Some 10,000 people attended the funeral Saturday of three Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade operatives, killed in an overnight Israel Defense Forces raid near Nablus.
Security officials said the three had been involved in the fatal shooting attack on Thursday that killed 40-year-old father of seven Meir Hai near the settlement of Shavei Shomron, where he lived.
The funeral procession, attended by Palestinian Authority officials, was accompanied by many calls for retaliation for the IDF operation and promises to avenge the deaths.
"This is another heinous crime on the long list of crimes of the occupation," said Fatah's armed wing in a statement, which promised a speedy and painful response. "We won't stand around doing nothing and the blood of holy warriors will not have been spilled in vain. The enemy won't see anything from us besides the language of blood and fire."
In a separate incident overnight Friday, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in an air strike and ground fire on suspicion they were trying to infiltrate from Gaza.
A Hamas security source said the three shot in Gaza were apparently civilians collecting scrap metal in an industrial zone near the Israeli border.
The Nablus operation ended an extended lull during which the IDF refrained from any activities in the heart of Palestinian towns in the West Bank.
IDF troops entered the casbah of Nablus as well as the Ras al-Ayin region.
One of the dead Palestinians has been identified as Anan Subeh, 33, of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. The other two Palestinians who were killed are Raed a-Sarkaji, 38, and Raghsan Abu Sharah, whose brother was regarded as a top commander with the organization.
During the operation, a-Sarkaji's wife was wounded and was later transferred to hospital for medical care.
Palestinian security sources report that IDF troops surrounded the Nablus casbah at around 4:00 A.M. on Saturday. Then, the IDF surrounded one of the homes in the area before proceeding to forcibly enter. The Palestinians had refused Israeli soldiers' calls to surrender.
An American diplomatic vehicle allegedly tried to run over an Israeli security guard at a border checkpoint in Israel last month, setting off a diplomatic scuffle that is straining relations between the two nations, the Jerusalem Post reported.
In an episode that was reportedly caught on tape, a five-car U.S. convoy was stopped at the Gilboa border crossing in the northern West Bank on Nov. 13 but refused to identify themselves or open any windows or doors for inspection by Israeli security.
What followed, according to the Post, was recorded in an official report that has kicked up a diplomatic dust storm in Israel.
Drivers in the American convoy blocked the crossing, the report says, tried running over a Defense Ministry security guard and made indecent gestures at female guards, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The incident led to a testy meeting five days later, when U.S. and Israeli officials met in Jerusalem to discuss the case and at least one other involving a Palestinian woman who was found in a U.S. diplomatic car without appropriate documentation.
The U.S. response, the Post norted, further angered Israeli officials: the chief regional security officer reportedly told his Israeli counterparts that "simple guards" had no authority to inspect senior diplomats.
The alleged incident apparently occurred just two days after the border crossing was opened to vehicular traffic, according to information from the Israeli Defense Ministry
So get this, Obama's new "antisemitism czar?" Hannah Rosenthal? Yeah, well rather than talking about all the antisemitism happening throughout the world, guess who her first target is?
You guessed it - Israel!
She publicly criticized the Israeli ambassador in Washington, Michael Oren, for criticizing J Street, the extreme left-leaning anti-Israel Jewish lobbying group:Remarks by Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, against the liberal Jewish lobby J Street were "most unfortunate" according to Hannah Rosenthal, head of the U.S. administration's Office to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism.Jeffrey Goldberg said, "the Obama Administration official charged with monitoring worldwide anti-Semitism makes her first target... the Israeli ambassador to the United States? I'll be taking bets now on how long Hannah Rosenthal lasts in the job."
Agreed.
Of course, it all makes sense considering this woman is an avid J-Street supporter.
Yid with Lid wrote:
...The appointment of Hannah Rosenthal is more proof of how our President is trying to push ahead an anti-Israel agenda. This move is just a little more cynical than his normal Israel-trashing move.
Reported today on Fox News:
Passenger Ignites Explosive on Delta Flight, Al Qaeda Connection Reported
A male passenger possibly linked to terrorist organization Al Qaeda ignited a powdery substance prior to landing on a Delta Airlines flight to Detroit Friday, Fox News confirmed. The man is believed to be Nigerian.
Several people were hurt and one person, possibly the suspect, was admitted to the University of Michigan Medical Center at Ann Arbor, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said. An emergency was declared aboard the flight, operated as Northwest flight 253, according to a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson.
The suspect, who ABC reported suffered second-degree burns, told federal investigators he was connected to Al Qaeda, though authorities are questioning the veracity of that statement, Fox News confirmed. A federal situational awareness bulletin noted that the explosive was acquired in Yemen with instructions as to when it should be used, ABC said.
The FBI was on the scene, Detroit office spokeswoman Sandra Berchtold told NewsCore. Berchtold declined to comment on the reports of a terrorist connectio
Obama's attempts to please Muslim world:
The result: 2 attacks within first year.
Oh -yea, it's all Bush's fault, right?
Cross posted on ZipIran's president on Tuesday dismissed a year-end deadline set by the Obama administration and the West for Tehran to accept a U.N.-drafted deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel, and claimed his government is now "10 times stronger" than a year ago.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks underscored Tehran's defiance amid the nuclear standoff — and also sought to send a message that his government had not been weakened by the protest movement sparked by June's disputed presidential election. His comments came a day after the latest opposition protest by tens of thousands mourning a dissident cleric who died over the weekend.
President Barack Obama has set a rough deadline of the end of this year for Iran to respond to an offer of dialogue and show that it will allay fears of weapons development. Washington and its allies are warning of new, tougher sanctions on Iran if it doesn't respond.
The U.N.-proposed deal is the centerpiece of the West's diplomatic effort. Under the deal, Tehran would ship most of its stockpile of low-enriched uranium abroad to be processed into fuel rods, which would ease the West's fears that the material could be used to produce a nuclear weapon.
Former US President Jimmy Carter on Monday asked for the Jewish community's forgiveness for any negative stigma he may have caused Israel over the years.
Carter, who is not a popular character in Israel, enraged the American Jewish community's in the past with various statements made in his book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."
In the book, carter blamed Israel for impeding the Middle East peace process via settlement construction, further claiming such policy will lead to apartheid.
The former president also accused Israel of interfering with US efforts to broker peace in the region.
"We must recognize Israel’s achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel.
"As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so," he said.
"Al Het" refers to the Yom Kippur prayer asking God forgiveness for sins committed.
Head of the Anti-Defamation League Abraham Foxman welcomed Carter's apology, saying it marked the beginning of reconciliation.
Shots were fired at a bus carrying Syrian workers in northern Lebanon on Monday, killing one Syrian, security sources said.
The attack occurred a day after Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri completed a two-day visit to Damascus for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad that marked an end to nearly five years of animosity between Damascus and a broad political alliance led by Hariri.
Lebanon's ties with Damascus hit rock bottom after Hariri's alliance accused Syria of assassinating Saad's father, Rafik al-Hariri, in February 2005. They also blamed Damascus for attacking and killing other politicians and journalists.
Syria denies the allegations. A special court has yet to indict anyone for the killing.
Outrage in Lebanon over the assassination and international pressure forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in April 2005, ending three decades of military presence in its smaller neighbor.
Meanwhile, unknown assailants slashed the tires of several vehicles belonging to the employees of the United Nations in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre, UN officials said Monday.
The incident was being investigated by the Lebanese army and troops from the United Nations Interim Forces in Southern Lebanon (UNIFIL), according to UN spokesman Andrea Tennetti.
A key terror suspect who allegedly helped to plan last year’s attacks in Mumbai and plotted to strike Europe was an American secret agent who went rogue, Indian officials believe.
David Headley, 49, who was born in Washington to a Pakistan diplomat father and an American mother, was arrested in Chicago in October. He is accused of reconnoitring targets in India and Europe for Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the Pakistan-based terror group behind the Mumbai attacks and of having links to al-Qaeda. He has denied the charges.
He came to the attention of the US security services in 1997 when he was arrested in New York for heroin smuggling. He earned a reduced sentence by working for the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) infiltrating Pakistan-linked narcotics gangs.
Indian investigators, who have been denied access to Mr Headley, suspect that he remained on the payroll of the US security services — possibly working for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) — but switched his allegiance to LeT.
Thousands of camels from around the Arab world will bat their long eyelashes and show off their humps at Abu Dhabi's "Miss Camel" beauty pageant next month, organizers said on Wednesday.
"It will be the largest gathering of camels in one place ever," organizers of the 2010 al-Dhafra Festival said.
The Gulf's leading camel connoisseurs will critically observe as camel after camel struts down a catwalk at the festival, which is sponsored by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage.
They will rate the animals on such criteria as the grace of their necks, the shape of their noses and the style of their hair.
With more than 10 million dollars in prizes up for grabs, the competition is serious business for camel owners.
More than 24,000 camels competed for the title of "most beautiful camel" last year.
New this year is a prize for the camel that produces the most milk. Organizers said this category should encourage camel keepers to acquire more milking camels.
The sole prerequisite for camel owners wishing to partake in the competition is that their camels be clean and disease-free
The Israel-based Coalition of Women for Peace has sent a letter to MK Tzipi Livni, who served as Israel’s Foreign Minister during last year’s counter-terrorism offensive in Gaza, siding with those who wish to have her arrested by British authorities for her role in the war.
MK Livni received notice of a warrant for her arrest in Britain this week.
The Coalition of Women sent her a translation of the Goldstone Report on Wednesday, and explained in an attached letter, "We are convinced that if you refer to the report, you will understand why British citizens and organizations have turned to the courts with a request to issue a warrant for your arrest."
The Coalition quotes Livni as having said, on January 13, 2009, that "we have proven to Hamas that the equation has been altered. Israel is a state that, when its citizens are shot at, will respond insanely. And that's a good thing."
The Coalition wholeheartedly supports the Goldstone Report’s conclusions accusing Israel of war crimes – although the report was overwhelmingly condemned by many bodies, including, for instance, the U.S. House of Representatives. In a 344-36 landslide vote, the House describes the report as “irredeemably biased and unworthy of further consideration or legitimacy," and called upon President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to “continue to strongly and unequivocally oppose any endorsement of the [report] in multilateral fora.”
The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to impose new economic sanctions against Iran as lawmakers expressed doubt about the Islamic Republic's willingness to respond to diplomatic efforts to curtail its purported nuclear arms program.
The legislation, approved 412-12, would end access to US markets for foreign companies that sell refined petroleum products to Iran or help that country develop its petroleum capacity. While Iran is a major crude oil producer, its lack of ability to produce enough gasoline and other refined petroleum products is a major economic vulnerability.
With no Senate action on the legislation expected this year, the House vote was for the time being primarily a warning that the United States is ready to act on its own if the Teheran government does not respond to current international efforts to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.
The bill drew opposition from lawmakers who said it would mainly cause hardship among poor and middle-class Iranians.
Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, in a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week, said President Barack Obama's administration was "entering a critical period of intense diplomacy to impose significant international pressure on Iran." Sanctions legislation "might weaken rather than strengthen international unity and support for our efforts," Steinberg's letter said.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, a member of Obama's Democratic Party, said Iran has had ample time to respond to Obama's efforts at engagement. "President Obama has offered Iran an outstretched hand, but regrettably, Iran has not unclenched its fist."
Hitting Iran in one of its weakest areas could be "the last best hope for diplomatically ending Iran's nuclear weapons program," said Republican Rep. Mark Kirk.
US officials say Iran already has stockpiled enough uranium to produce one nuclear weapon, said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee. International diplomacy has proved to be a mirage, she said. "We must use the limited time remaining to impose sanctions so painful that they should threaten the Iranian regime's survival."
Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a leading critic of the bill, said it would antagonize the many Iranian people who oppose the Teheran government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "We're telling the Iranian people, 'We have feelings of friendship for you. We like you so much, but we're going to cut off your home heating oil.'"
"This will unify the Iranian people against us," said Rep. Ron Paul, a Republican.
US petroleum exports to Iran already are banned under existing sanctions. But the National Foreign Trade Council and its affiliate, USA Engage, expressed misgivings that a US company that has business dealings with a foreign firm involved in Iran's energy sector could face sanctions.
Also on Tuesday, the State Department said it planned to waive provisions of existing sanctions against Iran to allow Iranians to download free, mass-market software used in e-mail, instant messaging and social networking.
The department said sanctions "are having an unintended chilling effect on the ability of companies such as Microsoft and Google to continue providing essential communications tools to ordinary Iranians."
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat, welcomed the move: "Much of what we know about the regime's repression has come from firsthand accounts by Iranian citizens, distributed via Internet tools such as YouTube and Twitter," he said.
President Obama released his Hanukkah statement Friday, offering up a message of faith and strength amid adversity.
"The Maccabees and the miracles they witnessed reminds us that faith and perseverance are powerful forces that can sustain us in difficult times and help us overcome even the greatest odds," said Mr. Obama.
The message was released both in English and Hebrew.
The eight-day Jewish holiday begins at sundown tonight. It is observed with the lighting of candles atop a menorah, eating food related to Hanukkah and recalling the story behind the holiday.
"Hanukkah is not only a time to celebrate the faith and customs of the Jewish people, but for people of all faiths to celebrate the common aspirations we share," said Mr. Obama.
Hanukah celebrates the events of year 167 BC, when Jewish rebels led by Judah the Maccabee defeated the Syrian-Greek Antiochus IV, briefly regaining their independence.
Part of the miracle the holiday celebrates is that a one-day supply of oil in the Holy Temple lasted 8 days.
"May Hanukkah's lessons inspire us all to give thanks for the blessings we enjoy, to find light in times of darkness, and to work together for a brighter, more hopeful tomorrow," the president said.
A healthy man in blockaded Gaza faked cancer, hoping the deadly disease would be his ticket out of the territory.
His ploy failed, but several thousand others succeeded in fleeing the territory this year using bribes and fake medical reports.
Israel allows passage to top business people and a limited number of Gazans seeking treatment for serious illnesses. Egypt sporadically opens its border for university students and those with residency abroad.
Everyone else is stuck, even as Palestinian polls suggest nearly half the population would like to leave if they could. Deepening the Gazans' sense of imprisonment, they must now also obtain permission from the Hamas government before attempting to leave, further complicating an obstacle-ridden path to freedom.
Those trying to bribe their way out usually approach middlemen who put them in touch with local doctors, Palestinian health officials or Egyptian bureaucrats and military officials.
Akram Ghneim, 31, an unemployed father of six living off food handouts, told The Associated Press he promised $260 to a Palestinian middleman, who obtained for him a bogus medical report saying he had cancer. Ghneim said he hoped he'd get a rare spot on the list of Gaza patients with life-threatening illnesses who are allowed to enter Israel for treatment.
IDF and Border Police forces thwarted a potential terror attack in Jerusalem on Wednesday afternoon, when they discovered six pipe bombs in a 20-year-old Palestinian man's bag.
The man arrived at the Kalandiya checkpoint in northern Jerusalem shortly after 3 p.m. Border Police guards stationed at the checkpoint searched the man after he raised their suspicions.
Two small pipe bombs were found in his bag, but more a thorough search revealed four other devices.
The man, who resides in the West Bank, was arrested and transferred for interrogation. During a preliminary interrogation at the scene, he admitted to planning to carry out an attack inside Jerusalem.
Police sappers neutralized the bombs in a controlled environment.
There were no casualties reported in the incident.
A series of coordinated attacks struck Baghdad Tuesday, including three car bombs that blew up near government sites. At least 118 were killed and 261 wounded in the worst wave of violence in the capital in more than a month, authorities told Reuters.
A total of four attacks, which also included a homicide car bomb on a police patrol, showed the ability of insurgents to strike high-profile targets in the heart of Baghdad. It was another embarrassment to Iraqi forces in their expanding role as front-line security as U.S. forces plan their withdrawal.
The blasts came as Iraqi officials prepared to announced the date for next year's parliamentary elections — a move the security forces worry could bring an escalation in attacks seeking to discredit the pro-Western government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
The core of the attacks hit central Baghdad with three bomb-rigged cars exploding in the span of a few minutes.
The targets were the latest assaults directed at Iraqi authorities: the Labor Ministry building, a court complex near the Iraqi-protected Green Zone and the new site of the Finance Ministry after its previous building was destroyed in major attacks in August.
An official for Iraq's Interior Ministry told The Assocaited Press at least 90 people were killed in those three car bombs and at least 115 injured. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give information to media.
About an hour before the Baghdad blasts, a suicide car bomber struck a police patrol in the mostly Sunni district of Dora in southern Baghdad, killing at least three policemen and one civilian and injuring five people, said a police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.
"What crime have we committed? Children and women were buried under debris. Why did they (Iraqi troops) let this car bomb pass!" cried Ahmed Jabbar as he staggered through the debris near the new Finance Ministry building.
With the recent announcement of Chelsea Clinton's engagement to Marc Mezvinsky, extended family gatherings at the high-profile Clinton household look poised to become a lot more colorful. With her choice of a mate, Clinton, daughter of a former president and the current secretary of state, is marrying into a family that includes a former U.S. congressman convicted of fraud; another member of Congress who fell on her sword for a future in-law in a vote that ended her political career; no fewer than 10 brothers- and sisters-in-law, and a fervently anti-Zionist uncle.
It's a family with deep roots in the world of Jewish politics. Marc's father, Ed Mezvinsky, grew up in Ames, Iowa. The son of a Jewish grocer who owned a store in the middle of a Catholic neighborhood, he became involved in local politics as a consumer-rights advocate and, after a failed initial attempt, got elected to Congress in 1972. As a member of the House of Representatives' Watergate panel, Mezvinsky voted in favor of impeaching then-president Richard Nixon.
"He was not one of those who distanced themselves from Jewish issues," recalled Douglas Bloomfield, who was a congressional aide during the time Ed Mezvinsky served in the House. Mezvinsky took pride in his Jewish identity, was a supporter of legislation relating to Israel and was seen as "something unusual" as a Jew elected to Congress from Iowa, he said. But after two terms in the House, Mezvinsky's political career seemed to be over. He lost his reelection bid, and after moving to Pennsylvania he failed in races for the state's Senate seat, for attorney general and for lieutenant governor.
Mezvinsky's legal troubles began in 1980 but were not revealed until two decades later, when FBI agents raided his mansion in suburban Philadelphia. Soon after, he was charged with 69 counts of fraud. Mezvinsky argued that he was driven by a mental disorder and therefore was not responsible for his actions. But the court turned down this argument and sentenced the former congressman to 80 months in prison. He was released in 2008.
Marc's mother, Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky also had a short-lived political career, and owes her failure to both her husband, Ed, and her future in-law, then-President Bill Clinton. Elected to Congress in 1992, she was the deciding vote in the House that ensured the passage of Clinton's 1993 budget, which included a tax increase for the wealthy. Her willingness to vote for the bill was used against her in the following election cycle, leading to her defeat. She later tried running for Senate, but dropped out of the race when forced restitution payments related to her husband's fraud conviction forced the family into bankruptcy. The couple divorced in 2007. But before then, Marjorie and Ed raised 11 children, most of them adopted from overseas.
If the former president and current secretary of state do raise the issue of the Jewish state during a family gathering, they might get a mouthful from Marc Mezvinsky's uncle. Norton Mezvinsky, a professor who has been labeled as anti-Zionist, holds strong views questioning the right of Jews to a homeland in Israel.
Mezvinsky recently retired from Central Connecticut State University's history department, where he taught for four decades. In his academic work and in books he authored, Mezvinsky accused Israel of deliberately creating the Palestinian refugee problem. He supports a one-state solution for the regional conflict.
"He uses his Jewish background to attack Israel; he represents the left of left among intellectual scholars," said Asaf Romirowsky, adjunct scholar at Campus Watch, an organization that monitors academics dealing with the Middle East and Israel. But David Gerwin, a professor of social studies at Queens College who worked with Mezvinsky at CCSU, paints a more nuanced picture.
"He is driven, passionate and inspired, a force of nature," he said of Mezvinsky, with whom he shared an office on campus. While agreeing that Mezvinsky's views on Israel were "left of the left of the left," Gerwin said that on issues relating to immigration or affirmative action, his approach was "way to the right."
The Clintons and Mezvinskys have not yet announced their wedding arrangements, and despite intense blogosphere discussions, it is not clear whether the mixed-faith young couple will choose to have both Christian and Jewish clergy at their ceremony. Chelsea Clinton, however, was seen attending High Holy Day services with her fiance at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, Conservative Judaism's flagship academic institution.
Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip have begun launching Russian-manufactured S-5K rockets into southern Israel, Army Radio reported on Sunday.
On Sunday morning, security forces discovered remnants of a projectile that was fired by Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip.
The rocket hit an open area near Kibbutz Alumim. No one was hurt in the incident and no damage was reported.
After examining the projectile, the IDF determined it was a Russian-made S5K-type rocket, intended to be fired from fighter bombers and helicopters to attack ground targets.
According to the radio station, the Palestinians altered the projectile, enabling it to be launched from the ground. This is the first time that such a rocket has been fired at Israel from Gaza.
A defense official told Army Radio that the use of a new rocket type proves that the weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip is continuing at full speed.
"Iran is constantly trying to arm Hamas, and in addition to this rocket, arms such as anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles are constantly entering the Strip," the senior official was quoted as saying.
Recent rocket attacks on Israel as well as the apparent foiled terror attack near Eilatlast week were part of an attempt by Palestinian terrorist groups to undermine Hamas and disrupt negotiations for a prisoner exchange deal with Israel, defense officials said.
The S-5 (first designated ARS-57) is a rocket weapon developed by the Soviet Air Force and used by military aircraft against ground area targets. It is in service with the Russian Air Force and various export customers.
It is produced in a variety of subtypes with different warheads, including HEAT anti-armour (S-5K), high-explosive fragmentation (S-5M/MO), smoke, and incendiary rounds. Each rocket is about 1.4 meters (4 ft 6 in) long and weighs about 5 kg (11 lb), depending on warhead and fuze. Range is 3 to 4 kilometres (1.9 to 2.6 miles).
The S-5 is actually 55 mm (2.2 in) calibre unguided rocket fired from a 57 mm calibre tube. It is used by fighter bombers and helicopters. It consists of a steel body containing a solid fuel rocket, and a high explosive warhead with a mechanical impact fuze. At the rear of the rocket is an elongated exhaust nozzle, attached to which are eight forward folding fins. The fins fold around the rocket when it is stowed in its launch tube, springing back as soon as it leaves the launch tube. In flight the fins provide stabilizing spin to the rocket, spinning it at approximately 750 rpm. The solid rocket motor burns for just 1.1 seconds, during which time it covers about 300 meters.
The S-5 is carried in rocket pods, with 4 - 32 rockets. The first were ORO-57 launchers, made in variants with capacity of 4, 8 and 16 rockets. Most typical became ORO-57K for 8 rockets, used especially with MiG-19. Then, from early 1960s, typical launcher became UB-16-57, with 16 rockets, developed in several variants, for helicopters and planes. UB stands for "universal block", for it could be carried on typical bomb hardpoints, "57" is referring to the actual diameter of the launch tube (the diameter of the rocket plus 2 mm). First variant and UB-16-57U had conical forward part, next variant UB-16-57D had blunt forward part. From 1968, a variant UB-16-57UMP was produced, with conical forward part and sticking out five inner tubes[1]. In the 1970s there was developed an ultimate launcher UB-32 with 32 rockets, carried by heavier aircraft. In Poland, Mars-2 launcher was developed for 16 rockets.
S-5 rockets were used extensively by Sukhoi Su-25 and Mil Mi-24 aircraft in Afghanistan in the 1980s, where their effectiveness was considered poor. Pilots described the rockets fanning out after launch "like a tulip", and that the warhead was only good for "tickling the dookhi's (mujahedeen) heels". The Russian forces have shifted to higher-calibre weapons like the S-8 rocket instead.
President of the Islamic Republic, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stressed that Iran preparing to stage world affairs. President Ahmadinejad, who spoke when he met with Hayntaulktim Asfhn came to town as part of a journey around the Republic, said that the first task of the Iranian people is to build a powerful Iran in their second mission is to prepare to manage the affairs of the world. The President also stressed that we must act to end the state takeover of arrogance on the peoples of the world that lasted 400 years and give the oppressed peoples the opportunity to manage their affairs themselves.
It should be noted that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday that Iran intends to enrich uranium level of 20%, than she should do all for the nuclear program. In a speech on television said President Ahmadinejad that Israel could not do anything to stop the civil nuclear program of Iran.
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Wednesday urged the Swiss government to be vigilant in its commitment to ensuring freedom of religion, following a Swiss popular referendum that amended its constitution to ban the construction of minarets.
ADL National Chair Robert G. Sugarman and ADL National Director Abraham H. Foxman issued a statement saying, "On November 29, the Swiss Muslim community fell victim to a populist political campaign of religious intolerance, led by the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP). The Swiss government opposed the initiative during the campaign and underscored its commitment to religious freedom in a statement after the vote.
In the statement, the Jewish group urged the Swiss government "to be vigilant in its defense of religious freedom, even though the SVP is the largest party in the Swiss Parliament and has two of the seven government ministries.
"The Federation of Swiss Jewish Communities (FSJC) clearly stated its opposition to the initiative before the vote and expressed its disappointment at the result," the statement added.
According to ADL, "This is not the first time a Swiss popular vote has been used to promote religious intolerance. A century ago, a Swiss referendum banned Jewish ritual slaughter in an attempt to drive out its Jewish population. We share the FSJC’s stated concern that those who initiated the anti-minaret campaign could try to further erode religious freedom through similar means."
We should give Iran one last chance for dialogue," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in an interview published on Monday in Le Figaro.
According to Kouchner, "Economic sanctions that would be imposed on Iran would be very harsh, but we are not there yet."
The French foreign minister expressed concern about Iran's actions. "Why did Iran announce 10 new uranium enrichment sites when it has only one nuclear plant to burn this fuel?" The fact that Iran persists in ignoring the demands of the IAEA, that's very dangerous."
Regarding tensions between Israel and Iran, Kouchner said "direct confrontation between the countries must be avoided as it would have incalculable consequences."
The Iranian government approved a plan Sunday to build 10 industrial scale uranium enrichment facilities, a dramatic expansion of the program in defiance of UN demands it halt enrichment.
The decision comes only days after the UN nuclear watchdog agency censured Iran over its program and demanded it halt the construction of a newly revealed enrichment facility.
Iran's state news agency IRNA says the government ordered the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to begin construction of five uranium enrichment sites that have already been studied and propose five other sites for future construction.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that centrifuges to be installed in the new facilities will serve the country's energy needs. According to him, Iran needs more advanced centrifuges "in order to reach the situation in which we can produce 250-300 tons of fuel."
The new sites will be modeled after the facility at Natanz. The decision was made during a cabinet meeting headed by President Ahmadinejad Sunday evening, IRNA said.
About 8,600 centrifuges have been set up in Natanz, but only about 4,000 are actively enriching uranium, according to the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency. The facility will eventually house 54,000 centrifuges.
...
When Newsweek and the New York Times tells a Democratic president that he’s screwing up foreign policy, it’s time to clean house and start getting professional help. Unfortunately, neither of these publications considered the ramifications of endorsing an inexperienced ideologue for the top job when it counted.
Ten middle school students in Naples, Florida have been suspended after taking part in what they termed "Kick a Jew Day" at their school, school district officials reported.
The one day in-school suspensions were served earlier this week.
The incident occurred a day before red-haired students were targeted at a California middle schoool in what was a Facebook group called "Kick a Ginger Day," which some say was inspired by the popular American animation series South Park.
The Naples Daily News quoted local school district officials as saying that they will concentrate on cultural sensitivity training, including 20 minutes of homeroom meetings each day at North Naples Middle School, on building character traits such as respect and kindness and on the prevention of bullying.
In the "Kick a Ginger Day" attacks, nobody was seriously hurt and no arrests were made.
The newspaper quoted a local Jewish leader as saying the incidents should result in more than suspensions.
"You are talking about an incident that has anti-Jewish bias if not anti-Semitism. You have Jewish students being singled out, harassed and assaulted," David Barkey of the Florida Anti-Defamation League told the Naples Daily News.
"If the allegations are true, it is possible these students violated Florida's new anti-bullying law. And, if students were physically assaulted, it could rise to the level of criminal conduct," he added.
Rabbi James Perman, of Temple Shalom in North Naples, called the situation "alarming."
"I can tell you this: I haven't seen anything like it in my 17 years in Naples. No child deserves this kind of treatment," he wrote in an e-mail Monday, the paper reported.
"Their parents are understandably outraged. So far it seems that the school system has taken appropriate measures and we applaud their efforts. At this point, teaching sensitive awareness is more important than punishing anyone."
Iran can take legal action if Russia refuses to fulfill its commitments to deliver an advanced missile defense system to the Islamic Republic, a senior military official said on Tuesday.
Iranian officials have voiced growing irritation at Russia's failure so far to supply the S-300 missile system, which Israel and the United States do not want Tehran to have.
"The Russians, surely under the pressure of the Zionist lobby and America, refuse to fulfill their commitments," the official IRNA news agency quoted Brigadier General Mohammad Hassan Mansourian as saying
"And because this is an official agreement it can be pursued through international legal bodies," said Mansourian, who is deputy head of Iran's air defenses.
Moscow, which is under Western pressure to distance itself from Iran over a long-running dispute over Tehran's nuclear ambitions, has not followed through on proposals to ship the missiles to Iran.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Russia last month for not providing the S-300 to Iran. Like Israel, Washington has not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the row over Iran's nuclear program.
The West suspects Iran is seeking to build nuclear bombs. Tehran says it only seeks to generate electricity.
The truck-mounted S-300PMU1, known in the West as the SA-20, can shoot down cruise missiles and aircraft. It can fire at targets up to 150 km (90 miles) away.
Iranian officials say the country can produce a S-300-style system by itself, if Russia does not deliver it. Iranian media say a new anti-aircraft defense system will be tested during war games this week.
In another possible source of strain in Moscow-Tehran ties, Russia earlier this month announced the latest delay to Iran's first nuclear power station. It said technical issues would prevent its engineers from starting up the Bushehr plant reactor on the Gulf coast by the year's end.
Diplomats say Russia uses the Bushehr reactor, and major arms contracts, as levers in relations with Tehran.
Russia, a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security council, has backed three sets of mild sanctions on Iran since 2006 over its nuclear work. But it has so far blocked any strong measures against its traditional ally.
A senior MP last week said Russia was using the Islamic Republic as a "pawn" in Moscow's dealings with other powers such as the United States.
But the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization said on Tuesday that work on Bushehr was progressing as planned.
"The West is trying to harm our relations with Russia...the reactor is progressing based on our agreements and Russia is doing more than it should. The Bushehr plant will be inaugurated in 2010," ILNA news agency quoted Ali Akbar Salehi as saying.
Daniel Kaniewski, the institute's deputy director, confirms that Hasan attended task force meetings as an audience member, and stresses that he was not a member of the task force.
I read this on Arlene Kushner's blog:
I would like to thank those readers who shared with me information on Muslims of dubious or clearly inappropriate background who have been given positions in Homeland Security in the US. There are two of particular note:It's important to make clear what information is verifiable and which is just plain inaccurate. According to an update on Gawker:
Arif Alikhan was appointed by Obama several months ago to be Assistant Secretary for Policy Development at the Department of Homeland Security. Responsible for developing policy to secure the nation against terrorism, he killed an LA Police project for monitoring terrorist activities in local radical mosques. He has also referred to Hezbollah as a "liberation movement."
Kareem Shora was appointed by Obama to Homeland Security's advisory council, which directly provides advice and recommendations to the Homeland Security Secretary. He was formerly executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), which refers to jihadists as "heroes."
This is from http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2009/nov/devout-muslims-key-homeland-sec-posts and checked out.
A similar item sent to me with regard to Fort Hood terrorist Hasan turned out to not be quite accurate: According to Snopes [read here], he attended one or more meetings organized by George Washington University's Homeland Security policy institute, but was never actually an advisor to Obama's Homeland Security Team. [emphasis added]Daniel Kaniewski, the institute's deputy director, confirms that Hasan attended task force meetings as an audience member, and stresses that he was not a member of the task force. "All of our events are open to the public," Kaniewski says, "and when someone RSVPs we put their name in the [report] so everyone knows who was in the room." He says institute staffers recall Hasan attending at least one task force event, and that he RSVP'd for several. "We do recall him speaking at one of our events as an audience member," he says, "but none of us recall what he actually said. Generally, our events are attended by people in the homeland security community, and Hasan had a very legitimate reason to be there. He was a fellow at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences."So the concern about Obama's advisers continues--and extends to more than just whether they have paid their taxes.
Israel has agreed to a plan to turn over control of half of the northern village of Ghajar to UNIFIL, Israel Radio reported on Sunday night.
According to the report, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held a meeting earlier in the day and it was decided that Israel would leave the northern half of the village, and UNIFIL would take its place. No barrier would be built between the northern and southern parts of the village, according to the plan, but rather UNIFIL would patrol both the northern half and the perimeter.
In the summer Netanyahu passed the issue to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and asked for the ministry's recommendation.
Ghajar has some 2,000 residents. When the IDF pulled out of Lebanon in 2000, the UN determined that the border ran through the middle of the town. Following the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Israel maintained a military presence in the northern part of the town and built a security fence around it. UN, European and American officials have long urged Israel to move out of northern Ghajar, to bolster the moderates in Lebanon, arguing that an Israeli withdrawal would be in line with commitments it made as part of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
Lieberman visited the town in August, amid reports that he favored building a physical barrier on the international border that divides the community, and turning the northern part over to UNIFIL control.
In BBC interview, Palestinian president reiterates that there will be no peace talks with Israel as long as settlement construction continues. Like other senior Fatah officials, he talks about popular resistance. He also accuses Hamas of negotiating with Israel
Five officers in Palestinian General Intelligence Service detained near West Bank village of Salfit. Palestinians say efforts being made to secure their release. Estimates are that arrests likely connected to PA investigation of collaborator
Nuclear power facilities in India have been put on high alert here after security forces determined that terrorists may target one of them.
Intelligence agencies beefed up security after analysing new information, some of which may have come from Tahawwur Rana, a Pakistani-born Canadian citizen who is in FBI custody in Chicago.
The threat to India's nuclear installations comes as Prime Minister Stephen Harper began a series of meetings Tuesday with high-level Indian political leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi.
Discussions about a Canada-India nuclear co-operation agreement and about combatting terrorism are widely expected to be among the topics at some of those meetings.
"It is my sincere hope that our two governments will complete our bilateral nuclear co-operation agreement soon," Harper said in a luncheon speech Monday in Mumbai. "When finalized, it will allow the development of nuclear power for civil use, while fully respecting our international commitments."
Officials with the prime minister's office declined to comment on the nuclear plant threat, saying that Harper never comments on issues of national security.
On Tuesday afternoon, Harper is leading a roundtable discussion with representatives of India's nuclear power sector. Hugh McDiarmid, the chief executive of Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., the Crown corporation keen to sell CANDU power reactors to India, also attended that meeting as did representatives of Canadian uranium miner Cameco Inc. and Montreal-based construction giant SNC-Lavalin.
Canada angrily suspended nuclear co-operation in 1974, after India used Canadian technology and nuclear materiel to make its first nuclear bomb.
Some countries though, notably Australia, continue to refuse to provide India with uranium and other nuclear materiel and technology for fear that it will be used for military purposes or could fall into the hands of terrorists.
Reports of increased security at India's nuclear installations made the front page of India's major papers on Tuesday.
One of those papers, The Hindu, reported that intelligence agencies here and in other countries, have determined that Rana was in Mumbai just before the 11/26 terror attacks in that city that left more than 190 dead in 2008, including two Canadians.
Rana and another terror suspect, Samraz Rana Akhtar, arrived in Mumbai on Nov. 12 last year and then travelled to Kochi and Kerala. The Hindu reported that the pair were allegedly looking for recruits for the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the radical Muslim extremist group based in Pakistan.
The only suspect to survive the Mumbai terror attacks said they were carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba.
The Times of India reported that Rana was able to receive multiple entry visas from the Indian consulate in Chicago ahead of his arrival here in October 2008.
Rana's recruitment scheme allegedly involved placing advertisements in Indian newspapers offering immigration services to the United States and Canada.
Those revelations are made by the FBI in court filings in Chicago.
"Rana is a rich businessman owning many businesses, including First World Immigration Services, which has offices on Devon Avenue in Chicago, New York and Toronto and also owns a farm in Kinsman and a grocery store in Chicago," the FBI said in a court filing opposing Rana's bail application.
"Rana is not a U.S. citizen and maintains a residence in Canada. He maintains a number of foreign bank accounts and is not a typical criminal who lacks the knowledge and means to travel internationally."
The allegations in the FBI documents have not been proven in court.
Residents of Gilo on Wednesday reacted with surprise and anger to news that the US administration was dismayed by a government decision to approve 900 new homes in their neighborhood, questioning the relevance of the criticism while denouncing it unequivocally.
"It's just so ridiculous," said Silva, as she walked outside her home on the neighborhood's Rehov Shabtai Hanegbi.
"Anyone who is opposed to us building in Gilo obviously doesn't know the neighborhood very well. There are more than 40,000 people living here - it could very well be a city within itself. I never even thought that Gilo was up for discussion."
Others reacted with similar surprise, but also frustration at what they said was misguided American policy in an area considered by a wide consensus of Israelis to be just another Jerusalem neighborhood.
...
US President Barack Obama is an extremely intelligent man surrounded by equally intelligent advisers, many of whom have years of experience dealing with the Middle East. His continued misreading and misunderstanding of the Israeli public is, therefore, somewhat baffling.
This misread was evident again in the past few days by the US objection to the Jerusalem Municipal Planning Committee's approval of a plan to build some 900 new units in Gilo - not in a far-flung settlement overlooking Nablus, nor even in one of the settlement blocs like Gush Etzion, nor even a Jewish complex in one of the Arab neighborhoods of the capital, but in Gilo, one of the large new neighborhoods built in the city following the Six Day War. If Israel cannot build in Gilo without US approval, than it cannot build in Ramot Eshkol, French Hill, Ramot, Neveh Yaakov, Pisgat Ze'ev, East Talpiot or Har Homa.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs on Tuesday expressed "dismay" at the decision. The dismay, however, cuts both ways, with many Israelis clearly dismayed that the US - like Europe - now seems to be considering as settlements the post-1967 neighborhoods in Jerusalem. The EU, clearly following Gibbs's lead and then taking it one step further, released a statement on Wednesday saying, "The European Union is dismayed by the recent decision on the expansion of the settlement of Gilo."
Truth be told, this is not the first indication of US policy on this matter. Former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice seemed to be giving the new neighborhoods settlement status in 2007 when she opposed a new project in Har Homa. She didn't clarify, however, whether other Jerusalem neighborhoods over the Green Line, such as Gilo and Ramot, were settlements in the eyes of the United States.
...
US president in interview to Fox News says Israel's latest move to build hundreds of new Jewish housing units in Gilo complicates administration efforts to relaunch peace talks, says additional building doesn't make Israel safer
US President Barack Obama says Israel's latest move to build hundreds of new Jewish housing units in Gilo - a neighborhood claimed by the Palestinians - complicates administration efforts to relaunch peace talks and embitters the Palestinians.
Obama told Fox News in an interview Wednesday that additional settlement building doesn't make Israel safer.
He said such moves make it harder to achieve peace in the region, and embitters the Palestinians in a way that he said could be very dangerous, possibly referring to Palestinians plans to unilaterally declare statehood – an option which continues to gain steam.
Obama and the Palestinians have demanded that Israel halt settlement construction.
The Jerusalem city government moved forward Tuesday with plans to build in a Jewish neighborhood in east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim for their future capital.
Britain and France have also condemned the construction in Gilo, but in Israel - as Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni stressed to French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner - there is consensus on the Jerusalem neighborhood.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also addressed the issue during a meeting with Kouchner later Wednesday and told his French counterpart that "Gilo is an integral part of Israel, like Tel Aviv and Herzliya."
The minister stated that building authorization is a strictly procedural process and noted, "We have no intention of interfering with it."
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored the Israeli move, spokesman Farhan Haq said. Ban "believes that such actions undermine efforts for peace and cast doubt on the viability of the two-state solution" for Israelis and Palestinians, he said.
Abbas, head of Fatah and the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) led Fatah supporters in commemoration of the anniversary of the death of his predecessor, Arafat.
The crowd chanted Arafat’s slogans, such as “millions of martyrs are marching to Jerusalem,” meaning to take it away from Israel by war. Bypassing negotiations [to which Arafat and the P.A. committed itself in writing), Abbas said the P.A. would appeal directly to the UN for statehood.
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “How can Mahmoud Abbas be claiming to seek a real peace with Israel when he honors someone who ordered the killing of thousands of Israeli citizens? We condemn this obscene ceremony held in Ramallah.
“Yasser Arafat founded a terrorist movement, deceitfully engaged in negotiations with Israel while radicalizing Palestinian society with poisonous incitement to hatred and murder. He then responded to extraordinary Israeli concessions in a peace plan proposed by President Bill Clinton and accepted by then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak with a wave of terrorism that claimed the lives of some 1,500 Israeli men, women and children and the maimed thousands more (11/16 press release by ZOA, headquartered in New York and of which I am a member, http://www.zoa.org/ ).
No moderate, Abbas! Nor is he sincere about peace. Then why is the U.S. subsidizing his regime and supporting its acquisition of the sovereign right to import heavy weapons?
A declaration of independence to cover Jewish communities in Judea-Samaria and part of Israel’s capital would mean war to get it, ethnic cleansing if they succeed. If they succeed, they will have deprived Israel of secure boundaries. That means the P.A. would start another war, involving their committing genocide. Imagine, a group of people who never themselves had a country, demanding part of another country’s capital! That, alone, would mean war.
Now wasn’t it foolish of Israel to let them advance to that stage and not to have scotched it years ago by annexing at least the nearby settlement blocs? What does this show about PM Netanyahu’s policy of helping prepare the P.A. for statehood? How did he ever anticipate eventual peace from such fanatics?
Date: 2009-11-17, 5:20AM PST
Reply to: comm-ckhn4-1469702849@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
You'd think that you are the only person in the entire Bay Area that can afford Sundance Channel. And have nothing better to do at two in the morning. Wow.
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Date: 2009-11-17, 2:18AM PST
Reply to: see below
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Whoa, now on the Sundance Channel is a documentary titled, "Great Global Warming Swindle" from the UK.
It talks about how scientist were paid to "find facts" to support the idea that global warming is caused by CO2
gases because Margaret Thatcher politically wanted to support the nuclear industry instead of oil or coal. The
science shows that global warming is a result of the *sun's* temperature, not CO2 quantities. Even Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore is in it. Wow.
Provocative and controversial, this documentary by Martin Durkin makes the argument that scientific consensus about global warming and climate change is incorrect, with evidence supporting an alternative viewpoint. When broadcast in England by Channel 4, THE GREAT GLOBAL WARMING SWINDLE became one of the most debated films of recent memory, earning approbation from the conservative press ("Devastating" -- The Washington Times; "Brilliant" -- Mail on Sunday) and condemnation from Greenpeace and much of the scientific community.
A Lehigh, Fla. man was visited by the FBI after trying to send the alleged Fort Hood shooter a bouquet of flowers.
For a slideshow of some of the victims of the Fort Hood shooting, click here.
Dan Ross, 61, called Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan a ‘hero’ for his alleged actions on Nov. 5 at the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas. Thirteen people were killed and dozens wounded after Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, allegedly went on a shooting rampage on the base.
“The FBI were the ones who actually killed those 13 people, because they were well informed that this guy was against the United States of America,” said Ross.
Just a day after the horrific shooting, Ross ordered a bouquet of yellow roses costing $59.95 to be delivered to Hasan in the hospital.
Ross included a note with the flowers, which read “Major Nidal Hasan. Qur’an Chapter 2: Verse 190-3. In God’s eye, those who submit, you are a hero.”
NBC 2’s Katie LaGrone inquired as to why someone would want to send roses to an alleged killer, to which Ross responded that the Holy Spirit just told him to.
LaGrone asked, “The Holy Spirit’s talking to you right now?”
Ross answered, “Just a little bit.”
The FBI paid Ross a visit after the florist, a military veteran, contacted the agency after refusing to fill Ross’ order.
Ross, a former Vietnam War soldier himself and a self-described Christian, said “The FBI came by and thought I was on drugs… That’s part of Christianity, love your enemies and do good to them.”
