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."
