Jun 25, 2012
Source: PressTV
After days of delay, the Supreme Presidential Electoral Commission (SPEC) announced the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsi as the winner of the county’s presidential runoff.
On Sunday, head of the SPEC Farouq Sultan said that Morsi has received nearly 52 percent of the votes, with over 13 million ballots.
This is while, former Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq won over 12 million votes. The voter turnout was 51.85 percent.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Kamel Wazni, a Beirut-based political analyst, to further talk about the issue. Below is an approximate transcript of the interview.
Press TV: Mohamed Morsi proclaimed the winner but there are a lot of concerns about how much power he is actually going to have. What are your thoughts?
Wazni: I think we have to give congratulations to the Egyptian people for a victorious day. Eventually, they got a president in their own domain, in their own power and they succeeded in challenging the military. Challenging the military is not something easy and it is a long process.
The military has been in control for a very long time. It is longer than the term of Mubarak and we have to remember since [Gamal] Abdel Nasser up today, the military has had the upper hand in Egypt and I think this point is the beginning of the struggle to make entrench for the real power to the civilian sectors and I think it is going to be a very long and difficult process.
Obviously, the military took preemptive action before they actually confirmed Mr. Morsi as the new president of Egypt. They actually put a lot of limitation on his power not when it comes only to political power, it is actually extended to economic powers because they limit even the economic initiative and they put a veto on any military action.
Despite all of that, I think the confirmation will resonate throughout the Middle East because it has a foreign implication for the whole region. We have to look at the relationship that will exist between Egypt and the rest of the world, especially the Arab world, the Saudis, the Qataris. Probably Egypt has been the sideline for a very long time.
Now it should take its leadership position. It has to look also at the cozy relationship that existed under Mubarak between Egypt, Hosni Mubarak and Israel. I think now it is a huge responsibility on the Islamic Brotherhood and its head and its followers and now the president is one of them to deal effectively with the issue of Israel and the issue of Palestine as a legitimate cause for every freeman around the world.
I think now it is a huge responsibility today and a huge test for them. But I think the difficulty will be very difficult ahead because there are a lot of things to be done in Egypt. He has to tackle the political process, the economic difficulties, the unemployment, the poverty, actually the process how to deal and deal with the army and everything that is in Egypt because only Morsi won this election but you have to look at the judiciary. They are all the appointees of the old system, the military, the security apparatus; everything for a long time has been appointed by the military and the follower of the military and I think this is the biggest challenge for Mr. Morsi and the leadership that will come with him.
Despite all that, it is a victorious day for the Egyptians because it is the beginning of trying to shape a new Egypt that fits the role and the leadership of a country that is major for the Arab and Muslim world if it took the right initiative, especially with the issue of Palestine because Palestine is the issue and will be the issue and the relationship with Israel will be looked at carefully by Mr. Morsi.
Israel has and will be the enemy of the Arabs and the Muslims because it occupied Palestine.
Press TV: As you said, a lot is expected from the Egyptian president. Will Egypt to be able to regain that role of a leader as the most popular state? We know in the region will be able to play a significant in the world of politics, with foreign policy and also in the region and its regional policy.
But a lot of people even ahead of the announcement were saying that either Ahmed Shafiq or Mohamed Morsi coming for power because this is a transition period for political situation in Egypt. There is for instance no parliament; the Military Council has a lot of power and as you say, this is just the beginning of the struggle by Mohamed Morsi for instance or other groups to get power back from them that it is only going to be a short term period for Mohamed Morsi, this presidency and he will not be able to use this short period because of the political crisis that Egypt is facing as well as the economic crisis which you rightly referred to. This is going to be a short period and we might even see Mohamed Morsi losing that position even sooner than expected. Is that how you are looking at it?
Wazni: Obviously it is going to be a short honeymoon for him. He has to get to work today before tomorrow; he has to look at the agenda that is really important for the country; he has to look for the internal issues, the economy, the economy and the economy.
Unemployment is very high in Egypt. They have dwindling reserves; it is close to 16 billion dollars. It is probably facing difficulty before the end of the year if they do not support their currency. I think they have to tackle the poverty level in Egypt; they have to look very carefully at their relationship with the Persian Gulf countries which have a deep pocket and up to now, they are refusing to give any assistance to any country that see the revolution because they think a successful revolution in Egypt will actually be a major blow for them and probably will escalate the tension within their boundaries and they fear this revolution will manifest itself in their own countries.
There is a lot of fear on the Saudis, on the Qataris, on the Arab Emirate. They said we will help you in one condition; do not export your revolution to our territories. I heard it so many times from high officials from these countries and I heard it from officials within the UN.
When they had close meetings with the Saudis, they mentioned that they had a lot of fears that the revolution will hit their own country and I think they tried for a very long time not to have a successful revolution in Egypt because this will change maybe the mapping for the region.
But I think the Egyptians have to understand and give some time to the new transition leadership to take place and start working on the process of building a country that deserves to be as it is in Egypt. It is not going to be smooth; it is going to be hard; there is going to be a lot of hiccup in the process. But I think when you have people, you deal with them in an honest, open and transparent way, I think they will give you the time because they know that revolution will take time and nothing will happen overnight.
This is probably going to get reform as it is supposed to be. This [takes] a long time to be worked at but I think the priority, as I said, is how to work around the economy and how it affects your house and clean it and this is not going to be easy because of the limitations imposed by the army.
But I think Morsi today is backed by the majority of the people of Egypt and would be a counter to the military. I think, at this point, we will have Morsi as a president and we have co-president that is called the military and it is going to be a tough road ahead.
Press TV: You say co-president when you are speaking about the military. Let’s just look at how much power the military has right now with the president as well. We know of course after the dissolution of the parliament and the restoration of the emergency law, that the military now has the powers that the parliament should have.
It also has amended the constitutional declaration and that amended constitutional declaration effectively, observers are saying, is putting the president under the control of the military. It has control already, the military over the state budget; it has the authority, according to that constitutional declaration, to appoint most senior cabinet posts and it is also reappointing, we are hearing, the-100-member constituent assembly that is going to write the constitution. It has also, we are hearing, revived a body called the National Defense Council; it has the right to appoint a general even as the president’s chief of staff.
So basically a lot of people were saying with all this power, if Mohamed Morsi is going to challenge that power and retain some power for himself as president, there is going to be a showdown. Do you think that we are going to see a confrontational approach now between Mohamed Morsi from one side and the Military Council from the other? And is Mohamed Morsi going to be able to do anything if he does not get the support for instance of other political powers and political figures?
Wazni: Obviously, I think the Islamic Brotherhood and the new president have to understand this is a marriage of convenience not a true love. For that, I think they can have a very delicate process and they have to work with the military in the beginning and they have to establish a new parliament.
We know the parliament that has a majority of the Islamic Brotherhood has dissolved. We have to see how the president will actually build his own government and whether it will be inclusive that all of the parties from the other ex-parties that did not win the elections will be part of the process. We know there is all kind of color in Egypt’s streets and those should be, in my estimate, cater to them and accommodate them to be part of the process.
The youths of Egypt who started the revolution should not be ignored and be part of the process because I think as long as he has to strengthen his ideology by including more people in the process, he will be able to put a persuasive challenge to the military. But at this point, I would say the co-president has more power at this point but we do have to underestimate the machine of the Islamic Brotherhood and the president of Egypt.
I think in the long run, they will be able to weaken to a certain point the deep government that existed for over 50 years and this is going to be a daunting job.
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Israel. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Israeli skullduggery: planting fake Jewish graves at Aqsa
Published May 22nd, 2012 - 17:23 GMT via SyndiGate.info
Source: albawaba
srael is implanting “thousands of fake” Jewish graves in the land surrounding al-Aqsa Mosque “at the pretext of carrying out repair and maintenance works and new excavations” in a bid to lay hand on Palestinian and Islamic endowment lands, Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said in a report on Monday.
“The Israeli occupation of Jerusalem is committing a very ugly crime on Palestinian lands, on Muslim endowment lands, and that is the implanting of thousands of fake Jewish graves in this site,” Abdel Majeed Mohammad, of the Aqsa Foundation was quoted in report as saying.
“What we learned from the people of Silwan is that there is limited number of Jewish graves (around Aqsa Mosque). The Israeli occupation is trying to impose a fait accomplice to control Palestinian endowment lands through implanting 3,000 graves.”
“This is the greatest paradox; on the one hand Israel bulldozes Muslim graves in Jerusalem, on the other hands it implants thousands of fake Jewish graves,” Mohammad said.
He added that thousands of Jewish tombstones were planted around the mosque to indicate graves, but underneath, there are no bodies, nor skeletons.
In January 2012, the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reported that Israel “implanted 50 unreal graves in the northern part of Silwan district so as to control and seize about 20 dunums of Palestinian land there.”
“This Israeli move is aimed at separating the area from the walls of the Aqsa Mosque, where the IOA [Israeli Occupation Authority] also intends to establish a chain of Talmudic gardens and a large Jewish museum in the area connected with the Jewish cemetery in Ras al-Amud and Attour neighborhoods and the settlements, Maale Hazeetim and Maale David,” PIC reported.
In 2010 Israel said it had destroyed about 300 Muslim gravestones in a Jerusalem cemetery because they were “fake” and set up in a bid to snatch government land, according to AFP.
But the Islamic Movement completely denied the graves were fake, saying all of them contained bodies.
The demolition of the graves took place near the site of a planned Museum of Tolerance to be built by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a U.S.-based Jewish human rights group.
What is your opinion on Israel's cloak and dagger graveyard activity? Has Israel taken its territorial conflict with the Palestinians into the preserve of the dead? Could this be a form of imperialism from the grave?
Source: albawaba
srael is implanting “thousands of fake” Jewish graves in the land surrounding al-Aqsa Mosque “at the pretext of carrying out repair and maintenance works and new excavations” in a bid to lay hand on Palestinian and Islamic endowment lands, Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said in a report on Monday.
“The Israeli occupation of Jerusalem is committing a very ugly crime on Palestinian lands, on Muslim endowment lands, and that is the implanting of thousands of fake Jewish graves in this site,” Abdel Majeed Mohammad, of the Aqsa Foundation was quoted in report as saying.
“What we learned from the people of Silwan is that there is limited number of Jewish graves (around Aqsa Mosque). The Israeli occupation is trying to impose a fait accomplice to control Palestinian endowment lands through implanting 3,000 graves.”
“This is the greatest paradox; on the one hand Israel bulldozes Muslim graves in Jerusalem, on the other hands it implants thousands of fake Jewish graves,” Mohammad said.
He added that thousands of Jewish tombstones were planted around the mosque to indicate graves, but underneath, there are no bodies, nor skeletons.
In January 2012, the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reported that Israel “implanted 50 unreal graves in the northern part of Silwan district so as to control and seize about 20 dunums of Palestinian land there.”
“This Israeli move is aimed at separating the area from the walls of the Aqsa Mosque, where the IOA [Israeli Occupation Authority] also intends to establish a chain of Talmudic gardens and a large Jewish museum in the area connected with the Jewish cemetery in Ras al-Amud and Attour neighborhoods and the settlements, Maale Hazeetim and Maale David,” PIC reported.
In 2010 Israel said it had destroyed about 300 Muslim gravestones in a Jerusalem cemetery because they were “fake” and set up in a bid to snatch government land, according to AFP.
But the Islamic Movement completely denied the graves were fake, saying all of them contained bodies.
The demolition of the graves took place near the site of a planned Museum of Tolerance to be built by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a U.S.-based Jewish human rights group.
What is your opinion on Israel's cloak and dagger graveyard activity? Has Israel taken its territorial conflict with the Palestinians into the preserve of the dead? Could this be a form of imperialism from the grave?
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Daily Kristallinacht in Palestine ~ By @StephenLendman
May 28, 2012
By:Stephen Lendman
Source: Occupied Palestine
Imagine daily life under these conditions. Occupation harshness enforces institutionalized terror. Fear is constant. Collective punishment is policy.
Peaceful public demonstrations are assaulted. Free expression and movement are prohibited. Population centers are isolated. Borders are closed.
Normal daily life is denied. Economic strangulation and institutionalized racism are imposed. So are curfews, roadblocks, checkpoints, separation walls, electric fences, and other barriers.
Neighborhood incursions, land, sea and air attacks, bulldozed homes, land theft, ethnic cleansing, slow-motion genocide, targeted killings, mass arrests, torture, and gulag imprisonment reflect daily life for praying to the wrong God.
Fundamental civil and human rights are denied. Crimes of war and against humanity repeat without redress. Wanting to live free in sovereign Palestine is called terrorism.
Punitive taxes are imposed. Few services are provided. Vital ones are lacking or inadequate. Palestinian lawmakers are imprisoned for belonging to the wrong party.
Fishermen are attacked at sea. So are farmers working their land. Trying at the wrong time risks arrest, injury or death. Crops and orchards are destroyed. Settlers commit regular attacks. Courts provide no help.
Gaza is suffocating under siege. Scoundrel media policy enforces coverup and denial, blame the victim, and portray Israel as the region’s only free democratic state. Reality reflects police state harshness. It persists without end.
Even Jews challenging injustice are targeted. Rogues tolerate no opposition. Israeli ones have few equals.
On May 24, Haaretz headlined “Amnesty International: Israel uses excessive force against Palestinians,” saying:
AI’s 2012 annual report “is highly critical of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians….” It charges Israel Defense Forces with “frequent” use of “excessive, sometimes lethal force against demonstrators in the West Bank and civilians in Gaza.”
Dozens are lawlessly killed, including children. Blockading Gaza enforces a “humanitarian crisis.” Restricting free movement was also criticized.
So was Israel’s Separation Wall on stolen Palestinian land, settlement expansions, home demolitions, destroying so-called “unrecognized” villages, and failure to “bring those (who) attack Palestinians to justice.”
Settlers were mentioned. They commit vandalism and kill Palestinians with impunity. Israeli security forces do nothing to stop them. More on that below.
Wrongfully imprisoning Palestinians was criticized. Thousands rot unjustly in Israel’s gulag. Hundreds are there uncharged. Torture and ill-treatment were highlighted. So were other abuses.
On May 25, Al Haq headlined “Rampant settler attacks against Palestinians,” saying:
Since January, Al Haq documented “98 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians across the West Bank.”
Those living closest to settlements are most vulnerable. Attacks include property damage or destruction, physical assaults, and murder.
Al Haq highlighted several recent incidents:
(1) On May 19, about 150 settlers, some heavily armed, invaded ‘Asira al-Qibliya village south of Nablus. Twenty nearby Israeli soldiers watched and did nothing.
Crops were burned. Youths confronted settlers. They used live fire in response. Bassam Nijem ‘Asayra witnessed events. One settler “pointed his gun directly towards him,” he said.
Nimer Fathi Nijem intervened to help him. Settlers opened fire. He incurred face and neck wounds. Bassam thought he would die. He was hospitalized with severe damage to his right cheek, left ear, and jaw.
Clashes continued for another two hours. Soldiers intervened. They assaulted Palestinians, not settlers, with tear gas and rubber bullets. Incidents like this repeat often.
(2) On May 20, Muhammad ‘Aqel Mur’s crops were set ablaze. Two settlers were responsible. Muhammad approached. They hurriedly left.
Police and Israel’s Civil Administration (ICA) were informed. Security forces and ICA personnel arrived to assess damage and question Muhammad.
Two settlers were apprehended. “Muhammad is not optimistic that they will be held to account.” It rarely happens. Occasionally settlers are questioned and released without further action.
(3) On May 17, Hamza Zeid ‘Allan saw his father’s car on fire. Three arsonists were spotted leaving the scene.
Hamza notified the Israeli Coordination office nearby. Police and military forces arrived to investigate. A complaint was filed. No further action was taken.
(4) On May 17, settlers destroyed 33 fruit trees belonging to Muhammad ‘Abd-al-Hamid al-Sleibi. He and his family relied on harvested crops for income since 1959.
In April, settlers destroyed his olive groves and over 30 vine trees. They left behind “price tag” and “revenge” slogans. They reflect repeated vandalism and other violent incidents. Extremist settlers commit them with impunity.
“Mumammad and his lawyer are still waiting for an appointment with the Israeli Civil Administration regarding this incident.” They expect little help. Settlers act lawlessly with impunity.
On May 26, armed settlers launched multiple attacks on Palestinian villages near Nablus. Farmers were attacked on their land. One was shot and wounded. He was struck in the abdomen and hospitalized.
Farmlands were also set ablaze. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Palestinians defending their property. One arrest followed. Palestinians don’t know what’s worse – marauding settlers or soldiers defending their right to commit vandalism and other crimes with impunity.
On May 25, Adalah headlined “Adalah to Government and Knesset: “Sanctioning Construction on Private Palestinian Land in the West Bank Violates Israeli and International Law,” saying:
If passed, Knesset bills will “legalize building on private Palestinian land in Israeli Jewish settlements in the West Bank.”
Adalah attorney Suhad Bishara said doing so amounts to large-scale lawless confiscation of Palestinian land. Resources on it will be lost. Israeli wants all valued parts of Judea and Sameria Judaized.
Israel’s High Court accepts the legitimacy of private Palestinian property rights. It also recognizes international humanitarian and human rights laws. Israel systematically ignores them.
Politically confiscated land is prohibited. Knesset bills permit it. If enacted, they’ll circumvent recent Supreme Court rulings. They ordered illegal settler outposts on private Palestinian land dismantled. Forged papers were used to build them.
Extremist Israeli cabinet members threatened to resign if settlers are removed. Netanyahu postponed demolitions. He appears poised to recognize them retroactively.
Israeli officials often circumvent High Court decisions. Netanyahu heads Israel’s worst ever government. Racist, hardline rogues infest it. Democratic values don’t matter. Laws are routinely violated.
Palestinian rights are systematically denied. State terror is policy. Adalah knows petitioning for what’s right has little chance of succeeding. Nonetheless, it persists like other human rights groups. Palestinians deserve that much and more. So does everyone.
Progress comes slowly in baby steps. On May 23, Ahmed Moor’s Mondoweiss article headlined “Why ‘Brand Israel’ is failing,” saying:
“Israel is less popular among young Americans than ever before” for good reason. Doing the wrong thing long enough attracts attention. It’s encouraging to see young people understand, including Americans.
They’re assaulted by one-sided pro-Israeli scoundrel media. For them, the harshest Israeli policy is justified. Palestinians are vilified as terrorists for wanting to live free.
For young Americans, however, “the conversation about Zionism in America is dramatically different from what it was only a few years ago.” Facts slowly displace fiction. Truths reach people wanting to know.
Learning them is eye-opening. Oslo “facilitate(d) the preservation of Jewish privilege.” Occupation terrorizes Palestinians. Zionism reflects racism, violence, and rapaciousness. It’s an instrument for harsh repression. It abhors love thy neighbor and do unto others.
Anti-Semitism is an outworn canard. It’s become “an exercise in self-caricature.” Public support for Israel is eroding. Perhaps one day political Washington will notice. How it reacts is another matter altogether, and the same goes for racist European governments.
Understanding is one thing, policy another. Change so far is nowhere in sight. Palestinians know best of all.
A Final Comment
On May 23, Haaretz columnist Amira Hass headlined “Israel is doing everything to separate Gaza, West Bank,” saying:
Aside from issues of divide, conquer and control, Hass wrote about five Gazan women accepted to attend Bir Zeit University. Four hope to earn master’s degrees in gender studies.
Three are in their 40s, one in her 30s, and a fifth just graduated from high school with honors.
Israel blocks their admission. It refuses passage rights through its territory to the West Bank. Security is claimed for justification. At issue is racist persecution, not fear of a terrorist attack.
“The State Attorney’s Office knows it is difficult to argue persuasively that four middle-aged women who have worked for years to advance women’s rights in the Strip, and one young woman (the daughter of a well-known jurist), will export terror infrastructure to the West Bank.”
Instead it says the state has “broad authority to determine” who’s granted entry rights. With regard to students posing no threat, the argument is spurious on its face.
Gisha attorneys say Gaza merchants enter Israel for work meetings. Why them and not students? Does modest easing on commerce matter more than education? Do men get rights denied women?
Hass notes “the elephant in the room.” Israel wants Hamas rule in Gaza. It facilitates West Bank separation. Oslo stipulated one Palestine, not two. Israel systematically violated all provisions agreed on.
Palestinians suffer grievously. Abbas compounds injustice as Israel’s enforcer. He long ago betrayed his people for self-serving reasons.
On May 23, Israel’s High Court heard arguments for and against the five Gazan women. Though absent, their presence was felt. Attorneys argued on their behalf.
Israel denied them entry for their Supreme Court hearing.
At issue is who’ll prevail – students petitioning for justice or the “indefensible” claim of a fundamentally corrupt racist state.
Also at issue is does it matter. Extremist governments like Netanyahu’s ignore rulings they reject.
Expect nothing different this time. Expect another “Brand Israel” black eye.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen [at] sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com
By:Stephen Lendman
Source: Occupied Palestine
Imagine daily life under these conditions. Occupation harshness enforces institutionalized terror. Fear is constant. Collective punishment is policy.
Peaceful public demonstrations are assaulted. Free expression and movement are prohibited. Population centers are isolated. Borders are closed.
Normal daily life is denied. Economic strangulation and institutionalized racism are imposed. So are curfews, roadblocks, checkpoints, separation walls, electric fences, and other barriers.
Neighborhood incursions, land, sea and air attacks, bulldozed homes, land theft, ethnic cleansing, slow-motion genocide, targeted killings, mass arrests, torture, and gulag imprisonment reflect daily life for praying to the wrong God.
Fundamental civil and human rights are denied. Crimes of war and against humanity repeat without redress. Wanting to live free in sovereign Palestine is called terrorism.
Punitive taxes are imposed. Few services are provided. Vital ones are lacking or inadequate. Palestinian lawmakers are imprisoned for belonging to the wrong party.
Fishermen are attacked at sea. So are farmers working their land. Trying at the wrong time risks arrest, injury or death. Crops and orchards are destroyed. Settlers commit regular attacks. Courts provide no help.
Gaza is suffocating under siege. Scoundrel media policy enforces coverup and denial, blame the victim, and portray Israel as the region’s only free democratic state. Reality reflects police state harshness. It persists without end.
Even Jews challenging injustice are targeted. Rogues tolerate no opposition. Israeli ones have few equals.
On May 24, Haaretz headlined “Amnesty International: Israel uses excessive force against Palestinians,” saying:
AI’s 2012 annual report “is highly critical of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians….” It charges Israel Defense Forces with “frequent” use of “excessive, sometimes lethal force against demonstrators in the West Bank and civilians in Gaza.”
Dozens are lawlessly killed, including children. Blockading Gaza enforces a “humanitarian crisis.” Restricting free movement was also criticized.
So was Israel’s Separation Wall on stolen Palestinian land, settlement expansions, home demolitions, destroying so-called “unrecognized” villages, and failure to “bring those (who) attack Palestinians to justice.”
Settlers were mentioned. They commit vandalism and kill Palestinians with impunity. Israeli security forces do nothing to stop them. More on that below.
Wrongfully imprisoning Palestinians was criticized. Thousands rot unjustly in Israel’s gulag. Hundreds are there uncharged. Torture and ill-treatment were highlighted. So were other abuses.
On May 25, Al Haq headlined “Rampant settler attacks against Palestinians,” saying:
Since January, Al Haq documented “98 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians across the West Bank.”
Those living closest to settlements are most vulnerable. Attacks include property damage or destruction, physical assaults, and murder.
Al Haq highlighted several recent incidents:
(1) On May 19, about 150 settlers, some heavily armed, invaded ‘Asira al-Qibliya village south of Nablus. Twenty nearby Israeli soldiers watched and did nothing.
Crops were burned. Youths confronted settlers. They used live fire in response. Bassam Nijem ‘Asayra witnessed events. One settler “pointed his gun directly towards him,” he said.
Nimer Fathi Nijem intervened to help him. Settlers opened fire. He incurred face and neck wounds. Bassam thought he would die. He was hospitalized with severe damage to his right cheek, left ear, and jaw.
Clashes continued for another two hours. Soldiers intervened. They assaulted Palestinians, not settlers, with tear gas and rubber bullets. Incidents like this repeat often.
(2) On May 20, Muhammad ‘Aqel Mur’s crops were set ablaze. Two settlers were responsible. Muhammad approached. They hurriedly left.
Police and Israel’s Civil Administration (ICA) were informed. Security forces and ICA personnel arrived to assess damage and question Muhammad.
Two settlers were apprehended. “Muhammad is not optimistic that they will be held to account.” It rarely happens. Occasionally settlers are questioned and released without further action.
(3) On May 17, Hamza Zeid ‘Allan saw his father’s car on fire. Three arsonists were spotted leaving the scene.
Hamza notified the Israeli Coordination office nearby. Police and military forces arrived to investigate. A complaint was filed. No further action was taken.
(4) On May 17, settlers destroyed 33 fruit trees belonging to Muhammad ‘Abd-al-Hamid al-Sleibi. He and his family relied on harvested crops for income since 1959.
In April, settlers destroyed his olive groves and over 30 vine trees. They left behind “price tag” and “revenge” slogans. They reflect repeated vandalism and other violent incidents. Extremist settlers commit them with impunity.
“Mumammad and his lawyer are still waiting for an appointment with the Israeli Civil Administration regarding this incident.” They expect little help. Settlers act lawlessly with impunity.
On May 26, armed settlers launched multiple attacks on Palestinian villages near Nablus. Farmers were attacked on their land. One was shot and wounded. He was struck in the abdomen and hospitalized.
Farmlands were also set ablaze. Israeli soldiers fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Palestinians defending their property. One arrest followed. Palestinians don’t know what’s worse – marauding settlers or soldiers defending their right to commit vandalism and other crimes with impunity.
On May 25, Adalah headlined “Adalah to Government and Knesset: “Sanctioning Construction on Private Palestinian Land in the West Bank Violates Israeli and International Law,” saying:
If passed, Knesset bills will “legalize building on private Palestinian land in Israeli Jewish settlements in the West Bank.”
Adalah attorney Suhad Bishara said doing so amounts to large-scale lawless confiscation of Palestinian land. Resources on it will be lost. Israeli wants all valued parts of Judea and Sameria Judaized.
Israel’s High Court accepts the legitimacy of private Palestinian property rights. It also recognizes international humanitarian and human rights laws. Israel systematically ignores them.
Politically confiscated land is prohibited. Knesset bills permit it. If enacted, they’ll circumvent recent Supreme Court rulings. They ordered illegal settler outposts on private Palestinian land dismantled. Forged papers were used to build them.
Extremist Israeli cabinet members threatened to resign if settlers are removed. Netanyahu postponed demolitions. He appears poised to recognize them retroactively.
Israeli officials often circumvent High Court decisions. Netanyahu heads Israel’s worst ever government. Racist, hardline rogues infest it. Democratic values don’t matter. Laws are routinely violated.
Palestinian rights are systematically denied. State terror is policy. Adalah knows petitioning for what’s right has little chance of succeeding. Nonetheless, it persists like other human rights groups. Palestinians deserve that much and more. So does everyone.
Progress comes slowly in baby steps. On May 23, Ahmed Moor’s Mondoweiss article headlined “Why ‘Brand Israel’ is failing,” saying:
“Israel is less popular among young Americans than ever before” for good reason. Doing the wrong thing long enough attracts attention. It’s encouraging to see young people understand, including Americans.
They’re assaulted by one-sided pro-Israeli scoundrel media. For them, the harshest Israeli policy is justified. Palestinians are vilified as terrorists for wanting to live free.
For young Americans, however, “the conversation about Zionism in America is dramatically different from what it was only a few years ago.” Facts slowly displace fiction. Truths reach people wanting to know.
Learning them is eye-opening. Oslo “facilitate(d) the preservation of Jewish privilege.” Occupation terrorizes Palestinians. Zionism reflects racism, violence, and rapaciousness. It’s an instrument for harsh repression. It abhors love thy neighbor and do unto others.
Anti-Semitism is an outworn canard. It’s become “an exercise in self-caricature.” Public support for Israel is eroding. Perhaps one day political Washington will notice. How it reacts is another matter altogether, and the same goes for racist European governments.
Understanding is one thing, policy another. Change so far is nowhere in sight. Palestinians know best of all.
A Final Comment
On May 23, Haaretz columnist Amira Hass headlined “Israel is doing everything to separate Gaza, West Bank,” saying:
Aside from issues of divide, conquer and control, Hass wrote about five Gazan women accepted to attend Bir Zeit University. Four hope to earn master’s degrees in gender studies.
Three are in their 40s, one in her 30s, and a fifth just graduated from high school with honors.
Israel blocks their admission. It refuses passage rights through its territory to the West Bank. Security is claimed for justification. At issue is racist persecution, not fear of a terrorist attack.
“The State Attorney’s Office knows it is difficult to argue persuasively that four middle-aged women who have worked for years to advance women’s rights in the Strip, and one young woman (the daughter of a well-known jurist), will export terror infrastructure to the West Bank.”
Instead it says the state has “broad authority to determine” who’s granted entry rights. With regard to students posing no threat, the argument is spurious on its face.
Gisha attorneys say Gaza merchants enter Israel for work meetings. Why them and not students? Does modest easing on commerce matter more than education? Do men get rights denied women?
Hass notes “the elephant in the room.” Israel wants Hamas rule in Gaza. It facilitates West Bank separation. Oslo stipulated one Palestine, not two. Israel systematically violated all provisions agreed on.
Palestinians suffer grievously. Abbas compounds injustice as Israel’s enforcer. He long ago betrayed his people for self-serving reasons.
On May 23, Israel’s High Court heard arguments for and against the five Gazan women. Though absent, their presence was felt. Attorneys argued on their behalf.
Israel denied them entry for their Supreme Court hearing.
At issue is who’ll prevail – students petitioning for justice or the “indefensible” claim of a fundamentally corrupt racist state.
Also at issue is does it matter. Extremist governments like Netanyahu’s ignore rulings they reject.
Expect nothing different this time. Expect another “Brand Israel” black eye.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen [at] sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com
Israel’s Enforcer ~ by @StephenLendman
May 28, 2012
By:Stephen Lendman
Source: Occupied Palestine
Israel enforces rogue state harshness. Rule of law principles are spurned. Even Jewish rights are marginalized. Palestinians have none.
Occupation ruthlessness terrorizes them. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad serve illegitimately.
Israel manipulated the process to elect Abbas and keep him in charge. Despite virtually no popular support, Fayyad was appointed.
Enforcing Israeli authority is policy. Abbas is a longtime collaborator. Duplicity defines his agenda. Israel and Washington know he’s reliable. They support him to serve their interests.
Abbas took credit as Oslo’s architect. Israel controlled the process. Sellout defined it. Israel got what it wanted. Palestinians were shut out. Abbas sold out. He agreed to unilateral surrender. So did Arafat.
In April, Al-Ahram contributor Hasan Afif El-Hasan headlined “Twenty lost years,” saying:
Post-Oslo, nothing changed. Israel’s military protects settlers and terrorizes Palestinians. PA security forces violate the rights of their own people “in accordance with guidelines and direct orders established by Israel.”
“The path the PA chose since Oslo has not led to Palestinian independence and it has weakened the Palestinian national movement.”
“The PA does not govern its own territory, and became for all intents and purposes the administrator of an Israeli protectorate while Israel carries on with ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem, colonising the West Bank and enforcing the criminal blockade on Gaza.”
Abbas and Fayyad replicate US-controlled puppet authority in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere. PA security forces prevent and/or contain peaceful demonstrations.
During Cast Lead, anti-Israeli protests were prohibited. Abbas tried to prevent war crime investigations. He won’t permit another Intifada. He targets Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine supporters.
Historian Beshara Doumani recently visited the West Bank. He said PA crackdowns prevent Palestinians from expressing views freely. He called Nablus “a broken city.” Resistance is confronted and quashed.
Sociology Professor Khalil Nakhleh calls PA/Israeli cooperation frightening. Palestinian elites place their interests above collective ones.
PA leaders work cooperatively with a “Jewish-ethno-security regime.” They rule Palestine “from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean….” What chance have Palestinians when top officials representing them sell out to Israeli authority?
On May 10, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported (PCHR) Palestinian security forces broke up “the concluding colloquium of the Palestine Festival of Literature.”
Free expression and opinion were violated. So was the right to peacefully assemble. Palestinian law affirms rights too important to deny.
Arab poets and writers attended. Egyptian blogger ‘Amru ‘Izzat spoke about liberty. Security forces cut off electricity and told attendees to leave. Those refusing were confronted. Cameras were confiscated. Chaos resulted. Later, the colloquium resumed at al-Quds International Hotel.
In early May, PA security forces arrested dozens of journalists and activists voicing dissent. Al Haq director Shawan Jabarin said:
“There are many people I’m sure that are afraid and will count to ten before they say anything. Maybe they’ll push people to speak underground instead of expressing their opinions freely.”
“I think they’re using different words here and there, just to undermine these people in the eyes of the public and to say that they are creating trouble and creating divisions. It’s a political judgement more than (something) illegal.”
Palestinian Attorney General Ahmad al-Maghni hasn’t “protect(ed) the freedoms and the rights of the people in the face of arbitrary detention, instead of arresting people.”
“Here, we see him acting quickly” and irresponsibly. “(A)t the same time, he’s closing his ears and his eyes on the crimes going on.”
“He is not taking into his mind that the law that he is using was approved in 1960 and these days, we are in 2012 and the main principle now in all the world is freedom of expression.”
Jabarin referred to the long outdated 1960 Jordanian Penal Code.
An-Najah University student Hasan Abbadi was jailed for days and fined for “creating disunity.” Others were targeted for Facebook and other social network comments.
Abbas ruthlessly targets truth. Criticizing PA authority isn’t tolerated. Web sites were blocked. Al Mughani ordered them shut. Internet freedom’s threatened. So are peaceful assembly and other rights.
Palestinians should ask who’s side are they on? It’s simple knowing and should mobilize them to react. Otherwise, current policies will continue and worsen.
Palestinian Security Forces Trained to Serve Israel
From 2005 until he retired in October 2010, Lt. General Keith Dayton served as US Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority head (USSC). Lt. General Michael Moeller replaced him. He reports directly to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The State Department says he “directs all facets of U.S. security sector assistance to the Palestinian Authority and synchronizes international supporting efforts.”
It’s part of Washington’s pro-Israel/anti-Palestinian agenda. USSC created, built, trains and funds a 25,000-strong PA force. Hundreds of millions are spent. At issue is Institutionalizing hard-line control. Israel’s own security operations are supplemented.
Dayton built and renovated garrisons, training colleges, Interior Ministry facilities, and security headquarters. In January 2010, a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report addressed “US Security Assistance to the Palestinian Authority,” saying:
In late 2004, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Abbas created the USSC for “civil security and counterterrorism purposes.”
Palestinian recruits train at Jordan’s International Police Training Center (JIPCA) near Amman. Instruction includes crowd control, confronting “terrorist networks,” and consolidating “competent, defactionalized civilian control” over the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Hamas controls besieged Gaza. Perhaps Israel plans another war to change things.
At issue is maintaining militarized occupation control, confronting challenges to Israeli authority, serving imperial Washington, and denying Palestinians freedom and control over their own lives.
PA security forces assist Israeli harshness. Five PA security organizations operate: the National Security Forces (including military intelligence), Palestinian Civil Police, Preventive Security Organization, Presidential Guard, and General Intelligence Service.
Together they comprise the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF). The PA interior minister controls them. He’s beholden to Israel. So are Abbas and Fayyad. Palestinians lose out. They have two enemies – Israel and their own West Bank government.
USSC is a multinational organization comprised of military officers and civilian personnel. Its core staff numbers about 45, including Americans, Canadians, Brits, and Turks. Operations are based in Jerusalem and Ramallah.
US private military contractors (PMCs), including DynCorp., are involved. So are around two dozen US and foreign law enforcement and security training specialists, as well as seven US and foreign technical advisors with expertise in security and Middle East affairs, strategic planning and organizational development, contracts and grants, procurement, logistics, and finance.
At issue is enforcing occupation harshness, denying Palestinian self-determination, and eliminating challenges to Israeli control. Palestinian security forces target their own people. Abbas and Fayyad collaborate for whatever benefits they derive.
Israel has final say on policy. Washington’s a reliable partner. Palestinians are left out and exploited. They’re on their own against two rogue states denying their legitimate rights. Liberation depends on restoring them.
By:Stephen Lendman
Source: Occupied Palestine
Israel enforces rogue state harshness. Rule of law principles are spurned. Even Jewish rights are marginalized. Palestinians have none.
Occupation ruthlessness terrorizes them. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad serve illegitimately.
Israel manipulated the process to elect Abbas and keep him in charge. Despite virtually no popular support, Fayyad was appointed.
Enforcing Israeli authority is policy. Abbas is a longtime collaborator. Duplicity defines his agenda. Israel and Washington know he’s reliable. They support him to serve their interests.
Abbas took credit as Oslo’s architect. Israel controlled the process. Sellout defined it. Israel got what it wanted. Palestinians were shut out. Abbas sold out. He agreed to unilateral surrender. So did Arafat.
In April, Al-Ahram contributor Hasan Afif El-Hasan headlined “Twenty lost years,” saying:
Post-Oslo, nothing changed. Israel’s military protects settlers and terrorizes Palestinians. PA security forces violate the rights of their own people “in accordance with guidelines and direct orders established by Israel.”
“The path the PA chose since Oslo has not led to Palestinian independence and it has weakened the Palestinian national movement.”
“The PA does not govern its own territory, and became for all intents and purposes the administrator of an Israeli protectorate while Israel carries on with ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem, colonising the West Bank and enforcing the criminal blockade on Gaza.”
Abbas and Fayyad replicate US-controlled puppet authority in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere. PA security forces prevent and/or contain peaceful demonstrations.
During Cast Lead, anti-Israeli protests were prohibited. Abbas tried to prevent war crime investigations. He won’t permit another Intifada. He targets Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine supporters.
Historian Beshara Doumani recently visited the West Bank. He said PA crackdowns prevent Palestinians from expressing views freely. He called Nablus “a broken city.” Resistance is confronted and quashed.
Sociology Professor Khalil Nakhleh calls PA/Israeli cooperation frightening. Palestinian elites place their interests above collective ones.
PA leaders work cooperatively with a “Jewish-ethno-security regime.” They rule Palestine “from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean….” What chance have Palestinians when top officials representing them sell out to Israeli authority?
On May 10, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported (PCHR) Palestinian security forces broke up “the concluding colloquium of the Palestine Festival of Literature.”
Free expression and opinion were violated. So was the right to peacefully assemble. Palestinian law affirms rights too important to deny.
Arab poets and writers attended. Egyptian blogger ‘Amru ‘Izzat spoke about liberty. Security forces cut off electricity and told attendees to leave. Those refusing were confronted. Cameras were confiscated. Chaos resulted. Later, the colloquium resumed at al-Quds International Hotel.
In early May, PA security forces arrested dozens of journalists and activists voicing dissent. Al Haq director Shawan Jabarin said:
“There are many people I’m sure that are afraid and will count to ten before they say anything. Maybe they’ll push people to speak underground instead of expressing their opinions freely.”
“I think they’re using different words here and there, just to undermine these people in the eyes of the public and to say that they are creating trouble and creating divisions. It’s a political judgement more than (something) illegal.”
Palestinian Attorney General Ahmad al-Maghni hasn’t “protect(ed) the freedoms and the rights of the people in the face of arbitrary detention, instead of arresting people.”
“Here, we see him acting quickly” and irresponsibly. “(A)t the same time, he’s closing his ears and his eyes on the crimes going on.”
“He is not taking into his mind that the law that he is using was approved in 1960 and these days, we are in 2012 and the main principle now in all the world is freedom of expression.”
Jabarin referred to the long outdated 1960 Jordanian Penal Code.
An-Najah University student Hasan Abbadi was jailed for days and fined for “creating disunity.” Others were targeted for Facebook and other social network comments.
Abbas ruthlessly targets truth. Criticizing PA authority isn’t tolerated. Web sites were blocked. Al Mughani ordered them shut. Internet freedom’s threatened. So are peaceful assembly and other rights.
Palestinians should ask who’s side are they on? It’s simple knowing and should mobilize them to react. Otherwise, current policies will continue and worsen.
Palestinian Security Forces Trained to Serve Israel
From 2005 until he retired in October 2010, Lt. General Keith Dayton served as US Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority head (USSC). Lt. General Michael Moeller replaced him. He reports directly to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The State Department says he “directs all facets of U.S. security sector assistance to the Palestinian Authority and synchronizes international supporting efforts.”
It’s part of Washington’s pro-Israel/anti-Palestinian agenda. USSC created, built, trains and funds a 25,000-strong PA force. Hundreds of millions are spent. At issue is Institutionalizing hard-line control. Israel’s own security operations are supplemented.
Dayton built and renovated garrisons, training colleges, Interior Ministry facilities, and security headquarters. In January 2010, a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report addressed “US Security Assistance to the Palestinian Authority,” saying:
In late 2004, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Abbas created the USSC for “civil security and counterterrorism purposes.”
Palestinian recruits train at Jordan’s International Police Training Center (JIPCA) near Amman. Instruction includes crowd control, confronting “terrorist networks,” and consolidating “competent, defactionalized civilian control” over the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Hamas controls besieged Gaza. Perhaps Israel plans another war to change things.
At issue is maintaining militarized occupation control, confronting challenges to Israeli authority, serving imperial Washington, and denying Palestinians freedom and control over their own lives.
PA security forces assist Israeli harshness. Five PA security organizations operate: the National Security Forces (including military intelligence), Palestinian Civil Police, Preventive Security Organization, Presidential Guard, and General Intelligence Service.
Together they comprise the Palestinian Authority Security Forces (PASF). The PA interior minister controls them. He’s beholden to Israel. So are Abbas and Fayyad. Palestinians lose out. They have two enemies – Israel and their own West Bank government.
USSC is a multinational organization comprised of military officers and civilian personnel. Its core staff numbers about 45, including Americans, Canadians, Brits, and Turks. Operations are based in Jerusalem and Ramallah.
US private military contractors (PMCs), including DynCorp., are involved. So are around two dozen US and foreign law enforcement and security training specialists, as well as seven US and foreign technical advisors with expertise in security and Middle East affairs, strategic planning and organizational development, contracts and grants, procurement, logistics, and finance.
At issue is enforcing occupation harshness, denying Palestinian self-determination, and eliminating challenges to Israeli control. Palestinian security forces target their own people. Abbas and Fayyad collaborate for whatever benefits they derive.
Israel has final say on policy. Washington’s a reliable partner. Palestinians are left out and exploited. They’re on their own against two rogue states denying their legitimate rights. Liberation depends on restoring them.
flag inside the Aqsa mosque
May 28, 2012
Source: Occupied Palestine
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– A group of Israeli occupation soldiers hoisted a three-meter long Israeli flag inside the holy Aqsa mosque on Monday and took photos with it as background.
Azzam Al-Khatib, the director of endowment in Jerusalem, said that around 160 soldiers of the special forces provocatively hoisted the flag inside the mosque.
He said that one of the Aqsa guards told them to lower the flag and get out of the Aqsa plazas, but they refused and shouted at him.
He pointed out that the incident is the first of its kind since the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem in 1967.
Source: Occupied Palestine
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– A group of Israeli occupation soldiers hoisted a three-meter long Israeli flag inside the holy Aqsa mosque on Monday and took photos with it as background.
Azzam Al-Khatib, the director of endowment in Jerusalem, said that around 160 soldiers of the special forces provocatively hoisted the flag inside the mosque.
He said that one of the Aqsa guards told them to lower the flag and get out of the Aqsa plazas, but they refused and shouted at him.
He pointed out that the incident is the first of its kind since the Israeli occupation of Jerusalem in 1967.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Israeli Company Has FAA Permission to Fly Drones in U.S. Airspace!
May 15th, 2012
by Bob Johnson
Source: Veteran's Today
The Israeli company Stark Aerospace of Mississippi is not so much from Mississippi as it is from Israel. Stark Aerospace of Mississippi is a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries! And the Federal Aviation Administration has given them permission to fly their drones in American airspace!
Israel started its drone program with a contract in July of 1970 with the American company Teledyne Ryan. Since then it has moved to making its own drones which it uses to wage war with its neighbors as well as to keep Palestinians suppressed and under Jewish control. While being employed to control the Palestinians Israeli drones have been used in the direct killings of Palestinian children in Gaza.
The U.S. government promotes the use of drones to state and local governments. Already many state and local authorities have purchased drones for surveillance. As if this isn’t bad enough, some are thinking of arming them.
With U.S. politicians being so subservient to Israel and looking to the Jewish state for the advancement of their sickening and evil political careers, it is not surprising that American policy is mimicking Israeli policy. We’ve long since ceased to be a free Republic and are now merely a conglomerate of special interest groups with Israeli special interests at the top of the heap. In short, the American Republic has been replaced by a kosher plutocracy.
end result of Israeli drone attack on a two-year-old Palestinian child.
This is the same child as above after the Israeli drone attack. What is in store for Americans who resist Israel running our country?
One of the most powerful weapons Israel has in its march to destroy freedom and to rule the world as its Hebrew Bible/Old Testament instructs it to do (one Bible quote in particular which seems to speak not only of Israel’s domination of its neighbors but also of its superior ruling relationship over America through its control of American politicians of both parties is Deuteronomy 11:23 which has God telling the Hebrews/Jews/Israel, “Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.”) is the belief of Gentiles that the Bible is the word of God. Since the Bible was written by ancient Hebrews/Jews it promotes them and Israel at the expense of everyone else. For example, the ancient Hebrews wrote in Deuteronomy 7:6 that God had chosen them “above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” And Leviticus 25:44-46 claims that God told the Hebrews/Jews that they could own Gentiles and our children as slaves forever “but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.” The list goes on and on.
This conflict Israel has with the rest of the world is a profoundly important problem that must be corrected. Especially since Israel has a stockpile of real nuclear, biological and chemical weapons along with multiple submarines to launch them. This conflict has been know for centuries as the battle between Jerusalem and Athens. Jerusalem represents alleged revelations and actual superstition. Athens represents God-given reason and the God honoring practice of following the evidence wherever it leads. (I wrote a chapter on this important topic in Deism: A Revolution in Religion, A Revolution in You.) The American founder and Deist Thomas Paine made clear the deadly nature of ancient Israel when he wrote in The Age of Reason, The Complete Edition, “The Jews made no converts; they butchered all.” This sick thinking is also embraced by modern Israel as is evident from its violent treatment of Palestinians, its promotion of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament which promotes Jewish superiority and its rhetoric such as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu stating that Jerusalem has been the Israeli capital for 3,000 years. The more people realize the ungodly nature of the Abrahamic “revealed” religions and their “holy” books (the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, New Testament [at Matthew 5:18 it says that Jesus said, "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."] and Koran), the sooner we can be free of the twisted thinking and the pain and misery they promote.
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=207148
The views expressed herein are the views of the author exclusively and not necessarily the views of VT or any other VT authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors or partners. Legal Notice
by Bob Johnson
Source: Veteran's Today
The Israeli company Stark Aerospace of Mississippi is not so much from Mississippi as it is from Israel. Stark Aerospace of Mississippi is a subsidiary of Israel Aerospace Industries! And the Federal Aviation Administration has given them permission to fly their drones in American airspace!
Israel started its drone program with a contract in July of 1970 with the American company Teledyne Ryan. Since then it has moved to making its own drones which it uses to wage war with its neighbors as well as to keep Palestinians suppressed and under Jewish control. While being employed to control the Palestinians Israeli drones have been used in the direct killings of Palestinian children in Gaza.
The U.S. government promotes the use of drones to state and local governments. Already many state and local authorities have purchased drones for surveillance. As if this isn’t bad enough, some are thinking of arming them.
With U.S. politicians being so subservient to Israel and looking to the Jewish state for the advancement of their sickening and evil political careers, it is not surprising that American policy is mimicking Israeli policy. We’ve long since ceased to be a free Republic and are now merely a conglomerate of special interest groups with Israeli special interests at the top of the heap. In short, the American Republic has been replaced by a kosher plutocracy.
end result of Israeli drone attack on a two-year-old Palestinian child.
This is the same child as above after the Israeli drone attack. What is in store for Americans who resist Israel running our country?
One of the most powerful weapons Israel has in its march to destroy freedom and to rule the world as its Hebrew Bible/Old Testament instructs it to do (one Bible quote in particular which seems to speak not only of Israel’s domination of its neighbors but also of its superior ruling relationship over America through its control of American politicians of both parties is Deuteronomy 11:23 which has God telling the Hebrews/Jews/Israel, “Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves.”) is the belief of Gentiles that the Bible is the word of God. Since the Bible was written by ancient Hebrews/Jews it promotes them and Israel at the expense of everyone else. For example, the ancient Hebrews wrote in Deuteronomy 7:6 that God had chosen them “above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” And Leviticus 25:44-46 claims that God told the Hebrews/Jews that they could own Gentiles and our children as slaves forever “but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour.” The list goes on and on.
This conflict Israel has with the rest of the world is a profoundly important problem that must be corrected. Especially since Israel has a stockpile of real nuclear, biological and chemical weapons along with multiple submarines to launch them. This conflict has been know for centuries as the battle between Jerusalem and Athens. Jerusalem represents alleged revelations and actual superstition. Athens represents God-given reason and the God honoring practice of following the evidence wherever it leads. (I wrote a chapter on this important topic in Deism: A Revolution in Religion, A Revolution in You.) The American founder and Deist Thomas Paine made clear the deadly nature of ancient Israel when he wrote in The Age of Reason, The Complete Edition, “The Jews made no converts; they butchered all.” This sick thinking is also embraced by modern Israel as is evident from its violent treatment of Palestinians, its promotion of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament which promotes Jewish superiority and its rhetoric such as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu stating that Jerusalem has been the Israeli capital for 3,000 years. The more people realize the ungodly nature of the Abrahamic “revealed” religions and their “holy” books (the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, New Testament [at Matthew 5:18 it says that Jesus said, "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."] and Koran), the sooner we can be free of the twisted thinking and the pain and misery they promote.
Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=207148
The views expressed herein are the views of the author exclusively and not necessarily the views of VT or any other VT authors, affiliates, advertisers, sponsors or partners. Legal Notice
German poll: No special debt owed to ‘aggressive’ Israel
25 May, 2012
Source:Russia Today
Over 70 year after the Holocaust, the majority of Germans believe their county has no special obligations to the Jewish state, a recent survey has shown. Israel was denounced as an “aggressive” state by almost 60 per cent of respondents.
The survey conducted by Forsa for Stern magazine, shows that over the past year Germans have become noticeably more critical towards Israel. Three years ago 59 per cent of Germans believed that Israel “pursued its interests without consideration for other nations,” while today the figure is 11 per cent higher.
The results come amid a growing divide between Germany and Israel.
The Israeli government's settlement policy has been criticized by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who calls it “an obstacle to fruitful talks” with the Palestinians. According to the poll, about 65 per cent of German people think that their country should recognize a Palestinian state.
Last month, Nobel laureate Gunter Grass publicly labeled the Israeli government a “threat to world peace”, criticizing its unsupervised nuclear program and intentions to wipe out Iran. Israel condemned the German poet's accusations as “shameful” and banned Grass from ever entering its territory.
Although Grass’ work faced widespread criticism in Germany, the opinion poll reveals that the majority of Germans might actually share some of the Nobel laureate’s views.
The poll was conducted on May 15 and 16, just two weeks before German President Joachim Gauck’s visit to Israel. Forsa pollsters interviewed a total of 1,002 people.
Source:Russia Today
Over 70 year after the Holocaust, the majority of Germans believe their county has no special obligations to the Jewish state, a recent survey has shown. Israel was denounced as an “aggressive” state by almost 60 per cent of respondents.
The survey conducted by Forsa for Stern magazine, shows that over the past year Germans have become noticeably more critical towards Israel. Three years ago 59 per cent of Germans believed that Israel “pursued its interests without consideration for other nations,” while today the figure is 11 per cent higher.
The results come amid a growing divide between Germany and Israel.
The Israeli government's settlement policy has been criticized by Chancellor Angela Merkel, who calls it “an obstacle to fruitful talks” with the Palestinians. According to the poll, about 65 per cent of German people think that their country should recognize a Palestinian state.
Last month, Nobel laureate Gunter Grass publicly labeled the Israeli government a “threat to world peace”, criticizing its unsupervised nuclear program and intentions to wipe out Iran. Israel condemned the German poet's accusations as “shameful” and banned Grass from ever entering its territory.
Although Grass’ work faced widespread criticism in Germany, the opinion poll reveals that the majority of Germans might actually share some of the Nobel laureate’s views.
The poll was conducted on May 15 and 16, just two weeks before German President Joachim Gauck’s visit to Israel. Forsa pollsters interviewed a total of 1,002 people.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Lawyer: Israel tried to silence Flotilla victims
May 25, 2012
Source: Press TV
A Turkish lawyer for the victims and the relatives of the victims of Israel’s 2010 assault on Mavi Marmara, the Turkish vessel, which was leading a Gaza-bound humanitarian fleet, says Tel Aviv had made a secret offer to silence his clients, Press TV reports.
On Thursday, Ramazan Ariturk, one of the lawyers representing 465 victims and victims’ relatives, revealed Israel’s proposal to pay his clients a lump sum of USD six million.
He said the Israeli regime had made the offer to him through an intermediary foreign ambassador in Ankara just over a month ago.
He said the money would have been paid to a Jewish foundation in Turkey for distribution followed by an “apology” from Tel Aviv in order to settle lawsuits against the Israeli military.
Ariturk said he had told the unnamed ambassador that he would not accept the offer as it was not moral.
The lawyer added that he had informed the Turkish Foreign Ministry of Israel’s proposal and his rejection, adding that officials with the ministry said his decision had been appropriate and thanked him for the refusal.
On May 31, 2010, Israeli forces attacked the humanitarian Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, killing nine Turkish nationals and injuring about 50 other activists, who were part of the six-ship convoy.
A Turkish national, Suleyman Soylemez, who was injured during the attack, is still in coma, according to Turkish media.
A Tel Aviv-imposed siege has been depriving 1.6 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip of food, fuel, medicine, and other necessities since mid-June 2007.
MN/MAB/HN
Source: Press TV
A Turkish lawyer for the victims and the relatives of the victims of Israel’s 2010 assault on Mavi Marmara, the Turkish vessel, which was leading a Gaza-bound humanitarian fleet, says Tel Aviv had made a secret offer to silence his clients, Press TV reports.
On Thursday, Ramazan Ariturk, one of the lawyers representing 465 victims and victims’ relatives, revealed Israel’s proposal to pay his clients a lump sum of USD six million.
He said the Israeli regime had made the offer to him through an intermediary foreign ambassador in Ankara just over a month ago.
He said the money would have been paid to a Jewish foundation in Turkey for distribution followed by an “apology” from Tel Aviv in order to settle lawsuits against the Israeli military.
Ariturk said he had told the unnamed ambassador that he would not accept the offer as it was not moral.
The lawyer added that he had informed the Turkish Foreign Ministry of Israel’s proposal and his rejection, adding that officials with the ministry said his decision had been appropriate and thanked him for the refusal.
On May 31, 2010, Israeli forces attacked the humanitarian Freedom Flotilla in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, killing nine Turkish nationals and injuring about 50 other activists, who were part of the six-ship convoy.
A Turkish national, Suleyman Soylemez, who was injured during the attack, is still in coma, according to Turkish media.
A Tel Aviv-imposed siege has been depriving 1.6 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip of food, fuel, medicine, and other necessities since mid-June 2007.
MN/MAB/HN
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Paper: Turkey indicts Israeli commanders over Mavi Marmara raid
May 24, 2012
Ma'an News Agency
Source:The Institute for Middle East Understanding
This article was originally published by the Ma'an News Agency and is republished with permission.
A Turkish prosecutor has prepared an indictment seeking life sentences for four former Israeli military commanders over their alleged involvement in the 2010 killing of nine Turks on a Gaza-bound aid ship, Turkish newspaper Sabah reported on Wednesday.
Relations between the regional powers deteriorated sharply after Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara aid vessel in May 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and killed nine Turks in clashes with activists on board the ship.
Turkey expelled Israel's ambassador and froze all military cooperation after a UN report into the incident released last September largely exonerated Israeli forces.
Sabah said it had seen details of the indictment prepared by Istanbul state prosecutor Mehmet Akif Ekinci and that it called for 10 life sentences to be given to each of the four commanders. It said the Istanbul chief prosecutor must approve the indictment before it is sent to the relevant court.
The prosecutor could not immediately be reached for comment.
The indictment was reported to accuse Israel's former Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and three other retired senior military commanders of involvement in the raid and refers to them as "fugitive suspects", Sabah reported.
The 144-page indictment, it said, had been prepared after testimony from some 600 people, including 490 passengers from the six-ship flotilla and relatives of those who had died.
Correspondence from the Turkish prime minister's office, the foreign and justice ministries and the intelligence service had also helped the prosecutor draw up the indictment, it said.
In Jerusalem, an Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment.
Turkey had previously said it would try to prosecute all Israelis responsible for crimes committed during the raid and the prosecutor had written to Israel seeking the names of those involved but had received no answer.
The UN report into the raid last September was meant to encourage a rapprochement between the two countries but ultimately deepened the rift when it concluded Israel had used unreasonable force but that the blockade on Gaza was legal.
Turkey was stung by Israel's refusal to make a formal apology and pay compensation to families of the dead.
Israel said its marines had been attacked by activists wielding metal bars, clubs and knives when they boarded the Mavi Marmara and had opened fire in self-defence.
Relations have been strained since the raid. Last week Turkey said it had scrambled military jets to intercept an Israeli plane that had violated northern Cypriot airspace and demanded an explanation. Israel declined to comment.
Ankara is also involved in a long-running dispute with Israel and Cyprus over who has the right to drill for energy reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.
Ma'an News Agency
Source:The Institute for Middle East Understanding
This article was originally published by the Ma'an News Agency and is republished with permission.
A Turkish prosecutor has prepared an indictment seeking life sentences for four former Israeli military commanders over their alleged involvement in the 2010 killing of nine Turks on a Gaza-bound aid ship, Turkish newspaper Sabah reported on Wednesday.
Relations between the regional powers deteriorated sharply after Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara aid vessel in May 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and killed nine Turks in clashes with activists on board the ship.
Turkey expelled Israel's ambassador and froze all military cooperation after a UN report into the incident released last September largely exonerated Israeli forces.
Sabah said it had seen details of the indictment prepared by Istanbul state prosecutor Mehmet Akif Ekinci and that it called for 10 life sentences to be given to each of the four commanders. It said the Istanbul chief prosecutor must approve the indictment before it is sent to the relevant court.
The prosecutor could not immediately be reached for comment.
The indictment was reported to accuse Israel's former Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and three other retired senior military commanders of involvement in the raid and refers to them as "fugitive suspects", Sabah reported.
The 144-page indictment, it said, had been prepared after testimony from some 600 people, including 490 passengers from the six-ship flotilla and relatives of those who had died.
Correspondence from the Turkish prime minister's office, the foreign and justice ministries and the intelligence service had also helped the prosecutor draw up the indictment, it said.
In Jerusalem, an Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment.
Turkey had previously said it would try to prosecute all Israelis responsible for crimes committed during the raid and the prosecutor had written to Israel seeking the names of those involved but had received no answer.
The UN report into the raid last September was meant to encourage a rapprochement between the two countries but ultimately deepened the rift when it concluded Israel had used unreasonable force but that the blockade on Gaza was legal.
Turkey was stung by Israel's refusal to make a formal apology and pay compensation to families of the dead.
Israel said its marines had been attacked by activists wielding metal bars, clubs and knives when they boarded the Mavi Marmara and had opened fire in self-defence.
Relations have been strained since the raid. Last week Turkey said it had scrambled military jets to intercept an Israeli plane that had violated northern Cypriot airspace and demanded an explanation. Israel declined to comment.
Ankara is also involved in a long-running dispute with Israel and Cyprus over who has the right to drill for energy reserves in the eastern Mediterranean.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Text of H.R. 3131: To direct the Secretary of State to submit a report on whether any support organization that...
Source:govtrack.us
Oct 6, 2011 - Introduced in House. This is the original text of the bill as it was written by its sponsor and submitted to the House for consideration. This is the latest version of the bill currently available on GovTrack.
HR 3131 IH
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3131
To direct the Secretary of State to submit a report on whether any support organization that participated in the planning or execution of the recent Gaza flotilla attempt should be designated as a foreign terrorist organization and any actions taken by the Department of State to express gratitude to the government of Greece for preventing the Gaza flotilla from setting sail in contravention of Israel’s legal blockade of Gaza, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 6, 2011
Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. CARTER, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. YOUNG of Florida, Mr. GRIMM, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. ROSKAM, and Mr. SIRES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of State to submit a report on whether any support organization that participated in the planning or execution of the recent Gaza flotilla attempt should be designated as a foreign terrorist organization and any actions taken by the Department of State to express gratitude to the government of Greece for preventing the Gaza flotilla from setting sail in contravention of Israel’s legal blockade of Gaza, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Since 1948, the United States, Greece, and the international community at large have recognized Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself and conduct legitimate self-defense.
(2) Since 2001, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip and supported by Iran and Syria have launched over 10,000 rockets into Israeli civilian populations and across Israeli territory.
(3) Since the beginning of 2010, Israel has provided over 100,000 tons of aid to the people living in Gaza.
(4) Israel’s blockade is acknowledged by the United States as necessary and legal given Hamas’ control of Gaza, intention to secure greater weaponry for aggressive purposes and open desire to destroy Israel.
(5) According to sources, the United Nations-commissioned Palmer Report which was released on July 7, 2011, concludes that the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza is legal and is in accordance with international law.
(6) The Israeli Government has repeatedly indicated that any desire to provide humanitarian materiel to Gaza can be done through the port of Ashdod then delivered to Gaza by land.
(7) Recent past history has suggested that the sole intent of the flotillas is to provoke an Israeli military response in the international waters of the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
(8) The Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of the Treasury have determined that flotilla organizers Free Gaza and the Insan Hak ve Hurriyetleri ve Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), an Islamic nongovernmental organization (known in English as the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief), have known terrorist ties.
(9) In 2010, IHH organized a flotilla that included the ship Mavi Marmara carrying 40 IHH members, including Fatima Mahmadi, Ken O’Keefe, Hassan Iynasi, Hussein Urosh, Ahmad Umimon, and others with known links to Al Qaeda, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations who were armed with 100 metal rods, 200 knives, 150 military self-defense vests, 50 wooden clubs, gas masks, and a telescopic sight for a gun.
(10) The explicit objective of the Gaza Flotilla organizers that set sail in 2010 was to breach Israel’s coastal security by breaking the lawful and legitimate Israeli maritime security perimeter around the Gaza Strip.
(11) According to a June 7, 2010, report by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (known by its Hebrew acronym MALAM), based on security interviews of the Gaza Flotilla participants, at least 40 of the 500 passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara vessel were IHH operatives who boarded the ship in an Istanbul port prior to the security checks conducted at the port in Antalya, Turkey, to which the other passengers, mostly humanitarian volunteers, were subject.
(12) According to this Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center report, these IHH activists were equipped with communications equipment, flak jackets, and gas masks.
(13) The group operated with a clear internal hierarchy, with specific activists nominated as fighting commanders and who turned the upper deck of the Mavi Marmara into its headquarters, blocking it off to other passengers.
(14) In the most recent organization of a Gaza flotilla, Greece worked with the Israeli Government in order to prohibit any violations of Israel’s legal blockade of Gaza.
(15) Greece has proven itself to be a strategic partner and ally of the United States in anchoring political stability and advancing economic development in the Balkan and Black Sea regions of southeast Europe and Eurasia, in the Middle East and northern Africa, and throughout the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
(16) Greece is an active participant in peacekeeping and peace-building operations conducted by international organizations, including the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union (EU), and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
(17) Greece acted without hesitation in prohibiting any Greek-flagged or foreign-flagged vessels from setting sail out of Greek ports into the water of the Gaza naval blockade.
(18) Pursuant to a decision by the Minister of Citizen Protection, Mr. C. Papoutsis, the departure of ships with Greek and foreign flags from Greek ports to Gaza was prohibited on July 1, 2011, and the Hellenic Coast Guard ordered that all appropriate measures be taken for the implementation of such decision.
(19) The Greek Government worked diligently to ensure the safety of even the organizers of the flotilla knowing that their reckless, irresponsible, and provocative acts against a sovereign country engaged in self-defense could result in great bodily harm or even death to themselves and other individuals.
(20) The Greek Government took more extraordinary measures to ensure that the broader maritime area of the eastern Mediterranean Sea would be continuously monitored by electronic means for tracking, where applicable, the movements of the ships allegedly participating in such an illegal campaign.
(21) Greek authorities boarded ships and took into custody several individuals, including Captain John Klusmire of the ship Audacity of Hope as it violated Greek Coast Guard orders by setting sail without permission.
(22) Greek authorities acted in accordance with the recommendation of the Quartet--the United States, the European Union, the United States and Russia--as it urged countries to prohibit Gaza-bound flotillas that would serve solely to escalate tension in the Middle East.
SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF CONGRESS.
Congress--
(1) notes the important role that Greece has played in the wider European, Eurasian, and Middle Eastern regions, and in the community of nations by promoting, peace, freedom, democracy, and security; and
(2) stands behind Israel for its sovereign right to defend its citizens and its territory, and specifically for its actions to prevent the import of offensive weaponry into the hands of Hamas, Palestinian Jihad, and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the United States should take appropriate diplomatic steps to express gratitude to Greece for upholding the rule of law in preventing hostile forces from violating a legal naval blockade of Gaza by Israel and thereby advancing the security of its ally Israel.
SEC. 4. REPORT.
(a) In General- Not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on whether any support organization that participated in the planning or execution of the recent Gaza flotilla attempt should be designated as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).
(b) Contents- The report required under subsection (a) shall include information on the following:
(1) The sources of any logistical, technical, or financial support for the Gaza flotilla ships, including the Audacity of Hope, that were set to set sail from Greece on July 1, 2011.
(2) Any actions taken by the Department of State to express support and gratitude for the principled stance taken by the Government of Greece to prevent the recent Gaza flotilla attempt to violate Israel’s lawful blockade of Gaza.
This bill is very large, and loading it may cause your web browser to perform sluggishly, or even freeze. This is especially true for old and/or bad browsers. As an alternative you can download the PDF of the bill or read the text on THOMAS.
Continue on to the bill...
Oct 6, 2011 - Introduced in House. This is the original text of the bill as it was written by its sponsor and submitted to the House for consideration. This is the latest version of the bill currently available on GovTrack.
HR 3131 IH
112th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3131
To direct the Secretary of State to submit a report on whether any support organization that participated in the planning or execution of the recent Gaza flotilla attempt should be designated as a foreign terrorist organization and any actions taken by the Department of State to express gratitude to the government of Greece for preventing the Gaza flotilla from setting sail in contravention of Israel’s legal blockade of Gaza, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
October 6, 2011
Mr. BILIRAKIS (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. BERKLEY, Mr. CARTER, Mr. FRELINGHUYSEN, Mr. YOUNG of Florida, Mr. GRIMM, Mr. DIAZ-BALART, Mr. ROTHMAN of New Jersey, Mr. ROSKAM, and Mr. SIRES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To direct the Secretary of State to submit a report on whether any support organization that participated in the planning or execution of the recent Gaza flotilla attempt should be designated as a foreign terrorist organization and any actions taken by the Department of State to express gratitude to the government of Greece for preventing the Gaza flotilla from setting sail in contravention of Israel’s legal blockade of Gaza, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Since 1948, the United States, Greece, and the international community at large have recognized Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself and conduct legitimate self-defense.
(2) Since 2001, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip and supported by Iran and Syria have launched over 10,000 rockets into Israeli civilian populations and across Israeli territory.
(3) Since the beginning of 2010, Israel has provided over 100,000 tons of aid to the people living in Gaza.
(4) Israel’s blockade is acknowledged by the United States as necessary and legal given Hamas’ control of Gaza, intention to secure greater weaponry for aggressive purposes and open desire to destroy Israel.
(5) According to sources, the United Nations-commissioned Palmer Report which was released on July 7, 2011, concludes that the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza is legal and is in accordance with international law.
(6) The Israeli Government has repeatedly indicated that any desire to provide humanitarian materiel to Gaza can be done through the port of Ashdod then delivered to Gaza by land.
(7) Recent past history has suggested that the sole intent of the flotillas is to provoke an Israeli military response in the international waters of the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
(8) The Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of the Treasury have determined that flotilla organizers Free Gaza and the Insan Hak ve Hurriyetleri ve Insani Yardim Vakfi (IHH), an Islamic nongovernmental organization (known in English as the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief), have known terrorist ties.
(9) In 2010, IHH organized a flotilla that included the ship Mavi Marmara carrying 40 IHH members, including Fatima Mahmadi, Ken O’Keefe, Hassan Iynasi, Hussein Urosh, Ahmad Umimon, and others with known links to Al Qaeda, Hamas, and other terrorist organizations who were armed with 100 metal rods, 200 knives, 150 military self-defense vests, 50 wooden clubs, gas masks, and a telescopic sight for a gun.
(10) The explicit objective of the Gaza Flotilla organizers that set sail in 2010 was to breach Israel’s coastal security by breaking the lawful and legitimate Israeli maritime security perimeter around the Gaza Strip.
(11) According to a June 7, 2010, report by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (known by its Hebrew acronym MALAM), based on security interviews of the Gaza Flotilla participants, at least 40 of the 500 passengers aboard the Mavi Marmara vessel were IHH operatives who boarded the ship in an Istanbul port prior to the security checks conducted at the port in Antalya, Turkey, to which the other passengers, mostly humanitarian volunteers, were subject.
(12) According to this Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center report, these IHH activists were equipped with communications equipment, flak jackets, and gas masks.
(13) The group operated with a clear internal hierarchy, with specific activists nominated as fighting commanders and who turned the upper deck of the Mavi Marmara into its headquarters, blocking it off to other passengers.
(14) In the most recent organization of a Gaza flotilla, Greece worked with the Israeli Government in order to prohibit any violations of Israel’s legal blockade of Gaza.
(15) Greece has proven itself to be a strategic partner and ally of the United States in anchoring political stability and advancing economic development in the Balkan and Black Sea regions of southeast Europe and Eurasia, in the Middle East and northern Africa, and throughout the eastern Mediterranean Sea.
(16) Greece is an active participant in peacekeeping and peace-building operations conducted by international organizations, including the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the European Union (EU), and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
(17) Greece acted without hesitation in prohibiting any Greek-flagged or foreign-flagged vessels from setting sail out of Greek ports into the water of the Gaza naval blockade.
(18) Pursuant to a decision by the Minister of Citizen Protection, Mr. C. Papoutsis, the departure of ships with Greek and foreign flags from Greek ports to Gaza was prohibited on July 1, 2011, and the Hellenic Coast Guard ordered that all appropriate measures be taken for the implementation of such decision.
(19) The Greek Government worked diligently to ensure the safety of even the organizers of the flotilla knowing that their reckless, irresponsible, and provocative acts against a sovereign country engaged in self-defense could result in great bodily harm or even death to themselves and other individuals.
(20) The Greek Government took more extraordinary measures to ensure that the broader maritime area of the eastern Mediterranean Sea would be continuously monitored by electronic means for tracking, where applicable, the movements of the ships allegedly participating in such an illegal campaign.
(21) Greek authorities boarded ships and took into custody several individuals, including Captain John Klusmire of the ship Audacity of Hope as it violated Greek Coast Guard orders by setting sail without permission.
(22) Greek authorities acted in accordance with the recommendation of the Quartet--the United States, the European Union, the United States and Russia--as it urged countries to prohibit Gaza-bound flotillas that would serve solely to escalate tension in the Middle East.
SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF CONGRESS.
Congress--
(1) notes the important role that Greece has played in the wider European, Eurasian, and Middle Eastern regions, and in the community of nations by promoting, peace, freedom, democracy, and security; and
(2) stands behind Israel for its sovereign right to defend its citizens and its territory, and specifically for its actions to prevent the import of offensive weaponry into the hands of Hamas, Palestinian Jihad, and other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip.
SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.
It is the sense of Congress that the United States should take appropriate diplomatic steps to express gratitude to Greece for upholding the rule of law in preventing hostile forces from violating a legal naval blockade of Gaza by Israel and thereby advancing the security of its ally Israel.
SEC. 4. REPORT.
(a) In General- Not later than six months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report on whether any support organization that participated in the planning or execution of the recent Gaza flotilla attempt should be designated as a foreign terrorist organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1189).
(b) Contents- The report required under subsection (a) shall include information on the following:
(1) The sources of any logistical, technical, or financial support for the Gaza flotilla ships, including the Audacity of Hope, that were set to set sail from Greece on July 1, 2011.
(2) Any actions taken by the Department of State to express support and gratitude for the principled stance taken by the Government of Greece to prevent the recent Gaza flotilla attempt to violate Israel’s lawful blockade of Gaza.
This bill is very large, and loading it may cause your web browser to perform sluggishly, or even freeze. This is especially true for old and/or bad browsers. As an alternative you can download the PDF of the bill or read the text on THOMAS.
Continue on to the bill...
Monday, January 9, 2012
Gaza leader promises 'difficult days' for Israel
13 hours ago
By Fethi Belaid | AFP
Source: Yahoo News Maktoob
The prime minister in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Sunday promised "difficult days" for Israel, and at a rally in Tunis urged Arab Spring revolutionaries to fight for an independent Palestine.
Ismail Haniya received an ovation from the crowd of some 5,000 men, women and children gathered in a stadium waving Palestinian, Tunisian and Hamas flags.
"Israel no longer has allies in Egypt and in Tunisia, we are saying to the Zionist enemies that times have changed and that the time of the Arab Spring, the time of the revolution, of dignity and of pride has arrived," he said to loud cheers.
"We promise you that we will not cede a single part of Palestine, we will not cede Jerusalem, we will continue to fight and we will not lay down our arms," he said, urging "the people of the revolution to fight the army of Al-Quds" as Jerusalem is known in Arabic.
"To Tunisia we say: 'It is us today who are going to build the new Middle East'."
Haniya insisted "We will not recognise Israel", as the crowd chanted: "Death to Israel", "The Tunisian revolution supports Palestine", and "The army of Mohammed is back".
Some wiped their feet on the Star of David.
Haniya arrived in Tunis on Thursday for a five-day visit at the invitation of the new Islamist-led Tunisian authorities. He has also visited Egypt, Sudan and Turkey and will next travel to Qatar and Bahrain.
Hamas is considered a terrorist organisation by Western powers.
Haniya's visit does not sit well with representatives of the Palestinian Authority led by president Mahmud Abbas, with a source telling AFP: "The Palestinians are furious."
Jews in Tunisia asked the government earlier Sunday to take steps to avoid a repeat of anti-Semitic slogans chanted during the Hamas leader's visit.
"No Tunisian should be insulted, and the government must take measures to ensure this incident is never repeated," Peres Trabelsi, a representative of Tunisia's small Jewish population, told AFP after the incident.
Islamist activists welcoming Haniya were heard chanting slogans like: "Kill the Jews, it is our duty", along with anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian messages.
"There are no Zionists in Tunisia and we don't want to be mixed into the problems of the Middle East," said Trabelsi. "Tunisia is our country."
Tunisia has one of the Arab world's largest Jewish minorities, numbering about 1,500 individuals in a population of more than 10 million.
The population has shrunk drastically from the 100,000 Jews who lived in Tunisia after independence in 1956.
Ajmi Lourimi, a member of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, said the slogans were an isolated incident that did not reflect the views of the government.
Ennahda last month said Jews living in the north African country were citizens with "all their rights and duties". Those comments came in response an invitation by Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom for Tunisian Jews to settle in Israel.
By Fethi Belaid | AFP
Source: Yahoo News Maktoob
The prime minister in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on Sunday promised "difficult days" for Israel, and at a rally in Tunis urged Arab Spring revolutionaries to fight for an independent Palestine.
Ismail Haniya received an ovation from the crowd of some 5,000 men, women and children gathered in a stadium waving Palestinian, Tunisian and Hamas flags.
"Israel no longer has allies in Egypt and in Tunisia, we are saying to the Zionist enemies that times have changed and that the time of the Arab Spring, the time of the revolution, of dignity and of pride has arrived," he said to loud cheers.
"We promise you that we will not cede a single part of Palestine, we will not cede Jerusalem, we will continue to fight and we will not lay down our arms," he said, urging "the people of the revolution to fight the army of Al-Quds" as Jerusalem is known in Arabic.
"To Tunisia we say: 'It is us today who are going to build the new Middle East'."
Haniya insisted "We will not recognise Israel", as the crowd chanted: "Death to Israel", "The Tunisian revolution supports Palestine", and "The army of Mohammed is back".
Some wiped their feet on the Star of David.
Haniya arrived in Tunis on Thursday for a five-day visit at the invitation of the new Islamist-led Tunisian authorities. He has also visited Egypt, Sudan and Turkey and will next travel to Qatar and Bahrain.
Hamas is considered a terrorist organisation by Western powers.
Haniya's visit does not sit well with representatives of the Palestinian Authority led by president Mahmud Abbas, with a source telling AFP: "The Palestinians are furious."
Jews in Tunisia asked the government earlier Sunday to take steps to avoid a repeat of anti-Semitic slogans chanted during the Hamas leader's visit.
"No Tunisian should be insulted, and the government must take measures to ensure this incident is never repeated," Peres Trabelsi, a representative of Tunisia's small Jewish population, told AFP after the incident.
Islamist activists welcoming Haniya were heard chanting slogans like: "Kill the Jews, it is our duty", along with anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian messages.
"There are no Zionists in Tunisia and we don't want to be mixed into the problems of the Middle East," said Trabelsi. "Tunisia is our country."
Tunisia has one of the Arab world's largest Jewish minorities, numbering about 1,500 individuals in a population of more than 10 million.
The population has shrunk drastically from the 100,000 Jews who lived in Tunisia after independence in 1956.
Ajmi Lourimi, a member of the moderate Islamist Ennahda party, said the slogans were an isolated incident that did not reflect the views of the government.
Ennahda last month said Jews living in the north African country were citizens with "all their rights and duties". Those comments came in response an invitation by Israel's Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom for Tunisian Jews to settle in Israel.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Israeli settlers plan marches on Palestinian towns
3 hrs, 2 mins ago
Source:JMCC
RAMALLAH, September 18 (JMCC) - Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank say they will "take the initiative" by marching on Palestinian towns, reports Ynet.
The activities planned by nearly 300,000 Jewish settlers living among 2.5 million Palestinians are to start on Tuesday when discussion opens at the United Nations in New York over a Palestinian state. Marches will target Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron.
The settler rallies are set to begin Tuesday afternoon, as participants plan to make their way towards the IDF District Coordination and Liaison Command. A protest is also slated to take place on the streets of Tel Aviv. In addition, right wing extremists are expected to head in the direction of Palestinian communities in order to shift the conflict into PA territories.
The West Bank regional and settlers' councils planned to hold the marches in three separate locations: From Itamar to Nablus, from Beit El to the closest IDF District Coordination and Liaison and from Kiryat Arba to Manoach Mountain.
Tens of thousands of Israeli flags will be distributed by the West Bank regional councils and hung from the settlers' cars.
Gershon Mesika, head of the Shomron Regional Council, remarked that he was not flustered by the Palestinian diplomacy concerning the UN. "Most of the decisions made by the UN during the past decades were against the State of Israel. The entire world has come to realize it's an automatic majority. As Ben-Gurion said, it doesn't matter what the non-Jews say, it only matters what the Jews do."
Hilltop Youth leader Meir Bertler expressed his hope that Israel would annex the West Bank settlements. "As far as we're concerned, we're going to feel right at home in the West Bank, and this week we'll hold marches, begin construction and show our presence in order to make it clear to everyone exactly who this country belongs to."
Far-right activist Itamar Ben-Gvir stressed that his counterparts will not be "waiting at home so the Arabs might get close to their fences."
"We're going to go out and make it clear to the Arabs who the home owners are. We're going to take the initiative and march towards Palestinian towns."
Source:JMCC
RAMALLAH, September 18 (JMCC) - Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank say they will "take the initiative" by marching on Palestinian towns, reports Ynet.
The activities planned by nearly 300,000 Jewish settlers living among 2.5 million Palestinians are to start on Tuesday when discussion opens at the United Nations in New York over a Palestinian state. Marches will target Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron.
The settler rallies are set to begin Tuesday afternoon, as participants plan to make their way towards the IDF District Coordination and Liaison Command. A protest is also slated to take place on the streets of Tel Aviv. In addition, right wing extremists are expected to head in the direction of Palestinian communities in order to shift the conflict into PA territories.
The West Bank regional and settlers' councils planned to hold the marches in three separate locations: From Itamar to Nablus, from Beit El to the closest IDF District Coordination and Liaison and from Kiryat Arba to Manoach Mountain.
Tens of thousands of Israeli flags will be distributed by the West Bank regional councils and hung from the settlers' cars.
Gershon Mesika, head of the Shomron Regional Council, remarked that he was not flustered by the Palestinian diplomacy concerning the UN. "Most of the decisions made by the UN during the past decades were against the State of Israel. The entire world has come to realize it's an automatic majority. As Ben-Gurion said, it doesn't matter what the non-Jews say, it only matters what the Jews do."
Hilltop Youth leader Meir Bertler expressed his hope that Israel would annex the West Bank settlements. "As far as we're concerned, we're going to feel right at home in the West Bank, and this week we'll hold marches, begin construction and show our presence in order to make it clear to everyone exactly who this country belongs to."
Far-right activist Itamar Ben-Gvir stressed that his counterparts will not be "waiting at home so the Arabs might get close to their fences."
"We're going to go out and make it clear to the Arabs who the home owners are. We're going to take the initiative and march towards Palestinian towns."
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Israel's Lieberman 'plans to punish Turkey'
10/09/2011
Source:maannews.net
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israel's foreign ministry has prepared a series of "harsh measures" to "punish" Turkey's leadership for diplomatic slights, Israeli media reported Friday.
Israel will facilitate cooperation with the Armenians, Turkey's historic rivals, and may even lobby for international recognition of the Armenian holocaust, the Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is also planning to meet with Kurdish rebels in Europe in order to “cooperate with them and boost them in every possible area,” Yedioth's English website said.
"We’ll exact a price from Erdogan that will prove to him that messing with Israel doesn’t pay off," Lieberman was quoted as saying. "Turkey better treat us with respect and common decency."
Another means in Lieberman’s “toolbox,” according to the news site Ynet, is a diplomatic campaign where Israeli missions worldwide will be instructed to report Turkish moves against minorities.
The diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel that was sparked by the flotilla raid took a turn for the worse in the last week, following publication of a UN probe into the incident, which found Israel's naval blockade to be legal although it chastised Israel for using "excessive" force in the raid.
Israel has so far refused to apologize for the bloodshed and called the report's conclusions a vindication of its stance, deeply angering Turkey.
Turkey responded to the report by expelling Israel's ambassador, suspending military agreements with Israel and warning it was considering lodging a legal case against Israel at the International Criminal Court.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, vowed to accompany any future aid flotillas to Gaza with naval warships, Al Jazeera television quoted him as saying Thursday.
Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak played down the diplomatic crisis, saying the dispute "will pass."
But he reiterated his government's line that Israel would not apologize for the operation, which targeted a flotilla of ships trying to break Israel's naval blockade on Gaza, and cost the lives of nine Turkish nationals.
"The current wave will pass, I am sure that we will get over all this," he told public radio just days after Ankara expelled the Israeli ambassador and suspended all military ties and defense trade.
"Turkey is not an enemy of Israel."
"Both we and the Turks know the reality: our two countries are very important to the West. The real problem for the West in this region is Syria, and what is happening in Egypt and Iran, not Turkey," he added.
The minister admitted once again that "errors may have occurred in the way in which force was used" when naval commandos boarded the Turkish ferry leading the flotilla.
But Barak stressed that Israel had already expressed its "regret" over the loss of human life without making the formal apology that Turkey has demanded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday insisted he wanted to mend the split with Turkey but also praised forces who took part the naval operation.
Print
Source:maannews.net
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israel's foreign ministry has prepared a series of "harsh measures" to "punish" Turkey's leadership for diplomatic slights, Israeli media reported Friday.
Israel will facilitate cooperation with the Armenians, Turkey's historic rivals, and may even lobby for international recognition of the Armenian holocaust, the Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is also planning to meet with Kurdish rebels in Europe in order to “cooperate with them and boost them in every possible area,” Yedioth's English website said.
"We’ll exact a price from Erdogan that will prove to him that messing with Israel doesn’t pay off," Lieberman was quoted as saying. "Turkey better treat us with respect and common decency."
Another means in Lieberman’s “toolbox,” according to the news site Ynet, is a diplomatic campaign where Israeli missions worldwide will be instructed to report Turkish moves against minorities.
The diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Israel that was sparked by the flotilla raid took a turn for the worse in the last week, following publication of a UN probe into the incident, which found Israel's naval blockade to be legal although it chastised Israel for using "excessive" force in the raid.
Israel has so far refused to apologize for the bloodshed and called the report's conclusions a vindication of its stance, deeply angering Turkey.
Turkey responded to the report by expelling Israel's ambassador, suspending military agreements with Israel and warning it was considering lodging a legal case against Israel at the International Criminal Court.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, meanwhile, vowed to accompany any future aid flotillas to Gaza with naval warships, Al Jazeera television quoted him as saying Thursday.
Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak played down the diplomatic crisis, saying the dispute "will pass."
But he reiterated his government's line that Israel would not apologize for the operation, which targeted a flotilla of ships trying to break Israel's naval blockade on Gaza, and cost the lives of nine Turkish nationals.
"The current wave will pass, I am sure that we will get over all this," he told public radio just days after Ankara expelled the Israeli ambassador and suspended all military ties and defense trade.
"Turkey is not an enemy of Israel."
"Both we and the Turks know the reality: our two countries are very important to the West. The real problem for the West in this region is Syria, and what is happening in Egypt and Iran, not Turkey," he added.
The minister admitted once again that "errors may have occurred in the way in which force was used" when naval commandos boarded the Turkish ferry leading the flotilla.
But Barak stressed that Israel had already expressed its "regret" over the loss of human life without making the formal apology that Turkey has demanded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday insisted he wanted to mend the split with Turkey but also praised forces who took part the naval operation.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Israel evacuates ambassador to Egypt after embassy attack
10 September 2011
David Batty and agencies
Source:guardian.co.uk
Israel has evacuated its Egyptian ambassador after crowds stormed the embassy in Cairo, plunging Egypt's ruling army deeper into its worst diplomatic crisis since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.
Egyptian prime minister Essam Sharaf is holding a crisis cabinet meeting and a state of alert has been declared as protesters remain on the streets following the violence on Friday, burning tyres and chanting slogans against the governing military council.
A senior Egyptian official says at least three people died and more than 1,000 were hurt during street clashes with police and army troops after an angry mob attacked the embassy building.
Deputy health minister, Hamid Abaza, says one of the three fatalities in the violence late on Friday was a man who died of a heart attack.
Abaza told The Associated Press on Saturday he doesn't know the cause of the other two deaths. He says at least 1,093 people were injured in the clashes.
The protesters pelted the police and the military with rocks, prompting the troops to fire tear gas and shoot into the air. Only 38 of the injured remained in hospital.
Earlier, the protesters tore down a security wall outside the Israeli mission and stormed the embassy's offices.
Police fired shots in the air and teargas to disperse the crowd. Early on Saturday morning around 500 demonstrators remained near the embassy, which overlooks the Nile, and a few threw stones at police and army vehicles. But police gradually pushed them back and secured the area.
An Israeli official said the rampage marked a further deterioration of diplomatic ties between Israel and Egypt since the fall of Mubarak.
The Israeli ambassador, Yitzhak Levanon, his family and most of the staff and their dependents some 80 people were evacuated out of the country by military aircraft overnight, the official added. Only the deputy ambassador remains in Egypt.
"That the government of Egypt ultimately acted to rescue our people is noteworthy and we are thankful," the official said. "But what happened is a blow to the peaceful relations, and of course, a grave violation of accepted diplomatic behaviour between sovereign states."
The incident was the second major eruption of violence at the embassy since five Egyptian border guards were killed last month during an Israeli operation against gunmen. That incident prompted Egypt briefly to threaten to withdraw its envoy.
"This action shows the state of anger and frustration the young Egyptian revolutionaries feel against Israel especially after the recent Israeli attacks on the Egyptian borders that led to the killing of Egyptian soldiers," Egyptian political analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah said.
Israel is already embroiled in a diplomatic feud with Turkey, formerly one of its closest allies, over Israel's armed assault on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in which nine people were killed.
Presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahy called for the army to take a "serious stance matching the public anger" towards Israel but said violence sullied the image of Egypt's uprising.
Last month a man climbed up a flagpole on the Israeli embassy and took down the flag, replacing it with the Egyptian flag. Protests continued until Friday's violence.
David Batty and agencies
Source:guardian.co.uk
Israel has evacuated its Egyptian ambassador after crowds stormed the embassy in Cairo, plunging Egypt's ruling army deeper into its worst diplomatic crisis since the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak.
Egyptian prime minister Essam Sharaf is holding a crisis cabinet meeting and a state of alert has been declared as protesters remain on the streets following the violence on Friday, burning tyres and chanting slogans against the governing military council.
A senior Egyptian official says at least three people died and more than 1,000 were hurt during street clashes with police and army troops after an angry mob attacked the embassy building.
Deputy health minister, Hamid Abaza, says one of the three fatalities in the violence late on Friday was a man who died of a heart attack.
Abaza told The Associated Press on Saturday he doesn't know the cause of the other two deaths. He says at least 1,093 people were injured in the clashes.
The protesters pelted the police and the military with rocks, prompting the troops to fire tear gas and shoot into the air. Only 38 of the injured remained in hospital.
Earlier, the protesters tore down a security wall outside the Israeli mission and stormed the embassy's offices.
Police fired shots in the air and teargas to disperse the crowd. Early on Saturday morning around 500 demonstrators remained near the embassy, which overlooks the Nile, and a few threw stones at police and army vehicles. But police gradually pushed them back and secured the area.
An Israeli official said the rampage marked a further deterioration of diplomatic ties between Israel and Egypt since the fall of Mubarak.
The Israeli ambassador, Yitzhak Levanon, his family and most of the staff and their dependents some 80 people were evacuated out of the country by military aircraft overnight, the official added. Only the deputy ambassador remains in Egypt.
"That the government of Egypt ultimately acted to rescue our people is noteworthy and we are thankful," the official said. "But what happened is a blow to the peaceful relations, and of course, a grave violation of accepted diplomatic behaviour between sovereign states."
The incident was the second major eruption of violence at the embassy since five Egyptian border guards were killed last month during an Israeli operation against gunmen. That incident prompted Egypt briefly to threaten to withdraw its envoy.
"This action shows the state of anger and frustration the young Egyptian revolutionaries feel against Israel especially after the recent Israeli attacks on the Egyptian borders that led to the killing of Egyptian soldiers," Egyptian political analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah said.
Israel is already embroiled in a diplomatic feud with Turkey, formerly one of its closest allies, over Israel's armed assault on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in which nine people were killed.
Presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahy called for the army to take a "serious stance matching the public anger" towards Israel but said violence sullied the image of Egypt's uprising.
Last month a man climbed up a flagpole on the Israeli embassy and took down the flag, replacing it with the Egyptian flag. Protests continued until Friday's violence.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Turkey vows legal action against Israel
Sep 3, 2011
Source: Press TV
Turkey says it will seek legal action against the Israeli regime for its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound relief aid Flotilla last year after Ankara further downgraded its ties with Tel Aviv.
"Turkey will take legal actions against the Israeli soldiers and all other officials responsible for the crimes committed and pursue the matter resolutely," Turkey's embassy in Washington said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The threat came after a UN report said that Israel had used unreasonable force in its raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea in May 2010, during which nine Turkish activities were killed.
The report also described Israel's naval blockade on Gaza, which has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the impoverished territory, as 'legal.'
One day after the UN report was leaked to The New York Times, Ankara suspended all its military ties with Tel Aviv and has expelled Israel's envoy from Ankara over the regime's refusal to apologize for the attack on the Gaza-bound flotilla.
"Turkey also reaffirms that relations between Turkey and Israel will not normalize as long as Israel does not apologize and refuses to pay compensation for what it has done," the embassy statement said.
Turkey's President Abduallah Gul also said that expulsion of the Israeli envoy is just the first step in many possible measures taken against Israel if it persists in its refusal to apologize.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Saturday expressed his optimism that the two former allies could mend ties.
"I sincerely hope that Israel and Turkey will improve their relationship," Ban told reporters in the Australian capital, Canberra.
"Normal relationship will be very important in addressing all the situations in the Middle East, including the Middle East peace process," he said.
Observers believe Ban's statement and the recent UN report that legitimizes Israel's brutal siege of Gaza and its attack on a relief aid convoy reflect Tel Aviv's undue influence on the world body.
Source: Press TV
Turkey says it will seek legal action against the Israeli regime for its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound relief aid Flotilla last year after Ankara further downgraded its ties with Tel Aviv.
"Turkey will take legal actions against the Israeli soldiers and all other officials responsible for the crimes committed and pursue the matter resolutely," Turkey's embassy in Washington said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The threat came after a UN report said that Israel had used unreasonable force in its raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla in international waters of the Mediterranean Sea in May 2010, during which nine Turkish activities were killed.
The report also described Israel's naval blockade on Gaza, which has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the impoverished territory, as 'legal.'
One day after the UN report was leaked to The New York Times, Ankara suspended all its military ties with Tel Aviv and has expelled Israel's envoy from Ankara over the regime's refusal to apologize for the attack on the Gaza-bound flotilla.
"Turkey also reaffirms that relations between Turkey and Israel will not normalize as long as Israel does not apologize and refuses to pay compensation for what it has done," the embassy statement said.
Turkey's President Abduallah Gul also said that expulsion of the Israeli envoy is just the first step in many possible measures taken against Israel if it persists in its refusal to apologize.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Saturday expressed his optimism that the two former allies could mend ties.
"I sincerely hope that Israel and Turkey will improve their relationship," Ban told reporters in the Australian capital, Canberra.
"Normal relationship will be very important in addressing all the situations in the Middle East, including the Middle East peace process," he said.
Observers believe Ban's statement and the recent UN report that legitimizes Israel's brutal siege of Gaza and its attack on a relief aid convoy reflect Tel Aviv's undue influence on the world body.
Monday, August 29, 2011
How Israel takes its revenge on boys who throw stones
26 August 2011
Source: The Independent
The boy, small and frail, is struggling to stay awake. His head lolls to the side, at one point slumping on to his chest. "Lift up your head! Lift it up!" shouts one of his interrogators, slapping him. But the boy by now is past caring, for he has been awake for at least 12 hours since he was separated at gunpoint from his parents at two that morning. "I wish you'd let me go," the boy whimpers, "just so I can get some sleep."
During the nearly six-hour video, 14-year-old Palestinian Islam Tamimi, exhausted and scared, is steadily broken to the point where he starts to incriminate men from his village and weave fantastic tales that he believes his tormentors want to hear.
This rarely seen footage seen by The Independent offers a glimpse into an Israeli interrogation, almost a rite of passage that hundreds of Palestinian children accused of throwing stones undergo every year.
Israel has robustly defended its record, arguing that the treatment of minors has vastly improved with the creation of a military juvenile court two years ago. But the children who have faced the rough justice of the occupation tell a very different story.
"The problems start long before the child is brought to court, it starts with their arrest," says Naomi Lalo, an activist with No Legal Frontiers, an Israeli group that monitors the military courts. It is during their interrogation where their "fate is doomed", she says.
Sameer Shilu, 12, was asleep when the soldiers smashed in the front door of his house one night. He and his older brother emerged bleary-eyed from their bedroom to find six masked soldiers in their living room.
Checking the boy's name on his father's identity card, the officer looked "shocked" when he saw he had to arrest a boy, says Sameer's father, Saher. "I said, 'He's too young; why do you want him?' 'I don't know,' he said". Blindfolded, and his hands tied painfully behind his back with plastic cords, Sameer was bundled into a Jeep, his father calling out to him not to be afraid. "We cried, all of us," his father says. "I know my sons; they don't throw stones."
In the hours before his interrogation, Sameer was kept blindfolded and handcuffed, and prevented from sleeping. Eventually taken for interrogation without a lawyer or parent present, a man accused him of being in a demonstration, and showed him footage of a boy throwing stones, claiming it was him.
"He said, 'This is you', and I said it wasn't me. Then he asked me, 'Who are they?' And I said that I didn't know," Sameer says. "At one point, the man started shouting at me, and grabbed me by the collar, and said, 'I'll throw you out of the window and beat you with a stick if you don't confess'."
Sameer, who protested his innocence, was fortunate; he was released a few hours later. But most children are frightened into signing a confession, cowed by threats of physical violence, or threats against their families, such as the withdrawal of work permits.
When a confession is signed, lawyers usually advise children to accept a plea bargain and serve a fixed jail sentence even if not guilty. Pleading innocent is to invite lengthy court proceedings, during which the child is almost always remanded in prison. Acquittals are rare. "In a military court, you have to know that you're not looking for justice," says Gabi Lasky, an Israeli lawyer who has represented many children.
There are many Palestinian children in the West Bank villages in the shadow of Israel's separation wall and Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands. Where largely non-violent protests have sprung up as a form of resistance, there are children who throw stones, and raids by Israel are common. But lawyers and human rights groups have decried Israel's arrest policy of targeting children in villages that resist the occupation.
In most cases, children as young as 12 are hauled from their beds at night, handcuffed and blindfolded, deprived of sleep and food, subjected to lengthy interrogations, then forced to sign a confession in Hebrew, a language few of them read.
Israeli rights group B'Tselem concluded that, "the rights of minors are severely violated, that the law almost completely fails to protect their rights, and that the few rights granted by the law are not implemented".
Israel claims to treat Palestinian minors in the spirit of its own law for juveniles but, in practice, it is rarely the case. For instance, children should not be arrested at night, lawyers and parents should be present during interrogations, and the children must be read their rights. But these are treated as guidelines, rather than a legal requirement, and are frequently flouted. And Israel regards Israeli youngsters as children until 18, while Palestinians are viewed as adults from 16.
Lawyers and activists say more than 200 Palestinian children are in Israeli jails. "You want to arrest these kids, you want to try them," Ms Lalo says. "Fine, but do it according to Israeli law. Give them their rights."
In the case of Islam, the boy in the video, his lawyer, Ms Lasky, believes the video provides the first hard proof of serious irregularities in interrogation.
In particular, the interrogator failed to inform Islam of his right to remain silent, even as his lawyer begged to no avail to see him. Instead, the interrogator urged Islam to tell him and his colleagues everything, hinting that if he did so, he would be released. One interrogator suggestively smacked a balled fist into the palm of his hand.
By the end of the interrogation Islam, breaking down in sobs, has succumbed to his interrogators, appearing to give them what they want to hear. Shown a page of photographs, his hand moves dully over it, identifying men from his village, all of whom will be arrested for protesting.
Ms Lasky hopes this footage will change the way children are treated in the occupied territories, in particular, getting them to incriminate others, which lawyers claim is the primary aim of interrogations. The video helped gain Islam's release from jail into house arrest, and may even lead to a full acquittal of charges of throwing stones. But right now, a hunched and silent Islam doesn't feel lucky. Yards from his house in Nabi Saleh is the home of his cousin, whose husband is in jail awaiting trial along with a dozen others on the strength of Islam's confession.
The cousin is magnanimous. "He is a victim, he is just a child," says Nariman Tamimi, 35, whose husband, Bassem, 45, is in jail. "We shouldn't blame him for what happened. He was under enormous pressure."
Israel's policy has been successful in one sense, sowing fear among children and deterring them from future demonstrations. But the children are left traumatised, prone to nightmares and bed-wetting. Most have to miss a year of school, or even drop out.
Israel's critics say its policy is creating a generation of new activists with hearts filled with hatred against Israel. Others say it is staining the country's character. "Israel has no business arresting these children, trying them, oppressing them," Ms Lalo says, her eyes glistening. "They're not our children. My country is doing so many wrongs and justifying them. We should be an example, but we have become an oppressive state."
Child detention figures
7,000 [Figure corrected, with apologies for earlier production error.] The estimated number of Palestinian children detained and prosecuted in Israeli military courts since 2000, shows a report by Defence for Children International Palestine (DCIP).
87 The percentage of children subjected to some form of physical violence while in custody. About 91 per cent are also believed to be blindfolded at some point during their detention.
12 The minimum age of criminal responsibility, as stipulated in the Military Order 1651.
62 The percentage of children arrested between 12am and 5am.
Source: The Independent
The boy, small and frail, is struggling to stay awake. His head lolls to the side, at one point slumping on to his chest. "Lift up your head! Lift it up!" shouts one of his interrogators, slapping him. But the boy by now is past caring, for he has been awake for at least 12 hours since he was separated at gunpoint from his parents at two that morning. "I wish you'd let me go," the boy whimpers, "just so I can get some sleep."
During the nearly six-hour video, 14-year-old Palestinian Islam Tamimi, exhausted and scared, is steadily broken to the point where he starts to incriminate men from his village and weave fantastic tales that he believes his tormentors want to hear.
This rarely seen footage seen by The Independent offers a glimpse into an Israeli interrogation, almost a rite of passage that hundreds of Palestinian children accused of throwing stones undergo every year.
Israel has robustly defended its record, arguing that the treatment of minors has vastly improved with the creation of a military juvenile court two years ago. But the children who have faced the rough justice of the occupation tell a very different story.
"The problems start long before the child is brought to court, it starts with their arrest," says Naomi Lalo, an activist with No Legal Frontiers, an Israeli group that monitors the military courts. It is during their interrogation where their "fate is doomed", she says.
Sameer Shilu, 12, was asleep when the soldiers smashed in the front door of his house one night. He and his older brother emerged bleary-eyed from their bedroom to find six masked soldiers in their living room.
Checking the boy's name on his father's identity card, the officer looked "shocked" when he saw he had to arrest a boy, says Sameer's father, Saher. "I said, 'He's too young; why do you want him?' 'I don't know,' he said". Blindfolded, and his hands tied painfully behind his back with plastic cords, Sameer was bundled into a Jeep, his father calling out to him not to be afraid. "We cried, all of us," his father says. "I know my sons; they don't throw stones."
In the hours before his interrogation, Sameer was kept blindfolded and handcuffed, and prevented from sleeping. Eventually taken for interrogation without a lawyer or parent present, a man accused him of being in a demonstration, and showed him footage of a boy throwing stones, claiming it was him.
"He said, 'This is you', and I said it wasn't me. Then he asked me, 'Who are they?' And I said that I didn't know," Sameer says. "At one point, the man started shouting at me, and grabbed me by the collar, and said, 'I'll throw you out of the window and beat you with a stick if you don't confess'."
Sameer, who protested his innocence, was fortunate; he was released a few hours later. But most children are frightened into signing a confession, cowed by threats of physical violence, or threats against their families, such as the withdrawal of work permits.
When a confession is signed, lawyers usually advise children to accept a plea bargain and serve a fixed jail sentence even if not guilty. Pleading innocent is to invite lengthy court proceedings, during which the child is almost always remanded in prison. Acquittals are rare. "In a military court, you have to know that you're not looking for justice," says Gabi Lasky, an Israeli lawyer who has represented many children.
There are many Palestinian children in the West Bank villages in the shadow of Israel's separation wall and Jewish settlements on Palestinian lands. Where largely non-violent protests have sprung up as a form of resistance, there are children who throw stones, and raids by Israel are common. But lawyers and human rights groups have decried Israel's arrest policy of targeting children in villages that resist the occupation.
In most cases, children as young as 12 are hauled from their beds at night, handcuffed and blindfolded, deprived of sleep and food, subjected to lengthy interrogations, then forced to sign a confession in Hebrew, a language few of them read.
Israeli rights group B'Tselem concluded that, "the rights of minors are severely violated, that the law almost completely fails to protect their rights, and that the few rights granted by the law are not implemented".
Israel claims to treat Palestinian minors in the spirit of its own law for juveniles but, in practice, it is rarely the case. For instance, children should not be arrested at night, lawyers and parents should be present during interrogations, and the children must be read their rights. But these are treated as guidelines, rather than a legal requirement, and are frequently flouted. And Israel regards Israeli youngsters as children until 18, while Palestinians are viewed as adults from 16.
Lawyers and activists say more than 200 Palestinian children are in Israeli jails. "You want to arrest these kids, you want to try them," Ms Lalo says. "Fine, but do it according to Israeli law. Give them their rights."
In the case of Islam, the boy in the video, his lawyer, Ms Lasky, believes the video provides the first hard proof of serious irregularities in interrogation.
In particular, the interrogator failed to inform Islam of his right to remain silent, even as his lawyer begged to no avail to see him. Instead, the interrogator urged Islam to tell him and his colleagues everything, hinting that if he did so, he would be released. One interrogator suggestively smacked a balled fist into the palm of his hand.
By the end of the interrogation Islam, breaking down in sobs, has succumbed to his interrogators, appearing to give them what they want to hear. Shown a page of photographs, his hand moves dully over it, identifying men from his village, all of whom will be arrested for protesting.
Ms Lasky hopes this footage will change the way children are treated in the occupied territories, in particular, getting them to incriminate others, which lawyers claim is the primary aim of interrogations. The video helped gain Islam's release from jail into house arrest, and may even lead to a full acquittal of charges of throwing stones. But right now, a hunched and silent Islam doesn't feel lucky. Yards from his house in Nabi Saleh is the home of his cousin, whose husband is in jail awaiting trial along with a dozen others on the strength of Islam's confession.
The cousin is magnanimous. "He is a victim, he is just a child," says Nariman Tamimi, 35, whose husband, Bassem, 45, is in jail. "We shouldn't blame him for what happened. He was under enormous pressure."
Israel's policy has been successful in one sense, sowing fear among children and deterring them from future demonstrations. But the children are left traumatised, prone to nightmares and bed-wetting. Most have to miss a year of school, or even drop out.
Israel's critics say its policy is creating a generation of new activists with hearts filled with hatred against Israel. Others say it is staining the country's character. "Israel has no business arresting these children, trying them, oppressing them," Ms Lalo says, her eyes glistening. "They're not our children. My country is doing so many wrongs and justifying them. We should be an example, but we have become an oppressive state."
Child detention figures
7,000 [Figure corrected, with apologies for earlier production error.] The estimated number of Palestinian children detained and prosecuted in Israeli military courts since 2000, shows a report by Defence for Children International Palestine (DCIP).
87 The percentage of children subjected to some form of physical violence while in custody. About 91 per cent are also believed to be blindfolded at some point during their detention.
12 The minimum age of criminal responsibility, as stipulated in the Military Order 1651.
62 The percentage of children arrested between 12am and 5am.
NATO mulls marriage with Israel
Thu, 08/25/2011
Source: The Electronic Intifada
Israel wishes to participate in NATO’s future wars, judging by the content of a diplomatic cable released this week by WikiLeaks.
Dating from November 2009, the document from the American embassy in Tel Aviv summarizes a briefing given by Claudio Bisorgniero, NATO’s deputy-secretary general, during a visit to Israel.
Fresh from talks with Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister, Bisorgniero noted that Israel wishes to sign a status of forces agreement (SOFA) with the alliance. Such an accord lays down the rules covering a country’s troops when they are operating abroad.
The notion of a SOFA (a silly acronym) between Israel and the alliance has been advocated by the Zionist lobby for a few years now. Less than a fortnight before the cable was drawn up, the policy journal Europe’s World published an article by Matthew Mark Horn from the American Jewish Congress on Israel’s relations with NATO. He indicated that a status of forces accord would allow Israel join NATO operations more swiftly than it has to date. Horn, a former official in the US defense department, hinted at his frustration over how it took two years of negotiations before an Israeli officer could be posted to the headquarters of Operation Active Endeavor in Naples. Originally, that Mediterranean-patrol mission was part of NATO’s response to the atrocities on 11 September 2001; its remit has subsequently been expanded to serve a reactionary agenda of stopping impoverished foreigners from sailing to Europe.
“Sensitive”
Bisorgniero described Israel’s idea of a SOFA as “sensitive”, according to the cable. It could be problematic, he suggested, for NATO to conclude such an agreement with Israel, unless similar arrangements could be found with some Arab countries. Since 1994 NATO has been involved in a process called the Mediterranean dialogue with states neighboring members of the alliance. Along with Israel, those states are Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan and Mauritania. Israel has used this forum for dialogue to forge greater ties with the alliance than all of the others, however.
It is telling that the cable does not allude even once to Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s assault on Gaza in 2008 and 2009. NATO gave its tacit approval for that act of aggression earlier this year. When Gabi Ashkenazi, the Israeli military chief who oversaw Cast Lead, visited Brussels in January, he was treated to a farewell dinner to mark his imminent retirement as head of the world’s “most moral army.”
No guilt over massacres
Under Ashkenazi’s leadership, that army wiped out 22 members of the al-Dayah family — including 12 children and a pregnant woman — when it bombed the family’s Gaza home in early 2009. NATO commanders may be feeling a sense of affinity with Ashkenazi this month as they have tried to excuse an even bloodier massacre in Libya. On the night of 8 August, NATO attacked residential areas in Zliten, a city in the district of Misrata. According to the Libyan authorities, 85 people were killed. Thirty-three of them were children; 32 them of them women, some reports say.
Don’t feel bad if you have not heard of that massacre; it received scant attention in the Western press. The BBC’s Matthew Price visited the scene of the attack and admitted that he saw the corpses of women and children in the morgue. But he also sought to lend credence to the NATO narrative that it had struck a “legitimate target” (the words of its propagandist Roland Lavoie), where Gaddafi loyalists were sheltering. “The front line is not far away,” Price reported. “From the site, plumes of white smoke can be seen rising from where the fighting is taking place. It would make sense that soldiers would need somewhere to rest in the area.”
NATO’s killing of children does not elicit even the faintest pang of conscience among its commanders and their lackeys in the media. It would be logical, then, for NATO to make sure its flirtations with Israel lead to a proper marriage.
Source: The Electronic Intifada
Israel wishes to participate in NATO’s future wars, judging by the content of a diplomatic cable released this week by WikiLeaks.
Dating from November 2009, the document from the American embassy in Tel Aviv summarizes a briefing given by Claudio Bisorgniero, NATO’s deputy-secretary general, during a visit to Israel.
Fresh from talks with Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister, Bisorgniero noted that Israel wishes to sign a status of forces agreement (SOFA) with the alliance. Such an accord lays down the rules covering a country’s troops when they are operating abroad.
The notion of a SOFA (a silly acronym) between Israel and the alliance has been advocated by the Zionist lobby for a few years now. Less than a fortnight before the cable was drawn up, the policy journal Europe’s World published an article by Matthew Mark Horn from the American Jewish Congress on Israel’s relations with NATO. He indicated that a status of forces accord would allow Israel join NATO operations more swiftly than it has to date. Horn, a former official in the US defense department, hinted at his frustration over how it took two years of negotiations before an Israeli officer could be posted to the headquarters of Operation Active Endeavor in Naples. Originally, that Mediterranean-patrol mission was part of NATO’s response to the atrocities on 11 September 2001; its remit has subsequently been expanded to serve a reactionary agenda of stopping impoverished foreigners from sailing to Europe.
“Sensitive”
Bisorgniero described Israel’s idea of a SOFA as “sensitive”, according to the cable. It could be problematic, he suggested, for NATO to conclude such an agreement with Israel, unless similar arrangements could be found with some Arab countries. Since 1994 NATO has been involved in a process called the Mediterranean dialogue with states neighboring members of the alliance. Along with Israel, those states are Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Jordan and Mauritania. Israel has used this forum for dialogue to forge greater ties with the alliance than all of the others, however.
It is telling that the cable does not allude even once to Operation Cast Lead, Israel’s assault on Gaza in 2008 and 2009. NATO gave its tacit approval for that act of aggression earlier this year. When Gabi Ashkenazi, the Israeli military chief who oversaw Cast Lead, visited Brussels in January, he was treated to a farewell dinner to mark his imminent retirement as head of the world’s “most moral army.”
No guilt over massacres
Under Ashkenazi’s leadership, that army wiped out 22 members of the al-Dayah family — including 12 children and a pregnant woman — when it bombed the family’s Gaza home in early 2009. NATO commanders may be feeling a sense of affinity with Ashkenazi this month as they have tried to excuse an even bloodier massacre in Libya. On the night of 8 August, NATO attacked residential areas in Zliten, a city in the district of Misrata. According to the Libyan authorities, 85 people were killed. Thirty-three of them were children; 32 them of them women, some reports say.
Don’t feel bad if you have not heard of that massacre; it received scant attention in the Western press. The BBC’s Matthew Price visited the scene of the attack and admitted that he saw the corpses of women and children in the morgue. But he also sought to lend credence to the NATO narrative that it had struck a “legitimate target” (the words of its propagandist Roland Lavoie), where Gaddafi loyalists were sheltering. “The front line is not far away,” Price reported. “From the site, plumes of white smoke can be seen rising from where the fighting is taking place. It would make sense that soldiers would need somewhere to rest in the area.”
NATO’s killing of children does not elicit even the faintest pang of conscience among its commanders and their lackeys in the media. It would be logical, then, for NATO to make sure its flirtations with Israel lead to a proper marriage.
Egypt to hold massive anti-Israel rally
Fri Aug 26, 2011
Source: PressTV
Egyptians are set to stage a million-man demonstration at Cairo's Liberation Square to call for an end to the country's peace accord with Israel, following a week of escalating tensions between the neighbors.
Demonstrators will also gather outside the Israeli embassy to demand the expulsion of Tel Aviv's ambassador to Egypt Yitzhak Levanon.
Scores of protesters have been demonstrating in front of the Israel embassy in Cairo for the seventh day in a row, Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al- Youm reported on Friday.
Anti-Israel protests erupted at Tel Aviv embassy in Cairo last week after five Egyptian policemen were killed in an attack by Israeli military on the Rafah border crossing.
On Thursday, Egypt's security forces clashed with protesters who had staged a sit-in outside the Israel embassy in Cairo.
The peace agreement between Israel and Egypt was signed in 1979 to end the state of war between the neighbors.
Under the pressure of anti-Israel protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday announced readiness to carry out a joint investigation with Cairo into the killing of the Egyptian security personnel.
"Israel is ready to hold a joint investigation with the Egyptians into the difficult event," a statement issued by Netanyahu's office quoted his national security adviser, Yaakov Amidror, as saying.
Source: PressTV
Egyptians are set to stage a million-man demonstration at Cairo's Liberation Square to call for an end to the country's peace accord with Israel, following a week of escalating tensions between the neighbors.
Demonstrators will also gather outside the Israeli embassy to demand the expulsion of Tel Aviv's ambassador to Egypt Yitzhak Levanon.
Scores of protesters have been demonstrating in front of the Israel embassy in Cairo for the seventh day in a row, Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al- Youm reported on Friday.
Anti-Israel protests erupted at Tel Aviv embassy in Cairo last week after five Egyptian policemen were killed in an attack by Israeli military on the Rafah border crossing.
On Thursday, Egypt's security forces clashed with protesters who had staged a sit-in outside the Israel embassy in Cairo.
The peace agreement between Israel and Egypt was signed in 1979 to end the state of war between the neighbors.
Under the pressure of anti-Israel protests, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday announced readiness to carry out a joint investigation with Cairo into the killing of the Egyptian security personnel.
"Israel is ready to hold a joint investigation with the Egyptians into the difficult event," a statement issued by Netanyahu's office quoted his national security adviser, Yaakov Amidror, as saying.
Israel might let Egypt boost Sinai troops
Aug 28, 2011
Source: Yahoo News
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that if Egypt asked to increase its troops in the Sinai peninsula, the request would be brought before the security cabinet, public radio said.
Netanyahu's remarks were made to ministers from his right-wing Likud party before the start of the weekly cabinet meeting -- the first since an attack on August 18 killed eight Israelis on a desert road near the Egyptian border by gunmen who infiltrated from the Sinai.
As Cairo seeks to clamp down on militant activity in the peninsula, it has in recent months asked Israel to approve a temporary increase of troops there, raising questions about the need to change the terms of the 1979 peace treaty which limits the number of Egyptian forces there.
But Netanyahu told ministers that such a step would not be taken hurriedly, media reports said.
"If we are going to alter the peace treaty with Egypt -- and I don't think that it is something we need to rush into -- it must be approved by the cabinet," the Haaretz news website quoted him as saying.
So far, Cairo has asked Israel to approve any new increase of troops in the restive peninsula, a senior defence official told AFP on Sunday.
"Until now, there has been no demand for more troops in the Sinai and it is not on the agenda," a senior defence ministry official told AFP on Sunday.
Earlier, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said that since the fall of the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak in February, Israel had "on several occasions" approved Egyptian requests to allow extra forces into the peninsula.
"Since the latest crisis, we let them send in battalions on several occasions," he told public radio referring to the fall of Mubarak and pointing out that Sinai covers an area which is more than three times the size of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"The matter was requested by them on a temporary basis to ensure that the gas pipelines are not blown up, so that (the Egyptian port city of) El-Arish wouldn't be taken over by the Bedouins, and in order to allow the shared fight against terrorism to continue," he said.
The minister was referring to a major Egyptian operation in the northern Sinai which was launched two weeks ago to clamp down on militants who have staged at least five attacks on a gas pipeline supplying Israel and Jordan since February.
The area is also rife with Bedouin outlaws.
"We have an interest in stability, we have an interest in the problem being resolved on the other side" of the border, Barak said, while stressing the paramount importance of the peace treaty for the two neighbours.
Several days after the operation began, public radio reported that Netanyahu had given Cairo the green light increase its troops in Sinai in order to "restore order" there.
Egypt supplies about 40 percent of Israel's natural gas and the repeated attacks on the pipeline have sparked a spike in domestic prices as the Jewish state struggles with a wave of mass protests against the spiralling cost of living.
Source: Yahoo News
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said that if Egypt asked to increase its troops in the Sinai peninsula, the request would be brought before the security cabinet, public radio said.
Netanyahu's remarks were made to ministers from his right-wing Likud party before the start of the weekly cabinet meeting -- the first since an attack on August 18 killed eight Israelis on a desert road near the Egyptian border by gunmen who infiltrated from the Sinai.
As Cairo seeks to clamp down on militant activity in the peninsula, it has in recent months asked Israel to approve a temporary increase of troops there, raising questions about the need to change the terms of the 1979 peace treaty which limits the number of Egyptian forces there.
But Netanyahu told ministers that such a step would not be taken hurriedly, media reports said.
"If we are going to alter the peace treaty with Egypt -- and I don't think that it is something we need to rush into -- it must be approved by the cabinet," the Haaretz news website quoted him as saying.
So far, Cairo has asked Israel to approve any new increase of troops in the restive peninsula, a senior defence official told AFP on Sunday.
"Until now, there has been no demand for more troops in the Sinai and it is not on the agenda," a senior defence ministry official told AFP on Sunday.
Earlier, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said that since the fall of the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak in February, Israel had "on several occasions" approved Egyptian requests to allow extra forces into the peninsula.
"Since the latest crisis, we let them send in battalions on several occasions," he told public radio referring to the fall of Mubarak and pointing out that Sinai covers an area which is more than three times the size of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
"The matter was requested by them on a temporary basis to ensure that the gas pipelines are not blown up, so that (the Egyptian port city of) El-Arish wouldn't be taken over by the Bedouins, and in order to allow the shared fight against terrorism to continue," he said.
The minister was referring to a major Egyptian operation in the northern Sinai which was launched two weeks ago to clamp down on militants who have staged at least five attacks on a gas pipeline supplying Israel and Jordan since February.
The area is also rife with Bedouin outlaws.
"We have an interest in stability, we have an interest in the problem being resolved on the other side" of the border, Barak said, while stressing the paramount importance of the peace treaty for the two neighbours.
Several days after the operation began, public radio reported that Netanyahu had given Cairo the green light increase its troops in Sinai in order to "restore order" there.
Egypt supplies about 40 percent of Israel's natural gas and the repeated attacks on the pipeline have sparked a spike in domestic prices as the Jewish state struggles with a wave of mass protests against the spiralling cost of living.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Cross-border attack tests Israel-Egypt treaty
Aug 20, 2011
By IAN DEITCH - Associated Press,MAGGIE MICHAEL - Associated Press
Source: Yahoo News
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's landmark 1979 peace treaty with Egypt is being tested by a cross-border attack blamed on Palestinian militants. Israel made a rare apology Saturday for the deaths of three Egyptian soldiers after Cairo threatened to withdraw its ambassador.
The attack on Thursday set off a new cycle of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Israeli airstrikes have been answered by Palestinians pelting southern Israel with at least 80 rockets and mortars since Friday. An Israeli was killed Saturday in the desert city of Beersheba, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Gaza.
"Israel is sorry for the deaths of the Egyptian policemen during the attack on the Israel-Egypt border," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said after Egypt threatened to withdraw its ambassador to protest the deaths of its soldiers.
The Egyptian government said late Saturday Israel's apology was welcome, but not enough. Still, it reaffirmed Egypt's commitment to the peace.
Israel's apology was a clear move to try to quickly contain the damage to already shaky relations with Egypt. Egypt's threat to take diplomatic action put Israel in the uncomfortable position of having to apologize for violence that was triggered after its borders were breached and its people attacked and killed.
Israeli officials promised to investigate the deaths of the Egyptians and insisted the peace treaty was stable.
"No one had any intention to harm Egyptian security personnel," Amos Gilled, a senior Israeli Defense Ministry official who works closely with Egypt, told Israel Radio.
But even before the clashes on Thursday, the February ouster of longtime President Hosni Mubarak in a popular revolt had unleashed an outpouring of anti-Israel sentiment in Egypt and criticism of the peace treaty. Israeli officials were also growing wary about instability in post-Mubarak Egypt.
Although the military leaders who now rule Egypt have expressed their commitment to the peace accord, Israel is watching closely for signs they might respond to the rising anti-Israel sentiment and distance themselves from the Jewish state.
As the country moves through a chaotic and rocky transition to democracy, Islamist groups tightly curbed under Mubarak look headed for a more powerful role in the new Egypt — something else that rattles nerves in Israel.
Mubarak was seen by his people as too sympathetic to Israel, negotiating a highly unpopular deal to supply it with natural gas. Israel, in turn, counted on Mubarak as a trusted, if cool, ally, maintaining the peace despite Egyptian disappointment that a wider agreement could not be reached with Palestinians and other Arab states.
The simmering hostilities in Egypt boiled over after the soldiers died. Egypt said it was a violation of the peace accord.
Israel says the attacks began when Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip crossed into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, probably through one of the hundreds of smuggling tunnels under the border, then made their way more than 100 miles (150 kilometers) through the barren desert before crossing into southern Israel. Israel and Gaza both border the Sinai Peninsula.
The militants ambushed Israeli buses and cars with gunfire and a bomb and killed eight Israelis.
Israel and Egypt gave different versions of how the Egyptian soldiers died. Egypt said they were killed in an airstrike. Israel offered conflicting accounts. One account said there was an exchange of fire between its soldiers as they pursued the militants along the border.
A senior Israeli defense official told The Associated Press Saturday night that "initial reports in the investigation show that the terrorists came from Gaza and apparently opened fire on purpose near Egyptian positions in order to bring them into the fighting." He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to reporters.
The Israel-Egypt and Israel-Palestinian issues are closely intertwined. Egypt has tried for decades to broker a peace accord between Israelis and Palestinians. And in recent years, Egypt has tried to mediate an end to the internal Palestinian split between Fatah, which runs the West Bank through the Palestinian Authority, and the Islamic Hamas, which rules Gaza.
The aftermath of the clashes Thursday showed just how quickly Israeli-Palestinian violence can escalate.
Israeli airstrikes have killed 12 Palestinians, including two children, since Thursday, and Israeli leaders have made it clear that they will not put up with mounting violence from Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened senior ministers and security commanders late Saturday in an extraordinary session to discuss the surge in violence.
In Israel, one person was killed Saturday and dozens have been wounded in the barrage from Gaza, including a 2-week-old baby, hospital officials said. The flurry of exploding rockets damaged buildings all over Israel's south.
It was the heaviest salvo of rockets from Gaza since Israel staged an all-out ground and air operation in Gaza to stop daily rocket attacks in early 2009.
Israel is also concerned about an upsurge in Islamic militant activity in Sinai since Mubarak's fall. But no Israeli official has gone on record faulting Egypt for the way it is policing Sinai, where mountainous desert terrain and permeable borders have beckoned to extremists, contraband smugglers and African migrants for years.
Last week, Egypt moved thousands of troops into Sinai as part of a major operation against al-Qaida inspired militants who have been increasingly active since Mubarak's ouster. Since Mubarak was toppled, the natural gas pipeline running through Sinai has been sabotaged five times, disrupting supplies to Israel and Jordan.
Under Mubarak, the killings of troops would have elicited criticism on the front pages of Egyptian dailies. In post-Mubarak Egypt, however, youth activists on social networking sites spread calls for demonstrations in front of the Israeli embassy.
Thousands of protesters gathered outside the embassy in Cairo for a second day on Saturday, demanding the expulsion of the Israeli envoy who is now vacationing abroad. A Palestinian flag was unfurled at the site, and some of the demonstrators threw firecrackers at the building. A protester climbed up the building and took down the Israeli flag, drawing cheers from the crowd.
A dozen armored vehicles were stationed in the area and soldiers formed a cordon in front of the main gates to prevent any protesters from reaching the embassy building.
In Jordan, the only other Arab country at peace with Israel, about 150 protesters called Saturday for cancellation of the 1994 treaty and expulsion of the ambassador.
By IAN DEITCH - Associated Press,MAGGIE MICHAEL - Associated Press
Source: Yahoo News
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's landmark 1979 peace treaty with Egypt is being tested by a cross-border attack blamed on Palestinian militants. Israel made a rare apology Saturday for the deaths of three Egyptian soldiers after Cairo threatened to withdraw its ambassador.
The attack on Thursday set off a new cycle of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Israeli airstrikes have been answered by Palestinians pelting southern Israel with at least 80 rockets and mortars since Friday. An Israeli was killed Saturday in the desert city of Beersheba, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Gaza.
"Israel is sorry for the deaths of the Egyptian policemen during the attack on the Israel-Egypt border," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said after Egypt threatened to withdraw its ambassador to protest the deaths of its soldiers.
The Egyptian government said late Saturday Israel's apology was welcome, but not enough. Still, it reaffirmed Egypt's commitment to the peace.
Israel's apology was a clear move to try to quickly contain the damage to already shaky relations with Egypt. Egypt's threat to take diplomatic action put Israel in the uncomfortable position of having to apologize for violence that was triggered after its borders were breached and its people attacked and killed.
Israeli officials promised to investigate the deaths of the Egyptians and insisted the peace treaty was stable.
"No one had any intention to harm Egyptian security personnel," Amos Gilled, a senior Israeli Defense Ministry official who works closely with Egypt, told Israel Radio.
But even before the clashes on Thursday, the February ouster of longtime President Hosni Mubarak in a popular revolt had unleashed an outpouring of anti-Israel sentiment in Egypt and criticism of the peace treaty. Israeli officials were also growing wary about instability in post-Mubarak Egypt.
Although the military leaders who now rule Egypt have expressed their commitment to the peace accord, Israel is watching closely for signs they might respond to the rising anti-Israel sentiment and distance themselves from the Jewish state.
As the country moves through a chaotic and rocky transition to democracy, Islamist groups tightly curbed under Mubarak look headed for a more powerful role in the new Egypt — something else that rattles nerves in Israel.
Mubarak was seen by his people as too sympathetic to Israel, negotiating a highly unpopular deal to supply it with natural gas. Israel, in turn, counted on Mubarak as a trusted, if cool, ally, maintaining the peace despite Egyptian disappointment that a wider agreement could not be reached with Palestinians and other Arab states.
The simmering hostilities in Egypt boiled over after the soldiers died. Egypt said it was a violation of the peace accord.
Israel says the attacks began when Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip crossed into Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, probably through one of the hundreds of smuggling tunnels under the border, then made their way more than 100 miles (150 kilometers) through the barren desert before crossing into southern Israel. Israel and Gaza both border the Sinai Peninsula.
The militants ambushed Israeli buses and cars with gunfire and a bomb and killed eight Israelis.
Israel and Egypt gave different versions of how the Egyptian soldiers died. Egypt said they were killed in an airstrike. Israel offered conflicting accounts. One account said there was an exchange of fire between its soldiers as they pursued the militants along the border.
A senior Israeli defense official told The Associated Press Saturday night that "initial reports in the investigation show that the terrorists came from Gaza and apparently opened fire on purpose near Egyptian positions in order to bring them into the fighting." He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to reporters.
The Israel-Egypt and Israel-Palestinian issues are closely intertwined. Egypt has tried for decades to broker a peace accord between Israelis and Palestinians. And in recent years, Egypt has tried to mediate an end to the internal Palestinian split between Fatah, which runs the West Bank through the Palestinian Authority, and the Islamic Hamas, which rules Gaza.
The aftermath of the clashes Thursday showed just how quickly Israeli-Palestinian violence can escalate.
Israeli airstrikes have killed 12 Palestinians, including two children, since Thursday, and Israeli leaders have made it clear that they will not put up with mounting violence from Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened senior ministers and security commanders late Saturday in an extraordinary session to discuss the surge in violence.
In Israel, one person was killed Saturday and dozens have been wounded in the barrage from Gaza, including a 2-week-old baby, hospital officials said. The flurry of exploding rockets damaged buildings all over Israel's south.
It was the heaviest salvo of rockets from Gaza since Israel staged an all-out ground and air operation in Gaza to stop daily rocket attacks in early 2009.
Israel is also concerned about an upsurge in Islamic militant activity in Sinai since Mubarak's fall. But no Israeli official has gone on record faulting Egypt for the way it is policing Sinai, where mountainous desert terrain and permeable borders have beckoned to extremists, contraband smugglers and African migrants for years.
Last week, Egypt moved thousands of troops into Sinai as part of a major operation against al-Qaida inspired militants who have been increasingly active since Mubarak's ouster. Since Mubarak was toppled, the natural gas pipeline running through Sinai has been sabotaged five times, disrupting supplies to Israel and Jordan.
Under Mubarak, the killings of troops would have elicited criticism on the front pages of Egyptian dailies. In post-Mubarak Egypt, however, youth activists on social networking sites spread calls for demonstrations in front of the Israeli embassy.
Thousands of protesters gathered outside the embassy in Cairo for a second day on Saturday, demanding the expulsion of the Israeli envoy who is now vacationing abroad. A Palestinian flag was unfurled at the site, and some of the demonstrators threw firecrackers at the building. A protester climbed up the building and took down the Israeli flag, drawing cheers from the crowd.
A dozen armored vehicles were stationed in the area and soldiers formed a cordon in front of the main gates to prevent any protesters from reaching the embassy building.
In Jordan, the only other Arab country at peace with Israel, about 150 protesters called Saturday for cancellation of the 1994 treaty and expulsion of the ambassador.
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