Mumbai Terrorist Attacks
Several sites in the major metropolitan city of Mumbai were attacked by terrorists the night of Nov. 26, 2008. The most prominent target was the Taj Mahal Hotel. More than 80 have been reported dead and 200 wounded in the attacks.
Israeli Report Update - 7-2
7-2
1. Terrorist Phone Transcripts Evoke Horror of Mumbai Attacks
by Hana Levi Julian
A small Jewish toddler was orphaned in Mumbai last November amid a reign of terror carried out for the "prestige of Islam," according to a transcript of phone calls (see below) between the terrorists and their handlers published this week in an Indian newspaper.
The terrorists murdered six Jews during the multi-pronged attack which began November 26, 2008 and ended in a river of blood at the Nariman Chabad House and additional locales. The three-day slaughter, which took the lives of dozens of others elsewhere in Mumbai, India as well, also carried the additional goal of damaging relations between Israel and India, as expressed by the handlers from Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based terrorist group.
The team of 10 terrorists struck the CST Railway Station, the Leopold Café, the Taj Hotel, the Oberoi Trident Hotel and the Nariman House Jewish Center, also known as the Chabad House. Among the 165 civilians and security personnel who were killed in the attack were 26 foreign nationals; 304 others were wounded as well.
‘Prestige of Islam’by Hana Levi Julian
A small Jewish toddler was orphaned in Mumbai last November amid a reign of terror carried out for the "prestige of Islam," according to a transcript of phone calls (see below) between the terrorists and their handlers published this week in an Indian newspaper.
The terrorists murdered six Jews during the multi-pronged attack which began November 26, 2008 and ended in a river of blood at the Nariman Chabad House and additional locales. The three-day slaughter, which took the lives of dozens of others elsewhere in Mumbai, India as well, also carried the additional goal of damaging relations between Israel and India, as expressed by the handlers from Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based terrorist group.
The team of 10 terrorists struck the CST Railway Station, the Leopold Café, the Taj Hotel, the Oberoi Trident Hotel and the Nariman House Jewish Center, also known as the Chabad House. Among the 165 civilians and security personnel who were killed in the attack were 26 foreign nationals; 304 others were wounded as well.
The transcripts, translated into English by Indian authorities, were obtained by the newspaper The Hindu. They showed that the terrorists were in constant contact with their leaders back home and received ongoing encouragement, guidance and support throughout the three-day siege. The attackers were told their actions, and their deaths, would uphold the "prestige of Islam."
Israeli citizens Rabbi Gabriel Holtzberg and his wife Rivka, who was pregnant at the time, were both brutally murdered, along with four other Jewish guests. The couple’s two-year-old son Moishe survived and escaped in the arms of his Indian nanny, who fled together with the building’s handyman. Moishe and his nanny were later brought by Rivka’s parents to live in Israel. According to the dossier, police rescued 14 persons from the Chabad House during the operation.
The two terrorists who manned the siege at the Nariman Chabad House were coached through the process by telephone while their handlers watched the events unfold on television, according to the first folder of the dossier:
“Throughout the operations, the terrorists received instructions over telephone from their controllers. The controllers warned the terrorists about the use of helicopters and about the landing of commandos on the terrace…. The police recovered two Kalashnikov rifles, four magazines, three pistols, about 250 live rounds of ammunition, four mobile phones and one GPS instrument.”
The transcripts of the phone conversations picked up by Indian authorities during the terror attack, as published in The Hindu, follow. All were recorded on November 27, 2008.
Taj Mahal Hotel
0108 hours
Pakistan caller: How many hostages do you have?
Mumbai terrorist: We have one from Belgium. We have killed him. There was one chap from Bangalore. He could be controlled only with a lot of effort.
Pakistan caller: I hope there is no Muslim amongst them?
Mumbai terrorist: No, none.
0126 hours
Pakistan caller: Are you setting the fire or not?
Mumbai terrorist: Not yet. I am getting a mattress ready for burning.
Pakistan caller: What did you do with the dead body [on the boa?
Mumbai terrorist: Left it behind.
Pakistan caller: Did you not open the locks for the water below? [Thought to be a pre-arranged plan to sink the vessel
Mumbai terrorist: No, they did not open the locks. We left it like that because of being in a hurry. We made a big mistake.
Pakistan caller: What big mistake?
Mumbai terrorist: When we were getting into the boat, the waves were quite high. Another boat came. Everyone raised an alarm that the Navy had come. Everyone jumped quickly. In this confusion, the satellite phone of Ismail got left behind.
0137 hours
Pakistan caller: The ATS (Anti-Terrorist Squad) chief has been killed. Your work is very important. Allah is helping you. The Vazir (Minister) should not escape. Try to set the place on fire.
Mumbai terrorist: We have set fire in four rooms.
Pakistan caller: People shall run helter skelter when they see the flames. Keep throwing a grenade every 15 minutes or so. It will terrorize.
0310 hours
Mumbai terrorist: Greetings!
Pakistan caller: Greetings! There are three ministers and one secretary of the cabinet in your hotel. We don’t know in which room.
Mumbai terrorist: Oh! That is good news! It is the icing on the cake.
Pakistan caller: Find those three, four persons and then get whatever you want from India.
Mumbai terrorist: Pray that we find them.
Pakistan caller: Do one thing. Throw one or two grenades on the Navy and police teams, which are outside.
Mumbai terrorist: Sorry. I simply can’t make out where they are.
Oberoi Trident Hotel
0353 hours
Pakistan caller 1: Brother Abdul. The media is comparing your action to 9/11. One senior police official has been killed.
Mumbai terrorist 1: We are on the 10th/11th floor. We have five hostages.
Pakistan caller 2: Everything is being recorded by the media. Inflict the maximum damage. Keep fighting. Don’t be taken alive.
Pakistan caller 1: Kill all hostages, except the two Muslims. Keep your phone switched on so that we can hear the gunfire.
Mumbai terrorist 2: We have three foreigners, including women. From Singapore and China.
Pakistan caller 1: Kill them.
(Voices of gunmen can be heard directing hostages to stand in a line, and telling two Muslims to stand aside. Sound of gunfire. Sound of cheering voices.)
Nariman House
1945 hours
Mumbai terrorist: Greetings! What did the Major-General say?
Pakistan caller: Greetings. The Major-General directed us to do what we like. We should not worry. The operation has to be concluded tomorrow morning. Pray to God. Keep two magazines and three grenades aside, and expend the rest of your ammunition.
Pakistan caller: Keep in mind that the hostages are of use only as long as you do not come under fire because of their safety. If you are still threatened, then don’t saddle yourself with the burden of the hostages. Immediately kill them.
Mumbai terrorist: Yes, we shall do accordingly, God willing.
Pakistan caller: The army claims to have done the work without any hostage being harmed. Another thing: Israel has made a request through diplomatic channels to save the hostages. If the hostages are killed, it will spoil relations between India and Israel.
Mumbai terrorist: So be it, God willing.
Pakistan caller: Stay alert.
2226 hours
Pakistan caller: Brother, you have to fight. This is a matter of prestige of Islam. Fight so that your fight becomes a shining example. Be strong in the name of Allah. You may feel tired or sleepy but the Commandos of Islam have left everything behind. Their mothers, their fathers, their homes. Brother, you have to fight for the victory of Islam. Be strong.
Mumbai terrorist: Amen!
Dossier Handed to Islamabad
The transcripts are part of the three-part dossier of evidence handed over by New Delhi to the Pakistani government this week as proof that the siege emanated from within its borders, a claim previously denied by Islamabad.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reiterated Tuesday, as officials had said for months, that the terrorists could not have been acting alone.
Pakistani Information Minister Sherry Rehman acknowledged Wednesday in response that Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, the single surviving terrorist, was indeed a Pakistani citizen. The admission comes after months of hedging by Islamabad, which claimed it could not locate in its databases the only one of the 10 terrorists not killed by Indian commandos during the siege.
Indian officials recovered a fishing trawler that had been hijacked from its Indian owner by the terrorists, as well as GPS instruments, a satellite phone, an 11-seat dinghy and various other articles, which they documented as evidence in the investigation.
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2. 'Obama' Think-Tank: Israel Should Cede Jerusalem Sovereignty
by Hillel Fendel
A think tank which is arguably the most influential in Washington is proposing an “interim” neutral administration to govern Jerusalem instead of Israel.
The Center for American Progress (CAP), headquartered just three blocks from the White House in Washington, is regarded as one of the most influential think tanks in the city, if not the most influential. “CAP has been an incubator for liberal thought and helped build the [Democratic part platform that triumphed in the 2008 campaign,” according to a Bloomberg.com report, which noted that some of the group's recommendations were adopted by Obama while he was still president-elect.
Four weeks ago, CAP held a panel discussion based on the premise that the Old City of Jerusalem is the main impediment in finding a solution to the Israel-Arab problem in the Holy Land. Michael Bell, a former Canadian Ambassador to Jordan, Egypt and Israel, presented a plan entitled the Jerusalem Old City Initiative. The plan does not call for the internationalization of Jerusalem -- but is not far off from that. It recommends that both Israel and a future state of Palestine appoint a third-party administrator that would run and police the city.
Bell explained that the plan calls for an administration or regime that would govern the Old City of Jerusalem for an interim period, without either Israel or the PA giving up their demands for sovereignty: “Frankly, I don’t think there’s going to be any agreement on sovereignty. I think that the two sides need not cede their demands for sovereignty; these claims can remain exactly as they are today. The sides would simply agree to delay the implementation or assertion of these claims until after an agreement is reached. Until then, a special administration would be set up, with the two sides agreeing to set this up, at least on an interim basis. And what this would do … would be to ensure dignity, human rights and equity for all living in the Old City, all visitors, and all pilgrims.”
Questions and Clarifications
The implication that these values are not currently provided and offered by Israel was not challenged. An audience member did ask afterwards why the status quo could not simply be retained, and Bell responded, “We thought of this option ourselves, but we thought it would be too intangible…”
He also said, “I don’t think you would find a majority on either [side to the conflic that would agree to defer its claims to sovereignty” - though Israel is already sovereign there, and would seemingly not mind retaining the status quo.
Bell did not quantify the plan’s “interim period,” though he did imply that it could very well be “close to permanent.”
“The Chief Administrator would be appointed by both sides to administer the city according to the mandate they give him,” Bell said. “He would be accountable to them, but the mandate would have to be sufficiently forthcoming. They would have to agree that he would handle crises such as massacre, land-grab, or whatever, without their intervention.”
CAP Report Cites Western Wall as Holiest Site
The CAP report on the event states, “The Temple Mount’s Western Wall is the most sacred place of Jewish worship, and the al-Haram al-Sharif (Temple Mount), where Muslims believe that Mohammad ascended into the heavens, is the third holiest site in Islam.” However, law professor Marshall Breger -- co-author of “Jerusalem's Holy Places and the Peace Process” and consultant to the Jerusalem Old City Initiative – who spoke at the panel about the competing religious claims, said more than once that it was the Temple Mount itself, and not the Western Wall outside it, that is the holiest place in Jerusalem.
Bell: Whether Belief Systems are Historically Valid is Beside the Point
Both Breger and Bell dismissed the claims of those who challenge Islam’s connection to the site. Breger agreed, but implied that current Islamic claims that Judaism’s Holy Temple was never built there are totally unfounded, noting that the Waqf itself published literature some decades ago boasting that the Dome of the Rock is on the site of the Holy Temple. At that point, Bell said, “It’s very important to realize that it’s beside the point whether these belief systems are historically valid or not… It’s not up to me to tell you whether your narrative is valid or not…”
Breger: Take Politics Out
Breger similarly said that the argument that Jerusalem is not so holy to Islam is “a silly one.” He said, “It’s true that when Jerusalem was not under Islamic control, such as during the Crusader period, the British Mandate and under Israeli control, there was more discussion about Jerusalem in Muslim sources… but it’s silly to say that it’s not so holy to Islam, because you have to accept a religion’s definition of what is holy.” However, this appeared to contradict what he said just minutes before: “One of our problems is that we have to weed out the ‘politics of religion’ from the ‘doctrine of religion’…”
He did not note that Jerusalem is not mentioned even once in the Quran.
Breger did say that the current Muslim clerical view that non-Muslims should not enter the Temple Mount “was clearly not always the Muslim view,” since just a few decades ago the Waqf "charged admission to non-Muslim visitors."
Daniel Kurzer on Jerusalem
Daniel Kurtzer, an Orthodox Jew and diplomat who has been credited with coining the concept “land for peace” and insisting long ago that Jerusalem be included in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, was the moderator. He said that discussing the option of imposing a settlement freeze on Jerusalem would make it easier to have serious negotiations.
Kurtzer further warned that a solution for Jerusalem had better be found before Israel builds its E-1 housing project near Maaleh Adumim and before the City of David (Silwan) Jewish settlement project proceeds much further.
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by Hillel Fendel
A think tank which is arguably the most influential in Washington is proposing an “interim” neutral administration to govern Jerusalem instead of Israel.
The Center for American Progress (CAP), headquartered just three blocks from the White House in Washington, is regarded as one of the most influential think tanks in the city, if not the most influential. “CAP has been an incubator for liberal thought and helped build the [Democratic part platform that triumphed in the 2008 campaign,” according to a Bloomberg.com report, which noted that some of the group's recommendations were adopted by Obama while he was still president-elect.
Four weeks ago, CAP held a panel discussion based on the premise that the Old City of Jerusalem is the main impediment in finding a solution to the Israel-Arab problem in the Holy Land. Michael Bell, a former Canadian Ambassador to Jordan, Egypt and Israel, presented a plan entitled the Jerusalem Old City Initiative. The plan does not call for the internationalization of Jerusalem -- but is not far off from that. It recommends that both Israel and a future state of Palestine appoint a third-party administrator that would run and police the city.
Bell explained that the plan calls for an administration or regime that would govern the Old City of Jerusalem for an interim period, without either Israel or the PA giving up their demands for sovereignty: “Frankly, I don’t think there’s going to be any agreement on sovereignty. I think that the two sides need not cede their demands for sovereignty; these claims can remain exactly as they are today. The sides would simply agree to delay the implementation or assertion of these claims until after an agreement is reached. Until then, a special administration would be set up, with the two sides agreeing to set this up, at least on an interim basis. And what this would do … would be to ensure dignity, human rights and equity for all living in the Old City, all visitors, and all pilgrims.”
Questions and Clarifications
The implication that these values are not currently provided and offered by Israel was not challenged. An audience member did ask afterwards why the status quo could not simply be retained, and Bell responded, “We thought of this option ourselves, but we thought it would be too intangible…”
He also said, “I don’t think you would find a majority on either [side to the conflic that would agree to defer its claims to sovereignty” - though Israel is already sovereign there, and would seemingly not mind retaining the status quo.
Bell did not quantify the plan’s “interim period,” though he did imply that it could very well be “close to permanent.”
“The Chief Administrator would be appointed by both sides to administer the city according to the mandate they give him,” Bell said. “He would be accountable to them, but the mandate would have to be sufficiently forthcoming. They would have to agree that he would handle crises such as massacre, land-grab, or whatever, without their intervention.”
CAP Report Cites Western Wall as Holiest Site
The CAP report on the event states, “The Temple Mount’s Western Wall is the most sacred place of Jewish worship, and the al-Haram al-Sharif (Temple Mount), where Muslims believe that Mohammad ascended into the heavens, is the third holiest site in Islam.” However, law professor Marshall Breger -- co-author of “Jerusalem's Holy Places and the Peace Process” and consultant to the Jerusalem Old City Initiative – who spoke at the panel about the competing religious claims, said more than once that it was the Temple Mount itself, and not the Western Wall outside it, that is the holiest place in Jerusalem.
Bell: Whether Belief Systems are Historically Valid is Beside the Point
Both Breger and Bell dismissed the claims of those who challenge Islam’s connection to the site. Breger agreed, but implied that current Islamic claims that Judaism’s Holy Temple was never built there are totally unfounded, noting that the Waqf itself published literature some decades ago boasting that the Dome of the Rock is on the site of the Holy Temple. At that point, Bell said, “It’s very important to realize that it’s beside the point whether these belief systems are historically valid or not… It’s not up to me to tell you whether your narrative is valid or not…”
Breger: Take Politics Out
Breger similarly said that the argument that Jerusalem is not so holy to Islam is “a silly one.” He said, “It’s true that when Jerusalem was not under Islamic control, such as during the Crusader period, the British Mandate and under Israeli control, there was more discussion about Jerusalem in Muslim sources… but it’s silly to say that it’s not so holy to Islam, because you have to accept a religion’s definition of what is holy.” However, this appeared to contradict what he said just minutes before: “One of our problems is that we have to weed out the ‘politics of religion’ from the ‘doctrine of religion’…”
He did not note that Jerusalem is not mentioned even once in the Quran.
Breger did say that the current Muslim clerical view that non-Muslims should not enter the Temple Mount “was clearly not always the Muslim view,” since just a few decades ago the Waqf "charged admission to non-Muslim visitors."
Daniel Kurzer on Jerusalem
Daniel Kurtzer, an Orthodox Jew and diplomat who has been credited with coining the concept “land for peace” and insisting long ago that Jerusalem be included in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, was the moderator. He said that discussing the option of imposing a settlement freeze on Jerusalem would make it easier to have serious negotiations.
Kurtzer further warned that a solution for Jerusalem had better be found before Israel builds its E-1 housing project near Maaleh Adumim and before the City of David (Silwan) Jewish settlement project proceeds much further.
Comment on this story
3. John Bolton: Israeli Attack is Only ‘Iranian Option’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
U.S. President Barack Obama’s policies have left an Israeli attack on Iran the only option in preventing the Muslim country from obtaining a nuclear weapon, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton wrote in The Washington Post Thursday.
In an article headlined “Time for an Israeli Strike?” Bolton answered his own question by stating, "Israel's decision of whether to use military force against Tehran's nuclear weapons program is more urgent than ever… Those who oppose Iran acquiring nuclear weapons are left in the near term with only the option of targeted military force against its weapons facilities.”
Iran's Nuclear Threat "Never in Doubt"
A long-time supporter of Israel and a harsh critic of the U.N., Bolton claimed that the Iranian nuclear threat “was never in doubt“ during the American presidential campaign, but is even more certain following the apparent failure of the resistance movement in Iran.
“With no other timely option, the already compelling logic for an Israeli strike is nearly inexorable. Israel is undoubtedly ratcheting forward its decision-making process. President Obama is almost certainly not,” Bolton wrote.
He chastised the Obama administration for strategic and tactical flaws by continuing its effort to negotiate with Iran. Bolton declared that American officials think Iran will be more anxious than ever to be “accepted” following the alleged rigged victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in last month’s election.
John Bolton “Tehran isn't going to negotiate in good faith,” Bolton maintained. “It hasn't [done for the past six years with the European Union as our surrogates, and it won't start now… Second, given Iran's nuclear progress, even if the stronger sanctions Obama has threatened could be agreed upon, they would not prevent Iran from fabricating weapons and delivery systems when it chooses, as it has been striving to do for the past 20 years. Time is too short, and sanctions failed long ago.”
Time is too short, and sanctions failed long ago.
Bolton expressed fears of President Obama’s “Plan B” that would allow Iran to proceed with its nuclear program for peaceful purposes while publicly stating it has no military objectives. “Obama would define such an outcome as 'success,’ even though in reality it would hardly be different from what Iran is doing and saying now,” the former ambassador continued. “Anyone who believes the Revolutionary Guard Corps will abandon its weaponization and ballistic missile programs probably believes that there was no fraud in Iran's June 12 election.”
Bolton wrote that negotiations with Iran would place Israel in “an even more dangerous trap."
Failure to stage a pre-emptive attack on Iran means that the world must “be prepared for an Iran with nuclear weapons, which some, including Obama advisers, believe could be contained and deterred,” Bolton reasoned. “That is not a hypothesis we should seek to test in the real world. The cost of error could be fatal.”
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by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
U.S. President Barack Obama’s policies have left an Israeli attack on Iran the only option in preventing the Muslim country from obtaining a nuclear weapon, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton wrote in The Washington Post Thursday.
In an article headlined “Time for an Israeli Strike?” Bolton answered his own question by stating, "Israel's decision of whether to use military force against Tehran's nuclear weapons program is more urgent than ever… Those who oppose Iran acquiring nuclear weapons are left in the near term with only the option of targeted military force against its weapons facilities.”
Iran's Nuclear Threat "Never in Doubt"
A long-time supporter of Israel and a harsh critic of the U.N., Bolton claimed that the Iranian nuclear threat “was never in doubt“ during the American presidential campaign, but is even more certain following the apparent failure of the resistance movement in Iran.
“With no other timely option, the already compelling logic for an Israeli strike is nearly inexorable. Israel is undoubtedly ratcheting forward its decision-making process. President Obama is almost certainly not,” Bolton wrote.
He chastised the Obama administration for strategic and tactical flaws by continuing its effort to negotiate with Iran. Bolton declared that American officials think Iran will be more anxious than ever to be “accepted” following the alleged rigged victory of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in last month’s election.
John Bolton “Tehran isn't going to negotiate in good faith,” Bolton maintained. “It hasn't [done for the past six years with the European Union as our surrogates, and it won't start now… Second, given Iran's nuclear progress, even if the stronger sanctions Obama has threatened could be agreed upon, they would not prevent Iran from fabricating weapons and delivery systems when it chooses, as it has been striving to do for the past 20 years. Time is too short, and sanctions failed long ago.”
Time is too short, and sanctions failed long ago.
Bolton expressed fears of President Obama’s “Plan B” that would allow Iran to proceed with its nuclear program for peaceful purposes while publicly stating it has no military objectives. “Obama would define such an outcome as 'success,’ even though in reality it would hardly be different from what Iran is doing and saying now,” the former ambassador continued. “Anyone who believes the Revolutionary Guard Corps will abandon its weaponization and ballistic missile programs probably believes that there was no fraud in Iran's June 12 election.”
Bolton wrote that negotiations with Iran would place Israel in “an even more dangerous trap."
Failure to stage a pre-emptive attack on Iran means that the world must “be prepared for an Iran with nuclear weapons, which some, including Obama advisers, believe could be contained and deterred,” Bolton reasoned. “That is not a hypothesis we should seek to test in the real world. The cost of error could be fatal.”
Comment on this story
4. Amnesty International Slams Israel; IDF Blasts Report
by Avraham Zuroff
Amnesty International’s annual report condemns Israel for its treatment of Palestinian Authority Arabs while only briefly noting atrocities attributed to the Hamas terrorist organization. Both the IDF and a watchdog on fair media research called the report findings biased and unethical.
Amnesty International issued Thursday its annual report, condemning Israel and PA Arabs for disproportional violence during Operation Cast Lead. The human rights watchdog blames Israel for killing over 1,400 PA Arabs in Gaza and wounding 5,000 others. The report blames the IDF for repeatedly breaching the laws of war by “by carrying out direct attacks on civilians and civilian buildings and attacks targeting Palestinian militants that caused a disproportionate toll among civilians.” The report also criticizes Israel for demolishing PA homes without permits and for erecting security barriers and army checkpoints.
The IDF called Amnesty International’s annual report one-sided and questions how Amnesty neglected to mention “the unbearable suffering of Israeli citizens from constant rocket attacks during the last eight years. It seems that it has fallen as a victim of manipulation of the Hamas terror organization.” The IDF furthermore criticized the report for being unbalanced and blasted Amnesty’s failure to mention the suffering endured by Israeli civilians and Israel’s security needs. “The report presents a distorted interpretation of the rules of fighting that don’t fit the rules enacted by democratic countries fighting against terror,” the IDF added.
The military noted that the report also ignored the IDF’s efforts to limit civilian casualties. During Operation Cast Lead, the IDF spared no expense to use advanced weaponry with pin-point accuracy to spare civilian casualties despite the Hamas terrorist organization’s firing Kassam rockets on Israeli towns and cities, often attacking from within civilian areas.
NGO Monitor: Amnesty Report Unethical
Prof. Gerald Steinberg, executive director of NGO Monitor, called Amnesty International’s report on Israel unethical and lacking research standards. Prof. Steinberg stated in a press release, "Amnesty's latest publication is further evidence of their obsessive attempts to condemn and isolate Israel. The lack of expertise and the façade of research are reflected by the effort to erase evidence of the massive use of human shields by Hamas and its aggression.”
NGO Monitor’s stated aim is to analyze and challenge interpretations of human rights organizations and to end the promotion of political and ideologically-motivated anti-Israel campaigns.
In an interview with Voice of Israel government radio, Steinberg said, “Who is Amnesty? They aren’t researchers. They are political. They don’t live here. Almost all of the reports are hearsay from Palestinian sources. All of this is a game. There is no ethical basis to their research.”
Steinberg feels that although the IDF has made mistakes during its military operations in Gaza, he feels that the report is one-sided. As an example, Hamas’s capture of Gilad Shalit is only referred to in a footnote. “They have lost the ethical conscious. I think that the Amnesty people must resign,” he stated.
The NGO Monitor notes that the report ignores well-documented evidence of Hamas's extensive use of human shields. Despite documented evidence of a gunman grabbing a child as cover, Amnesty found "no evidence that Hamas or other fighters directed the movement of civilians to shield military objectives from attacks."
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by Avraham Zuroff
Amnesty International’s annual report condemns Israel for its treatment of Palestinian Authority Arabs while only briefly noting atrocities attributed to the Hamas terrorist organization. Both the IDF and a watchdog on fair media research called the report findings biased and unethical.
Amnesty International issued Thursday its annual report, condemning Israel and PA Arabs for disproportional violence during Operation Cast Lead. The human rights watchdog blames Israel for killing over 1,400 PA Arabs in Gaza and wounding 5,000 others. The report blames the IDF for repeatedly breaching the laws of war by “by carrying out direct attacks on civilians and civilian buildings and attacks targeting Palestinian militants that caused a disproportionate toll among civilians.” The report also criticizes Israel for demolishing PA homes without permits and for erecting security barriers and army checkpoints.
The IDF called Amnesty International’s annual report one-sided and questions how Amnesty neglected to mention “the unbearable suffering of Israeli citizens from constant rocket attacks during the last eight years. It seems that it has fallen as a victim of manipulation of the Hamas terror organization.” The IDF furthermore criticized the report for being unbalanced and blasted Amnesty’s failure to mention the suffering endured by Israeli civilians and Israel’s security needs. “The report presents a distorted interpretation of the rules of fighting that don’t fit the rules enacted by democratic countries fighting against terror,” the IDF added.
The military noted that the report also ignored the IDF’s efforts to limit civilian casualties. During Operation Cast Lead, the IDF spared no expense to use advanced weaponry with pin-point accuracy to spare civilian casualties despite the Hamas terrorist organization’s firing Kassam rockets on Israeli towns and cities, often attacking from within civilian areas.
NGO Monitor: Amnesty Report Unethical
Prof. Gerald Steinberg, executive director of NGO Monitor, called Amnesty International’s report on Israel unethical and lacking research standards. Prof. Steinberg stated in a press release, "Amnesty's latest publication is further evidence of their obsessive attempts to condemn and isolate Israel. The lack of expertise and the façade of research are reflected by the effort to erase evidence of the massive use of human shields by Hamas and its aggression.”
NGO Monitor’s stated aim is to analyze and challenge interpretations of human rights organizations and to end the promotion of political and ideologically-motivated anti-Israel campaigns.
In an interview with Voice of Israel government radio, Steinberg said, “Who is Amnesty? They aren’t researchers. They are political. They don’t live here. Almost all of the reports are hearsay from Palestinian sources. All of this is a game. There is no ethical basis to their research.”
Steinberg feels that although the IDF has made mistakes during its military operations in Gaza, he feels that the report is one-sided. As an example, Hamas’s capture of Gilad Shalit is only referred to in a footnote. “They have lost the ethical conscious. I think that the Amnesty people must resign,” he stated.
The NGO Monitor notes that the report ignores well-documented evidence of Hamas's extensive use of human shields. Despite documented evidence of a gunman grabbing a child as cover, Amnesty found "no evidence that Hamas or other fighters directed the movement of civilians to shield military objectives from attacks."
Comment on this story
5. Key IDF Checkpoint Neutralized as Barak Returns from U.S.
by Gil Ronen
The plane carrying Defense Minister Ehud Barak back from a meeting with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell had not yet landed in Israel when the IDF announced that it would be effectively neutralizing its checkpoint at Hawara, south of Shechem. Starting this Friday, Arabs will be allowed to cross the checkpoint freely on foot without undergoing searches. Only vehicles will have to submit to searches.
Scenes from Hawara checkpoint (Israel news photos: Flash 90).
The Hawara checkpoint south of Shechem is considered one of the most important in the IDF’s network of security checkpoints in Judea and Samaria. For decades, IDF commanders have called Shechem “the capital of Arab terror” in Judea and Samaria, because of the large number of hard-core terror organizations and Arab murder squads that made it their home.
In recent years IDF soldiers at the checkpoint regularly discovered terror weapons on the bodies of Arabs who passed through the Hawara checkpoint. Numerous terror incidents occurred at the checkpoint itself.
Video: terrorists paid a 14-year-old NIS 100 to detonate a suicide belt against soldiers at Hawara (also viewable here).
Early last month, a 13-year-old Arab stabbed a soldier at the crossing, wounding him lightly.
Israeli initiative
The opening of the Hawara checkpoint is part of an Israeli initiative to reduce the entry of IDF forces into the cities of Ramallah, Kalkilya, Jericho and Bethlehem. The PA’s U.S.-trained forces will instead be trusted to police the cities 24 hours a day, as opposed to the previous arrangement, in which the IDF “owned the night” in the cities and operated freely there between midnight and 5 a.m.
DM 'playing roulette'
The Shomron Residents’ Council, a grassroots activist group, was riled by the decision, calling it “scandalous.” The Defense Minister "is gambling on the lives of the Jewish residents as if it were a game of roulette,” they accused. Through this move, they said, Barak has become “a collaborator with the terrorists who will now be able to move about freely and carry out their deeds with greater ease.” The council added that “it is sad to see the Chief of Staff carrying out a clearly illegal order.”
MK Aryeh Eldad said Wednesday that in recent years, a week did not go by without the discovery of terrorists trying to carry pipe bombs, suicide belts, knives and other murder weapons through Hawara. “The lives of hundreds of Israelis were saved by the Hawara checkpoint and the lives of thousands of other Israelis are now in danger because of a criminal gesture to Arabs and Americans,” he said.
Mortal danger
Hanael Durani, Mayor of Kedumim, sent a letter to Barak Wednesday in which he expressed stupefaction at the decision to open the checkpoint for free Arab movement.
“I am not telling you something that you, or the entire nation of Israel, do not know,” he wrote. “The security checks at this checkpoint saved the lives of many Jews. Cancelling the security checks does not only endanger the lives of the nearby Jewish residents of Samaria; even more than this it endangers all of the residents of Israel, who are exposed to daily mortal danger.”
“No state, and least of all the United States, would enable terrorists to move about freely,” he noted.
The IDF has removed about 140 road blockages and checkpoints in Judea and Samaria over the past year.
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by Gil Ronen
The plane carrying Defense Minister Ehud Barak back from a meeting with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell had not yet landed in Israel when the IDF announced that it would be effectively neutralizing its checkpoint at Hawara, south of Shechem. Starting this Friday, Arabs will be allowed to cross the checkpoint freely on foot without undergoing searches. Only vehicles will have to submit to searches.
Scenes from Hawara checkpoint (Israel news photos: Flash 90).
The Hawara checkpoint south of Shechem is considered one of the most important in the IDF’s network of security checkpoints in Judea and Samaria. For decades, IDF commanders have called Shechem “the capital of Arab terror” in Judea and Samaria, because of the large number of hard-core terror organizations and Arab murder squads that made it their home.
In recent years IDF soldiers at the checkpoint regularly discovered terror weapons on the bodies of Arabs who passed through the Hawara checkpoint. Numerous terror incidents occurred at the checkpoint itself.
Video: terrorists paid a 14-year-old NIS 100 to detonate a suicide belt against soldiers at Hawara (also viewable here).
Early last month, a 13-year-old Arab stabbed a soldier at the crossing, wounding him lightly.
Israeli initiative
The opening of the Hawara checkpoint is part of an Israeli initiative to reduce the entry of IDF forces into the cities of Ramallah, Kalkilya, Jericho and Bethlehem. The PA’s U.S.-trained forces will instead be trusted to police the cities 24 hours a day, as opposed to the previous arrangement, in which the IDF “owned the night” in the cities and operated freely there between midnight and 5 a.m.
DM 'playing roulette'
The Shomron Residents’ Council, a grassroots activist group, was riled by the decision, calling it “scandalous.” The Defense Minister "is gambling on the lives of the Jewish residents as if it were a game of roulette,” they accused. Through this move, they said, Barak has become “a collaborator with the terrorists who will now be able to move about freely and carry out their deeds with greater ease.” The council added that “it is sad to see the Chief of Staff carrying out a clearly illegal order.”
MK Aryeh Eldad said Wednesday that in recent years, a week did not go by without the discovery of terrorists trying to carry pipe bombs, suicide belts, knives and other murder weapons through Hawara. “The lives of hundreds of Israelis were saved by the Hawara checkpoint and the lives of thousands of other Israelis are now in danger because of a criminal gesture to Arabs and Americans,” he said.
Mortal danger
Hanael Durani, Mayor of Kedumim, sent a letter to Barak Wednesday in which he expressed stupefaction at the decision to open the checkpoint for free Arab movement.
“I am not telling you something that you, or the entire nation of Israel, do not know,” he wrote. “The security checks at this checkpoint saved the lives of many Jews. Cancelling the security checks does not only endanger the lives of the nearby Jewish residents of Samaria; even more than this it endangers all of the residents of Israel, who are exposed to daily mortal danger.”
“No state, and least of all the United States, would enable terrorists to move about freely,” he noted.
The IDF has removed about 140 road blockages and checkpoints in Judea and Samaria over the past year.
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6. MKs Demand IDF Rabbi’s Ouster
by Hillel Fendel
A report in the Hebrew-language Haaretz newspaper says the IDF Chief Rabbi is under fire for having told a conference two weeks ago that he feels women should not serve in the army. Opposition MKs respond by calling for his dismissal or reprimand.
The State itself recognizes the general incompatibility of religious women serving in the army by granting them an automatic military exemption if they request it on religious grounds. Many of them choose to volunteer for a year or more of national service instead.
Despite this, Rabbi Ronski’s remarks – which included the notation that “no rabbinic rulings authorize women" to serve in the army – have become the focus of a controversy, according to Haaretz.
The conference was attended by several dozen religious women soldiers, and concentrated on the special problems they face. “Some of those present, including some Orthodox rabbis and educators, were furious at Ronski's statement,” which he has since denied, the paper stated.
One woman was quoted as saying, “That he chose to say [thi in front of dozens of religious women soldiers, who have done something that is not easy for them - that is insensitivity." Others found his remarks “particularly outrageous” because he met his own wife while she was serving as a company clerk in his army unit. Haaretz did not note that this occurred before either of them became religious.
The paper did note that Rabbi Ronski was praised even by those who objected to his stance for helping religious women solve problems they encounter in the army.
Broadcaster Yedidya Meir told his Radio Kol Chai listeners Thursday morning, “More than Rabbi Ronski is against the enlistment of girls into the army, it appears that Haaretz is enlisted against Rabbi Ronski.”
Pines Demands Dismissal
MK Ophir Pines (Labor) was quick to take his cue from Haaretz, and called upon the Chief of Staff to fire Rabbi Ronski. “This is not the first outrageous statement he has made,” Pines said.
Other MKs were almost as adamant in their fury at Rabbi Ronski. These included Yochanan Plesner of Kadima (“I call upon the Chief of Staff to consider ending his term of duty”), Orit Zuaretz of Kadima (“Even if this is only his personal opinion, it would be better if he did not say them at all…”), Yaakov Edry and Nachman Shai of Kadima, and Miri Regev (Likud).
Orlev to Rabbi's Defense
MK Zevulun Orlev (Jewish Home), on the other hand, came to the aggressive defense of Rabbi Ronski. “One needs only basic reading comprehension skills to understand that Rabbi Ronski… has a sense of responsibility and is concerned for the increasing number of religious women in the IDF. Those who attack him purposely forget to note that the religious women who do not enlist in the army volunteer for national service, as opposed to the secular left-wing girls, whose representation in the army and national service continues to drop.”
Haaretz quoted Rabbi Ohad Teharlev, who was present at the conference, as saying that “one has to ask the leaders of the army whether there isn't a problem with the very appointment of someone who holds this view." Asked to clarify later, he told Israel National News, “I think that Rabbi Ronski's appointment as Chief Rabbi is a good one; he is a Torah scholar, he has a combat background, and he is very worthy. From the standpoint of this particular issue, the appointment might leave a bad taste, but the bottom line is that what’s important is not what he says, but what he does – and he goes above and beyond the call of duty in helping religious girls in the army.”
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by Hillel Fendel
A report in the Hebrew-language Haaretz newspaper says the IDF Chief Rabbi is under fire for having told a conference two weeks ago that he feels women should not serve in the army. Opposition MKs respond by calling for his dismissal or reprimand.
The State itself recognizes the general incompatibility of religious women serving in the army by granting them an automatic military exemption if they request it on religious grounds. Many of them choose to volunteer for a year or more of national service instead.
Despite this, Rabbi Ronski’s remarks – which included the notation that “no rabbinic rulings authorize women" to serve in the army – have become the focus of a controversy, according to Haaretz.
The conference was attended by several dozen religious women soldiers, and concentrated on the special problems they face. “Some of those present, including some Orthodox rabbis and educators, were furious at Ronski's statement,” which he has since denied, the paper stated.
One woman was quoted as saying, “That he chose to say [thi in front of dozens of religious women soldiers, who have done something that is not easy for them - that is insensitivity." Others found his remarks “particularly outrageous” because he met his own wife while she was serving as a company clerk in his army unit. Haaretz did not note that this occurred before either of them became religious.
The paper did note that Rabbi Ronski was praised even by those who objected to his stance for helping religious women solve problems they encounter in the army.
Broadcaster Yedidya Meir told his Radio Kol Chai listeners Thursday morning, “More than Rabbi Ronski is against the enlistment of girls into the army, it appears that Haaretz is enlisted against Rabbi Ronski.”
Pines Demands Dismissal
MK Ophir Pines (Labor) was quick to take his cue from Haaretz, and called upon the Chief of Staff to fire Rabbi Ronski. “This is not the first outrageous statement he has made,” Pines said.
Other MKs were almost as adamant in their fury at Rabbi Ronski. These included Yochanan Plesner of Kadima (“I call upon the Chief of Staff to consider ending his term of duty”), Orit Zuaretz of Kadima (“Even if this is only his personal opinion, it would be better if he did not say them at all…”), Yaakov Edry and Nachman Shai of Kadima, and Miri Regev (Likud).
Orlev to Rabbi's Defense
MK Zevulun Orlev (Jewish Home), on the other hand, came to the aggressive defense of Rabbi Ronski. “One needs only basic reading comprehension skills to understand that Rabbi Ronski… has a sense of responsibility and is concerned for the increasing number of religious women in the IDF. Those who attack him purposely forget to note that the religious women who do not enlist in the army volunteer for national service, as opposed to the secular left-wing girls, whose representation in the army and national service continues to drop.”
Haaretz quoted Rabbi Ohad Teharlev, who was present at the conference, as saying that “one has to ask the leaders of the army whether there isn't a problem with the very appointment of someone who holds this view." Asked to clarify later, he told Israel National News, “I think that Rabbi Ronski's appointment as Chief Rabbi is a good one; he is a Torah scholar, he has a combat background, and he is very worthy. From the standpoint of this particular issue, the appointment might leave a bad taste, but the bottom line is that what’s important is not what he says, but what he does – and he goes above and beyond the call of duty in helping religious girls in the army.”
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7. ‘Kristallnacht’ at Homesh: Arabs Burned Holy Books
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Arabs raided the yeshiva of Homesh in Samaria on Wednesday and torched dozens of books of the Talmud and of the Five Books of Moses, leaving behind a pile of ashes. The arsonists ignored personal equipment, including beds, tables and chairs, and concentrated all their energies on Jewish texts.
“It was a horrible sight to see dozen of holy books of the Talmud and Bible burned almost completely,” said Rabbi Elishama Cohen, head of the yeshiva that has been the stronghold of the community the past two years. Homesh was one of four towns in northern Samaria that the government destroyed after expelling the residents during the “Disengagement” program four years ago.
“The Arabs did this very thoroughly and carefully,” Rabbi Cohen added. “We succeeded in saving the remains of some of the burned books and several pages where the letters still are recognizable, the same pages we learned the past several days.”
Return to Homesh leader Yossi Dagan said that the yeshiva students gathered the remains of the books to bury them according to Jewish law. “We demand that the Prime Minister establish a community larger than the original Homesh. This needs to be the answer of the government to this desecration and national humiliation."
The Return to Homesh movement re-established the town two years ago and has maintained a constant presence despite several subsequent expulsions by Israeli police, who also have destroyed a wooden building the yeshiva students built for study.
Rabbi Cohen said that instead of the spirit of the yeshiva students being broken, their numbers will increase next year as a reaction to desecration. Samaria Regional Council chairman Gershon Mesika called on the police to search and arrest the perpetrators. Police said they have begun an investigation.
Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon commented, “Whoever has not yet understood with whom we are dealing should look at the pictures of the burnt holy books. If Jews had burned dozens of Muslim books, the whole world would be shaking.”
Yule Edelstein, Minister of Information and Diaspora Affairs, said. "To my sorrow, this grave incident is a result of classic anti-Semitism and a reminder of the dark days of the past. It is sad to think that if there were permanent homes and official security, we would not be witness to this grave incident.”
Shas Knesset Member Rabbi Chaim Amsaliem called on Defense Minister Ehud Barak to allow the construction of a permanent yeshiva with proper security. The vandalism of the enemies of Israel proves that decision makers are playing in to their hands.”
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by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Arabs raided the yeshiva of Homesh in Samaria on Wednesday and torched dozens of books of the Talmud and of the Five Books of Moses, leaving behind a pile of ashes. The arsonists ignored personal equipment, including beds, tables and chairs, and concentrated all their energies on Jewish texts.
“It was a horrible sight to see dozen of holy books of the Talmud and Bible burned almost completely,” said Rabbi Elishama Cohen, head of the yeshiva that has been the stronghold of the community the past two years. Homesh was one of four towns in northern Samaria that the government destroyed after expelling the residents during the “Disengagement” program four years ago.
“The Arabs did this very thoroughly and carefully,” Rabbi Cohen added. “We succeeded in saving the remains of some of the burned books and several pages where the letters still are recognizable, the same pages we learned the past several days.”
Return to Homesh leader Yossi Dagan said that the yeshiva students gathered the remains of the books to bury them according to Jewish law. “We demand that the Prime Minister establish a community larger than the original Homesh. This needs to be the answer of the government to this desecration and national humiliation."
The Return to Homesh movement re-established the town two years ago and has maintained a constant presence despite several subsequent expulsions by Israeli police, who also have destroyed a wooden building the yeshiva students built for study.
Rabbi Cohen said that instead of the spirit of the yeshiva students being broken, their numbers will increase next year as a reaction to desecration. Samaria Regional Council chairman Gershon Mesika called on the police to search and arrest the perpetrators. Police said they have begun an investigation.
Communications Minister Moshe Kahlon commented, “Whoever has not yet understood with whom we are dealing should look at the pictures of the burnt holy books. If Jews had burned dozens of Muslim books, the whole world would be shaking.”
Yule Edelstein, Minister of Information and Diaspora Affairs, said. "To my sorrow, this grave incident is a result of classic anti-Semitism and a reminder of the dark days of the past. It is sad to think that if there were permanent homes and official security, we would not be witness to this grave incident.”
Shas Knesset Member Rabbi Chaim Amsaliem called on Defense Minister Ehud Barak to allow the construction of a permanent yeshiva with proper security. The vandalism of the enemies of Israel proves that decision makers are playing in to their hands.”
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7-1
1. Ahmadinejad: Obama Has Removed His Mask
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Iranians that U.S. President Barack Obama has “removed his mask” and has revealed “the real face of the American people.” He charged that President Obama offered to negotiate with Iran but has not kept true to his word.
He made his statements in a televised appearance translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) just before the government affirmed results of recent elections that showed he defeated his opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, in a landslide.
The United States “remembers the days the world was ruled by emperors in the Middle Ages. Those days are over. Open your eyes. The world has changed…. I inform them for the umpteenth time that the nearly 40 million people who participated in the elections are not comfortable with their (the Americans') conduct. They will stand against them.”
Millions of Ahmadinejad‘s opponents took to the streets to protest the election results, which they said were rigged, but the Iranian military and police forces apparently have taken extreme measures to silence demonstrators. Following a media blackout and a brief victory by opponents who used Twitter to reveal police violence, reports have filtered out that hundreds of opponents have “disappeared,” either executed or imprisoned.
The Paris-based Federation of Human Rights has alleged that at least 2,000 people have been arrested. Associated Press reported Wednesday that the authorities banned one newspaper that denounced the government as “illegitimate.”
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by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told Iranians that U.S. President Barack Obama has “removed his mask” and has revealed “the real face of the American people.” He charged that President Obama offered to negotiate with Iran but has not kept true to his word.
He made his statements in a televised appearance translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) just before the government affirmed results of recent elections that showed he defeated his opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi, in a landslide.
The United States “remembers the days the world was ruled by emperors in the Middle Ages. Those days are over. Open your eyes. The world has changed…. I inform them for the umpteenth time that the nearly 40 million people who participated in the elections are not comfortable with their (the Americans') conduct. They will stand against them.”
Millions of Ahmadinejad‘s opponents took to the streets to protest the election results, which they said were rigged, but the Iranian military and police forces apparently have taken extreme measures to silence demonstrators. Following a media blackout and a brief victory by opponents who used Twitter to reveal police violence, reports have filtered out that hundreds of opponents have “disappeared,” either executed or imprisoned.
The Paris-based Federation of Human Rights has alleged that at least 2,000 people have been arrested. Associated Press reported Wednesday that the authorities banned one newspaper that denounced the government as “illegitimate.”
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2. Likud MK: Boycott July 4 Festivities
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Likud Knesset Member Danny Danon has called on party leader and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to boycott Wednesday evening’s annual U.S. Independence Day reception. He said that most coalition MKs will join him to protest what he called American contempt towards Israel.
The American holiday falls on July 4, which this year coincides with the Sabbath. The annual reception will be held at the home of American Ambassador James Cunningham in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.
“We are bringing a clear message to the United States" that their politicians were not elected to tell Israel what to do, he told Voice of Israel government radio Wednesday morning. MK Danon is one of numerous Israeli officials who are increasingly expressing anger at declarations by the Obama administration that Israel must halt all building for Jews in Judea and Samaria.
MK Danon rejected the idea to escalate the boycott and halt cooperation with the U.S. in the field of defense and intelligence, explaining that “our ties are deep and strong.”
Foreign influence on Israeli policies was further highlighted this week by reports that French President Nicolas Sarkozy told Prime Minister Netanyahu that he should dismiss Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu). The French president also said that Kadima leader MK Tzipi Livni made a mistake by not joining the coalition government.
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by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Likud Knesset Member Danny Danon has called on party leader and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to boycott Wednesday evening’s annual U.S. Independence Day reception. He said that most coalition MKs will join him to protest what he called American contempt towards Israel.
The American holiday falls on July 4, which this year coincides with the Sabbath. The annual reception will be held at the home of American Ambassador James Cunningham in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.
“We are bringing a clear message to the United States" that their politicians were not elected to tell Israel what to do, he told Voice of Israel government radio Wednesday morning. MK Danon is one of numerous Israeli officials who are increasingly expressing anger at declarations by the Obama administration that Israel must halt all building for Jews in Judea and Samaria.
MK Danon rejected the idea to escalate the boycott and halt cooperation with the U.S. in the field of defense and intelligence, explaining that “our ties are deep and strong.”
Foreign influence on Israeli policies was further highlighted this week by reports that French President Nicolas Sarkozy told Prime Minister Netanyahu that he should dismiss Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu). The French president also said that Kadima leader MK Tzipi Livni made a mistake by not joining the coalition government.
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3. Med Students Bought Jewish Holocaust Bones
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Medical students at the Iasi University in Romania allegedly have been purchasing bones from mass Holocaust graves and using them for research, the European Jewish Press (EJP) reported. The Rabbinical Center of Europe has been investigating the charges.
The alleged practice came to light after an American student notified the rabbinical group that local students bought bones and skulls of victims of the Holocaust who were buried in a nearby village. The bones were reportedly sold for $40 a piece and were used in research in place of those made of plastic.
Thousands of students from all over the world attend the university, which includes a well-known school of medicine and pharmacy.
The Rabbinical Center sent two students to the university to pose as medical students in order to verify or deny the claim. A caretaker of the mass grave did not deny being involved in the sale of the bones but apparently was suspicious of the would-be buyers and referred them elsewhere.
One Jewish student, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said it was obvious the caretaker was concealing information, according to EJP.
Jewish medical students confirmed to the two ”students” that information about the sale of human bones was available throughout the university, but no single purchaser has been identified.
The price for the bones included the workers’ task to “clean them up nicely.”
One of two death trains that left Isai during the Nazi regime stopped in the village of Podu Iloaiei, where nearly 1,200 Jews were buried in a mass grave after dying of starvation.
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by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Medical students at the Iasi University in Romania allegedly have been purchasing bones from mass Holocaust graves and using them for research, the European Jewish Press (EJP) reported. The Rabbinical Center of Europe has been investigating the charges.
The alleged practice came to light after an American student notified the rabbinical group that local students bought bones and skulls of victims of the Holocaust who were buried in a nearby village. The bones were reportedly sold for $40 a piece and were used in research in place of those made of plastic.
Thousands of students from all over the world attend the university, which includes a well-known school of medicine and pharmacy.
The Rabbinical Center sent two students to the university to pose as medical students in order to verify or deny the claim. A caretaker of the mass grave did not deny being involved in the sale of the bones but apparently was suspicious of the would-be buyers and referred them elsewhere.
One Jewish student, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, said it was obvious the caretaker was concealing information, according to EJP.
Jewish medical students confirmed to the two ”students” that information about the sale of human bones was available throughout the university, but no single purchaser has been identified.
The price for the bones included the workers’ task to “clean them up nicely.”
One of two death trains that left Isai during the Nazi regime stopped in the village of Podu Iloaiei, where nearly 1,200 Jews were buried in a mass grave after dying of starvation.
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4. Peres Challenges Saudi King to Visit Jerusalem
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
President Shimon Peres, speaking at an interfaith conference in Kazakhstan, challenged Saudi Arabian King Abdullah to visit Jerusalem, which Muslims claim as their third holiest city. As the president spoke, the Iranian delegation walked out. Its representative explained, “Peres represents an abominable Zionist personality, and his place is not here.”
The call to the Saudi king came one month after U.S. President Barack Obama, in his Cairo speech to the Muslim world, urged the Arab world to fly the Israeli flag, allow Israel’s El Al airplanes to fly over their skies and recognize Jerusalem as the home of three faiths. “I call on his excellency, the king of Saudi Arabia, to meet wherever you wish, in Jerusalem, in Riyadh, in this beautiful country of Kazakhstan; we will be able to realize your vision” of peace, the president said.
Muslims consider the Israeli capital to be their third holiest city, but its leaders rarely have visited there or anywhere else in Israel. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s only trip to Jerusalem was for the funeral of former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin.
In his speech, President Peres told the audience, “We must stand up and retract fanaticism. Their god is not our god, the god of killers is not our god.”
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger raised the plight of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit at the conference and held up a picture of the soldier, who was kidnapped three years and one week ago by Hamas and allied terrorists. "No one knows where he is and how he fares," Rabbi Metzger said.
The Israeli delegation to the Muslim country of Kazakhstan also concentrated on economic and trade issues. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev told his ministers to close major economic deals with the Israeli delegation. An agreement was signed between Israel and Kazakhstan for space cooperation.
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by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
President Shimon Peres, speaking at an interfaith conference in Kazakhstan, challenged Saudi Arabian King Abdullah to visit Jerusalem, which Muslims claim as their third holiest city. As the president spoke, the Iranian delegation walked out. Its representative explained, “Peres represents an abominable Zionist personality, and his place is not here.”
The call to the Saudi king came one month after U.S. President Barack Obama, in his Cairo speech to the Muslim world, urged the Arab world to fly the Israeli flag, allow Israel’s El Al airplanes to fly over their skies and recognize Jerusalem as the home of three faiths. “I call on his excellency, the king of Saudi Arabia, to meet wherever you wish, in Jerusalem, in Riyadh, in this beautiful country of Kazakhstan; we will be able to realize your vision” of peace, the president said.
Muslims consider the Israeli capital to be their third holiest city, but its leaders rarely have visited there or anywhere else in Israel. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s only trip to Jerusalem was for the funeral of former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin.
In his speech, President Peres told the audience, “We must stand up and retract fanaticism. Their god is not our god, the god of killers is not our god.”
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger raised the plight of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit at the conference and held up a picture of the soldier, who was kidnapped three years and one week ago by Hamas and allied terrorists. "No one knows where he is and how he fares," Rabbi Metzger said.
The Israeli delegation to the Muslim country of Kazakhstan also concentrated on economic and trade issues. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev told his ministers to close major economic deals with the Israeli delegation. An agreement was signed between Israel and Kazakhstan for space cooperation.
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5. Defending Zionist Farmers: The 'Jewish Guards' Rise Again
by Chagit Rotenberg, translated and adapted by Rochel Sylvetsky
The following is an article translated and adapted from the June 18 edition of the Hebrew-language weekly B'Sheva.
It is hard to imagine a lynching in Israel’s pastoral, sun drenched south - the Negev - but sheep grower Oz Davidian is alive only because he was able to break away for a few seconds from the Bedouin marauders who attacked him on his own property in broad daylight. He managed to dial the emergency hotline, causing his attackers to flee, not before they told him: “You will leave this place dead or alive. We will destroy your livelihood until you run away”. Davidian needed stitches and surgical care. The Bedouins who tried to murder him are out of jail until the case comes to court.
Two weeks ago, Davidian woke up to discover that all his sheep had disappeared. Israel’s Border Police used scouts to find where the thieves, local Bedouins, had hidden them. The 30-40 complaints he has filed in the Ofakim police station over the last two years have had no deterring effect as the police simply interrogated and then released the offenders.
Davidian’s story is but one example of the surrealistic conditions under which farmers in the southern Negev and northern Galilee of Israel have been trying to survive. Arab and Bedouin marauders strike again and again in their attempts to force Israeli farmers to leave their land, situated well within the pre-1967 Green Line.
Arab and Bedouin marauders strike again and again in their attempts to force Israeli farmers to leave their land.
The beleaguered owners, whose financial losses are catastrophic, have turned to law enforcement agencies but found that police are understaffed. If a case finally gets to court, the punishments do not fit the severity of the crime. Eventually some of the farmers give up and allow the Arab aggressors to take over their land.
Two years ago, this depressing picture began to change. A dynamic group of young Israelis formed a group called “The New Guardians” and began to help distressed farmers and sheep growers. The name was chosen to bring to mind the legendary “Guardian” group that arose to protect Jewish settlements from Arab attacks in the pre-State period from 1909 to 1920, when the area was under Turkish rule.
Silberman and co-guard on patrol Yoel Silberman, a combat officer, took an extended leave from the IDF to found the “New Guardians” group. He realized that his family, third generation farmers from Tzippori in the Galilee, were going to lose their livelihood if he didn’t take action to guard their property. During the three-year period prior to Yoel’s initiative, his father filed over 250 complaints against Arabs who cut his fences, caused tens of thousands of shekels worth of damage and threatened his life. Most of the police files were closed as being of “insufficient interest to the public.”
“One day we took our flocks out to graze on our land north of the (Jewish) Galilee town of Hoshaya”, he recalls, “and found that Arab flocks had broken in. We got them out, but four Israeli Arabs from the nearby village arrived and began punching us and throwing rocks. They called my father to tell him that they intend to kill me. Border Police were there, but they and their vehicle were attacked as well. The next time they cut our fence, my father went to the police while we held up their flocks. Arabs followed him into Hoshaya, beat him and stole his car right in front of the town’s offices. They were freed after several days in jail.”
Silberman set up a lookout post, highlighted with Israeli flags all around it, and little by little, people who identified with his idea began joining him. Two more guard posts sprang up, staffed with volunteers who kept watch 24 hours a day in other areas. The project expanded through the Galilee and is now being set up in the Negev as well, where paying “protection” monies or goods to avoid trouble with Bedouin neighbors is rampant.
Silberman feels that the lessons of history have not been learned by the powers that be, but he is careful to stay within the parameters of the law. He defines his group as providers of extra help for existing law enforcement agencies. A hotline set up by the group is manned by 100 permanent and another 200 volunteer members who rush to threatened areas in real time and set up preventive ambushes at night.
The Guardians take advantage of a property law called that allows a landowner to incarcerate invading livestock in equal value to damage inflicted on his property until the end of court procedures. “This perfectly lawful measure”, he says, “makes them think twice before trespassing. When fences are cut we immediately call the police, estimate the damage, rope in the thieves’ horses, cows and calves and file a complaint.”
The New Guardians are deeply ideological. “The problem has as much to do with our loss of attachment to the land and interest in self advancement and the easy life as it does with the trespassers’ criminal acts”, claims Silberman. “We have to discover and renew our ideology of love for this land. Those who attached to it most strongly will end up having it.” It is not surprising that youngsters from religious Zionists high schools and religious and secular pre-army program students are a significant source of manpower for the New Guardians.
He notes that kibbutzim once had no fences but now are enclosed and afraid for their youngsters to go out horseback or bike riding due to Arab attackers. “We also have to deal with the fear and insecurity caused by lack of solutions to the problem. We want people to feel secure in our homeland. Kibbutz Kfar HaNassi had a longstanding argument with Arab neighbors over an area of land and finally abandoned it to avoid continued violence, although it had been purchased by the Jewish National Fund over 100 years ago,” he adds.
The New Guardians have also come up with creative, positive ways to let their Zionism show. On Israel’s Independence Day, they counter (Israeli) Arab pro-Palestinian Authority rallies, where PA flags are waved, with nearby “happenings” at which they sing the Israeli national anthem and dance and wave Israeli flags in order to show the joy and strength they feel on this holiday.
The organization would love to be superfluous and would like to see the government put an end to the proliferation of unlawful flocks which have not been inoculated, illegal building, police inaction and protection payments. At this point, they need help to continue their aid to farmers and to encourage legislation that will give the landowners more authority to act to protect themselves. They also want to create a grassroots movement that will lead to enhanced ideological convictions and a change in attitude towards the problem.
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by Chagit Rotenberg, translated and adapted by Rochel Sylvetsky
The following is an article translated and adapted from the June 18 edition of the Hebrew-language weekly B'Sheva.
It is hard to imagine a lynching in Israel’s pastoral, sun drenched south - the Negev - but sheep grower Oz Davidian is alive only because he was able to break away for a few seconds from the Bedouin marauders who attacked him on his own property in broad daylight. He managed to dial the emergency hotline, causing his attackers to flee, not before they told him: “You will leave this place dead or alive. We will destroy your livelihood until you run away”. Davidian needed stitches and surgical care. The Bedouins who tried to murder him are out of jail until the case comes to court.
Two weeks ago, Davidian woke up to discover that all his sheep had disappeared. Israel’s Border Police used scouts to find where the thieves, local Bedouins, had hidden them. The 30-40 complaints he has filed in the Ofakim police station over the last two years have had no deterring effect as the police simply interrogated and then released the offenders.
Davidian’s story is but one example of the surrealistic conditions under which farmers in the southern Negev and northern Galilee of Israel have been trying to survive. Arab and Bedouin marauders strike again and again in their attempts to force Israeli farmers to leave their land, situated well within the pre-1967 Green Line.
Arab and Bedouin marauders strike again and again in their attempts to force Israeli farmers to leave their land.
The beleaguered owners, whose financial losses are catastrophic, have turned to law enforcement agencies but found that police are understaffed. If a case finally gets to court, the punishments do not fit the severity of the crime. Eventually some of the farmers give up and allow the Arab aggressors to take over their land.
Two years ago, this depressing picture began to change. A dynamic group of young Israelis formed a group called “The New Guardians” and began to help distressed farmers and sheep growers. The name was chosen to bring to mind the legendary “Guardian” group that arose to protect Jewish settlements from Arab attacks in the pre-State period from 1909 to 1920, when the area was under Turkish rule.
Silberman and co-guard on patrol Yoel Silberman, a combat officer, took an extended leave from the IDF to found the “New Guardians” group. He realized that his family, third generation farmers from Tzippori in the Galilee, were going to lose their livelihood if he didn’t take action to guard their property. During the three-year period prior to Yoel’s initiative, his father filed over 250 complaints against Arabs who cut his fences, caused tens of thousands of shekels worth of damage and threatened his life. Most of the police files were closed as being of “insufficient interest to the public.”
“One day we took our flocks out to graze on our land north of the (Jewish) Galilee town of Hoshaya”, he recalls, “and found that Arab flocks had broken in. We got them out, but four Israeli Arabs from the nearby village arrived and began punching us and throwing rocks. They called my father to tell him that they intend to kill me. Border Police were there, but they and their vehicle were attacked as well. The next time they cut our fence, my father went to the police while we held up their flocks. Arabs followed him into Hoshaya, beat him and stole his car right in front of the town’s offices. They were freed after several days in jail.”
Silberman set up a lookout post, highlighted with Israeli flags all around it, and little by little, people who identified with his idea began joining him. Two more guard posts sprang up, staffed with volunteers who kept watch 24 hours a day in other areas. The project expanded through the Galilee and is now being set up in the Negev as well, where paying “protection” monies or goods to avoid trouble with Bedouin neighbors is rampant.
Silberman feels that the lessons of history have not been learned by the powers that be, but he is careful to stay within the parameters of the law. He defines his group as providers of extra help for existing law enforcement agencies. A hotline set up by the group is manned by 100 permanent and another 200 volunteer members who rush to threatened areas in real time and set up preventive ambushes at night.
The Guardians take advantage of a property law called that allows a landowner to incarcerate invading livestock in equal value to damage inflicted on his property until the end of court procedures. “This perfectly lawful measure”, he says, “makes them think twice before trespassing. When fences are cut we immediately call the police, estimate the damage, rope in the thieves’ horses, cows and calves and file a complaint.”
The New Guardians are deeply ideological. “The problem has as much to do with our loss of attachment to the land and interest in self advancement and the easy life as it does with the trespassers’ criminal acts”, claims Silberman. “We have to discover and renew our ideology of love for this land. Those who attached to it most strongly will end up having it.” It is not surprising that youngsters from religious Zionists high schools and religious and secular pre-army program students are a significant source of manpower for the New Guardians.
He notes that kibbutzim once had no fences but now are enclosed and afraid for their youngsters to go out horseback or bike riding due to Arab attackers. “We also have to deal with the fear and insecurity caused by lack of solutions to the problem. We want people to feel secure in our homeland. Kibbutz Kfar HaNassi had a longstanding argument with Arab neighbors over an area of land and finally abandoned it to avoid continued violence, although it had been purchased by the Jewish National Fund over 100 years ago,” he adds.
The New Guardians have also come up with creative, positive ways to let their Zionism show. On Israel’s Independence Day, they counter (Israeli) Arab pro-Palestinian Authority rallies, where PA flags are waved, with nearby “happenings” at which they sing the Israeli national anthem and dance and wave Israeli flags in order to show the joy and strength they feel on this holiday.
The organization would love to be superfluous and would like to see the government put an end to the proliferation of unlawful flocks which have not been inoculated, illegal building, police inaction and protection payments. At this point, they need help to continue their aid to farmers and to encourage legislation that will give the landowners more authority to act to protect themselves. They also want to create a grassroots movement that will lead to enhanced ideological convictions and a change in attitude towards the problem.
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6. 1,700-Year-Old Mosaic Floor to be Unveiled in Lod
by Hana Levi Julian
An ancient mosaic floor featuring the flora and fauna enjoyed by the artisans nearly two millennia ago is about to be unveiled in the city of Lod. The site of the mosaic will be open to the general public from July 9 through July 11 – but one can also observe the conservation work being performed on the mosaic in a live broadcast via the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) web site at www.antiquities.org.il .
The 1,700-year-old floor, one of the most magnificent and largest mosaics ever revealed in the State of Israel, was first uncovered in the city in 1996.
Amazingly well-preserved, the mosaic spans 180 square meters and is composed of colored carpets that depict in startling detail the mammals, birds, fish and a variety of flora, as well as sailing and merchant ships from the period.
It is not known what kind of building the mosaic floor graced.
The discovery was made during an excavation led by archaeologist Miriam Avissar prior to the widening of a road – Rehov HeHalutz – by the Lod municipality. It caused a wave of excitement in Israel, prompting an influx of 30,000 tourists who came to view the beautiful mosaic when it was first opened to the public.
The mosaic was soon covered up again in order to protect it until funding was secured to pay for proper restoration and permanent exhibition of the archaeological treasure. The Leon Levy Foundation and Shelby White, chairman of the Friends of the of the Israel Antiquities Authority, has since donated the funds to enable the IAA to excavate, conserve and establish the Lod Mosaic Archaeological Center on the site.
The conservation and development work are scheduled to take approximately two years. During that period, and because of the rarity and exceptional quality of the find, a section of the mosaic will be sent on exhibit to the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. During this time the planning and implementation work will carried out at the site in Lod, at the end of which the mosaic will be returned to its permanent home and the site will be opened to the public.
How to reach the site: The mosaic is located in the eastern part of Lod, next to the entrance to the city from Ginnaton Junction. This junction is easily reached from Ben-Gurion International Airport and from the country’s two main highways: Highway 1, which links Tel Aviv with Jerusalem, and Highway 6, which connects the north of the country with the south. The site is located between two streets: He-Halutz Street which leads to the market place and Struma Street, which leads to the city’s historic center.
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by Hana Levi Julian
An ancient mosaic floor featuring the flora and fauna enjoyed by the artisans nearly two millennia ago is about to be unveiled in the city of Lod. The site of the mosaic will be open to the general public from July 9 through July 11 – but one can also observe the conservation work being performed on the mosaic in a live broadcast via the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) web site at www.antiquities.org.il .
The 1,700-year-old floor, one of the most magnificent and largest mosaics ever revealed in the State of Israel, was first uncovered in the city in 1996.
Amazingly well-preserved, the mosaic spans 180 square meters and is composed of colored carpets that depict in startling detail the mammals, birds, fish and a variety of flora, as well as sailing and merchant ships from the period.
It is not known what kind of building the mosaic floor graced.
The discovery was made during an excavation led by archaeologist Miriam Avissar prior to the widening of a road – Rehov HeHalutz – by the Lod municipality. It caused a wave of excitement in Israel, prompting an influx of 30,000 tourists who came to view the beautiful mosaic when it was first opened to the public.
The mosaic was soon covered up again in order to protect it until funding was secured to pay for proper restoration and permanent exhibition of the archaeological treasure. The Leon Levy Foundation and Shelby White, chairman of the Friends of the of the Israel Antiquities Authority, has since donated the funds to enable the IAA to excavate, conserve and establish the Lod Mosaic Archaeological Center on the site.
The conservation and development work are scheduled to take approximately two years. During that period, and because of the rarity and exceptional quality of the find, a section of the mosaic will be sent on exhibit to the prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. During this time the planning and implementation work will carried out at the site in Lod, at the end of which the mosaic will be returned to its permanent home and the site will be opened to the public.
How to reach the site: The mosaic is located in the eastern part of Lod, next to the entrance to the city from Ginnaton Junction. This junction is easily reached from Ben-Gurion International Airport and from the country’s two main highways: Highway 1, which links Tel Aviv with Jerusalem, and Highway 6, which connects the north of the country with the south. The site is located between two streets: He-Halutz Street which leads to the market place and Struma Street, which leads to the city’s historic center.
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7. Green Trend is an Entire Industry
by IsraelNN TV Staff
The "green industry" began 40 years ago with the goal of improving the environment -- but since then has been transformed into a major sector of the business world in Israel.
[weJe Email readers, please click here to view the report.
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by IsraelNN TV Staff
The "green industry" began 40 years ago with the goal of improving the environment -- but since then has been transformed into a major sector of the business world in Israel.
[weJe Email readers, please click here to view the report.
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6/30
1. Teen Wounded in Arson-Rock Terror Attack on Yitzhar Jews
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
In what appears to have been a coordinated attack on Jews from Yitzhar, in Samaria, a group of Arabs set fire to agricultural fields on Monday evening and then released a barrage of rocks at people responding to the arson. IDF forces responded to the incident and dispersed the attackers.
Yitzhar residents said Arabs from the neighboring village of Assira al-Kabaliyeh set fire to agricultural land belonging to the Jewish community. When people from Yitzhar went out to the fields to try and put out the flames, they came under a rain of rocks thrown by a gathered group of Arabs.
A 17-year-old Jewish youth was hit in the eye by a rock thrown by one of the attackers. He was hit as he attempted to stop the flames from spreading in the Shalhevet Yah neighborhood on the outskirts of Yitzhar. The youth was taken by ambulance to the Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva with light head injuries.
Not prepared to withdraw, Yitzhar residents responded to the provocation and a confrontation ensued. However, even after the initial fire was extinguished by Yitzhar residents, the clash continued.
Responding to reports of the violence, IDF forces were dispatched to the scene. The soldiers employed riot control measures to break up the Arab mob and end the confrontation.
According to eyewitness reports, some of the Arabs continued to throw rocks and set fire to other sections of the Yitzhar fields as they withdrew. There were no injuries reported among the soldiers.
Yitzhar, a Jewish community about eight kilometers southwest of Joseph's Tomb in Shechem, has been the scene of repeated clashes between Arabs and Jews claiming rights to the community's land. Founded in 1983 on a strategic hilltop, Yitzhar is home to about 500 people.
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by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
In what appears to have been a coordinated attack on Jews from Yitzhar, in Samaria, a group of Arabs set fire to agricultural fields on Monday evening and then released a barrage of rocks at people responding to the arson. IDF forces responded to the incident and dispersed the attackers.
Yitzhar residents said Arabs from the neighboring village of Assira al-Kabaliyeh set fire to agricultural land belonging to the Jewish community. When people from Yitzhar went out to the fields to try and put out the flames, they came under a rain of rocks thrown by a gathered group of Arabs.
A 17-year-old Jewish youth was hit in the eye by a rock thrown by one of the attackers. He was hit as he attempted to stop the flames from spreading in the Shalhevet Yah neighborhood on the outskirts of Yitzhar. The youth was taken by ambulance to the Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva with light head injuries.
Not prepared to withdraw, Yitzhar residents responded to the provocation and a confrontation ensued. However, even after the initial fire was extinguished by Yitzhar residents, the clash continued.
Responding to reports of the violence, IDF forces were dispatched to the scene. The soldiers employed riot control measures to break up the Arab mob and end the confrontation.
According to eyewitness reports, some of the Arabs continued to throw rocks and set fire to other sections of the Yitzhar fields as they withdrew. There were no injuries reported among the soldiers.
Yitzhar, a Jewish community about eight kilometers southwest of Joseph's Tomb in Shechem, has been the scene of repeated clashes between Arabs and Jews claiming rights to the community's land. Founded in 1983 on a strategic hilltop, Yitzhar is home to about 500 people.
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2. Sarkozy to Netanyahu: Get Rid of Lieberman
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
During their meeting last week in Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to
"With her and [Defense Minister E Barak you can make history," Sarkozy told Netanyahu.
replace Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman with opposition leader Tzipi Livni. Netanyahu's office declined comment, but the Foreign Ministry response was less diplomatic.
"With her and [Defense Minister E Barak you can make history," Sarkozy told Netanyahu, according to a Monday night report on Israel TV's Channel 2 News. "I have always accepted Israeli foreign ministers, and I loved to have Tzipi Livni here at the Elysee [Pala, but with [Lieberma I can't." The French leader allegedly also made a dismissive hand gesture when mentioning the Israeli Foreign Minister. Livni, he added, made a strategic mistake in refusing to join Netanyahu's cabinet.
In addition to Netanyahu, three Israeli officials reportedly heard the undiplomatic statements by Sarkozy.
In response, Prime Minister Netanyahu apparently tried to mollify the French leader by saying that Lieberman's public persona is different than the impression one gets of him in private conversation. Sarkozy retorted by saying that far-right, anti-Semitic French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front is also "pleasant" in private conversations.
"You can't compare the two men," Netanyahu said. "Lieberman is not Le Pen." The French leader then denied he was trying to compare them at all.
This week, the Prime Minister's Office refused to comment on the content of Netanyahu's talks with Sarkozy, adding that Foreign Minister Lieberman has the Prime Minister's full support.
Lieberman's public relations advisor, Tzahi Moshe, commented Monday that, if true, Sarkozy's comments constitute a "serious and intolerable... intervention of the president of a respected democratic country in the affairs of another democratic country."
In a statement from the Foreign Ministry Monday night, officials insisted, "We expect every political institution in Israel to condemn this blatant intervention of a foreign country in our private affairs, no matter what its political stance."
Minister of National Infrastructure Uzi Landau, a leader in Lieberman's Israel Beiteinu party, reacted to the Channel 2 report on Tuesday morning in an interview on IDF Radio.
"It's difficult for me to believe that a leader of a friendly country could make such remarks," Landau said, "but were I the Prime Minister, and such comments were made in my presence, I would bang on the table and object. That's how a prime minister should conduct himself to defend his country's honor."
"Not every frog-eater can interfere with Israel's sovereignty." -- MK Ben-Ari
Knesset Member Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) said Tuesday in response to the French president's statements that "the Prime Minister should have made it clear that not every frog-eater can interfere with Israel's sovereignty." Adding that "the French chutzpah" was not the main problem, Ben-Ari observed, "Netanyahu failed to understand that Sarkozy and Obama do not just want to replace Lieberman with Livni, but to turn Netanyahu into Livni."
MK Ahmed Tibi of the Arab nationalist Ra'am-Ta'al party had a very different reaction. "The international community has started to absorb the danger of the fascism being taught by Lieberman," he said.
In May of this year, Foreign Minister Lieberman made his first diplomatic tour of Europe. He visited Paris and met with the Secretary General of the Presidency, Claude Guéant, but not with President Sarkozy himself.
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by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
During their meeting last week in Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to
"With her and [Defense Minister E Barak you can make history," Sarkozy told Netanyahu.
replace Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman with opposition leader Tzipi Livni. Netanyahu's office declined comment, but the Foreign Ministry response was less diplomatic.
"With her and [Defense Minister E Barak you can make history," Sarkozy told Netanyahu, according to a Monday night report on Israel TV's Channel 2 News. "I have always accepted Israeli foreign ministers, and I loved to have Tzipi Livni here at the Elysee [Pala, but with [Lieberma I can't." The French leader allegedly also made a dismissive hand gesture when mentioning the Israeli Foreign Minister. Livni, he added, made a strategic mistake in refusing to join Netanyahu's cabinet.
In addition to Netanyahu, three Israeli officials reportedly heard the undiplomatic statements by Sarkozy.
In response, Prime Minister Netanyahu apparently tried to mollify the French leader by saying that Lieberman's public persona is different than the impression one gets of him in private conversation. Sarkozy retorted by saying that far-right, anti-Semitic French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front is also "pleasant" in private conversations.
"You can't compare the two men," Netanyahu said. "Lieberman is not Le Pen." The French leader then denied he was trying to compare them at all.
This week, the Prime Minister's Office refused to comment on the content of Netanyahu's talks with Sarkozy, adding that Foreign Minister Lieberman has the Prime Minister's full support.
Lieberman's public relations advisor, Tzahi Moshe, commented Monday that, if true, Sarkozy's comments constitute a "serious and intolerable... intervention of the president of a respected democratic country in the affairs of another democratic country."
In a statement from the Foreign Ministry Monday night, officials insisted, "We expect every political institution in Israel to condemn this blatant intervention of a foreign country in our private affairs, no matter what its political stance."
Minister of National Infrastructure Uzi Landau, a leader in Lieberman's Israel Beiteinu party, reacted to the Channel 2 report on Tuesday morning in an interview on IDF Radio.
"It's difficult for me to believe that a leader of a friendly country could make such remarks," Landau said, "but were I the Prime Minister, and such comments were made in my presence, I would bang on the table and object. That's how a prime minister should conduct himself to defend his country's honor."
"Not every frog-eater can interfere with Israel's sovereignty." -- MK Ben-Ari
Knesset Member Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) said Tuesday in response to the French president's statements that "the Prime Minister should have made it clear that not every frog-eater can interfere with Israel's sovereignty." Adding that "the French chutzpah" was not the main problem, Ben-Ari observed, "Netanyahu failed to understand that Sarkozy and Obama do not just want to replace Lieberman with Livni, but to turn Netanyahu into Livni."
MK Ahmed Tibi of the Arab nationalist Ra'am-Ta'al party had a very different reaction. "The international community has started to absorb the danger of the fascism being taught by Lieberman," he said.
In May of this year, Foreign Minister Lieberman made his first diplomatic tour of Europe. He visited Paris and met with the Secretary General of the Presidency, Claude Guéant, but not with President Sarkozy himself.
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3. State Department: Both Israel and PA Must Honor Roadmap
by Avraham Zuroff
The U.S. State Department may have toned down its demand on Israel to freeze construction within Judea and Samaria. In a press briefing Monday, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly reiterated that the obligations signed by Israel under the Roadmap require Israel to freeze all construction within Judea and Samaria, including “natural growth.” Nevertheless, Kelly hinted that the U.S. is open to “negotiations.”
The official stated that both Israel and PA Arabs must honor their commitment to the Roadmap plan towards peace. “For the Palestinians, it means ending incitements to violence against Israel and demonstrating an ability to provide security. For Israel, it means: stop the settlements, which is laid out very specifically in the Roadmap. A freeze on all activity relating to settlements, including natural growth, is what it says in the Roadmap,” Kelly said.
Nevertheless, the spokesman hinted that a compromised agreement would be acceptable. “Well, inherent in the word ‘negotiation’ is, of course, sitting down and finding what one side – what the other side wants and then working out a way to come to a resolution that leads to our goal of a lasting peace in the Middle East,” Kelly said. “I’m not going to say we’re not willing to compromise or – I mean, let’s just see what happens,” the State Department official added, referring to Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s intended meeting Tuesday with U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell.
Barak plans to inform Mitchell during their meeting of a three-month freeze on new construction within Judea and Samaria. Barak’s meeting in Washington, D.C. comes after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cancelled his meeting last week with Mitchell in Paris.
UN Remains Icy Coldby Avraham Zuroff
The U.S. State Department may have toned down its demand on Israel to freeze construction within Judea and Samaria. In a press briefing Monday, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly reiterated that the obligations signed by Israel under the Roadmap require Israel to freeze all construction within Judea and Samaria, including “natural growth.” Nevertheless, Kelly hinted that the U.S. is open to “negotiations.”
The official stated that both Israel and PA Arabs must honor their commitment to the Roadmap plan towards peace. “For the Palestinians, it means ending incitements to violence against Israel and demonstrating an ability to provide security. For Israel, it means: stop the settlements, which is laid out very specifically in the Roadmap. A freeze on all activity relating to settlements, including natural growth, is what it says in the Roadmap,” Kelly said.
Nevertheless, the spokesman hinted that a compromised agreement would be acceptable. “Well, inherent in the word ‘negotiation’ is, of course, sitting down and finding what one side – what the other side wants and then working out a way to come to a resolution that leads to our goal of a lasting peace in the Middle East,” Kelly said. “I’m not going to say we’re not willing to compromise or – I mean, let’s just see what happens,” the State Department official added, referring to Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s intended meeting Tuesday with U.S. special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell.
Barak plans to inform Mitchell during their meeting of a three-month freeze on new construction within Judea and Samaria. Barak’s meeting in Washington, D.C. comes after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cancelled his meeting last week with Mitchell in Paris.
Although the United Nations has not softened its tone towards Israel, the Obama administration has nonetheless pledged to support Israel in the international forum, Israel’s U.N. Ambassador stated Monday.
Gabriela Shalev’s statement came while a U.N. commission of inquiry has heard testimony from Gaza residents regarding Israel’s Cast Lead Operation.
Michele Montas, spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, told the press Monday that Ban has “repeatedly made it clear that there must be a full freeze on settlement building, including from natural growth.”
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4. Obama’s ‘Outreach to Muslims’ Prompts Mass Koran Distribution
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), whose officials in the past have been convicted for being associated with Muslim terrorist groups, said it will announce at a news conference Tuesday that it is launching an “education campaign” and will distribute 100,000 copies of the Koran to local, state and national leaders. The books will provide an English translation and commentary.
CAIR said the distribution is prompted by U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent speech in Cairo, in which he said he wants to reach out to Muslims throughout the world. He praised the Muslim community in the U.S, whose values he said incorporate tenets of Islam. President Obama, whose father was a Muslim, quoted the Koran four times in his speech in Cairo and used the word “violence” instead of “terror” in his reference to extremists.
"Through this ground-breaking outreach initiative, we hope not only to educate policy-makers and opinion leaders about Islam, but also to provide an opportunity for American Muslims to reach out to their fellow citizens of other faiths," said CAIR board chairman, North Carolina State Senator Larry Shaw.
However, the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has charged that CAIR is a product of the Islamic Association for Palestine, and other media have accused it of promoting militant Muslim views.
CAIR previously has been funded in part by the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, some of whose former officials recently were convicted for funneling money to terrorist groups.
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by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), whose officials in the past have been convicted for being associated with Muslim terrorist groups, said it will announce at a news conference Tuesday that it is launching an “education campaign” and will distribute 100,000 copies of the Koran to local, state and national leaders. The books will provide an English translation and commentary.
CAIR said the distribution is prompted by U.S. President Barack Obama’s recent speech in Cairo, in which he said he wants to reach out to Muslims throughout the world. He praised the Muslim community in the U.S, whose values he said incorporate tenets of Islam. President Obama, whose father was a Muslim, quoted the Koran four times in his speech in Cairo and used the word “violence” instead of “terror” in his reference to extremists.
"Through this ground-breaking outreach initiative, we hope not only to educate policy-makers and opinion leaders about Islam, but also to provide an opportunity for American Muslims to reach out to their fellow citizens of other faiths," said CAIR board chairman, North Carolina State Senator Larry Shaw.
However, the New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has charged that CAIR is a product of the Islamic Association for Palestine, and other media have accused it of promoting militant Muslim views.
CAIR previously has been funded in part by the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, some of whose former officials recently were convicted for funneling money to terrorist groups.
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5. Beslan Child-Murderers Strike Again, Hit Ingushetia's President
by Malkah Fleisher
The president of Ingushetia is fighting for his life following a June 22 assassination attempt by the same Chechen Muslim jihadist cell which slew over 330 children in a Beslan elementary school in 2004.
Hospital officials in Moscow say Yunus Bek Yevkurov, the president of the former-USSR state of Ingushetia, neighbor of the volatile Islamic state of Chechnya, is in critical condition with burns, brain injuries, and damage to internal organs. A disparate report from Yevkurov's spokesman, Kaloi Akhilgov, said the president suffered only a serious concussion and broken ribs.
The official's convoy was attacked in the provincial center of Nazran by a car rigged with explosives. Yevkurov's sedan was ripped to pieces and two of his bodyguards killed, with shrapnel and blood scattered for hundreds of meters.
The Riyadh-as-Saliheen, a Muslim terror cell, claimed responsibility for the attack on a Chechen separatist website, approximately five years after jihadists from the group attacked an elementary school, holding children and staff hostage, and ultimately murdering more than 300 people.
Link to Gaza terror
Although the violence is taking place far from the Middle East, a 2006 pamphlet put out by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (ITIC), a project sponsored by an NGO (non-governmental agency) erected in memory of fallen members of the Israeli intelligence community, revealed a strong link between Chechen rebels and the Gaza-based jihad organization Hamas.
Yevkurov took leadership of the small Muslim country at the behest of the Kremlin in October, as part of its claim to have brought stability and compliance back to the region.
Yevkurov was the third top official to be attacked in the last three weeks in the Muslim separatist area, a zone of Islamic uprising and anti-Western warfare twice in the past 15 years.
A decade ago, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin conducted a major crackdown on Islamic revolutionaries, killing 100,000. However, the assault did not crush the movement. Instead, Islamic insurgency spread to outlying provinces.
Kremlin helpless
Analysts say the attack illustrates the Kremlin's inability to stem the proliferation of Islamic defiance in the area. The attack on Yevkurov took place five years to the day after Chechen and Ingush jihadists broke into Nazran police offices, slaying approximately 90 civilians and police officers, stealing two truckloads of arms, and burning down the Nazran train station and Interior Ministry building.
Since Yevkurov's assumption of power, border security sweeps and crackdowns have been frequent between Chechnya and Ingushetia. The leader was in the process of giving pardons to some jihadists in exchange for an agreement not to resume terrorist work.
The resurgence of Islamic rebellion has claimed three lives in the last three weeks. The deputy chief justice of Ingushetia's Supreme Court was gunned down by terrorists while dropping off her children at a Nazran kindergarten, the former deputy prime minister was shot outside of his Nazran home, and a top police officer was shot and killed by a sniper in Dagestan, as the official attended a wedding.
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by Malkah Fleisher
The president of Ingushetia is fighting for his life following a June 22 assassination attempt by the same Chechen Muslim jihadist cell which slew over 330 children in a Beslan elementary school in 2004.
Hospital officials in Moscow say Yunus Bek Yevkurov, the president of the former-USSR state of Ingushetia, neighbor of the volatile Islamic state of Chechnya, is in critical condition with burns, brain injuries, and damage to internal organs. A disparate report from Yevkurov's spokesman, Kaloi Akhilgov, said the president suffered only a serious concussion and broken ribs.
The official's convoy was attacked in the provincial center of Nazran by a car rigged with explosives. Yevkurov's sedan was ripped to pieces and two of his bodyguards killed, with shrapnel and blood scattered for hundreds of meters.
The Riyadh-as-Saliheen, a Muslim terror cell, claimed responsibility for the attack on a Chechen separatist website, approximately five years after jihadists from the group attacked an elementary school, holding children and staff hostage, and ultimately murdering more than 300 people.
Link to Gaza terror
Although the violence is taking place far from the Middle East, a 2006 pamphlet put out by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (ITIC), a project sponsored by an NGO (non-governmental agency) erected in memory of fallen members of the Israeli intelligence community, revealed a strong link between Chechen rebels and the Gaza-based jihad organization Hamas.
Yevkurov took leadership of the small Muslim country at the behest of the Kremlin in October, as part of its claim to have brought stability and compliance back to the region.
Yevkurov was the third top official to be attacked in the last three weeks in the Muslim separatist area, a zone of Islamic uprising and anti-Western warfare twice in the past 15 years.
A decade ago, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin conducted a major crackdown on Islamic revolutionaries, killing 100,000. However, the assault did not crush the movement. Instead, Islamic insurgency spread to outlying provinces.
Kremlin helpless
Analysts say the attack illustrates the Kremlin's inability to stem the proliferation of Islamic defiance in the area. The attack on Yevkurov took place five years to the day after Chechen and Ingush jihadists broke into Nazran police offices, slaying approximately 90 civilians and police officers, stealing two truckloads of arms, and burning down the Nazran train station and Interior Ministry building.
Since Yevkurov's assumption of power, border security sweeps and crackdowns have been frequent between Chechnya and Ingushetia. The leader was in the process of giving pardons to some jihadists in exchange for an agreement not to resume terrorist work.
The resurgence of Islamic rebellion has claimed three lives in the last three weeks. The deputy chief justice of Ingushetia's Supreme Court was gunned down by terrorists while dropping off her children at a Nazran kindergarten, the former deputy prime minister was shot outside of his Nazran home, and a top police officer was shot and killed by a sniper in Dagestan, as the official attended a wedding.
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6. Investment Houses: Israel the Land of Economic Promise
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Three international investment houses have issued a rosy forecast for the Israeli economy, which one firm says is at the beginning of a decade of constant growth following this year’s recession. The biggest question mark is inflation, which to a certain extent will depend on the topsy-turvy crude oil market.
One source that is less optimistic about economic growth is the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which estimates the Israeli economy will grow by only a fraction of a percent next year. The Bank of Israel, which failed to foresee the depth of the current recession, predicts that growth will be one percent.
As every unemployed Israeli knows, 2009 has been a tough year as the country suffers through a recession following five years of unprecedented growth and record low inflation that often dropped below zero. The global financial crisis that began nearly two years ago has extended to every corner of the globe.
However, economic growth in Israel in 2010 is expected to outstrip that in other industrialized countries, according to Deutsche Bank. It has upped its projected rate of growth for next year in Israel from 2 percent to 2.5 percent, compared with only one percent for other advanced countries. Inflation is expected to be around 2 percent both this year and in 2010, Deutsche analysts predict.
Merrill Lynch estimates that the Israeli economy will grow by a very healthy 3.5 percent annually for the next 10 years, citing local demographics, savings, human resources and more open trade regulations.
The British-based Barclays Bank’s crystal ball also is rosy, with a predicted growth of 2.9 percent next year. Similar to other investment advisers, the bank sees rising exports as a driving force behind the expected recovery.
The battered high-tech industry will be one of those to enjoy resumed growth after this year's layoffs of thousands of workers in Israel.
Barclays also predicts that the shekel-dollar rate will drop to NIS 3.65 to the dollar by the end of this year, 10 percent lower than the current rate. A lower rate is damaging to exporters, who receive fewer shekels for their dollars. Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer last year went on a spending spree to buy dollars in order to prop up the rate, which had declined to less than NIS 3.25 to the dollar. Barclays predicts that the Bank will phase out the program to buy dollars.
A return to growth also will take some of the pressure off the Finance Ministry as projected tax revenues increase and help lower the government deficit.
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by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Three international investment houses have issued a rosy forecast for the Israeli economy, which one firm says is at the beginning of a decade of constant growth following this year’s recession. The biggest question mark is inflation, which to a certain extent will depend on the topsy-turvy crude oil market.
One source that is less optimistic about economic growth is the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which estimates the Israeli economy will grow by only a fraction of a percent next year. The Bank of Israel, which failed to foresee the depth of the current recession, predicts that growth will be one percent.
As every unemployed Israeli knows, 2009 has been a tough year as the country suffers through a recession following five years of unprecedented growth and record low inflation that often dropped below zero. The global financial crisis that began nearly two years ago has extended to every corner of the globe.
However, economic growth in Israel in 2010 is expected to outstrip that in other industrialized countries, according to Deutsche Bank. It has upped its projected rate of growth for next year in Israel from 2 percent to 2.5 percent, compared with only one percent for other advanced countries. Inflation is expected to be around 2 percent both this year and in 2010, Deutsche analysts predict.
Merrill Lynch estimates that the Israeli economy will grow by a very healthy 3.5 percent annually for the next 10 years, citing local demographics, savings, human resources and more open trade regulations.
The British-based Barclays Bank’s crystal ball also is rosy, with a predicted growth of 2.9 percent next year. Similar to other investment advisers, the bank sees rising exports as a driving force behind the expected recovery.
The battered high-tech industry will be one of those to enjoy resumed growth after this year's layoffs of thousands of workers in Israel.
Barclays also predicts that the shekel-dollar rate will drop to NIS 3.65 to the dollar by the end of this year, 10 percent lower than the current rate. A lower rate is damaging to exporters, who receive fewer shekels for their dollars. Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer last year went on a spending spree to buy dollars in order to prop up the rate, which had declined to less than NIS 3.25 to the dollar. Barclays predicts that the Bank will phase out the program to buy dollars.
A return to growth also will take some of the pressure off the Finance Ministry as projected tax revenues increase and help lower the government deficit.
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7. Sephardic Singer Jo Amar, 79
by Hillel Fendel
Sephardic-Jewish musician and cantor Jo Amar passed away this past Friday at the age of 79 in New York. He was buried in Moshav Yad Rambam, in central Israel between Ramle and Shaalavim, on Sunday.
One of the generation's leading Sephardic musicians, Jo (Yosef) Amar was born in Morocco in 1930, and immigrated to Israel in 1956. Considered the first singer to introduce Moroccan Jewish liturgical music in a popular manner in Israel, his hits include Yismah Moshe, Shalom LeVen Dodi, Barcelona, Song of the Drunkard, Ani Havatzelet HaSharon, and many more.
In 1970, Amar settled in New York, performing in the USA and in Europe as a cantor, as well as a teacher in cantorial workshops. He also published an anthology of Moroccan Jewish liturgical music. Amar's more than 20 albums include two that he recorded with the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra in 2000. Jo Amar had residences in both Israel and Los Angeles. He is survived by four children and ten grandchildren.
A musical evening of tribute was held in his honor Jerusalem just a year ago. Then-Mayor Uri Lupoliansky presented Amar with a certificate of appreciation, and selections from a movie on his life, beginning with his childhood in Morocco, were screened.
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by Hillel Fendel
Sephardic-Jewish musician and cantor Jo Amar passed away this past Friday at the age of 79 in New York. He was buried in Moshav Yad Rambam, in central Israel between Ramle and Shaalavim, on Sunday.
One of the generation's leading Sephardic musicians, Jo (Yosef) Amar was born in Morocco in 1930, and immigrated to Israel in 1956. Considered the first singer to introduce Moroccan Jewish liturgical music in a popular manner in Israel, his hits include Yismah Moshe, Shalom LeVen Dodi, Barcelona, Song of the Drunkard, Ani Havatzelet HaSharon, and many more.
In 1970, Amar settled in New York, performing in the USA and in Europe as a cantor, as well as a teacher in cantorial workshops. He also published an anthology of Moroccan Jewish liturgical music. Amar's more than 20 albums include two that he recorded with the Israeli Andalusian Orchestra in 2000. Jo Amar had residences in both Israel and Los Angeles. He is survived by four children and ten grandchildren.
A musical evening of tribute was held in his honor Jerusalem just a year ago. Then-Mayor Uri Lupoliansky presented Amar with a certificate of appreciation, and selections from a movie on his life, beginning with his childhood in Morocco, were screened.
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6/29
1. Israel Prepares F-15 Jets for Long Range Attack
by Gil Ronen
The Israel Air Force’s F-15 fleet is undergoing an upgrade, with systems that make it better equipped for complex long distance attack scenarios. The systems are being installed in both the F-15 and the F-15I -- a model of the F-15 that was developed by its U.S. manufacturer specifically for the IAF.
According to IDF journal BaMachaneh, the F-15I model is currently being fitted with two new systems – one called “Barad Pelada” (“Steel Hail”), and another named Lightning.
The Barad Pelada advanced weapons system has been operational in the IAF’s F-16s for almost four years, but had to be modified in order to fit the F-15.
Barad Pelada is an advanced Israeli armament that operates like a smart bomb. “The system is unique in that it is able to plan the bombing in an accurate way by identifying the target from above,” a knowledgeable source in the IAF explained. “After the identification, the system carries out guidance to the target and only then is impact made.”
The Lightning advanced attack system has also been in use in the IAF’s other jets. Until now, the F-15I jets had to rely on the older Inbar system, which used to be fitted in all of the IAF’s jets but was gradually phased out.
The Inbar system is capable of providing an operational solution in some ranges, but other attack scenarios require advanced systems like the Lightning, IAF sources said. “The need for the new system led to an accelerated procedure of development of advanced means,” a source in the IAF’s Weapons Department explained. “Once the testing at the Flight Experiment Center is finished, we will complete the system’s integration in the aircraft.”
A combination of two systemsby Gil Ronen
The Israel Air Force’s F-15 fleet is undergoing an upgrade, with systems that make it better equipped for complex long distance attack scenarios. The systems are being installed in both the F-15 and the F-15I -- a model of the F-15 that was developed by its U.S. manufacturer specifically for the IAF.
According to IDF journal BaMachaneh, the F-15I model is currently being fitted with two new systems – one called “Barad Pelada” (“Steel Hail”), and another named Lightning.
The Barad Pelada advanced weapons system has been operational in the IAF’s F-16s for almost four years, but had to be modified in order to fit the F-15.
Barad Pelada is an advanced Israeli armament that operates like a smart bomb. “The system is unique in that it is able to plan the bombing in an accurate way by identifying the target from above,” a knowledgeable source in the IAF explained. “After the identification, the system carries out guidance to the target and only then is impact made.”
The Lightning advanced attack system has also been in use in the IAF’s other jets. Until now, the F-15I jets had to rely on the older Inbar system, which used to be fitted in all of the IAF’s jets but was gradually phased out.
The Inbar system is capable of providing an operational solution in some ranges, but other attack scenarios require advanced systems like the Lightning, IAF sources said. “The need for the new system led to an accelerated procedure of development of advanced means,” a source in the IAF’s Weapons Department explained. “Once the testing at the Flight Experiment Center is finished, we will complete the system’s integration in the aircraft.”
For the time being, however, the F-15I jets will not part with the older Inbar systems. “From now on, the aircraft will enjoy a combination of both attack systems and will enjoy a meaningful advantage in their operational activity,” the sources said.
The F-15 jets, meanwhile, recently received a new weapon system named “Barad Kaved” (“Heavy Hail”) and used it for the first time during operation “Cast Lead” in Gaza in early 2009. IAF sources said the use was a success. The F-15 fighters used Barad Kaved in attacks with zero malfunctions, and “we are very pleased with its performance in the operation,” the sources said.
Pilots' Course graduation ceremony (Israel news photo: IAF website).
'Sharp as a razor'
“The reelection of Iran’s president, his grave utterances regarding his will to harm the state of Israel and Iran’s continual effort to achieve unconventional weapons require us to maintain an army that is coiled and ready to spring into action, and an Air Force that is skilled and sharp as a razor, that will stand up to any enemy and remove any threat from our citizens and residents,“ IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said Thursday in an IAF ceremony for new pilots at the Hatzerim Air Force Base.
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2. Disengagement Architect Ramon Resigning from Knesset
by Gil Ronen
MK Chaim Ramon (Kadima) will be handing in a letter of resignation from the Knesset Tuesday. He will be leaving the Knesset 26 years after he first entered it as a Labor MK, but will not be leaving politics altogether: he will continue to serve as the head of the Kadima Council.
Ramon was considered the leader of a group of dovish Labor MKs known as “The Eight” (HaShminiyah). In 1992, then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin appointed him Health Minister. In that capacity, he was the driving force behind Israel’s National Health Insurance Law, which was passed in 1994.
He resigned as Health Minister to run for Head of the General Histadrut, Israel’s mammoth “union of unions.” As head of the General Histadrut he separated it from the industrial conglomerates, the health cooperatives and the pension funds it owned. These reforms reduced some of the Histadrut’s powers as well as its debts, leading the way to greater privatization and de-socialization of the national economy.
After the breakout of the Great Terror War in 2000, Ramon was a leading proponent and spokesman for the idea of the Separation Barrier / Security Fence and the formation of a super-party made up of Labor and Likud members (Kadima) to carry out the Disengagement.
In 2006 he became embroiled in scandal after he allegedly forcibly kissed a female soldier when he was on his way to the cabinet meeting that decided to launch the Second Lebanon War. He was found guilty of an indecent act, resigned from the government and served a community service sentence. He was then re-appointed to Ehud Olmert’s cabinet as Minister without Portfolio.
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by Gil Ronen
MK Chaim Ramon (Kadima) will be handing in a letter of resignation from the Knesset Tuesday. He will be leaving the Knesset 26 years after he first entered it as a Labor MK, but will not be leaving politics altogether: he will continue to serve as the head of the Kadima Council.
Ramon was considered the leader of a group of dovish Labor MKs known as “The Eight” (HaShminiyah). In 1992, then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin appointed him Health Minister. In that capacity, he was the driving force behind Israel’s National Health Insurance Law, which was passed in 1994.
He resigned as Health Minister to run for Head of the General Histadrut, Israel’s mammoth “union of unions.” As head of the General Histadrut he separated it from the industrial conglomerates, the health cooperatives and the pension funds it owned. These reforms reduced some of the Histadrut’s powers as well as its debts, leading the way to greater privatization and de-socialization of the national economy.
After the breakout of the Great Terror War in 2000, Ramon was a leading proponent and spokesman for the idea of the Separation Barrier / Security Fence and the formation of a super-party made up of Labor and Likud members (Kadima) to carry out the Disengagement.
In 2006 he became embroiled in scandal after he allegedly forcibly kissed a female soldier when he was on his way to the cabinet meeting that decided to launch the Second Lebanon War. He was found guilty of an indecent act, resigned from the government and served a community service sentence. He was then re-appointed to Ehud Olmert’s cabinet as Minister without Portfolio.
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3. Israel ‘Fed Up' with US Declarations against Yesha
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A senior Israeli government official said that Israel is “fed up” with American statements against Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, the Hebrew-language Yisrael HaYom (Israel Today) newspaper reported Monday.
As Defense Minister Ehud Barak flies to Washington for meetings with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, the unnamed senior official stated, “Israel will demand that any compromise be part of a wider program of regional peace, and only after agreement on the basic principles outlines by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in his [recen speech at Bar-Ilan University.”
The Prime Minister declared for the first time that he would accept the creation of a new Arab state on part of the land of Judea and Samaria on condition that it be de-militarized and that the Palestinian Authority recognize Israel as a Jewish state. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has categorically rejected both conditions after having been encouraged by American and European support for the Arab-world demands that Israel surrender all of the land restored to the Jewish state in the Six-Day War in 1967, including the Western Wall and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Government sources told Yisrael HaYom that during Defense Minister Barak’s visit, “The Americans will hear decisive statements regarding the possibility of freezing construction for Jews in Judea and Samaria. Israel will be prepared to listen to a freeze only if it is temporary and if the Americans will explicitly state” that it will later approve building in communities with a high concentration of Jewish residents.
Israel has stated for public consumption that good relations with the U.S. are important, but any freeze, even temporary, is likely to meet stiff opposition from Shas and Likud party ministers. Shas leader Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) said, "This kind of thinking is incorrect. The discussion needs to be not only about ‘settlements’ but also about obligations of the PA.”
The Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) is thoroughly opposed to any restrictions on building for Jews but is willing to vacate certain hilltop communities, also called “outposts.”
Pinchas Wallerstein, a long-time leader in Yesha, wrote in a local newspaper in Samaria this week that if an outpost was built on Arab land that cannot be purchased by Jews, the Yesha Council would agreed to transfer it to another location on condition that the current building freeze is removed.
He charged that the new American government is trying to take "Barak Hussein Obama's pound of flesh for the Arab world towards which he now sets his sights.” President Obama stated in his Cairo University speech earlier this month that “the U.S. does not view the settlements as legitimate." he has issued repeated calls for a halt to building for Jews,
Even the Washington Post, which usually sides against Israeli policies in Yesha, is concerned with the Obama administration having painted itself a corner in the Arab-Israeli peace process.
Jackson Diehl, the newspaper’s deputy editorial page editor, wrote Monday morning: “The administration made the mistake of insisting that an Israeli settlement ‘freeze’ - a term the past three administrations agreed to define loosely - must mean a total stop to all construction in the West Bank and even East Jerusalem.
“This absolutist position is a loser for three reasons. First, it has allowed Palestinian and Arab leaders to withhold the steps they were asked for; they claim to be waiting for the settlement "freeze" even as they quietly savor a rare public battle between Israel and the United States. Second, the administration's objective -- whatever its merits -- is unobtainable. No Israeli government has ever agreed to an unconditional freeze, and no coalition could be assembled from the current parliament to impose one.
"Finally, the extraction of a freeze from Netanyahu is, as a practical matter, unnecessary. While further settlement expansion needs to be curbed, both the Palestinian Authority and Arab governments have gone along with previous U.S.-Israeli deals by which construction was to be limited to inside the periphery of settlements near Israel -- since everyone knows those areas will be annexed to Israel in a final settlement.”
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4. 50 Houses for Migron Residents - Who Don't Want Them
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A senior Israeli government official said that Israel is “fed up” with American statements against Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, the Hebrew-language Yisrael HaYom (Israel Today) newspaper reported Monday.
As Defense Minister Ehud Barak flies to Washington for meetings with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, the unnamed senior official stated, “Israel will demand that any compromise be part of a wider program of regional peace, and only after agreement on the basic principles outlines by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in his [recen speech at Bar-Ilan University.”
The Prime Minister declared for the first time that he would accept the creation of a new Arab state on part of the land of Judea and Samaria on condition that it be de-militarized and that the Palestinian Authority recognize Israel as a Jewish state. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has categorically rejected both conditions after having been encouraged by American and European support for the Arab-world demands that Israel surrender all of the land restored to the Jewish state in the Six-Day War in 1967, including the Western Wall and the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
Government sources told Yisrael HaYom that during Defense Minister Barak’s visit, “The Americans will hear decisive statements regarding the possibility of freezing construction for Jews in Judea and Samaria. Israel will be prepared to listen to a freeze only if it is temporary and if the Americans will explicitly state” that it will later approve building in communities with a high concentration of Jewish residents.
Israel has stated for public consumption that good relations with the U.S. are important, but any freeze, even temporary, is likely to meet stiff opposition from Shas and Likud party ministers. Shas leader Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) said, "This kind of thinking is incorrect. The discussion needs to be not only about ‘settlements’ but also about obligations of the PA.”
The Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) is thoroughly opposed to any restrictions on building for Jews but is willing to vacate certain hilltop communities, also called “outposts.”
Pinchas Wallerstein, a long-time leader in Yesha, wrote in a local newspaper in Samaria this week that if an outpost was built on Arab land that cannot be purchased by Jews, the Yesha Council would agreed to transfer it to another location on condition that the current building freeze is removed.
He charged that the new American government is trying to take "Barak Hussein Obama's pound of flesh for the Arab world towards which he now sets his sights.” President Obama stated in his Cairo University speech earlier this month that “the U.S. does not view the settlements as legitimate." he has issued repeated calls for a halt to building for Jews,
Even the Washington Post, which usually sides against Israeli policies in Yesha, is concerned with the Obama administration having painted itself a corner in the Arab-Israeli peace process.
Jackson Diehl, the newspaper’s deputy editorial page editor, wrote Monday morning: “The administration made the mistake of insisting that an Israeli settlement ‘freeze’ - a term the past three administrations agreed to define loosely - must mean a total stop to all construction in the West Bank and even East Jerusalem.
“This absolutist position is a loser for three reasons. First, it has allowed Palestinian and Arab leaders to withhold the steps they were asked for; they claim to be waiting for the settlement "freeze" even as they quietly savor a rare public battle between Israel and the United States. Second, the administration's objective -- whatever its merits -- is unobtainable. No Israeli government has ever agreed to an unconditional freeze, and no coalition could be assembled from the current parliament to impose one.
"Finally, the extraction of a freeze from Netanyahu is, as a practical matter, unnecessary. While further settlement expansion needs to be curbed, both the Palestinian Authority and Arab governments have gone along with previous U.S.-Israeli deals by which construction was to be limited to inside the periphery of settlements near Israel -- since everyone knows those areas will be annexed to Israel in a final settlement.”
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4. 50 Houses for Migron Residents - Who Don't Want Them
by Hillel Fendel The State announces: A new neighborhood in the developing Yesha city of Adam will be built for the residents of the outpost of Migron – who have not given their consent.
State representatives informed the Court that in accordance with a year-old agreement with the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria – though, significantly, not with the residents themselves – 50 houses would be built for them in the town of Adam, three aerial kilometers to the south.
50 Now, 1,400 at a Date to be Named Later - if Ever
The Defense Ministry announced that it had approved in principle no fewer than 1,450 new housing units in the burgeoning town of Adam, but that at present, only 50 units would be built. Every additional group of units will require a special permit from the Defense Ministry.
Politicians on both sides of the spectrum see the move as designed to liquidate the Jewish settlement enterprise. MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) called on the residents not to accept the plan, saying, “The Prime Minister means to destroy Yesha, beginning with the dismantling of the smaller communities. There is no room here for compromises and concessions.” The residents have thus far been adamant in refusing to give up their homes.
MK Amir Peretz (Labor), a former Defense Minister, said that the idea of relocating Migron is a very important one: “It is very positive that little outposts are being included inside larger towns, in anticipation of a final status agreement with the Palestinian Authority,” he told Army Radio.
The timing of the announcement coincides with Defense Minister Ehud Barak's trip to Washington, where he will reportedly offer to freeze new Yesha construction for the next three months.
History
Migron was founded in March 2002 on a strategic hilltop overlooking the highway leading from Jerusalem to Beit El, Shilo and northward. It grew to 30 families within only a few months, and later to 43 – but its growth was abruptly cut short by a government order to ban new caravans and construction in the area. Within a year of its founding, it began appearing on lists of outposts to be destroyed by Ariel Sharon’s government, and has lived under the shadow of destruction every since.
The Biblical location Migron is mentioned in Samuel I 14,2 and Isaiah 10, 28.
Cabinet Minister Moshe Yaalon, a former IDF Chief of Staff and a strong force behind Migron's establishment, said at the time that it was strategically important for Israel to grab that spot - a high hilltop overlooking a highway leading to Psagot, Beit El, Kokhav Yaakov, Michmash, Ofrah, and more.
In October 2003, Migron and other outposts were granted a form of government recognition. Ron Shechner, Settlement Affairs Advisor to then-Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz , explained, "This is a recognition of the fact that people who live in these places are entitled to basic services such as security and defense, lighting, children's nurseries, and the like. The fundamental question of the outposts' legality must still be decided by the government."
Just two months later, Defense Minister Mofaz gave the order to uproot and dismantle Migron. Within two weeks, though, when the government saw it would have to deal with thousands of people planning to come and defend the site, and when strong opposition arose within the Likud, Migron was taken off the immediate chopping-block list. The long-term threat was never removed, however.
Peace Now Seeks Out Arab Claimants
Sometime afterwards, Peace Now sought out Arabs who claimed to own some of the land on which Migron was built, and a court suit demanding its destruction was filed. Residents of Migron emphasize that though some of the land on which Migron was founded is officially listed as Arab-owned, these Arabs had never come forward to make their claim, nor had they ever cultivated these lands - until Peace Now sought them out and encouraged them to do so.
Dozens of outposts have been established throughout Judea and Samaria before and since the Oslo Accords, and many of them have developed into full-fledged communities, including synagogues and educational facilities. The only thing rendering them illegal and unauthorized, Yesha leaders say, is the fact that Defense Minister Barak refuses to sign the final approval. Many towns throughout Israel were established in a similar manner: first facts on the ground, then official approval.
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State representatives informed the Court that in accordance with a year-old agreement with the Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria – though, significantly, not with the residents themselves – 50 houses would be built for them in the town of Adam, three aerial kilometers to the south.
50 Now, 1,400 at a Date to be Named Later - if Ever
The Defense Ministry announced that it had approved in principle no fewer than 1,450 new housing units in the burgeoning town of Adam, but that at present, only 50 units would be built. Every additional group of units will require a special permit from the Defense Ministry.
Politicians on both sides of the spectrum see the move as designed to liquidate the Jewish settlement enterprise. MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) called on the residents not to accept the plan, saying, “The Prime Minister means to destroy Yesha, beginning with the dismantling of the smaller communities. There is no room here for compromises and concessions.” The residents have thus far been adamant in refusing to give up their homes.
MK Amir Peretz (Labor), a former Defense Minister, said that the idea of relocating Migron is a very important one: “It is very positive that little outposts are being included inside larger towns, in anticipation of a final status agreement with the Palestinian Authority,” he told Army Radio.
The timing of the announcement coincides with Defense Minister Ehud Barak's trip to Washington, where he will reportedly offer to freeze new Yesha construction for the next three months.
History
Migron was founded in March 2002 on a strategic hilltop overlooking the highway leading from Jerusalem to Beit El, Shilo and northward. It grew to 30 families within only a few months, and later to 43 – but its growth was abruptly cut short by a government order to ban new caravans and construction in the area. Within a year of its founding, it began appearing on lists of outposts to be destroyed by Ariel Sharon’s government, and has lived under the shadow of destruction every since.
The Biblical location Migron is mentioned in Samuel I 14,2 and Isaiah 10, 28.
Cabinet Minister Moshe Yaalon, a former IDF Chief of Staff and a strong force behind Migron's establishment, said at the time that it was strategically important for Israel to grab that spot - a high hilltop overlooking a highway leading to Psagot, Beit El, Kokhav Yaakov, Michmash, Ofrah, and more.
In October 2003, Migron and other outposts were granted a form of government recognition. Ron Shechner, Settlement Affairs Advisor to then-Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz , explained, "This is a recognition of the fact that people who live in these places are entitled to basic services such as security and defense, lighting, children's nurseries, and the like. The fundamental question of the outposts' legality must still be decided by the government."
Just two months later, Defense Minister Mofaz gave the order to uproot and dismantle Migron. Within two weeks, though, when the government saw it would have to deal with thousands of people planning to come and defend the site, and when strong opposition arose within the Likud, Migron was taken off the immediate chopping-block list. The long-term threat was never removed, however.
Peace Now Seeks Out Arab Claimants
Sometime afterwards, Peace Now sought out Arabs who claimed to own some of the land on which Migron was built, and a court suit demanding its destruction was filed. Residents of Migron emphasize that though some of the land on which Migron was founded is officially listed as Arab-owned, these Arabs had never come forward to make their claim, nor had they ever cultivated these lands - until Peace Now sought them out and encouraged them to do so.
Dozens of outposts have been established throughout Judea and Samaria before and since the Oslo Accords, and many of them have developed into full-fledged communities, including synagogues and educational facilities. The only thing rendering them illegal and unauthorized, Yesha leaders say, is the fact that Defense Minister Barak refuses to sign the final approval. Many towns throughout Israel were established in a similar manner: first facts on the ground, then official approval.
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5. PA Blocking Dead Sea from 7 Wonders of the World Contest
by Yehudah Lev Kay
The Palestinian Authority has refused to nominate the Dead Sea for a worldwide contest to select the new seven natural wonders of the world, and as a result the famous salty sea will probably be disqualified from the contest next week.
The Dead Sea is currently ranked number six in voting in the "Lakes, Rivers and Waterfalls" category, which would guarantee it a spot in the next round of the New Seven Wonder contest. However, in order to advance according to the contest rules, the PA must join Israel and Jordan in forming a committee of support for the lake's nomination, which it refuses to do.
“We will not be forming a committee,” PA Tourism Minister Khouloud Douaibes told Reuters, claiming the Israeli part of the committee “has been consulting with settler councilmen on occupied land.”
Jordan has already agreed to participate, and its Dead Sea committee of support is headed by Nayef Al-Fayez, the country’s Health Minister.
The Israeli committee to support the sea was formed by the Megilot Dead Sea Regional Council, which consists of six communities to the northwest of the sea, just inside the Green Line. It did not include communities in Judea and Samaria, although these also neighbor the Dead Sea, but aroused the ire of the PA anyway.
“We’re very disappointed by their decision,” Megilot spokewoman Gura Berger told Israel National News. “We hope that in any case the Seven Wonders committee will allow the Dead Sea to move on to the next stage of the contest.”
Berger explained that if the Dead Sea overcomes the political barriers in its way, it will most likely be nominated for the final stage of voting, in which she hopes dedicated Dead Sea fans can propel it to the top slot.
Voting for the New Seven Wonders of the World is currently underway at http://www.new7wonders.com/
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by Yehudah Lev Kay
The Palestinian Authority has refused to nominate the Dead Sea for a worldwide contest to select the new seven natural wonders of the world, and as a result the famous salty sea will probably be disqualified from the contest next week.
The Dead Sea is currently ranked number six in voting in the "Lakes, Rivers and Waterfalls" category, which would guarantee it a spot in the next round of the New Seven Wonder contest. However, in order to advance according to the contest rules, the PA must join Israel and Jordan in forming a committee of support for the lake's nomination, which it refuses to do.
“We will not be forming a committee,” PA Tourism Minister Khouloud Douaibes told Reuters, claiming the Israeli part of the committee “has been consulting with settler councilmen on occupied land.”
Jordan has already agreed to participate, and its Dead Sea committee of support is headed by Nayef Al-Fayez, the country’s Health Minister.
The Israeli committee to support the sea was formed by the Megilot Dead Sea Regional Council, which consists of six communities to the northwest of the sea, just inside the Green Line. It did not include communities in Judea and Samaria, although these also neighbor the Dead Sea, but aroused the ire of the PA anyway.
“We’re very disappointed by their decision,” Megilot spokewoman Gura Berger told Israel National News. “We hope that in any case the Seven Wonders committee will allow the Dead Sea to move on to the next stage of the contest.”
Berger explained that if the Dead Sea overcomes the political barriers in its way, it will most likely be nominated for the final stage of voting, in which she hopes dedicated Dead Sea fans can propel it to the top slot.
Voting for the New Seven Wonders of the World is currently underway at http://www.new7wonders.com/
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6. AOL Director In Country To Join Israel's 'GarageGeeks'
by Malkah Fleisher
AOL chief executive officer Tim Armstrong arrives in Israel Monday, representing the global Internet services and media company at a GarageGeeks event in Holon hosted by Israeli entrepreneur Yossi Vardi.
GarageGeeks "is an Israeli based not-profit physical and virtual space for innovative and creative people to introduce, network, expose, create, brainstorm, innovate and build," says the group's website. "People that take part in the activities come from different disciplines such as electronics, software, mechanical, art, design, music, hacking and gaming. The spirit of GarageGeeks promotes building non-commercial projects that otherwise may not have come to life."
True to their name, the geniuses who are responsible for many of Israel's modern inventions meet periodically in a machinery garage in Holon, where Armstrong will also give a speech and mingle.
AOL's chief is a welcome visitor in Israel, not just because of his prominence, but also because of the international business relationship he represents. While Yahoo has an investment in Israel and Google co-founder Sergey Brin visited in the spring of 2008, AOL has by far the largest stake in Israeli companies of the major internet giants. The company, formerly known as America Online, employs 200 Israelis.
The communications company has already purchased Israeli companies Mirabilis (developers of ICQ instant messaging), Relegence (real-time intelligence automation), Quigo (online advertising), and Yedda (search technology) to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
While in country, Armstrong – who was named CEO in March- will continue AOL's work to foster a link between Israel's high-tech community and the conglomerate, meeting with various Israeli start-ups.
During his stay, Armstrong will focus on companies suited to AOL's profile.
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7. Celebrating the Life and Teachings of the Rebbe by Malkah Fleisher
AOL chief executive officer Tim Armstrong arrives in Israel Monday, representing the global Internet services and media company at a GarageGeeks event in Holon hosted by Israeli entrepreneur Yossi Vardi.
GarageGeeks "is an Israeli based not-profit physical and virtual space for innovative and creative people to introduce, network, expose, create, brainstorm, innovate and build," says the group's website. "People that take part in the activities come from different disciplines such as electronics, software, mechanical, art, design, music, hacking and gaming. The spirit of GarageGeeks promotes building non-commercial projects that otherwise may not have come to life."
True to their name, the geniuses who are responsible for many of Israel's modern inventions meet periodically in a machinery garage in Holon, where Armstrong will also give a speech and mingle.
AOL's chief is a welcome visitor in Israel, not just because of his prominence, but also because of the international business relationship he represents. While Yahoo has an investment in Israel and Google co-founder Sergey Brin visited in the spring of 2008, AOL has by far the largest stake in Israeli companies of the major internet giants. The company, formerly known as America Online, employs 200 Israelis.
The communications company has already purchased Israeli companies Mirabilis (developers of ICQ instant messaging), Relegence (real-time intelligence automation), Quigo (online advertising), and Yedda (search technology) to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
While in country, Armstrong – who was named CEO in March- will continue AOL's work to foster a link between Israel's high-tech community and the conglomerate, meeting with various Israeli start-ups.
During his stay, Armstrong will focus on companies suited to AOL's profile.
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by Israel National TV
On Gimmel Tammuz, the third of Tammuz, Chabad Chassidim and Jews of all stripes came to Kfar Chabad to celebrate the life of the Lubavitcher Rebbe and continue in his path.
[weJe Email readers, please click here to view the report.
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***********
6/28
1. Historic Visit: Peres, Ministers to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan
by Hillel Fendel
President Shimon Peres, heading a delegation of three Cabinet ministers and some 60 leading Israeli businesspeople, is on his way to the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan for a first-ever visit of such senior Israeli officials.
The President’s Office reported that the visit is designed to “strengthen and broaden the strategic, diplomatic and economic ties” with the two Moslem countries. Azerbaijan lies north of Iran, and Kazakhstan is further to the northeast, bordering on China.
Taking part in the visit are Industry and Trade Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor), Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau (Israel Our Home), and Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz (Jewish Home), as well as Defense Ministry Director Pinchas Buchris.
Joining them are 60 representatives of leading Israeli companies in the fields of communications, water technology, agriculture, medical equipment and more.
Ben-Eliezer said about the visit, “The objective is to kick-off cooperation between our companies and those in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, and to advance as many business opportunities as possible.” As a former Infrastructures Minister, Ben-Eliezer has visited the two countries in the past: “I discovered a wonderful and warm people, with a developed economy and vast knowledge. We have instituted business ties in the field of energy, mainly oil; we are trying to purchase natural gas as well. Economic ties between our countries have tremendous potential in many other areas as well.”
Peres to Meet With Jewish Communitiesby Hillel Fendel
President Shimon Peres, heading a delegation of three Cabinet ministers and some 60 leading Israeli businesspeople, is on his way to the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan for a first-ever visit of such senior Israeli officials.
The President’s Office reported that the visit is designed to “strengthen and broaden the strategic, diplomatic and economic ties” with the two Moslem countries. Azerbaijan lies north of Iran, and Kazakhstan is further to the northeast, bordering on China.
Taking part in the visit are Industry and Trade Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor), Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau (Israel Our Home), and Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz (Jewish Home), as well as Defense Ministry Director Pinchas Buchris.
Joining them are 60 representatives of leading Israeli companies in the fields of communications, water technology, agriculture, medical equipment and more.
Ben-Eliezer said about the visit, “The objective is to kick-off cooperation between our companies and those in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, and to advance as many business opportunities as possible.” As a former Infrastructures Minister, Ben-Eliezer has visited the two countries in the past: “I discovered a wonderful and warm people, with a developed economy and vast knowledge. We have instituted business ties in the field of energy, mainly oil; we are trying to purchase natural gas as well. Economic ties between our countries have tremendous potential in many other areas as well.”
President Peres, for his part, in addition to his meetings with the countries’ political leaders, is expected to meet with hundreds of members of the Jewish communities in the two countries. He will dedicate a new synagogue in Kazakhstan, where 15,000 Jews reside; 10,000 live in Almaty, the largest Jewish center. Some 10,000 Jews reside in Azerbaijan, though their religious freedom is somewhat more restricted than in Kazakhstan.
Interfaith Conference Speech
Peres will also deliver a major speech at an interfaith conference in Kazakhstan, in front of hundreds of Moslem leaders from the Middle East and around the world, the Chief Rabbis of Israel, and the leader of Qatar. The event is under the auspices of the government of Kazakhstan and the Euro-Asiatic Jewish Congress.
Peres will also address hundreds of Muslim students at the University of Azerbaijan for Languages, and will answer their questions.
Muslim Opposition
Some Islamic elements in Azerbaijan are predictably opposed to the visit. The Supreme Council of the Islamic Party demands the cancellation of the visit by the “leader of the criminal Zionist regime,” which “will damage Azerbaijan's international image as a Muslim state and will be an insult to the Islamic world.” The Jerusalem Post reports that the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry blames “meddling by neighboring Iran” for the statement.
Israel-Azerbaijan trade in Q1 of 2009 totaled $42 million, up 19% from the same period the year before. The toal for 2008 was $129 million, up 56% from the year before.
Israeli exports to Kazakhstan totaled $159 million in 2008, up 60% from 2007. Imports to Israel stood at only $3.4 million.
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2. Barak Considering Temporary Building Freeze
by Maayana Miskin and Hillel Fendel
Defense Minister Ehud Barak may offer a three-month temporary building freeze in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) during an upcoming trip to the United States. Barak will leave for the U.S. on Monday morning.
The building freeze proposal was reported Sunday by Army Radio. The proposal would include even a freeze on construction for what has been termed "natural growth" - something that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has long claimed was necessary.
Yediot Acharonot correspondent Shimon Schiffer reports, in the name of government sources, that the proposed freeze would not include the approximately 2,000 construction projects currenly underway.
The Palestinian Authority has demanded that no new homes be built for the Jewish population of Judea and Samaria. U.S. President Barack Obama has given the PA its support, pushing a complete building freeze that would not allow expansion even for the naturally expanding population.
MKs Encourage Residents
In response to Barak’s apparent intentions, MKs of the National Union party are visiting new neighborhoods, considered “unauthorized” according to some government offices – in Gush Etzion and Judea. The MKs call upon the residents to prepare for a new construction wave and a large increase in residents – a common consequence of threats to the Yesha settlement enterprise.
Netanyahu: Normal Life Must Continue
Prime Minister Netanyahu has so far refused to call for a complete building freeze, and says Israel will continue to allow for growth in government-approved Jewish towns, though "unauthorized neighborhoods will be evacuated." Israel and the PA can come to an agreement regarding the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria during final status talks, Netanyahu said last week. Until then, “we must continue to live normally."
Netanyahu said he told Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi during his visit to Rome last week that ‘we do not want others to tell us how to run our lives in Israel. We want to reach an agreement with Israel, and if there is a will to do so, it can be done.”
G-8 Demands Settlement Freeze
The G-8 - Group of Eight richest nations - has also called on Israel to stop building in the Biblical areas of Judea and Samaria. It issued a statement on Friday calling for a "freeze in settlement activity (as well as their 'natural growth')." The statement equated this demand with a call for an "unequivocal end to violence and terrorism."
Cabinet Minister Binyamin Begin (Likud) visited the Jewish town of Beit El, in southern Samaria, last week, and committed to work on behalf of the community. “Like Netanyahu announced at Bar Ilan [Universit, the government will allow natural development in Judea and Samaria,” Begin assured residents. He said he pictures Beit El in 20 years “like it is today, but flourishing even more.”
More than 270,000 Jews lived in Judea and Samaria as of 2007. Jewish population growth in the area is estimated at 5-6 percent per year, a much higher growth rate than that in the rest of the country.
According to Israeli demographers, an estimated 1.35 Palestinian Authority Arabs lived in Judea and Samaria as of 2004.
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by Maayana Miskin and Hillel Fendel
Defense Minister Ehud Barak may offer a three-month temporary building freeze in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) during an upcoming trip to the United States. Barak will leave for the U.S. on Monday morning.
The building freeze proposal was reported Sunday by Army Radio. The proposal would include even a freeze on construction for what has been termed "natural growth" - something that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has long claimed was necessary.
Yediot Acharonot correspondent Shimon Schiffer reports, in the name of government sources, that the proposed freeze would not include the approximately 2,000 construction projects currenly underway.
The Palestinian Authority has demanded that no new homes be built for the Jewish population of Judea and Samaria. U.S. President Barack Obama has given the PA its support, pushing a complete building freeze that would not allow expansion even for the naturally expanding population.
MKs Encourage Residents
In response to Barak’s apparent intentions, MKs of the National Union party are visiting new neighborhoods, considered “unauthorized” according to some government offices – in Gush Etzion and Judea. The MKs call upon the residents to prepare for a new construction wave and a large increase in residents – a common consequence of threats to the Yesha settlement enterprise.
Netanyahu: Normal Life Must Continue
Prime Minister Netanyahu has so far refused to call for a complete building freeze, and says Israel will continue to allow for growth in government-approved Jewish towns, though "unauthorized neighborhoods will be evacuated." Israel and the PA can come to an agreement regarding the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria during final status talks, Netanyahu said last week. Until then, “we must continue to live normally."
Netanyahu said he told Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi during his visit to Rome last week that ‘we do not want others to tell us how to run our lives in Israel. We want to reach an agreement with Israel, and if there is a will to do so, it can be done.”
G-8 Demands Settlement Freeze
The G-8 - Group of Eight richest nations - has also called on Israel to stop building in the Biblical areas of Judea and Samaria. It issued a statement on Friday calling for a "freeze in settlement activity (as well as their 'natural growth')." The statement equated this demand with a call for an "unequivocal end to violence and terrorism."
Cabinet Minister Binyamin Begin (Likud) visited the Jewish town of Beit El, in southern Samaria, last week, and committed to work on behalf of the community. “Like Netanyahu announced at Bar Ilan [Universit, the government will allow natural development in Judea and Samaria,” Begin assured residents. He said he pictures Beit El in 20 years “like it is today, but flourishing even more.”
More than 270,000 Jews lived in Judea and Samaria as of 2007. Jewish population growth in the area is estimated at 5-6 percent per year, a much higher growth rate than that in the rest of the country.
According to Israeli demographers, an estimated 1.35 Palestinian Authority Arabs lived in Judea and Samaria as of 2004.
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3. Ahmadinejad Rejects Obama’s Rhetoric, Warns of Crushing Response
by Yehudah Lev Kay
Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned U.S. President Barack Obama Saturday that his criticism of crackdowns in Tehran could lead to a “crushing” response. Reformist Iranian candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was declared the loser in the recent elections, continued to call for new elections on Sunday.
“If you continue your meddlesome stance,” the Iranian President proudly told Obama, “the Iranian nation’s response will be crushing and regret-inducing.” He called the U.S. President’s criticism of his crackdown on dissidents “unconventional, abnormal and discourteous.”
Ahmadinejad spoke out after Obama urged him on Friday to “consider looking at the families of those who’ve been beaten or shot or detained.” The ongoing dispute between the two world leaders is another setback for the Obama's plan to reach out to Iran through dialogue.
To calm violent protests which have claimed the lives of 17 Iranians, the Guardian Council offered a partial recount of a tenth of the ballots in the disputed presidential elections. But reformist leader Mousavi rejected the proposal and called for a new election.
“The most suitable solution to restore public confidence,” he said, “would be to nullify election results and allow a new round of polling.” The Guardian Council has already said the election was fair, however, and is expected to declare Ahmadinejad’s victory official soon.
Human Rights Watch said Saturday that pro-government militiamen have been patrolling Tehran, damaging private property and assaulting civilians in order to stop ongoing protests. On Sunday, police arrested eight Iranians who had worked in the British embassy, claiming they fomented riots.
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by Yehudah Lev Kay
Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned U.S. President Barack Obama Saturday that his criticism of crackdowns in Tehran could lead to a “crushing” response. Reformist Iranian candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was declared the loser in the recent elections, continued to call for new elections on Sunday.
“If you continue your meddlesome stance,” the Iranian President proudly told Obama, “the Iranian nation’s response will be crushing and regret-inducing.” He called the U.S. President’s criticism of his crackdown on dissidents “unconventional, abnormal and discourteous.”
Ahmadinejad spoke out after Obama urged him on Friday to “consider looking at the families of those who’ve been beaten or shot or detained.” The ongoing dispute between the two world leaders is another setback for the Obama's plan to reach out to Iran through dialogue.
To calm violent protests which have claimed the lives of 17 Iranians, the Guardian Council offered a partial recount of a tenth of the ballots in the disputed presidential elections. But reformist leader Mousavi rejected the proposal and called for a new election.
“The most suitable solution to restore public confidence,” he said, “would be to nullify election results and allow a new round of polling.” The Guardian Council has already said the election was fair, however, and is expected to declare Ahmadinejad’s victory official soon.
Human Rights Watch said Saturday that pro-government militiamen have been patrolling Tehran, damaging private property and assaulting civilians in order to stop ongoing protests. On Sunday, police arrested eight Iranians who had worked in the British embassy, claiming they fomented riots.
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4. 20 Year Old Seriously Hurt in Jerusalem Sabbath Demonstration
by Gil Ronen
A hareidi religious man aged about 20 was seriously hurt in a Sabbath demonstration near the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim, Magen David Adom reported Saturday evening. He reportedly fell off of a fence. Police said they were not aware of the incident.
The demonstration on Saturday evening was the second of two protests by hareidi religious Jews in Jerusalem over the Sabbath, against the plan to open the Karta parking lot on Saturdays. The city had hoped that opening the Karta parking lot instead of the Safra parking lot, which is closer to large population centers of hareid religious Jews, would lessen hareidi religious resistance – but the demonstrations proved that this has not happened.
The first demonstration Friday, saw thousands of people protest the opening of the lot; however, it passed quietly. Fewer protesters attended the second one, on Shabbat afternoon, but the atmosphere was stormier, with 28 demonstrators arrested in the course of a protest which carried on into the late evening.
Kabalat Shabbat at Bar Ilan Street (Israel news photo: Flash 90).
Tens of thousands at prayer service
The Friday demonstration was a large-scale Kabalat Shabbat (Greeting the Sabbath -ed.) prayer service on Bar Ilan Street, backed by a long list of religious authorities, including all of the members of the Beit Din (Rabbinical Court -ed.) of the Eida Haredit (Badatz). The organizers used cars with megaphones and fliers to call the faithful to the demonstration, resulting in the turning out of tens of thousands.
Near Mea Shearim, Shabbat (Israel news photo: Flash 90).
Border police manhandle female demonstrator (Israel news photo: Flash 90).
The BeHadrei Haredim web site reported that reporters provoked the religious crowd by taking pictures and video of the prayers despite the Sabbath, but that the people who were praying did not react with violence, verbal or physical. Police from the Yassam unit fanned out in the vicinity of the event, but the demonstration-prayer went by quietly and the crowd dispersed of its own accord.
Non-religious web sites reported the event differently. Ynet and Haaretz claimed that some in the hareidi religious crowd spat at the journalists and banged on their cars, causing them to flee in a panic with police protection.
Boy hurt in the violence (Israel news photo: Flash 90).
Several hundred hareidi religious Jews held a prayer near the Karta parking lot, and several hundred others prayed at HaPisgah Street in Bayit VeGan.
28 arrests
On Saturday, a more volatile demonstration was held near Mea Shearim, culminating in 28 arrests. Police were making more arrests as the night wore on, and pushing the demonstrators back into Mea Shearim. As many as a thousand hareidi religious demonstrators reportedly hurled soiled diapers, rotten fruit and rocks at police.
Police separated the hareidi religious protesters from about one thousand non-religious demonstrators who showed up at Safra Square in support of the plan to open the parking lot. They held Israel flags as well as signs calling for “a free Jerusalem” and “save our home.”
Three police officers were lightly hurt in scuffles. One was reportedly hit in the eye by an object hurled at him. Police used water cannons to disperse the crowd.
Eleven hareidi religious protesters were arrested during the demonstration. Four more were arrested near the Karta parking lot and four others were nabbed at Bar Ilan Street, where police said they interfered with traffic.
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by Gil Ronen
A hareidi religious man aged about 20 was seriously hurt in a Sabbath demonstration near the Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea Shearim, Magen David Adom reported Saturday evening. He reportedly fell off of a fence. Police said they were not aware of the incident.
The demonstration on Saturday evening was the second of two protests by hareidi religious Jews in Jerusalem over the Sabbath, against the plan to open the Karta parking lot on Saturdays. The city had hoped that opening the Karta parking lot instead of the Safra parking lot, which is closer to large population centers of hareid religious Jews, would lessen hareidi religious resistance – but the demonstrations proved that this has not happened.
The first demonstration Friday, saw thousands of people protest the opening of the lot; however, it passed quietly. Fewer protesters attended the second one, on Shabbat afternoon, but the atmosphere was stormier, with 28 demonstrators arrested in the course of a protest which carried on into the late evening.
Kabalat Shabbat at Bar Ilan Street (Israel news photo: Flash 90).
Tens of thousands at prayer service
The Friday demonstration was a large-scale Kabalat Shabbat (Greeting the Sabbath -ed.) prayer service on Bar Ilan Street, backed by a long list of religious authorities, including all of the members of the Beit Din (Rabbinical Court -ed.) of the Eida Haredit (Badatz). The organizers used cars with megaphones and fliers to call the faithful to the demonstration, resulting in the turning out of tens of thousands.
Near Mea Shearim, Shabbat (Israel news photo: Flash 90).
Border police manhandle female demonstrator (Israel news photo: Flash 90).
The BeHadrei Haredim web site reported that reporters provoked the religious crowd by taking pictures and video of the prayers despite the Sabbath, but that the people who were praying did not react with violence, verbal or physical. Police from the Yassam unit fanned out in the vicinity of the event, but the demonstration-prayer went by quietly and the crowd dispersed of its own accord.
Non-religious web sites reported the event differently. Ynet and Haaretz claimed that some in the hareidi religious crowd spat at the journalists and banged on their cars, causing them to flee in a panic with police protection.
Boy hurt in the violence (Israel news photo: Flash 90).
Several hundred hareidi religious Jews held a prayer near the Karta parking lot, and several hundred others prayed at HaPisgah Street in Bayit VeGan.
28 arrests
On Saturday, a more volatile demonstration was held near Mea Shearim, culminating in 28 arrests. Police were making more arrests as the night wore on, and pushing the demonstrators back into Mea Shearim. As many as a thousand hareidi religious demonstrators reportedly hurled soiled diapers, rotten fruit and rocks at police.
Police separated the hareidi religious protesters from about one thousand non-religious demonstrators who showed up at Safra Square in support of the plan to open the parking lot. They held Israel flags as well as signs calling for “a free Jerusalem” and “save our home.”
Three police officers were lightly hurt in scuffles. One was reportedly hit in the eye by an object hurled at him. Police used water cannons to disperse the crowd.
Eleven hareidi religious protesters were arrested during the demonstration. Four more were arrested near the Karta parking lot and four others were nabbed at Bar Ilan Street, where police said they interfered with traffic.
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5. Anti-Semitic Attacks Hit New York Synagogues
by Yehudah Lev Kay
New York City police arrested two youth who vandalized two Lower East Side synagogues on Thursday with eggs, smoke bombs, and swastikas.
The teenagers, a 15-year old Asian and a 16-year old black, drew a large swastika on the United Hebrew Center on East Broadway. The two then set off a smoke bomb before heading to the Bialystoker synagogue on Willet Street, where they drew a second swastika and through eggs at the building.
The attacks occurred only a few days after eight Jewish children were injured in Williamsburg, Brooklyn after a resident of a Latino block across the street threw a bottle with dangerous chemicals at them. That attack is not officially categorized as a bias crime, however.
Police plan on charging the Lower East Side vandals with the hate crimes of aggravated harassment, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
“This is a desecration of G-d, no matter what your religion,” said New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who attends the Bialystoker synagogue. “It is just a despicable act that really should tug at the heartstrings of all of us.”
State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced that the Civil Rights Bureau would open an investigation into the crime calling it “outrageous and deeply disturbing.”
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by Yehudah Lev Kay
New York City police arrested two youth who vandalized two Lower East Side synagogues on Thursday with eggs, smoke bombs, and swastikas.
The teenagers, a 15-year old Asian and a 16-year old black, drew a large swastika on the United Hebrew Center on East Broadway. The two then set off a smoke bomb before heading to the Bialystoker synagogue on Willet Street, where they drew a second swastika and through eggs at the building.
The attacks occurred only a few days after eight Jewish children were injured in Williamsburg, Brooklyn after a resident of a Latino block across the street threw a bottle with dangerous chemicals at them. That attack is not officially categorized as a bias crime, however.
Police plan on charging the Lower East Side vandals with the hate crimes of aggravated harassment, criminal mischief and reckless endangerment.
“This is a desecration of G-d, no matter what your religion,” said New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who attends the Bialystoker synagogue. “It is just a despicable act that really should tug at the heartstrings of all of us.”
State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced that the Civil Rights Bureau would open an investigation into the crime calling it “outrageous and deeply disturbing.”
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6. Egypt-Gaza Border Opens Amid Reports of New Hamas, Shalit Deals
by Yehudah Lev Kay
The Rafiah border between Egypt and Gaza opened for three days starting Saturday, as rumors abounded that a new deal between Israel and Hamas regarding both a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange deal for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit was near.
Egypt opened the crossing to a small number of students, medical patients, and Hamas government figures. Reports said around 400 people crossed from Gaza into Egypt, and another 700 went the opposite way. In addition, 10 trucks of medical aid from Arab countries entered the Hamas-controlled territory.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh made a surprise visit to the border. “We are ready to open the crossing with an agreement between our brothers the Egyptians, the Europeans, President Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas government,” he said.
An Egyptian-brokered agreement between the Abbas-led Palestinian Authority and the Hamas terrorist group has proved illusive, with talks between the sides frequently breaking down. Egypt refuses to permanently open the Rafiah crossing without a deal between the two groups.
United Nations Works and Relief Association (UNWRA) Gaza Chief Chris Guinness was not optimistic about the border development. “This will only create a small change, if any,” he said. “The Rafiah crossing cannot support a large scale transfer of building materials or Humanitarian aid."
Crossings from Israel represent Gaza’s lifeline, with hundreds of tons of supplies, food, fuel, gas, and humanitarian aid passing into the Hamas-controlled territory daily. Israel refuses to allow the passage of building supplies or other materials it fears could be used to manufacture weapons for the Hamas terrorist group.
Reports Israel Involved in Gaza Ceasefire Discussions
As Egypt opened its border with Gaza, reports in Israel said that the government was involved in negotiations to reach a new ceasefire with Hamas. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has met with senior Egyptian officials both in Israel and Cairo on a possible deal.
If the Hamas-PA talks succeed, Israel would agree that a unity government take control of Gaza. In addition, the Rafiah crossing would permanently open with European observers, and Israel would increase the scope of goods passing through its Gaza crossings.
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon confirmed that Israel had deepened its ties with Egypt over the last few weeks, but denied that Israel was considering a new ceasefire.
“We’re afraid that Fatah will turn into Hamas, rather than Hamas turning into Fatah, and then there would be no chance of any deal” he told Army Radio. On the other hand he admitted that if Hamas would recognize the Jewish state and denounce terrorism, Israel would be willing to negotiate.
Shalit Family No Longer Will Respond to Continuing Release Rumors
Israeli sources said any deal with Hamas would likely advance a prisoner exchange deal for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been in captivity in Gaza for over three years.
Shalit’s family said Sunday, however, that they would no longer respond to ongoing rumors about their son's release. They claimed the rumors were released by Hamas in order to put pressure on the Israeli government to free terrorists. Defense Minister Barak, too, claimed the rumors are harmful to the efforts to achieve the soldier's release.
On Saturday, the London-based A-sharq Al-awast reported that a deal trading Shalit for over 1,000 Hamas prisoners was imminent. Hamas leader Haniyeh, however, said that reports of a breakthrough on Shalit negotiations were exaggerated. Israeli sources also continued to deny any impending deal.
Shalit supporters promised they would continue their effort to block the transfer of goods between Israel and Gaza. Last week, demonstrators successfully blocked the crossings for a short period of time. Activists say that Israel should put pressure on Hamas to release Shalit by closing down the border crossings that provide a lifeline to Gaza residents.
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by Yehudah Lev Kay
The Rafiah border between Egypt and Gaza opened for three days starting Saturday, as rumors abounded that a new deal between Israel and Hamas regarding both a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange deal for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit was near.
Egypt opened the crossing to a small number of students, medical patients, and Hamas government figures. Reports said around 400 people crossed from Gaza into Egypt, and another 700 went the opposite way. In addition, 10 trucks of medical aid from Arab countries entered the Hamas-controlled territory.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh made a surprise visit to the border. “We are ready to open the crossing with an agreement between our brothers the Egyptians, the Europeans, President Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas government,” he said.
An Egyptian-brokered agreement between the Abbas-led Palestinian Authority and the Hamas terrorist group has proved illusive, with talks between the sides frequently breaking down. Egypt refuses to permanently open the Rafiah crossing without a deal between the two groups.
United Nations Works and Relief Association (UNWRA) Gaza Chief Chris Guinness was not optimistic about the border development. “This will only create a small change, if any,” he said. “The Rafiah crossing cannot support a large scale transfer of building materials or Humanitarian aid."
Crossings from Israel represent Gaza’s lifeline, with hundreds of tons of supplies, food, fuel, gas, and humanitarian aid passing into the Hamas-controlled territory daily. Israel refuses to allow the passage of building supplies or other materials it fears could be used to manufacture weapons for the Hamas terrorist group.
Reports Israel Involved in Gaza Ceasefire Discussions
As Egypt opened its border with Gaza, reports in Israel said that the government was involved in negotiations to reach a new ceasefire with Hamas. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has met with senior Egyptian officials both in Israel and Cairo on a possible deal.
If the Hamas-PA talks succeed, Israel would agree that a unity government take control of Gaza. In addition, the Rafiah crossing would permanently open with European observers, and Israel would increase the scope of goods passing through its Gaza crossings.
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon confirmed that Israel had deepened its ties with Egypt over the last few weeks, but denied that Israel was considering a new ceasefire.
“We’re afraid that Fatah will turn into Hamas, rather than Hamas turning into Fatah, and then there would be no chance of any deal” he told Army Radio. On the other hand he admitted that if Hamas would recognize the Jewish state and denounce terrorism, Israel would be willing to negotiate.
Shalit Family No Longer Will Respond to Continuing Release Rumors
Israeli sources said any deal with Hamas would likely advance a prisoner exchange deal for kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been in captivity in Gaza for over three years.
Shalit’s family said Sunday, however, that they would no longer respond to ongoing rumors about their son's release. They claimed the rumors were released by Hamas in order to put pressure on the Israeli government to free terrorists. Defense Minister Barak, too, claimed the rumors are harmful to the efforts to achieve the soldier's release.
On Saturday, the London-based A-sharq Al-awast reported that a deal trading Shalit for over 1,000 Hamas prisoners was imminent. Hamas leader Haniyeh, however, said that reports of a breakthrough on Shalit negotiations were exaggerated. Israeli sources also continued to deny any impending deal.
Shalit supporters promised they would continue their effort to block the transfer of goods between Israel and Gaza. Last week, demonstrators successfully blocked the crossings for a short period of time. Activists say that Israel should put pressure on Hamas to release Shalit by closing down the border crossings that provide a lifeline to Gaza residents.
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7. Police Nab Stolen Bus, 21 Illegal Entrants
by IsraelNN TV staff
Military police recently stopped a stolen bus at a checkpoint between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem. Officers who checked the vehicle's luggage compartment were amazed to see more than 20 would-be illegal entrants hiding inside.
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6/27
by IsraelNN TV staff
Military police recently stopped a stolen bus at a checkpoint between Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem. Officers who checked the vehicle's luggage compartment were amazed to see more than 20 would-be illegal entrants hiding inside.
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1. Abbas's Fatah Brags About Anti-Israel Terror
by Maayana Miskin
Members of Fatah put on a show recently boasting that Fatah leads other organizations, particularly Hamas, in anti-Israel terrorism. The event was attended by former Palestinian Authority leaders.
The performance was videotaped and shown on Fatah TV -- the television station cpntrolled by Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority, with which the U.S., U.N. and EU expect Israel to conduct negotiations. It was later translated by Palestinian Media Watch.
Among those present at the event were former head of PA security Mahmoud Dahlan and former head of PA foreign affairs Nasser al-Qidwa. The audience sang the PA anthem prior to the show.
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Click here to watch this shocking video of Fatah and Hamas students arguing on Abbas's TV station about which group is to be credited with more terror against Israel
In the pro-Fatah performance, actors portrayed a classroom setting in which pro-Fatah students debated their pro-Hamas classmates and teachers over which of the two groups deserved most credit for attacks on Israel. The play includes a segment in which pro-Fatah students criticize Hamas for failing to attack Israel more frequently since taking control of Gaza:
"Since Hamas seized power, we haven't heard of any martyrdom [sui operations,” a pro-Fatah student taunts.
"It's called 'fighter's rest,'” the teacher responds.
"Why, when Fatah stops fighting, [Hama says they're cowards, but when Hamas stops fighting you say it's 'fighter's rest'?” the student demands.
Loud applause and whistles
In another segment, pro-Fatah students brag that the Fatah-led Palestinian Liberation Organization was the first to carry out terrorist attacks on Israel. “The first shot was fired by the PLO, the first jihad was carried out by the PLO with all the other factions – but Hamas always opposed,” a student says to loud applause and whistles from the audience.
The pro-Fatah students also boast about the sadistic murder of two Israelis in Ramallah in 2000. Israeli reservists Vadim Nurzhitz and Yossi Avrahami were arrested by PA police and subsequently lynched by a mob, which beat the two to death, mutilated their bodies and dragged them through the street.
The students also express approval of the kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, criticizing Hamas only due to the fact that it was not directly responsible for his capture.
"What do you say about the Hamas kidnapping of [Israe soldier Shalit,” the teacher in Fatah's play asks.
"Did Fatah ever capture a soldier?” the pro-Hamas character asks.
"[Othe brigades captured [Shali and sold him [to Hama,” a pro-Fatah student character responds to loud applause.
"Remember, in Ramallah, [ police arrested two soldiers. Have you forgotten, teacher?” A second pro-Fatah character adds.
The two soldiers "arrested" were Vadim Nurzhitz and Yossi Avrahami, may Hashem avenge their blood.
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2. Iranian Dissident: Dear Israeli Brothers and Sisters - Help Us!
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Iranian anti-regime activists are hoping for an Israeli technological hand to help them fight the Islamic Republic. As of now, hundreds of protesters have been killed by the regime, which is evidently using Arabic-speaking armed thugs from Hizbullah to help perpetrate the violence.
"Dear Israeli Brothers and Sisters," writes Iranian dissident Arash Irandoost, "Iran needs your help more than ever now. And we will be eternally grateful. Please help opposition television and radio stations which are blocked and being jammed by the Islamic Republic (Nokia and Siemens) resume broadcast to Iran. There is a total media blackout and Iranians inside Iran for the most part are not aware of their brave brothers and sisters fighting and losing their lives daily. And the unjust treatment and brutal massacre of the brave Iranians in the hands of the mullah's paid terrorist Hamas and Hizbullah gangs are not seen by the majority of the Iranians. Please help in any way you can to allow these stations resume broadcasting to Iran.
"And, please remember that we will remember, as you have remembered Cyrus the Great's treatment of you in your time of need," Irandoost concludes, signing his blogged call for help "Your Iranian Brothers and Sisters!"
In an interview with Israel National News, Iranian expatriate pro-democracy activist Amil Imani said that Irandoost's message represents the sentiments of much of the youth in the streets in Iran. They have a strong belief in the technological know-how of the Israelis to overcome the Iranian regime's attempts to block communications.
"This is going to be the most massive, impressive revolution of the 21st century," Imani said, "and we're seeing it live." However, he added, it is now too dependent on Internet communications, so the protesters are very much in need of outside assistance to fight the technological and information war.
More generally, Imani said, the Iranian people are lionizing any leader of any nation who comes out strongly against the Islamic Republic at this time.
According to Imani, at least 500 people have been killed by Iranian government forces, with another 5,000 injured. But the hospitals are no longer safe, he added, as the gunmen from the basiji militia enter the emergency wards looking for
We will remember, as you have remembered Cyrus the Great's treatment of you in your time of need.
wounded protesters. Therefore, Imani said, sympathetic doctors have taken to treating the wounded wherever they can, including in private homes.
Even outside Iran, tens of thousands of protesters are out in the streets every day, especially in the United States and Europe. Imani said he thinks the phenomenon represents unprecedented unity in the Iranian expatriate community.
As for the basijis themselves, Imani reported, many of them are Lebanese and Palestinian Authority Arabs hired by the regime to do its bidding. Iranians reportedly captured seven basijis who spoke no Persian, only Arabic. According to Imani, 10,000 more Arab hired guns arrived in Tehran to serve the mullah-led regime.
But they are not the only ones thinking about guns at this point. Some Iranian protesters, Imani reported, have taken to threatening their oppressors, "God have mercy on you if we decide to [take u arms!"
"There is no turning back," Imani concluded.
Comment on this story
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Iranian anti-regime activists are hoping for an Israeli technological hand to help them fight the Islamic Republic. As of now, hundreds of protesters have been killed by the regime, which is evidently using Arabic-speaking armed thugs from Hizbullah to help perpetrate the violence.
"Dear Israeli Brothers and Sisters," writes Iranian dissident Arash Irandoost, "Iran needs your help more than ever now. And we will be eternally grateful. Please help opposition television and radio stations which are blocked and being jammed by the Islamic Republic (Nokia and Siemens) resume broadcast to Iran. There is a total media blackout and Iranians inside Iran for the most part are not aware of their brave brothers and sisters fighting and losing their lives daily. And the unjust treatment and brutal massacre of the brave Iranians in the hands of the mullah's paid terrorist Hamas and Hizbullah gangs are not seen by the majority of the Iranians. Please help in any way you can to allow these stations resume broadcasting to Iran.
"And, please remember that we will remember, as you have remembered Cyrus the Great's treatment of you in your time of need," Irandoost concludes, signing his blogged call for help "Your Iranian Brothers and Sisters!"
In an interview with Israel National News, Iranian expatriate pro-democracy activist Amil Imani said that Irandoost's message represents the sentiments of much of the youth in the streets in Iran. They have a strong belief in the technological know-how of the Israelis to overcome the Iranian regime's attempts to block communications.
"This is going to be the most massive, impressive revolution of the 21st century," Imani said, "and we're seeing it live." However, he added, it is now too dependent on Internet communications, so the protesters are very much in need of outside assistance to fight the technological and information war.
More generally, Imani said, the Iranian people are lionizing any leader of any nation who comes out strongly against the Islamic Republic at this time.
According to Imani, at least 500 people have been killed by Iranian government forces, with another 5,000 injured. But the hospitals are no longer safe, he added, as the gunmen from the basiji militia enter the emergency wards looking for
We will remember, as you have remembered Cyrus the Great's treatment of you in your time of need.
wounded protesters. Therefore, Imani said, sympathetic doctors have taken to treating the wounded wherever they can, including in private homes.
Even outside Iran, tens of thousands of protesters are out in the streets every day, especially in the United States and Europe. Imani said he thinks the phenomenon represents unprecedented unity in the Iranian expatriate community.
As for the basijis themselves, Imani reported, many of them are Lebanese and Palestinian Authority Arabs hired by the regime to do its bidding. Iranians reportedly captured seven basijis who spoke no Persian, only Arabic. According to Imani, 10,000 more Arab hired guns arrived in Tehran to serve the mullah-led regime.
But they are not the only ones thinking about guns at this point. Some Iranian protesters, Imani reported, have taken to threatening their oppressors, "God have mercy on you if we decide to [take u arms!"
"There is no turning back," Imani concluded.
Comment on this story
3. Israeli Station in Arabic Accused of Supporting Terrorism
by Maayana Miskin
Israel Media Watch has filed a complaint against the Israeli station Radio A-Shams following several complaints from listeners. Israelis who tuned in to the Arabic-language broadcasting were surprised to hear support for terrorism and denigration of Israel as “criminal.”
Many complaints were received regarding a weekly program broadcasting messages to convicted terrorists in Israeli prisons. The program's symbol is of a pair of handcuffed wrists next to a Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) flag.
Other complaints involved allegations that broadcasters referred to Israel as “criminal” and “occupier.” The station also referred to the creation of Israel in the 1940s as “a disaster” on its website.
Israel Media Watch sent the information it has gathered to the Second Authority for Television and Radio. The Second Authority has not yet responded to the allegations.
Radio A-Shams began broadcasting in 2003 as a regional radio station. At the time, managers said they would strike a balance between Israeli and Arab terminology – for example, avoiding the use of both “terrorists” and “martyrs” when referring to deceased terrorists, and referring to the IDF simply as “the army” and not “defense forces” or “occupation army.”
The station has proven to be extremely popular among Israeli Arabs. According to a Second Authority survey, it is the most popular of all Arabic-language radio programming in Israel.
A previous Arabic station, Radio 2000, was removed from the air in 2000 due to financial problems. Before its removal, Radio 2000 was accused of incitement over its coverage of the October riots that same year.
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by Maayana Miskin
Israel Media Watch has filed a complaint against the Israeli station Radio A-Shams following several complaints from listeners. Israelis who tuned in to the Arabic-language broadcasting were surprised to hear support for terrorism and denigration of Israel as “criminal.”
Many complaints were received regarding a weekly program broadcasting messages to convicted terrorists in Israeli prisons. The program's symbol is of a pair of handcuffed wrists next to a Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) flag.
Other complaints involved allegations that broadcasters referred to Israel as “criminal” and “occupier.” The station also referred to the creation of Israel in the 1940s as “a disaster” on its website.
Israel Media Watch sent the information it has gathered to the Second Authority for Television and Radio. The Second Authority has not yet responded to the allegations.
Radio A-Shams began broadcasting in 2003 as a regional radio station. At the time, managers said they would strike a balance between Israeli and Arab terminology – for example, avoiding the use of both “terrorists” and “martyrs” when referring to deceased terrorists, and referring to the IDF simply as “the army” and not “defense forces” or “occupation army.”
The station has proven to be extremely popular among Israeli Arabs. According to a Second Authority survey, it is the most popular of all Arabic-language radio programming in Israel.
A previous Arabic station, Radio 2000, was removed from the air in 2000 due to financial problems. Before its removal, Radio 2000 was accused of incitement over its coverage of the October riots that same year.
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4. Mashaal: Hamas Ready for Peace, but not with Jewish State
by Maayana Miskin
Hamas head Khaled Mashaal gave a speech Thursday evening in response to a policy speech given by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu several days earlier. Mashaal proclaimed that Hamas is ready to cooperate with the international community in order to reach a deal with Israel, but only under conditions it deems favorable.
Specifically, Mashaal rejected every proposal supported by Israel, including Netanyahu's insistence that the Palestinian Authority recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Hamas will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state, because it hopes to see millions of descendents of Arab residents of pre-state Israel “return” to the area, potentially turning Israel into a majority-Arab state, Mashaal explained.
He rejected Netanyahu's proposal that the PA form a demilitarized state within Judea, Samaria and Gaza. “A demilitarized state is a miserable state, not a serious entity,” he stated.
Mashaal also insisted that an Arab state in Judea and Samaria be granted Jerusalem as its capital.
While stating his readiness to cooperate, Mashaal compared Israel to Nazi Germany and expressed support for terrorism. “[Israe failed in its Nazi war on Gaza, just as it failed in Lebanon,” he said. “This was due to the resistance, not to dialogue, which serves only to hide the true face of occupation.”
Mashaal praised United States President Barack Obama for “using new language” with Israel, but called on the U.S. leader to do more. “We're hoping for real pressure on the Israelis,” he said.
The Hamas leader also mentioned Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas and affiliated terrorist groups exactly three years ago. Hamas is ready to free Shalit in exchange for imprisoned terrorists he said, but Netanyahu's “extremism” is preventing the deal.
Hamas has demanded the freedom of several hundred terrorists, many of whom were responsible for multiple murders, in exchange for Shalit. The group has refused to allow humanitarian organizations to visit the kidnapped soldier, and has not recently provided proof that Shalit is alive.
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by Maayana Miskin
Hamas head Khaled Mashaal gave a speech Thursday evening in response to a policy speech given by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu several days earlier. Mashaal proclaimed that Hamas is ready to cooperate with the international community in order to reach a deal with Israel, but only under conditions it deems favorable.
Specifically, Mashaal rejected every proposal supported by Israel, including Netanyahu's insistence that the Palestinian Authority recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Hamas will never recognize Israel as a Jewish state, because it hopes to see millions of descendents of Arab residents of pre-state Israel “return” to the area, potentially turning Israel into a majority-Arab state, Mashaal explained.
He rejected Netanyahu's proposal that the PA form a demilitarized state within Judea, Samaria and Gaza. “A demilitarized state is a miserable state, not a serious entity,” he stated.
Mashaal also insisted that an Arab state in Judea and Samaria be granted Jerusalem as its capital.
While stating his readiness to cooperate, Mashaal compared Israel to Nazi Germany and expressed support for terrorism. “[Israe failed in its Nazi war on Gaza, just as it failed in Lebanon,” he said. “This was due to the resistance, not to dialogue, which serves only to hide the true face of occupation.”
Mashaal praised United States President Barack Obama for “using new language” with Israel, but called on the U.S. leader to do more. “We're hoping for real pressure on the Israelis,” he said.
The Hamas leader also mentioned Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas and affiliated terrorist groups exactly three years ago. Hamas is ready to free Shalit in exchange for imprisoned terrorists he said, but Netanyahu's “extremism” is preventing the deal.
Hamas has demanded the freedom of several hundred terrorists, many of whom were responsible for multiple murders, in exchange for Shalit. The group has refused to allow humanitarian organizations to visit the kidnapped soldier, and has not recently provided proof that Shalit is alive.
Comment on this story
5. Is Israel Negotiating with US or with PA?
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The U.S. State Department had a tough time this week explaining to a reporter why the Obama administration is talking with Israel about the creation of a Palestinian Authority state instead of letting the two parties themselves negotiate.
A journalist asked spokesman Philip Crowley, “The problem here is that it seems to be that the negotiation that’s going on is between the United States and Israel…. The U.S. and Israel are friends and allies and there isn’t a – there is no need for a peace deal between – the need here is for a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians, not for an agreement between the U.S. and Israel over settlements. Is that correct?"
Crowley tried to explain that one of the first priorities of U.S. President Barack Obama since he took office has been to advance the peace process.
In answer to persistent questioning over the issue of an agreement on construction in Judea and Samaria being worked out between Israel and the PA and not the U.S., he relied, “Our interest is to facilitate the parties to restart a negotiation that leads to a comprehensive agreement. Again, as [U.S. Middle East envo George Mitchell said, we want to get back into a formal negotiation. And we are working hard right now to create the conditions that would allow that to happen. We recognize that positions held by Israel today and positions held by the Palestinians today may be at odds.”
Mitchell and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cancelled their planned meeting in Paris this week in order “to clarify” the issue of building for Jews in Judea and Samaria. The State Department also told a reporter this week that the building freeze desired by President Obama also applies to large Jewish neighborhoods near the heart of the capital.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak is to meet with Mitchell next week, and Thursday’s announcement by the IDF, which is halting counterterrorist operations in four major PA cities, is considered a move to appease the Obama administration.
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by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The U.S. State Department had a tough time this week explaining to a reporter why the Obama administration is talking with Israel about the creation of a Palestinian Authority state instead of letting the two parties themselves negotiate.
A journalist asked spokesman Philip Crowley, “The problem here is that it seems to be that the negotiation that’s going on is between the United States and Israel…. The U.S. and Israel are friends and allies and there isn’t a – there is no need for a peace deal between – the need here is for a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians, not for an agreement between the U.S. and Israel over settlements. Is that correct?"
Crowley tried to explain that one of the first priorities of U.S. President Barack Obama since he took office has been to advance the peace process.
In answer to persistent questioning over the issue of an agreement on construction in Judea and Samaria being worked out between Israel and the PA and not the U.S., he relied, “Our interest is to facilitate the parties to restart a negotiation that leads to a comprehensive agreement. Again, as [U.S. Middle East envo George Mitchell said, we want to get back into a formal negotiation. And we are working hard right now to create the conditions that would allow that to happen. We recognize that positions held by Israel today and positions held by the Palestinians today may be at odds.”
Mitchell and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu cancelled their planned meeting in Paris this week in order “to clarify” the issue of building for Jews in Judea and Samaria. The State Department also told a reporter this week that the building freeze desired by President Obama also applies to large Jewish neighborhoods near the heart of the capital.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak is to meet with Mitchell next week, and Thursday’s announcement by the IDF, which is halting counterterrorist operations in four major PA cities, is considered a move to appease the Obama administration.
Comment on this story
6. World First: ‘Sun Valley’ Launches Novel Solar Plant
by Rochel Sylvetsky
It was an Israel lover’s dream come true: A new way of generating renewable energy using concentrated solar radiation was created at the Weizmann Institute, developed in cooperation with the AORA solar technology company located in the development town of Yavne, brought to fruition by Torah observant investors from abroad and launched in Kibbutz Samar 20 kilometers (13 miles) north of Eilat.
Overseas guests, including dignitaries and businessmen from Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Chile and Australia, mingled with the smiling Israelis, including AORA chief executive officer Chaim Fried’s family from Har Bracha, government representatives and kibbutz members at the event on Wednesday.
Yehoshua Fried, founder of construction-management firm EDIG, of which AORA is a member, began his speech with the traditional blessing over something new and continued with a quote from the week’s Torah portion. He thanked American investor Meir Reiss and Canadian Director of Corporation and Consultant to Management, Zev Rosenzweig, who believed in his dream and made it into reality. Fried recalled how he pioneered in the field 15 years ago along with Chief Technology Officer Dr. Pinchas Doron, but had to abandon his plans until the need for clean, renewable solar power was recognized.
Rosenzweig spoke of the special feeling he and Reiss have, as committed Jews, in helping the Jewish State utilize its brain power, strengthening its economy, providing local jobs and benefiting the world in general. Udi Gat, Eilot Regional Council Chairman, expressed the hope that his region would become the “Sun Valley” of the clean energy world as California’s “Silicon Valley” is to the cyberworld.
The new environmental friendly power station incorporates innovations that make it particularly advantageous in comparison to other technologies. It does not use water as do steam operated turbines, it can be constructed in several months rather than the years it takes to build other solar power stations, and it can supply energy 24 hours a day by using fuel to generate electricity when there is no sunlight.
It is the only modular system in existence, perhaps its greatest advantage, allowing the purchase and operation of as many 100-kilowatt modules as needed. A modular system can continue operation even if one or several modules need repair and the size and relative price enable it to be practical at a local level as well as a large area. Each module can provide for 50-70 households, making it attractive for developing countries with outlying villages. Over 70 percent of the materials are Israeli products, providing income for local firms.
The system consists of 30 tracking mirrors (heliostats) situated on a half-acre of land that track the sun and redirect its rays towards the top of a 30-meter high tower housing a solar receiver and gas turbine. The first tower, designed by the pioneering Israeli architect Chaim Dotan to resemble a yellow flower, is placed so that it can be seen with its top glowing in the sun when traveling on the road to Eilat.
The patented special solar receiver in the tower uses the sun’s energy to heat air to 1000 degrees Celsius and directs this energy into the turbine which converts it into electric power. This can be attached to the national grid and the Minister of National Infrastructures, Binyamin Ben Eliezer, has already signed the license allowing that.
Contracts for “concentrated solar power stations” were signed with Australian and Spanish businessmen at the launching itself. As for the Israeli consumer, it remains only for the Israeli government to decide what to charge for the cheaper, cleaner electricity generated by our home grown “Power Flower”.
Comment on this story
by Rochel Sylvetsky
It was an Israel lover’s dream come true: A new way of generating renewable energy using concentrated solar radiation was created at the Weizmann Institute, developed in cooperation with the AORA solar technology company located in the development town of Yavne, brought to fruition by Torah observant investors from abroad and launched in Kibbutz Samar 20 kilometers (13 miles) north of Eilat.
Overseas guests, including dignitaries and businessmen from Spain, Switzerland, Austria, Chile and Australia, mingled with the smiling Israelis, including AORA chief executive officer Chaim Fried’s family from Har Bracha, government representatives and kibbutz members at the event on Wednesday.
Yehoshua Fried, founder of construction-management firm EDIG, of which AORA is a member, began his speech with the traditional blessing over something new and continued with a quote from the week’s Torah portion. He thanked American investor Meir Reiss and Canadian Director of Corporation and Consultant to Management, Zev Rosenzweig, who believed in his dream and made it into reality. Fried recalled how he pioneered in the field 15 years ago along with Chief Technology Officer Dr. Pinchas Doron, but had to abandon his plans until the need for clean, renewable solar power was recognized.
Rosenzweig spoke of the special feeling he and Reiss have, as committed Jews, in helping the Jewish State utilize its brain power, strengthening its economy, providing local jobs and benefiting the world in general. Udi Gat, Eilot Regional Council Chairman, expressed the hope that his region would become the “Sun Valley” of the clean energy world as California’s “Silicon Valley” is to the cyberworld.
The new environmental friendly power station incorporates innovations that make it particularly advantageous in comparison to other technologies. It does not use water as do steam operated turbines, it can be constructed in several months rather than the years it takes to build other solar power stations, and it can supply energy 24 hours a day by using fuel to generate electricity when there is no sunlight.
It is the only modular system in existence, perhaps its greatest advantage, allowing the purchase and operation of as many 100-kilowatt modules as needed. A modular system can continue operation even if one or several modules need repair and the size and relative price enable it to be practical at a local level as well as a large area. Each module can provide for 50-70 households, making it attractive for developing countries with outlying villages. Over 70 percent of the materials are Israeli products, providing income for local firms.
The system consists of 30 tracking mirrors (heliostats) situated on a half-acre of land that track the sun and redirect its rays towards the top of a 30-meter high tower housing a solar receiver and gas turbine. The first tower, designed by the pioneering Israeli architect Chaim Dotan to resemble a yellow flower, is placed so that it can be seen with its top glowing in the sun when traveling on the road to Eilat.
The patented special solar receiver in the tower uses the sun’s energy to heat air to 1000 degrees Celsius and directs this energy into the turbine which converts it into electric power. This can be attached to the national grid and the Minister of National Infrastructures, Binyamin Ben Eliezer, has already signed the license allowing that.
Contracts for “concentrated solar power stations” were signed with Australian and Spanish businessmen at the launching itself. As for the Israeli consumer, it remains only for the Israeli government to decide what to charge for the cheaper, cleaner electricity generated by our home grown “Power Flower”.
Comment on this story
7. Aharon Barak: Jews Want to Throw Arabs into the Sea
by Maayana Miskin
Former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak revealed his political views Thursday at a conference on Lawmakers for Human Rights. In his lecture, Barak described himself as “a great believer in the concept of 'a state of all its citizens.'”
Barak said, however, that Israel can be both a democratic Jewish state and a state that treats all citizens equally. “A Jew has precedence when it comes to aliyah [immigratio, but as soon as he gets here, his rights should be equal to those of an Arab,” he explained.
Barak also criticized Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria as an “occupation,” and said the Israeli presence there leads to human rights offenses and racism elsewhere in Israel.
The situation has reached the point where Jews wish to throw Arabs into the sea, Barak claimed. “If you ask a Jew if he's in favor of human rights, he'll say 'Of course.' If you ask him if he's in favor of throwing the Arabs into the sea, he'll say 'Of course.' He sees no contradiction between the two,” Barak told his audience.
Echoing Bishara
"A state of all its citizens" is a phrase used by those in Israel who do not want Israel defined as a Jewish state, and is most closely associated with Azmi Bishara and his Balad party. Former MK Bishara escaped Israel after being suspected of treason. His party was disqualified from running for the Knesset but the High Court annulled the disqualification.
Members of Knesset from the political right said Barak's speech proved that the extreme left has power over Israel's justice system. “Barak's words bear witness to the post-Zionist takeover of the courts,” said MK Yariv Levin of Likud.
MK Michael Ben-Ari of the National Union said, “The former Supreme Court President's speech, and his support for the anti-Zionist concept of 'a state of its citizens,' prove that the Supreme Court's agenda has been taken from the platforms of [M Ahmed Tibi and [former M Azmi Bishara.”
"Today, more than ever, we see the need to change the panel of judges in the Supreme Court in order to save the Jewish state,” he concluded.
Comment on this story
by Maayana Miskin
Former Supreme Court President Aharon Barak revealed his political views Thursday at a conference on Lawmakers for Human Rights. In his lecture, Barak described himself as “a great believer in the concept of 'a state of all its citizens.'”
Barak said, however, that Israel can be both a democratic Jewish state and a state that treats all citizens equally. “A Jew has precedence when it comes to aliyah [immigratio, but as soon as he gets here, his rights should be equal to those of an Arab,” he explained.
Barak also criticized Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria as an “occupation,” and said the Israeli presence there leads to human rights offenses and racism elsewhere in Israel.
The situation has reached the point where Jews wish to throw Arabs into the sea, Barak claimed. “If you ask a Jew if he's in favor of human rights, he'll say 'Of course.' If you ask him if he's in favor of throwing the Arabs into the sea, he'll say 'Of course.' He sees no contradiction between the two,” Barak told his audience.
Echoing Bishara
"A state of all its citizens" is a phrase used by those in Israel who do not want Israel defined as a Jewish state, and is most closely associated with Azmi Bishara and his Balad party. Former MK Bishara escaped Israel after being suspected of treason. His party was disqualified from running for the Knesset but the High Court annulled the disqualification.
Members of Knesset from the political right said Barak's speech proved that the extreme left has power over Israel's justice system. “Barak's words bear witness to the post-Zionist takeover of the courts,” said MK Yariv Levin of Likud.
MK Michael Ben-Ari of the National Union said, “The former Supreme Court President's speech, and his support for the anti-Zionist concept of 'a state of its citizens,' prove that the Supreme Court's agenda has been taken from the platforms of [M Ahmed Tibi and [former M Azmi Bishara.”
"Today, more than ever, we see the need to change the panel of judges in the Supreme Court in order to save the Jewish state,” he concluded.
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6/23
1. Mousavi Calls for 'Sea of Green' as Govt Clamps Down
by Hana Levi Julian
Iranian government forces are moving with increasing ferocity to clamp down on dissident activities as presidential challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi urges his followers to gather for the "largest March of Sea of Green" later this week.
The protest, planned by the opposition to be the largest ever held in the Iranian capital, is being billed in part as a memorial to Neda, a 27-year-old woman who bled to death after being shot during the weekend protests by the Basij militia. The young woman's death was filmed and broadcast on the video-sharing YouTube website, where tens of thousands of people saw it within hours.
Neda has become a symbol for those protesting the Ahmadinejad regime; at many subsequent demonstrations, protestors have been carrying signs proclaiming, "I am Neda."
[weJe In the above video, Basij militiamen search for victims and rampage through the streets of Tehran. Email readers, please click here to view the footage.
Younger demonstrators are growing somewhat more cautious in the face of the militia brutality.It is impossible to know how many people have actually been shot to death by the government forces; media reports and civilian "Tweets" on the Twitter social networking mini-blogging internet site have put the number between 19 and "dozens."
Many more have been wounded in the ongoing violence; government forces have used tear gas canisters, water cannons, gunshots and batons to batter the protestors into abandoning their efforts.
UN Secy-Gen: Stop Violence Against Civilians
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered his criticism of the Iranian government's actions against the protestors in a statement issued Tuesday by his spokesman.
“The Secretary-General has been following with growing concern the situation in the Islamic Republic of Iran and is dismayed by the post-election violence, particularly the use of force against civilians, which has led to the loss of life and injuries,” the statement said.
“He calls on the authorities to respect fundamental civil and political rights, especially the freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of information,” the statement continued.
”The situation in Iran is of concern to the international community, and the Secretary-General calls on the Government and the opposition to resolve peacefully their differences through dialogue and legal means. He urges an immediate stop to the arrests, threats and use of force. The Secretary-General reiterates his hope that the democratic will of the people of Iran will be fully respected.”
Ayatollahs: Admission of Guilt
Meanwhile, a member of Iran's Guardian Council acknowledged Sunday that voting irregularities took place in at least 50 polling locations around the country.
Spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei tried to play down accusations that the election was rigged, saying that the claims that fraud had taken place in more than 80 cities were not true.
Israel: 'Leave All Options on the Table'
Israel's President Shimon Peres noted that the massive protests signaled a threat to Ahmadinejad's intended drive toward nuclear weapons -- and possibly his oft-repeated vow to wipe the Jewish State off the map.
"I don't know what will disappear first -- their enriched uranium or their poor government," Peres told a gathering of world Jewish leaders this week in Jerusalem. "Hopefully, the poor governement will disappear."
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday in a televised interview on NBC that both the United States and Israel should "leave all options on the table" in terms of dealing with the continued Iranian nuclear threat.
Government Crackdown on Media Continues
Worldwide solidarity demonstrations against the violence were held Saturday in New York, Los Angeles, and in front of the White House in Washington D.C., as well as in a number of cities in European countries, including Brussels and Paris.
All foreign journalists have been banned by the government from the streets of Iran and all reports on the violence by foreign media on the scene have been censored.
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) correspondent Jon Leyne was ordered on June 21 to leave the country within 24 hours, a fact confirmed by the news agency. The journalist was accused of "dispatching fabricated news and reports" and "ignoring neutrality in news," as well as "supporting rioters and trampling the Iranian nation's rights," Reuters reported. Iranian state radio accused Leyne of "distortion of news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran and particularly news pertaining to the election."
Despite the government's efforts to jam satellite signals and block the internet, local bloggers who managed to post on Twitter noted that "all staff & journalists at Kalame Newspaper were arrested last night."
Bloggers Desperately Search for Holes in the Net
Some bloggers offered links to a system called the "Tor" anonymity network which allegedly enables its users to communicate anonymously on the internet – thus protecting them from Iranian government trackers. "Bypass internet blocking using this…" suggested one blogger.
Still, there were signs that the government's efforts were becoming more successful.
"Many asking why fewer Tweets from Iran. Ans. Is internet access more and more restricted," explained several bloggers in "re-Tweets" that were forwarded from one to another through Twitter.
Claims of torture also surfaced: "political prisoners being tortured to deny support for Sea of Green – prison source," wrote one blogger. "Militia all over Tehran on motorbike (sic) beating pedestrians for no reason – to frightened people," another warned.
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2. Netanyahu: Change Could Bring Iran, Israel Together
by Yehudah Lev Kay
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday that change in Tehran could bring Iran and Israel together after years of acrimony.
“There is a no conflict between the Iranian people and the people of Israel and under a different regime the friendly relations that prevailed in the past could be restored,” the Israeli prime minister told the German daily paper Bild.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be wiped off the map and his regime sponsors both the Hamas and Hizbullah terrorist groups. He was reelected to another term ten days ago according to official election results, but thousands of Iranians have protested in support of reformist candidate Hir Hossein Moussavi who says the vote was rigged.
“I think the true nature of the Iranian regime has been unmasked,” Netanyahu said in support of the protest movement. “What we have seen in Iran is a powerful desire on the part of the Iranian people to be free,” he added.
Reactions to the protests in Tehran were originally cool in Israel, with intelligence officials claiming there to be little difference between the candidates. President Shimon Peres and Netanyahu have since lent their support to the Iranian dissidents.
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by Yehudah Lev Kay
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Monday that change in Tehran could bring Iran and Israel together after years of acrimony.
“There is a no conflict between the Iranian people and the people of Israel and under a different regime the friendly relations that prevailed in the past could be restored,” the Israeli prime minister told the German daily paper Bild.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has called for Israel to be wiped off the map and his regime sponsors both the Hamas and Hizbullah terrorist groups. He was reelected to another term ten days ago according to official election results, but thousands of Iranians have protested in support of reformist candidate Hir Hossein Moussavi who says the vote was rigged.
“I think the true nature of the Iranian regime has been unmasked,” Netanyahu said in support of the protest movement. “What we have seen in Iran is a powerful desire on the part of the Iranian people to be free,” he added.
Reactions to the protests in Tehran were originally cool in Israel, with intelligence officials claiming there to be little difference between the candidates. President Shimon Peres and Netanyahu have since lent their support to the Iranian dissidents.
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3. US: No Growth – In Eastern Jerusalem Either
by Hana Levi Julian
A U.S. State Department spokesman reiterated on Monday the Obama administration stance that Israel must cease all construction and development in the eastern section of the capital.
The new budget has earmarked more than NIS 200 million shekels to build new housing units and complete the infrastructure for the Har Homa neighborhood in Jerusalem, as well as in the city's suburb of Ma'ale Adumim. Current plans being debated in the Knesset call for the construction of 1,210 new apartments in Har Homa, which is located near the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Bethlehem, home to the Tomb of the Matriarch Rachel.
Ma'aleh Adumim has seen burgeoning growth over the past decade, with at least 3,100 housing units already built and another 400 planned. More than NIS 150 million has been allocated in the current budget for infrastructure development in the sprawling suburb, which in January 2008 was home to 24,495 residents - triple the number of peoplewho were expelled from Gaza and northern Samaria in the 2005 Disengagement.
The United States has been adamant that Israel must cease "all settlement activity" in Judea and Samaria, including "natural growth." Up to this point, however, Israeli officials did not believe the U.S. would apply the edict to the nation's capital, where the restored territory was annexed, rather than placed in a holding pattern after the 1967 Six Day War.
They were wrong.
Following is the transcript of the exchange between State Department spokesman Ian Kelly and a journalist at Monday's briefing on the subject.
The discussion centered specifically on neighborhoods in the capital on the "other" side of Jerusalem's so-called "Seam Line," where IDF soldiers recaptured the other half of the city from Jordanian forces during the 1967 Six Day War.
QUESTION: Okay, and then just to clarify ---
MR. KELLY: Yeah.
QUESTION: When you’re talking about no natural growth in settlements --
MR. KELLY: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- does that include any Jerusalem neighborhoods that are over the Green Line? (1949 Armistice line – ed.)
MR. KELLY: That – we call for a cease to all settlement activity.
QUESTION: Including Jerusalem --
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
QUESTION: Including Jerusalem in that?
MR. KELLY: We’re talking about all settlement activity, yeah, in the area across the line.
QUESTION: Thank you.
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by Hana Levi Julian
A U.S. State Department spokesman reiterated on Monday the Obama administration stance that Israel must cease all construction and development in the eastern section of the capital.
The new budget has earmarked more than NIS 200 million shekels to build new housing units and complete the infrastructure for the Har Homa neighborhood in Jerusalem, as well as in the city's suburb of Ma'ale Adumim. Current plans being debated in the Knesset call for the construction of 1,210 new apartments in Har Homa, which is located near the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Bethlehem, home to the Tomb of the Matriarch Rachel.
Ma'aleh Adumim has seen burgeoning growth over the past decade, with at least 3,100 housing units already built and another 400 planned. More than NIS 150 million has been allocated in the current budget for infrastructure development in the sprawling suburb, which in January 2008 was home to 24,495 residents - triple the number of peoplewho were expelled from Gaza and northern Samaria in the 2005 Disengagement.
The United States has been adamant that Israel must cease "all settlement activity" in Judea and Samaria, including "natural growth." Up to this point, however, Israeli officials did not believe the U.S. would apply the edict to the nation's capital, where the restored territory was annexed, rather than placed in a holding pattern after the 1967 Six Day War.
They were wrong.
Following is the transcript of the exchange between State Department spokesman Ian Kelly and a journalist at Monday's briefing on the subject.
The discussion centered specifically on neighborhoods in the capital on the "other" side of Jerusalem's so-called "Seam Line," where IDF soldiers recaptured the other half of the city from Jordanian forces during the 1967 Six Day War.
QUESTION: Okay, and then just to clarify ---
MR. KELLY: Yeah.
QUESTION: When you’re talking about no natural growth in settlements --
MR. KELLY: Yeah.
QUESTION: -- does that include any Jerusalem neighborhoods that are over the Green Line? (1949 Armistice line – ed.)
MR. KELLY: That – we call for a cease to all settlement activity.
QUESTION: Including Jerusalem --
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
QUESTION: Including Jerusalem in that?
MR. KELLY: We’re talking about all settlement activity, yeah, in the area across the line.
QUESTION: Thank you.
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4. Philippines, Israel Strengthen Ties
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz Philippines Tourism Minister Joseph H. Durano is on his first-ever official visit to Israel this week, strengthening the
The Philippines was one of the few countries in the world to unreservedly open its doors to Jews fleeing Europe during World War II.
existing ties between the two countries. Durano met with the Tourism Ministry Director General Noaz Bar-Nir and other senior Tourism Ministry representatives on Monday. He will also visit several tourist sites around the country in coming days.
On Sunday, the Philippines Foreign Minister was in Rishon LeTzion to officially inaugurate a memorial dedicated to Philippines citizens who aided Jews during the Holocaust. The Philippines was one of the few countries in the world to unreservedly open its doors to Jews fleeing Europe during World War II. Over 1,200 Jews found refuge there until the Japanese occupation of the islands. Interestingly, the Japanese did not differentiate between German and Austrian Jews and other Germans or Austrians, thus leaving them free to assist their brethren who were placed in a concentration camp with the other nationals of states at war with Japan.
Durano and Israeli officials will be exchanging information on tourism matters, including tourism management during times of crisis and developing rural tourism. Bar-Nir and other senior ministry representatives are presenting their Philippines guest with an introduction to the Israel tourism industry, including a study of the way Israel has dealt with various crises during and after periods of armed conflict. The minister was told about the compensation procedures Israel has in place for compensating tourism industry representatives and entrepreneurs affected by such armed conflict.
Also of common interest between the two countries are issues of image and marketing campaigns during the global economic crisis, and the development of rural tourism in various regions in Israel that are similar in characteristics to those in the Philippines.
Tourism Ministry Director-General Bar-Nir commented on the official visit from the Philippines, "The Israeli tourism industry offers an example of how to cope successfully with and subsequently recover quickly from crisis situations. I am pleased to contribute some of this knowledge in this area as well to countries that find themselves in similar situations. Many countries are expressing an interest in the unique and attractive rural tourism in Israel and I hope that this visit will advance cooperation in tourism between our two countries."
The number of tourists visiting Israel from the Philippines is relatively small, with the peak being in the year 2000, when 14,000 visited. About 8,000 tourists visited Israel last year from the Philippines. However, there are are about 60,000 Filipinos working in Israel, mostly in the home care and healthcare services industry. There are about 200 Jews living in the Philippines today.
Other Common Issues
In a less pleasant field than tourism, Israel and the Philippines have other commonalities. The southern Philippines has been plagued by Islamic fundamentalist and separatist terrorism for thirty years.
In recent clashes over the weekend, 14 terrorists were killed and 22 other people injured in separate clashes with government forces. Among the dead were four members of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Abu Sayyaf group, while two soldiers were wounded. Ten terrorists from the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front were killed in separate clashes.
The Philippines army says that over 100 jihadist and separatist terrorists have been killed in battles with security forces in Sulu and Mindanao in recent months.
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by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz Philippines Tourism Minister Joseph H. Durano is on his first-ever official visit to Israel this week, strengthening the
The Philippines was one of the few countries in the world to unreservedly open its doors to Jews fleeing Europe during World War II.
existing ties between the two countries. Durano met with the Tourism Ministry Director General Noaz Bar-Nir and other senior Tourism Ministry representatives on Monday. He will also visit several tourist sites around the country in coming days.
On Sunday, the Philippines Foreign Minister was in Rishon LeTzion to officially inaugurate a memorial dedicated to Philippines citizens who aided Jews during the Holocaust. The Philippines was one of the few countries in the world to unreservedly open its doors to Jews fleeing Europe during World War II. Over 1,200 Jews found refuge there until the Japanese occupation of the islands. Interestingly, the Japanese did not differentiate between German and Austrian Jews and other Germans or Austrians, thus leaving them free to assist their brethren who were placed in a concentration camp with the other nationals of states at war with Japan.
Durano and Israeli officials will be exchanging information on tourism matters, including tourism management during times of crisis and developing rural tourism. Bar-Nir and other senior ministry representatives are presenting their Philippines guest with an introduction to the Israel tourism industry, including a study of the way Israel has dealt with various crises during and after periods of armed conflict. The minister was told about the compensation procedures Israel has in place for compensating tourism industry representatives and entrepreneurs affected by such armed conflict.
Also of common interest between the two countries are issues of image and marketing campaigns during the global economic crisis, and the development of rural tourism in various regions in Israel that are similar in characteristics to those in the Philippines.
Tourism Ministry Director-General Bar-Nir commented on the official visit from the Philippines, "The Israeli tourism industry offers an example of how to cope successfully with and subsequently recover quickly from crisis situations. I am pleased to contribute some of this knowledge in this area as well to countries that find themselves in similar situations. Many countries are expressing an interest in the unique and attractive rural tourism in Israel and I hope that this visit will advance cooperation in tourism between our two countries."
The number of tourists visiting Israel from the Philippines is relatively small, with the peak being in the year 2000, when 14,000 visited. About 8,000 tourists visited Israel last year from the Philippines. However, there are are about 60,000 Filipinos working in Israel, mostly in the home care and healthcare services industry. There are about 200 Jews living in the Philippines today.
Other Common Issues
In a less pleasant field than tourism, Israel and the Philippines have other commonalities. The southern Philippines has been plagued by Islamic fundamentalist and separatist terrorism for thirty years.
In recent clashes over the weekend, 14 terrorists were killed and 22 other people injured in separate clashes with government forces. Among the dead were four members of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Abu Sayyaf group, while two soldiers were wounded. Ten terrorists from the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front were killed in separate clashes.
The Philippines army says that over 100 jihadist and separatist terrorists have been killed in battles with security forces in Sulu and Mindanao in recent months.
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5. EU Exempts Jewish Slaughter from Pre-Stunning
by Hillel Fendel
The European Union Council of Agricultural Ministers officially recognizes shechitah – Jewish kosher slaughter. The Council voted on Monday not only to recognize shechitah, but also to require that kosher meat be traded and sold freely in every EU member state.
Aba Dunner, Executive Director of the Conference of European Rabbis, explained the vote: "The [ne regulation specifically exempts religious communities from the requirement to pre-stun animals in the slaughter process. It also contains no requirements for discriminatory labeling for meat slaughtered using the shechita method, nor for post-cut stunning to be enforced.”
“Furthermore,” Dunner said, “no member state will be able to prevent meat slaughtered according to the Jewish religious method from being traded in its territory.”
The alliance of the European Jewish Congress (EJC), the Conference of European Rabbis and Shechita EU have been working closely together to achieve these positive outcomes,” noted EJC president Dr. Moshe Kantor.
Kantor said, “The European Jewish Congress is delighted that the new EU Regulation ensures that communities in member states that kill animals for food according to humane Jewish law will be able to continue doing so. This regulation protects the fundamental rights of Europe’s religious minorities.”
Must Remain Vigilant
“At the same time,” Kantor added, “we must remain vigilant to ensure that individual governments do not seek to impose new requirements on religious slaughter.”
At present, five EU countries – Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia – forbid shechitah. It is not clear how the new regulation will affect these countries.
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
The European Union Council of Agricultural Ministers officially recognizes shechitah – Jewish kosher slaughter. The Council voted on Monday not only to recognize shechitah, but also to require that kosher meat be traded and sold freely in every EU member state.
Aba Dunner, Executive Director of the Conference of European Rabbis, explained the vote: "The [ne regulation specifically exempts religious communities from the requirement to pre-stun animals in the slaughter process. It also contains no requirements for discriminatory labeling for meat slaughtered using the shechita method, nor for post-cut stunning to be enforced.”
“Furthermore,” Dunner said, “no member state will be able to prevent meat slaughtered according to the Jewish religious method from being traded in its territory.”
The alliance of the European Jewish Congress (EJC), the Conference of European Rabbis and Shechita EU have been working closely together to achieve these positive outcomes,” noted EJC president Dr. Moshe Kantor.
Kantor said, “The European Jewish Congress is delighted that the new EU Regulation ensures that communities in member states that kill animals for food according to humane Jewish law will be able to continue doing so. This regulation protects the fundamental rights of Europe’s religious minorities.”
Must Remain Vigilant
“At the same time,” Kantor added, “we must remain vigilant to ensure that individual governments do not seek to impose new requirements on religious slaughter.”
At present, five EU countries – Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia – forbid shechitah. It is not clear how the new regulation will affect these countries.
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6. Jewish Agency Faces Anti-Semitism
by IsraelNN TV staff
Malcolm Hoenlein of the Jewish Agency describes changes in global anti-Semitism in recent years. While backlash over the worldwide financial crisis has not been as bad as some feared, pro-Israel sentiment is down and sentiments that were held only by fringe groups have now become mainstream, he says, bringing examples from the New York Times and National Geographic.
[weJe
Those who wish to fight anti-Semitism must stand up to hate, Hoenlein says. “It is imperative that we do not raise the bar... on what we're prepared to tolerate,” he warns.
As anti-Semitic campaigns become increasingly global, the response must become global as well, he continues. Communities around the world must work together and get leaders from all walks of life to condemn racism and hate.
Hoenlein also addresses the problem of anti-Semitism disguised as criticism of Israel, and discusses the Obama administration in the United States.
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by IsraelNN TV staff
Malcolm Hoenlein of the Jewish Agency describes changes in global anti-Semitism in recent years. While backlash over the worldwide financial crisis has not been as bad as some feared, pro-Israel sentiment is down and sentiments that were held only by fringe groups have now become mainstream, he says, bringing examples from the New York Times and National Geographic.
[weJe
Those who wish to fight anti-Semitism must stand up to hate, Hoenlein says. “It is imperative that we do not raise the bar... on what we're prepared to tolerate,” he warns.
As anti-Semitic campaigns become increasingly global, the response must become global as well, he continues. Communities around the world must work together and get leaders from all walks of life to condemn racism and hate.
Hoenlein also addresses the problem of anti-Semitism disguised as criticism of Israel, and discusses the Obama administration in the United States.
Comment on this story
7. 'Free Shalit' Protest Blocking Entrances to Gaza
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Activists seeking the release of Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit are attempting to block the entrances to the Hamas-controlled Gaza region Tuesday morning. In solidarity, shippers decided to suspend deliveries to Gaza as well.
Hundreds of activists from the Im Tirtzu Zionist revival grassroots movement, Shalit family and friends, kibbutz members, national student unions and concerned Israelis from around the country converged on the Erez, Nahal Oz and Kerem Shalom crossings into Gaza in a protest against the continued captivity of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Captured in 2006, Shalit is being held hostage by Hamas and its allies in an attempt to extort concessions from Israel. This week marks the third anniversary of his abduction.
The umbrella group Struggle for the Freedom of Gilad Shalit is blocking shipments of supplies to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority in Gaza.
Under the slogan popularized by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during his previous term, "They'll give - they'll get", the protesters say supplies to Gaza should be suspended at least until Shalit is allowed visitors or there is a sign of life from him, if not before he is released. Using heavy mechanical equipment and private vehicles, the protesters are blocking the Gaza crossings to all traffic, including diplomatic and media caravans.
Among their demands, protesters called for the International Committee of theRed Cross (ICRC) to have access to Shalit. The ICRC itself has demanded that Hamas allow Shalit to contact his family. The PA regime in Gaza has thus far refused, demanding the release of hundreds of terrorists from Israel's jails in exchange for their hostage.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, recently in the region for a visit with the terrorist organization said hedelivered a letter from Shalit's familytothe soldier, and asked the group to give it to the hostage. Hamas later denied that Carter had brought a letter, howeverand claimed instead that the message from the soldier's family had been verbal only.
Demonstratorsblocking the crossings havereportedly even recruited a helicopter, so that the activists on the ground can get updated warnings of trucks on their way to the Gaza region. However, they may be getting another sort of help in halting shipments as well. The Transporters and Shipping Council requested that shippers not send supplies to Gaza's commercial crossings Tuesday to show support for the actions of the Struggle for the Freedom of Gilad Shalit. Council chairman Gabi Ben-Harush stated that he hopes that the decision will help the grassroots group's efforts to secure the Shalit's release.
The protest at the Gaza crossings is the first in a planned series of events this week, marking the thirdyear of Shalit's imprisonment. A large rally, drawing high-profile VIPs such as Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and former Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, is planned for Thursday at the Ministry of Defense.
"We are moving into a more active stage, unlike in the past," a spokesperson for the Struggle for the Freedom of Gilad Shalit told Arutz Sheva. "We will not allow the prime minister to let this issue slip from the daily agenda, not for a moment."
Comment on this story
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Activists seeking the release of Israeli hostage Gilad Shalit are attempting to block the entrances to the Hamas-controlled Gaza region Tuesday morning. In solidarity, shippers decided to suspend deliveries to Gaza as well.
Hundreds of activists from the Im Tirtzu Zionist revival grassroots movement, Shalit family and friends, kibbutz members, national student unions and concerned Israelis from around the country converged on the Erez, Nahal Oz and Kerem Shalom crossings into Gaza in a protest against the continued captivity of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Captured in 2006, Shalit is being held hostage by Hamas and its allies in an attempt to extort concessions from Israel. This week marks the third anniversary of his abduction.
The umbrella group Struggle for the Freedom of Gilad Shalit is blocking shipments of supplies to the Hamas-controlled Palestinian Authority in Gaza.
Under the slogan popularized by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during his previous term, "They'll give - they'll get", the protesters say supplies to Gaza should be suspended at least until Shalit is allowed visitors or there is a sign of life from him, if not before he is released. Using heavy mechanical equipment and private vehicles, the protesters are blocking the Gaza crossings to all traffic, including diplomatic and media caravans.
Among their demands, protesters called for the International Committee of theRed Cross (ICRC) to have access to Shalit. The ICRC itself has demanded that Hamas allow Shalit to contact his family. The PA regime in Gaza has thus far refused, demanding the release of hundreds of terrorists from Israel's jails in exchange for their hostage.
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, recently in the region for a visit with the terrorist organization said hedelivered a letter from Shalit's familytothe soldier, and asked the group to give it to the hostage. Hamas later denied that Carter had brought a letter, howeverand claimed instead that the message from the soldier's family had been verbal only.
Demonstratorsblocking the crossings havereportedly even recruited a helicopter, so that the activists on the ground can get updated warnings of trucks on their way to the Gaza region. However, they may be getting another sort of help in halting shipments as well. The Transporters and Shipping Council requested that shippers not send supplies to Gaza's commercial crossings Tuesday to show support for the actions of the Struggle for the Freedom of Gilad Shalit. Council chairman Gabi Ben-Harush stated that he hopes that the decision will help the grassroots group's efforts to secure the Shalit's release.
The protest at the Gaza crossings is the first in a planned series of events this week, marking the thirdyear of Shalit's imprisonment. A large rally, drawing high-profile VIPs such as Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and former Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, is planned for Thursday at the Ministry of Defense.
"We are moving into a more active stage, unlike in the past," a spokesperson for the Struggle for the Freedom of Gilad Shalit told Arutz Sheva. "We will not allow the prime minister to let this issue slip from the daily agenda, not for a moment."
Comment on this story
6/22
US Senate Video: Menendez Champions Jewish Rights to Israel
by Baruch Gordon
(IsraelNN.com) Speaking from the Senate floor on Tuesday June 16th, Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) answers U.S. President Barack Obama, saying that "while the Shoah [Holocaust] has a central role in Israel’s identity, it is not the reason behind its founding, and it is not the main justification for its existence."
The video above presents Menendez's speech in which he explains Jewish rights to the Land of Israel.
1. Peres Applauds Iranian Protestors, Obama Remains Neutral
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
President Shimon Peres praised Iranian protestors Sunday as the ruling Muslim clerics escalated their campaign against the opposition and briefly arrested the family of former president Hashemi Rafsanjani, suspected of being aligned against the establishment. In the United States, President Barack Obama faces rising criticism for being too mild in comments on the continuing protests in Iran.
President Peres called on Iranians “to raise their voice of freedom” and expressed hope that the current “poor government will disappear.” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for the annihilation of Israel. He was declared the victor in presidential elections a week and a half ago, touching off countrywide demonstrations that have been met with violent government reprisals.
American Republicans and some Democrats have chastised President Obama for not giving enough support to the protestors, who claim that the election results were rigged against challenger Mir Hossein Moussavi.
A Washington Post editorial explained that President Obama's stance against “meddling” in Iranians affairs prevents Muslim rulers from being able to charge that the demonstrations are pro-American. However, The New York Times editorialized that the president "worries about coming out on the wrong side of history."
In Iran, Muslim clerics quickly released the family of former president Rafsanjani after arresting them, but their detention was seen as a warning that it will not tolerate opposition from Muslim clerics. Violence in the streets has subsided following the killing of several demonstrators on Saturday.
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2. Netanyahu: N-Bomb for Iran not Just a ‘Status Symbol’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday that Iran’s attempt to become a nuclear power is not simply for prestige, and that the its program will be stopped, with or without force.
Email readers: click here to watch video of Meet the Press Netanyahu Intv'w
In answer to a question as to whether Iran’s increasing nuclear capability is a way to win recognition and prestige, the Prime Minister responded, “I don't subscribe to the view that Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons is a status symbol. It's not. These are people who are sending thousands and thousands of missiles to their terrorist proxies, Hizbullah and Hamas, with the specific instruction to bomb civilians in Israel. They are supporting terrorists in the world. This is not a status symbol.”
He said Iran's acquiring nuclear weapons would give terrorists a “nuclear umbrella.”
Regarding the protests over the presidential elections in Iran, Prime Minister Netanyahu said in the interview, telecast from Jerusalem, “I think it's too early to say what will transpire, both in Iran and on the international scene. As I said, I think something fundamental is taking place here."
He also said that U.S. President Barack Obama agrees with Israel that their joint aim is “to prevent this regime from developing nuclear weapons capability. And he said he'd leave all options on the table, and I'd say if it was right before these demonstrations, well, it’s doubly right now.”
Questioned on plans of Israel to attack Iran if the international community fails to stop unsupervised nuclear development, Prime Minister Netanyahu replied, "It is my view that there is an American commitment to make sure that that doesn't happen, and I think I'd leave it at that…. The Jewish people have been -- is one of the oldest nations in the world. We've been around for 3,500 years. We are threatened as no other people have been threatened…. So, obviously, Israel always reserves the right to defend itself.”
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by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday that Iran’s attempt to become a nuclear power is not simply for prestige, and that the its program will be stopped, with or without force.
Email readers: click here to watch video of Meet the Press Netanyahu Intv'w
In answer to a question as to whether Iran’s increasing nuclear capability is a way to win recognition and prestige, the Prime Minister responded, “I don't subscribe to the view that Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons is a status symbol. It's not. These are people who are sending thousands and thousands of missiles to their terrorist proxies, Hizbullah and Hamas, with the specific instruction to bomb civilians in Israel. They are supporting terrorists in the world. This is not a status symbol.”
He said Iran's acquiring nuclear weapons would give terrorists a “nuclear umbrella.”
Regarding the protests over the presidential elections in Iran, Prime Minister Netanyahu said in the interview, telecast from Jerusalem, “I think it's too early to say what will transpire, both in Iran and on the international scene. As I said, I think something fundamental is taking place here."
He also said that U.S. President Barack Obama agrees with Israel that their joint aim is “to prevent this regime from developing nuclear weapons capability. And he said he'd leave all options on the table, and I'd say if it was right before these demonstrations, well, it’s doubly right now.”
Questioned on plans of Israel to attack Iran if the international community fails to stop unsupervised nuclear development, Prime Minister Netanyahu replied, "It is my view that there is an American commitment to make sure that that doesn't happen, and I think I'd leave it at that…. The Jewish people have been -- is one of the oldest nations in the world. We've been around for 3,500 years. We are threatened as no other people have been threatened…. So, obviously, Israel always reserves the right to defend itself.”
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3. Iranian Diary: Police Load Protestors in Frozen Meat Van
by Israel News Staff
An Iranian philosophy professor protesting the elections in Iran has revealed in his personal diary on Facebook.com scenes that vary from surreal comedy to all-too-real brutality. After the beating of a riot policeman, he admits, “We’re not beasts! We’re not like them!’ I think, ‘But the bastard deserves it.’ I don’t recognize myself and my feelings anymore.”
[weJe
Above is a video of protestors surrounding riot police. Email readers, click here to view the footage.
Excerpts of the diary of the professor, whose name was not revealed, follow.
I meet with my students on Saturdays for a private class. We cook and eat together, then talk of philosophy. We feel so vulnerable, more than ever, but at the same time are aware of our power. No matter how strong it is collectively, it will do little to protect us today. We could only take our bones and flesh to the streets and expose them to batons and bullets. Two different feelings fight inside me without mixing with one another. To live or to just be alive, that’s the question.
In front of Tehran University, I see the students inside, clutching the rails of the gates, as if behind bars. They shout. But I can’t hear them. In front of the students on the sidewalk, on the other side of the bars, there are two rows of anti-riot police and a row of Basij militia holding posters insulting the demonstrators of the previous days.
Then comes the attraction of the day. Two water-spraying machines. They’re huge, the size of a bus but taller, with fenced windows and two water-guns on top of each. We burst into laughter. They don’t know how to use them. They shoot second floor windows, anti-riot police and the people, including girls in tight manteaus. It’s more Zurich than Tehran. One machine is stuck. They don’t know how to drive it. It’s a hot day, the sun is intolerably shiny and it feels good to become wet. Much of the time, the sprays are not powerful. It’s as if they’re watering grass.
They push the crowd back and forth, from here to there but soon realize people are on all sides. We hear bullets, but people don’t rush away. They’re fake. Nobody’s shot.
Then at Towhid Square the scene changes drastically. There’s a shower of stones. Tear gas. Fire. People jam the sidewalks. The battle scene is huge. We cannot see the limits but it extends to a nearby street. The anti-riot police are also throwing stones. People don’t run back anymore.
I grab a broken brick and throw. I’m amazed. I never thought I’d do it. I should practice. It was a very bad shot. I grab another one, the size of a pomegranate and keep it with me, hiding it behind my back. My feeling is a mixture of a university teacher and a hooligan.
There is a woman who is being beaten. She’s horrified and hysterical but not as much as the anti-riot police officer facing her. She shrieks, “Where can I go? You tell me go down the street and you beat me. Then you come up from the other side and beat me again. Where can I go?” In sheer desperation, the officer hits his helmet several times hard with his baton. “Damn me! Damn me! What the hell do I know!”
We see officers load people in a van used for carrying frozen meat. Then a couple of minutes later, a new scene unfolds. We get out. Here’s a true battleground. And this time it’s huge. Columns of smoke rise to the sky. You can hardly see the asphalt. Only bricks and stones. Here people have the upper hand.
Two Basiji motorcycles are burning. People have learnt how to do it fast. They lay the motorcycle on its side, spilling the gasoline and lighting it on fire. We climb up a pedestrian bridge and watch. People shout from the bridge, “Down with Khameni” and “your aura is gone for good’. A Basiji is caught: He soon disappears under the crowd beating him. As if in a Roman coliseum those on the bridge shout, “Beat him up!” I shout with them before coming to my senses. What is with me? He staggers away as a group of ten people kick and punch him.
At Gisha, there’s a similar scene. Again the people have the whole crossing in their control and you can hear the uproar and horns. Motorcycles are burning in smoke. But I’m suddenly stunned. I see a red object, which later proves to be a man, about 50, his head covered with blood, crouching, people passing him by as if he was a garbage can. Then comes a guy with a long stick who wants to beat up the already beaten Basiji. People gather and stop him. He’s furious, “Why should I not? They beat tiny girls! They beat everyone! Bastard!”
I shout at him, “But we’re not beasts! We’re not like them!” Somebody takes the Basiji away as people curse him. I think, “But the bastard deserves it. To come out of your house in the morning, just to beat up people you don’t even know.” I don’t recognize myself and my feelings anymore.
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by Israel News Staff
An Iranian philosophy professor protesting the elections in Iran has revealed in his personal diary on Facebook.com scenes that vary from surreal comedy to all-too-real brutality. After the beating of a riot policeman, he admits, “We’re not beasts! We’re not like them!’ I think, ‘But the bastard deserves it.’ I don’t recognize myself and my feelings anymore.”
[weJe
Above is a video of protestors surrounding riot police. Email readers, click here to view the footage.
Excerpts of the diary of the professor, whose name was not revealed, follow.
I meet with my students on Saturdays for a private class. We cook and eat together, then talk of philosophy. We feel so vulnerable, more than ever, but at the same time are aware of our power. No matter how strong it is collectively, it will do little to protect us today. We could only take our bones and flesh to the streets and expose them to batons and bullets. Two different feelings fight inside me without mixing with one another. To live or to just be alive, that’s the question.
In front of Tehran University, I see the students inside, clutching the rails of the gates, as if behind bars. They shout. But I can’t hear them. In front of the students on the sidewalk, on the other side of the bars, there are two rows of anti-riot police and a row of Basij militia holding posters insulting the demonstrators of the previous days.
Then comes the attraction of the day. Two water-spraying machines. They’re huge, the size of a bus but taller, with fenced windows and two water-guns on top of each. We burst into laughter. They don’t know how to use them. They shoot second floor windows, anti-riot police and the people, including girls in tight manteaus. It’s more Zurich than Tehran. One machine is stuck. They don’t know how to drive it. It’s a hot day, the sun is intolerably shiny and it feels good to become wet. Much of the time, the sprays are not powerful. It’s as if they’re watering grass.
They push the crowd back and forth, from here to there but soon realize people are on all sides. We hear bullets, but people don’t rush away. They’re fake. Nobody’s shot.
Then at Towhid Square the scene changes drastically. There’s a shower of stones. Tear gas. Fire. People jam the sidewalks. The battle scene is huge. We cannot see the limits but it extends to a nearby street. The anti-riot police are also throwing stones. People don’t run back anymore.
I grab a broken brick and throw. I’m amazed. I never thought I’d do it. I should practice. It was a very bad shot. I grab another one, the size of a pomegranate and keep it with me, hiding it behind my back. My feeling is a mixture of a university teacher and a hooligan.
There is a woman who is being beaten. She’s horrified and hysterical but not as much as the anti-riot police officer facing her. She shrieks, “Where can I go? You tell me go down the street and you beat me. Then you come up from the other side and beat me again. Where can I go?” In sheer desperation, the officer hits his helmet several times hard with his baton. “Damn me! Damn me! What the hell do I know!”
We see officers load people in a van used for carrying frozen meat. Then a couple of minutes later, a new scene unfolds. We get out. Here’s a true battleground. And this time it’s huge. Columns of smoke rise to the sky. You can hardly see the asphalt. Only bricks and stones. Here people have the upper hand.
Two Basiji motorcycles are burning. People have learnt how to do it fast. They lay the motorcycle on its side, spilling the gasoline and lighting it on fire. We climb up a pedestrian bridge and watch. People shout from the bridge, “Down with Khameni” and “your aura is gone for good’. A Basiji is caught: He soon disappears under the crowd beating him. As if in a Roman coliseum those on the bridge shout, “Beat him up!” I shout with them before coming to my senses. What is with me? He staggers away as a group of ten people kick and punch him.
At Gisha, there’s a similar scene. Again the people have the whole crossing in their control and you can hear the uproar and horns. Motorcycles are burning in smoke. But I’m suddenly stunned. I see a red object, which later proves to be a man, about 50, his head covered with blood, crouching, people passing him by as if he was a garbage can. Then comes a guy with a long stick who wants to beat up the already beaten Basiji. People gather and stop him. He’s furious, “Why should I not? They beat tiny girls! They beat everyone! Bastard!”
I shout at him, “But we’re not beasts! We’re not like them!” Somebody takes the Basiji away as people curse him. I think, “But the bastard deserves it. To come out of your house in the morning, just to beat up people you don’t even know.” I don’t recognize myself and my feelings anymore.
Comment on this story
4. Army Cancels Jericho Synagogue Prayers
by Hillel Fendel
The army called off a planned Rosh Chodesh prayer service in Jericho – for security reasons. The unofficial explanation: MK Ariel didn’t ask nicely.
IDF Central Command head Gen. Gadi Shamni abruptly canceled, on Sunday, a Rosh Chodesh prayer service in Jericho planned for Monday.The prayers were to be held in the ancient “Shalom al Yisrael” (Peace unto Israel) synagogue in Jericho, a city that has been under the control of the Palestinian Authority for just over 15 years.
Gen. Shamni explained that the reason for the cancellation was “intelligence warnings of security threats.”
The unofficial explanation, however, was different. Sources in the Central Command said that it was because MK Uri Ariel, who spearheaded the drive for the prayer service, didn’t ask nicely. Specifically, Ariel did not take the “accepted channels” to request the permit.
MK Ariel was surprised to hear of both the cancellation and the unofficial explanation. “This is scandalous," he said afterwards. "Many Jews were planning to pray here - local residents, and even the Chairman of the Jordan Valley Regional Council - after receiving all the necessary permits. How can the IDF link me to such a decision?”
IDF Checkpoint Removal Increases Threats
If the reports of increasing security dangers are correct, local residents feel these are connected to last week’s removal of an IDF checkpoint south of Jericho. The opening of the road allows Arabs to travel freely from Jericho and local villages.
Jordan Valley Regional Council Chairman David Lachyani said, “Free Arab mobility between Jericho and the northern Dead Sea area causes great harm to the personal safety of our residents. Whoever approved this decision must take personal responsibility, because when something happens and Jewish blood is spilled, that person will have to stand up.”
Brief History, From Accidental Discovery to Denial of Jewish Rights
The right to a Jewish presence at the synagogue was recognized in the Oslo Accords, but has been exercised only with great difficulty, if at all.
The synagogue was discovered beneath an Arab house after Israel liberated Jericho in the 1967 Six Day War. Dating from the Byzantine period, it was found to have an intricate mosaic floor depicting a menorah and a shofar, with the Hebrew inscription "Shalom al Yisrael," meaning "Peace unto Israel."
Initially, the Arab living in the house above the synagogue charged admission to Jews who came to pray at the site. In 1986, however, Israel turned the site into a National Park, and in the early '90s, the house above the synagogue became the study hall of the Shalom Al Yisrael yeshiva, a Torah study academy. Bi-weekly Sabbath celebrations were organized for the purpose of "reconnecting" with Jericho's ancient synagogues and Jewish communities. Visiting Jews would spend the Sabbath in a local Arab hotel.
In 1993, then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin agreed to insist on special status in the Oslo Accords for the Shalom al Yisrael yeshiva, similar to that enjoyed by the Joseph's Tomb Yeshiva in Shechem (Nablus). Shortly after Israel handed over control of Jericho to the Palestinian Authority, in May 1994, the Sabbath visits were outlawed by PA demand.
The Jewish students were barred from taking up residence at the site, but they still traveled to the synagogue daily. For the next seven years, groups dedicated to Jewish Jericho spent every other week sleeping in makeshift tents in Jericho's desert heat, with no refrigeration, permanent toilets or air conditioning.
The Oslo process eventually culminated in a Palestinian terror offensive – the Oslo War, beginning in September 2000 - that resulted in Israel’s complete abandonment of all Jewish sites in Jericho and Shechem and their subsequent destruction by Arab vandals. The ancient Shalom al Yisrael synagogue was one of the first casualties.
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
The army called off a planned Rosh Chodesh prayer service in Jericho – for security reasons. The unofficial explanation: MK Ariel didn’t ask nicely.
IDF Central Command head Gen. Gadi Shamni abruptly canceled, on Sunday, a Rosh Chodesh prayer service in Jericho planned for Monday.The prayers were to be held in the ancient “Shalom al Yisrael” (Peace unto Israel) synagogue in Jericho, a city that has been under the control of the Palestinian Authority for just over 15 years.
Gen. Shamni explained that the reason for the cancellation was “intelligence warnings of security threats.”
The unofficial explanation, however, was different. Sources in the Central Command said that it was because MK Uri Ariel, who spearheaded the drive for the prayer service, didn’t ask nicely. Specifically, Ariel did not take the “accepted channels” to request the permit.
MK Ariel was surprised to hear of both the cancellation and the unofficial explanation. “This is scandalous," he said afterwards. "Many Jews were planning to pray here - local residents, and even the Chairman of the Jordan Valley Regional Council - after receiving all the necessary permits. How can the IDF link me to such a decision?”
IDF Checkpoint Removal Increases Threats
If the reports of increasing security dangers are correct, local residents feel these are connected to last week’s removal of an IDF checkpoint south of Jericho. The opening of the road allows Arabs to travel freely from Jericho and local villages.
Jordan Valley Regional Council Chairman David Lachyani said, “Free Arab mobility between Jericho and the northern Dead Sea area causes great harm to the personal safety of our residents. Whoever approved this decision must take personal responsibility, because when something happens and Jewish blood is spilled, that person will have to stand up.”
Brief History, From Accidental Discovery to Denial of Jewish Rights
The right to a Jewish presence at the synagogue was recognized in the Oslo Accords, but has been exercised only with great difficulty, if at all.
The synagogue was discovered beneath an Arab house after Israel liberated Jericho in the 1967 Six Day War. Dating from the Byzantine period, it was found to have an intricate mosaic floor depicting a menorah and a shofar, with the Hebrew inscription "Shalom al Yisrael," meaning "Peace unto Israel."
Initially, the Arab living in the house above the synagogue charged admission to Jews who came to pray at the site. In 1986, however, Israel turned the site into a National Park, and in the early '90s, the house above the synagogue became the study hall of the Shalom Al Yisrael yeshiva, a Torah study academy. Bi-weekly Sabbath celebrations were organized for the purpose of "reconnecting" with Jericho's ancient synagogues and Jewish communities. Visiting Jews would spend the Sabbath in a local Arab hotel.
In 1993, then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin agreed to insist on special status in the Oslo Accords for the Shalom al Yisrael yeshiva, similar to that enjoyed by the Joseph's Tomb Yeshiva in Shechem (Nablus). Shortly after Israel handed over control of Jericho to the Palestinian Authority, in May 1994, the Sabbath visits were outlawed by PA demand.
The Jewish students were barred from taking up residence at the site, but they still traveled to the synagogue daily. For the next seven years, groups dedicated to Jewish Jericho spent every other week sleeping in makeshift tents in Jericho's desert heat, with no refrigeration, permanent toilets or air conditioning.
The Oslo process eventually culminated in a Palestinian terror offensive – the Oslo War, beginning in September 2000 - that resulted in Israel’s complete abandonment of all Jewish sites in Jericho and Shechem and their subsequent destruction by Arab vandals. The ancient Shalom al Yisrael synagogue was one of the first casualties.
Comment on this story
5. Ben-Ari: March in Arab Cities to Protest Homosexuals' Parade
by Yehudah Lev Kay
MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) has called for Jews to march in Israeli-Arab cities in response to the homosexual parade scheduled for this Thursday in Jerusalem.
The so-calledgay pride parade in Jerusalem has become an annual source of controversy in the summer in Israel. Homosexuals claim the right to march freely in Israel's capital, whereasmany people believe the holy cityis not the proper venue for such a demonstration.
Ben-Ari this year has proposed a new way to protest the parade, and says that in addition to traditional demonstrations, Jews should object byexercising their right to demonstrate in Arab-Israeli cities throughout the country.
“There must be one law for everyone,” Ben-Ari said. “The right to march cannot be just for left-wing radicals. It is our right to march, to document illegal construction in Arab cities and to parade with Israeli flags.”
Ben-Ari’s parliamentary assistants, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel, spearheaded an initiative to hold an Israeli flag-waving march in the Israeli-Arab city Umm el-Fahm earlier in the year. The Supreme Court ordered the police on two separate occasions to allow the controversial march to take place.
The activists eventually marched in Umm el-Fahm with a limit of 50 participants on the edge of the city. They say that now they have set their sights on similar marches in Israeli-Arab cities Taibe, Kfar Lakiya, Nazareth, Abu Rukik, Abu Isa, Irara, Baka el-Arabiya, and Musraifa.
“The Supreme Court justices have emphasized that with regard to the gay pride parade, the marchers should not pass through the middle of the city in order to balance the interests of the parties,” the activists said.
“This year, the police have taken the unprecedented step of allowing the parade to take place in the center of the city,” they pointed out. “We will use this precedent to call for our marches to take place in the center of Arab cities,” the activists promised.
Comment on this story
by Yehudah Lev Kay
MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) has called for Jews to march in Israeli-Arab cities in response to the homosexual parade scheduled for this Thursday in Jerusalem.
The so-calledgay pride parade in Jerusalem has become an annual source of controversy in the summer in Israel. Homosexuals claim the right to march freely in Israel's capital, whereasmany people believe the holy cityis not the proper venue for such a demonstration.
Ben-Ari this year has proposed a new way to protest the parade, and says that in addition to traditional demonstrations, Jews should object byexercising their right to demonstrate in Arab-Israeli cities throughout the country.
“There must be one law for everyone,” Ben-Ari said. “The right to march cannot be just for left-wing radicals. It is our right to march, to document illegal construction in Arab cities and to parade with Israeli flags.”
Ben-Ari’s parliamentary assistants, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel, spearheaded an initiative to hold an Israeli flag-waving march in the Israeli-Arab city Umm el-Fahm earlier in the year. The Supreme Court ordered the police on two separate occasions to allow the controversial march to take place.
The activists eventually marched in Umm el-Fahm with a limit of 50 participants on the edge of the city. They say that now they have set their sights on similar marches in Israeli-Arab cities Taibe, Kfar Lakiya, Nazareth, Abu Rukik, Abu Isa, Irara, Baka el-Arabiya, and Musraifa.
“The Supreme Court justices have emphasized that with regard to the gay pride parade, the marchers should not pass through the middle of the city in order to balance the interests of the parties,” the activists said.
“This year, the police have taken the unprecedented step of allowing the parade to take place in the center of the city,” they pointed out. “We will use this precedent to call for our marches to take place in the center of Arab cities,” the activists promised.
Comment on this story
6. Incidence of Swine Flu Still Rising in Israel
by Hana Levi Julian
The incidence of swine flu in Israel is rapidly increasing, with another 19 people diagnosed with the H1N1 virus on Sunday.
Nearly 300 cases of the global pandemic virus have been confirmed inIsrael since the outbreak first landed onits shores in late April, within days after the first cases were seen in Mexico and the U.S.
Officially, 290 people have been diagnosed with the virus in Israel, although there may be more. Oren A. told Israel National News on Monday that he was sick with symptoms of the flu "but not sick enough to bother going to the doctor." Instead, he said he would "just stay home and take care of it."
"And if it's swine flu?" he was asked. "Nu, so what?" he replied. "So I'll drink tea anyway."
On the one hand, health officials in Israel are telling the public on the one hand to stay home with their flu symptoms rather than rush to hospitals. The Health Ministry announced Sunday that the four health maintenance organizations (Kupat Holim) would treat H1N1 flu patients from now on. Most of the cases are mild, and the vast majority of the patients have already recovered.
People who feel ill should only go to the hospital if the community clinic is closed or if they are actually referred by their doctor.
On the other hand, Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman said Sunday that he was considering ordering officials to screen all 5,000 incoming athletes who are expected to participate in the upcoming Maccabiah sports games next month.
"I don't want to reach a situation in which another 5,000 people come here and just increase [the incidence o the disease," he told reporters.
Each person diagnosed with swine flu in Israel is set to receive a kit from the Health Ministry that contains mouth and nose masks for him and his family, as well as instructions on how to keep the virus from spreading.
Related Disease? Newcastle's Strikes the South
In what may possibly be a related development, Israel's veterinary service has identified an outbreak of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) in numerous communities in the nation's southern region.
Newcastle disease virus is a highly contagious zoonotic bird disease that affects both domestic and wild avians. Exposure of human beings to infected birds – for example, in poultry processing plants, or farms – can cause flu-like symptoms or mild conjunctivitis, but is not deadly. There is no treatment.
The disease affects poultry in particular, and can cause severe economic damage to poultry producers. The outbreak was first caught at turkey farms in Kibbutz Revidim.
Poultry farmers are being asked to inoculate their birds and place them in closed coops in order to prevent the spread of diseases that can affect humans, such as bird flu, West Nile virus andornithosis.
Israeli law requires that owners immunize chickens, turkeys, geese, doves, pigeons, quail, ostriches, emus, pheasants and peacocks.
Comment on this story
by Hana Levi Julian
The incidence of swine flu in Israel is rapidly increasing, with another 19 people diagnosed with the H1N1 virus on Sunday.
Nearly 300 cases of the global pandemic virus have been confirmed inIsrael since the outbreak first landed onits shores in late April, within days after the first cases were seen in Mexico and the U.S.
Officially, 290 people have been diagnosed with the virus in Israel, although there may be more. Oren A. told Israel National News on Monday that he was sick with symptoms of the flu "but not sick enough to bother going to the doctor." Instead, he said he would "just stay home and take care of it."
"And if it's swine flu?" he was asked. "Nu, so what?" he replied. "So I'll drink tea anyway."
On the one hand, health officials in Israel are telling the public on the one hand to stay home with their flu symptoms rather than rush to hospitals. The Health Ministry announced Sunday that the four health maintenance organizations (Kupat Holim) would treat H1N1 flu patients from now on. Most of the cases are mild, and the vast majority of the patients have already recovered.
People who feel ill should only go to the hospital if the community clinic is closed or if they are actually referred by their doctor.
On the other hand, Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman said Sunday that he was considering ordering officials to screen all 5,000 incoming athletes who are expected to participate in the upcoming Maccabiah sports games next month.
"I don't want to reach a situation in which another 5,000 people come here and just increase [the incidence o the disease," he told reporters.
Each person diagnosed with swine flu in Israel is set to receive a kit from the Health Ministry that contains mouth and nose masks for him and his family, as well as instructions on how to keep the virus from spreading.
Related Disease? Newcastle's Strikes the South
In what may possibly be a related development, Israel's veterinary service has identified an outbreak of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) in numerous communities in the nation's southern region.
Newcastle disease virus is a highly contagious zoonotic bird disease that affects both domestic and wild avians. Exposure of human beings to infected birds – for example, in poultry processing plants, or farms – can cause flu-like symptoms or mild conjunctivitis, but is not deadly. There is no treatment.
The disease affects poultry in particular, and can cause severe economic damage to poultry producers. The outbreak was first caught at turkey farms in Kibbutz Revidim.
Poultry farmers are being asked to inoculate their birds and place them in closed coops in order to prevent the spread of diseases that can affect humans, such as bird flu, West Nile virus andornithosis.
Israeli law requires that owners immunize chickens, turkeys, geese, doves, pigeons, quail, ostriches, emus, pheasants and peacocks.
Comment on this story
7. Mideast's Richest Woman: 'I am Very Connected to Judaism'
by IsraelNN TV Staff
Shari Arison, the head of Bank HaPoalim and the richest woman in the Mideast, has written a new book Birth-When the Spiritual and the Material Come Together (in Hebrew) about the key to happiness. In an interview with Israel National News, she says that the secret to happiness is to treat others well, regardless of material wealth.
[weJe
Email readers: click here to see interview with Shari Arison
Arison begins her book, to be released this week byKinneret Zmora BitanDvir Publishing House, with her premise that the world is “collapsing” around us because of broad-based greed, on a personal, community and corporate level. She defines greed as not only financial, but also the mismanagement of the environment and the breakdown of values in society.
“For too long, humanity has acted with an outrageous lack of responsibility. We wanted everything for ourselves, greed really. We failed to look at the overall picture and did not take into consideration those with whom we share the world,” she writes. “As a result, we are facing a new world order, in which conventional divisions between the economic, business, material and spiritual will no longer be valid; a world in which the spirit and the material come together.”
She details her own journeys, both spiritually and in business, that led to the repositioning of the Arison Group as an enterprise focused on balancing profit with a strong commitment to the environment, sustainable practices, and philanthropic giving.
“Change is not in the hands of government, not in the hands of a leader or guru, and not in the hands of the powerful or wealthy. It is in our hands, the hands of each and every one of us,” she says.
“I believe my model will enable individuals, corporations and perhaps countries to transform the collapse into change, to transform the crisis into an opportunity, and to bring together the spiritual and material, and to deliver the future from a combination of the two,” she adds.
Arison discusses in the video her philosophy, her new book, spirituality, and how Judaism and Israel have shaped her world view.
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*********************
6/21
FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Carter helping Hamas open talks with White House
Proposes plan bypassing U.S. demand for terrorist group to recognize Israel
Posted: June 20, 2009
2:38 pm Eastern
By Aaron Klein
©2009WorldNetDaily
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Former President Jimmy Carter |
The Arab Initiative, originally proposed by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and later adopted by the Arab League, states that Israel would receive "normal relations" with the Arab world in exchange for a full withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, West Bank, Golan Heights and eastern Jerusalem, which includes the Temple Mount. The West Bank contains important Jewish biblical sites and borders central Israeli population centers, while the Golan Heights looks down on Israeli civilian zones and was twice used by Syria to mount ground invasions into the Jewish state. The Arab plan also demands the imposition of a non-binding U.N. resolution that calls for so-called Palestinian refugees who wish to move inside Israel to be permitted to do so at the "earliest practicable date." Palestinians have long demanded the "right of return" for millions of "refugees," a formula Israeli officials across the political spectrum warn is code for Israel's destruction by flooding the Jewish state with millions of Arabs, thereby changing its demographics. When Arab countries attacked the Jewish state after its creation in 1948, some 725,000 Arabs living within Israel's borders fled or were expelled from the area that became Israel. Also at that time, about 820,000 Jews were expelled from Arab countries or fled following rampant persecution. While most Jewish refugees were absorbed by Israel and other countries, the majority of Palestinian Arabs have been maintained in 59 U.N.-run camps that do not seek to settle the Arabs elsewhere. There are currently about 4 million Arabs who claim Palestinian refugee status with the U.N., including children and grandchildren of the original fleeing Arabs, Arabs living full-time in Jordan and Arabs who long ago emigrated throughout the Middle East and to the West. Carter's message came from White House? Last week, during Carter's trip to the Gaza Strip, WND quoted senior sources in Hamas claiming Carter passed a message to Hamas from the Obama administration. The sources did not disclose the content of the purported message or whether the communication was written or oral. They spoke on condition of anonymity, because they said Hamas had not yet reached a decision on officially releasing the information they were divulging. Separately, in an interview with WND on Thursday, Hamas' chief political adviser in Gaza Yousef refused to confirm or deny that any message was passed to his group from the White House. Youssef said, however, Carter is the "right person" to serve as a middle man between Hamas and the Obama administration. "If we have anything to communicate, Carter will be the right person to convey messages from the movement (Hamas) to this (Obama) administration or from the administration to the movement," said Yousef, speaking from Gaza. Yousef told WND he spent three hours with Carter on Thursday, holding private meetings and also showing the former president areas of Gaza that were damaged during Israel's 22-day campaign against Hamas that ended in January. "He promised he will write a report to explain what really is happening in Gaza," said Yousef. Separately, al-Masri said in a joint interview with WND and Israel's Ynetnews.com, "We know Carter is not acting alone. He is acting as part of the large American system." Masri refused to confirm or deny whether Carter passed any message to his group from Obama. Still, he claimed Hamas has "excellent relations with elements in the circle of the decision making in the U.S. administration." "We are appreciating the change in the attitude in the U.S. toward Hamas," he said. The White House did not respond to a WND request for comment on the report of the Obama administration passing a message to Hamas. (ed. And he calls himself a Christian?).
6/21
1. Iran Blames ‘Dirty Zionists;’ At Least 19 Dead
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Iranian riot police, armed with tear gas and backed by helicopters, forced protestors off the streets Saturday as the massive protests against last week’s elections appeared to weaken. Nineteen protestors and policemen were killed Saturday, bringing the week's death toll to 38. Unconfirmed reports placed the number killed at Saturday at 150.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top Muslim leader, accused “dirty Zionists" and “Zionist media” for being behind charges that the results of the election were rigged. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner two hours after the voting stations closed a week ago on Friday. His opponent, Mir Hussein Moussavi, lost even in his own city, according to official election results.
Moussavi, buoyed by millions of supporters, mostly students and women, challenged thecountry's Muslim rulersand said he was “ready for martyrdom.” He demanded that the election results be voided, in what was considered severe defiance of the supreme Muslim clerics.
During Saturday’s protests, police beat demonstrators and used water cannons and tear gas to clear the streets in Tehran, where only several thousand people gathered compared with tens of thousands earlier on the week.
Dozens of protestors were wounded and treated at the Imam Khomeini hospital a day after Ayatollah Khamenei warned opposition leaders to end the protests. One opposition leader said that a planned rally for Saturday had been cancelled because of a lack of permit, and an ally of Moussavi urged supporters not to march on Sunday.
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2. Lieberman: Jews in Judea and Samaria Not an Obstacle to Peace
by Yehudah Lev Kay
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Friday that construction in Judea and Samaria is not an obstacle to peace and blamed the Palestinian Authority (PA) for stalling peace efforts.
“Settlements – I think and I say again – settlements are not an obstacle to achieve peace,” he said. “We know that even before 1967, before we established even one settlement, the [situation was one o bloodshed, terror, and friction.”
Email readers: Click here to watch Lieberman video
Lieberman spoke in New York after meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. He was accompanied by deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon and Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. Gabriella Shalev.
“It is clear that the PA is using the question of construction in Judea and Samaria as an excuse to avoid negotiations,” Lieberman said. “Each side has different opinions and we should start discussions without any pre-conditions,” he added.
Earlier in the week, Lieberman met with Secretary of State Hilllary Clinton who repeated U.S. demands to cease construction in Judea and Samaria as a pre-condition for negotiations with the PA. Lieberman said Israel would continue building for natural increase.
“We have many understandings with the Americans,” Lieberman said at the U.N. “We have one disagreement, and I think that even in this point we can formulate understandings,” he added regarding the construction question.
“There is currently a new chance to open a dialogue with the PA,” Lieberman claimed. “We are ready for direct negotiations immediately.”
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by Yehudah Lev Kay
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Friday that construction in Judea and Samaria is not an obstacle to peace and blamed the Palestinian Authority (PA) for stalling peace efforts.
“Settlements – I think and I say again – settlements are not an obstacle to achieve peace,” he said. “We know that even before 1967, before we established even one settlement, the [situation was one o bloodshed, terror, and friction.”
Email readers: Click here to watch Lieberman video
Lieberman spoke in New York after meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. He was accompanied by deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon and Israel’s ambassador to the U.N. Gabriella Shalev.
“It is clear that the PA is using the question of construction in Judea and Samaria as an excuse to avoid negotiations,” Lieberman said. “Each side has different opinions and we should start discussions without any pre-conditions,” he added.
Earlier in the week, Lieberman met with Secretary of State Hilllary Clinton who repeated U.S. demands to cease construction in Judea and Samaria as a pre-condition for negotiations with the PA. Lieberman said Israel would continue building for natural increase.
“We have many understandings with the Americans,” Lieberman said at the U.N. “We have one disagreement, and I think that even in this point we can formulate understandings,” he added regarding the construction question.
“There is currently a new chance to open a dialogue with the PA,” Lieberman claimed. “We are ready for direct negotiations immediately.”
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3. Cabinet Ministers Receive "Outposts Map"
by Hillel Fendel
The Knesset Yesha Lobby, formed for the purpose of advancing the cause of the Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria (Yesha), is distributing maps and information on endangered Yesha outposts and neighborhoods to Cabinet ministers and Knesset Members.
The Yesha Lobby is headed by MK Dr. Aryeh Eldad (National Union).
Eldad’s office explains, “We are giving out these detailed maps, with explanatory information on the back, to provide deeper information for those who have to make decisions on the Jewish settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria.”
“They can thus see that outposts are not just a booth or temporary structure, but in some cases are dozens of families who have been living in a real community for several years.”
The colorful map lists dozens of neighborhoods, outposts and small communities that have not yet been recognized by the government – thus rendering them “illegal” or “unauthorized.” However, Eldad explains, “many towns that were established before March 2001 [the cut-off date for new outposts, according to the Americans – ed are in a similar status… All that is necessary to make them legal is the signature of the Defense Minister. This signature is held up only because of political reasons…”
Among the some 20 outposts in specific danger of destruction, according to the Defense Ministry list, are Mitzpeh Lachish in western Judea, Havat Gilad in the Shomron, Givat HaRoeh near Shilo, Givat Assaf near Beit El, Givat Sal’it in northeastern Shomron, and Mul Nevo north of the Dead Sea.
The Yesha lobby plans other activities, such as tours for MKs in the field, Knesset committee sessions relating to settlement matters, and a major seminar in the Knesset on the topic of outposts and settlements.
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by Hillel Fendel
The Knesset Yesha Lobby, formed for the purpose of advancing the cause of the Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria (Yesha), is distributing maps and information on endangered Yesha outposts and neighborhoods to Cabinet ministers and Knesset Members.
The Yesha Lobby is headed by MK Dr. Aryeh Eldad (National Union).
Eldad’s office explains, “We are giving out these detailed maps, with explanatory information on the back, to provide deeper information for those who have to make decisions on the Jewish settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria.”
“They can thus see that outposts are not just a booth or temporary structure, but in some cases are dozens of families who have been living in a real community for several years.”
The colorful map lists dozens of neighborhoods, outposts and small communities that have not yet been recognized by the government – thus rendering them “illegal” or “unauthorized.” However, Eldad explains, “many towns that were established before March 2001 [the cut-off date for new outposts, according to the Americans – ed are in a similar status… All that is necessary to make them legal is the signature of the Defense Minister. This signature is held up only because of political reasons…”
Among the some 20 outposts in specific danger of destruction, according to the Defense Ministry list, are Mitzpeh Lachish in western Judea, Havat Gilad in the Shomron, Givat HaRoeh near Shilo, Givat Assaf near Beit El, Givat Sal’it in northeastern Shomron, and Mul Nevo north of the Dead Sea.
The Yesha lobby plans other activities, such as tours for MKs in the field, Knesset committee sessions relating to settlement matters, and a major seminar in the Knesset on the topic of outposts and settlements.
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4. Muslim Cleric: Pepsi is "Zionist Plot"
by Hillel Fendel
Extremist Moslems have not dropped their allegations that Pepsi Cola is essentially the code name for a Zionist plot.
MEMRI has released an English transcript of an address given by a Muslim religious leader in Egypt this past February, in which he explains that PEPSI is actually an acronym for "Pay Every Penny to Save Israel."
In addition, a member of the Hamas terrorist organization’s parliament in Gaza made similar accusations against Pepsi last year.Speaking with official Hamas TV station Al-Aqsa TV on April 23, 2008, Hamas MP Salem Salamah said, “There are companies established by the colonialists and occupiers - large companies with branches all over the world, like Pepsi, Pepsi Cola. This is a well-known company. Pepsi is an acronym. P-E-P-S-I - Pay Every Pence to Save Israel. Pay every pence - pence is one-hundredth of a dollar – to save Israel. Pay every pence to save Israel…”
Al-Aqsa TV promotes terrorist activity and incites hatred of Jews and Israelis, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
More recently, this past February, Egyptian cleric Hazem Abu Ismail made a similar accusation. Speaking on Al Nas TV – a Muslim religious channel in Egypt that provides Islamic programming for Muslim Muftis – Abu Ismail all but called for a Muslim boycott of Pepsi because it stands for ‘Pay Every Penny Saving Israel.’ Abu Ismail said a penny is “one-thousandth of a dollar.”
Specifically, Hazem Abu Ismail said as follows (transcript provided by MEMRI, the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute, at www.memri.org): Do you know what the word "Pepsi" means? Pepsi as in P-E-P-S-I. The first P stands for "Pay." E stands for "Every." The third letter stands for "Penny." A penny means any small coin you receive and don't know what to do with. Pay it to "Saving" I - "Israel." In other words, pay every small coin you receive in order to save Israel. They don't want money from you - they want your small change, your pennies. If I'm not mistaken, in American economics, a penny is one-thousandth of the dollar. It's not even worth a piaster. It's only a millime. At least I think it's worth a millime, not even a piaster.
They say: "Donate the small change you don't need, but give it to the right cause. If you collect small change, you can buy this drink." They took the first letter of each word - "Pay Every Penny Saving Israel" - and they formed the word "Pepsi." When you pay [to buy Pep, you are saving Israel. I am not talking about Pepsi, but about Coca Cola and all of them. I don't want to specify the products. See for yourselves. You are Muslims. You can tell me. I don't know. My little son knows more about the boycott than me. When we go shopping, he says to me: "Buy this, don't buy that." He knows them by heart. He has become an expert in this.
To view this clip, click here.
Abu Ismail is also famous for telling his adherents, “During Islam's first century, there were only four cases of theft – because thieves' hands were chopped off.”
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by Hillel Fendel
Extremist Moslems have not dropped their allegations that Pepsi Cola is essentially the code name for a Zionist plot.
MEMRI has released an English transcript of an address given by a Muslim religious leader in Egypt this past February, in which he explains that PEPSI is actually an acronym for "Pay Every Penny to Save Israel."
In addition, a member of the Hamas terrorist organization’s parliament in Gaza made similar accusations against Pepsi last year.Speaking with official Hamas TV station Al-Aqsa TV on April 23, 2008, Hamas MP Salem Salamah said, “There are companies established by the colonialists and occupiers - large companies with branches all over the world, like Pepsi, Pepsi Cola. This is a well-known company. Pepsi is an acronym. P-E-P-S-I - Pay Every Pence to Save Israel. Pay every pence - pence is one-hundredth of a dollar – to save Israel. Pay every pence to save Israel…”
Al-Aqsa TV promotes terrorist activity and incites hatred of Jews and Israelis, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
More recently, this past February, Egyptian cleric Hazem Abu Ismail made a similar accusation. Speaking on Al Nas TV – a Muslim religious channel in Egypt that provides Islamic programming for Muslim Muftis – Abu Ismail all but called for a Muslim boycott of Pepsi because it stands for ‘Pay Every Penny Saving Israel.’ Abu Ismail said a penny is “one-thousandth of a dollar.”
Specifically, Hazem Abu Ismail said as follows (transcript provided by MEMRI, the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute, at www.memri.org): Do you know what the word "Pepsi" means? Pepsi as in P-E-P-S-I. The first P stands for "Pay." E stands for "Every." The third letter stands for "Penny." A penny means any small coin you receive and don't know what to do with. Pay it to "Saving" I - "Israel." In other words, pay every small coin you receive in order to save Israel. They don't want money from you - they want your small change, your pennies. If I'm not mistaken, in American economics, a penny is one-thousandth of the dollar. It's not even worth a piaster. It's only a millime. At least I think it's worth a millime, not even a piaster.
They say: "Donate the small change you don't need, but give it to the right cause. If you collect small change, you can buy this drink." They took the first letter of each word - "Pay Every Penny Saving Israel" - and they formed the word "Pepsi." When you pay [to buy Pep, you are saving Israel. I am not talking about Pepsi, but about Coca Cola and all of them. I don't want to specify the products. See for yourselves. You are Muslims. You can tell me. I don't know. My little son knows more about the boycott than me. When we go shopping, he says to me: "Buy this, don't buy that." He knows them by heart. He has become an expert in this.
To view this clip, click here.
Abu Ismail is also famous for telling his adherents, “During Islam's first century, there were only four cases of theft – because thieves' hands were chopped off.”
Comment on this story
5. PM’s Man in Judge C'tee: Justice Picks will Reflect Politics
by Gil Ronen
The Judge Selection Committee met for the first time in over a year in Jerusalem Friday morning. The committee did not make appointments to the courts inFriday's session, but will probably do so in its next session, two weeks from now.
One of the committee’s nine members, Bar Association representative Attorney Pinchas Marinsky, who is considered to be close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, said Friday that he does not expect arguments over appointments to the Magistrates and District courts. However, when it comes to appointments to the Supreme Court – the political views of the committee’s members will come into play, he said.
Left to right: MK Ariel, Justice Edmond Levi, Justice Ayala Procaccia, Chief Justice Beinisch, Minister Ne'eman, Minister Gilad Erdan, Attorneys Marinsky and Rachel Ben-Ari, Director of Courts Moshe Gal, MK Rotem.
Israel news photo: Flash 90
Initial setback for Beinisch
The committee’s new makeup, following the appointment of new government and Knesset representatives following the elections, is considered much more nationalist and traditionalist than previous ones. In particular, the appointment of MK Uri Ariel as the Knesset Opposition representative last week reportedly sent Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch into “a state of shock” because it meant that representatives ofher left-of-center views would be in the minority for the firsttime in recent memory.
While Justice Minister Yaakov Ne’eman has stated that he intends to cooperate with Beinisch instead of working against her, the committee made at least one decision Friday that was contrary to Beinisch’s position: from now on, it decided, candidates for judgeship will undergo personality tests as part of the judge training course, and the course will be accompanied by a psychologist who will evaluate the candidates'personalities.
The initiative for the personality testing was put forth by Marinsky.
Legal system for 'leftists only'
MK Ariel called the new committee makeup “a winning team” Friday. He voiced hope that the committee would be able to man all of the vacant judges’ positions. “The caseload on judges is great and there is a miscarriage of justice,” he explained. “The Israeli people deserve a better situation in the courts. You and the public will judge the committee based upon the results,” he told journalists. Ariel said he was glad to see that minister Ne’eman wasted no time in convening the committee and said that he sees “no reason for discord” among its members.
MK Rotem said that the committee’s immediate goal is to select professional and efficient judges. “I think that the President wants this, too,” he said, referring to Beinisch [the Chief Justice is referred to as Supreme Court President – ed. “The political identity of a judge is unimportant,” he added.
However, earlier this week Rotem spoke differently. “Whoever does not hold leftist political views is disqualified from partaking in the legal system,” he said in a session of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which he chairs. “The Justice System belongs to people who live in a certain place, with a certain skin color and certain political views.”
On Friday he explained that he made this statement because “after my selection [to the Judge Selection Commit there were people who thought I had robbed the legal system. My statement was meant for them.”
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by Gil Ronen
The Judge Selection Committee met for the first time in over a year in Jerusalem Friday morning. The committee did not make appointments to the courts inFriday's session, but will probably do so in its next session, two weeks from now.
One of the committee’s nine members, Bar Association representative Attorney Pinchas Marinsky, who is considered to be close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, said Friday that he does not expect arguments over appointments to the Magistrates and District courts. However, when it comes to appointments to the Supreme Court – the political views of the committee’s members will come into play, he said.
Left to right: MK Ariel, Justice Edmond Levi, Justice Ayala Procaccia, Chief Justice Beinisch, Minister Ne'eman, Minister Gilad Erdan, Attorneys Marinsky and Rachel Ben-Ari, Director of Courts Moshe Gal, MK Rotem.
Israel news photo: Flash 90
Initial setback for Beinisch
The committee’s new makeup, following the appointment of new government and Knesset representatives following the elections, is considered much more nationalist and traditionalist than previous ones. In particular, the appointment of MK Uri Ariel as the Knesset Opposition representative last week reportedly sent Chief Justice Dorit Beinisch into “a state of shock” because it meant that representatives ofher left-of-center views would be in the minority for the firsttime in recent memory.
While Justice Minister Yaakov Ne’eman has stated that he intends to cooperate with Beinisch instead of working against her, the committee made at least one decision Friday that was contrary to Beinisch’s position: from now on, it decided, candidates for judgeship will undergo personality tests as part of the judge training course, and the course will be accompanied by a psychologist who will evaluate the candidates'personalities.
The initiative for the personality testing was put forth by Marinsky.
Legal system for 'leftists only'
MK Ariel called the new committee makeup “a winning team” Friday. He voiced hope that the committee would be able to man all of the vacant judges’ positions. “The caseload on judges is great and there is a miscarriage of justice,” he explained. “The Israeli people deserve a better situation in the courts. You and the public will judge the committee based upon the results,” he told journalists. Ariel said he was glad to see that minister Ne’eman wasted no time in convening the committee and said that he sees “no reason for discord” among its members.
MK Rotem said that the committee’s immediate goal is to select professional and efficient judges. “I think that the President wants this, too,” he said, referring to Beinisch [the Chief Justice is referred to as Supreme Court President – ed. “The political identity of a judge is unimportant,” he added.
However, earlier this week Rotem spoke differently. “Whoever does not hold leftist political views is disqualified from partaking in the legal system,” he said in a session of the Knesset’s Constitution, Law and Justice Committee, which he chairs. “The Justice System belongs to people who live in a certain place, with a certain skin color and certain political views.”
On Friday he explained that he made this statement because “after my selection [to the Judge Selection Commit there were people who thought I had robbed the legal system. My statement was meant for them.”
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6. Police Arrest Pro-Arab Anarchists near Bat Ayin
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Police arrested sevenpro-Arab anarchistson the morning of the Sabbath when they tried to provoke a violent clash with Jewish residents of Bat Ayin, located west of Efrat. Thepro-Arab groupclaimed itsmembers were in the area to help Arab farmers.
The presence of pro-Arab activists, several of them non-Jews from outside the country and others from the Israeli branch of the Reform movement, has grown throughout Judea and Samaria overthe past three years.
Saturday’s arrests followed almost daily harassment of Bay Ayin residents who have been trying to build a synagogue near their community on government land that Arabs use as a lookout point over the Jewish community.
An axe-wielding Arab terrorist three months ago murdered a young boy and wounded one other in attack on Bat Ayin.
The most serous confrontation between Arabs and the Jewish residents occurred on the eve of Passover, one week after the murder. Arabs threw rocks at the Jews as they were reciting for the Blessing of the Sun, which occurs once every 28 years.
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by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Police arrested sevenpro-Arab anarchistson the morning of the Sabbath when they tried to provoke a violent clash with Jewish residents of Bat Ayin, located west of Efrat. Thepro-Arab groupclaimed itsmembers were in the area to help Arab farmers.
The presence of pro-Arab activists, several of them non-Jews from outside the country and others from the Israeli branch of the Reform movement, has grown throughout Judea and Samaria overthe past three years.
Saturday’s arrests followed almost daily harassment of Bay Ayin residents who have been trying to build a synagogue near their community on government land that Arabs use as a lookout point over the Jewish community.
An axe-wielding Arab terrorist three months ago murdered a young boy and wounded one other in attack on Bat Ayin.
The most serous confrontation between Arabs and the Jewish residents occurred on the eve of Passover, one week after the murder. Arabs threw rocks at the Jews as they were reciting for the Blessing of the Sun, which occurs once every 28 years.
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7. Border Police to Learn: Jews Have Rights Too
by Yehudah Lev Kay
Border Guard police chief Yisrael Yitzchak agreed Sunday to allow rights activists to lecture border police officers on respecting the rights of Jews in Judea and Samaria. The education session will focus on the rights of Israelis during evacuations of their outpost homes.
Orit Strook, head of the Organization for Human Rights in Judea and Samaria, appealed to the Border Guard command to allow the lecture to take place after reading in the army magazine Bamachaneh (In the Camp) that border police officers would receive a lecture from pro-Arab groups about respecting human rights.
“It would be appropriate to give border police officers instruction regarding the protection of Jewish rights in Judea and Samaria,” Strook wrote to Yitzchak. “I ask that you take the step of allowing our representatives to lecture Border Guardsmen on the topic of protecting human rights of Israelis during operational activity.”
Strook pointed out that in light of the government’s decision to evacuate unauthorized outposts, “Border Guard policemen have entered, with increasing frequency,intosituations where they cause damage to human rights of Jews in Judea and Samaria.”
The request also comes after the Judea and Samaria Border Guard commander Shlomi Even-Paz faced disciplinary action for confiscating a camera which recorded police violence against Jews and destroying the digital device’s memory card.
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6/19
1. Jerusalem Plans: 12,000 Jewish Homes Nixed, 14,000 Arab Homes OK
by Hillel Fendel
“Only if all the religious parties in the municipality quit the coalition is there a chance to stop this travesty.” So says a leading Jerusalem activist, regarding a new Interior Ministry-approved municipal plan to increase Arab housing and reduce religious housing in the capital.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat signed the plans two months ago, but opponents are considering filing a petition against them in the Supreme Court. “The entire process was fraught with irregularities and illegalities,” says one activist, who does not yet wish to be identified. “For instance, the public forum was heavily weighted to the left with Arab and left-wing groups, without equal representation for nationalist and religious groups.”
The new plans greatly restrict the construction of “sukkah porches” – i.e., porches with no ceiling or obstruction above, enabling residents to observe the Sukkot holiday without having to build Sukkahs outside the building.
In addition, 14,000 new apartments are being planned in Arab neighborhoods, while plans for 12,000 apartments in hareidi-religious areas have been shelved.
Another clause in the new city zoning plan stipulates that the Mt. Scopus-Beit Orot municipal park area will be used to build a new Arab neighborhood.
Especially infuriating to Jewish Jerusalem land groups is the designation of Shaar HaMizrach, a Jewish-owned area run by Aryeh King near the French Hill neighborhood, as a municipal garbage dump. The area has been the source of many battles in the past, and King says that Arab groups have long been pushing to have the area declared non-residential.
Politically-Based Discriminatory Trend
The Sanhedrin, a group of leading rabbis who wish to revive the traditional High Rabbinical Court known in Talmudic times by the same name, has listed the following objections:
“The plans indicate a politically-based discriminatory trend said to be necessary in favor of the so-called Palestinian population, at the expense of the Jewish population. This is manifest in the form of plans to change the demographic balance in the city.The plans also include leaving areas for constructing Arab governmental buildings – thus advancing the current trend of dividing the city into two political entities.”
It is also noted that certain employment designations – such as higher education, government, bio-technology and medicine – will be granted preferential treatment, thus discriminating against the hareidi sector, in which these fields are less popular.
NRP Looking into the Matter
The plans also call for the establishment of “institutions for international and Israeli-Palestinian cooperation,” as well as initial inquiry into the possibility of establishing an international university in the city.
Israel National News contacted Deputy Mayor David Hadari of the National Religious Party on this matter. He explained, “I brought this matter up before the municipal leadership and the forum of Deputy Mayors [of which there are six – ed. It was decided that the mayor will look into these charges that the plans seek Jewish-Arab ‘balance’ in the city – and we, too, will be meeting with experts throughout the coming week. The bottom line is that I, and Mayor Barkat as well, object to such a trend – and there is currently a difference of opinion among the experts as to whether this plan leads to such a balance or not. Some say that we’re reading the indicators wrongly, and that it in fact does not lead to this balance. This is what we will check.”
Asked if he is considering threatening to quit the coalition as a means of pressuring Mayor Barkat to withdraw his approval from the current plans, Hadari explained that there are currently 30 councilmen in the coalition, out of 31. All 15 of the religious-party members would have to quit in order to leave Barkat in the minority – "and this does not look likely at the moment,” Hadari said.
When it was pointed out that another councilman, of the Israel Our Home party, could also be counted on to object to the current plans, Hadari still insisted that this was not his preferred approach at present.
Hadari acknowledged that the far-left Bimkom association, working to advance the cause of Arab housing in Jerusalem and throughout the country, was involved in the planning. “This is something we spoke to the mayor about,” Hadari said, “and we will work to ensure that there is no trend to ‘balance’ out the demography in Jerusalem.”
At present, the issue is not in the forefront of public opinion. This may change in the coming days, however,and the politicians may then be forced to fall into line.
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2. Iranian Film Makers: Document Shows Moussavi Won
by Maayana Miskin
Two Iranian film makers met with members of the Europen Union Parliament on Tuesday and displayed a letter that they said proves the recent elections in Iran were rigged. The letter, allegedly written by the Iranian electoral commission, shows that reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Moussavi won over 19 million votes and was the rightful winner.
After Moussavi was Mehdi Karroubi with 13.3 million votes, followed by incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with just 5.5 million, according to the document. The document's authenticity has not been proven.
The film makers, Marjane Satrapi and Mohsen Makhmalbaf, called on the EU not to recognize the official results of Iran's presidential elections. Iranian authorities say Ahmadinejad won the elections with 62 percent of the vote.
The letter was supposedly sent secretly from Iran's Interior Ministry, which runs the nation's elections, to Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The document includes the alleged real results of the election, and a promise to keep Ahmadinejad as president regardless of the popular vote.
"Following your concerns regarding the results of the presidential election and per your given discretion to have Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remain as president during this sensitive juncture. Therefore, everything has been planned in a way that the public announcement will be made in accordance with the interests of the regime and the revolution,” the letter states.
Protestors Mourn Dead
Protests continued in Tehran on Thursday as demonstrators mourned those killed in earlier rallies. Earlier in the week, a pro-Ahmadinejad militia opened fire on a rally held by supporters of Moussavi, killing several people and wounding others.
Tens of thousands filled the streets despite an order from Khamenei forbidding elections-related demonstrations.
Khamenei has ordered Iranian officials to investigate allegations that the elections were rigged. The investigation will include a limited recount of votes in stations where opposition candidates reported voting irregularities.
Moussavi's supporters have expressed distrust in the state investigative committee, and are demanding a second round of elections.
Iran's government has cracked down on protestors, banning foreign media as well as many websites. Cellular networks have been shut down multiple times since the elections, and mobile networks have blocked clients from sending text messages.
Iran Blames Israel in Alleged Terror Plot
As demonstrations continued, Iranian officials turned the blame on Israel, accusing “the Zionist entity” of planning to disrupt elections. Israel was in touch with a terrorist group that planned bombings on the day of the elections, they said.
Terrorists allegedly planned to bomb mosques and other crowded areas.
Comment on this story
by Maayana Miskin
Two Iranian film makers met with members of the Europen Union Parliament on Tuesday and displayed a letter that they said proves the recent elections in Iran were rigged. The letter, allegedly written by the Iranian electoral commission, shows that reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Moussavi won over 19 million votes and was the rightful winner.
After Moussavi was Mehdi Karroubi with 13.3 million votes, followed by incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with just 5.5 million, according to the document. The document's authenticity has not been proven.
The film makers, Marjane Satrapi and Mohsen Makhmalbaf, called on the EU not to recognize the official results of Iran's presidential elections. Iranian authorities say Ahmadinejad won the elections with 62 percent of the vote.
The letter was supposedly sent secretly from Iran's Interior Ministry, which runs the nation's elections, to Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The document includes the alleged real results of the election, and a promise to keep Ahmadinejad as president regardless of the popular vote.
"Following your concerns regarding the results of the presidential election and per your given discretion to have Dr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad remain as president during this sensitive juncture. Therefore, everything has been planned in a way that the public announcement will be made in accordance with the interests of the regime and the revolution,” the letter states.
Protestors Mourn Dead
Protests continued in Tehran on Thursday as demonstrators mourned those killed in earlier rallies. Earlier in the week, a pro-Ahmadinejad militia opened fire on a rally held by supporters of Moussavi, killing several people and wounding others.
Tens of thousands filled the streets despite an order from Khamenei forbidding elections-related demonstrations.
Khamenei has ordered Iranian officials to investigate allegations that the elections were rigged. The investigation will include a limited recount of votes in stations where opposition candidates reported voting irregularities.
Moussavi's supporters have expressed distrust in the state investigative committee, and are demanding a second round of elections.
Iran's government has cracked down on protestors, banning foreign media as well as many websites. Cellular networks have been shut down multiple times since the elections, and mobile networks have blocked clients from sending text messages.
Iran Blames Israel in Alleged Terror Plot
As demonstrations continued, Iranian officials turned the blame on Israel, accusing “the Zionist entity” of planning to disrupt elections. Israel was in touch with a terrorist group that planned bombings on the day of the elections, they said.
Terrorists allegedly planned to bomb mosques and other crowded areas.
Comment on this story
3. MK Orbach: Rabbi Metzger Should Leave Post Over Conversions
by Gil Ronen
MK Uri Orbach (Jewish Home) called for the dismissal of Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger after the latter voiced public support for the opinion of the Head of the Supreme Rabbinical Court, Rabbi Avraham Sherman, in a painful controversy over conversion to Judaism (giyur, pl. giyurim).
“The honor of the converts supersedes that of the Chief Rabbi, who does not recognize the conversions of his own system” stated Orbach, who belongs to the national-religious stream. “If the Chief Rabbi believes his job is to obey and flatter his hareidi sponsors, it would be best to find him employment outside of the Chief Rabbinate of the State of Israel,” he said.
Addressing an audience at a public event earlier this week, Rabbi Metzger announced his unqualified support for Sherman, who ruled last year that all giyurim authorized by Rabbi Chaim Druckman are null and void. He said that all of Sherman’s decisions have the backing of the leading sage Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and explained the importance of preventing false giyurim, in a way that left no doubt in the minds of the audience that he was referring to Sherman’s controversial decision.
In the major ruling last year, Sherman retroactively disqualified the conversions of thousands of people who passed through the government-appointed giyurmechanism headed by Rabbi Druckman. The decision has serious consequences, of course, for thousands of gerim (converts) and their families.
Minister Landver: Rabbi Amar Must Speak Out
Minister of Absorption (Israel Our Home) Sofa Landver called on Metzger’s Sephardic counterpart, Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, to proclaim the conversions binding. Amar is also Chief Dayan (Religious Judge) of the Rabbinical Supreme Court.
“It is unacceptable that politicians and other seek to compromise the status of the conversions, seeking to harm their status and acceptability,” the minister stated. She called on Amar not to remain silent, because by doing so he shows passive approval for “those seeking to harm the gerim.”
The Tzohar Rabbis’ Organization also sharply rebuked Metzger. “It is both amazing and very sad to realize that the Chief Rabbi of Israel does not back the Chief Rabbinate’s own institutions,” the group of national-religious rabbis said. “Instead of giving his support to the rabbinical conversionjudgeswho operate on the authority of the Chief Rabbinate, the Chief Rabbi has surrendered to a radical group of hareidi political functionaries who want to throw a spanner in the works of the giyur process.”
The Tzohar Rabbis added that “the Chief Rabbinate is entrusted with making rulings for the entire nation of Israel out of national responsibility. In terms of religious law and national considerations, the responsible thing to do in these times is to address the gerim’s distress, prevent mixed marriages and a division of the Jewish nation. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel must remain true to the path of its founders, like Rabbis Uziel and Unterman of saintly blessed memory, who did everything that Halakha [Jewish La permits and even requires in order to properly deal with the tremendous challenge now facing the People of Israel – our continued existence as one nation.”
Citing the recent shemittah-year controversy, the Tzohar Rabbis said that this is not the first time that the Chief Rabbinate is adopting extreme halakhic positions that are not suitable for dealing with the problem at hand.
Investigation Demanded
The Ne’emanei Torah Ve’Avoda Movement asked Justice Minister Yaakov Ne’eman and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to launch an investigation in the matter of Rabbi Metzger’s pronouncement.
“Rabbi Metzger, who holds office by force of the law of the State of Israel, attacked with his words religious courts that were established by and operate by force of the State – an action which contravenes the Protocol of Service for government employees (Taksheer) and various legal provisions,” the movement stated. Ne’emanei Torah Ve’Avoda noted that Rabbi Metzger voiced an opinion on a matter which is currently pending in the High Court, and accused him of attempting to influence the results of that case, as well as “incitement against a large group of Rabbinical Judges.”
Rabbi Metzger’s spokesman denied that the Chief Rabbi had voiced an opinion regarding “Rabbi Druckman’s conversions.” He said that that “any interpretation of the Rabbi’s words beyond what was uttered by him serves only to increase strife and fans the flames of discord.”
Metzger’s endorsement of Sherman came after Sherman himself addressed the same conference and called upon municipal rabbis and marriage clerks to suspect and double-check all conversion certificates brought before them.
Comment on this story
by Gil Ronen
MK Uri Orbach (Jewish Home) called for the dismissal of Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger after the latter voiced public support for the opinion of the Head of the Supreme Rabbinical Court, Rabbi Avraham Sherman, in a painful controversy over conversion to Judaism (giyur, pl. giyurim).
“The honor of the converts supersedes that of the Chief Rabbi, who does not recognize the conversions of his own system” stated Orbach, who belongs to the national-religious stream. “If the Chief Rabbi believes his job is to obey and flatter his hareidi sponsors, it would be best to find him employment outside of the Chief Rabbinate of the State of Israel,” he said.
Addressing an audience at a public event earlier this week, Rabbi Metzger announced his unqualified support for Sherman, who ruled last year that all giyurim authorized by Rabbi Chaim Druckman are null and void. He said that all of Sherman’s decisions have the backing of the leading sage Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and explained the importance of preventing false giyurim, in a way that left no doubt in the minds of the audience that he was referring to Sherman’s controversial decision.
In the major ruling last year, Sherman retroactively disqualified the conversions of thousands of people who passed through the government-appointed giyurmechanism headed by Rabbi Druckman. The decision has serious consequences, of course, for thousands of gerim (converts) and their families.
Minister Landver: Rabbi Amar Must Speak Out
Minister of Absorption (Israel Our Home) Sofa Landver called on Metzger’s Sephardic counterpart, Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, to proclaim the conversions binding. Amar is also Chief Dayan (Religious Judge) of the Rabbinical Supreme Court.
“It is unacceptable that politicians and other seek to compromise the status of the conversions, seeking to harm their status and acceptability,” the minister stated. She called on Amar not to remain silent, because by doing so he shows passive approval for “those seeking to harm the gerim.”
The Tzohar Rabbis’ Organization also sharply rebuked Metzger. “It is both amazing and very sad to realize that the Chief Rabbi of Israel does not back the Chief Rabbinate’s own institutions,” the group of national-religious rabbis said. “Instead of giving his support to the rabbinical conversionjudgeswho operate on the authority of the Chief Rabbinate, the Chief Rabbi has surrendered to a radical group of hareidi political functionaries who want to throw a spanner in the works of the giyur process.”
The Tzohar Rabbis added that “the Chief Rabbinate is entrusted with making rulings for the entire nation of Israel out of national responsibility. In terms of religious law and national considerations, the responsible thing to do in these times is to address the gerim’s distress, prevent mixed marriages and a division of the Jewish nation. The Chief Rabbinate of Israel must remain true to the path of its founders, like Rabbis Uziel and Unterman of saintly blessed memory, who did everything that Halakha [Jewish La permits and even requires in order to properly deal with the tremendous challenge now facing the People of Israel – our continued existence as one nation.”
Citing the recent shemittah-year controversy, the Tzohar Rabbis said that this is not the first time that the Chief Rabbinate is adopting extreme halakhic positions that are not suitable for dealing with the problem at hand.
Investigation Demanded
The Ne’emanei Torah Ve’Avoda Movement asked Justice Minister Yaakov Ne’eman and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to launch an investigation in the matter of Rabbi Metzger’s pronouncement.
“Rabbi Metzger, who holds office by force of the law of the State of Israel, attacked with his words religious courts that were established by and operate by force of the State – an action which contravenes the Protocol of Service for government employees (Taksheer) and various legal provisions,” the movement stated. Ne’emanei Torah Ve’Avoda noted that Rabbi Metzger voiced an opinion on a matter which is currently pending in the High Court, and accused him of attempting to influence the results of that case, as well as “incitement against a large group of Rabbinical Judges.”
Rabbi Metzger’s spokesman denied that the Chief Rabbi had voiced an opinion regarding “Rabbi Druckman’s conversions.” He said that that “any interpretation of the Rabbi’s words beyond what was uttered by him serves only to increase strife and fans the flames of discord.”
Metzger’s endorsement of Sherman came after Sherman himself addressed the same conference and called upon municipal rabbis and marriage clerks to suspect and double-check all conversion certificates brought before them.
Comment on this story
4. Bibi, Livni Meeting Cancelled
by Maayana Miskin
A scheduled meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and MK Tzipi Livni, head of the opposition, has been cancelled. The twowere to meet Fridayto discuss the problems facing the Knesset following tension between the coalition and opposition.
Tensions came to a head on Tuesday when opposition MKs walked out of the Knesset hall, accusing the coalition of “changing the rules of the game.”
Opposition MKs returned Thursday to take part in discussions over the state budget, which passed an initial hearing in their absence. However, the dispute was not forgotten, and talks over the budget were disrupted when MK Yoel Hasson of Kadima termed coalition head MK Zeev Elkin a “dictator.”
Elkin accused Hasson of turning “a serious and important discussion” into “shouting and personal insults.”
Despite the tension, Elkin expressed satisfaction over the presence of opposition MKs, saying, “I'm glad they are here. This is how it should be.”
The opposition and coalition have clashed over several proposals in recent weeks. Among other things, opposition MKs have protested a proposal that would make the national budget biennial instead of annual, a bill that would raise the number of votes needed for any proposal costing more than five million shekels, the Norwegian Law, which would allow one minister from each party to leave the Knesset and be replaced by the next person on the party register, and a law that would allow seven MKs from a single faction to break off and be considered an independent faction.
Comment on this story
by Maayana Miskin
A scheduled meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and MK Tzipi Livni, head of the opposition, has been cancelled. The twowere to meet Fridayto discuss the problems facing the Knesset following tension between the coalition and opposition.
Tensions came to a head on Tuesday when opposition MKs walked out of the Knesset hall, accusing the coalition of “changing the rules of the game.”
Opposition MKs returned Thursday to take part in discussions over the state budget, which passed an initial hearing in their absence. However, the dispute was not forgotten, and talks over the budget were disrupted when MK Yoel Hasson of Kadima termed coalition head MK Zeev Elkin a “dictator.”
Elkin accused Hasson of turning “a serious and important discussion” into “shouting and personal insults.”
Despite the tension, Elkin expressed satisfaction over the presence of opposition MKs, saying, “I'm glad they are here. This is how it should be.”
The opposition and coalition have clashed over several proposals in recent weeks. Among other things, opposition MKs have protested a proposal that would make the national budget biennial instead of annual, a bill that would raise the number of votes needed for any proposal costing more than five million shekels, the Norwegian Law, which would allow one minister from each party to leave the Knesset and be replaced by the next person on the party register, and a law that would allow seven MKs from a single faction to break off and be considered an independent faction.
Comment on this story
5. IDF Court Frees Bargaining Chip for Shalit
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
An IDF military court rejected government arguments Wednesday and ordered the release of Aziz Dweik, the Hamas Speaker of the Palestinian Authority legislature. His jail sentence of three years for ties with Hamas had given Israel an additional bargaining chip for negotiating the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
The Israeli government lost its bid to keep Dweik in jail until the end of his term. He has served 36 months in jail but was to be released in the near future for administrative reasons, according to military spokesmen.
Israeli security and military forces rounded up Dweik, a resident of Hevron, and dozens of other Hamas politicians in 2006 following the terrorist attack that killed two soldiers and left Shalit in captivity without any contact with family or even the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The arrests of the Hamas members crippled the PA Legislative Council, dominated by Hamas.
Dweik’s wife Umm Hisham told the Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency that she was “surprised” by the court decision. An independent Gaza political leader said the release might be a step towards reconciliation between Hamas and the rival Fatah faction, led by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Officials said he probably will be released by Sunday or before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath onFriday night. Dweik also was ordered to pay a NIS 5,000 ($1,265) fine.
In an unrelated move, the PA is to release 20 Hamas prisoners on Thursday, according to Ma'an. The releases are aimed at improving the atmosphere between Hamas and Fatah towards upcoming unity talks in Cairo.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
An IDF military court rejected government arguments Wednesday and ordered the release of Aziz Dweik, the Hamas Speaker of the Palestinian Authority legislature. His jail sentence of three years for ties with Hamas had given Israel an additional bargaining chip for negotiating the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
The Israeli government lost its bid to keep Dweik in jail until the end of his term. He has served 36 months in jail but was to be released in the near future for administrative reasons, according to military spokesmen.
Israeli security and military forces rounded up Dweik, a resident of Hevron, and dozens of other Hamas politicians in 2006 following the terrorist attack that killed two soldiers and left Shalit in captivity without any contact with family or even the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The arrests of the Hamas members crippled the PA Legislative Council, dominated by Hamas.
Dweik’s wife Umm Hisham told the Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency that she was “surprised” by the court decision. An independent Gaza political leader said the release might be a step towards reconciliation between Hamas and the rival Fatah faction, led by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Officials said he probably will be released by Sunday or before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath onFriday night. Dweik also was ordered to pay a NIS 5,000 ($1,265) fine.
In an unrelated move, the PA is to release 20 Hamas prisoners on Thursday, according to Ma'an. The releases are aimed at improving the atmosphere between Hamas and Fatah towards upcoming unity talks in Cairo.
Comment on this story
6. Nuclear and Diplomatic Dangers Lead to Western Wall Prayers
by Hillel Fendel
A mass prayer rally has been called for late Sunday afternoon at the Western Wall in light of the diplomatic and other dangers facing Israel.
Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, elder rabbi of the religious-Zionist sector, will be present, despite his ill health, and other hareidi and religious-Zionist rabbis call upon the public to follow his example and show up as well.
The prayers will be held on Erev Rosh Chodesh, the eve of the new month – in this case, the month of Tammuz – which is considered a “minor Yom Kippur” and particularly appropriate for communal prayers during troubled times.
The organizers cite the mass-murderous intentions of Iran against Israel, Israel’s government plans to continue to destroy Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria, and world powers' desire to rid nearly all of these areas of Jewish presence altogether and build an Arab state in its place.
Other participants wish to add other elements to the list of issues requiring prayers. The gay parades in Tel Aviv last week and Jerusalem this coming week are cited as examples of “abominations” that the Bible threatens could lead to the “vomiting out” of the Land’s Jewish residents.
In addition, recent Jerusalem municipal plans to minimize Jewish construction and increase Arab construction are also noted as a source of grave concern.
One anti-parade movement says that the prayer rally is not the best way to block the gay pride from defiling Jerusalem’s streets, and that more concrete action is needed. “The land will vomit out its residents because of the foreign abominations that are carried out with silent consent for ‘fear of our children,’” one group says, referring to the opinion of some that the fight against homosexual parades should not be made public for fear that the youth will hear of things better left unsaid. “When the axe falls, remember that you were silent! Torah leaders, do not hide. It is in your power to stop this parade. You need only announce that if this and other such marches are not banned in this country, you will quit the government coalition and leave Netanyahu and Livni to run this country of impurity… At least you will be able to say ‘our hands did not spill this blood.’ There is no point to prayers, fasts and vigils ‘in light of the situation’ if at the same time we allow this to happen. ‘Even if you pray very much, I will not hear’ (Isaiah 1). Does anyone hear?”
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
A mass prayer rally has been called for late Sunday afternoon at the Western Wall in light of the diplomatic and other dangers facing Israel.
Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, elder rabbi of the religious-Zionist sector, will be present, despite his ill health, and other hareidi and religious-Zionist rabbis call upon the public to follow his example and show up as well.
The prayers will be held on Erev Rosh Chodesh, the eve of the new month – in this case, the month of Tammuz – which is considered a “minor Yom Kippur” and particularly appropriate for communal prayers during troubled times.
The organizers cite the mass-murderous intentions of Iran against Israel, Israel’s government plans to continue to destroy Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria, and world powers' desire to rid nearly all of these areas of Jewish presence altogether and build an Arab state in its place.
Other participants wish to add other elements to the list of issues requiring prayers. The gay parades in Tel Aviv last week and Jerusalem this coming week are cited as examples of “abominations” that the Bible threatens could lead to the “vomiting out” of the Land’s Jewish residents.
In addition, recent Jerusalem municipal plans to minimize Jewish construction and increase Arab construction are also noted as a source of grave concern.
One anti-parade movement says that the prayer rally is not the best way to block the gay pride from defiling Jerusalem’s streets, and that more concrete action is needed. “The land will vomit out its residents because of the foreign abominations that are carried out with silent consent for ‘fear of our children,’” one group says, referring to the opinion of some that the fight against homosexual parades should not be made public for fear that the youth will hear of things better left unsaid. “When the axe falls, remember that you were silent! Torah leaders, do not hide. It is in your power to stop this parade. You need only announce that if this and other such marches are not banned in this country, you will quit the government coalition and leave Netanyahu and Livni to run this country of impurity… At least you will be able to say ‘our hands did not spill this blood.’ There is no point to prayers, fasts and vigils ‘in light of the situation’ if at the same time we allow this to happen. ‘Even if you pray very much, I will not hear’ (Isaiah 1). Does anyone hear?”
Comment on this story
7. Ashkenazi: Religious Soldiers Must Tolerate Immodest Performers
by Maayana Miskin
A new statement from IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi requires soldiers to tolerate immodest performances in the name of group bonding.
For months, IDF rabbis have battled the Education and Youth Corps over the issue of military performances that do not conform to Halacha (Jewish law). The statement from Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi appears to support the Education Corps over the Rabbinate.
Performances for soldiers are IDF activities for all intents and purposes, and soldiers must attend them, Ashkenazi said. “After the performance begins, if a soldier feels that what is happening on stage does not suit his religious views, he is not required to look directly or to play an active role,” he said.
A religious soldier “can stay in his place and show forbearance, in order to respect his unit and the people on stage,” he continued. Leaving the hall during the performance would be detrimental to theunit's cohesion, and to performers' ability to get their message across to the soldiers present, he said.
While ordering soldiers to remain in place for the sake of group bonding, Ashkenazi had demands for organizers as well, and called on those who plan IDF events to take soldiers' religious needs into concern.
In March, the IDF's BaMachaneh magazine reported that large groups of soldiers had begun walking out of performances that included women singing or dancing on stage. Brigadier-General Eli Shermeister, head of the Education and Youth Corps, called the phenomenon “worrisome,” and suggested that soldiers who left during performances were reducing group cohesion.
The IDF Rabbinate ruled that there is no justification for forcing religious soldiers to be present at a performance that violates Halacha. Organizers should be aware of the issues religious soldiers face, and should find a “creative solution” by releasing the soldiers from all or part of the event, or by changing the contents of the event to allow all soldiers to take part, the Rabbinate said.
Comment on this story
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6/17
Netanyahu's ground rules reveal new tact
A best-selling author and former political consultant to Benjamin Netanyahu says the Israeli leader's recent foreign policy speech clearly illustrates that Netanyahu doesn't want to continue the same foreign policy mistakes of the past.During his Sunday night speech, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attached some tough conditions to any agreement he may sign regarding a Palestinian state. Inthe nationally broadcast speech, Netanyahu insisted that a future Palestine be demilitarized, and rejected the aspirations of Palestinian refugees to return to homes in Israel. Chad Groening - OneNewsNow - 6/17/2009 4:00:00 AM
Those conditions, along with demands that Israel retain sovereignty over a united Jerusalem and continue to expand West Bank settlements, won him support from those who oppose the dividing up of Israel's covenant land.
Joel Rosenberg is the author Inside the Revolution: How the Followers of Jihad, Jefferson, and Jesus are Battling to Dominate the Middle East and Transform the World. The Messianic Jewish believer says clearly Netanyahu does not want to repeat the mistakes of the past, when Israel agreed to withdraw from southern Lebanon and Gaza.
"Israel has given two large tracts of land to its neighbors in the last nine years -- and it has gotten more than 14,000 rockets and missiles as a thank-you present," Rosenberg points out. "So there doesn't seem to be any particular reason at this moment for Israel to give more land, tangible assets for more promises of peace, none of which have been forthcoming."
Indeed, the Palestinians have already rejected the conditions laid out by Netanyahu in his speech.
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6/15
As of last Friday, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had been declared the overwhelming winner, and if he is ultimately qualified by Ayatollah Ali Khameini as the winning candidate, the only thing that may change in Iran is that the newly-reelected president is likely to ramp up his rhetoric against both Israel and the United States. He clearly has the backing of supreme leader Khameini who is in favor of continuing Iran’s nuclear program. As president, Ahmadinejad only has as much power as Khameini allows him to exert.
Ahmadinejad relied heavily on the conservative bastions such as Qom, where many of the Islamic universities and revered shrines can be found. He appealed to what Americans would call the blue-collar voters and traditionalists who supported him in the last election. Calls of tampering have been heard in some locales, but with the absence of international poll-watchers, such charges are hard to prove.
The fiery president has been charged with mismanaging Iran’s reaction to inflation which hovers at 25 percent. Yet during his campaign, he promised more government aid. One can only wonder if Ahmadinejad will face challenges from the people who want more freedom. Iranians have already been warned by the leader of the Revolutionary Guard that if they harbor visions of another “revolution” swift action would be taken to crush their dreams.
No doubt, Ahmadinejad will, with Khamenei’s blessing, continue his defiance against the Western world and forge ahead with a nuclear program. Former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. and president of the Jerusalem Centre for Public Affairs Dore Gold addressed the fact that Iran really has only one leader who determines its nuclear pursuits: “The key decisions in the nuclear field are taken by the spiritual leader Khamenei, so it doesn’t matter who is elected president. All of the candidates support continuing the nuclear program.”
The Jewish state has come to consider Iran’s nuclear bid as a very real threat given the fact that Ahmadinejad has spent four years in office calling for Israel’s destruction. He vowed to “wipe Israel off the map.” (Click here to read entire article)
Please VOTE Today:
President Obama, please stand with Israel.
President Obama, please do not stand with Israel.
As a friend of Israel, I am deeply concerned about the events that are taking shape and their effect on Israel’s future. Please pray for the Jewish people. Please stand with me in defense of the Jewish people. Please let your voice be heard in support of the Jewish people.
Your gift to help the Jewish people is needed even more today as the media reports on the demoralizing effects the downturn in the economy and the resulting recession has had in Israel. More than 1.6 million Israelis live below the poverty level. Some 800,000 of those suffering from the effects of poverty are children.
Thank you to the 820 Jerusalem Prayer Team partners who have given to bless Israel. We need 1,100 to give in order to reach our goal. We are more than halfway there. Please pray today for all that have given and for those who have not given to give a gift today. Pray that God will bless them according to Psalm 122:6: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall PROSPER that love thee.” And, Genesis 12:3 says, “I will BLESS them that BLESS thee…”
Please stand up for Israel, today. Bless her with an “I Support Israel” gift to help provide food, clothing, medications, and shelter. The world’s economy has created a grave crisis for the poor. They are forgotten and suffering.
Barukh attah Adonai elohoeinu melekh ha-olam, she'asah li kol tzorki.
Blessed art thou, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who provides for me all my needs.
Thank you for caring.
Your ambassador to Jerusalem,
Mike Evans
The Jerusalem Prayer Team is a non-profit, non-denominational, 501c3 organization dedicated to developing a prayer movement of people around the world. It receives no support from the Nation of Israel. Donations are tax deductible. The mission of the Jerusalem Prayer Team: To guard, defend and protect the Jewish people and Eretz Yisrael until Israel is secure, and until the Redeemer comes to Zion. Dr. Tim LaHaye, Mr. Pat Boone, Mr. Bill McCartney, Rev. Tommy Tenney, Dr. A.R. Bernard, and Dr. Jay Sekulow are just a few of the more than 300 Christian Leaders who are part of the Jerusalem Prayer Team.
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6/14/09
Juval Aviv ( http://www.answers.com/Juval+Aviv?gwp=11&ver=2.4.0.651&method=3 ) was the Israeli Agent upon whom the movie ' Munich ' was based. He was Golda Meir's bodyguard -- she appointed him to track down and bring to justice the Palestinian terrorists who took the Israeli athletes hostage and killed them during the Munich Olympic Games.
In a lecture in New York City a few weeks ago, he shared information that EVERY American needs to know -- but that our government has not yet shared with us.
He predicted the London subway bombing on the Bill O'Reilly show on Fox News stating publicly that it would happen within a week. At the time, O'Reilly laughed and mocked him saying that in a week he wanted him back on the show. But, unfortunately, within a week the terrorist attack had occurred.
Juval Aviv gave intelligence (via what he had gathered in Israel and the Middle East ) to the Bush Administration about 9/11 a month before it occurred. His report specifically said they would use planes as bombs and target high profile buildings and monuments. Congress has since hired him as a security consultant.
Now for his future predictions. He predicts the next terrorist attack on the U.S. will occur within the next few months.
Forget hijacking airplanes, because he says terrorists will NEVER try and hijack a plane again as they know the people on board will never go down quietly again. Aviv believes our airport security is a joke -- that we have been reactionary rather than proactive in developing strategies that are truly effective.
For example:
1) Our airport technology is outdated. We look for metal, and the new explosives are made of plastic.
2) He talked about how some idiot tried to light his shoe on fire. Because of that, now everyone has to take off their shoes. A20group of idiots tried to bring aboard liquid explosives. Now we can't bring liquids on board. He says he's waiting for some suicidal maniac to pour liquid explosive on his underwear; at which point, security will have us all traveling naked! Every strategy we have is reactionary.
3) We only focus on security when people are heading to the gates. Aviv says that if a terrorist attack targets airports in the future, they will target busy times on the front end of the airport when/where people are checking in. It would be easy for someone to take two suitcases of explosives, walk up to a busy check-in line, ask a person next to them to watch their bags for a minute while they run to the restroom or get a drink, and then detonate the bags BEFORE security even gets involved. In Israel , security checks bags BEFORE people can even ENTER the airport.
Aviv says the next terrorist attack here in America is imminent and will involve suicide bombers and non-suicide bombers in places where large groups of people congregate. (i.e., Disneyland, Las Vegas casinos, big cities like New York, San Francisco, Chicago, etc.- and that it will also include shopping malls, subways in rush hour, train stations, etc., as well as rural America this time (Wyoming, Montana, etc.).
The attack will be characterized by simultaneous detonations around the country (terrorists like big impact), involving at least 5-8 cities, including rural areas.
Aviv says terrorists won't need to use suicide bombers in many of the larger cities, because at places like the MGM Grand in Las Vegas , they can simply valet park a car loaded with explosives and walk away. Aviv says all of the above is well known in intelligence circles, but that our U. S. government does not want to alarm American citizens' with the facts. The world is quickly going to become 'a different place', and issues like 'global warming' and political correctness will become totally irrelevant.
On an encouraging note, he says that Americans don't have to be concerned about being nuked. Aviv says the terrorists who want to destroy America will not use sophisticated weapons. They like to use suicide as a front-line approach. It's cheap, it's easy, it's effective; and they have an infinite abundance of young militants more than willing to 'meet their destiny'.
He also says the next level of terrorists, over which America should be most concerned, will not be coming from abroad. But will be, instead, 'homegrown' -- having attended and been educated in our own schools and universities right here in the U. S. He says to look for 'students' who frequently travel back and forth to the Middle East . These young terrorists will be most dangerous because they will know our language and will fully understand the habits of Americans; but that we Americans won't know/understand a thing about them. Aviv says that, as a people, Americans are unaware and uneducated about the terrorist threats we will, inevitably, face. America still has only have a handful of Arabic and Farsi speaking people in our intelligence networks, and Aviv says it is critical that we change that fact SOON.
So, what can America do to protect itself? From an intelligence perspective, Aviv says the U.S. needs to stop relying on satellites and technology for intelligence. We need to, instead, follow Israel 's, Ireland 's and England 's hands-on examples of human intelligence, both from an infiltration perspective as well as to trust 'aware' citizens to help. We need to engage and educate ourselves as citizens; however, our U. S. government continues to treat us, its citizens, 'like babies'. Our government thinks we 'can't handle the truth' and are concerned that we'll panic if we understand the realities of terrorism. Aviv says this is a deadly mistake.
Aviv recently created/executed a security test for our Congress, by placing an empty briefcase in five well-traveled spots in five major cities. The results? Not one person called 911 or sought a policeman to check it out. In fact, in Chicago , someone even tried to steal the briefcase!
In comparison, Aviv says that citizens of Israel are so well 'trained' that an unattended bag or package would be reported in seconds by citizen(s) who know to publicly shout, 'Unattended Bag!' The area would be quickly & calmly cleared by the citizens themselves. But, unfortunately, America hasn't been yet 'hurt enough' by terrorism for their government to fully understand the need to educate its citizens or for the government to understand that it's their citizens who are, inevitably, the best first-line of defense against terrorism.
Aviv also was concerned about the high number of children here in America who were in preschool and kindergarten after 9/11, who were 'lost' without parents being able to pick them up, and about our schools that had no plan in place to best care for the students until parents could get there. (In New York City , this was days, in some cases!)
He stresses the importance of having a plan, that's agreed upon within your family, to respond to in the event of a terrorist emergency. He urges parents to contact their children's schools and demand that the schools, too, develop plans of actions, as they do in Israel .
Does your family know what to do if you can't contact one another by phone? Where would you gather in an emergency? He says we should all have a plan that is easy enough for even our youngest children to remember and follow.
Aviv says that the U.S. government has in force a plan that, in the event of another terrorist attack, will immediately cut-off EVERYONE's ability to use cell phones, blackberries, etc., as this is the preferred communication source used by terrorists and is often the way that their bombs are detonated.
How will you communicate with your loved ones in the event you cannot speak? You need to have a plan.
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6/12/09
President Barack Obama addressed the world’s Muslim population Wednesday at a joint session of Al-Azhar University and Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt. He greeted the assembly by saying, “assalaamu alaykum.” The question now becomes: Did the President know exactly what he was saying, or did he like John Kennedy in Berlin commit a linguistic faux pas? Did Mr. Obama understand the veiled meaning behind the words of his greeting or did ignorance of the Muslim language prevail?
One Muslim website explains the greeting this way: “When Islam came, Allaah prescribed that the manner of greeting among Muslims should be “Assalaamu alaykum” and that this greeting should only be used among Muslims and not for other nations...do not single out anybody out of arrogance or to impress them, but do it to honour the symbols of Islam and to foster Islamic brotherhood.”
The president then set out to deliver a speech that would, according to the White House, foment “A New Beginning” in relations between the Muslim world and the U.S. I feel a little like I’ve just bought a new car from a now-defunct dealership: I know I’ve been had, but I’m not yet sure how.
Mr. Obama touched on many issues in his speech and although he had said he would not, he proffered veiled apologies for U.S. actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. He singled out the attackers on 9/11, but failed to target the extremists who continue both to attack Israel and to resist any peace efforts. He said the Palestinians "have endured the pain of dislocation. Many wait in refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza and neighboring lands for a life of peace and security that they have never been able to lead." He did not bother to add that the majority of the so-called peace treaties had been broken by calls for jihad and the resulting terrorist attacks.
The president failed to take the opportunity to recount the good that Americans have done worldwide – in Bosnia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, etc. He failed to remind the Muslim people that Israel was not a last-minute idea of some government official who felt the survivors of the Holocaust needed a place to go. Indeed, it was the Jews who had been exiled from the land. It was the only land in which the children of Israel had ever been sovereign; and the land to which they prayed fervently to return. That would not have played well to the house in Cairo.
The president called upon his ancestry to prove his sincerity before the students from the two universities. He talked of his life in Indonesia as a child: “Much has been made of the fact that an African-American with the name Barack Hussein Obama could be elected President.” In deference to his worldview that “there are many paths to the same place” Mr. Obama quoted four times from the Koran and once from the Holy Bible, and once from the Talmud.
Obama gave advance notice to U.S. enemies in the Middle East when he said, “Although I believe that the Iraqi people are ultimately better off without the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, I also believe that events in Iraq have reminded America of the need to use diplomacy and build international consensus to resolve our problems whenever possible.” He added that it is his plan to withdraw all American troops by 2012, an open invitation to Iran to plan the subjugation of its neighbor.
We must continue to call on President Obama to stand with Israel and not to abandon our long-time ally to the terrorist regimes surrounding it.
Please VOTE Today:
President Obama, please stand with Israel.
President Obama, please do not stand with Israel.
As a friend of Israel, I am deeply concerned about the events that are taking shape and their effect on Israel’s future. Please pray for the Jewish people. Please stand with me in defense of the Jewish people. Please let your voice be heard in support of the Jewish people.
Your gift to help the Jewish people is needed even more today as the media reports on the demoralizing effects the downturn in the economy and the resulting recession has have had in Israel. More than 1.6 million Israelis live below the poverty level. Some 800,000 of those suffering from the effects of poverty are children. This figure does not include the elderly Russian Jews who often fall between the cracks and are unable to afford food, clothing, and medicines.
Thank you to the 775 Jerusalem Prayer Team partners who have given to bless Israel. We need 1,100 to give in order to reach our goal. We are more than halfway there. Please pray today for all that have given and for those who have not given to give a gift today. Pray that God will bless them according to Psalm 122:6: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall PROSPER that love thee.” And, Genesis 12:3 says, “I will BLESS them that BLESS thee…”
Please stand up for Israel, today. Bless her with an “I Support Israel” gift to help provide food, clothing, medications, and shelter. The world’s economy has created a grave crisis for the poor. They are forgotten and suffering.
Thank you for caring.
Your ambassador to Jerusalem,
Mike Evans
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Obama Breeds Climate of Hate Against Jews
By Rabbi Dr. Morton H. Pomerantz
Our new president did not tell a virulent anti-Semite to travel to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington to kill Jews, but he is most certainly creating a climate of hate against us.
It is no coincidence that we are witnessing this level of hatred toward Jews as President Barack Obama positions America against the Jewish state.
Just days ago Obama traveled to Cairo, Egypt. It was his second trip in a short time to visit Muslim countries. He sent a clear message by not visiting Israel.
But this was code.
In Cairo, Obama said things that pose a grave danger to Jews in Israel, in America and everywhere.
And if his views are not vigorously opposed they will help create a danger as great as that posed by the Nazis to the Jewish people.
Just last week, Obama told his worldwide audience — more than 100 million people — that the killing of six million Jews during the Holocaust was the equivalent of Israel’s actions in dealing with the Palestinians.
This remark is incredible on its face, an insult to the six million Jews who died as a result of Hitler’s genocide — and it is a form of revisionism that will bode evil for Jews for years to come.
While Obama acknowledged that “six million Jews were killed — more than the entire Jewish population of Israel today” — his discussion about the Holocaust was followed by this statement: “On the other hand, it is also undeniable that the Palestinian people — Muslims and Christians — have suffered in pursuit of a homeland.”
“On the other hand . . . ”?
Obama’s clever construct comparing the mass genocide of six million Jews to the Palestinian struggle will not be lost on the estimated 100 million Muslims who tuned into to hear him.
Perhaps it was not lost on James W. von Brunn, the 88-year-old white supremacist identified as the alleged attacker Wednesday at the Holocaust Museum. He apparently felt that he could easily take retribution against the Jews for the atrocities Obama implies they are guilty of.
At first blush Mr. Obama’s speech seemed rosy, optimistic — one that espoused tolerance and understanding.
If you scratch the surface it is a dangerous document that history will view as a turning point for America and Israel — one that will lead to dangerous times ahead for both Jews and believing Christians.
The immediate danger posed by Obama’s speech is in its incredible re-writing of the history of Jews, Christians and Muslims from Medieval times to the present.
Obama, continually throughout his speech, talks of Islam’s peaceful intent. And while there are certainly Koranic verses that support this interpretation, Islam has a long and bloody history of violence against fellow Muslims, Jews and Christians.
Has Obama not heard about the Muslim’s violent conquest of the Middle East, Spain and half of Western Europe? Was he never taught that the Crusades sought to turn back this Muslim onslaught that demanded subjugated populations convert or die?
In his almost hour-long speech, there is not a single word about Islam’s well known and checkered past.
Ironically, the American president offered plenty of references to what he sees are America’s evils, such as its “colonialism” and history of slavery.
“For centuries, black people in America suffered the lash of the whip as slaves and the humiliation of segregation,” Obama told his audience, citing a litany of American shortcomings. He failed to mention that Arab Muslims were the greatest slave traders in the history of humanity.
According to Obama, Israelis, too, are guilty of wrongdoing, especially when it comes to their supposed maltreatment of the Palestinians.
Isn’t it odd an American president would go to a foreign country and slander his own country and its long-time ally?
At the same time he praises — unconditionally — a religion and culture that has a long history of being antithetical to the very values that have made America a great nation?
Mr. Obama even has the unbelievable gall, when talking about the treatment of Muslim women, to condemn Western countries for attempting to stop Muslim women from using the full facial cover, or hijab. This is a symbol of Muslim subjugation of women.
Listen to what Obama said: “Likewise, it is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practicing religion as they see fit - for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear.”
And Obama not only ignores the gross subjugation of women in many Arab societies — he does not mention even once the almost total religious intolerance throughout the Muslim world against Christians and Jews.
In his speech, Obama’s only plea for Muslim women living in Muslim countries is that they should be afforded an education.
How about a discussion of the beheading of Arab women for “crimes” such as adultery? How about the malicious treatment of women in Muslim countries who choose not to wear the hijab?
Obama insists that Islam has promoted tolerance and that in Islamic societies such ideals have flourished.
Obama claimed that “as a student of history” he understands more than most the truth about “civilization's debt to Islam.”
He added, “And throughout history, Islam has demonstrated through words and deeds the possibilities of religious tolerance and racial equality.”
Does he not know that a Jew or Christian would be beheaded in Saudi Arabia for practicing their religion today, now, this minute?
Of course, Obama offers not one example of where religious freedom is truly tolerated in the Muslim world. Yet, he proudly told his audience that in every state of the union and throughout the U.S. there exist more than 1,200 mosques.
But why, Mr. President, is there no Christian Church or Jewish synagogue operating within the borders of Saudi Arabia? Not even one.
Why in many countries, including your host Egypt, Christian churches have suffered vicious and continual persecution? Why is a once vibrant Cairo Jewish community — a home for the likes of Maimonides — today practically extinct?
Why, dear president, has the ancient Christian community in the West Bank and places like Bethlehem been almost completely wiped out by the modern Muslim onslaught?
“On the other hand,” to quote you Mr. President, you avoided mentioning some other truths.
Let’s start with the Israeli Arabs who can claim one of the highest standards of living in the Arab world. Indeed, they have more rights than Arabs in any Muslim country, their religious freedom is completely protected, and they even vote in free elections.
Tell me what Muslim country matches Israel’s record in protecting its minorities?
Even Arabs in the West Bank, during the time of Israeli control, saw their standard of living rise dramatically. Today, Arabs there are among the best educated in the world, thanks to Israel.
In your revisionist view, Israel has acted to harm these people. But it was not Israel that could not abide by United Nations resolutions clearly setting borders for both the state of Israel and an entity that had never existed before named Palestine.
You cleverly omitted any discussion of these facts, or the continual attacks against the state of Israel over six decades by its Muslim neighbors. Nor is it the Israelis who persecute from time to time the Coptic Christians of Egypt.
No, Mr. President, I do not accept your assertion that you are seeking religious tolerance or that you are seeking to protect Jews. I do not accept it because you are inventing a false history to fit your own agenda.
Mr. President, I am deeply disturbed that you would offer such a distortion of truth in the hopes of creating a lasting peace. A lasting peace cannot be created out of lies, distortions and half truths.
You profess to be a Christian. But you seem more intent on protecting Muslims. In your speech you talked openly of your Muslim heritage, your admiration of their way of life, and so forth. You said in your speech that you have made one of your chief aims of your presidency repairing the image of Islam.
Why did you hide these views from the American public during the recent presidential campaign?
Why, as president, did you fully bow to the Saudi king, who refuses to allow any religious freedom for any Christian or Jew?
You have made clear, by your words and assertions, that you are re-positioning the United States away from Israel, America’s lone democratic ally in the Mid-East.
You have made clear through your statements and those of your minions that Israel should, under no circumstances, prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.
And yes, you have promised to retaliate against Iran if it ever attacks Israel with nuclear weapons.
But you know full well that if Iran succeeds in its admitted goal of “wiping the Jewish state off the map” — and hits this tiny nation with nuclear warheads — there will be no Israel for the U.S. to retaliate on behalf of.
Some Jews may be naïve, but we are not stupid.
Rabbi Dr. Morton H. Pomerantz is a member of the Reform movement of Judaism and serves as a chaplain for the State of New York. A former Navy and Marine Corps officer and chaplain, he has also served as deputy national chaplain for the Jewish War Veterans of the United States.
© 2009 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
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1. PA Teen Murdered over 'Collaboration' Charges
by Maayana Miskin
A Palestinian Authority 15-year-old was tortured and murdered this week for allegedly cooperating with Israel. According to PA police, the primary suspects in the case are several members of the teenager's own family.
The suspects, both men and women, have reportedly admitted to their roles in the crime. They justified the act by explaining their suspicious regarding the boy's behavior.
The victim has been identified as Raed Sawalha, of the village of Hija, near Kalkilya.
PA police are investigating the case, and have detained several suspects for questioning. PA forces said that at this time, they have not found evidence to indicate that Sawalha was in fact spying for Israel.
Senior PA commander Adnan a-Damiri publicly condemned the murder, and promised to bring the killers to justice.
Senior PA commander Adnan a-Damiri publicly condemned the murder, and promised to bring the killers to justice.
'Honor' Killings in Gaza, Israel
In similar news, an “honor” murder was reported in Gaza on Thursday, while in Israel a man was indicted for murdering his daughter in an alleged “honor” killing.
In similar news, an “honor” murder was reported in Gaza on Thursday, while in Israel a man was indicted for murdering his daughter in an alleged “honor” killing.
In Gaza, police found the body of 21-year-old Sadia abu-Saad. The young woman's father admitted to killing her in order to “preserve family honor.” Abu-Saad is the seventh person to be murdered in Gaza for reasons of “family honor” since the beginning of 2009.
In Israel, Issam Nijam of Beit Jan was charged Thursday with murdering his daughter due to her desire to marry a man she had chosen. The father disapproved of the match, and in late May, shot his daughter seven times as the two argued. He then drove to a local police station and confessed to the crime.
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2. Israel Prepared as WHO Declares Swine Flu Pandemic
by Hana Levi Julian
The World Health Organization formally declared on Thursday that the worldwide outbreak of the H1N1 virus known as “swine flu” has become a Phase 6 pandemic, whose spread is officially considered unstoppable.
It is the first time in 41 years the United Nations-sponsored organization has made such an announcement.
Israel’s Health Ministry immediately issued a statement reminding the public that the upgraded Phase 6 alert did not refer to the severity of the illness itself, but rather to the rapidity and scope of its spread around the world.
The ministry noted that Israel has already made Level Six preparations, including isolating people with symptoms of the illness in their own homes instead of in hospitals.
Within days of the initial outbreak of the virus, the ministry had established a full time clinic at Ben Gurion International Airport to screen incoming travelers who exhibit symptoms of the virus. Doctors were also stationed at border crossings around the country.
WHO director Dr. Margaret Chan announced the move to Phase 6 worldwide alert after sending a notice to member countries.
She met with journalists following an emergency meeting with flu experts held at the agency’s headquarters in Geneva.
“The world is moving into the early days of its first influenza pandemic in the 21st century,” she told reporters, adding that the agency was moving its global alert to Phase 6, the highest level.
Chan added that experts at the meeting agreed unanimously thatthe swine flu was spreading more rapidly, and farther, than was being reported, particularly in Europe.
The virus is presently sweeping through the continent nation of Australia, where more than 1,300 cases were officially reported Thursday, and Chile, where nearly 1,700 cases were confirmed. Both countries are located in the southern hemisphere, where the ordinary flu season is in full swing.
WHO Assistant Director General Keiji Fukuda described the pandemic level as “moderate.” However, this time people who are not usually susceptible to the flu are also being infected, and the H1N1 virus is overtaking other, ordinary strains. Both events are common during pandemic flu outbreaks.
In addition, although normally in the northern hemisphere the flu season does not begin until the autumn months, the virus continues to spread20throughout the world, indicating H1N1 is a particularly virulent strain.
According to the latest WHO statistics, the pandemic has now spread to 74 countries, infecting 28,774 people, since the first case was diagnosed in Mexico in late April. At least 141 people have died of the virus worldwide – a relatively small number, compared to the nearly 500,000 people who die from ordinary flu each year.
However, Chan warned, “Countries where outbreaks appear to have peaked should prepare for a second wave of infection.” Countries that have not yet seen cases of the swine flu, or have only had limited cases, she added, should prepare for it. “The virus is not stoppable,” she said. “I would advise them to maintain vigilance, enhance surveillance and be prepared for the arrival of the novel H1N1 in their country.”
Nonetheless, the agency has not yet issued restrictions on travel or border closures.
Nine new cases of the virus were diagnosed this week in Israel, including five which were contracted locally. Four others were diagnosed in people who became infected during visits to the United States.
Three people were admitted to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. The other six patients are being treated in Jerusalem’s Shaarei Tzedek Medical Center.
At le ast 77 cases of the H1N1 virus have been confirmed in Israel. Most people have had mild symptoms and almost all have since recovered completely.
Such has not been the case in the U.S., however, hardest hit by the pandemic. At least 13,217 people have been infected and 27 have died of the virus in that country.
Three deaths were reported Thursday in New York City, including a baby, a teenager and an unidentified adult in his or her 30s, bringing the city’s swine flu death toll to eight.
3. Peres to EU: Set Temporary Borders for PA State
by Hana Levi Julian
President Shimon Peres has proposed a new final status solution for the Palestinian Authority. Under the plan, Israel and the PA would agree to temporary borders, "subject to a clear promise that the borders will in a short span of time become permanent borders."
The president presented his proposal to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana when the two men met Thursday morning in Jerusalem.
On the agenda was the Arab-Israeli peace process, the 2002 Saudi Arabia peace initiative backed most recently by U.S. President Barack Ob ama, and the issue of the Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria.
Peres stated at the beginning of the meeting that Israel is interested in renewing negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and urged all parties to take advantage of the climate of change in the region.
[Iranian President Mahmoud] "Ahmadinejad's negative behavior" has caused Arab countries in the Middle East to understand that "Israel is not the problem," said Peres. "The solution is peace, quiet and stability. We are at the threshold of a historic opportunity that we must not miss," he added.
"Talks should not be delayed and parties should not focus on the failure to find agreement on 20 percent of the issues, but rather to concentrate on the 80 percent of the issues in which positive progress was made.
"The Roadmap sets clear guidelines and it is time to implement that second phase [of the plan] – announcing a Palestinian state within temporary borders, with the promise that the borders will clarified through negotiations."
Peres also told Solana that Israel undertook not to build new communities in Judea or Samaria, and would dismantle the illegal outposts and "non-natural growth in settlement blocs." However, he did not commit the country to stemming "natural growth" in existing towns in the regions. He said instead that issue would be negotiated.
Solana responded, "I believe, like you, that there is an opening for peace in the Middle East. The positions of=2 0the U.S. and the European Union have never been so close and we work in cooperation with each other on a daily basis."
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has refused to begin talks unless Israel first complies with the precondition of agreeing to the establishment of a PA state.
4. Should Bibi Give in to Obama? Israelis Say 'No'
by Maayana Miskin and Hana Levi Julian
Most Israelis do not believe that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should buckle to pressure byU.S. President Barack Obama to freeze all construction in Jewishcommunities in Judea and Samaria. A poll conducted this week by the Ma'agar Mochot (Brain Trust) survey firm showed that a decisive majorityof the Israeli public believes there is no need to give in to America's demands.
Of the 503 respondents to the survey,56 percent said Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does not need to agree to the construction freeze, while 37 percent said he needs to give in. Another seven percent were unsure.
Respondents who defined themselves as religiously observant were the most likely to say that American demands can safely be ignored. Ninety-seven percent of re ligious respondents said Netanyahu does not need to accept U.S. demands, but only 42 percent of non-observant respondents said the same.
New immigrants were more likely than native Israelis or immigrants who arrived prior to 2006 to say that Israel should give in on Judea and Samaria communities. Forty-five percent of new immigrants said Israel does not need to give in, while 59 percent of native Israelis and other immigrants said the same.
Likud: Bibi, No Need to Fold
Likud voters overwhelmingly responded that Netanyahu does not need to give in to American demands. Eighty-one percent of those who voted Likud said Israel can continue building in Judea and Samaria, while only 12 percent said construction in those areas should stop. Seven percent were unsure.
Likud voters overwhelmingly responded that Netanyahu does not need to give in to American demands. Eighty-one percent of those who voted Likud said Israel can continue building in Judea and Samaria, while only 12 percent said construction in those areas should stop. Seven percent were unsure.
Voters who supported the Kadima party were more likely than those who voted Labor to believe that Israel has no choice but to give in. Sixty-eight percent of Kadima voters said that Israel must give in, while 57 percent of Labor voters said the same. Forty-one percent of Labor voters said that Israel does not need to halt construction, while only 19 percent of Kadima voters said the same.
The majority of voters from all parties said that Israel does not need to give in to demands to relinquish sovereignty over the Old City in Jerusalem and other parts of the capital controlled by Jordan from 1948 to 1967.
Labor voters were the least likely to say that Israel could maintai n sovereignty in those areas, with 57 percent saying there was no need to give in. Those who voted for hareidi-religious parties were most likely to say Israel could maintain control of those areas, with 97 percent voting to reject American demands.
WillFirm Israeli StanceAffect Ties?
Half of the respondents said that if Israel were to reject America's demands, there would be no serious repercussions on Israel's relationship with America. Thirty-two percent felt the refusal could harm ties with America, and 18 percent were unsure.
Half of the respondents said that if Israel were to reject America's demands, there would be no serious repercussions on Israel's relationship with America. Thirty-two percent felt the refusal could harm ties with America, and 18 percent were unsure.
Religious respondents were most likely to believe that the demand for a construction freeze could be ignored without affecting ties. New immigrants were the least likely to feel the same, with only 18 percent saying there would be no political crisis if Netanyahu were to turn down Obama's demand.
5. Did UNIFIL Help Arrest 'Spies for Israel'?
by Maayana Miskin
United NationsForces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) may have been involved in arresting Lebanese citizens suspected of spying for Israel. The story was reported Thursday by Spanish media and by Israel's Channel 10 news.
Channe l 10 obtained video footage in which a Spanish UNIFIL commander states that his troops worked with Lebanese troops to arrest alleged spies for Israel in primarily Shiite Muslim areas. The taped conversation allegedly took place two days ago.
If the accusations of UNIFIL involvement are true, it would represent a serious breach of protocol for the force. UNIFIL has been charged with ensuring that Hizbullah does not rebuild its weapons supplies – a task at which it has failed, according to Israeli intelligence experts and to Hizbullah itself – but has not been authorized to take part in internal Lebanese affairs or in other military operations.
Spanish officials have denied involvement in the Lebanese spy affair. Rumors that Spanish troops were involved were based on “misunderstanding,” they said Thursday.
Lebanese troops have arrested more than 30 people accused of spying for Israel in recent weeks, and have issued arrest warrants for more than 20 more. According to Lebanese sources, two of the alleged spies managed to flee to Israel.
Israel has not responded to reports that its spies were arrested in Lebanon. Some Israeli analysts have suggested that the campaign to arrest “spies” is actually a campaign of political repression. The campaign began shortly before Lebanon's recent elections, in which the current ruling coalition maintained its majority.
6. Iranian Elections Underway
by Maayana Miskin
Iranian citizens headed to the polls Friday to select their country's next president. The two front-runners areincumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi.
More than 46 million Iranians are eligible to vote, with roughly 35 percent of the eligible voters between the ages of 18 and 30 --and their votes are expected to be critical. Some Iranian analysts have suggested that Iran's “marriage crisis” -- a situation in which Iranians in their 20s are forced to postpone marriage due to the high cost of housing – could decide the elections.
Another major issue will be unemployment, analysts say. An estimated 20 percent of Iranians are currently unemployed, and the majority of university graduates are unable to find jobs in their fields.
Iran's president is responsible primarily for domestic issues, while Islamic clerics have the final say in issues such as Iran's nuclear program and international ties.
By mid-morning, Mousavi's campaign was reporting alleged elections irregularities. Iranians found themselves unable to send text messages on their mobile phones – a problem Mousavi said was caused by the go vernment-owned telecommunications company, in an apparent attempt to prevent young voters from spreading elections-related information.
In addition, Mousavi accused Ahmadinejad's campaign of barring his representatives from monitoring certain poll stations.
The Friday elections included two additional candidates: former Revolutionary Guard commander Mohsen Rezaei and former Speaker of the Parliament Mahdi Karoubi. The two have placed in a distant third and fourth in pre-election polls.
Elections results are expected tobe finalized on Saturday. If neither of the top two candidates wins a conclusive majority, a second round of voting will be held next week.
Israel Pessimistic: No Change Expected
Israel's main concern regarding Iran has been the Islamic Republic's pursuit of nuclear power, and possibly nuclear weapons, coupled with Ahmadinejad'sviolentrantsagainst the Jewish State. While Mousavi has criticized Ahmadinejad's anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric, officials in Jerusalem do not expect any significant change if he is elected.
Israel's main concern regarding Iran has been the Islamic Republic's pursuit of nuclear power, and possibly nuclear weapons, coupled with Ahmadinejad'sviolentrantsagainst the Jewish State. While Mousavi has criticized Ahmadinejad's anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric, officials in Jerusalem do not expect any significant change if he is elected.
Mousavi, formerly Iran's prime minister, played a key role in establishing Iran's nuclear program, and he is expected to continue the drive for nuclear energy if elected. Some Israeli defense officials fear that Mousavi's softer approach could pave the way for Iran to pursue nuclear power without international opposition.
Israel is concerned that the United States and Europe will agree to grantIran nuclear power, leaving=2 0the Islamist-run country a short step away from creating a nuclear bomb.
7. The Great Obama Shoe Photo Debate: What Was He Trying to Say?
by Gil Ronen and Hana Levi Julian
A White House photograph of U.S. President Barack Obama with his feet on his desk while speaking on the phone with Binyamin Netanyahu has turned into a news story in own right, with reporters in Israel and elsewhere speculating that it was meant to send a message of disrespect.
The photograph, snapped by White House photographer Pete Sousa, was sent out to news media earlier this week.
Sole man: Obama talks to Netanyahu (Pete Sousa, The White House).
The ripples began with an article by a political correspondent for the far-left Hebrew-language newspaper Haaretz who noted the photograph and interpreted its meaning in a way that is consistent with the newspaper’s pro-Palestinian Authorityposition:
A photo released by the White House, which shows Obama talking on the phone with Netanyahu on Monday, speaks volumes: The president is seen with his legs up on the table, his face stern and hi s fist clenched, as though he were dictating to Netanyahu: "Listen up and write 'Palestinian state' a hundred times. That's right, Palestine, with a P." As an enthusiast of Muslim culture, Obama surely knows there is no greater insult in the Middle East than pointing the soles of one's shoes at another person. Indeed, photos of other presidential phone calls depict Obama leaning on his desk, with his feet on the floor.
The story was then picked up by at least one Israeli TV newscaster, who in turn was quoted by Howard Arenstein of the World Watch news blog on CBS news.
“Israeli TV newscasters Tuesday night interpreted a photo taken Monday in the Oval Office of President
“It could also be interpreted as a very relaxed feeling that Obama has when he speaks with Netanyahu,” Amb. Etinger said.
Obama talking on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an ‘insult’ to Israel,” Arenstein reported. “They saw the incident as somewhat akin to an incident last year, when the Iraqi reporter threw a shoe at President Bush in Baghdad.”
“It could also be interpreted as a very relaxed feeling that Obama has when he speaks with Netanyahu,” Amb. Etinger said.
Obama talking on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as an ‘insult’ to Israel,” Arenstein reported. “They saw the incident as somewhat akin to an incident last year, when the Iraqi reporter threw a shoe at President Bush in Baghdad.”
“It is considered an insult in the Arab world to show the sole of your shoe to someone,” the correspondent noted. “It is not a Jewish custom necessarily, but Israel feels enough a part of the Middle East after 60 yea rs to be insulted too.”Whether or not a subliminal message of pressure was intended, Arensein added, "it shows the mood in Israel. They feel cornered. The reactions out of Israel reflect that feeling.”
Both the Haaretz article and the CBS blog were, in turn, quotedby numerous blogs worldwide.
The boss pose
Haaretz’s take on the shoe photograph, however, is by no means the only one that the picture elicited in Israel. Channel 2 TV’s website submitted the photo Tuesday to an expert on body language, Michelle Stein Teer. She noted that people only put their feet up on the desk when they feel relaxed and at home, as Obama seems to feel in the Oval Office, and calls his pose a “boss pose.” Beside showing that the President is relaxed, she said, the photograph also indicates that Obama is trying to make Netanyahu understand precisely what he wants from him – as Obama’s right thumb and forefinger indicate by their “precision position,” which is used in writing, sewing and other tasks requiring preciseness.
Haaretz’s take on the shoe photograph, however, is by no means the only one that the picture elicited in Israel. Channel 2 TV’s website submitted the photo Tuesday to an expert on body language, Michelle Stein Teer. She noted that people only put their feet up on the desk when they feel relaxed and at home, as Obama seems to feel in the Oval Office, and calls his pose a “boss pose.” Beside showing that the President is relaxed, she said, the photograph also indicates that Obama is trying to make Netanyahu understand precisely what he wants from him – as Obama’s right thumb and forefinger indicate by their “precision position,” which is used in writing, sewing and other tasks requiring preciseness.
Teer interpreted the picture’s message as: “I will not change my positions. I await your speech keenly.”
Obama sending Hillary Clinton a message during the 2008 campaign (Israel news photo / YouTube screenshot).
'Total control'
Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Etinger, a former senior Israeli dip lomat in Washington, told Israel National News that the President has “total control” of the photographs that are issued by the White House and that he has no doubt that either Obama or a top staffer like White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel approved the picture’s dissemination.
Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Etinger, a former senior Israeli dip lomat in Washington, told Israel National News that the President has “total control” of the photographs that are issued by the White House and that he has no doubt that either Obama or a top staffer like White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel approved the picture’s dissemination.
However, Etinger did not sense that the White House intended any kind of subliminal offensive message by releasing the photo. “I do not think so,” he said. “It could also be interpreted as a very relaxed feeling that Obama has when he speaks with Netanyahu.”
“In the United States, in is not rare for someone to put his feet up on the desk when you come into his office, because he is relaxed,” Etinger explained. He recalled going to Capitol Hill during congressional recesses and being told “come into my office, I can put my feet up on the desk and talk calmly now, because there are no votes going on.”
A conciliatory talk?
Before Haaretz sparked the shoe furor, Israeli media actually reported favorably on Monday’s phone conversation between Obama and Netanyahu.
Before Haaretz sparked the shoe furor, Israeli media actually reported favorably on Monday’s phone conversation between Obama and Netanyahu.
News daily Yedioth Acharonoth quoted an unnamed aide to Netanyahu who said the talk was held in a "conciliatory tone” that "stemmed from the fact that the Americans realize they went too far and that, ultimately, Netanyahu is the partner that they have, and they must embrace him, not topple him.9 D
If, however, the Haaretz interpretation is correct, Israel has reason to worry. It would mean that the President is purposely and crudely mocking Israel in front of a vast Arab audience. In that case, the content of Netanyahu's upcoming speechwould not make much of a difference andall the Jewish Statecan do is wait for the other shoe to drop, so to speak.
If meant as an insult, itwould not be the first time that Obama used body language to deliver concealed barbs. During his election campaign, Obama made playful but effective use ofnon-verbal offensive messages while talking about rivals Hillary Clintonand John McCain.
8. Israel Builds New Pipeline to Provide Fuel to Gaza
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Israel completed a new pipeline into Gaza on Tuesday. It is intended to facilitate Israel's ongoing supply20of fuel and natural gas to the civilian population of the Hamas-controlled region. Israel supplies cooking and heating fuel according to PA demands.
The work on the energy pipeline was carried out in accordance with decisions made by the Israeli Government, following relevant security assessments. The IDF's Civil Administration coordinated the project with representatives of the Palestinian Authority. Construction was performed by both Israeli and PA crews.
In a statement from the IDF Spokesman's Office regarding the new pipeline, the army said it "will continue to work in order to improve the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip."
Since the mid-January conclusion of the counterterrorist campaign in Gaza, Operation Cast Lead, Israel has transferred 40.17 million liters of fuel to Gaza. Israel supplies cooking and heating fuel according to PA demands, exempting those supplies from Israeli sanctions on the jihadist Hamas regime currently controlling the region.
Under current circumstances, Israel tankers bring gas supplies to the Nachal Oz crossing into Gaza, where it is pumped into underground tanks on the PA side.
Israel's Energy Supplies
Israel itself obtains the vast majority of its energy needs from other countries. It has been importing sign ificant natural gas supplies from Egypt, following a 2005 deal which went into effect in 2008. Liquid natural gas is pumped from El-Arish, in the Sinai Peninsula, to Ashkelon, on Israel's Mediterranean coast, by way of a 100-kilometer (63 miles) undersea pipeline. The deal with Egypt was to be in effect for 15 years.
Israel itself obtains the vast majority of its energy needs from other countries. It has been importing sign ificant natural gas supplies from Egypt, following a 2005 deal which went into effect in 2008. Liquid natural gas is pumped from El-Arish, in the Sinai Peninsula, to Ashkelon, on Israel's Mediterranean coast, by way of a 100-kilometer (63 miles) undersea pipeline. The deal with Egypt was to be in effect for 15 years.
However, the decision to depend so extensively on Egypt came before a dramatic discovery of massive natural gas deposits off the Haifa coast. The gas fields are expected to meet Israel's energy needs for 20 years hence once they are developed, with a potential value of $15.5 billion. Israel also currently pumps natural gas from another deposit located off the coast of Ashkelon.
The Palestinian Authority also sought to develop gas deposits in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Gaza, several years ago. Their plans involved handing development of the Gaza Marine Field, with $3.3 billion of natural gas reserves, to the British multinational BG Group. However, Israel, which was to commit to purchase surplus fuel from Gaza, scuttled the project to prevent the Hamas regime from using the revenue to fund their anti-Israel terrorist activity.
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