On January 29, 2007, the southern Israeli resort city of Eilat was shaken by the explosion of a Palestinian suicide bomber that killed three Israeli civilians and wounded several others. Responsibility for the attack—the first of its kind in Eilat and the first Palestinian suicide bombing in months—was jointly claimed by Islamic Jihad and Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade. It followed a speech by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas two weeks earlier to a Fatah rally in which he exhorted Palestinians to avoid internecine fighting and direct their arms at Israeli "occupation" instead.
In his January 11 speech to the central Fatah rally in Ramallah, broadcast live by Palestinian Satellite Channel Television, Abbas affirmed his own Fatah movement’s dedication to fighting Israel:
Since our launch and to date, we have believed in principles and have not renounced them. Since our launch, we said: Let a thousand roses bloom. Aim all rifles at the occupation....We have pointed our rifles at the occupation. This is a legitimate right; this is a legitimate right....
Not to be outdone by his Hamas rivals, whose reputations are built on their terrorist attacks against Israelis and steadfast commitment to Israel’s destruction, Abbas rejected any negotiation with Israel about Palestinian refugees or Jerusalem and "salute[d] the spirits" of "a long list of [Fatah] martyrs who fell in many locations during our struggle and led this blessed revolution." Identifying them by name, Abbas hailed high ranking members of Fatah who were heavily involved with or masterminds of terrorist attacks against Israelis—including airplane hijackings, assassinations of diplomats, the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre, the 1975 hostage taking at Tel Aviv’s Savoy hotel, the 1978 Coastal Road Massacre—and responsible for the deaths of hundreds of civilians.
He further inflamed the audience against Israel by describing a recent IDF arrest operation of a senior terror operative in which six Palestinians were killed, as a random, "barbaric" attack targeting Palestinians solely because of their nationality:
We remember the totally uncalled for barbaric attacks in Ramallah last week, which resulted in the martyrdom and injury of many young Palestinians for no reason whatsoever other than being Palestinians. For this reason Israel came with its deadly means in order to kill them and destroy what it indeed destroyed, and everyone witnessed this, the world witnessed this, and God witnessed this.
Given these words of incitement, is it any wonder that within weeks a Fatah group claimed responsibility for a terrorist attack against Israel? One need just listen to the words of the suicide bomber’s mother to hear Abbas’ own words echoed. Upon hearing of the murderous attack in Eilat, the suicide bomber’s mother expressed pride at the actions of her son, saying:
I pray to Allah that Muhammed will be accepted as a shaheed [martyr]. I hope that his martyrdom will deliver a message to the Fatah and Hamas fighters to stop the fighting and direct their weapons against the one and only enemy - Israel.
What is a wonder is that Abbas continues to receive a free pass by the media, who have ignored his incitement to violence against Israel. Far from reporting on his January 11 speech rousing his followers to direct their rifles against Israel, the media continues to portray Abbas as a "moderate." For example:
Significant progress has been made in secret coalition talks between the supreme Hamas leader and envoys of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, officials from both sides said Saturday, signaling a sudden shift in atmosphere after several weeks of deadly internal fighting. (AP, Jan. 13, 2007)
At least 30 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since moderate President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called for fresh elections last month, raising the stakes in his bitter power struggle with the governing Hamas Islamists. (Reuters, Jan. 15, 2007)
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday promised a bigger U.S. push toward a Palestinian state in a bid to bolster moderate President Mahmoud Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas. (Reuters, Jan. 15, 2007)
Moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was to meet in Damascus on Saturday with the top leader of Hamas, Khaled Mashaal, to try to forge a unity government that would satisfy all sides. (AP, January 18, 2007)
Although both Israeli and U.S. government officials have apparently preferred to downplay Abbas’ incendiary statements, such avoidance of his incitement to violence does not absolve the media in any way of its responsibility to report this critical information.
News consumers should be told the full story of the Eilat suicide attack. By ignoring the roots of the violence against Israel, the media fails in its duty to inform the public.
Camera
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Welcome To Palestine
In the world of international diplomacy few issues receive more wall-to-wall support than the notion that it is essential to establish a Palestinian state. Leaders worldwide are so busy speaking of how essential it is for a State of Palestine to be founded that none of them seems to have noticed that it already exists.
This state was officially founded in the summer of 2005, when Israel removed its military forces and civilian population from the Gaza Strip and so established the first wholly independent Palestinian state in history. Israel's destruction of four Israeli communities in Northern Samaria and curtailment of its military operations in the area set the conditions for statehood in that area as well.
And so it is that as statesmen and activists worldwide loudly proclaim their commitment to establishing the sovereign State of Palestine, they miss the fact that Palestine exists. And it is a nightmare.
In the State of Palestine 88 percent of the public feels insecure. Perhaps the other 12 percent are members of the multitude of regular and irregular militias. For in the State of Palestine the ratio of police/militiamen/men-under-arms to civilians is higher than in any other country on earth.
In the State of Palestine, two-year-olds are killed and no one cares. Children are woken up in the middle of the night and murdered in front of their parents. Worshipers in mosques are gunned down by terrorists who attend competing mosques. And no one cares. No international human rights groups publish reports calling for an end to the slaughter. No UN body condemns anyone or sends a fact-finding mission to investigate the murders.
In the State of Palestine, women are stripped naked and forced to march in the streets to humiliate their husbands. Ambulances are stopped on the way to hospitals and wounded are shot in cold blood. Terrorists enter operating rooms in hospitals and unplug patients from life-support machines.
In the State of Palestine, people are kidnapped from their homes in broad daylight and in front of the television cameras. This is the case because the kidnappers themselves are cameramen. Indeed, their commanders often run television stations. And because terror commanders run television stations in the State of Palestine, it should not be surprising that they bomb the competition's television stations.
SO IT WAS that last week, terrorists from this group or that group bombed Al Arabiya television station in Gaza. And so it is that Hamas attacks Fatah radio announcers and closes down their radio station claiming that they use their microphones to incite murder. Because indeed, they are inciting murder. What would one expect for terrorists to do when placed in charge of a radio station?
And so it is that in the State of Palestine, journalists - whether members of terror groups or not - are part of the 88 percent of their public who are afraid. Sunday they protested outside the offices of one terror faction or another that controls the Palestinian Authority.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, reporter Ala Masharawi explained, "No one goes outside, no one moves without thinking twice. Gaza's streets have become terrible streets, especially at night. Gaza is a ghost town."
As the Post's Khaled Abu Toameh reported last week, in the State of Palestine, Christians are persecuted, robbed and beaten in what can only be viewed as a systematic campaign to end the Christian presence in places like Bethlehem. As Samir Qumsiyeh, owner of the Beit Sahur-based private Al-Mahd (Nativity) TV station lamented, "I believe that 15 years from now there will be no Christians left in Bethlehem. Then you will need a torch to find a Christian here."
MANY GOVERNMENT ministers and commentators seek strategic meaning in the strife in the State of Palestine. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, for instance, goes on and on about the need to strengthen the "moderates" - that is, the Fatah terror group - over the "extremists" - that is, the Hamas terror group.
Helping her to propound this nonsense is PA Chairman and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas and his men tell Westerners how pro-Western they are at the same time as they name streets and schools financed by US aid after Saddam Hussein and build sports facilities on the American taxpayers' tab in memory of terrorists who killed American soldiers in Iraq.
For the umpteenth time, on Sunday Fatah spokesmen in PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's office blamed Iran and Syria for the escalating violence in Gaza and Judea and Samaria that has killed 29 people, including two children, in four days. "Iran and Syria are encouraging Hamas to continue fighting against Fatah," they alleged.
Damra and his partner and fellow Fatah terrorist Mahmad Ramaha, who was arrested a month ago, were working under the instruction of Hizbullah - that is, under the direction of Iran. According to the Shin Bet, Hizbullah - that is, Iran - has taken over Fatah operations in Nablus. Since Israel's withdrawal from northern Samaria in August 2005, the Shin Bet has noted that, like Gaza, the Nablus area has become a mini-Afghanistan.
So not only are Hamas terrorists operating under Iranian and Syrian direction today, Fatah terrorists are as well. Yet this doesn't stop the US and Israel from pouring guns and money into the hands of Fatah terror chiefs. They fail to recognize that what you see is what you get.
These guns are not used to encourage moderation. These guns are used against Israelis and Palestinians alike in a turf battle between terror groups over money, guns and power that will never end. And it will never end because fighting and killing for money, guns and power is what terrorists do.
FOR THE past 13 years, since the Palestinian Authority was established in 1994, the contours of the State of Palestine have taken form in front of our eyes. Starting with Yasser Arafat's abrogation of the rule of law and murderous campaign against land dealers and journalists, with each passing year and with each move to further empower the PA, the situation has only grown worse. And yet, international pressure on Israel from Arabs, Europeans and the US to surrender more territory, curtail its authority, abrogate its claims to the areas set for Palestine, and finance the Fatah terror group have only grown in intensity.
And with each passing year, as the reality of Palestine has become clearer, the Israeli leadership's will to resist this pressure is increasingly eroded.
So it is that last week Defense Minister Amir Peretz announced that he supports negotiating with Hamas. Peretz laid out his "vision" for the reinstatement of the so-called peace process with the Palestinians, and stated that, to "empower" the Palestinians, he supports extending the ban on IDF operations from Gaza to Judea and Samaria. It should go without saying that such IDF operations are aimed at preventing massacres of Israeli civilians like the one that happened in Eilat Monday morning.
LIVNI, FOR her part, has become the international champion of Fatah. Gushing to an audience of international peace processors in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Livni said, "In order to achieve peace and in order to promote a process, we must stick to this vision of a two-state solution and examine what the best steps to take are."
Of course, neither Livni nor Peretz, who insist that Israel's most urgent priority is to establish Palestine, is willing to recognize that Palestine exists already. They refuse to acknowledge what we already know: Palestine is a terror state and an economic basket case fully funded by the international community. Indeed, over the past year since Hamas won the Palestinian elections, international assistance to the Palestinians has increased dramatically.
As Ibrahim Gambari, the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs, noted last Thursday, official Western aid to the Palestinians, not including Arab and Iranian support for Hamas and Fatah, increased by 10 percent in 2006 over 2005, and stood at $1.2 billion.
The Palestinians, who receive more aid per capita than any people on earth, are needy not because they lack funds. They are poor because they prefer poverty, violence and war to prosperity, peace and moderation. So it is that 57 percent of Palestinians support terror attacks against Israel.
The multitude of protesters worldwide who demand an end to the so-called "occupation" and the establishment of Palestine should be made aware of the fact that Palestine already exists. The hordes of political leaders mindlessly squawking about "visions" and "two-state solutions" should know: This is Palestine. Enter at your own risk.
Jerusalem Post
This state was officially founded in the summer of 2005, when Israel removed its military forces and civilian population from the Gaza Strip and so established the first wholly independent Palestinian state in history. Israel's destruction of four Israeli communities in Northern Samaria and curtailment of its military operations in the area set the conditions for statehood in that area as well.
And so it is that as statesmen and activists worldwide loudly proclaim their commitment to establishing the sovereign State of Palestine, they miss the fact that Palestine exists. And it is a nightmare.
In the State of Palestine 88 percent of the public feels insecure. Perhaps the other 12 percent are members of the multitude of regular and irregular militias. For in the State of Palestine the ratio of police/militiamen/men-under-arms to civilians is higher than in any other country on earth.
In the State of Palestine, two-year-olds are killed and no one cares. Children are woken up in the middle of the night and murdered in front of their parents. Worshipers in mosques are gunned down by terrorists who attend competing mosques. And no one cares. No international human rights groups publish reports calling for an end to the slaughter. No UN body condemns anyone or sends a fact-finding mission to investigate the murders.
In the State of Palestine, women are stripped naked and forced to march in the streets to humiliate their husbands. Ambulances are stopped on the way to hospitals and wounded are shot in cold blood. Terrorists enter operating rooms in hospitals and unplug patients from life-support machines.
In the State of Palestine, people are kidnapped from their homes in broad daylight and in front of the television cameras. This is the case because the kidnappers themselves are cameramen. Indeed, their commanders often run television stations. And because terror commanders run television stations in the State of Palestine, it should not be surprising that they bomb the competition's television stations.
SO IT WAS that last week, terrorists from this group or that group bombed Al Arabiya television station in Gaza. And so it is that Hamas attacks Fatah radio announcers and closes down their radio station claiming that they use their microphones to incite murder. Because indeed, they are inciting murder. What would one expect for terrorists to do when placed in charge of a radio station?
And so it is that in the State of Palestine, journalists - whether members of terror groups or not - are part of the 88 percent of their public who are afraid. Sunday they protested outside the offices of one terror faction or another that controls the Palestinian Authority.
Speaking to The Jerusalem Post, reporter Ala Masharawi explained, "No one goes outside, no one moves without thinking twice. Gaza's streets have become terrible streets, especially at night. Gaza is a ghost town."
As the Post's Khaled Abu Toameh reported last week, in the State of Palestine, Christians are persecuted, robbed and beaten in what can only be viewed as a systematic campaign to end the Christian presence in places like Bethlehem. As Samir Qumsiyeh, owner of the Beit Sahur-based private Al-Mahd (Nativity) TV station lamented, "I believe that 15 years from now there will be no Christians left in Bethlehem. Then you will need a torch to find a Christian here."
MANY GOVERNMENT ministers and commentators seek strategic meaning in the strife in the State of Palestine. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, for instance, goes on and on about the need to strengthen the "moderates" - that is, the Fatah terror group - over the "extremists" - that is, the Hamas terror group.
Helping her to propound this nonsense is PA Chairman and Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas and his men tell Westerners how pro-Western they are at the same time as they name streets and schools financed by US aid after Saddam Hussein and build sports facilities on the American taxpayers' tab in memory of terrorists who killed American soldiers in Iraq.
For the umpteenth time, on Sunday Fatah spokesmen in PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's office blamed Iran and Syria for the escalating violence in Gaza and Judea and Samaria that has killed 29 people, including two children, in four days. "Iran and Syria are encouraging Hamas to continue fighting against Fatah," they alleged.
Damra and his partner and fellow Fatah terrorist Mahmad Ramaha, who was arrested a month ago, were working under the instruction of Hizbullah - that is, under the direction of Iran. According to the Shin Bet, Hizbullah - that is, Iran - has taken over Fatah operations in Nablus. Since Israel's withdrawal from northern Samaria in August 2005, the Shin Bet has noted that, like Gaza, the Nablus area has become a mini-Afghanistan.
So not only are Hamas terrorists operating under Iranian and Syrian direction today, Fatah terrorists are as well. Yet this doesn't stop the US and Israel from pouring guns and money into the hands of Fatah terror chiefs. They fail to recognize that what you see is what you get.
These guns are not used to encourage moderation. These guns are used against Israelis and Palestinians alike in a turf battle between terror groups over money, guns and power that will never end. And it will never end because fighting and killing for money, guns and power is what terrorists do.
FOR THE past 13 years, since the Palestinian Authority was established in 1994, the contours of the State of Palestine have taken form in front of our eyes. Starting with Yasser Arafat's abrogation of the rule of law and murderous campaign against land dealers and journalists, with each passing year and with each move to further empower the PA, the situation has only grown worse. And yet, international pressure on Israel from Arabs, Europeans and the US to surrender more territory, curtail its authority, abrogate its claims to the areas set for Palestine, and finance the Fatah terror group have only grown in intensity.
And with each passing year, as the reality of Palestine has become clearer, the Israeli leadership's will to resist this pressure is increasingly eroded.
So it is that last week Defense Minister Amir Peretz announced that he supports negotiating with Hamas. Peretz laid out his "vision" for the reinstatement of the so-called peace process with the Palestinians, and stated that, to "empower" the Palestinians, he supports extending the ban on IDF operations from Gaza to Judea and Samaria. It should go without saying that such IDF operations are aimed at preventing massacres of Israeli civilians like the one that happened in Eilat Monday morning.
LIVNI, FOR her part, has become the international champion of Fatah. Gushing to an audience of international peace processors in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Livni said, "In order to achieve peace and in order to promote a process, we must stick to this vision of a two-state solution and examine what the best steps to take are."
Of course, neither Livni nor Peretz, who insist that Israel's most urgent priority is to establish Palestine, is willing to recognize that Palestine exists already. They refuse to acknowledge what we already know: Palestine is a terror state and an economic basket case fully funded by the international community. Indeed, over the past year since Hamas won the Palestinian elections, international assistance to the Palestinians has increased dramatically.
As Ibrahim Gambari, the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs, noted last Thursday, official Western aid to the Palestinians, not including Arab and Iranian support for Hamas and Fatah, increased by 10 percent in 2006 over 2005, and stood at $1.2 billion.
The Palestinians, who receive more aid per capita than any people on earth, are needy not because they lack funds. They are poor because they prefer poverty, violence and war to prosperity, peace and moderation. So it is that 57 percent of Palestinians support terror attacks against Israel.
The multitude of protesters worldwide who demand an end to the so-called "occupation" and the establishment of Palestine should be made aware of the fact that Palestine already exists. The hordes of political leaders mindlessly squawking about "visions" and "two-state solutions" should know: This is Palestine. Enter at your own risk.
Jerusalem Post
Monday, January 29, 2007
Cabinet Approves Israel's First Muslim Minister
The cabinet approved on Sunday the appointment of Israel's first Arab cabinet minister when it voted by a large majority to name Labor MK Ghaleb Majadle as MK Ophir Paz-Pines's replacement.
The decision to bring the appointment to a vote came after weeks of negotiation by MK Eitan Cabel (Labor), the minister in charge of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, who agreed that for now, Majadle would be a minister-without-portfolio, rather than becoming minister of arts, culture and sports as planned.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that within two weeks, Majadle would be assigned a portfolio.
MK Nadia Hilu (Labor) expressed on Sunday her satisfaction with the appointment of fellow Labor MK Majadle to the cabinet.
"Today, a step forward was made in the integration and equality of the Arab population," Hilu said. "We only hope that in two weeks, the prime minister's promise will become an actuality."
"Majadle is a talented minister who deserves to have a portfolio," Hilu added.
The first scheduled cabinet vote on Majadle's appointment was postponed due to political sparring between Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, as well as within the Labor Party.
Olmert complained that Peretz had decided on the appointment without consulting him and that he informed the press of the decision before the Prime Minister's Office. Olmert told Kadima ministers that he had unsuccessfully tried to reach Peretz.
Peretz's associates countered the allegations by accusing Olmert of delaying the appointment out of a combination of racism and a desire to help former prime minister Ehud Barak unseat Peretz, and threatened to deliver an itemized list of phone calls from Peretz's office to prove that the Prime Minister's Office was contacted before the press.
'The addition of an Arab [to the cabinet] is a significant act whose time has come,' Olmert told Kadima ministers. 'But the move must be made while looking at the big picture of vacancies in the cabinet and the demands of Labor and Israel Beiteinu.'
Sources close to Olmert said he warned Peretz that if Majadle filled the vacancy in the Science, Culture and Sport Ministry, it would mean that Labor had abandoned its claim to the vacant Social Affairs portfolio.
On January 11, Israel Beitenu MK Estherina Tartman described the promotion of an Israeli Arab to the cabinet as an 'affliction,' prompting the State Attorney to investigate whether her remarks were a criminal violation.
In a letter to Attorney Eran Hermoni, chairman of the Labor Party Young Guard, Mazuz's assistant, Eyal Yinon, wrote that 'we would like to point out that on the criminal level, MK Tartman's words are being examined by the head of the Special Tasks Division in the State Attorney's Office [Attorney Shai Nitzan].'
Also in the cabinet meeting, Olmert, in a thinly veiled reference to Iran, said that Israel would "not allow the world" to be indifferent to calls for the Jewish people's destruction.
Olmert spoke after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning the denial of the Holocaust.
The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called the Holocaust a "myth" and has repeatedly preached the destruction of the Jewish state.
"We will not allow the world to once again sink into indifference, heedlessness and silence, thereby giving moral approval to speak in such terms about the existence of the Jewish people," Olmert told members of his cabinet on Sunday, without mentioning Iran by name
Jerusalem Post
The decision to bring the appointment to a vote came after weeks of negotiation by MK Eitan Cabel (Labor), the minister in charge of the Israel Broadcasting Authority, who agreed that for now, Majadle would be a minister-without-portfolio, rather than becoming minister of arts, culture and sports as planned.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that within two weeks, Majadle would be assigned a portfolio.
MK Nadia Hilu (Labor) expressed on Sunday her satisfaction with the appointment of fellow Labor MK Majadle to the cabinet.
"Today, a step forward was made in the integration and equality of the Arab population," Hilu said. "We only hope that in two weeks, the prime minister's promise will become an actuality."
"Majadle is a talented minister who deserves to have a portfolio," Hilu added.
The first scheduled cabinet vote on Majadle's appointment was postponed due to political sparring between Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz, as well as within the Labor Party.
Olmert complained that Peretz had decided on the appointment without consulting him and that he informed the press of the decision before the Prime Minister's Office. Olmert told Kadima ministers that he had unsuccessfully tried to reach Peretz.
Peretz's associates countered the allegations by accusing Olmert of delaying the appointment out of a combination of racism and a desire to help former prime minister Ehud Barak unseat Peretz, and threatened to deliver an itemized list of phone calls from Peretz's office to prove that the Prime Minister's Office was contacted before the press.
'The addition of an Arab [to the cabinet] is a significant act whose time has come,' Olmert told Kadima ministers. 'But the move must be made while looking at the big picture of vacancies in the cabinet and the demands of Labor and Israel Beiteinu.'
Sources close to Olmert said he warned Peretz that if Majadle filled the vacancy in the Science, Culture and Sport Ministry, it would mean that Labor had abandoned its claim to the vacant Social Affairs portfolio.
On January 11, Israel Beitenu MK Estherina Tartman described the promotion of an Israeli Arab to the cabinet as an 'affliction,' prompting the State Attorney to investigate whether her remarks were a criminal violation.
In a letter to Attorney Eran Hermoni, chairman of the Labor Party Young Guard, Mazuz's assistant, Eyal Yinon, wrote that 'we would like to point out that on the criminal level, MK Tartman's words are being examined by the head of the Special Tasks Division in the State Attorney's Office [Attorney Shai Nitzan].'
Also in the cabinet meeting, Olmert, in a thinly veiled reference to Iran, said that Israel would "not allow the world" to be indifferent to calls for the Jewish people's destruction.
Olmert spoke after the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning the denial of the Holocaust.
The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called the Holocaust a "myth" and has repeatedly preached the destruction of the Jewish state.
"We will not allow the world to once again sink into indifference, heedlessness and silence, thereby giving moral approval to speak in such terms about the existence of the Jewish people," Olmert told members of his cabinet on Sunday, without mentioning Iran by name
Jerusalem Post
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Yad Vashem To Collect Names From FSU
Yad Vashem and the Immigrant Absorption Ministry have embarked on a project to record the names of Soviet-era Jews who perished in the Holocaust.
Their emissaries will spend a month attempting to visit the roughly one million Russian immigrants in Israel to create a database of names, the ministry said.
Immigrant Absorption Minister Ze'ev Boim said there was a need to "knock on every door" to ask for information about the people who were murdered in Nazi-occupied Soviet territory during World War II.
The "Immortalization Month" campaign aims to gather as many names as possible of the hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews who perished. Yad Vashem has 3.1 million names of Jewish Holocaust victims in its database, of which only 350,000 names belong to Soviet Jews.
The Nazis and their collaborators murdered six million Jews. The low proportion of victims from the Soviet Union whose names have been recorded led Yad Vashem and the ministry to launch the campaign.
According to the ministry, only 20 percent of the victims from Soviet areas have been recorded, as opposed to about 80% from Western European countries and about 40% from nations like Hungary, Poland and Romania.
For example, Yad Vashem has the names of only 7,000 Jews murdered at Babi Yar in the Ukraine, although it is known that some 33,000 Jews were murdered there.
Boris Maftzir, who heads the project for Yad Vashem, lists several reasons for the dearth of recorded names from the former Soviet Union.
During Soviet times it was impossible to commemorate and document the Holocaust, and there was no access to archival material. In addition, the large migration of Soviet Jews in the '90s hampered efforts to collect information about those who perished, Maftzir says.
Another reason names were not readily accessible, according to Maftzir, was that the Germans had only begun to develop their systematic killing machine when they invaded these areas, and, despite tallying the number of dead, did not document their victims' names.
To date, Yad Vashem has collected the names of 30,000 victims from Jews living in Russia and the Ukraine. Only several thousand names have been documented as a result of questioning Russian-language immigrants in Israel. Yad Vashem estimates that many of the missing 3,000,000 names are of Jews from Soviet lands.
The project will be conducted during February all over the country, especially in areas with large concentrations of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. They will be presented with a "Witness Document" questionnaire.
Officials from the ministry will focus on its branch offices, immigrant centers, clubs, housing projects, libraries, local authorities, as well as working through immigrant organizations.
The questionnaires, which will collect biographical information about victims from the general public, survivors and the families of victims, will be collated and kept in the hall of names at Yad Vashem.
The Absorption Ministry is also recruiting dozens of volunteers from the immigrant community to conduct interviews with survivors and relatives of victims.
Boim said the campaign would also help to fight anti-Semitism, and called on the Russian-speaking immigrant community to cooperate in the "holy endeavor."
"The time we have to immortalize those who perished is running out," he said.
Jerusalem Post
Their emissaries will spend a month attempting to visit the roughly one million Russian immigrants in Israel to create a database of names, the ministry said.
Immigrant Absorption Minister Ze'ev Boim said there was a need to "knock on every door" to ask for information about the people who were murdered in Nazi-occupied Soviet territory during World War II.
The "Immortalization Month" campaign aims to gather as many names as possible of the hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews who perished. Yad Vashem has 3.1 million names of Jewish Holocaust victims in its database, of which only 350,000 names belong to Soviet Jews.
The Nazis and their collaborators murdered six million Jews. The low proportion of victims from the Soviet Union whose names have been recorded led Yad Vashem and the ministry to launch the campaign.
According to the ministry, only 20 percent of the victims from Soviet areas have been recorded, as opposed to about 80% from Western European countries and about 40% from nations like Hungary, Poland and Romania.
For example, Yad Vashem has the names of only 7,000 Jews murdered at Babi Yar in the Ukraine, although it is known that some 33,000 Jews were murdered there.
Boris Maftzir, who heads the project for Yad Vashem, lists several reasons for the dearth of recorded names from the former Soviet Union.
During Soviet times it was impossible to commemorate and document the Holocaust, and there was no access to archival material. In addition, the large migration of Soviet Jews in the '90s hampered efforts to collect information about those who perished, Maftzir says.
Another reason names were not readily accessible, according to Maftzir, was that the Germans had only begun to develop their systematic killing machine when they invaded these areas, and, despite tallying the number of dead, did not document their victims' names.
To date, Yad Vashem has collected the names of 30,000 victims from Jews living in Russia and the Ukraine. Only several thousand names have been documented as a result of questioning Russian-language immigrants in Israel. Yad Vashem estimates that many of the missing 3,000,000 names are of Jews from Soviet lands.
The project will be conducted during February all over the country, especially in areas with large concentrations of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. They will be presented with a "Witness Document" questionnaire.
Officials from the ministry will focus on its branch offices, immigrant centers, clubs, housing projects, libraries, local authorities, as well as working through immigrant organizations.
The questionnaires, which will collect biographical information about victims from the general public, survivors and the families of victims, will be collated and kept in the hall of names at Yad Vashem.
The Absorption Ministry is also recruiting dozens of volunteers from the immigrant community to conduct interviews with survivors and relatives of victims.
Boim said the campaign would also help to fight anti-Semitism, and called on the Russian-speaking immigrant community to cooperate in the "holy endeavor."
"The time we have to immortalize those who perished is running out," he said.
Jerusalem Post
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Germany Refuses To Return Nazi Stolen Jewish Art
A special German panel ruled on Thursday against returning a valuable collection of rare posters stolen by the Nazis to the son of the artwork's original owner.
Peter Sachs was only a year old in 1938 when his father's collection of 12,500 posters was seized and his family fled Germany for the United States.
Sachs sought to have the collection returned to the family -- but the panel ruled against him, citing a letter from the man's father and a 1960s-era compensation payment as grounds for keeping them in Germany.
"I am inexpressably saddened by the recommendation made today by the Limbach Commission," Sachs told The Associated Press.
Sachs, 69, had been invited to address the panel in an effort to win the return of what remains of the collection: some 4,300 posters with an estimated value of between US$10 million and US$50 million, held by Berlin's German Historical Museum.
It was not immediately clear what legal action Sachs might take, his New Jersey attorney Gary Osen said, noting that it was "hard to fathom" that his father, Hans Sachs, would have wanted the collection to stay with a museum instead of being returned to the family.
"I don't think that Peter Sachs can ever abide by the conclusion or the moral implication of what the commission has written," said Osen.
The collection includes elaborate advertisements for exhibitions, cabarets and consumer products, as well as political propaganda -- all rare, with only small original print runs.
The museum maintains that since Hans Sachs received compensation of 225,000 German marks (approximately US$50,000 at the time) from the West German government in 1961, the posters should remain in its collection.
Sachs' main argument is that the compensation was paid when it was assumed the collection was destroyed in the war, and that once his father found out that part of it had survived, he started trying to get access to it in the East German museum where it ended up.
However, the commission cited a letter dated 1966 in which Hans Sachs expressed to a West German friend that he viewed the payment as appropriate compensation.
Hans Sachs died in 1974. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German Historical Museum inherited the collection from its East German counterpart in 1990.
Peter Sachs, of Sarasota, Florida, testified behind closed doors before the eight-member panel, a special commission set up in 2003 under an agreement among federal, state and local governments under Jutta Limbach, a former chief justice of Germany's Federal Constitutional Court.
The panel's mandate is to mediate in disputes involving art looted by the Nazis from Jewish and other owners and to make recommendations.
The Nazis looted an estimated 150,000 pieces of art from Western Europe during World War II and some 500,000 pieces from Eastern and Central Europe.
The panel sat for two hours before retiring to discuss its recommendation.
Israeli Insider
Peter Sachs was only a year old in 1938 when his father's collection of 12,500 posters was seized and his family fled Germany for the United States.
Sachs sought to have the collection returned to the family -- but the panel ruled against him, citing a letter from the man's father and a 1960s-era compensation payment as grounds for keeping them in Germany.
"I am inexpressably saddened by the recommendation made today by the Limbach Commission," Sachs told The Associated Press.
Sachs, 69, had been invited to address the panel in an effort to win the return of what remains of the collection: some 4,300 posters with an estimated value of between US$10 million and US$50 million, held by Berlin's German Historical Museum.
It was not immediately clear what legal action Sachs might take, his New Jersey attorney Gary Osen said, noting that it was "hard to fathom" that his father, Hans Sachs, would have wanted the collection to stay with a museum instead of being returned to the family.
"I don't think that Peter Sachs can ever abide by the conclusion or the moral implication of what the commission has written," said Osen.
The collection includes elaborate advertisements for exhibitions, cabarets and consumer products, as well as political propaganda -- all rare, with only small original print runs.
The museum maintains that since Hans Sachs received compensation of 225,000 German marks (approximately US$50,000 at the time) from the West German government in 1961, the posters should remain in its collection.
Sachs' main argument is that the compensation was paid when it was assumed the collection was destroyed in the war, and that once his father found out that part of it had survived, he started trying to get access to it in the East German museum where it ended up.
However, the commission cited a letter dated 1966 in which Hans Sachs expressed to a West German friend that he viewed the payment as appropriate compensation.
Hans Sachs died in 1974. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German Historical Museum inherited the collection from its East German counterpart in 1990.
Peter Sachs, of Sarasota, Florida, testified behind closed doors before the eight-member panel, a special commission set up in 2003 under an agreement among federal, state and local governments under Jutta Limbach, a former chief justice of Germany's Federal Constitutional Court.
The panel's mandate is to mediate in disputes involving art looted by the Nazis from Jewish and other owners and to make recommendations.
The Nazis looted an estimated 150,000 pieces of art from Western Europe during World War II and some 500,000 pieces from Eastern and Central Europe.
The panel sat for two hours before retiring to discuss its recommendation.
Israeli Insider
Friday, January 26, 2007
WHO Chief Wants To Up Israelis' Role
Dr. Margaret Chan, the new director-general of the World Health Organization, has invited Israeli health professionals to contribute their experience and skills to the UN organization.
"I welcome any help from every member country," Chan told The Jerusalem Post at a reception for the WHO's executive board this week.
Two out of the possible nine Geneva headquarters positions currently are filled by Israelis. However, the WHO's executive board has 34 members who are qualified in the field of health, none of whom are Israelis.
The agenda for the forthcoming World Health Assembly is agreed upon and resolutions for forwarding to the assembly are adopted at the board meeting, which will be held in Geneva in May.
Chan, a physician from China, received her MD in Canada and began her career in public health in Hong Kong 30 years ago. She said her primary interests as secretary-general were health in Africa and women's health around the world.
Chan expressed much interest about Israel's achievements in absorbing tens of thousands of Ethiopian immigrants and treating those suffering from infectious diseases with modern medical techniques and of its advances in women's health.
Chan was director of health in Hong Kong for nine years. In that capacity she managed outbreaks of avian flu and of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Chan replaced Dr Lee Jong-wook of South Korea, who died at the age of 61 last May following a sudden illness. She took office January 1.
Dr. Marc Danzon, head of the WHO's European Region, to which Israel belongs (years ago it was part of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, but its presence there became impossible due to opposition from the mostly Arab members), told the Post even though most countries felt their know-how was not adequately tapped by the WHO, Israel had "grounds for such a feeling."
He said the reason was "not discrimination," but that Israeli health experts tended not to apply for jobs in the lower ranks of the organization, from where they could climb the rungs to reach senior positions in Geneva.
Danzon, who has Israeli relatives and visits the country frequently, said Israeli expertise in medical fields was very high and that it should be used more by the WHO.
Chan told the executive board she would continue ongoing reforms at the WHO but would not introduce changes that cause upheaval.
"There will be some changes, but these will be gradual and carefully managed," she said.
The WHO has managed to reduce the prevalence of measles, which can be deadly to children, especially in developing countries. In Africa, the region with the heaviest measles burden, deaths of children from measles have been cut by 75 percent. The WHO is also targeting malaria, which annually kills millions of children worldwide due to a lack of insecticide-infused mosquito netting.
Jerusalem Post
"I welcome any help from every member country," Chan told The Jerusalem Post at a reception for the WHO's executive board this week.
Two out of the possible nine Geneva headquarters positions currently are filled by Israelis. However, the WHO's executive board has 34 members who are qualified in the field of health, none of whom are Israelis.
The agenda for the forthcoming World Health Assembly is agreed upon and resolutions for forwarding to the assembly are adopted at the board meeting, which will be held in Geneva in May.
Chan, a physician from China, received her MD in Canada and began her career in public health in Hong Kong 30 years ago. She said her primary interests as secretary-general were health in Africa and women's health around the world.
Chan expressed much interest about Israel's achievements in absorbing tens of thousands of Ethiopian immigrants and treating those suffering from infectious diseases with modern medical techniques and of its advances in women's health.
Chan was director of health in Hong Kong for nine years. In that capacity she managed outbreaks of avian flu and of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).
Chan replaced Dr Lee Jong-wook of South Korea, who died at the age of 61 last May following a sudden illness. She took office January 1.
Dr. Marc Danzon, head of the WHO's European Region, to which Israel belongs (years ago it was part of the Eastern Mediterranean Region, but its presence there became impossible due to opposition from the mostly Arab members), told the Post even though most countries felt their know-how was not adequately tapped by the WHO, Israel had "grounds for such a feeling."
He said the reason was "not discrimination," but that Israeli health experts tended not to apply for jobs in the lower ranks of the organization, from where they could climb the rungs to reach senior positions in Geneva.
Danzon, who has Israeli relatives and visits the country frequently, said Israeli expertise in medical fields was very high and that it should be used more by the WHO.
Chan told the executive board she would continue ongoing reforms at the WHO but would not introduce changes that cause upheaval.
"There will be some changes, but these will be gradual and carefully managed," she said.
The WHO has managed to reduce the prevalence of measles, which can be deadly to children, especially in developing countries. In Africa, the region with the heaviest measles burden, deaths of children from measles have been cut by 75 percent. The WHO is also targeting malaria, which annually kills millions of children worldwide due to a lack of insecticide-infused mosquito netting.
Jerusalem Post
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Israeli Male Lifespan Among Highest
The average lifespan of Israeli men is among the highest in developed countries, according to an annual Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel report released Wednesday. Israeli women, meanwhile, rank close to the middle of the pack compared to their international counterparts.
Men in only five countries have longer lifespans than Israeli males, who live an average of 78 years: Iceland (79.2), Japan (78.6), Switzerland (78.6), Sweden (78.4), and Australia (78.1).
Even though Israeli women place lower than Israeli men, they live longer, with an average lifespan of 82.4 years.
The average lifespan is one measure for defining quality of life and differentiating between developed and undeveloped countries.
According to the report, the mortality rate in cities in the center of the country as well as Jerusalem is 7 to 8 percent lower than the average national rate.
The most prevalent causes of death here are heart and blood vessel diseases, which were responsible for 30 percent of all deaths in 2003, and cancer, at 25 percent.
"The quality and high level" of doctors and nurses "are not an insignificant source of the success of the Israeli health system," the report said.
However, although the number of doctors in Israel is similar to the rate in other industrial countries - 3.4 per 1,000 people - not all residents equally benefit from such prevalence. Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have more doctors than the national average - 4.2 and 3.9 per 1,000, respectively - while northern communities have only 2.3 doctors per 1,000 residents.
Residents of the periphery also have access to fewer hospital beds and an inferior medical infrastructure compared to those in the country's center, the report said.
While the number of nurses has increased in many developed countries since the 1990s, there has been no similar increase in Israel. Israel's 5:1,000 nurse-to-resident ratio places it at the bottom of the list of developed countries, along with Poland, Portugal, Greece and Turkey. Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands have three times as many nurses working in their health-care systems.
Haaretz
Men in only five countries have longer lifespans than Israeli males, who live an average of 78 years: Iceland (79.2), Japan (78.6), Switzerland (78.6), Sweden (78.4), and Australia (78.1).
Even though Israeli women place lower than Israeli men, they live longer, with an average lifespan of 82.4 years.
The average lifespan is one measure for defining quality of life and differentiating between developed and undeveloped countries.
According to the report, the mortality rate in cities in the center of the country as well as Jerusalem is 7 to 8 percent lower than the average national rate.
The most prevalent causes of death here are heart and blood vessel diseases, which were responsible for 30 percent of all deaths in 2003, and cancer, at 25 percent.
"The quality and high level" of doctors and nurses "are not an insignificant source of the success of the Israeli health system," the report said.
However, although the number of doctors in Israel is similar to the rate in other industrial countries - 3.4 per 1,000 people - not all residents equally benefit from such prevalence. Jerusalem and Tel Aviv have more doctors than the national average - 4.2 and 3.9 per 1,000, respectively - while northern communities have only 2.3 doctors per 1,000 residents.
Residents of the periphery also have access to fewer hospital beds and an inferior medical infrastructure compared to those in the country's center, the report said.
While the number of nurses has increased in many developed countries since the 1990s, there has been no similar increase in Israel. Israel's 5:1,000 nurse-to-resident ratio places it at the bottom of the list of developed countries, along with Poland, Portugal, Greece and Turkey. Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands have three times as many nurses working in their health-care systems.
Haaretz
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Pilgrims' Road To Second Temple Unearthed
At the end of the 19th century, the archaeologists Bliss and Dickey discovered a short piece of road dating back to the Herodian period in Jerusalem's City of David. The road ascended from south to north in the direction of the Temple Mount. Many years later, in 1963, the archaeologist Kathleen Kenyon found another piece of the road, a little closer to the Temple Mount. When, a little over a year ago, Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) archaeologists found yet another section of it, they believed they had solved a puzzle, and that they could now sketch the course of the main road by which many pilgrims of Second Temple times made their way up to the Temple after immersing themselves in the Siloam Spring. It turned out they were wrong. That road was apparently secondary.
The road that IAA archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron have now found, which is much grander, wider and more central, is parallel to the one Bliss and Dickey discovered. Reich believes that at a certain point further to the north, these two roads converged.
The City of David excavations are funded by the Elad Association, which buys houses in the City of David area and populates them with Jews. The dig also enjoys government backing, and funding from the Tourism Ministry; the Israel Nature and Parks Protection Authority and the Jerusalem Municipality are involved as well. About 20 laborers, mostly Arab residents of Silwan (the Arab neighborhood where the City of David is located) are employed by the IAA in the dig.
Not far from there, at a lower point, the IAA has continued to unearth the Pool of Siloam, which is much bigger than previously thought. But this dig has been halted for the time being, until talks are resumed with one of the churches, which owns the area believed to cover the rest of the pool.
Haaretz
The road that IAA archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron have now found, which is much grander, wider and more central, is parallel to the one Bliss and Dickey discovered. Reich believes that at a certain point further to the north, these two roads converged.
The City of David excavations are funded by the Elad Association, which buys houses in the City of David area and populates them with Jews. The dig also enjoys government backing, and funding from the Tourism Ministry; the Israel Nature and Parks Protection Authority and the Jerusalem Municipality are involved as well. About 20 laborers, mostly Arab residents of Silwan (the Arab neighborhood where the City of David is located) are employed by the IAA in the dig.
Not far from there, at a lower point, the IAA has continued to unearth the Pool of Siloam, which is much bigger than previously thought. But this dig has been halted for the time being, until talks are resumed with one of the churches, which owns the area believed to cover the rest of the pool.
Haaretz
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Yaalon: Israeli Concessions Will Only Aid Jihadists
The Palestinian government and Hizb'allah are seeking Israel's destruction, not just the end of the occupation, former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon said at the Herzliya Conference Monday. He also warned that Israel could not avoid a confrontation with Iran.
"The fact that Israel was attacked last summer from two areas it left strengthens the sense of a dead end, and proves that the root of the conflict is not the occupation of territories," Yaalon said.
He added that Hizbullah's aim was not the liberation of Lebanon, but the destruction of the State of Israel, and that the same was true of the Palestinian Hamas government.
"Erase the green line and the '67 borders -- Israeli concessions will only aid jihadists," Yaalon declared.
Turning to the Iranian threat, Yaalon said: "We cannot avoid confrontation with the Iranian regime.
"The sense of self-confidence in Iran is growing, and they have not paid any price for being a rogue regime. If we do not take political and economic steps, we are actually bringing a military conflict closer," the former chief of staff warned.
"This (Iranian) regime won't last forever," Yaalon said, but added: "I don't see any internal change without a shock coming from outside.
"Iran is a rogue government that supports terrorism. It must be punished by the international community," he insisted.
'UN losing authority'
Yaalon slammed the United Nations for failing to punish Hizbullah, Syria and Iran during the Lebanon war, saying that the international body "is losing authority in the world" as a result.
He urged cooperation with Sunni elements that "view the Shiite hegemony as a threat to their existence."
"The clash of civilisations is also going on inside the Muslim world. Not all Muslims are jihadists," Yaalon emphasized. "They too see what is happening in Gaza, and recognize that the culture of death is destructive. The West and Israel must make contact with them."
In response to a question as to the viability of the two-state solution, Yaalon said: "There is no full program on how it will look in the end. You have to point to the challenges and offer a strategy for the long-term. I don't know what will happen. I know those who talk about a road map or call for pressure on Israel to take steps to solve the problem (are suggesting something that is) irrelevant. Withdrawal will not solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or solve the jihadi threat."
'Palestinian education root of terror'
He added that without a drastic reform in the Palestinian education system, which he said brainwashes children to become terrorists, there could be no hope for peace. "We tried to ignore the education in Palestinian society. Eventually we were surprised that (Palestinian) society, educated from kindergarten to become suicide bombers, acted as it did," Yaalon said, pointing to the bomb attacks throughout the Oslo years of the 1990s.
"The basis of our belief, that the other side wants two states, is false. I think there is deep understanding among the American public over this," Yaalon added.
His comments were backed by former CIA Director James Woolsey. "As long as Wahabis are running Palestinian education, and little boys are taught to be suicide bombers, I don't see any reasonable prospects for settlement," Woolsey said.
The former CIA chief added that in Israel one-fifth of the population is Arab, living freely with full rights. He called for Palestinians to be held "to the same standard as Israel," adding that if standards were the same, "something in the order 500,000 Jews would be living in West Bank," with freedom of expression and religion...
Israel Insider
"The fact that Israel was attacked last summer from two areas it left strengthens the sense of a dead end, and proves that the root of the conflict is not the occupation of territories," Yaalon said.
He added that Hizbullah's aim was not the liberation of Lebanon, but the destruction of the State of Israel, and that the same was true of the Palestinian Hamas government.
"Erase the green line and the '67 borders -- Israeli concessions will only aid jihadists," Yaalon declared.
Turning to the Iranian threat, Yaalon said: "We cannot avoid confrontation with the Iranian regime.
"The sense of self-confidence in Iran is growing, and they have not paid any price for being a rogue regime. If we do not take political and economic steps, we are actually bringing a military conflict closer," the former chief of staff warned.
"This (Iranian) regime won't last forever," Yaalon said, but added: "I don't see any internal change without a shock coming from outside.
"Iran is a rogue government that supports terrorism. It must be punished by the international community," he insisted.
'UN losing authority'
Yaalon slammed the United Nations for failing to punish Hizbullah, Syria and Iran during the Lebanon war, saying that the international body "is losing authority in the world" as a result.
He urged cooperation with Sunni elements that "view the Shiite hegemony as a threat to their existence."
"The clash of civilisations is also going on inside the Muslim world. Not all Muslims are jihadists," Yaalon emphasized. "They too see what is happening in Gaza, and recognize that the culture of death is destructive. The West and Israel must make contact with them."
In response to a question as to the viability of the two-state solution, Yaalon said: "There is no full program on how it will look in the end. You have to point to the challenges and offer a strategy for the long-term. I don't know what will happen. I know those who talk about a road map or call for pressure on Israel to take steps to solve the problem (are suggesting something that is) irrelevant. Withdrawal will not solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or solve the jihadi threat."
'Palestinian education root of terror'
He added that without a drastic reform in the Palestinian education system, which he said brainwashes children to become terrorists, there could be no hope for peace. "We tried to ignore the education in Palestinian society. Eventually we were surprised that (Palestinian) society, educated from kindergarten to become suicide bombers, acted as it did," Yaalon said, pointing to the bomb attacks throughout the Oslo years of the 1990s.
"The basis of our belief, that the other side wants two states, is false. I think there is deep understanding among the American public over this," Yaalon added.
His comments were backed by former CIA Director James Woolsey. "As long as Wahabis are running Palestinian education, and little boys are taught to be suicide bombers, I don't see any reasonable prospects for settlement," Woolsey said.
The former CIA chief added that in Israel one-fifth of the population is Arab, living freely with full rights. He called for Palestinians to be held "to the same standard as Israel," adding that if standards were the same, "something in the order 500,000 Jews would be living in West Bank," with freedom of expression and religion...
Israel Insider
Monday, January 22, 2007
What About IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit!
Gilad Shalit’s great-grandfather (his father’s paternal grandfather) was murdered by the Nazis and his paternal grandmother survived the war in Vichy France, as The New York Times reports. His uncle, Yoel Shalit, died defending Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur war. For more than six months, Shalit has been held captive by Arab terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Two fellow soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, remain hostages of Hezbollah in Lebanon, if they are still alive. All three were seized by terrorists in brazen acts of war. Shalit was kidnapped in a raid in Israel on June 25. Goldwasser and Regev were snared last July 12.
Four weeks of warfare ensued. Shalit is believed to be alive, but there is nothing clear about the other two.
It is hard to believe that more than six months have passed. I read of Regev and Goldwasser’s capture while checking the news on July 12 before leaving for a train trip to Boston. The next afternoon, news of rocket shellings upon a number of Israeli towns was broadcast on a television set at an Israeli bookstore in Brookline. It turned out that one Israeli civilian was killed in Nahariya and 11 were wounded in Safed.
It is incredible that the continued imprisonment of our soldiers is barely on the radar screen. Jewish newspapers are stuffed with letters about Mel Gibson and Jimmy Carter, but concern expressed for the plight of the three soldiers has been limited. It is not like this is a matter of debate. A life-and-death crisis for three young Jews has been largely overlooked by the general public.
The captivity of our three MIAs symbolize Israel’s relationship with Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority. Their capture set off this two-front war, and the soldiers remain prisoners of Israel's enemies. The Lebanese government and the PA are fully responsible for controlling these terrorists, and therefore Israel has every right to re-engage in warfare to secure their release.
It is fundamentally humane for citizens to speak out in support of the three soldiers. We cannot be under the delusion that a public outcry will produce their release, but it is crucial that Americans, especially American Jews, tell the world to care about these soldiers.
Thankfully, a nationwide campaign is underway to lobby for their release. Among other actions, several major Jewish organizations are seeking a million signatures on a petition to be presented to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanding their release. The petition can be accessed at Freethesoldiers.org Web site, which is operated by United Jewish Communities, the umbrella organization for Jewish Federations throughout the United States.
Several members of Congress and the New Jersey legislature of both political parties urged the release of the three soldiers during a Dec. 20 news conference in Scotch Plains, N.J., along with Jewish leaders. State Senator Tom Kean, a Livingston Republican, said he will press for a resolution to this effect. Good idea: Such a measure need not be limited to the New Jersey legislature.
Speakers quoted in the Jewish News said it all:
“For the world community not to do something, gives the terrorists the feeling they got what they wanted out of their actions,” said Lori Price Abrams, director of the MetroWest Jewish Community Relations Committee. “There would be nothing to stop them from doing it again.”
Adi Segal, a High School senior in Teaneck said, “I felt I had to do something about it. We are showing the world American Jews stand by Israel in solidarity.”
And U.S. Rep. Michael A. Ferguson stated, “We cannot and will not forget these people and the people who are working to find these men and bring them home safely.”
If we as Americans, especially American Jews, do not show we care, why should anyone else? No release, no peace.
Arutz Sheva
Two fellow soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, remain hostages of Hezbollah in Lebanon, if they are still alive. All three were seized by terrorists in brazen acts of war. Shalit was kidnapped in a raid in Israel on June 25. Goldwasser and Regev were snared last July 12.
Four weeks of warfare ensued. Shalit is believed to be alive, but there is nothing clear about the other two.
It is hard to believe that more than six months have passed. I read of Regev and Goldwasser’s capture while checking the news on July 12 before leaving for a train trip to Boston. The next afternoon, news of rocket shellings upon a number of Israeli towns was broadcast on a television set at an Israeli bookstore in Brookline. It turned out that one Israeli civilian was killed in Nahariya and 11 were wounded in Safed.
It is incredible that the continued imprisonment of our soldiers is barely on the radar screen. Jewish newspapers are stuffed with letters about Mel Gibson and Jimmy Carter, but concern expressed for the plight of the three soldiers has been limited. It is not like this is a matter of debate. A life-and-death crisis for three young Jews has been largely overlooked by the general public.
The captivity of our three MIAs symbolize Israel’s relationship with Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority. Their capture set off this two-front war, and the soldiers remain prisoners of Israel's enemies. The Lebanese government and the PA are fully responsible for controlling these terrorists, and therefore Israel has every right to re-engage in warfare to secure their release.
It is fundamentally humane for citizens to speak out in support of the three soldiers. We cannot be under the delusion that a public outcry will produce their release, but it is crucial that Americans, especially American Jews, tell the world to care about these soldiers.
Thankfully, a nationwide campaign is underway to lobby for their release. Among other actions, several major Jewish organizations are seeking a million signatures on a petition to be presented to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanding their release. The petition can be accessed at Freethesoldiers.org Web site, which is operated by United Jewish Communities, the umbrella organization for Jewish Federations throughout the United States.
Several members of Congress and the New Jersey legislature of both political parties urged the release of the three soldiers during a Dec. 20 news conference in Scotch Plains, N.J., along with Jewish leaders. State Senator Tom Kean, a Livingston Republican, said he will press for a resolution to this effect. Good idea: Such a measure need not be limited to the New Jersey legislature.
Speakers quoted in the Jewish News said it all:
“For the world community not to do something, gives the terrorists the feeling they got what they wanted out of their actions,” said Lori Price Abrams, director of the MetroWest Jewish Community Relations Committee. “There would be nothing to stop them from doing it again.”
Adi Segal, a High School senior in Teaneck said, “I felt I had to do something about it. We are showing the world American Jews stand by Israel in solidarity.”
And U.S. Rep. Michael A. Ferguson stated, “We cannot and will not forget these people and the people who are working to find these men and bring them home safely.”
If we as Americans, especially American Jews, do not show we care, why should anyone else? No release, no peace.
Arutz Sheva
Saturday, January 20, 2007
UK Youth: What Is A Holocaust?
More than a quarter of young Britons do not know if the Holocaust happened, according to a poll on Friday that sparked alarm among Jewish leaders determined the world should not forget the Nazi genocide.
"This poll reinforces the necessity to observe the motto -- Never Again", said Winston Pickett, spokesman for the umbrella group, the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
The poll, conducted by The Jewish Chronicle to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, showed that 28 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds in Britain do not know if the Holocaust happened.
But teachers were given some comfort by the poll -- just one percent of those surveyed by YouGov pollsters thought the Holocaust was a myth.
By a majority of four-to-one they favoured Britain's decision to mark Holocaust Memorial Day every year on January 27, the day in 1945 when the advancing Russian army reached the Auschwitz concentration camp.
But only 16 percent of those polled felt that denying the Holocaust should be made a criminal offence in Britain.
They won backing from 85-year-old Auschwitz survivor Freddie Knoller who said: "We are in a country that has freedom of speech and I wouldn't like that to change."
But he did say that the figure demonstrating widespread ignorance of the Holocaust among young adults was "frightening. I lecture to schools, mostly to children over 16, but this makes me think I should concentrate on that group."
The Holocaust Educational Trust, which gives lessons in schools across Britain to inform the young about the Nazi genocide, said the survey gave cause for concern.
"It re-motivates, focuses and invigorates us at the trust to recognise our work is not done," executive director Karen Pollock told Reuters.
"Since the Holocaust, we have seen what happened in Kosovo, Rwanda, Cambodia and now Darfur," she said. "People have to apply the lessons of the past."
British Muslim leaders have in the past said they are unwilling to attend the annual commemorations, arguing that Holocaust Memorial Day should honour victims of genocide everywhere.
"We have misgivings about the name," said Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain.
"Our concern is that the day should be inclusive, as mass killing of any people, as happened in Rwanda and Bosnia, is unacceptable," he told Reuters.
Y Net News
"This poll reinforces the necessity to observe the motto -- Never Again", said Winston Pickett, spokesman for the umbrella group, the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
The poll, conducted by The Jewish Chronicle to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, showed that 28 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds in Britain do not know if the Holocaust happened.
But teachers were given some comfort by the poll -- just one percent of those surveyed by YouGov pollsters thought the Holocaust was a myth.
By a majority of four-to-one they favoured Britain's decision to mark Holocaust Memorial Day every year on January 27, the day in 1945 when the advancing Russian army reached the Auschwitz concentration camp.
But only 16 percent of those polled felt that denying the Holocaust should be made a criminal offence in Britain.
They won backing from 85-year-old Auschwitz survivor Freddie Knoller who said: "We are in a country that has freedom of speech and I wouldn't like that to change."
But he did say that the figure demonstrating widespread ignorance of the Holocaust among young adults was "frightening. I lecture to schools, mostly to children over 16, but this makes me think I should concentrate on that group."
The Holocaust Educational Trust, which gives lessons in schools across Britain to inform the young about the Nazi genocide, said the survey gave cause for concern.
"It re-motivates, focuses and invigorates us at the trust to recognise our work is not done," executive director Karen Pollock told Reuters.
"Since the Holocaust, we have seen what happened in Kosovo, Rwanda, Cambodia and now Darfur," she said. "People have to apply the lessons of the past."
British Muslim leaders have in the past said they are unwilling to attend the annual commemorations, arguing that Holocaust Memorial Day should honour victims of genocide everywhere.
"We have misgivings about the name," said Inayat Bunglawala, spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain.
"Our concern is that the day should be inclusive, as mass killing of any people, as happened in Rwanda and Bosnia, is unacceptable," he told Reuters.
Y Net News
Friday, January 19, 2007
Arab Convert Arrested For Aiding Jihad Brother
An Arab convert to Judaism living in Haifa was indicted Thursday for conspiring with the enemy and contacting a foreign agent – his brother, an Islamic Jihad terrorist.
Assaf Ben-David, born Hussam Hafez Mahmoud Suafta, converted to Judaism and left the PA-controlled village of Tubas, near Shechem, once he received Israeli citizenship in 1993. He is now accused of trying to pass materials for manufacturing explosives to his brother Salah, a member of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group
Salah was killed on December 20th in clashes with the IDF in Tubas before he could receive the nitrous acid from his brother.
Hussam Suafta, 39, was arrested a number of times for taking part in riots and anti-Israel attacks during the Intifada of the late 80s. He worked in Israel illegally and in 1993 began the conversion process, even enrolling in a Jerusalem yeshiva. Three years later he received Israeli citizenship and changed his name to Assaf Ben-David. He later married a Jewish woman, started a family and received the status of an oleh chadash, a new immigrant to Israel.
Hussam was in touch with Salah by telephone in recent months and met with him in Jenin in October, when he agreed to procure a large amount of nitrous acid. The two developed codes in order to evade detection and Salah gave Hussam several SIM cards to be used to evade Israeli surveillance.
Salah was killed resisting arrest on December 20th and Hussam converted to Islam anew just before he was apprehended on December 26.
Two of Suafta’s brothers are also in Israeli prisons after taking part in plans to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel recently.
Al-Aksa Brigades Terrorist
Also Thursday, Mohammed al-Gandur, a member of Fatah’s Al-Aksa Brigades was killed by IDF soldiers during an operation in Shechem. Al-Gandur was involved in a shooting attack and the preparation of bombs to be used against Israelis. Three other Al-Aksa terrorists were injured. No IDF injuries were reported in the clashes.
Thirteen wanted PA Arabs were arrested overnight, nine in Kalkilya, three from Fatah’s Tanzim, in Bethlehem and an Islamic Jihad terrorist in Jenin.
Terrorists opened fire on IDF forces operating in Ramallah, but failed to inflict any injuries.
Hevron police Thursday located a stolen Israeli blood-bank ambulance in the village of Dura. The ambulance had been stolen from the Tel Aviv region. After it was examined by police sappers, it was returned to its owners.
Arutz Sheva
Assaf Ben-David, born Hussam Hafez Mahmoud Suafta, converted to Judaism and left the PA-controlled village of Tubas, near Shechem, once he received Israeli citizenship in 1993. He is now accused of trying to pass materials for manufacturing explosives to his brother Salah, a member of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group
Salah was killed on December 20th in clashes with the IDF in Tubas before he could receive the nitrous acid from his brother.
Hussam Suafta, 39, was arrested a number of times for taking part in riots and anti-Israel attacks during the Intifada of the late 80s. He worked in Israel illegally and in 1993 began the conversion process, even enrolling in a Jerusalem yeshiva. Three years later he received Israeli citizenship and changed his name to Assaf Ben-David. He later married a Jewish woman, started a family and received the status of an oleh chadash, a new immigrant to Israel.
Hussam was in touch with Salah by telephone in recent months and met with him in Jenin in October, when he agreed to procure a large amount of nitrous acid. The two developed codes in order to evade detection and Salah gave Hussam several SIM cards to be used to evade Israeli surveillance.
Salah was killed resisting arrest on December 20th and Hussam converted to Islam anew just before he was apprehended on December 26.
Two of Suafta’s brothers are also in Israeli prisons after taking part in plans to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel recently.
Al-Aksa Brigades Terrorist
Also Thursday, Mohammed al-Gandur, a member of Fatah’s Al-Aksa Brigades was killed by IDF soldiers during an operation in Shechem. Al-Gandur was involved in a shooting attack and the preparation of bombs to be used against Israelis. Three other Al-Aksa terrorists were injured. No IDF injuries were reported in the clashes.
Thirteen wanted PA Arabs were arrested overnight, nine in Kalkilya, three from Fatah’s Tanzim, in Bethlehem and an Islamic Jihad terrorist in Jenin.
Terrorists opened fire on IDF forces operating in Ramallah, but failed to inflict any injuries.
Hevron police Thursday located a stolen Israeli blood-bank ambulance in the village of Dura. The ambulance had been stolen from the Tel Aviv region. After it was examined by police sappers, it was returned to its owners.
Arutz Sheva
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Germany: Sharp Rise In Conversions To Islam
A report prepared at the request of the German Interior Ministry revealed that 5,000 Germans converted to Islam between July 2004 and June 2005, a figure that is four times higher than that of the previous year.
In previous years the average number of Germans who converted to Islam stood at only 300.
The researchers said that while in the past most of those who converted were women who married Muslims, today many university graduates and high-wage earners are joining Prophet Mohammad’s religion.
According to Berlin Imam Mohammed Herzog – a former protestant priest who converted to Islam – the Germans are choosing Islam ‘as they respect its clear values and decrees.’
Y Net News
In previous years the average number of Germans who converted to Islam stood at only 300.
The researchers said that while in the past most of those who converted were women who married Muslims, today many university graduates and high-wage earners are joining Prophet Mohammad’s religion.
According to Berlin Imam Mohammed Herzog – a former protestant priest who converted to Islam – the Germans are choosing Islam ‘as they respect its clear values and decrees.’
Y Net News
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Skyguard Anti-Kassam Laser Back In Race
With two weeks left before Defense Minister Dir.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi is scheduled to reveal the anti-Kassam system the government plans to adopt and develop, US defense conglomerate Northrop Grumman retook its place in the contest this week after it finally presented new findings on its laser cannon to Israeli defense officials.
Last week, The Jerusalem Post learned, officials from the Pentagon and Northrop Grumman came to Tel Aviv for a meeting with the Defense Ministry's Research and Development Authority (MAFAT), assigned the task of choosing a short-range missile interception system that would counter the Kassam rockets from Gaza and the Katyusha rockets from Lebanon.
Israeli defense officials said that following the presentation by Northrop Grumman, the company was "back in the race" and stood a chance at winning the estimated $300 million deal.
Formerly known as the Nautilus, the Skyguard was developed by the US Army in conjunction with the IDF as a laser cannon capable of intercepting short-range missiles and projectiles, such as the Palestinian homemade Kassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip. Israel, which invested $100 million in the project over the past decade, several years ago decided to suspend its participation and investments following a similar decision by the US Army.
During the meeting, which officials said lasted several hours, defense officials received answers on the system's range and were also told that the system covers close to 10 kilometers of territory, far more than the three kilometers it was initially capable of protecting when it was first developed.
"The system is operational for rocket defense in Gaza and the North," Dan Wildt, director of business development for directed energy systems at Northrop Grumman, told the Post Tuesday.
One of the Northrop Grumman officials who visited Tel Aviv last week, Wildt said that the number of units Israel would need to defend its southern and northern fronts was less than defense officials had initially estimated. He said the system could be delivered to Israel within a year-and-a-half.
"One unit could defend Sderot and one unit could defend Ashkelon," Wildt said. "We can also have an operational system in Israel within 18 months of when the order is made."
Following the war in Lebanon, Defense Minister Amir Peretz appointed Ashkenazi to head a committee to locate and purchase an anti-missile defense system. According to officials, the committee plans to make its recommendation by the end of the week.
Northrop Grumman had been asking for a meeting with Israeli defense officials for several months but the meeting was only set after the US company received permission from the Pentagon to present Israel with classified information concerning the capabilities of the newly-upgraded system.
One system has already been tested at the US Armed Forces missile range in White Sands, New Mexico and, according to Northrop Grumman, could be operational and deployed in Israel within six months.
Jerusalem Post
Last week, The Jerusalem Post learned, officials from the Pentagon and Northrop Grumman came to Tel Aviv for a meeting with the Defense Ministry's Research and Development Authority (MAFAT), assigned the task of choosing a short-range missile interception system that would counter the Kassam rockets from Gaza and the Katyusha rockets from Lebanon.
Israeli defense officials said that following the presentation by Northrop Grumman, the company was "back in the race" and stood a chance at winning the estimated $300 million deal.
Formerly known as the Nautilus, the Skyguard was developed by the US Army in conjunction with the IDF as a laser cannon capable of intercepting short-range missiles and projectiles, such as the Palestinian homemade Kassam rocket fired from the Gaza Strip. Israel, which invested $100 million in the project over the past decade, several years ago decided to suspend its participation and investments following a similar decision by the US Army.
During the meeting, which officials said lasted several hours, defense officials received answers on the system's range and were also told that the system covers close to 10 kilometers of territory, far more than the three kilometers it was initially capable of protecting when it was first developed.
"The system is operational for rocket defense in Gaza and the North," Dan Wildt, director of business development for directed energy systems at Northrop Grumman, told the Post Tuesday.
One of the Northrop Grumman officials who visited Tel Aviv last week, Wildt said that the number of units Israel would need to defend its southern and northern fronts was less than defense officials had initially estimated. He said the system could be delivered to Israel within a year-and-a-half.
"One unit could defend Sderot and one unit could defend Ashkelon," Wildt said. "We can also have an operational system in Israel within 18 months of when the order is made."
Following the war in Lebanon, Defense Minister Amir Peretz appointed Ashkenazi to head a committee to locate and purchase an anti-missile defense system. According to officials, the committee plans to make its recommendation by the end of the week.
Northrop Grumman had been asking for a meeting with Israeli defense officials for several months but the meeting was only set after the US company received permission from the Pentagon to present Israel with classified information concerning the capabilities of the newly-upgraded system.
One system has already been tested at the US Armed Forces missile range in White Sands, New Mexico and, according to Northrop Grumman, could be operational and deployed in Israel within six months.
Jerusalem Post
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Hamas Says We Will Never Recognize Israel!
Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said on Monday the Islamist militant group Hamas would never recognize Israel.
Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, said in an interview from Gaza with Lebanese guerrilla group Hizb'allah's al-Manar television: "Hamas will never recognize the legitimacy of the occupation (Israel)."
"Hamas will never show flexibility over the issue of recognizing the legitimacy of the occupation," he added.
Hamas took control of the Palestinian government last March after winning parliamentary elections a year ago.
The United States and its allies imposed sanctions on the Hamas-led government to pressure it to recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by interim deals. The group has refused to abide by these demands.
Haniyeh said there had been "an encouraging start" to efforts aimed at forming a Palestinian national unity government with rival movement Fatah.
"I am full of hope that these efforts could succeed and I hope that the national unity government could see the light in the nearest time possible if the intentions were honest," he said.
At least 30 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called for new elections last month, raising the stakes in his power struggle with Hamas. Some Palestinians fear the fighting could lead to civil war.
Haniyeh renewed his rejection of Abbas' election call.
He said Hamas would never agree to conditions set by Western powers, which also included accepting previous interim peace accords signed in the 1990s by the Palestine Liberation Organization with Israel.
Abbas has called for peace talks with Israel.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2001 and have remained deadlocked further since Hamas took power.
Last week, the movement's exiled leader Khaled Meshaal told Reuters in Damascus where he is based that Hamas does "not talk about recognizing Israel or accepting it as a reality".
Barghouti for Shalit
Haniyeh said in the al-Manar interview there was "talk that progress has been achieved" on bids to free an Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza by militants in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. "They used to refuse talking about numbers and now they (Israel) have agreed," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he was willing to free Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel for Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was captured last June in a cross-border raid by gunmen from Hamas and other factions.
Haniyeh confirmed for the first time that factions had listed jailed Fatah leader Marwan al-Barghouti among those they wanted freed. Barghouti was jailed by an Israeli court for five life terms for ordering attacks on Israelis.
Israel has in the past refused to free prisoners with "blood on their hands".
Palestinian armed factions have demanded Israel release more than 1,000 prisoners for Shalit. Israel holds some 11,000 Palestinian prisoners in its jails.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, mediating to arrange an Israeli-Palestinian prisoner swap, said at a summit with Olmert this month in Egypt he hoped an agreement would be reached soon.
Y Net News
Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, said in an interview from Gaza with Lebanese guerrilla group Hizb'allah's al-Manar television: "Hamas will never recognize the legitimacy of the occupation (Israel)."
"Hamas will never show flexibility over the issue of recognizing the legitimacy of the occupation," he added.
Hamas took control of the Palestinian government last March after winning parliamentary elections a year ago.
The United States and its allies imposed sanctions on the Hamas-led government to pressure it to recognize Israel, renounce violence and abide by interim deals. The group has refused to abide by these demands.
Haniyeh said there had been "an encouraging start" to efforts aimed at forming a Palestinian national unity government with rival movement Fatah.
"I am full of hope that these efforts could succeed and I hope that the national unity government could see the light in the nearest time possible if the intentions were honest," he said.
At least 30 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah called for new elections last month, raising the stakes in his power struggle with Hamas. Some Palestinians fear the fighting could lead to civil war.
Haniyeh renewed his rejection of Abbas' election call.
He said Hamas would never agree to conditions set by Western powers, which also included accepting previous interim peace accords signed in the 1990s by the Palestine Liberation Organization with Israel.
Abbas has called for peace talks with Israel.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks collapsed in 2001 and have remained deadlocked further since Hamas took power.
Last week, the movement's exiled leader Khaled Meshaal told Reuters in Damascus where he is based that Hamas does "not talk about recognizing Israel or accepting it as a reality".
Barghouti for Shalit
Haniyeh said in the al-Manar interview there was "talk that progress has been achieved" on bids to free an Israeli soldier held captive in Gaza by militants in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. "They used to refuse talking about numbers and now they (Israel) have agreed," he said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he was willing to free Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel for Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was captured last June in a cross-border raid by gunmen from Hamas and other factions.
Haniyeh confirmed for the first time that factions had listed jailed Fatah leader Marwan al-Barghouti among those they wanted freed. Barghouti was jailed by an Israeli court for five life terms for ordering attacks on Israelis.
Israel has in the past refused to free prisoners with "blood on their hands".
Palestinian armed factions have demanded Israel release more than 1,000 prisoners for Shalit. Israel holds some 11,000 Palestinian prisoners in its jails.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, mediating to arrange an Israeli-Palestinian prisoner swap, said at a summit with Olmert this month in Egypt he hoped an agreement would be reached soon.
Y Net News
Monday, January 15, 2007
Ahmadinejad Kisser's Wife Files For Divorce
Moshe Aryeh Friedman, a senior Neturei Karta member, who passionately kissed Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, will now be forced to look for a woman who will agree to kiss him, as his wife has decided to leave him following his participation in the Holocaust denial conference which took place in Tehran about a month ago.
The participation of six Neturei Karta leaders in the Holocaust denial conference in Tehran continues to strip up emotions in the ultra-Orthodox community.
Friedman, who lives in Vienna, is the harshest person among the Neturei Karta representatives who arrived in Iran , and was even photographed kissing the Iranian president. He also stayed in Iran for another two weeks after his friends left, visiting universities across the country in order to speak against the State of Israel.
The 'Ultra-Orthodox Voice' service reported that when Friedman finally returned to Vienna he found out that his wife, following her parents' advice, had fled to the Satmar community in Williamsburg, New York City. There she approached rabbis and asked them to help her divorce her husband due to his misdeeds.
Friedman is not the only Neturei Karta member who is in trouble following the Holocaust denial conference. The group's British representative has been put under tight security for fear he would be hurt after the Jewish community in the United Kingdom decided to banish him.
Y Net News
The participation of six Neturei Karta leaders in the Holocaust denial conference in Tehran continues to strip up emotions in the ultra-Orthodox community.
Friedman, who lives in Vienna, is the harshest person among the Neturei Karta representatives who arrived in Iran , and was even photographed kissing the Iranian president. He also stayed in Iran for another two weeks after his friends left, visiting universities across the country in order to speak against the State of Israel.
The 'Ultra-Orthodox Voice' service reported that when Friedman finally returned to Vienna he found out that his wife, following her parents' advice, had fled to the Satmar community in Williamsburg, New York City. There she approached rabbis and asked them to help her divorce her husband due to his misdeeds.
Friedman is not the only Neturei Karta member who is in trouble following the Holocaust denial conference. The group's British representative has been put under tight security for fear he would be hurt after the Jewish community in the United Kingdom decided to banish him.
Y Net News
Sunday, January 14, 2007
PA Names Youth Soccer Tournament After Saddam
A soccer tournament for Arab youth in Tulkarm has been named after recently executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
“The sports department in the youth community center in Tulkarm is organizing the first soccer tournament named after the Shahid and leader, Saddam Hussein,” Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, the official organ of the Palestinian Authority, reported on January 10.
The irony was lost that Hussein's son Uday - who ran the Iraqi Olympic program under his father's brutal regime - used to torture athletes who failed to perform to his satisfaction.
In a separate development, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida also reported on January 8: “The Fatah movement in the Deheishe camp south of Bethlehem erected yesterday two memorial stones in the memory of two shahids, Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein. This took place during a ceremony of the movement for the commemoration of 42 years to its establishment, with the presence of the delegate of the Fatah movement, Muhammad Al-Laham… Al-Laham: 'The erecting of the two memorial stones comes from a positive recognition of the immense sacrifice that the two shahids realized for the sake of their nation. Both went without renouncing their national principles.'”
The two reports, translated into English by Palestinian Media Watch, reflect the abiding support Hussein enjoyed in the PA. His execution in Baghdad on December 30 sent many PA Arabs into deep mourning as they struggled to come to terms with the demise of perhaps their most steadfast ally.
Captured by American forces on December 13, 2003, Hussein was convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraq Special Tribunal and was sentenced to death by hanging. On December 26, 2006, his appeal was rejected and the death sentence upheld. He was executed four days later.
Unlike much of the rest of the world, where Saddam Hussein was viewed as a brutal dictator who oppressed his people and started regional wars, he was seen in Judea, Samaria and Gaza as a generous benefactor unafraid to fight for the Arab cause, even to the end.
Saddam's final words were reportedly, "Palestine is Arab."
"We heard of his martyrdom, and I swear to God we were deeply shaken from within," said Khadejeh Ahmad from the Qadora refugee camp near Bethlehem. "Nobody was as supportive or stood with the Palestinians as he did."
During the first Gulf War in 1991, the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza cheered Saddam's missile attacks on Israel, chanting "Beloved Saddam, strike Tel Aviv," as the Scud missiles flew overhead.
Hussein further endeared himself to the PA Arabs during the Intifada against Israel by giving US$25,000 to the family of each suicide bomber and US$10,000 for each local Arab killed in fighting. The stipends amounted to an estimated US$35 million.
Arutz Sheva
“The sports department in the youth community center in Tulkarm is organizing the first soccer tournament named after the Shahid and leader, Saddam Hussein,” Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, the official organ of the Palestinian Authority, reported on January 10.
The irony was lost that Hussein's son Uday - who ran the Iraqi Olympic program under his father's brutal regime - used to torture athletes who failed to perform to his satisfaction.
In a separate development, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida also reported on January 8: “The Fatah movement in the Deheishe camp south of Bethlehem erected yesterday two memorial stones in the memory of two shahids, Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein. This took place during a ceremony of the movement for the commemoration of 42 years to its establishment, with the presence of the delegate of the Fatah movement, Muhammad Al-Laham… Al-Laham: 'The erecting of the two memorial stones comes from a positive recognition of the immense sacrifice that the two shahids realized for the sake of their nation. Both went without renouncing their national principles.'”
The two reports, translated into English by Palestinian Media Watch, reflect the abiding support Hussein enjoyed in the PA. His execution in Baghdad on December 30 sent many PA Arabs into deep mourning as they struggled to come to terms with the demise of perhaps their most steadfast ally.
Captured by American forces on December 13, 2003, Hussein was convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraq Special Tribunal and was sentenced to death by hanging. On December 26, 2006, his appeal was rejected and the death sentence upheld. He was executed four days later.
Unlike much of the rest of the world, where Saddam Hussein was viewed as a brutal dictator who oppressed his people and started regional wars, he was seen in Judea, Samaria and Gaza as a generous benefactor unafraid to fight for the Arab cause, even to the end.
Saddam's final words were reportedly, "Palestine is Arab."
"We heard of his martyrdom, and I swear to God we were deeply shaken from within," said Khadejeh Ahmad from the Qadora refugee camp near Bethlehem. "Nobody was as supportive or stood with the Palestinians as he did."
During the first Gulf War in 1991, the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza cheered Saddam's missile attacks on Israel, chanting "Beloved Saddam, strike Tel Aviv," as the Scud missiles flew overhead.
Hussein further endeared himself to the PA Arabs during the Intifada against Israel by giving US$25,000 to the family of each suicide bomber and US$10,000 for each local Arab killed in fighting. The stipends amounted to an estimated US$35 million.
Arutz Sheva
Saturday, January 13, 2007
From Jenin To Baghdad
The average Israeli is not particularly interested in the US-led war in Iraq. As far as most Israelis are concerned, that war, going on just a few hundred kilometers from our borders, might as well be taking place in outer space. It simply doesn't seem connected to our local reality of the Palestinian-Iranian and Lebanese-Iranian jihad. Although greeted with sadness, the daily news updates on US and Iraqi casualties seem to bear no tangible relation to us.
Conversely, most Americans do not think that the war being fought against Israel is linked to the war in Iraq. Both the Bush administration's efforts to limit IDF operations against the Palestinians and Hizbullah and the US media's generally hostile portrayal of the war against Israel lead most Americans to share the Israeli view that the wars our nations fight are separate, distinct ones. And so, as far as most Israelis and Americans are concerned, Americans have nothing to learn from Israel's war and Israelis have nothing to learn from their war.
But the truth is far different. Indirectly, US President George W. Bush's address Wednesday night on the new direction the war in Iraq will soon take was a testament to this truth.
Although expected to announce a radical change in his administration's strategy in Iraq, in Wednesday's speech Bush did no such thing. In essence the president restated his long held view that victory in Iraq will come with the stabilization of a unified, democratic Iraqi regime and the parallel defeat of both the Sunni and Shi'ite insurgencies. Conversely, the enemy forces, operating under Syrian and Iranian sponsorship, fight precisely to prevent the stabilization of the regime and undermine the unity of the multi-ethnic, multi-religious Republic of Iraq.
Bush's plan to implement a "surge and hold" strategy for taking and maintaining control over Baghdad and the al-Qaida infested Anbar Province is based on a new realization that establishing and maintaining a modicum of security for the country's citizens is a precondition for any subsequent moves towards stabilizing Iraq politically.
FOR ISRAELI ears, the most notable aspect of Bush's "surge and hold" strategy is its striking similarity to the IDF's Operation Defensive Shield in 2002.
There is little doubt that the US has much greater leeway in its operations in Iraq than the IDF enjoys in its efforts against the Palestinians or Hizbullah. Their ability to cultivate and empower Iraqis who share their strategic outlook while weakening others who oppose them is far greater than Israel's ability today to influence the Palestinians or the Lebanese.
But for all that, the fact is that after nearly four years fighting in Iraq, the US essentially embraced the counter-insurgency strategy that Israel adopted in Judea and Samaria five years ago. And similar to the US operations in Iraq until now, Israel only adopted its surge and hold strategy in Judea and Samaria after two years of absorbing unrelenting and ever-escalating Palestinian terrorist attacks. Until Defensive Shield, Israel responded to the war being waged against its society by carrying out brief incursions into Palestinian towns, conducting arrests and swiftly retreating.
Indeed, if the Americans want to get a sense of the president's new plan's prospects for success they would do well to study developments in Israel since Operation Defensive Shield.
Bush warned that his new plan will not end the violence in Iraq. As he put it, "This new strategy will not yield an immediate end to suicide bombings, assassinations, or IED attacks. Our enemies in Iraq will make every effort to ensure that our television screens are filled with images of death and suffering. Yet over time, we can expect to see Iraqi troops chasing down murderers, fewer brazen acts of terror, and growing trust and cooperation from Baghdad's residents."
Ariel Sharon's voice echoes deeply in Bush's statement. After Defensive Shield failed to end Palestinian terrorist attacks, Sharon repeatedly stated that we couldn't expect for terror to end. And it is not surprising that the president's message was so familiar. His plan for Baghdad gives the same opportunities and places the same strategic limitations on success in Iraq that Defensive Shield placed on Israel's chances of ending the Palestinian jihad.
In both cases, the chosen strategy works to prevent terrorists located in specific, limited areas from rebuilding their capabilities by first defeating them and then remaining in place to block them from rearming or operating openly. Israel's experience since April 2002 in Judea and Samaria demonstrates its success. By maintaining IDF control over the areas, Israel has succeeded in limiting and delaying the development of the Palestinians' fighting capabilities in Judea and Samaria.
If US forces do surge and hold Baghdad, the Americans can safely assume that in the months to come Baghdad will experience a steep and sustainable drop in violence.
But by the same token, the Israeli experience also informs us of the price of adopting a strategy limited to an isolated front. Neither the war in Iraq, which is sponsored by Iran and Syria, nor the Palestinian war against Israel, which is sponsored by Iran, Syria and Egypt, are isolated, singular campaigns. And yet both the Israeli and the American surge and hold strategies treat them as if they are isolated, distinct, non-regional wars.
While IDF units capably tie down the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, they are incapable of wiping out the Palestinian terror infrastructure. Outside of Judea and Samaria, in places like Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, our enemies continue to develop and diversify their capabilities and today those capabilities span the terror and weapons of mass destruction spectrums. Indeed, by refusing to attach its operations in Judea and Samaria to a regional strategy for victory, the government has rendered the forces in Judea and Samaria powerless to achieve true victory in the areas. If the Israeli government is ever foolish enough to order the IDF to stand down, those terror forces will immediately rebuild their capabilities.
Israel's refusal to recognize the regional nature of the Palestinian war against it stems from the strategic blindness of Israel's leaders. Sharon and his successors Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, together with the opinion makers in the local media who back them, all refuse to recognize the regional nature of the war being waged against us. Ignoring the overwhelming evidence that the Palestinians - from Hamas to Islamic Jihad to Fatah - take their marching orders from Teheran, our leaders irrelevantly and dangerously work to establish a Fatah-led terror state in Judea and Samaria. That is, they seek to create a new Iranian-run terror state that will operate side-by-side with the Hamas-led Iranian-run terror state in Gaza.
While the Olmert government's decision to fork over guns, ammunition and $100 million to Fatah makes clear that it will not change its current course, Bush's address Wednesday gave hope that his administration may actually not ignore the regional character of the war it faces in Iraq. After presenting his plan for Baghdad and the Anbar Province, Bush spoke forthrightly about the ideological and regional nature of the war. Pointing an accusatory finger at Iran and Syria for their support for the insurgents in Iraq, Bush announced his intention to take action to end to their interference. He even hinted that the US may take military action against Iran's nuclear facilities saying, "I recently ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region."
BUT THERE is also cause for concern. As Bush gave a clear warning to Iran and Syria, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was preparing her next trip to the Middle East. Thursday Ma'ariv reported that Rice will devote her time here next week to pressuring Israel to agree to withdraw its forces from Judea and Samaria and so enable Fatah to establish a terror state there. Rice's reported plans indicate that far from acknowledging the regional nature of the war, the administration continues its slavish adherence to the view that war's various fronts are wholly unrelated, and that an Israeli defeat will either not impact or advance the chances for an American victory in Iraq.
In addition to the battlefield constraints the limited strategic approach imposes, it also causes damage on the home front. During Operation Defensive Shield, the Sharon government prevented the IDF from destroying the Palestinian Authority or even mounting a similar operation in Gaza. By so acting, the government ensured that the Palestinian war against Israel would continue on.
Yet at the same time, the unprecedented scale of the IDF's counter-terror offensive and Sharon's own rhetoric led the Israeli public to believe that after two years of stalling during which war had been waged against Israeli society, the government was finally ordering the IDF to win the war and defeat our enemies and so secure us from yet more massacres and terror. When the limited offensive did not bring about a sustained victory, Israeli society began to lose faith in the IDF's ability to defend it.
Similarly, the humiliating results of last summer's war with Hizbullah caused the public immense disappointment which only served to intensify its sense of despair. That disillusionment and despair also goes a long way towards explaining how the Kadima Party - which ran its election campaign last year under the banner of "pragmatic" defeatism - was able to win in the general elections. And it is the same despair that feeds our enemies' growing faith in their ultimate ability to destroy Israel.
In the US, the fact that the Bush administration's limited strategy in Iraq has taken a toll on the public's faith that victory will ultimately be achieved was demonstrated even more starkly in last November's Congressional elections. The Democrats won those elections while running as the anti-war party that will "Bring the Boys Home," from Iraq. Bush's attempt Wednesday to lower the public's expectations for victory by including statements like, "There will be no surrender ceremony on the deck of a battleship," in his speech, risked making the Democrats' defeatist message for them.
At the same time, by finally acknowledging the Iranian and Syrian role in the war in Iraq and implicitly widening the battlefield to encompass them, Bush's address presented the first cause for hope in recent memory that the US may actually stop its current policy of acting like Israel and fighting a regional war by playing defense on one front. For the first time since 2004, Bush gave reason to believe that Iran should be worried today.
Sadly, as long as Israel's current government remains in power, Israel has no chance of sharing what may well be America's new clarity of vision.
Jerusalem Post
Conversely, most Americans do not think that the war being fought against Israel is linked to the war in Iraq. Both the Bush administration's efforts to limit IDF operations against the Palestinians and Hizbullah and the US media's generally hostile portrayal of the war against Israel lead most Americans to share the Israeli view that the wars our nations fight are separate, distinct ones. And so, as far as most Israelis and Americans are concerned, Americans have nothing to learn from Israel's war and Israelis have nothing to learn from their war.
But the truth is far different. Indirectly, US President George W. Bush's address Wednesday night on the new direction the war in Iraq will soon take was a testament to this truth.
Although expected to announce a radical change in his administration's strategy in Iraq, in Wednesday's speech Bush did no such thing. In essence the president restated his long held view that victory in Iraq will come with the stabilization of a unified, democratic Iraqi regime and the parallel defeat of both the Sunni and Shi'ite insurgencies. Conversely, the enemy forces, operating under Syrian and Iranian sponsorship, fight precisely to prevent the stabilization of the regime and undermine the unity of the multi-ethnic, multi-religious Republic of Iraq.
Bush's plan to implement a "surge and hold" strategy for taking and maintaining control over Baghdad and the al-Qaida infested Anbar Province is based on a new realization that establishing and maintaining a modicum of security for the country's citizens is a precondition for any subsequent moves towards stabilizing Iraq politically.
FOR ISRAELI ears, the most notable aspect of Bush's "surge and hold" strategy is its striking similarity to the IDF's Operation Defensive Shield in 2002.
There is little doubt that the US has much greater leeway in its operations in Iraq than the IDF enjoys in its efforts against the Palestinians or Hizbullah. Their ability to cultivate and empower Iraqis who share their strategic outlook while weakening others who oppose them is far greater than Israel's ability today to influence the Palestinians or the Lebanese.
But for all that, the fact is that after nearly four years fighting in Iraq, the US essentially embraced the counter-insurgency strategy that Israel adopted in Judea and Samaria five years ago. And similar to the US operations in Iraq until now, Israel only adopted its surge and hold strategy in Judea and Samaria after two years of absorbing unrelenting and ever-escalating Palestinian terrorist attacks. Until Defensive Shield, Israel responded to the war being waged against its society by carrying out brief incursions into Palestinian towns, conducting arrests and swiftly retreating.
Indeed, if the Americans want to get a sense of the president's new plan's prospects for success they would do well to study developments in Israel since Operation Defensive Shield.
Bush warned that his new plan will not end the violence in Iraq. As he put it, "This new strategy will not yield an immediate end to suicide bombings, assassinations, or IED attacks. Our enemies in Iraq will make every effort to ensure that our television screens are filled with images of death and suffering. Yet over time, we can expect to see Iraqi troops chasing down murderers, fewer brazen acts of terror, and growing trust and cooperation from Baghdad's residents."
Ariel Sharon's voice echoes deeply in Bush's statement. After Defensive Shield failed to end Palestinian terrorist attacks, Sharon repeatedly stated that we couldn't expect for terror to end. And it is not surprising that the president's message was so familiar. His plan for Baghdad gives the same opportunities and places the same strategic limitations on success in Iraq that Defensive Shield placed on Israel's chances of ending the Palestinian jihad.
In both cases, the chosen strategy works to prevent terrorists located in specific, limited areas from rebuilding their capabilities by first defeating them and then remaining in place to block them from rearming or operating openly. Israel's experience since April 2002 in Judea and Samaria demonstrates its success. By maintaining IDF control over the areas, Israel has succeeded in limiting and delaying the development of the Palestinians' fighting capabilities in Judea and Samaria.
If US forces do surge and hold Baghdad, the Americans can safely assume that in the months to come Baghdad will experience a steep and sustainable drop in violence.
But by the same token, the Israeli experience also informs us of the price of adopting a strategy limited to an isolated front. Neither the war in Iraq, which is sponsored by Iran and Syria, nor the Palestinian war against Israel, which is sponsored by Iran, Syria and Egypt, are isolated, singular campaigns. And yet both the Israeli and the American surge and hold strategies treat them as if they are isolated, distinct, non-regional wars.
While IDF units capably tie down the Palestinians in Judea and Samaria, they are incapable of wiping out the Palestinian terror infrastructure. Outside of Judea and Samaria, in places like Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and Iran, our enemies continue to develop and diversify their capabilities and today those capabilities span the terror and weapons of mass destruction spectrums. Indeed, by refusing to attach its operations in Judea and Samaria to a regional strategy for victory, the government has rendered the forces in Judea and Samaria powerless to achieve true victory in the areas. If the Israeli government is ever foolish enough to order the IDF to stand down, those terror forces will immediately rebuild their capabilities.
Israel's refusal to recognize the regional nature of the Palestinian war against it stems from the strategic blindness of Israel's leaders. Sharon and his successors Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, together with the opinion makers in the local media who back them, all refuse to recognize the regional nature of the war being waged against us. Ignoring the overwhelming evidence that the Palestinians - from Hamas to Islamic Jihad to Fatah - take their marching orders from Teheran, our leaders irrelevantly and dangerously work to establish a Fatah-led terror state in Judea and Samaria. That is, they seek to create a new Iranian-run terror state that will operate side-by-side with the Hamas-led Iranian-run terror state in Gaza.
While the Olmert government's decision to fork over guns, ammunition and $100 million to Fatah makes clear that it will not change its current course, Bush's address Wednesday gave hope that his administration may actually not ignore the regional character of the war it faces in Iraq. After presenting his plan for Baghdad and the Anbar Province, Bush spoke forthrightly about the ideological and regional nature of the war. Pointing an accusatory finger at Iran and Syria for their support for the insurgents in Iraq, Bush announced his intention to take action to end to their interference. He even hinted that the US may take military action against Iran's nuclear facilities saying, "I recently ordered the deployment of an additional carrier strike group to the region."
BUT THERE is also cause for concern. As Bush gave a clear warning to Iran and Syria, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was preparing her next trip to the Middle East. Thursday Ma'ariv reported that Rice will devote her time here next week to pressuring Israel to agree to withdraw its forces from Judea and Samaria and so enable Fatah to establish a terror state there. Rice's reported plans indicate that far from acknowledging the regional nature of the war, the administration continues its slavish adherence to the view that war's various fronts are wholly unrelated, and that an Israeli defeat will either not impact or advance the chances for an American victory in Iraq.
In addition to the battlefield constraints the limited strategic approach imposes, it also causes damage on the home front. During Operation Defensive Shield, the Sharon government prevented the IDF from destroying the Palestinian Authority or even mounting a similar operation in Gaza. By so acting, the government ensured that the Palestinian war against Israel would continue on.
Yet at the same time, the unprecedented scale of the IDF's counter-terror offensive and Sharon's own rhetoric led the Israeli public to believe that after two years of stalling during which war had been waged against Israeli society, the government was finally ordering the IDF to win the war and defeat our enemies and so secure us from yet more massacres and terror. When the limited offensive did not bring about a sustained victory, Israeli society began to lose faith in the IDF's ability to defend it.
Similarly, the humiliating results of last summer's war with Hizbullah caused the public immense disappointment which only served to intensify its sense of despair. That disillusionment and despair also goes a long way towards explaining how the Kadima Party - which ran its election campaign last year under the banner of "pragmatic" defeatism - was able to win in the general elections. And it is the same despair that feeds our enemies' growing faith in their ultimate ability to destroy Israel.
In the US, the fact that the Bush administration's limited strategy in Iraq has taken a toll on the public's faith that victory will ultimately be achieved was demonstrated even more starkly in last November's Congressional elections. The Democrats won those elections while running as the anti-war party that will "Bring the Boys Home," from Iraq. Bush's attempt Wednesday to lower the public's expectations for victory by including statements like, "There will be no surrender ceremony on the deck of a battleship," in his speech, risked making the Democrats' defeatist message for them.
At the same time, by finally acknowledging the Iranian and Syrian role in the war in Iraq and implicitly widening the battlefield to encompass them, Bush's address presented the first cause for hope in recent memory that the US may actually stop its current policy of acting like Israel and fighting a regional war by playing defense on one front. For the first time since 2004, Bush gave reason to believe that Iran should be worried today.
Sadly, as long as Israel's current government remains in power, Israel has no chance of sharing what may well be America's new clarity of vision.
Jerusalem Post
Friday, January 12, 2007
American Weapons To Be Used On Jews'
The United States, aided by Israel, over the last few weeks has provided 7,000 assault rifles and more than 1 million rounds of ammunition to militias associated with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, senior Fatah militants told WND. The arms were provided to bolster Fatah against rival Hamas factions, the Fatah militants said.
Fatah and Hamas have engaged in weeks of deadly firefights since Abbas last month called for new Palestinian elections in a move widely seen as an attempt to dismantle the Hamas-led PA.
Abu Yousuf, a Fatah militant from Abba's Force 17 security forces, told WND while some of the weapons may be used in confrontations against Hamas, the bulk of the American arms would be utilized to "hit the Zionists."
He said if there is a major conflict with Israel, U.S. weapons provided to Fatah may be shared with other "Palestinian resistance organizations."
According to documents revealed Friday, the Bush administration will provide $86.4 million to strengthen security forces loyal to Abbas, including Force 17, Abbas' security detail, which also serves as de facto police units in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Some members of Force 17 also are openly members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization, Fatah's declared "military wing."
U.S. officials confirmed the financial aid is set to be transferred to Fatah.
The multi-million-dollar grant will be used to "assist the Palestinian Authority presidency in fulfilling PA commitments under the Road Map (peace plan) to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism and establish law and order in the West Bank and Gaza," a U.S. government document said.
Force 17 members told WND ammunition and 7,000 assault rifles they say were delivered the past few weeks reached Fatah security forces in the Gaza Strip and in Ramallah in the West Bank. It was unclear if the arms were part of the $86 million in U.S. aid.
Like other recent confirmed arms transfers from Egypt and the U.S., the latest American weapons shipments were driven through Israeli checkpoints by convoys protected by the Israeli Defense Forces, according to sources familiar with the transfers. In Gaza, the weapons were accepted by Fatah strongman Mahmoud Dahlan, the sources said.
A spokeswoman for the IDF refused to deny the latest purported U.S. weapons shipments.
"This is a matter for the state (of Israel) and the prime minister's office," the IDF spokeswoman said.
Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, could not immediately provide confirmation or denial of the American weapons shipment, saying Olmert's visit today to China is "keeping the staff fully busy."
The U.S. State Department did not return a request for comment before press time.
In an interview with WND, Fatah Force 17 security officer Abu Yousuf said some of the U.S. weapons his group received would be used against Hamas.
"The first place of these U.S. weapons will be to defend the Palestinian national project, which is reflected by the foundation of the Palestinian Authority. If Hamas or any other group under the influence of Iran and Syria wants to make a coup de tat against our institution, these weapons are there to defend the PA," said Abu Yousuf.
"We don't want to go to civil war with Hamas, because this is what both the U.S. and Israel want. This is our last option. We hope our brothers in Hamas won't oblige us to find ourselves in confrontation," Abu Yousuf said.
But the Fatah militant said the new American weapons may also be used to target Israelis. He admitted previous American arms supplied to Fatah were used in "resistance operations" against the Jewish state.
"If Israel will deliver what it promised to Abu Mazen (Abbas), [meaning a] withdrawal from Palestinian lands, including east Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, remove all the checkpoints in the West Bank, release our prisoners, and find a clear solution for our refugees, we'll control our forces and the distribution of weapons
"But if Israel doesn't deliver, and we find ourselves manipulated by Israel, we cannot guarantee members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Force 17 will not use these weapons against Israel. Our goal is to change the occupation," said Abu Yousuf.
" Its unnatural to think these American weapons won't be used against the Israelis," he said.
Like some other Force 17 members, Abu Yousuf is openly also a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
The Brigades, together with Islamic Jihad, has taken responsibility for every suicide bombing in Israel the past two years, including an attack in Tel Aviv in April that killed American teenager Daniel Wultz and nine Israelis. The Brigades also has carried out scores of deadly shooting and rocket attacks against Israeli civilians in recent months.
All Brigades leaders are also members of Fatah. Abbas last June appointed senior Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader Mahmoud Damra as commander of Force 17. Damra, who was arrested by Israel in November, was on the Jewish state's most-wanted list of terrorists.
Abu Yousuf said the American weapons shipments may be shared with other Palestinian terror groups. He said that during large confrontations with Israel, such as the Jewish state's 2002 anti-terror raid in Jenin, Fatah distributed weapons to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
"We don't look where this piece or that piece of weapon came from when fighting the Israelis," Abu Yousuf said.
He also pointed to what he said was Hamas' infiltration of some of Fatah's security forces as a possible mechanism Hamas can use to obtain Fatah's American-supplied weapons.
"Our organizations are infiltrated (by Hamas). In the last elections campaign, our Fatah party was astonished at how many of our security members votes for Hamas – we thought our own forces would vote 95 percent vote for us, but it was 70 percent for Fatah and 30 percent for Hamas," Abu Yousuf said.
A senior Fatah security official, speaking yesterday to WND on condition his name be withheld, says Fatah has a "significant problem" of its militia members in Gaza joining Hamas.
Sources close to Hamas said the Fatah militants, including members of Force 17, worked with Hamas after receiving larger paychecks from the terror group.
"When they join Hamas, they bring along their new weapons," said a Hamas source.
During a WND interview earlier this week, Hamas spokesman Abu Oubaida told WND his terror group will obtain any American weapons transferred to Fatah militias or purchased by Fatah using the incoming $86.4 million in U.S. aid.
"I am sure that like in the past, this $86 million from America will find its way to the Hamas resistance via the honorable persons in the Fatah security organizations, including in Force 17. I can confirm 100 percent that this money and purchased weapons will find its way to Hamas," said Abu Oubaida.
The last confirmed American arms shipment to Fatah took place in May. At first, it was denied by the U.S. and Israel, but Olmert in June admitted the transfer took place, telling reporters, "I needed to approve the shipment to help bolster Abbas."
The U.S. weapons were delivered to Gaza and Ramallah by the IDF, according to reports.
U.S. weapons prompting Palestinian arms race?
Meanwhile, Abu Abdullah, considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' so-called military wing, told WND the U.S. aid and weapons shipments have prompted a Palestinian arms race.
The Hamas leader said weapons procured as a result of the U.S. shipment will be used against Israel.
"The more the Americans give Abu Mazen (Abbas) weapons, the more we will have in the future weapons to use against the Israelis, because it incites the different organizations to intensify their own supply of weapons," said Abu Abdullah of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department.
According to Palestinian security sources, the increased drive by Hamas to obtain new weapons has raised the price of arms in Egypt and Jordan.
"An M-16 that sold for 6,000 Jordanian Dinar now is worth 10,000 Dinar because Hamas is trying to get more weapons," a Palestinian security source told WND.
Like Hamas spokesman Abu Oubaida, Hamas' Abu Abdullah said U.S. weapons to Fatah would eventually fall into the hands of Hamas:
"These American weapons will be one day the property of all the Palestinian people and its resistance, including Hamas," Abu Abdullah said. "The U.S. gives weapons to Fatah during internal Palestinian clashes, but one day when we go back to carrying out operations together, these [weapons] will be shared."
WND
Fatah and Hamas have engaged in weeks of deadly firefights since Abbas last month called for new Palestinian elections in a move widely seen as an attempt to dismantle the Hamas-led PA.
Abu Yousuf, a Fatah militant from Abba's Force 17 security forces, told WND while some of the weapons may be used in confrontations against Hamas, the bulk of the American arms would be utilized to "hit the Zionists."
He said if there is a major conflict with Israel, U.S. weapons provided to Fatah may be shared with other "Palestinian resistance organizations."
According to documents revealed Friday, the Bush administration will provide $86.4 million to strengthen security forces loyal to Abbas, including Force 17, Abbas' security detail, which also serves as de facto police units in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Some members of Force 17 also are openly members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror organization, Fatah's declared "military wing."
U.S. officials confirmed the financial aid is set to be transferred to Fatah.
The multi-million-dollar grant will be used to "assist the Palestinian Authority presidency in fulfilling PA commitments under the Road Map (peace plan) to dismantle the infrastructure of terrorism and establish law and order in the West Bank and Gaza," a U.S. government document said.
Force 17 members told WND ammunition and 7,000 assault rifles they say were delivered the past few weeks reached Fatah security forces in the Gaza Strip and in Ramallah in the West Bank. It was unclear if the arms were part of the $86 million in U.S. aid.
Like other recent confirmed arms transfers from Egypt and the U.S., the latest American weapons shipments were driven through Israeli checkpoints by convoys protected by the Israeli Defense Forces, according to sources familiar with the transfers. In Gaza, the weapons were accepted by Fatah strongman Mahmoud Dahlan, the sources said.
A spokeswoman for the IDF refused to deny the latest purported U.S. weapons shipments.
"This is a matter for the state (of Israel) and the prime minister's office," the IDF spokeswoman said.
Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, could not immediately provide confirmation or denial of the American weapons shipment, saying Olmert's visit today to China is "keeping the staff fully busy."
The U.S. State Department did not return a request for comment before press time.
In an interview with WND, Fatah Force 17 security officer Abu Yousuf said some of the U.S. weapons his group received would be used against Hamas.
"The first place of these U.S. weapons will be to defend the Palestinian national project, which is reflected by the foundation of the Palestinian Authority. If Hamas or any other group under the influence of Iran and Syria wants to make a coup de tat against our institution, these weapons are there to defend the PA," said Abu Yousuf.
"We don't want to go to civil war with Hamas, because this is what both the U.S. and Israel want. This is our last option. We hope our brothers in Hamas won't oblige us to find ourselves in confrontation," Abu Yousuf said.
But the Fatah militant said the new American weapons may also be used to target Israelis. He admitted previous American arms supplied to Fatah were used in "resistance operations" against the Jewish state.
"If Israel will deliver what it promised to Abu Mazen (Abbas), [meaning a] withdrawal from Palestinian lands, including east Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, remove all the checkpoints in the West Bank, release our prisoners, and find a clear solution for our refugees, we'll control our forces and the distribution of weapons
"But if Israel doesn't deliver, and we find ourselves manipulated by Israel, we cannot guarantee members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Force 17 will not use these weapons against Israel. Our goal is to change the occupation," said Abu Yousuf.
" Its unnatural to think these American weapons won't be used against the Israelis," he said.
Like some other Force 17 members, Abu Yousuf is openly also a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
The Brigades, together with Islamic Jihad, has taken responsibility for every suicide bombing in Israel the past two years, including an attack in Tel Aviv in April that killed American teenager Daniel Wultz and nine Israelis. The Brigades also has carried out scores of deadly shooting and rocket attacks against Israeli civilians in recent months.
All Brigades leaders are also members of Fatah. Abbas last June appointed senior Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades leader Mahmoud Damra as commander of Force 17. Damra, who was arrested by Israel in November, was on the Jewish state's most-wanted list of terrorists.
Abu Yousuf said the American weapons shipments may be shared with other Palestinian terror groups. He said that during large confrontations with Israel, such as the Jewish state's 2002 anti-terror raid in Jenin, Fatah distributed weapons to Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
"We don't look where this piece or that piece of weapon came from when fighting the Israelis," Abu Yousuf said.
He also pointed to what he said was Hamas' infiltration of some of Fatah's security forces as a possible mechanism Hamas can use to obtain Fatah's American-supplied weapons.
"Our organizations are infiltrated (by Hamas). In the last elections campaign, our Fatah party was astonished at how many of our security members votes for Hamas – we thought our own forces would vote 95 percent vote for us, but it was 70 percent for Fatah and 30 percent for Hamas," Abu Yousuf said.
A senior Fatah security official, speaking yesterday to WND on condition his name be withheld, says Fatah has a "significant problem" of its militia members in Gaza joining Hamas.
Sources close to Hamas said the Fatah militants, including members of Force 17, worked with Hamas after receiving larger paychecks from the terror group.
"When they join Hamas, they bring along their new weapons," said a Hamas source.
During a WND interview earlier this week, Hamas spokesman Abu Oubaida told WND his terror group will obtain any American weapons transferred to Fatah militias or purchased by Fatah using the incoming $86.4 million in U.S. aid.
"I am sure that like in the past, this $86 million from America will find its way to the Hamas resistance via the honorable persons in the Fatah security organizations, including in Force 17. I can confirm 100 percent that this money and purchased weapons will find its way to Hamas," said Abu Oubaida.
The last confirmed American arms shipment to Fatah took place in May. At first, it was denied by the U.S. and Israel, but Olmert in June admitted the transfer took place, telling reporters, "I needed to approve the shipment to help bolster Abbas."
The U.S. weapons were delivered to Gaza and Ramallah by the IDF, according to reports.
U.S. weapons prompting Palestinian arms race?
Meanwhile, Abu Abdullah, considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' so-called military wing, told WND the U.S. aid and weapons shipments have prompted a Palestinian arms race.
The Hamas leader said weapons procured as a result of the U.S. shipment will be used against Israel.
"The more the Americans give Abu Mazen (Abbas) weapons, the more we will have in the future weapons to use against the Israelis, because it incites the different organizations to intensify their own supply of weapons," said Abu Abdullah of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department.
According to Palestinian security sources, the increased drive by Hamas to obtain new weapons has raised the price of arms in Egypt and Jordan.
"An M-16 that sold for 6,000 Jordanian Dinar now is worth 10,000 Dinar because Hamas is trying to get more weapons," a Palestinian security source told WND.
Like Hamas spokesman Abu Oubaida, Hamas' Abu Abdullah said U.S. weapons to Fatah would eventually fall into the hands of Hamas:
"These American weapons will be one day the property of all the Palestinian people and its resistance, including Hamas," Abu Abdullah said. "The U.S. gives weapons to Fatah during internal Palestinian clashes, but one day when we go back to carrying out operations together, these [weapons] will be shared."
WND
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Terrorists: Our Demands To Free 1000 Are Just
A spokesman for one of the organizations responsible for the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit faults Israel for wanting proof that the soldier is still alive without freeing 250 terrorists in exchange.
Abu Mujahid, a spokesman for the Hamas-affiliated Popular Resistance Committees, spoke with the Palestinian Authority news agency Maan about the stalled talks for the release of kidnapped IDF Corp. Gilad Shalit.
The spokesman blamed Israel for sabotaging the talks, saying Israel should have accepted the Egyptian proposal. This proposal, he said, "was the closest one to the Palestinian demands in terms of the number of terrorists [to be freed from Israeli prisons] and the criteria for their release." He said that Israel actually expected to receive "free information" proving that Gilad Shalit was alive, while Hamas had demanded 250 prisoners in exchange for a video of the soldier.
Abu Mujahid says that Gilad's health is fine, and "he is being treated according to Islamic tradition... He was not humiliated or tortured." An Egyptian source also said recently that Shalit was alive, but no outside observers, such as the Red Cross, have ever been allowed to verify this.
Shalit was captured over six months ago by a group of eight Palestinian Hamas terrorists who tunneled underground from Gaza into Israel, murdered two tank
crewmembers, wounded a third, and took Shalit captive. Prime Minister Olmert said at the time that he holds PA chief Abu Mazen "personally responsible" for Shalit's safety, and said he would not conduct negotiations with Hamas for the soldier's release.
How many terrorists is Hamas demanding in exchange for Shalit? Though rumors of 1,400 have been circulating for months, Abu Mujahid has a different story: "Our just and humane demand is for the release of 1,000 Arab and Palestinian prisoners, including women and youths - and it will not change. The occupiers will surrender to our demands in the end, because stalling and condescension will not return the kidnapped soldier home... [We] can hold him for years."
Addressing remarks to Shalit's family, Abu Mujahid said, "Your government does not want to return your son back home. If it would have agreed to the Egyptian proposal, he would have been home already."
The two other IDF soldiers captured last year, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, were taken by Hamas at the start of the war in Lebanon. Information regarding their condition is even sparser than that on Shalit, and Olmert even let slip several weeks ago that he "hopes" they are alive.
Arutz Sheva
Abu Mujahid, a spokesman for the Hamas-affiliated Popular Resistance Committees, spoke with the Palestinian Authority news agency Maan about the stalled talks for the release of kidnapped IDF Corp. Gilad Shalit.
The spokesman blamed Israel for sabotaging the talks, saying Israel should have accepted the Egyptian proposal. This proposal, he said, "was the closest one to the Palestinian demands in terms of the number of terrorists [to be freed from Israeli prisons] and the criteria for their release." He said that Israel actually expected to receive "free information" proving that Gilad Shalit was alive, while Hamas had demanded 250 prisoners in exchange for a video of the soldier.
Abu Mujahid says that Gilad's health is fine, and "he is being treated according to Islamic tradition... He was not humiliated or tortured." An Egyptian source also said recently that Shalit was alive, but no outside observers, such as the Red Cross, have ever been allowed to verify this.
Shalit was captured over six months ago by a group of eight Palestinian Hamas terrorists who tunneled underground from Gaza into Israel, murdered two tank
crewmembers, wounded a third, and took Shalit captive. Prime Minister Olmert said at the time that he holds PA chief Abu Mazen "personally responsible" for Shalit's safety, and said he would not conduct negotiations with Hamas for the soldier's release.
How many terrorists is Hamas demanding in exchange for Shalit? Though rumors of 1,400 have been circulating for months, Abu Mujahid has a different story: "Our just and humane demand is for the release of 1,000 Arab and Palestinian prisoners, including women and youths - and it will not change. The occupiers will surrender to our demands in the end, because stalling and condescension will not return the kidnapped soldier home... [We] can hold him for years."
Addressing remarks to Shalit's family, Abu Mujahid said, "Your government does not want to return your son back home. If it would have agreed to the Egyptian proposal, he would have been home already."
The two other IDF soldiers captured last year, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, were taken by Hamas at the start of the war in Lebanon. Information regarding their condition is even sparser than that on Shalit, and Olmert even let slip several weeks ago that he "hopes" they are alive.
Arutz Sheva
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
US Orthodox Slam Natorei Karta
The participation of the Natorei Karta in a Holocaust denial conference held in Teheran last month, continues to draw the ire of Jews, but particularly that of the haredim who feel their credibility and image was threatened by the actions of the small anti-Zionist group.
The latest show of opposition came Sunday when hundreds of Jews, mostly Orthodox, protested in Monsey, NY, where the Natorei Karta have one of their headquarters.
Organized by a far-right Jewish group, the Jewish Defense Organization (JDO) that holds training sessions to teach Jews how to defend themselves against anti-Semitism, the protest was held outside the Natorei Karta headquarters and home of Rabbi Dovid Weiss who recently returned from the conference in Teheran. Weiss was one of several members of the group who attended the conference hosted by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Weiss would not comment on the protest, and told The Jerusalem Post that he has a policy of not speaking to "Zionist newspapers." The protest was one part of a larger campaign, called "Operation Screwball," by the JDO to ostracize the Natorei Karta. The JDO Web site now features photos of several members of the sect with their telephone numbers and addresses, in an attempt to encourage harassment. The group, which is not affiliated with the Jewish Defense League, is calling on synagogues and Jewish businesses in Monsey to deny entrance to or association with the group's members.
"We want them fired from their jobs and run out of Monsey," said Mordechai Levy, the national director of the JDO.
Protesters at Sunday's gathering, who came from Brooklyn, New Jersey and other parts of the New York metro area, carried signs that read "Natorei Karta U R Traitors." They were met with equally provocative signs from the Natorei Karta that said "Judaism rejects Zionism and the State of Israel." The anti-Zionist group stood outside their headquarters with a torn Israeli flag.
Since the conference in Teheran in December, some of the most vocal opposition in New York to the Natorei Karta's attendance has come from ultra-Orthodox groups such as the Satmar, some of whom ascribe to a more moderate from of anti-Zionist belief. The opposition stems in large part from a fear that the Natorei Karta will be seen to represent all of the ultra-Orthodox.
"The anti-Zionists who don't do anything to hurt government officials, but who support their philosophy, will be most outraged out of fear that they [Natorei Karta] are reflecting on them," said Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America. "We are hoping the media realizes that this is an aberration."
Shafran said the Natorei Karta who attended the conference represent a "sliver of a sliver" of the Orthodox community, and he added that the Orthodox community has done everything possible to distance themselves from the radical group. Like the Natorei Karta, Agudath Israel also opposed the creation of the state. But today, Shafran said, they accept the reality of Israel and said the group has good relations with Israeli government officials.
"Our basic philosophy is that perhaps the creation of the State of Israel would not have been the best thing to do at the time, but one has to deal with reality," Shafran said. "One does not coddle one's enemies, if one does one is taking a dangerous step."
The attempt by the ultra-Orthodox to distance themselves from the Jewish men who attended the conference in Teheran, "is all about fundraising," according to Professor Samuel Heilman, a sociology professor at Queens College in New York.
"Other groups recognize the appearance of somebody who looks like them, tars them all," said Heilman. "Besides the moral outrage, it is a real PR problem and they need to find some way to distinguish themselves." Though they seek to isolate and insulate themselves from the outside world, the ultra-Orthodox are "heavily dependent" on it, added Heilman.
"The Teheran group has easy PR, but their opponents don't have that kind of option." The Satmar, because of a shared commitment to anti-Zionism, feel particularly threatened.
"When the world sees someone who looks like me and goes to Iran and associates themselves with an enemy of the United States, so I have to raise hell and say I am not part of this," said Moshe Deutsch, a columnist for the Satmar newspaper in Brooklyn Der Yid. "Satmar has always stood against Zionism, but had its rules, parameters. These people went out of every norm and somehow it is presumed that's our position on Zionism."
Jerusalem Post
The latest show of opposition came Sunday when hundreds of Jews, mostly Orthodox, protested in Monsey, NY, where the Natorei Karta have one of their headquarters.
Organized by a far-right Jewish group, the Jewish Defense Organization (JDO) that holds training sessions to teach Jews how to defend themselves against anti-Semitism, the protest was held outside the Natorei Karta headquarters and home of Rabbi Dovid Weiss who recently returned from the conference in Teheran. Weiss was one of several members of the group who attended the conference hosted by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Weiss would not comment on the protest, and told The Jerusalem Post that he has a policy of not speaking to "Zionist newspapers." The protest was one part of a larger campaign, called "Operation Screwball," by the JDO to ostracize the Natorei Karta. The JDO Web site now features photos of several members of the sect with their telephone numbers and addresses, in an attempt to encourage harassment. The group, which is not affiliated with the Jewish Defense League, is calling on synagogues and Jewish businesses in Monsey to deny entrance to or association with the group's members.
"We want them fired from their jobs and run out of Monsey," said Mordechai Levy, the national director of the JDO.
Protesters at Sunday's gathering, who came from Brooklyn, New Jersey and other parts of the New York metro area, carried signs that read "Natorei Karta U R Traitors." They were met with equally provocative signs from the Natorei Karta that said "Judaism rejects Zionism and the State of Israel." The anti-Zionist group stood outside their headquarters with a torn Israeli flag.
Since the conference in Teheran in December, some of the most vocal opposition in New York to the Natorei Karta's attendance has come from ultra-Orthodox groups such as the Satmar, some of whom ascribe to a more moderate from of anti-Zionist belief. The opposition stems in large part from a fear that the Natorei Karta will be seen to represent all of the ultra-Orthodox.
"The anti-Zionists who don't do anything to hurt government officials, but who support their philosophy, will be most outraged out of fear that they [Natorei Karta] are reflecting on them," said Rabbi Avi Shafran, director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America. "We are hoping the media realizes that this is an aberration."
Shafran said the Natorei Karta who attended the conference represent a "sliver of a sliver" of the Orthodox community, and he added that the Orthodox community has done everything possible to distance themselves from the radical group. Like the Natorei Karta, Agudath Israel also opposed the creation of the state. But today, Shafran said, they accept the reality of Israel and said the group has good relations with Israeli government officials.
"Our basic philosophy is that perhaps the creation of the State of Israel would not have been the best thing to do at the time, but one has to deal with reality," Shafran said. "One does not coddle one's enemies, if one does one is taking a dangerous step."
The attempt by the ultra-Orthodox to distance themselves from the Jewish men who attended the conference in Teheran, "is all about fundraising," according to Professor Samuel Heilman, a sociology professor at Queens College in New York.
"Other groups recognize the appearance of somebody who looks like them, tars them all," said Heilman. "Besides the moral outrage, it is a real PR problem and they need to find some way to distinguish themselves." Though they seek to isolate and insulate themselves from the outside world, the ultra-Orthodox are "heavily dependent" on it, added Heilman.
"The Teheran group has easy PR, but their opponents don't have that kind of option." The Satmar, because of a shared commitment to anti-Zionism, feel particularly threatened.
"When the world sees someone who looks like me and goes to Iran and associates themselves with an enemy of the United States, so I have to raise hell and say I am not part of this," said Moshe Deutsch, a columnist for the Satmar newspaper in Brooklyn Der Yid. "Satmar has always stood against Zionism, but had its rules, parameters. These people went out of every norm and somehow it is presumed that's our position on Zionism."
Jerusalem Post
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Give Us Leadership!
Conflicting government policies relating to the so-called truce with the Palestinians are truly mind-boggling. What has unfolded over the past few weeks signals that our leadership has plainly lost the plot.
The pride of Zionism was that after 2,000 years of powerlessness the Israeli army could defend the Jewish people. In fact, our citizens' army did successfully repel the combined forces of all the Arab states seeking to annihilate us. Even now, in the wake of the blunders of our military and political leadership during the Lebanon war, the army of Israel remains the most effective military force in the region.
Yet over the past few weeks most of us have been aghast and enraged at the failure of the government to fulfill its primary responsibility - ensuring the safety and security of the civilian population.
Our leaders entered into a "truce" fully aware that the Palestinians were incapable and had no intention of even trying to genuinely curtail the terror initiatives being directed against us. Our prime minister, Ehud Olmert, kissed Mahmoud Abbas, the duplicitous successor of Yasser Arafat, and proclaimed him a moderate genuinely committed to the illusory peace process. Yet this man, who hypocritically repeats the mantra that terror attacks harm the Arab cause, sustains a genocidal culture. He not only sanctifies suicide bombers; he personally introduced legislation to provide pensions for the families of the murderers.
To this day he adamantly refuses to intervene against terror initiatives orchestrated under his jurisdiction. His own "security" forces remain actively engaged in terror initiatives and are responsible for murdering more Israeli civilians than Hamas.
Hamas accepted the truce for its own, short-term strategic requirements. But at least its leaders were honest about their intentions, proclaiming that, at a time of their choosing, they would unhesitatingly resume the battle for the liberation of all Palestine.
The IDF bitterly opposed the truce and warned the government that Israeli civilians would be at greater risk and that additional casualties would ensue. Although following the inauguration of the "truce" the Kassam rockets continued raining down on Sderot and the adjacent region, the army was explicitly precluded by the prime minister from taking defensive measures against the terrorists even if they were observed actually launching missiles against civilian targets.
The pathetic rationale of our prime minister and foreign minister was to prattle on about the enormous, positive global "diplomatic benefits" and the "good-will" Israeli restraint was achieving.
FOLLOWING A series of near-disasters, including Kassams striking a kindergarten, and only after two youngsters were critically injured did the prime minister ultimately agree to permit the IDF to fire on terrorists - but only if they were in the actual process of launching attacks. Even then he continued to deny the army the right to pursue killers after the missiles had been launched.
To top off this surrealistic scenario, the Palestinians warned that if Israel acted against the Kassam launchers, the truce would be ended!
Such shocking behavior not only disgraces our dysfunctional leaders. It reflects adversely on the entire nation.
If Israeli civilians in Tel Aviv or other major cities were under missile attack and the government insisted that the army stand by passively, the people would march on the Knesset and street riots would ensue. But apparently, if the casualties are "limited" and restricted to a border region like Sderot, this may be justified on the grounds that European politicians and even Egypt applaud us for the restraint we display while terrorists launch lethal missiles against our civilians.
Such callous indifference to the life and limb of citizens is shocking. It is of course utterly inconsistent with the sanctity of life and the obligation to defend oneself from murderers, both embedded in Jewish tradition. But even setting that aside, the fact is that other than the Palestinians and their allies, no other country in the world would, as a matter of deliberate policy, sacrifice civilians to promote diplomatic interests.
The world is now becoming accustomed to Israeli civilians being targeted by missiles, and when the day finally comes that we act we will probably be condemned for not continuing to stand by passively as our innocent civilians are killed and maimed.
But there is worse to come. We acquiesced to Gaza being flooded with new and devastating weapons, explosives and missiles via the porous Egyptian border. These arms may complement the Hizbullah buildup in the north. In addition, our government also deferred to the request of the Americans that Abbas's presidential guard be enabled to receive weapons knowing that, as in the past, it is virtually certain they will be employed against us.
And, of course, the Iranians are training and funding Hamas in the most advanced techniques of terror. They even provide financial rewards to those involved in Kassam attacks, with bonuses when Israelis are killed.
WHAT MUST the Palestinians think? They surely believe that Hassan Nasrallah was right when he described Israel as a spider web, lacking the backbone to protect its own citizens. Our enemies are becoming emboldened, celebrating the fact that whatever was left of our deterrence is disappearing. They are being encouraged to believe that by continuing to kill and maim women and children, they will ultimately force us to capitulate.
Our apparent willingness now to release large numbers of prisoners with blood on their hands "as a goodwill gesture" makes it clear that killing Jews no longer even guarantees incarceration.
How much longer can the people of Israel be expected to continue tolerating the outrageous spins and zigzags of our failed prime minister, or the crude rhetoric of our chameleon-like minister of defense using the media to castigate his prime minister? Or the vacuous outpourings of our foreign minister in defiance to Olmert, announcing that she intends to open an independent channel for negotiating with Abbas?
Other ministers also publicly argue with one another over crucial issues. And all this chaos prevails while our enemies gird themselves for war. Now, more than ever before, this country needs a coherent policy and a government which will speak with one voice and understand that the preservation of its citizens' lives and limbs represents its first priority. If our failed leaders are unable to move in this direction and get their act together they forfeit the moral right to lead the country. The madness must stop!
Gamla
The pride of Zionism was that after 2,000 years of powerlessness the Israeli army could defend the Jewish people. In fact, our citizens' army did successfully repel the combined forces of all the Arab states seeking to annihilate us. Even now, in the wake of the blunders of our military and political leadership during the Lebanon war, the army of Israel remains the most effective military force in the region.
Yet over the past few weeks most of us have been aghast and enraged at the failure of the government to fulfill its primary responsibility - ensuring the safety and security of the civilian population.
Our leaders entered into a "truce" fully aware that the Palestinians were incapable and had no intention of even trying to genuinely curtail the terror initiatives being directed against us. Our prime minister, Ehud Olmert, kissed Mahmoud Abbas, the duplicitous successor of Yasser Arafat, and proclaimed him a moderate genuinely committed to the illusory peace process. Yet this man, who hypocritically repeats the mantra that terror attacks harm the Arab cause, sustains a genocidal culture. He not only sanctifies suicide bombers; he personally introduced legislation to provide pensions for the families of the murderers.
To this day he adamantly refuses to intervene against terror initiatives orchestrated under his jurisdiction. His own "security" forces remain actively engaged in terror initiatives and are responsible for murdering more Israeli civilians than Hamas.
Hamas accepted the truce for its own, short-term strategic requirements. But at least its leaders were honest about their intentions, proclaiming that, at a time of their choosing, they would unhesitatingly resume the battle for the liberation of all Palestine.
The IDF bitterly opposed the truce and warned the government that Israeli civilians would be at greater risk and that additional casualties would ensue. Although following the inauguration of the "truce" the Kassam rockets continued raining down on Sderot and the adjacent region, the army was explicitly precluded by the prime minister from taking defensive measures against the terrorists even if they were observed actually launching missiles against civilian targets.
The pathetic rationale of our prime minister and foreign minister was to prattle on about the enormous, positive global "diplomatic benefits" and the "good-will" Israeli restraint was achieving.
FOLLOWING A series of near-disasters, including Kassams striking a kindergarten, and only after two youngsters were critically injured did the prime minister ultimately agree to permit the IDF to fire on terrorists - but only if they were in the actual process of launching attacks. Even then he continued to deny the army the right to pursue killers after the missiles had been launched.
To top off this surrealistic scenario, the Palestinians warned that if Israel acted against the Kassam launchers, the truce would be ended!
Such shocking behavior not only disgraces our dysfunctional leaders. It reflects adversely on the entire nation.
If Israeli civilians in Tel Aviv or other major cities were under missile attack and the government insisted that the army stand by passively, the people would march on the Knesset and street riots would ensue. But apparently, if the casualties are "limited" and restricted to a border region like Sderot, this may be justified on the grounds that European politicians and even Egypt applaud us for the restraint we display while terrorists launch lethal missiles against our civilians.
Such callous indifference to the life and limb of citizens is shocking. It is of course utterly inconsistent with the sanctity of life and the obligation to defend oneself from murderers, both embedded in Jewish tradition. But even setting that aside, the fact is that other than the Palestinians and their allies, no other country in the world would, as a matter of deliberate policy, sacrifice civilians to promote diplomatic interests.
The world is now becoming accustomed to Israeli civilians being targeted by missiles, and when the day finally comes that we act we will probably be condemned for not continuing to stand by passively as our innocent civilians are killed and maimed.
But there is worse to come. We acquiesced to Gaza being flooded with new and devastating weapons, explosives and missiles via the porous Egyptian border. These arms may complement the Hizbullah buildup in the north. In addition, our government also deferred to the request of the Americans that Abbas's presidential guard be enabled to receive weapons knowing that, as in the past, it is virtually certain they will be employed against us.
And, of course, the Iranians are training and funding Hamas in the most advanced techniques of terror. They even provide financial rewards to those involved in Kassam attacks, with bonuses when Israelis are killed.
WHAT MUST the Palestinians think? They surely believe that Hassan Nasrallah was right when he described Israel as a spider web, lacking the backbone to protect its own citizens. Our enemies are becoming emboldened, celebrating the fact that whatever was left of our deterrence is disappearing. They are being encouraged to believe that by continuing to kill and maim women and children, they will ultimately force us to capitulate.
Our apparent willingness now to release large numbers of prisoners with blood on their hands "as a goodwill gesture" makes it clear that killing Jews no longer even guarantees incarceration.
How much longer can the people of Israel be expected to continue tolerating the outrageous spins and zigzags of our failed prime minister, or the crude rhetoric of our chameleon-like minister of defense using the media to castigate his prime minister? Or the vacuous outpourings of our foreign minister in defiance to Olmert, announcing that she intends to open an independent channel for negotiating with Abbas?
Other ministers also publicly argue with one another over crucial issues. And all this chaos prevails while our enemies gird themselves for war. Now, more than ever before, this country needs a coherent policy and a government which will speak with one voice and understand that the preservation of its citizens' lives and limbs represents its first priority. If our failed leaders are unable to move in this direction and get their act together they forfeit the moral right to lead the country. The madness must stop!
Gamla
Monday, January 08, 2007
Won Marathon But Lost Citizenship
Just two days after winning the Tiberias Marathon and speaking about how "people should live together in harmony," Kenyan-born runner Mushir Salem Jawher was stripped of his Bahraini citizenship Saturday for competing in Israel.
The first athlete from an Arab country to compete in an Israeli marathon, Jawher won the race after completing it in just over two hours and 13 minutes.
His comments in The Jerusalem Post on Friday alerted Bahraini authorities.
"When I decided to come I didn't know it was history for me to be in here, but when I arrived [I was] told no other athlete had competed in Israel," said Jawher, a Catholic. "For me, it was no problem and I hope to come back and compete next year."
But while he celebrated afterward and declared that he was "very proud" to have run in Israel, Bahrain's Athletic Union said in a statement Saturday that it had received the news that a Bahraini national competed in Israel with "shock and regret."
"The union deeply regrets what the athlete has done," the statement said. A committee of sport and government authorities decided to strike Jawher's name off the sport union records and strip him of his Bahraini nationality, the statement said.
It said Jawher had entered Israel with his Kenyan passport and added that the runner's Bahraini citizenship was revoked because he had "violated the laws of Bahrain."
On Sunday, Israeli Athletic Association Chairman Shlomo Ben-Gal announced that he would be sending a letter to the International Association of
Athletics Federation requesting it support Jawher.
"According to the international treaty, an athlete has the freedom to compete at any event he chooses to and there can be no discrimination for political reasons," Gal rightly said. "We believe that sports should be above all political considerations, and that athlete s and sporting events can bridge and connect between countries across the world."
Jawher was born in Kenya in 1978 and moved to Bahrain in 2003, according to the International Association of Athletics Federation.
The tiny Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain has no official ties with Israel but is a close political ally of the United States.
The oil-refining and banking island also hosts the US 5th Fleet.
Jeruslaem Post
The first athlete from an Arab country to compete in an Israeli marathon, Jawher won the race after completing it in just over two hours and 13 minutes.
His comments in The Jerusalem Post on Friday alerted Bahraini authorities.
"When I decided to come I didn't know it was history for me to be in here, but when I arrived [I was] told no other athlete had competed in Israel," said Jawher, a Catholic. "For me, it was no problem and I hope to come back and compete next year."
But while he celebrated afterward and declared that he was "very proud" to have run in Israel, Bahrain's Athletic Union said in a statement Saturday that it had received the news that a Bahraini national competed in Israel with "shock and regret."
"The union deeply regrets what the athlete has done," the statement said. A committee of sport and government authorities decided to strike Jawher's name off the sport union records and strip him of his Bahraini nationality, the statement said.
It said Jawher had entered Israel with his Kenyan passport and added that the runner's Bahraini citizenship was revoked because he had "violated the laws of Bahrain."
On Sunday, Israeli Athletic Association Chairman Shlomo Ben-Gal announced that he would be sending a letter to the International Association of
Athletics Federation requesting it support Jawher.
"According to the international treaty, an athlete has the freedom to compete at any event he chooses to and there can be no discrimination for political reasons," Gal rightly said. "We believe that sports should be above all political considerations, and that athlete s and sporting events can bridge and connect between countries across the world."
Jawher was born in Kenya in 1978 and moved to Bahrain in 2003, according to the International Association of Athletics Federation.
The tiny Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain has no official ties with Israel but is a close political ally of the United States.
The oil-refining and banking island also hosts the US 5th Fleet.
Jeruslaem Post
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Is Israel Planning To Attack Iran's Nuclear Sites?
Israel has drawn up plans to destroy Iran's uranium enrichment facilities with tactical nuclear weapons, according to a report in the London-based Sunday Times on Sunday morning.
The British newspaper said that two IAF squadrons had been training to blow up an enrichment plant in Natanz using low-yield nuclear "bunker busters."
Jerusalem officials refused to comment on the report later Sunday morning, Army Radio said.
A heavy water plant at Arak and a uranium conversion plant at Isfahan would also be targeted, using conventional bombs, according to the Times.
Reportedly, the plan envisaged conventional laser-guided bombs opening "tunnels" into the targets. Nuclear warheads would then be fired into the plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce radioactive fallout.
IAF pilots have flown to Gibraltar in recent weeks to train for the 2,000 mile round-trip to the Iranian targets, the Times said, adding that three possible routes to Iran had been mapped out, including one over Turkey.
The Times suggested that Israel may be trying to scare Iran or to cajole the US into taking stronger action against Teheran's nuclear program.
However, the report went on to speculate that Israel may strike at Iran's nuclear facilities and pressure the Americans to agree with the move after the event.
In March 2005, The Sunday Times reported that Israel had drawn up secret plans for a combined air and ground attack on targets in Iran if diplomacy failed to halt the Iranian nuclear program.
The newspaper then claimed that the inner cabinet of former prime minister Ariel Sharon had given "initial authorization" for an attack at a private meeting on his ranch in the Negev.
Jerusalem Post
The British newspaper said that two IAF squadrons had been training to blow up an enrichment plant in Natanz using low-yield nuclear "bunker busters."
Jerusalem officials refused to comment on the report later Sunday morning, Army Radio said.
A heavy water plant at Arak and a uranium conversion plant at Isfahan would also be targeted, using conventional bombs, according to the Times.
Reportedly, the plan envisaged conventional laser-guided bombs opening "tunnels" into the targets. Nuclear warheads would then be fired into the plant at Natanz, exploding deep underground to reduce radioactive fallout.
IAF pilots have flown to Gibraltar in recent weeks to train for the 2,000 mile round-trip to the Iranian targets, the Times said, adding that three possible routes to Iran had been mapped out, including one over Turkey.
The Times suggested that Israel may be trying to scare Iran or to cajole the US into taking stronger action against Teheran's nuclear program.
However, the report went on to speculate that Israel may strike at Iran's nuclear facilities and pressure the Americans to agree with the move after the event.
In March 2005, The Sunday Times reported that Israel had drawn up secret plans for a combined air and ground attack on targets in Iran if diplomacy failed to halt the Iranian nuclear program.
The newspaper then claimed that the inner cabinet of former prime minister Ariel Sharon had given "initial authorization" for an attack at a private meeting on his ranch in the Negev.
Jerusalem Post
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Hizb'allah Wants Its Terrorist For IDF Prisoner
Hizb'allah officials recently made surprising promises to the family members of Lebanese prisoner, Samir Kuntar, according to which he would be released from Israeli prison "very soon".
In the past, Hizb'allah regarded releasing Kuntar as an obligatory precondition for any future prisoner exchange deal with Israel. The militia's chief also declared that if Kuntar would not be released Hizb'allah would not negotiate any exchange whatsoever.
A Hizb'allah delegation recently met Kuntar's family in the city of Abiya. The Lebanese Sheikh who came with the envoy, Sheikh Atalla Hamoud, told Kuntar's family that his release would happen very soon. "Your meeting with us is at hand," he turned to Kuntar in the meeting with his family members.
During the meeting Kuntar's brother, Bassam, who in recent years has been leading the campaign to release his brother, thanked the Lebanese prisoners captured during the recent Lebanon War and the "Shahids who defeated the enemy."
Hizb'allah leader Hassan Nasrallah said many times in the past thatreleasing Kuntar is one of his top priorities. Last April Nasrallah made a speech in which he promised to continue resistance to Israel and Jihad actions until Kuntar's release.
"You will return by the force of the resistance's guns, the resistance's blood and the resistance's actions. I want to promise you and your brothers that when we practice Jihad we rely on our right to release our prisoners by any means possible," Nasrallah said.
After the kidnaooing of the two IDF soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, in July 2006, Nasrallah held a press conference in which he repeated his commitment to release Kuntar in a prisoner exchange deal with Israel.
Jerusalem Post
In the past, Hizb'allah regarded releasing Kuntar as an obligatory precondition for any future prisoner exchange deal with Israel. The militia's chief also declared that if Kuntar would not be released Hizb'allah would not negotiate any exchange whatsoever.
A Hizb'allah delegation recently met Kuntar's family in the city of Abiya. The Lebanese Sheikh who came with the envoy, Sheikh Atalla Hamoud, told Kuntar's family that his release would happen very soon. "Your meeting with us is at hand," he turned to Kuntar in the meeting with his family members.
During the meeting Kuntar's brother, Bassam, who in recent years has been leading the campaign to release his brother, thanked the Lebanese prisoners captured during the recent Lebanon War and the "Shahids who defeated the enemy."
Hizb'allah leader Hassan Nasrallah said many times in the past thatreleasing Kuntar is one of his top priorities. Last April Nasrallah made a speech in which he promised to continue resistance to Israel and Jihad actions until Kuntar's release.
"You will return by the force of the resistance's guns, the resistance's blood and the resistance's actions. I want to promise you and your brothers that when we practice Jihad we rely on our right to release our prisoners by any means possible," Nasrallah said.
After the kidnaooing of the two IDF soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, in July 2006, Nasrallah held a press conference in which he repeated his commitment to release Kuntar in a prisoner exchange deal with Israel.
Jerusalem Post
Friday, January 05, 2007
Lost In The Palestinians' Shadow
Recent weeks have brought a great deal of hand-wringing over the world's failure to do anything about the genocide in Darfur.
Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, for instance, gave an address last month in which he bemoaned the fact that "60 years after the liberation of the Nazi death camps, and 30 years after the Cambodian killing fields, the promise of 'never again' is ringing hollow. The tragedy of Darfur has raged for over three years now, and still reports pour in of villages being destroyed by the hundreds and of the brutal treatment of civilians spreading into neighboring countries. How can an international community that claims to uphold human rights allow this horror to continue?"
Similarly, The New York Times ran an editorial last week blasting the international inaction on Darfur. Noting that "the killings and atrocities have spilled across Sudan's borders" into Chad and the Central African Republic, it wrote: "If Darfur's grim tally - several hundred thousand dead, two million driven from their homes - can't persuade the world to act, then perhaps the threat of a regional conflagration will."
What is remarkable about all this hand-wringing, however, is that it is coming from two of the institutions most responsible for the world's inaction - namely, the UN and the media.
That might seem counterintuitive, since neither the UN nor the media themselves have the power to take any effective action: that can only be done by national governments, either within or outside the UN framework. But in reality, no government will engage in difficult, unpleasant action that serves no clear national interest unless forced to do so by an overwhelming pressure of public opinion. And that pressure can only be generated by those who control the world's bully pulpits - first and foremost, the media and the UN secretary general.
Instead, however, both institutions have consistently treated Darfur as much less important than other, far less deadly conflicts. Western publics, and therefore their governments, have consequently followed suit.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for instance, has claimed some 5,400 lives - 4,300 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis - over the past six years. That compares to an estimated 400,000 people (no precise statistics exist) killed in Darfur over the last three.
Yet an archives search reveals that The New York Times published only 418 articles on Darfur last year, compared to 2,528 on Israel and 1,146 on the Palestinians (the discrepancy between the latter two stems from Israel's war with Lebanon - which, using the highest estimates, killed some 1,100 Lebanese and 160 Israelis). That makes Darfur's 400,000 dead, by NYT standards, about one-third as important as 4,300 dead Palestinians.
OTHER LEADING newspapers worldwide acted similarly. The Times of London, for instance, published 142 articles on Darfur last year, compared to 579 on Israel and 248 on the Palestinians. For Le Monde, the figures were 253, 500 and 500; in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, they were 239, 1,898 and 638. The Spanish El Pais was particularly egregious: A mere 120 articles on Darfur, compared to 2,730 on Israel and 2,013 on the Palestinians, giving an Israelarfur ratio of 23 to 1.
But even these figures understate the skew, because they ignore the equally important issue of prominence. Take, for instance, a pair of articles that appeared two days apart in the NYT's wholly-owned European subsidiary, the International Herald Tribune. One described Israel's accidental shelling of a house in Gaza, killing 18 Palestinians. That merited a four-column headline in large type and 30 column-inches of text. The other reported that over the past week, 220 Chadians had been killed by the same Sudanese militiamen responsible for the Darfur genocide. That merited a mere brief: two inches of text under a small-print, one-column head. If the media considers 18 Palestinian lives to be worth 15 times as much space as 220 slain Chadians, is it surprising that Western governments and publics view the slaughter in Africa as low-priority?
THE UN'S behavior has been similarly warped. The UN Human Rights Council, for instance, finally held its first session on Darfur last month, but declined to condemn the Sudanese government for the slaughter. Yet the council found time to adopt no less than three resolutions condemning Israel this year (even Annan termed this "disproportionate").
Similarly, the General Assembly devoted three full days in November, as it does every year, to debating and condemning the Israeli "occupation." If you cannot recall an equivalent session on Darfur, the problem is not your memory. Altogether, the GA's fall session passed no fewer than 25 resolutions condemning alleged Israeli human rights violations. But it could not be bothered to pass a single resolution condemning the genocide in Darfur.
The UN also has numerous bodies, such as a permanent Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which are devoted exclusively to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and therefore naturally strive to focus attention on it. Palestinian refugees even have an entire agency, UNRWA, all to themselves, while all other refugees worldwide must compete for attention from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. It is thus hardly surprising that Darfur's two million refugees are lost in the Palestinians' shadow.
Finally, there is Annan himself - who declared last November that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the most important in the world, because "no other conflict carries such a powerful symbolic and emotional charge among people far removed from the battlefield."
If the UN secretary-general considers the "symbolic charge" generated by 4,300 dead Palestinians more important than the actual deaths of some 400,000 Darfur residents, is it surprising that many governments deem the slaughter in Darfur equally trivial?
Like all human beings, those who run governments can only focus on so many issues at one time - and in democratic countries, they usually choose the ones that dominate the public square.
Thus as long as the UN and the media continue to accord the Darfur genocide such low priority, one can confidently predict that global inaction in the face of this genocide will continue.
Jerusalem Post
Former UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, for instance, gave an address last month in which he bemoaned the fact that "60 years after the liberation of the Nazi death camps, and 30 years after the Cambodian killing fields, the promise of 'never again' is ringing hollow. The tragedy of Darfur has raged for over three years now, and still reports pour in of villages being destroyed by the hundreds and of the brutal treatment of civilians spreading into neighboring countries. How can an international community that claims to uphold human rights allow this horror to continue?"
Similarly, The New York Times ran an editorial last week blasting the international inaction on Darfur. Noting that "the killings and atrocities have spilled across Sudan's borders" into Chad and the Central African Republic, it wrote: "If Darfur's grim tally - several hundred thousand dead, two million driven from their homes - can't persuade the world to act, then perhaps the threat of a regional conflagration will."
What is remarkable about all this hand-wringing, however, is that it is coming from two of the institutions most responsible for the world's inaction - namely, the UN and the media.
That might seem counterintuitive, since neither the UN nor the media themselves have the power to take any effective action: that can only be done by national governments, either within or outside the UN framework. But in reality, no government will engage in difficult, unpleasant action that serves no clear national interest unless forced to do so by an overwhelming pressure of public opinion. And that pressure can only be generated by those who control the world's bully pulpits - first and foremost, the media and the UN secretary general.
Instead, however, both institutions have consistently treated Darfur as much less important than other, far less deadly conflicts. Western publics, and therefore their governments, have consequently followed suit.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict, for instance, has claimed some 5,400 lives - 4,300 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis - over the past six years. That compares to an estimated 400,000 people (no precise statistics exist) killed in Darfur over the last three.
Yet an archives search reveals that The New York Times published only 418 articles on Darfur last year, compared to 2,528 on Israel and 1,146 on the Palestinians (the discrepancy between the latter two stems from Israel's war with Lebanon - which, using the highest estimates, killed some 1,100 Lebanese and 160 Israelis). That makes Darfur's 400,000 dead, by NYT standards, about one-third as important as 4,300 dead Palestinians.
OTHER LEADING newspapers worldwide acted similarly. The Times of London, for instance, published 142 articles on Darfur last year, compared to 579 on Israel and 248 on the Palestinians. For Le Monde, the figures were 253, 500 and 500; in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, they were 239, 1,898 and 638. The Spanish El Pais was particularly egregious: A mere 120 articles on Darfur, compared to 2,730 on Israel and 2,013 on the Palestinians, giving an Israelarfur ratio of 23 to 1.
But even these figures understate the skew, because they ignore the equally important issue of prominence. Take, for instance, a pair of articles that appeared two days apart in the NYT's wholly-owned European subsidiary, the International Herald Tribune. One described Israel's accidental shelling of a house in Gaza, killing 18 Palestinians. That merited a four-column headline in large type and 30 column-inches of text. The other reported that over the past week, 220 Chadians had been killed by the same Sudanese militiamen responsible for the Darfur genocide. That merited a mere brief: two inches of text under a small-print, one-column head. If the media considers 18 Palestinian lives to be worth 15 times as much space as 220 slain Chadians, is it surprising that Western governments and publics view the slaughter in Africa as low-priority?
THE UN'S behavior has been similarly warped. The UN Human Rights Council, for instance, finally held its first session on Darfur last month, but declined to condemn the Sudanese government for the slaughter. Yet the council found time to adopt no less than three resolutions condemning Israel this year (even Annan termed this "disproportionate").
Similarly, the General Assembly devoted three full days in November, as it does every year, to debating and condemning the Israeli "occupation." If you cannot recall an equivalent session on Darfur, the problem is not your memory. Altogether, the GA's fall session passed no fewer than 25 resolutions condemning alleged Israeli human rights violations. But it could not be bothered to pass a single resolution condemning the genocide in Darfur.
The UN also has numerous bodies, such as a permanent Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, which are devoted exclusively to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and therefore naturally strive to focus attention on it. Palestinian refugees even have an entire agency, UNRWA, all to themselves, while all other refugees worldwide must compete for attention from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. It is thus hardly surprising that Darfur's two million refugees are lost in the Palestinians' shadow.
Finally, there is Annan himself - who declared last November that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the most important in the world, because "no other conflict carries such a powerful symbolic and emotional charge among people far removed from the battlefield."
If the UN secretary-general considers the "symbolic charge" generated by 4,300 dead Palestinians more important than the actual deaths of some 400,000 Darfur residents, is it surprising that many governments deem the slaughter in Darfur equally trivial?
Like all human beings, those who run governments can only focus on so many issues at one time - and in democratic countries, they usually choose the ones that dominate the public square.
Thus as long as the UN and the media continue to accord the Darfur genocide such low priority, one can confidently predict that global inaction in the face of this genocide will continue.
Jerusalem Post
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