May 15 is always a "black date" on the Palestinian calendar, representing the founding of Israel and the Nakba (or "catastrophe" in Arabic) of the Palestinians. But after yesterday, May 15 may also come to symbolize the date that the Palestinians passed the point of no-return toward national suicide.
At least 20 Palestinians were murdered yesterday in Gaza (May 15), according to the most conservative Palestinian accounts, by liquidation squads of the Hamas Islamic movement that often grabbed gunmen and officials of the rival Fatah movement and publicly dragged them from cars and executed them in the streets.
Showing posts with label Independent Media Review Analysis (IMRA). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Independent Media Review Analysis (IMRA). Show all posts
May 28, 2007
Palestinians may be crossing point of no return to national suicide
So what? Considering the "Palestinians" are from a manufactured entity and not from a real nation to begin with, what's the loss? If they want to commit suicide, let's not get in their way. From IMRA:
April 25, 2007
PA Media Call for Suicide Attacks, Kidnappings of Israelis
From PA Media Call for Suicide Attacks, Kidnappings of Israelis:
Official Palestinian broadcast media have sharply increased anti-Israeli propaganda in recent days, including explicit and implicit calls for suicide attacks on Israeli civilians and kidnappings of Israeli soldiers. While PLO Chairman Abbas has told Israeli and American officials he is working for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Palestinian officials appearing before Palestinian audiences say that the Palestinians are entitled to use the "Zionist soldier" to extricate thousands of convicted Arab terrorists from Israeli jails. Mosque speeches broadcast by the PA media are turning back to the anti-Semitic themes which regularly appeared during the leadership of Yasser Arafat, and there is scant difference between the messages of Abbas' Fatah and Hamas. Israeli Army intelligence reported that during the second half of March there was an increase in the number of rockets fired at Israel (22), following a reduction in such attacks of the first two weeks of March (12).
February 12, 2007
The signing of the Mecca agreement [No mention of end to violence against Israel]
[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: Possibly rhetorical question soon to be voiced by Hamas: If "moderate" Mahmoud Abbas is considered the hero of the West and simply a fantastic all around guy even though he calls for turning guns toward Israel and only opposes terror attacks if and when he beleives they do do not serve Palestinian interests, doesn't this set such a low enough standard for what is considered to be "respect" for PLO agreements such that anything Haniyeh does is OK?]
An excerpt from The signing of the Mecca agreement :
An excerpt from The signing of the Mecca agreement :
Mecca - Ma'an exclusive - Fatah and Hamas have signed the Mecca agreement. The media advisor to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Nabil 'Amr, read the text of the agreement and the letter of assignment to Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh.
The following came in the agreement text:
. Assuring the prohibition of Palestinian bloodshed and the assurance of national unity to
achieve the legitimate aims of the Palestinian people.
. Agreeing on counting the language of dialogue as the basis for solving all conflicts
between brothers.
. Agreeing on establishing a unity government and to start taking constitutional procedures to its dedication immediately.
. Agreeing on proceeding in the procedures of reform of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) based on the Cairo agreements and the Damascus announcement.
. Assuring the principle of political partnership on the basis of political pluralism.
Signed in Holy Mecca on 21
Muharam, 1428 in the hegira (Islamic) calendar
[8th of February, 2007 A.D.]
More Arab propaganda
Finally. Some tough talk from Israel, and more of the same crap from Arabs. As Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA points out, it would appear that no one is bothered by the fact that Palestinians threw rocks from the Temple Mount down onto the area of Jewish worship at the Western Wall. This Palestinian violence forced Israeli security forces to act. Via Jerusalem Post:
Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter told Israel Radio on Saturday that Israel would disprove the Arab propaganda that seeks to convince the world that the al-Aksa Mosque is in danger because of renovations being doneoutside the Mughrabi Gate to the Temple Mount compound. Dichter said police entered the compound on Friday in order to prevent rocks from being thrown into the Western Wall Jewish prayer area below, something he said was "crossing a red
line" and would not be tolerated. Dichter reiterated Israel's diplomatic stance that holds repair work on the ramp leading to the Mughrabi Gate is taking place outside the Temple Mount compound and that anyone that thought differently would have to prove it.
December 26, 2006
State Department Weighs Plan for Palestinian State [without ever disarming terrorists]
[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: "A diplomatic official argued that, because of the chaos in the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli demands are no longer relevant, since it is clear that there is no Palestinian leader who can deliver on the issue of fighting terror."
That's right: since there is a snowball's chance in hell that the Palestinians will ever actually fight terror, why not just skip that and give them a sovereign Palestinian state and break out the champagne?
2 Question:
#1 What is this diplomatic official smoking and does he enjoy diplomatic immunity?
#2 Does he operate heavy equipment while under the influence or only engage in making policy recommendations?]
=============
State Department Weighs Plan for Palestinian State
The Bush administration is considering a plan to declare an independent Palestinian state with provisional borders by the end of 2007.
The idea has been "kicked around" in the State Department for several weeks, according to sources. It could be one element of a new American Middle East peace plan, the sources added, if President Bush decides to push forward
with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process as part of a fresh Middle East policy he is constructing.
At the same time, in an effort to bolster the regime of Mahmoud Abbas, the administration also has begun lobbying Congress to provide $100 million to fund forces loyal to the Palestinian president.
Talk of new ideas for breaking the deadlock in the Middle East come as pressure mounts on the United States and Israel to take action toward resolving the conflict. Jordan's King Abdullah, who met Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert in Amman, offered his services in brokering a deal and announced he would hold talks with all parties in an attempt to reach an agreement. The Jordanian monarch, who also has urged the United States to be more active on the issue, warned that without progress between Israelis and Palestinians, violence would increase.
The prospects for a meeting between Olmert and Abbas seemed greater this week after chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat declared Tuesday that preparations for a summit "are ongoing."
The idea of an independent Palestinian state with temporary borders is based on the American-backed peace plan known as the road map. The second phase of the plan, which was formally accepted by both Israelis and Palestinians, calls for a declaration of an independent state even before final borders are agreed upon between both sides.
That's right: since there is a snowball's chance in hell that the Palestinians will ever actually fight terror, why not just skip that and give them a sovereign Palestinian state and break out the champagne?
2 Question:
#1 What is this diplomatic official smoking and does he enjoy diplomatic immunity?
#2 Does he operate heavy equipment while under the influence or only engage in making policy recommendations?]
=============
State Department Weighs Plan for Palestinian State
The Bush administration is considering a plan to declare an independent Palestinian state with provisional borders by the end of 2007.
The idea has been "kicked around" in the State Department for several weeks, according to sources. It could be one element of a new American Middle East peace plan, the sources added, if President Bush decides to push forward
with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process as part of a fresh Middle East policy he is constructing.
At the same time, in an effort to bolster the regime of Mahmoud Abbas, the administration also has begun lobbying Congress to provide $100 million to fund forces loyal to the Palestinian president.
Talk of new ideas for breaking the deadlock in the Middle East come as pressure mounts on the United States and Israel to take action toward resolving the conflict. Jordan's King Abdullah, who met Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert in Amman, offered his services in brokering a deal and announced he would hold talks with all parties in an attempt to reach an agreement. The Jordanian monarch, who also has urged the United States to be more active on the issue, warned that without progress between Israelis and Palestinians, violence would increase.
The prospects for a meeting between Olmert and Abbas seemed greater this week after chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat declared Tuesday that preparations for a summit "are ongoing."
The idea of an independent Palestinian state with temporary borders is based on the American-backed peace plan known as the road map. The second phase of the plan, which was formally accepted by both Israelis and Palestinians, calls for a declaration of an independent state even before final borders are agreed upon between both sides.
December 23, 2006
Invitation to national conference in Kfar Sava: Plan to Strengthen Israel
To remove the threat of the rockets: Plan to strengthen Israel
http://www.netanyahu.org.il/?section=news&article=906947
Opposition head Binyamin Netanyahu to present plan at public conferenceSunday 24 Dec. 18:30 Kfar Sava
24 December 2006
18:30 at Ulamei Hasharon - Kfar Sava (map included in the announcement)
[IMRA: In a recorded announcement inviting people to attend, Netanyahu explains that the location was chosen because if Olmert's withdrawal plans are carried out Kfar Sava will be subject to the threat of rocket attacks.]
November 26, 2006
The Threat to Israeli Civilians from the Gaza Strip
FM - Behind the Headlines: The Threat to Israeli Civilians from the Gaza Strip
Israel Foreign Ministry 21 November 2006
Since Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005, Palestinian terrorist organizations based there have increased their rocket attacks on Israeli communities in the Western Negev, firing more than 1,000 Kassam rockets at Israeli civilians. In addition, the terrorists have stepped up their arms smuggling operations via tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip, bringing in more than 30 tons of high explosives.
Kassam Rockets
Between Israel's disengagement from Gaza last August and November 15, 2006, 1,201 Kassam artillery rockets have hit Israeli population centers adjacent to the Gaza Strip. These rockets include improved, long-range weapons which can reach the Israeli port city of Ashkelon, more than 13 km. (8 miles) from the Gaza border. So far seven Israelis, one foreign worker, and two Palestinian civilians have been
killed in Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza, and more than 100 persons have been wounded.
Arms Buildup
Israel Security Agency Director Yuval Diskin, in a briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on 14 November, noted the following quantities of arms smuggled by terrorist groups into the Gaza Strip since the Disengagement:
* 33 tons of military-grade high explosives
* 20,000 assault rifles
* 3,000 Pistols
* 6,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition
* 38 long-range Kassam missiles
* 12 shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft guided missiles
* 95 anti-tank rocket launchers
* 410 anti-tank rockets
* 20 precision-guided Anti-Tank Missiles
In addition, between $50 million-$70m. in cash has been smuggled into Gaza in order to finance the Hamas terrorist operations.
Terrorist Attacks and Suicide Bombings
The Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza have lately intensified their attempts to carry out large-scale attacks against Israeli population centers. One tactic recently used is to exploit Israel's humanitarianism by infiltrating terrorists pretending to be Palestinians entering Israel to receive medical treatment. In one
such case, on March 7, 2006, Samih Haddad, 21, a resident of Zeitun in the Gaza Strip, was arrested at the Erez crossing while trying to enter Israel using counterfeit medical documents for medical treatment at an Israeli clinic. During questioning he admitted that he had been recruited by the Islamic Jihad, which provided him with the false medical documents and instructed him to infiltrate into Israel, where he would receive an automatic weapon in order to carry out an attack.
Another tactic being used is the exploitation of the peaceful border between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai in order to infiltrate terrorists from Gaza into Israel for suicide attacks. For example, on February 8, 2006, two Islamic Jihad terrorists from the Gaza Strip were arrested in the Negev. One was a 17-year-old would-be suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest; and other was his escort. They had infiltrated Israel via the Sinai in order to carry out a suicide bombing against Israeli civilians in Jerusalem.
In another thwarted infiltration, on June 11, 2006, two Palestinian terrorists from Gaza were caught as they were attempting to cross the Israeli-Egyptian border south of Gaza. One terrorist, Ibrahim Majdoub, had been dispatched by the Popular Resistance Committee (PRC) to murder Israeli soldiers near Tel Aviv, hide their bodies in an orchard, and then fax their documents to the PRC in Gaza so it could claim they were abducted and negotiate concessions. The other terrorist, Muhammed Assan, was to carry out a suicide gun-and-grenade attack in an Israeli city.
Exploitation of Civilians
In addition to their cynical tactic of using Palestinian civilians as human shields by firing rockets from densely populated areas, Palestinian terrorists are now increasingly mobilizing civilians in order to protect themselves from Israeli counterterrorist operations. In one recent example, on November 3, 2006, a group of terrorists was discovered hiding in the revered al-Nasr Mosque in Beit Hanoun. When Israeli troops surrounded the mosque and called upon the terrorists to surrender, they were met with gunfire. Soon, a procession of about 200 Muslim women, veiled and wearing traditional dress, arrived at the mosque, having been summoned by the terrorists inside. The terrorists then escaped by mingling with the women, some of them even donning women's clothing.
Another such event occurred on November 18, minutes after the IDF warned residents of Beit Lahiya that a counterterrorist strike was about to be carried out against the home of Muhammad Baroud, commander of the PRC's Kassam rocket operations. The IDF issued the warning to prevent civilian casualties during the impending operation. Baroud quickly summoned hundreds of Palestinians, including women and children, and had them surround the building. The IDF counterterrorist operation had to be cancelled due to the proximity of the civilians - demonstrating vividly that the Palestinians know that Israel values their lives more than the Palestinian terrorists do.
Israel Foreign Ministry 21 November 2006
Since Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2005, Palestinian terrorist organizations based there have increased their rocket attacks on Israeli communities in the Western Negev, firing more than 1,000 Kassam rockets at Israeli civilians. In addition, the terrorists have stepped up their arms smuggling operations via tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip, bringing in more than 30 tons of high explosives.
Kassam Rockets
Between Israel's disengagement from Gaza last August and November 15, 2006, 1,201 Kassam artillery rockets have hit Israeli population centers adjacent to the Gaza Strip. These rockets include improved, long-range weapons which can reach the Israeli port city of Ashkelon, more than 13 km. (8 miles) from the Gaza border. So far seven Israelis, one foreign worker, and two Palestinian civilians have been
killed in Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza, and more than 100 persons have been wounded.
Arms Buildup
Israel Security Agency Director Yuval Diskin, in a briefing to the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on 14 November, noted the following quantities of arms smuggled by terrorist groups into the Gaza Strip since the Disengagement:
* 33 tons of military-grade high explosives
* 20,000 assault rifles
* 3,000 Pistols
* 6,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition
* 38 long-range Kassam missiles
* 12 shoulder-fired, anti-aircraft guided missiles
* 95 anti-tank rocket launchers
* 410 anti-tank rockets
* 20 precision-guided Anti-Tank Missiles
In addition, between $50 million-$70m. in cash has been smuggled into Gaza in order to finance the Hamas terrorist operations.
Terrorist Attacks and Suicide Bombings
The Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza have lately intensified their attempts to carry out large-scale attacks against Israeli population centers. One tactic recently used is to exploit Israel's humanitarianism by infiltrating terrorists pretending to be Palestinians entering Israel to receive medical treatment. In one
such case, on March 7, 2006, Samih Haddad, 21, a resident of Zeitun in the Gaza Strip, was arrested at the Erez crossing while trying to enter Israel using counterfeit medical documents for medical treatment at an Israeli clinic. During questioning he admitted that he had been recruited by the Islamic Jihad, which provided him with the false medical documents and instructed him to infiltrate into Israel, where he would receive an automatic weapon in order to carry out an attack.
Another tactic being used is the exploitation of the peaceful border between Israel and Egypt in the Sinai in order to infiltrate terrorists from Gaza into Israel for suicide attacks. For example, on February 8, 2006, two Islamic Jihad terrorists from the Gaza Strip were arrested in the Negev. One was a 17-year-old would-be suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest; and other was his escort. They had infiltrated Israel via the Sinai in order to carry out a suicide bombing against Israeli civilians in Jerusalem.
In another thwarted infiltration, on June 11, 2006, two Palestinian terrorists from Gaza were caught as they were attempting to cross the Israeli-Egyptian border south of Gaza. One terrorist, Ibrahim Majdoub, had been dispatched by the Popular Resistance Committee (PRC) to murder Israeli soldiers near Tel Aviv, hide their bodies in an orchard, and then fax their documents to the PRC in Gaza so it could claim they were abducted and negotiate concessions. The other terrorist, Muhammed Assan, was to carry out a suicide gun-and-grenade attack in an Israeli city.
Exploitation of Civilians
In addition to their cynical tactic of using Palestinian civilians as human shields by firing rockets from densely populated areas, Palestinian terrorists are now increasingly mobilizing civilians in order to protect themselves from Israeli counterterrorist operations. In one recent example, on November 3, 2006, a group of terrorists was discovered hiding in the revered al-Nasr Mosque in Beit Hanoun. When Israeli troops surrounded the mosque and called upon the terrorists to surrender, they were met with gunfire. Soon, a procession of about 200 Muslim women, veiled and wearing traditional dress, arrived at the mosque, having been summoned by the terrorists inside. The terrorists then escaped by mingling with the women, some of them even donning women's clothing.
Another such event occurred on November 18, minutes after the IDF warned residents of Beit Lahiya that a counterterrorist strike was about to be carried out against the home of Muhammad Baroud, commander of the PRC's Kassam rocket operations. The IDF issued the warning to prevent civilian casualties during the impending operation. Baroud quickly summoned hundreds of Palestinians, including women and children, and had them surround the building. The IDF counterterrorist operation had to be cancelled due to the proximity of the civilians - demonstrating vividly that the Palestinians know that Israel values their lives more than the Palestinian terrorists do.
November 18, 2006
Religious party could lead government under proposed change
Under the Prime Minister Olmert's proposal, the leader of the largest party will automatically become prime minister and could only be removed by a vote of at least 65 MKs - who might possibly have to agree on an alternative PM .
In addition, it is expected to increase the minimum percentage of the vote a party must win in order to get into the Knesset.Under the new rules it might be possible for a consortium of religious parties to run together and ultimately rule the country.
The following is one numerical example:
27 - Joint party of Shas + Nat'l Union/NRP + Yahadut Hatorah
25 Likud
15 Kadima
20 Labor
13 Yisrael Beiteinu
10 Arab parties
05 Meretz
05 Retirees
Minister Herzog explained this morning on Israel Radio that he supports the proposal because it would force voters to cast their ballots for large parties rather than for smaller parties.
Dr. Aaron Lerner,
Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
Website: http://www.imra.org.il
In addition, it is expected to increase the minimum percentage of the vote a party must win in order to get into the Knesset.Under the new rules it might be possible for a consortium of religious parties to run together and ultimately rule the country.
The following is one numerical example:
27 - Joint party of Shas + Nat'l Union/NRP + Yahadut Hatorah
25 Likud
15 Kadima
20 Labor
13 Yisrael Beiteinu
10 Arab parties
05 Meretz
05 Retirees
Minister Herzog explained this morning on Israel Radio that he supports the proposal because it would force voters to cast their ballots for large parties rather than for smaller parties.
Dr. Aaron Lerner,
Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
Website: http://www.imra.org.il
November 06, 2006
Jews and Arabs can never live together, says Israel's vice PM Lieberman
[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: It should be noted that Mr. Olmert brought Lieberman into his government in the hope that the extra votes would prevent him from falling - not as a reflection of any change in attitudes.].
Jews and Arabs can never live together, says Israel's vice PM Lieberman
When Avigdor Lieberman, a populist Israeli politician frequently compared to Austria's Jorg Haider and France's Jean-Marie le Pen, proposed to bus thousands of Palestinians to the Dead Sea and drown them there, he was just a fringe member of government.
That was three years ago. But last week the controversial nationalist joined the coalition government led by Ehud Olmert in a much more senior role, as vice prime minister with special responsibility for Israel's most pressing issue: the threat from Iran.
In his first interview since taking office - exclusively with The Sunday Telegraph - Mr Lieberman said that the best means of achieving peace in the Middle East would be for Jews and Arabs to live apart, including those Arabs who now live inside Israel.
Israel was on the "front line of a clash of civilisations between the free world and extremist Islam," he said.
On Iran, he said: "Every week, the president of Iran declares his intention to destroy us."
Mr Lieberman, 48, the leader of Yisrael Beitanu (Israel Our Home), who has previously urged Israel to bomb Teheran, said: "Iran is the base of an axis of evil which is a problem for all the world."
Mr Lieberman, whose addition to the coalition as "strategic threat" minister prompted the resignation of a cabinet colleague, also said that Israel's 1.25 million Arab minority was a problem" which required "separation" from the Jewish state. "We established Israel as a Jewish country," he said. "I want to provide an Israel that is a Jewish, Zionist country. It's about what kind of country we want to see in the future. Either it will be an [ethnically mixed] country like any other, or it will continue as a Jewish country."
Ophir Pines-Paz, the former culture minister who resigned in protest, decried Mr Lieberman's politics as "racist", adding that the new vice prime-minister - a former bouncer who emigrated from the former Soviet republic of Moldova in 1978 - was himself "a strategic threat to Israel".
Beyond that, however, protest has been muted. There have been no mass demonstrations. Few voters or politicians seem scandalised as they were in 2003.
Analysts say the smooth appointment of a man recently considered an extremist -rabble-rouser is a sign of political radicalisation in Israel.
"After the summer war in Lebanon, many Israelis have moved to the Right," said Gideon Doron, professor of political science at Tel Aviv University. "They think security is bad and trust Paletinians and Arabs less. They don't believe in the possibility of peace through negotiations, so Lieberman has become the centre of a new consensus."
Mr Olmert has insisted that the addition of Israel Our Home to his coalition is tactical rather than plitical. It bolsters his majority in the Knesset to 78 out of 120 seats, allowing him a margin of security in a country known for its revolving-door governments.
But while Mr Olmert says Israel Our Home will not change government policy, it seems almost inconceivable that the prime minister's main election promise of withdrawing tens of thousands of Jewish settlers from the West Bank will be implemented with Mr Lieberman - himself a settler - in the cabinet.
Mr Lieberman, for one, has other ideas. He has no intention of withdrawing Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Instead, he wants to keep them while, "in return", redrawing Israel's border to eject thousands of Israeli Arabs from the country.
"Minorities are the biggest problem in the world," he said in his soft, Russian-accented English. Asked if Israeli citizens of Arab descent should be forced out through territorial redistribution, he said: "I think separation between two nations is the best solution. Cyprus is the best model. Before 1974, the Greeks and Turks lived together and there were frictions and bloodshed and terror.
"After 1974, they constituted all Turks on one part of the island, all Greeks on the other part of the island and there is stability and security."
When it was pointed out that in Cyprus thousands were forcibly driven from their homes, he repied: "Yes, but the final result was better."
Later, an aide to Mr Lieberman tried to flesh out his remarks. "Israeli Arabs don't have to go," he sid. "But if they stay they have to take an oath of allegiance to Israel as a Jewish Zionist state."
Mr Lieberman does not explain how he plans to separate Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem, whose eastern half is home to several hundred thousand Palestinians but which Israel has annexed to form its "eternal and undivided capital". The aide said: "He will not compromise on Jerusalem."
Such hawkish, straightforward sentiments have made Mr Lieberman the most powerful new force in Israeli politics. Since he split with the Likud party and its leader, the former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to form his own party in 1999, he has in effect monopolised the votes of more than a million Russian immigrants. At elections earlier this year, Israel Our Home demolished Likud's traditional grip on the Right to win 11 seats.
Mr Lieberman insists that the world must unite against "an axis of evil led by Iran. Iran is the biggest threat. It's a problem for the whole world, but Israel really has a bad location. We are on the front line between the clash of civilisations between the free world and the extremist Islamic world."
His use of the phrase "clash of civilisations" is another example of what Mr Doron calls Mr. Lieberman's "popular straight-talking". But there is one subject on which Mr Lieberman is uncharacteristically coy. When asked if he wants to lead the country one day, he smiled and said: "It's too early for that."
Jews and Arabs can never live together, says Israel's vice PM Lieberman
When Avigdor Lieberman, a populist Israeli politician frequently compared to Austria's Jorg Haider and France's Jean-Marie le Pen, proposed to bus thousands of Palestinians to the Dead Sea and drown them there, he was just a fringe member of government.
That was three years ago. But last week the controversial nationalist joined the coalition government led by Ehud Olmert in a much more senior role, as vice prime minister with special responsibility for Israel's most pressing issue: the threat from Iran.
In his first interview since taking office - exclusively with The Sunday Telegraph - Mr Lieberman said that the best means of achieving peace in the Middle East would be for Jews and Arabs to live apart, including those Arabs who now live inside Israel.
Israel was on the "front line of a clash of civilisations between the free world and extremist Islam," he said.
On Iran, he said: "Every week, the president of Iran declares his intention to destroy us."
Mr Lieberman, 48, the leader of Yisrael Beitanu (Israel Our Home), who has previously urged Israel to bomb Teheran, said: "Iran is the base of an axis of evil which is a problem for all the world."
Mr Lieberman, whose addition to the coalition as "strategic threat" minister prompted the resignation of a cabinet colleague, also said that Israel's 1.25 million Arab minority was a problem" which required "separation" from the Jewish state. "We established Israel as a Jewish country," he said. "I want to provide an Israel that is a Jewish, Zionist country. It's about what kind of country we want to see in the future. Either it will be an [ethnically mixed] country like any other, or it will continue as a Jewish country."
Ophir Pines-Paz, the former culture minister who resigned in protest, decried Mr Lieberman's politics as "racist", adding that the new vice prime-minister - a former bouncer who emigrated from the former Soviet republic of Moldova in 1978 - was himself "a strategic threat to Israel".
Beyond that, however, protest has been muted. There have been no mass demonstrations. Few voters or politicians seem scandalised as they were in 2003.
Analysts say the smooth appointment of a man recently considered an extremist -rabble-rouser is a sign of political radicalisation in Israel.
"After the summer war in Lebanon, many Israelis have moved to the Right," said Gideon Doron, professor of political science at Tel Aviv University. "They think security is bad and trust Paletinians and Arabs less. They don't believe in the possibility of peace through negotiations, so Lieberman has become the centre of a new consensus."
Mr Olmert has insisted that the addition of Israel Our Home to his coalition is tactical rather than plitical. It bolsters his majority in the Knesset to 78 out of 120 seats, allowing him a margin of security in a country known for its revolving-door governments.
But while Mr Olmert says Israel Our Home will not change government policy, it seems almost inconceivable that the prime minister's main election promise of withdrawing tens of thousands of Jewish settlers from the West Bank will be implemented with Mr Lieberman - himself a settler - in the cabinet.
Mr Lieberman, for one, has other ideas. He has no intention of withdrawing Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Instead, he wants to keep them while, "in return", redrawing Israel's border to eject thousands of Israeli Arabs from the country.
"Minorities are the biggest problem in the world," he said in his soft, Russian-accented English. Asked if Israeli citizens of Arab descent should be forced out through territorial redistribution, he said: "I think separation between two nations is the best solution. Cyprus is the best model. Before 1974, the Greeks and Turks lived together and there were frictions and bloodshed and terror.
"After 1974, they constituted all Turks on one part of the island, all Greeks on the other part of the island and there is stability and security."
When it was pointed out that in Cyprus thousands were forcibly driven from their homes, he repied: "Yes, but the final result was better."
Later, an aide to Mr Lieberman tried to flesh out his remarks. "Israeli Arabs don't have to go," he sid. "But if they stay they have to take an oath of allegiance to Israel as a Jewish Zionist state."
Mr Lieberman does not explain how he plans to separate Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem, whose eastern half is home to several hundred thousand Palestinians but which Israel has annexed to form its "eternal and undivided capital". The aide said: "He will not compromise on Jerusalem."
Such hawkish, straightforward sentiments have made Mr Lieberman the most powerful new force in Israeli politics. Since he split with the Likud party and its leader, the former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to form his own party in 1999, he has in effect monopolised the votes of more than a million Russian immigrants. At elections earlier this year, Israel Our Home demolished Likud's traditional grip on the Right to win 11 seats.
Mr Lieberman insists that the world must unite against "an axis of evil led by Iran. Iran is the biggest threat. It's a problem for the whole world, but Israel really has a bad location. We are on the front line between the clash of civilisations between the free world and the extremist Islamic world."
His use of the phrase "clash of civilisations" is another example of what Mr Doron calls Mr. Lieberman's "popular straight-talking". But there is one subject on which Mr Lieberman is uncharacteristically coy. When asked if he wants to lead the country one day, he smiled and said: "It's too early for that."
November 05, 2006
Arabs use woman and children as shields for terrorists
Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin - Nov. 5, 2006
Palestinian terror organizations used woman and children as human shields this past weekend to save terrorists holed up in a mosque in Gaza. The group of terrorists were under siege and Israel was demanding their surrender. In response, the Palestinians organized a human shield of more than 200 woman and children to surround the men and walk them to safety.
According to the PA daily: "About 200 female residents crossed the village along with their children until they reached the besieged Al Nasr mosque, broke into it and released 15 armed men... During this mission, two women died ." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 4, 2006]
According to the report, the Palestinians had decided that the lives of the terrorists were more important than the lives of the woman and children:
"Muhammad, from the Al Qassam Brigades, the military branch of the Hamas, who was among those under siege [said]: 'What matters is that we were released.' His mother . said that the women waved white flags, 'but the tanks kept shooting at us. All we cared about was to release our sons, even if it cost our lives.' The woman citizens walked quickly surrounding the exhausted fighters. towards the 'safer alleyways' of Beit Hanun." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 4, 2006]
As PMW has reported in the past, this is not the first time the PA has urged civilians to enter combat zones. It is part of a consistent pattern since the outbreak of the terror war in October 2000. In one previous instance the PA called on "woman, children, and the elderly" to stand in front of IDF bulldozers that were searching for weapons tunnels between Gaza and Egypt in May 2004 [Al Ayyam, May 17, 2004].
Meanwhile UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan seemed to blaming Israel for the civilian deaths saying he was: "deeply concerned about the continuing escalation of violence and rising death toll caused by the Israeli military operation in northern Gaza... several civilians have already been killed and wounded, including women and at least one Palestinian child" ( www.imra.org.il ).
The following are 2 stories that appeared in the Palestinian official daily Al Hayat Al Jadida:
"Hundreds of female residents managed, in a dangerous mission, to break the siege on the mosque which was besieged by the occupation tanks in the center of the Beit Hanun village, after dozens of residents, some of whom were armed, took refuge in it...
"The women passed through several armored tanks, which were stationed in the western entrance to Beit Hanun, while under the fire from Israeli combat helicopters. About 200 female residents crossed the village along with their children until they reached the besieged Al Nasr mosque, broke into it and released 15 armed men from different [terrorist] factions. During this mission, two women residents died as Shahids [died for Allah]...
"Iman Al-Yaziji, who was accompanied by her 13 year old only son, told Agence France Presse, that the women tried 'in vain' several times to break into the area of the mosque, and added. 'Finally, we decided to enter despite the fact that some of us died as Shahids and got injured, and we entered the mosque and we released the resistance men [terrorists].' She continued: 'Bullets were showered on our heads from the tanks and the helicopters and killed two of us mercilessly'...
"Muhammad, from the Al Qassam Brigades, the military branch of the Hamas, was among those under siege, and told the French news agency: 'What matters is that we were released.'
"His mother, Um Muhammad. said that the women waved white flags, 'but the tanks kept shooting at us. All we cared about was to release our sons, even if it cost our lives. The woman residents walked quickly, surrounding the exhausted fighters, who seemed to be unarmed, towards the 'safer alleyways' of Beit Hanun." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 4, 2006]
"The occupation forces escalated their attacks, which began three days ago, on the Gaza Strip . while the female residents in Beit Hanun and Bethlehem went out to challenge the occupation army.
"The occupation forces continued their attacks yesterday on the Beit Hanun village, where they killed two women during a march of women who broke through the occupation's armored tanks that besieged the Al Nasr Mosque. The women managed to save dozens of residents and resistance fighters [e.g. terrorists] who were under siege in the Mosque." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 4, 2006]
Please feel free to forward this bulletin, crediting Palestinian Media Watch.
November 3, 2006
Palestinian women help free gunmen
By YAKUB RALWAH, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 40 minutes ago
Hundreds of Palestinian women in robes and head scarves streamed into a Gaza combat zone Friday to help free gunmen besieged by Israeli troops at a mosque. Two women who came under fire were killed and at least 10 wounded, but some gunmen managed to escape.
The women, many with ties to the Islamic militant group Hamas, left their homes after daybreak in response to appeals on the local Hamas radio station or telephone calls from friends and relatives. By nightfall, they were celebrated as heroes, an unusual role in a deeply conservative society that tends to keep women on the sidelines. Until Friday, battling Israeli troops had been men's business in Gaza.
The mosque standoff came on the third day of Israel's fiercest bid in months to halt Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli border communities. The offensive began Wednesday, when Israeli forces took over the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, close to the border with Israel.
In all, 35 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Wednesday, including 17 on Friday. Among those killed Friday were the two women protesters, a 16-year-old boy, two medics and at least 10 militants. Most of the deaths Friday were a result of a series of Israeli air strikes after sundown. In the deadliest hit, five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike in the Jebaliya refugee camp.
The army said the strikes targeted militants trying to plant explosives or launch rockets.
The Beit Hanoun sweep is different from previous Israeli incursions into Gaza, a senior Israeli military official said. Rather than staying on the outskirts of populated areas, troops are going house to house in Beit Hanoun, sometimes breaking through inner walls to cut down on exposure to gunmen.
In another new tactic for Gaza, troops have rounded up hundreds of men for questioning, releasing most of them but detaining dozens, the army official said. On Friday evening, for example, soldiers ordered men between the ages of 16 and 46 in Beit Hanoun's Al Masri neighborhood to report to the local agricultural school for questioning.
In the most dramatic episode of the Beit Hanoun incursion, dozens of Palestinian gunmen, many from Hamas, took cover in the town's Al Nasser Mosque on Thursday and were quickly surrounded by Israeli forces. The two sides exchanged fire throughout the night. An army bulldozer knocked down an outer wall of the mosque, causing the ceiling to collapse.
On Friday morning, Al Aqsa Radio, the local Hamas station, broadcast appeals to women to come to the rescue of the trapped gunmen. Hundreds responded, many of them Hamas supporters. The women marched toward the mosque, coming under Israeli fire at times, and approached armored personnel carriers and bulldozers near the mosque.
Volleys of shots were fired toward them, sending the group rushing toward a nearby wall for cover, according to Associated Press Television News footage. In all, nearly 60 shots were heard on the footage, but it was not clear in every case who fired.
Two women, both age 40, were shot and killed, and at least 10 others were wounded, hospital officials said.
One of the wounded was Tahrir Shahin, a 36-year-old housewife. She said that after hearing the radio appeal, she left her seven children sleeping at home and set out for the mosque, an hour's walk away, with her sister. En route, a bullet hit Shahin's left leg; it had to be amputated above the knee.
Still, she said, she did not regret her choice. "I was so upset about what was happening, so I answered their call," she said from her hospital bed.
Maj. Avital Leibovich said Hamas was exploiting women. "They were using those poor women as human shields," she said. "This is a clear example of use of innocent population for terror."
The army said the gunmen inside the mosque took advantage of the demonstration to escape because there were not enough infantrymen to block the women from approaching the building, and troops did not want to shoot into the crowd.
The army said troops spotted two militants hiding in the crowd of women and opened fire, hitting the two.
As the women rushed away from the scene, at least two men disguised in women's clothes were seen in the crowd. Jubilant bystanders embraced them, celebrating their escape.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas "saluted the women of Palestine ... who led the protest to break the siege of Beit Hanoun." Haniyeh urged U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to witness firsthand "the massacres of the Palestinian people," and appealed to the Arab world to "stop the ongoing bloodshed."
Palestinian U.N. observer Riyad Mansour said he sent letters to Annan and the presidents of the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly "requesting from them to do whatever they can to stop this aggression immediately" and to pressure Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza.
Annan expressed deep concern at the continuing escalation of violence and rising death toll and urged Israel "to exercise maximum restraint, do their utmost to protect civilians and to refrain from further escalating an already grave situation," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Loudspeakers across Gaza called on people to come to demonstrations after Friday prayers to express solidarity with Beit Hanoun. Tens of thousands representing various Palestinian factions massed in streets throughout the coastal strip,
The army said Beit Hanoun was targeted because it was a major staging ground for rocket attacks. But Israeli officials have said the takeover of the town did not signal the start of a wider-scale military offensive in Gaza.
Militants have been undeterred by the offensive, however, and have continued firing rockets, including four that landed in southern Israel on Friday, slightly wounding two people.
Palestinian terror organizations used woman and children as human shields this past weekend to save terrorists holed up in a mosque in Gaza. The group of terrorists were under siege and Israel was demanding their surrender. In response, the Palestinians organized a human shield of more than 200 woman and children to surround the men and walk them to safety.
According to the PA daily: "About 200 female residents crossed the village along with their children until they reached the besieged Al Nasr mosque, broke into it and released 15 armed men... During this mission, two women died ." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 4, 2006]
According to the report, the Palestinians had decided that the lives of the terrorists were more important than the lives of the woman and children:
"Muhammad, from the Al Qassam Brigades, the military branch of the Hamas, who was among those under siege [said]: 'What matters is that we were released.' His mother . said that the women waved white flags, 'but the tanks kept shooting at us. All we cared about was to release our sons, even if it cost our lives.' The woman citizens walked quickly surrounding the exhausted fighters. towards the 'safer alleyways' of Beit Hanun." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 4, 2006]
As PMW has reported in the past, this is not the first time the PA has urged civilians to enter combat zones. It is part of a consistent pattern since the outbreak of the terror war in October 2000. In one previous instance the PA called on "woman, children, and the elderly" to stand in front of IDF bulldozers that were searching for weapons tunnels between Gaza and Egypt in May 2004 [Al Ayyam, May 17, 2004].
Meanwhile UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan seemed to blaming Israel for the civilian deaths saying he was: "deeply concerned about the continuing escalation of violence and rising death toll caused by the Israeli military operation in northern Gaza... several civilians have already been killed and wounded, including women and at least one Palestinian child" ( www.imra.org.il ).
The following are 2 stories that appeared in the Palestinian official daily Al Hayat Al Jadida:
"Hundreds of female residents managed, in a dangerous mission, to break the siege on the mosque which was besieged by the occupation tanks in the center of the Beit Hanun village, after dozens of residents, some of whom were armed, took refuge in it...
"The women passed through several armored tanks, which were stationed in the western entrance to Beit Hanun, while under the fire from Israeli combat helicopters. About 200 female residents crossed the village along with their children until they reached the besieged Al Nasr mosque, broke into it and released 15 armed men from different [terrorist] factions. During this mission, two women residents died as Shahids [died for Allah]...
"Iman Al-Yaziji, who was accompanied by her 13 year old only son, told Agence France Presse, that the women tried 'in vain' several times to break into the area of the mosque, and added. 'Finally, we decided to enter despite the fact that some of us died as Shahids and got injured, and we entered the mosque and we released the resistance men [terrorists].' She continued: 'Bullets were showered on our heads from the tanks and the helicopters and killed two of us mercilessly'...
"Muhammad, from the Al Qassam Brigades, the military branch of the Hamas, was among those under siege, and told the French news agency: 'What matters is that we were released.'
"His mother, Um Muhammad. said that the women waved white flags, 'but the tanks kept shooting at us. All we cared about was to release our sons, even if it cost our lives. The woman residents walked quickly, surrounding the exhausted fighters, who seemed to be unarmed, towards the 'safer alleyways' of Beit Hanun." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 4, 2006]
"The occupation forces escalated their attacks, which began three days ago, on the Gaza Strip . while the female residents in Beit Hanun and Bethlehem went out to challenge the occupation army.
"The occupation forces continued their attacks yesterday on the Beit Hanun village, where they killed two women during a march of women who broke through the occupation's armored tanks that besieged the Al Nasr Mosque. The women managed to save dozens of residents and resistance fighters [e.g. terrorists] who were under siege in the Mosque." [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 4, 2006]
Please feel free to forward this bulletin, crediting Palestinian Media Watch.
November 3, 2006
Palestinian women help free gunmen
By YAKUB RALWAH, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 40 minutes ago
Hundreds of Palestinian women in robes and head scarves streamed into a Gaza combat zone Friday to help free gunmen besieged by Israeli troops at a mosque. Two women who came under fire were killed and at least 10 wounded, but some gunmen managed to escape.
The women, many with ties to the Islamic militant group Hamas, left their homes after daybreak in response to appeals on the local Hamas radio station or telephone calls from friends and relatives. By nightfall, they were celebrated as heroes, an unusual role in a deeply conservative society that tends to keep women on the sidelines. Until Friday, battling Israeli troops had been men's business in Gaza.
The mosque standoff came on the third day of Israel's fiercest bid in months to halt Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli border communities. The offensive began Wednesday, when Israeli forces took over the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun, close to the border with Israel.
In all, 35 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Wednesday, including 17 on Friday. Among those killed Friday were the two women protesters, a 16-year-old boy, two medics and at least 10 militants. Most of the deaths Friday were a result of a series of Israeli air strikes after sundown. In the deadliest hit, five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike in the Jebaliya refugee camp.
The army said the strikes targeted militants trying to plant explosives or launch rockets.
The Beit Hanoun sweep is different from previous Israeli incursions into Gaza, a senior Israeli military official said. Rather than staying on the outskirts of populated areas, troops are going house to house in Beit Hanoun, sometimes breaking through inner walls to cut down on exposure to gunmen.
In another new tactic for Gaza, troops have rounded up hundreds of men for questioning, releasing most of them but detaining dozens, the army official said. On Friday evening, for example, soldiers ordered men between the ages of 16 and 46 in Beit Hanoun's Al Masri neighborhood to report to the local agricultural school for questioning.
In the most dramatic episode of the Beit Hanoun incursion, dozens of Palestinian gunmen, many from Hamas, took cover in the town's Al Nasser Mosque on Thursday and were quickly surrounded by Israeli forces. The two sides exchanged fire throughout the night. An army bulldozer knocked down an outer wall of the mosque, causing the ceiling to collapse.
On Friday morning, Al Aqsa Radio, the local Hamas station, broadcast appeals to women to come to the rescue of the trapped gunmen. Hundreds responded, many of them Hamas supporters. The women marched toward the mosque, coming under Israeli fire at times, and approached armored personnel carriers and bulldozers near the mosque.
Volleys of shots were fired toward them, sending the group rushing toward a nearby wall for cover, according to Associated Press Television News footage. In all, nearly 60 shots were heard on the footage, but it was not clear in every case who fired.
Two women, both age 40, were shot and killed, and at least 10 others were wounded, hospital officials said.
One of the wounded was Tahrir Shahin, a 36-year-old housewife. She said that after hearing the radio appeal, she left her seven children sleeping at home and set out for the mosque, an hour's walk away, with her sister. En route, a bullet hit Shahin's left leg; it had to be amputated above the knee.
Still, she said, she did not regret her choice. "I was so upset about what was happening, so I answered their call," she said from her hospital bed.
Maj. Avital Leibovich said Hamas was exploiting women. "They were using those poor women as human shields," she said. "This is a clear example of use of innocent population for terror."
The army said the gunmen inside the mosque took advantage of the demonstration to escape because there were not enough infantrymen to block the women from approaching the building, and troops did not want to shoot into the crowd.
The army said troops spotted two militants hiding in the crowd of women and opened fire, hitting the two.
As the women rushed away from the scene, at least two men disguised in women's clothes were seen in the crowd. Jubilant bystanders embraced them, celebrating their escape.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas "saluted the women of Palestine ... who led the protest to break the siege of Beit Hanoun." Haniyeh urged U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to witness firsthand "the massacres of the Palestinian people," and appealed to the Arab world to "stop the ongoing bloodshed."
Palestinian U.N. observer Riyad Mansour said he sent letters to Annan and the presidents of the U.N. Security Council and General Assembly "requesting from them to do whatever they can to stop this aggression immediately" and to pressure Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza.
Annan expressed deep concern at the continuing escalation of violence and rising death toll and urged Israel "to exercise maximum restraint, do their utmost to protect civilians and to refrain from further escalating an already grave situation," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Loudspeakers across Gaza called on people to come to demonstrations after Friday prayers to express solidarity with Beit Hanoun. Tens of thousands representing various Palestinian factions massed in streets throughout the coastal strip,
The army said Beit Hanoun was targeted because it was a major staging ground for rocket attacks. But Israeli officials have said the takeover of the town did not signal the start of a wider-scale military offensive in Gaza.
Militants have been undeterred by the offensive, however, and have continued firing rockets, including four that landed in southern Israel on Friday, slightly wounding two people.
November 03, 2006
Report: Assad Targets Saudi Arabia
From Report: Assad Targets Saudi Arabia: According to a new expose in a leading Gulf paper, Bashar al-Assad in Damascus is gearing up to unleash a wave of attacks against leading Saudi figures. Syria's intelligence service, the report says, is recruiting Saudi, Algerian, and Moroccan extremists who live in Syria and Jordan to target key Saudis including Prince Bandar Bin Sultan, the former ambassador to Washington and current head of the Saudi National Security Council. Observers say officials in Damascus blame recent acts of violence in Syria on Saudi and Saudi-influenced extremists.
November 02, 2006
(From the archives) Background: Rabin's Forgotten Program - No Palestinian State, No Settlement Freeze, Gush Katif as Model, Israeli control of border
Background: Rabin's Forgotten Program - No Palestinian State, No Settlement Freeze, Gush Katif as Model, Israeli control of borders
[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA, 1 November 2006: Once again the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided not to include the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's last major policy address among the material it provided in a special distribution to mark the anniversary of his assasination.]
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin: Ratification of the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement
The Knesset
October 5, 1995
* No Palestinian State: "We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority."
* No return to '67 borders: "The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines."
* Control of Jordan Valley: "The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term."
* Gush Katif as model: "The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif."
* All settlements remain intact during interim period: "I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth."
* (During interim period) "The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in
our hands."
"...And these are the main changes, not all of them, which we envision and want in the permanent solution:
A. First and foremost, united Jerusalem, which will include both Ma'ale Adumim and Givat Ze'ev -- as the capital of Israel, under Israeli sovereignty, while preserving the rights of the members of the other faiths, Christianity and Islam, to freedom of access and freedom of worship in their holy places, according to the customs of their faiths.
B. The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.
C. Changes which will include the addition of Gush Etzion, Efrat, Beitar and other communities, most of which are in the area east of what was the "Green Line," prior to the Six Day War.
D. The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif..."
[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA, 1 November 2006: Once again the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has decided not to include the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's last major policy address among the material it provided in a special distribution to mark the anniversary of his assasination.]
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin: Ratification of the Israel-Palestinian Interim Agreement
The Knesset
October 5, 1995
* No Palestinian State: "We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority."
* No return to '67 borders: "The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines."
* Control of Jordan Valley: "The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term."
* Gush Katif as model: "The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif."
* All settlements remain intact during interim period: "I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth."
* (During interim period) "The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in
our hands."
"...And these are the main changes, not all of them, which we envision and want in the permanent solution:
A. First and foremost, united Jerusalem, which will include both Ma'ale Adumim and Givat Ze'ev -- as the capital of Israel, under Israeli sovereignty, while preserving the rights of the members of the other faiths, Christianity and Islam, to freedom of access and freedom of worship in their holy places, according to the customs of their faiths.
B. The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.
C. Changes which will include the addition of Gush Etzion, Efrat, Beitar and other communities, most of which are in the area east of what was the "Green Line," prior to the Six Day War.
D. The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif..."
October 31, 2006
Fatah units in West Bank received thousands of U.S.-origin M-16 assault rifles
[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: So much for disarming the illegal militias....]
RAMALLAH [MENL] -- The Fatah movement, bolstered by Western aid, has received new shipments of assault rifles and ammunition.
Palestinian sources said Fatah units in the West Bank received thousands of U.S.-origin M-16 assault rifles. They said the rifles were supplied to Fatah units as part of Israeli-approved Western aid to forces loyal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
"The weapons are meant for PA forces but they end up with Fatah in the war against Hamas," a Palestinian security source said.
[On Thursday, Palestinian gunners fired three Kassam-class, short-range missiles into Israel. Earlier, at least seven people were killed in an Israel Air Force strike on the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.]
===
NOTE: The above is not the full item.
This service contains only a small portion of the information produced daily by Middle East Newsline. For a subscription to the full service, please contact Middle East Newsline at: editor@menewsline.com for further details.
RAMALLAH [MENL] -- The Fatah movement, bolstered by Western aid, has received new shipments of assault rifles and ammunition.
Palestinian sources said Fatah units in the West Bank received thousands of U.S.-origin M-16 assault rifles. They said the rifles were supplied to Fatah units as part of Israeli-approved Western aid to forces loyal to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
"The weapons are meant for PA forces but they end up with Fatah in the war against Hamas," a Palestinian security source said.
[On Thursday, Palestinian gunners fired three Kassam-class, short-range missiles into Israel. Earlier, at least seven people were killed in an Israel Air Force strike on the Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.]
===
NOTE: The above is not the full item.
This service contains only a small portion of the information produced daily by Middle East Newsline. For a subscription to the full service, please contact Middle East Newsline at: editor@menewsline.com for further details.
September 28, 2006
Poll: Overwhelming majority of Israeli Jews observe various religious commandments
Interesting poll results from Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
Telephone poll of a representative sample of adult Israeli Jews carried out by Mutagim for Makor Rishon and Gesher and published in Makor Rishon on 22 September, 2006
31.8% Don't turn on electrical equipment on the Sabbath
62.6% Say Kiddush on the Sabbath
89.1% Read the Haggadah at a Passover Seder
70.8% Fast on Yom Kippur [78.6% of women and 62.8% of men]
61.8% Observe Kashrut at some level
65.5% Give charity on Purim
email: imra@netvision.net.il
website: http://www.imra.org.il
Telephone poll of a representative sample of adult Israeli Jews carried out by Mutagim for Makor Rishon and Gesher and published in Makor Rishon on 22 September, 2006
31.8% Don't turn on electrical equipment on the Sabbath
62.6% Say Kiddush on the Sabbath
89.1% Read the Haggadah at a Passover Seder
70.8% Fast on Yom Kippur [78.6% of women and 62.8% of men]
61.8% Observe Kashrut at some level
65.5% Give charity on Purim
email: imra@netvision.net.il
website: http://www.imra.org.il
September 24, 2006
A pity: The Jerusalem Municipality prepares for Ramadan
No surprise that Ramadan begins with gunshots and obtuse celebrations inside cemetaries. Guns and death - two of the most favorite cards in Islam's deck:
The municipality has purchased shells for the ancient canon the mayor will fire on Monday, September 25 at 17:38 at the Tzalah A-Din Cemetery.
The month of Ramadan will start this year on September 23rd and end on October 22nd (Including 3 days of Id El Feeter). During the Ramadan Muslims fast every day from sunrise to sunset. The Jerusalem municipality has purchased shells for the ancient canon fired every day at the beginning, middle and end of the fast. The municipality a total of purchased a total of 87 shells of two kinds: 37 colored shells for holidays and 50 regular canons. The total price of the shells is 6,787 NIS.
The municipality prepares for the Ramadan on various levels:
The lighting department decorates and lights the Old City gates with festive lights and regularly maintains the lighting in order to allow worshipers easy and safe access to prayers.
The sanitation department will enhance its operations around the old city and the Temple Mount. Special care will be given during Id El Feeter.
The welfare department will give out a holiday gift to needy families.
All Muslims employees of the municipality will finish work every day at 14:00 (Instead of 16:00) and will be free from work during Id El Feeter.
The signal for the start of the daily fast is a canon shot, situated at the Muslim cemetery at Tzalah A-Din st. Additionally, a second shot is heard every night, two hours prior to the beginning of the fast in order to alert people for the fast and a third shot is fired in the afternoon to mark the fast ending.
During the Ramadan the Muslims pray five times a day, on top of a special Ramadan prayer that lasts for 90 minutes. The Muslims prefer to hold their prayers in large mosques (Such as El Aqsa and Dome of the Rock), so heavier traffic than normal is expected in the Old City area.
At the end of Ramadan Muslims celebrate Id El Feeter for three days. On the first one they visit the cemeteries in the early morning, so on this day heavy traffic is also expected.
In preparation for Id El Feeter the municipal veterinarian service has arranged a ritual lamb slaughter at the tarot industrial zone. The lambs are imported by authorized dealers from sanitary sources and the public can purchase the meat on the spot and stores in eastern Jerusalem.
The municipality has purchased shells for the ancient canon the mayor will fire on Monday, September 25 at 17:38 at the Tzalah A-Din Cemetery.
The month of Ramadan will start this year on September 23rd and end on October 22nd (Including 3 days of Id El Feeter). During the Ramadan Muslims fast every day from sunrise to sunset. The Jerusalem municipality has purchased shells for the ancient canon fired every day at the beginning, middle and end of the fast. The municipality a total of purchased a total of 87 shells of two kinds: 37 colored shells for holidays and 50 regular canons. The total price of the shells is 6,787 NIS.
The municipality prepares for the Ramadan on various levels:
The lighting department decorates and lights the Old City gates with festive lights and regularly maintains the lighting in order to allow worshipers easy and safe access to prayers.
The sanitation department will enhance its operations around the old city and the Temple Mount. Special care will be given during Id El Feeter.
The welfare department will give out a holiday gift to needy families.
All Muslims employees of the municipality will finish work every day at 14:00 (Instead of 16:00) and will be free from work during Id El Feeter.
The signal for the start of the daily fast is a canon shot, situated at the Muslim cemetery at Tzalah A-Din st. Additionally, a second shot is heard every night, two hours prior to the beginning of the fast in order to alert people for the fast and a third shot is fired in the afternoon to mark the fast ending.
During the Ramadan the Muslims pray five times a day, on top of a special Ramadan prayer that lasts for 90 minutes. The Muslims prefer to hold their prayers in large mosques (Such as El Aqsa and Dome of the Rock), so heavier traffic than normal is expected in the Old City area.
At the end of Ramadan Muslims celebrate Id El Feeter for three days. On the first one they visit the cemeteries in the early morning, so on this day heavy traffic is also expected.
In preparation for Id El Feeter the municipal veterinarian service has arranged a ritual lamb slaughter at the tarot industrial zone. The lambs are imported by authorized dealers from sanitary sources and the public can purchase the meat on the spot and stores in eastern Jerusalem.
September 17, 2006
NAM: Jerusalem belongs to Occupied Palestinian Territory
[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: The proposed PA "unity government" is slated to be based on the "Prisoner's Document" according to which "resistance" (aka murdering Israeli civilians) will focus in the "occupied territories". The Palestinians encouraged NAM to reiterate that "Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in 1967".]
NAM: Jerusalem belongs to Occupied Palestinian Territory
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?id=7492
HAVANA, September 17, 2006, (WAFA - PLO News Agency)- The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit reiterated that Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in 1967. [Over your dead bodies, muzbots]
In its Final Declaration of the 14th Summit, in Havana, NAM supported the UN resolutions confirming Jerusalem belongs to the occupied Palestinian territory.
The document terms null measures to change character, political and demographic condition of that sacred city.
Four resolutions by the UN Security Council and one of the General Assembly allude the issue, and they are ignored by the Israeli government.
The text's political part tackles nine sections to the Palestinian cause, one of the most concerning topics due to the intensified hardships of the Palestinian people as of the Legislative Council elections in January, 2006.
NAM: Jerusalem belongs to Occupied Palestinian Territory
http://english.wafa.ps/body.asp?id=7492
HAVANA, September 17, 2006, (WAFA - PLO News Agency)- The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit reiterated that Jerusalem belongs to the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in 1967. [Over your dead bodies, muzbots]
In its Final Declaration of the 14th Summit, in Havana, NAM supported the UN resolutions confirming Jerusalem belongs to the occupied Palestinian territory.
The document terms null measures to change character, political and demographic condition of that sacred city.
Four resolutions by the UN Security Council and one of the General Assembly allude the issue, and they are ignored by the Israeli government.
The text's political part tackles nine sections to the Palestinian cause, one of the most concerning topics due to the intensified hardships of the Palestinian people as of the Legislative Council elections in January, 2006.
August 31, 2006
Kofi Annan is janus-faced
[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was asked how he can visit with the President of Iran given that he has called openly and repeatedly for the destruction of Israel.
Instead of taking the opportunity to condemn the statements, Annan limits himself to:
#1 "Israel ... has the right to exist, and one cannot wipe away Israel with statements. (AL: his version of the children's rhyme "sticks and stones can break...."?)
#2 "And those kinds of statements should not be made." (AL: apparently because of the "technicality" that "Israel... is a recognized Member State".
Put another way: judging from UN Sec'y Gen. Kofi Annan's remarks, he wouldn't necessarily have a problem with Iran's president calling for destroying the Jewish State - or perhaps even going about and actually delivering on his threat - if not for the technicality that Israel is a member of the UN. Throw Israel out of the UN and all bets may be off.
It should be noted that while Annan is extremely careful in his remarks about Iran, he has had no problem attacking Israel during his visit to the region.]
Here is the Secretary-General's press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (unofficial transcript).
Instead of taking the opportunity to condemn the statements, Annan limits himself to:
#1 "Israel ... has the right to exist, and one cannot wipe away Israel with statements. (AL: his version of the children's rhyme "sticks and stones can break...."?)
#2 "And those kinds of statements should not be made." (AL: apparently because of the "technicality" that "Israel... is a recognized Member State".
Put another way: judging from UN Sec'y Gen. Kofi Annan's remarks, he wouldn't necessarily have a problem with Iran's president calling for destroying the Jewish State - or perhaps even going about and actually delivering on his threat - if not for the technicality that Israel is a member of the UN. Throw Israel out of the UN and all bets may be off.
It should be noted that while Annan is extremely careful in his remarks about Iran, he has had no problem attacking Israel during his visit to the region.]
Here is the Secretary-General's press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (unofficial transcript).
August 12, 2006
US Security Resoution 1701: Security for Muslims only
[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: The folks at the Israel Foreign Ministry declined to share with their readers that the resolution:
#1 Does not require the release of the Israeli hostages.
#2 Includes no time element for the disarming of Hizbullah (this while the resolution is peppered with phrases such as "as soon as possible", "urgently", "immediate steps").
#3 Provides for UNIFIL to protect human shields ("authorizes UNIFIL to ...without prejudice to the responsibility of the Government of Lebanon, to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence")
#2 + #3 = formula for armed conflict between the IDF and UNIFIL.
This and more.
Question: If you are preparing a press release and know that there are problems with the UNSC resolution why hide them when the odds are good that you will later find yourself trying to explain to the very same audience about the problems with the UNSC resolution when the situation sours?
Wouldn't it be more honest to say: "there are good points and bad points to the resolution as detailed below. The Government of Israel will meet on Sunday to decide if, after due consideration, the resolution should be accepted."?]
====================
Behind the Headlines: UN Security Council Resolution 1701
Information Department, Israel Foreign Ministry - Jerusalem
Website: http://www.mfa.gov.il
E-mail: feedback@mfa.gov.il
Jerusalem, 12 August 2006
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted on 11 August 2006, contains the essential elements that Israel believes can build a more stable and secure situation and will prevent Hizbullah from ever again being able to create the sort of regional crisis we have witnessed in the past month.
The preamble of the resolution:
- clearly puts the blame for the current crisis on Hizbullah
- calls for the unconditional release of the Israeli hostages, and
- calls for the implementation of UNSC 1559
In the operative paragraphs, the resolution:
- calls for the cessation of all Hizbullah armed attacks
- creates a new, strengthened UNIFIL (15,000 troops)
- gives UNIFIL a improved mandate (to take "all necessary action" to prevent hostile activities of any kind in
its area of operations)
- calls that there be no armed groups, foreign or domestic (ie armed Hizbullah militia or Syrian and Iranian military advisors) in Lebanon
- establishes an embargo of weapons to Lebanese groups other than the government, enforced by UNIFIL (at airports, seaports and border crossings) , and
- forbids Hizbullah armed elements from returning to southern Lebanon, from the Blue Line to the Litani River.
Thus the resolution contains the fundamental elements which Government of Israel set out to achieve following Hizbullah's unprovoked cross border attack and bombardment on 12 July:
- the return of its hostages
- the removal of the Hizbullah threat to northern Israeli cities, and
- the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1559 calling for Lebanon extend its sovereignty to all its territory, deploy its army south to the Israel-Lebanon border and disarm Hizbullah.
Israel expects the international community to take all the concrete steps required in order to bring about the full and effective implementation of the resolution just adopted.
#1 Does not require the release of the Israeli hostages.
#2 Includes no time element for the disarming of Hizbullah (this while the resolution is peppered with phrases such as "as soon as possible", "urgently", "immediate steps").
#3 Provides for UNIFIL to protect human shields ("authorizes UNIFIL to ...without prejudice to the responsibility of the Government of Lebanon, to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence")
#2 + #3 = formula for armed conflict between the IDF and UNIFIL.
This and more.
Question: If you are preparing a press release and know that there are problems with the UNSC resolution why hide them when the odds are good that you will later find yourself trying to explain to the very same audience about the problems with the UNSC resolution when the situation sours?
Wouldn't it be more honest to say: "there are good points and bad points to the resolution as detailed below. The Government of Israel will meet on Sunday to decide if, after due consideration, the resolution should be accepted."?]
====================
Behind the Headlines: UN Security Council Resolution 1701
Information Department, Israel Foreign Ministry - Jerusalem
Website: http://www.mfa.gov.il
E-mail: feedback@mfa.gov.il
Jerusalem, 12 August 2006
UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted on 11 August 2006, contains the essential elements that Israel believes can build a more stable and secure situation and will prevent Hizbullah from ever again being able to create the sort of regional crisis we have witnessed in the past month.
The preamble of the resolution:
- clearly puts the blame for the current crisis on Hizbullah
- calls for the unconditional release of the Israeli hostages, and
- calls for the implementation of UNSC 1559
In the operative paragraphs, the resolution:
- calls for the cessation of all Hizbullah armed attacks
- creates a new, strengthened UNIFIL (15,000 troops)
- gives UNIFIL a improved mandate (to take "all necessary action" to prevent hostile activities of any kind in
its area of operations)
- calls that there be no armed groups, foreign or domestic (ie armed Hizbullah militia or Syrian and Iranian military advisors) in Lebanon
- establishes an embargo of weapons to Lebanese groups other than the government, enforced by UNIFIL (at airports, seaports and border crossings) , and
- forbids Hizbullah armed elements from returning to southern Lebanon, from the Blue Line to the Litani River.
Thus the resolution contains the fundamental elements which Government of Israel set out to achieve following Hizbullah's unprovoked cross border attack and bombardment on 12 July:
- the return of its hostages
- the removal of the Hizbullah threat to northern Israeli cities, and
- the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1559 calling for Lebanon extend its sovereignty to all its territory, deploy its army south to the Israel-Lebanon border and disarm Hizbullah.
Israel expects the international community to take all the concrete steps required in order to bring about the full and effective implementation of the resolution just adopted.
August 09, 2006
15 IDF Soldiers Die In Wednesday Fighting
IDF operating in southern Lebanon against rocket launching grounds
The IDF is operating in the area of El Khayam in southern Lebanon, an area from which Hezbollah have been firing Katyusha rockets at Metula, Kiryat Shmona and the Galilee panhandle.
Israel Radio military affairs correspondent Carmella Menashe reported after midnight (Thursday 00:05) that the IDF Spokesman has now released:
15 IDF soldiers died today in Lebanon - of which one was killed by friendly fire.
It was not clear from the description of the various incidents to whatextent the deaths could be attributed to what appears to be an ongoingactive IDF policy of respecting human shields.
A check by IMRA fails to find any foreign appreciation of the human shield policy. That Israel would risk the lives of Israelis rather than risk the lives of enemy human shields is typically either ignored overseas or considered an Israeli stupidity (and stupidity is not rewarded).
Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
The IDF is operating in the area of El Khayam in southern Lebanon, an area from which Hezbollah have been firing Katyusha rockets at Metula, Kiryat Shmona and the Galilee panhandle.
Israel Radio military affairs correspondent Carmella Menashe reported after midnight (Thursday 00:05) that the IDF Spokesman has now released:
15 IDF soldiers died today in Lebanon - of which one was killed by friendly fire.
It was not clear from the description of the various incidents to whatextent the deaths could be attributed to what appears to be an ongoingactive IDF policy of respecting human shields.
A check by IMRA fails to find any foreign appreciation of the human shield policy. That Israel would risk the lives of Israelis rather than risk the lives of enemy human shields is typically either ignored overseas or considered an Israeli stupidity (and stupidity is not rewarded).
Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
August 01, 2006
Lebanese website blames Hizbullah for Qana deaths
[IMRA: For original article in French:
http://www.libanoscopie.com/FullDoc.asp?ocCode=994&Cat=2 ]
Anti-Syrian elements in Lebanon openly point finger at Hizbullah as guilty of killing of dozens of civilians in order to curtail plans for disarming group. 'Hizbullah has placed rocket launcher on building's roof and brought invalid children inside in bid to provoke Israeli response,' they write
Roee Nahmias YNET 1 August 2006
Is Hizbullah behind the tragic incident in the village of Qana that claimed the lives of some 60 people? While the Israeli army continues to investigate the circumstances leading to the building's collapse, some in Lebanon do not hesitate to point the finger at the Shiite organization and claim it is to blame for the death of dozens.
The Lebanese website LIBANOSCOPIE , associated with Christian elements in the country and which openly supports the anti-Syrian movement called the "March 14 Forces," reported that Hizbullah has masterminded a plan that would result in the killing of innocents in the Qana village, in a bid to foil Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's "Seven Points Plan", which calls for deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon and the disarming of Hizbullah.
'Disabled children placed inside building'
"We have it from a credible source that Hizbullah, alarmed by Siniora's plan, has concocted an incident that would help thwart the negotiations.
Knowing full well that Israel will not hesitate to bombard civilian targets, Hizbullah gunmen placed a rocket launcher on the roof in Qana and brought disabled children inside, in a bid to provoke a response by the Israeli Air Force. In this way, they were planning to take advantage of the death of innocents and curtail the negotiation initiative," the site stated.
The site's editors also claimed that not only did Hizbullah stage the event, but that it also chose Qana for a specific reason: "They used Qana because the village had already turned into a symbol for massacring innocent civilians, and so they set up 'Qana 2'." Notably, the incident has indeed been dubbed "The second Qana massacre" by the Arab media.
(08.01.06, 07:53)
http://www.libanoscopie.com/FullDoc.asp?ocCode=994&Cat=2 ]
Anti-Syrian elements in Lebanon openly point finger at Hizbullah as guilty of killing of dozens of civilians in order to curtail plans for disarming group. 'Hizbullah has placed rocket launcher on building's roof and brought invalid children inside in bid to provoke Israeli response,' they write
Roee Nahmias YNET 1 August 2006
Is Hizbullah behind the tragic incident in the village of Qana that claimed the lives of some 60 people? While the Israeli army continues to investigate the circumstances leading to the building's collapse, some in Lebanon do not hesitate to point the finger at the Shiite organization and claim it is to blame for the death of dozens.
The Lebanese website LIBANOSCOPIE , associated with Christian elements in the country and which openly supports the anti-Syrian movement called the "March 14 Forces," reported that Hizbullah has masterminded a plan that would result in the killing of innocents in the Qana village, in a bid to foil Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's "Seven Points Plan", which calls for deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon and the disarming of Hizbullah.
'Disabled children placed inside building'
"We have it from a credible source that Hizbullah, alarmed by Siniora's plan, has concocted an incident that would help thwart the negotiations.
Knowing full well that Israel will not hesitate to bombard civilian targets, Hizbullah gunmen placed a rocket launcher on the roof in Qana and brought disabled children inside, in a bid to provoke a response by the Israeli Air Force. In this way, they were planning to take advantage of the death of innocents and curtail the negotiation initiative," the site stated.
The site's editors also claimed that not only did Hizbullah stage the event, but that it also chose Qana for a specific reason: "They used Qana because the village had already turned into a symbol for massacring innocent civilians, and so they set up 'Qana 2'." Notably, the incident has indeed been dubbed "The second Qana massacre" by the Arab media.
(08.01.06, 07:53)
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