandie in France; the remainder will be built by Abu Dhabi Shipbuilding (ADSB), which is 40 per cent owned by the Abu Dhabi government's investment agency Mubadala. ADSB is also providing the UAE navy with 12 missile-armed fast-attack craft and four maritime patrol aircraft. The shipyard also has an order for a troop-carrying ship from Oman.
 
Mubadala has also established a helicopter pilot training school in Al Ain and has strengthened the Federation's maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities by acquiring the Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Company, whose core business is servicing a variety of military aircraft, including the UAE's F-16s and Mirage 2000-9s, as well as military and civilian makes of helicopter. It is sinking $500 million into revamping and broadening the scope of the company, which has now become Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies.
 
It has invested in Al Yah Satellite Communications Company, which provides the federation's armed forces with a secure satellite communications system. The company's first-launch satellite is currently being built by Europe's EADS Astrium and Thales Alenia Space. Mubadala has also joined with the US company EDS Defence and Security, to create the Injazat Data Systems IT, an outsourcing company, to provide data security systems for the armed services.
 
Independent of Mubadala, Tawazum Holdings, an offshoot of Abu Dhabi's Offset Programme Bureau, owns Caracal International, a company that specialises in manufacturing and distributing small arms. Tawazum has also joined forces with Al Jaber Group and Germany's Rheinmetall Munitions Systems to build a munitions factory.
 
While a frontrunner in the development of a viable indigenous defence industry, the UAE faces strong regional competition. Jordan, similar to Egypt, is well on the way to building a national defence industry. A recent contract involved calls for 100 Turkish-designed armoured vehicles to be assembled locally. The King Abdullah 11 Design and Development Bureau is also carrying out additional upgrading work, in Amman, on US-made main battle tanks.
 
However, Saudi Arabia has embarked on the region's technically most ambitious programme: a plan to develop a fully-fledged aeronautics industry on the back of local assembly of the Eurofighter Typhoon. The first 24 of a 72-plane, $32.9 billion order are being delivered direct from the UK; the first two aircraft arrived in Taif last July. The remaining 48 are to be assembled by Alsalam Aircraft Company, in new factories being constructed in Riyadh. Another Saudi company, Advanced Electronics, is in talks with BAE Systems, the Eurofighter Typhoon's prime manufacturer, to produce components for the fighters.
 
Global Arab Network
 
================
Robert Bailey is Global Arab Network consulting editor and writer specialising in the Middle East. This article is published in partnership with the Middle East Association.
 

Wedergeboorte bloedsprookje op Anti-Israël manifestatie Brussel

 
In België gaat men nog een stuk verder dan hier wat betreft de hetze tegen Israel.
Men refereert wel heel direct aan het eeuwenoude christelijke bloedsprookje, met glazen die zogenaamd gevuld zijn met Palestijns bloed waar Israelische kolonisten met plezier van drinken. De aanleiding voor deze demonstratie is de vermeende betrokkenheid van de Belgische bank Dexia bij de bouw van woningen voor kolonisten op de Westoever. Dit is geen manifestatie van een klein groepje radikalen, maar zij werd gesteund door een breed scala aan organisaties waaronder politieke partijen en vakbonden. Zie voor een volledige lijst hieronder. Het is ronduit schandalig dat zij zich voor een dergelijke antisemitische vertoning lenen.
 
RP
--------
 

De wedergeboorte van het bloedsprookje op manifestatie te Brussel van 12 mei

14/05/2010 brabosh

"Ohhhh. Bravo. Pas d'argent au sang. A Israël. Ohhhhhh. (Applaudissements) J'aime le sang. Un petit verre de sang. J'aime le sang. Un petit verre de sang."

"Ohhhh. Bravo. Geen geld voor bloed. Aan Israël. Ohhhhhh. (Applaus) Ik hou van het bloed. Een klein glaasje bloed. Ik houd van bloed. Een klein glaasje bloed."

Bron: Philosémitisme blog van 13 mei 2010

Hallucinante beelden tijdens de Anti-Israëlische demonstratie in Brussel van afgelopen woensdag 12 mei 2010. Clowns die Dexia en de Israëlische 'bezetters' moeten verbeelden, dronken met zichtbaar genot van uit glazen die gevuld waren met het zgn. 'bloed van Palestijnen'. Joden die het bloed van moslims drinken – en vroeger de christenen – je waant je meteen terug in de middeleeuwen. Maar nee, het speelde zich amper twee dagen geleden af met de medewerking van maar liefst 75 Belgische organisaties!

Op slechts enkele stappen verwijderd van de Brusselse kathedraal Sint Goedele en Sint Michiel. Maar weinig mensen weten nog dat deze beroemde kathedraal ruim vijfhonderd jaar lang het schouwtoneel is geweest van de legende van het Sacrament van het Mirakel. Volgens de legende zouden in 1370 hosties op miraculeuze wijze beginnen bloeden zijn, nadat ze door de Brabantse Joden in de synagoge van Brussel met messteken waren doorboord. De relieken werden vereerd als het Sacrament van Mirakel. In mei 1370 werden een zestal joden uit Brussel en Leuven op de brandstapel terechtgesteld, beschuldigd van diefstal en profanatie [=heiligschennis] van het H. Sacrament. De joodse goederen werden verbeurd verklaard en van bij de aanvang geloof werd gehecht aan het mirakel van de bloedende hosties. Meer over die antisemitische legende op deze blog: Het (antisemitisch) geheim van de Brusselse Sint-Michiels en Sint-Goedele kathedraal.

Op de afbeelding: De geboorte van een [antisemitische] legende. Detail uit het glasraam in de rechterzijbeuk van de kathedraal. Dit glasraam werd in 1861 geschonken door de deken van Sint-Goedele, Louis Verhoustraten, in herinnering aan zijn ouders. Het glasraam werd gemaakt door de Brusselse glazenier J.B. Capronnier, in voorbereiding van de viering van de 500ste verjaardag in 1870 van Het Sacrament van Mirakel. Op het glasraam wordt afgebeeld hoe de Joden in 1370 in de Brusselse synagoge de H. Hostie ontwijdden door deze hosties met dolken te doorprikken waarna de hosties begonnen te bloeden. Dit wordt vanaf dan -en dat 500 jaar lang!- door de katholieken het 'Mirakel van het H. Sacrament' genoemd.

Die betoging werd met veel bombast aangekondigd als Manifestation nationale contre le financement de la colonisation israélienne par Dexia. Zoals bekend wordt de Belgische bank Dexia verweten dat het de bouw van Joodse woningen op de Westoever in Judea en Samaria financiert. Ondanks dat de Israëlische regering sinds november 2009 een bouwstop handhaaft, ging de boycot-Israëlmanifestatie gewoon door. Tenslotte gaat het voor de desbetreffende organisatoren helemaal niet om de nederzettingen maar om de feitelijke vernieting van de Joodse staat Israël. Wie dat laatste steeds voor ogen houdt, begrijpt meteen heel wat meer van het Israëlisch-Arabisch conflict en de actie van afgelopen woensdag.

De lijst van de deelnemende organisatoren – 75 in het totaal – waaronder ONG, vakbonden, politieke parijen, de Franstalige nationale omroep RTBF en andere media, waren allemaal present. Deelnemers aan deze activiteiten waren de grote Belgische vakbonden, politieke partijen waaronder de SP.a van Caroline Gennez en Dirk Vandermaelen, die op de lijst verkiezingslijst prijkt (de SP.A heeft nog steeds geen antwoord gegeven waarom zij op die lijstdeelnemers vermeld staan), uiteraard ook Groen! en Ecolo en talloze NGO's gesubsidieerd door de overheid in dienst van de anti-Israëlische Lobby.

Hieronder een impressie van de manifestatie

en enkele bloeddrinkende manifestanten

Organisatie: "Plateform 'Palestine occupée – Dexia impliquée'

'Israël koloniseert – Dexia financiert'

* COBI – Coördinatie Boycot Israël (initiateur-initiatiefnemer), Association Belgo-Palestinienne Wallonie-Bruxelles, ACV – Brussel-Halle-Vilvoorde, Algemene Centrale ABVV – Centrale Générale FGTB, Alliance for Freedom and Dignity (AFD), Artistes contre le Mur, Attac Vlaanderen, Attac Wallonie-Bruxelles, BBTK-SETCa, Brugs Palestina Comité, BRussells Tribunal, CNAPD – Coordination Nationale d'Action pour la Paix et la Démocratie, CODIP – Centrum voor Ontwikkeling, Documentatie en Informatie Palestijnen, Conseil Consultatief Nord-Sud-Ville de Nivelles, Comac, Comité de Solidarité avec le Peuple Palestinien de Braine-L'Alleud, Comité Verviers Palestine, Coordination des Associations pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient (PJPO) du Brabant Wallon – PJPO Ittre – PJPO Mazerine – PJPO Nivelles, Divers & Actief, ECOLO, Egalité, FGTB Charleroi/Sud-Hainaut, FOS – Socialistische Solidariteit, Friends of the Earth Vlaanderen en Brussel, Gemeentes /Communes: Chapelle-Lez-Herlaimont – Ciney – Ittre – Mouscron – Vielsalm – Viroinval, Geneeskunde voor het Volk – Schaerbeek, Génération Palestine, GROEN!, Groupe Palestine Santé, Initiatief Cuba Socialista (ICS), intal, intal-CDR regio Heist-op-den-Berg, Jong Groen!, Kif Kif, La Braise Culture asbl – Charleroi, LAP – Leuvense Actiegroep Palestina, LBC-NVK, LCR, LEF, Marianne Charleroi, Mouvement Chrétien pour la Paix, Mouvement Citoyen Palestine, Netwerk Vlaanderen, OWW: Hasselt – Heist-Goor – Hulshout vzw – Herk-de-Stad – Leuven – Overpelt, Pax Christi Charleroi, Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine (22 associations), PTB-PVDA, Recht op Migratie, Recht op Terugkeer, Reseau Financement Alternatif asbl, SCI, Solidarité Socialiste, SP.A, Steungroep voor Rechtvaardigheid en Vrede in Guatemala, The Palestinian Community in Belgium, UCOS, 't Uilekot, Une Autre Gauche, UPJB, Vlaams Palestina Komitee, Vrede vzw, Vredesactie, Vrouwen in 't Zwart Leuven.

Het onbekende verleden van Sheikh Jarrah

 
Onbekend nieuws over het verleden van Sheikh Jarrah, de wijk die in het nieuws kwam omdat er Arabieren uit hun huizen werden gezet. Wat men er niet bij vermeldde, is dat dat gebeurde nadat zij de huur niet meer betaalden en dat de huizen van Joden waren geweest die daar in 1948 uit verjaagd zijn.
 
RP
--------------
 
To make things clear, Sheikh Jarrah was both a sub-district and a neighborhood ("quarter") of Jerusalem. The sub-district included the quarters of Sheikh Jarrah, Hayy el-Huseyni, Wadi el-Joz and Bab ez-Zahira, and the Jewish quarters of Shim'on Hatsadik and Nahalat Shim'on.

The part that attacked the Jews was the Sheikh Jarrah quarter.
The part that is now called "Sheikh Jarrah" that is in the news is actually the Jewish quarter of Shimon HaTzaddik.
 
 

Sheikh Jarrah in 1948

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/sheikh-jarrah-in-1948.html

The Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood has been in the news a lot lately. What is hardly mentioned is that it was the epicenter of Arab attacks on Jews in 1948.

In fact, that area - where Jews lived as well as Muslims before 1948, in quarters known as Shimon HaTzadik and Nahalat Shimon - was the scene of many Arab attacks in 1948 on their neighboring Jews.

Arabs from Sheikh Jarrah started attacking their Jewish neighbors almost immediately after the UN Partition vote. This article is from January 12, 1948, where it mentions that attacks had been coming from that area for three weeks already:



For the rest of the month, the Palestine Post had almost daily articles about attacks originating from Sheikh Jarrah at neighboring Jews:
In February, the attacks continued, including attacks on convoys headed towards Hadassah Hospital:
In March, attacks on innocents escalated. This is from March 28th, and the death of a Jew was barely mentioned:
While the British promised to protect hospital convoys, they did not take their jobs too seriously as they were planning to evacuate in May. In mid-April came the climax of Arab attacks on Jews, one that should have been foreseen given all the previous attacks:


Nearly 80 medical workers and others were slaughtered - and the neighborhood that spilled so much blood was known quite well:


It is interesting that this history of that neighborhood is not mentioned as today's media wants to paint the Jews as the aggressors - by savagely purchasing houses with Zionist cash and violently using a respected legal system to evict people who haven't paid their rent for years.

This history of real violence and aggression from the Arabs of Sheikh Jarrah just doesn't fit that narrative.

UPDATE: To make things clear, Sheikh Jarrah was both a sub-district and a neighborhood ("quarter") of Jerusalem. The sub-district included the quarters of Sheikh Jarrah, Hayy el-Huseyni, Wadi el-Joz and Bab ez-Zahira, and the Jewish quarters of Shim'on Hatsadik and Nahalat Shim'on.

The part that attacked the Jews was the Sheikh Jarrah quarter. The part that is now called "Sheikh Jarrah" that is in the news is actually the Jewish quarter of Shimon HaTzaddik.
 

donderdag 13 mei 2010

PMW interview: "Jodenhaat is de Palestijnen aangeleerd"

 
Het volgende is opmerkelijk:
 
Actually, I have hope for a very specific reason. The Palestinians did not always hate Israelis, they were taught to hate. As recently as 1996 through 1999, following 28 years of Israeli administration of the West Bank and Gaza, the most important Palestinian pollster checked Palestinian attitudes on how they rated "democracy and human rights" in the Palestinian Authority, France, the US and Israel.

It turned out that, after 28 years of daily contact between Israelis and Palestinians, Israel received the best rating in the world with 78% of Palestinians giving Israel a "positive" rating in democracy and human rights. The US had only 65%, France 55% and the PA had 50% of Palestinians giving them positive ratings. The poll was done three more times in the next three years and Israel was always seen as the best in the world by Palestinians, with 77%, 75% and 65% giving Israel positive ratings in democracy and human rights.

So, open borders and contact between the Israelis and Palestinians created healthy attitudes and respect. It was the terror and hate education of the PA that ruined the trust. My hope is that peace education can turn back the clock. The same way the Palestinian Authority poisoned their people with hate education, they can rectify the situation with peace education.
 
Ondanks de fricties en de ongelijkheid tussen beide partijen, werd Israel zo positief gewaardeerd. Tot aan de eerste intifada was de levensstandaard in de bezette gebieden overigens flink gestegen, en hoger dan in de omringende Arabische staten. Toch heeft dat de eerste intifada niet kunnen voorkomen, en naast een einde aan de opruiing zoals PMW bepleit is ook een politieke oplossing van het conflict nodig, een einde aan de bezetting en de onduidelijke status van de Westoever en Gazastrook. Dat is echter pas mogelijk als er weer enig vertrouwen is en er een einde komt aan de opruiing en verheerlijking van geweld tegen Joden en Israel.
 
Have you found American government officials and the media generally open to PMW's message? How about elsewhere in the world - what kind of press response do you get?

We find government officials, Congress and MPs around the world very appreciative to receive the material on a regular basis. People whose job it is to know what is really going on in the international arena are happy to have this material. People are tired of opinions being expressed by "experts" and they welcome the opportunity to receive information that enables them to form opinions on their own with objective data.

In the last year, we have presented to the Foreign Affairs Committees of Congress and of Holland, and to MPs from Italy, Sweden, Norway, Canada, Switzerland, Australia, and others. Media likewise is very favorable because we hand over material and let the media see, hear, and pass it on in a way that others can make their own opinions.
 
Dit lijkt vooral een PR praatje gericht op het verwerven van donateurs, want de media en politiek in Europa staat voor deze boodschap voor zover ik het zie niet erg open. Nederland is bij lange na niet het ergste land qua anti-Israel sentimenten maar hier worden dergelijke organisaties compleet doodgezwegen. Alle aandacht gaat altijd naar 'mensenrechten' of 'vredes'organisaties zoals Betselem, Breaking the Silence, Human Rights Watch, Al Haq, die met name kritiek hebben op Israel en steevast met een eenzijdig verhaal aankomen. NGO monitor, MEMRI, UN Watch, Camera en PMW ben ik de afgelopen jaar geen enkele keer tegengekomen in de krant of op TV.
 
RP
 
Lees het hele interview op PMW: http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=2247
-------------------------------------
 
 

Moslims verdeeld over optrekken naar Jeruzalem om Al Aqsa te verdedigen


Om toe te voegen aan de lijst absurde aantijgingen (waaronder racistische stoplichten, superratten, bestraling met kanker in checkpoints, het gebruik van bloed van Palestijnse kinderen voor het bakken van matzes, etc. etc.):
 
Tamimi even added a new accusation: the Jews are now using chemicals to eat away at the walls of the Al Aqsa mosque, causing it to disintegrate from the inside!
 
RP
-----------------
 

Al Azhar leader rejects PalArab sheikh call to visit J'lem

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/05/al-azhar-leader-rejects-palarab-sheikh.html

Al Masry al-Youm reports that the habitually lying, inciting and Jew-hating Sheikh Tayser Tamimi of Jerusalem has called on Arab Muslim and Christian leaders to visit Jerusalem to combat nefarious Zionist plans to Judaize the Jewish capital city.

Tamimi even added a new accusation: the Jews are now using chemicals to eat away at the walls of the Al Aqsa mosque, causing it to disintegrate from the inside!

(I wonder who the collaborators are that painted the walls of the mosque with this caustic chemical.)

Anyway, Ahmed Al-Tayeb, new head of the prestigious Al Azhar university, rejected Tamimi's call out of hand:

I refuse to visit Jerusalem and the Aqsa Mosque at the moment and I call on Muslims not to visit and obtain an Israeli visa, because that means supporting Israeli occupation and the recognition of its legitimacy
 
The irony that an Egyptian sheikh is saying he knows what is better for Palestinian Arabs than the PalArabs themselves is seemingly lost.

Strijd om sloop illegale gebouwen in Oost-Jeruzalem voor het Hooggerechtshof


Zo makkelijk/moeilijk (doorstrepen wat niet van toepassing is na lezen van onderstaand artikel) is het in Israel om illegaal gebouwde Arabische huizen te vernielen. Los van de vraag of het terecht is dat de beste man geen vergunning kreeg voor een groter en een tweede huis, feit is dat hij (meermaals) welbewust de overeenkomst met de gemeente schond, maar dit in de afgelopen tien jaar niet tot afbraak van zijn huizen heeft geleid.
 
RP
------------

The Jerusalem Post
NGO petitions High Court over Silwan buildings
By DAN IZENBERG
13/05/2010 02:15
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=175429


Regavim documents illegal Arab building in east J'lem.

The Regavim organization, which campaigns against Arab encroachment on what it calls the "national lands," recently petitioned the High Court of Justice against the government and Jerusalem municipal authorities demanding that it implement demolition orders against two illegally built Palestinian apartment buildings in Silwan.

The buildings were constructed by Ahmed Sheikh on a plot of land that he owns, not far from the seven-story illegally built Beit Yehonatan, which, according to a court order, is to be sealed up and its Jewish occupants evacuated.

One of the reasons Regavim filed the petition was to give credence to the contention of defenders of Beit Yehonatan, who claim that the Palestinians have built dozens of illegal structures in Silwan without measures being taken against them.

They say the Israeli legal authorities, particularly State Attorney Moshe Lador, former attorney-general Menahem Mazuz and Jerusalem legal adviser Yossi Havilio, are discriminating against Beit Yehonatan by insisting that the city execute the court order against it, while allegedly ignoring similar orders against illegal Palestinian construction.

Leaving politics and ideology aside, the Regavim petition is a disturbing document, because it demonstrates that it was possible to build two buildings of six and seven stories without a permit and despite demolition orders, under the very noses of the municipal authorities and the courts, which were aware of the illegal construction from almost the very beginning.

The following is a chronological outline of how this happened:

September 21, 2000: The Jerusalem Planning and Building Committee gives Sheikh a permit to build one two-story structure, of 218 sq.m., on a plot of land that he owned in Silwan.

May 10, 2001: The authorities issue stop-work and demolition orders after discovering that Sheikh has laid the foundations for one building and constructed a two-story frame of a second building.

June 7, 2001: Sheikh files a request to cancel the demolition order. He denies that the foundations are for another building. The municipality agrees to postpone execution of the order pending a hearing.

June 19, 2001: The municipality agrees to postpone the demolition order for one month, in return for a promise that Sheikh will stop building.

July 12, 2001: The Local Affairs Court extends the postponement for four more months, following an agreement reached between the Sheikh and the authorities.

Unspecified date: The municipality discovers that Sheikh has violated the agreement and continued building. Its request to the court to advance the demolition date is accepted. Sheikh appeals to Jerusalem District Court. The court rules that the countdown for the demolition will begin on January 1, 2002.

December 31, 2001: Sheikh requests another postponement of demolition order. On March 24, 2002 and on May 15, 2002, he petitions to cancel demolition order altogether.

Unspecified date: Sheikh's petitions are denied. He appeals to the Jerusalem District Court. The court refers the matter back to the Local Affairs Court.

November 3, 2002: The Local Affairs Court rejects Sheikh's petition and orders the demolition to be executed within 30 days of December 10, 2002.

Unspecified date: Sheikh appeals Local Affairs Court decision. Jerusalem District Court rejects his appeal but gives him 30 days from February 20, 2003 for demolition.
While all these legal maneuverings were going on, the two buildings were completed and occupied.

In 2004, the state filed criminal charges against Sheikh. On November 11, 2006, he was sentenced to eight months in jail and fined NIS 2,467,800. The court also ordered the municipality to destroy the building, but set the deadline for September 1, 2007.

Sheikh fled the country. On June 20, 2007, one of the occupants petitioned the Local Affairs Court to postpone the demolition. The court postponed the execution of the order until July 5, 2008. The state appealed the decision to Jerusalem District Court, which cancelled the lower court's postponement.

On January 14, 2008, Sheikh himself filed a request to postpone the demolition. The Local Affairs Court agreed to the request and set the deadline for the demolition for May 15, 2009.

Once again the state appealed the decision and once again, the Jerusalem District Court upheld the appeal. Sheikh appealed the district court decision to the Supreme Court, which turned him down.

In its summation of this incredible saga, which has lasted more than 10 years, Regavim attorney Amir Fisher wrote, "Despite the especially grave circumstances of this affair, and despite the enormous resources invested by state authorities in general, and the municipality in particular, to obtain the demolition orders against the buildings that are the subject of this petition, to defend the orders in a host of courts, to conduct a lengthy criminal action against [Sheikh] and obtain a conviction, the government and municipal officials have refrained up until now from carrying out their fundamental duty to demolish the illegal building in accordance with the final court ruling."