Series of meetings with US administration officials reinforces defense minister's view that diplomatic crisis with Ankara must be resolved. 'I don't like it, but having reasonable relations with Turkey is not a bad thing,' he explains
Residents in the Hof Ashkelon Regional Council woke up Thursday morning to siren alarm sounds. A Qassam rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip at Israel and exploded in an open area south of Ashkelon. No injuries or damage were reported.
PA prime minister Fayyad arrives in Cairo for emergency Arab League meeting over PA's own financial issues.
Hamas also seems to be facing a financial crisis and, like the Palestinian Authority, has not been able to pay full salaries to its civil servants in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas legislator Yahya Musa called on the Hamas government to “be frank with the people and tell them the truth about the financial situation
PA envoy tells UNSC, "We can't keep waiting for Israel to negotiate"; Israeli envoy responds, "Palestinians cannot bypass talks," says "Palestinians are not united and are far from united for peace."
The Palestinians are ready to seek statehood recognition with Jerusalem as its capital, the Palestinian Authority envoy to the United Nations Riyad Mansour told the Security Council on Tuesday.
In a dress rehearsal for the expected vote over Palestinian statehood set to take place at the United Nations in September, Mansour told the council his people could not be held in waiting much longer.
“With international political and financial support this plan has reached its objectives as acknowledged by the international community,” he said. “We have completed our responsibilities and are ready to govern ourselves. “
He added: “We cannot keep waiting for Israel to negotiate with good faith.”
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Ron Prosor, speaking after Mansour, told the Security Council that security and recognition of Israel as a Jewish State are the two linchpin issues that must be acknowledged by Palestinians in order to reach a final agreement and two-state solution.
Prosor said that he supported a two-state solution, with a Palestinian state residing "alongside and not instead of the Jewish state." That Palestinian state, the ambassador added, must be demilitarized and supported by a strong education system, halting teachings of hatred and anti-Israeli sentiment.
The Israeli ambassador rejected any unilateral move by the Palestinians, including seeking state recognition at the UN General Assembly, and dismissed such efforts as an attempt to bypass negotiations with Israel. Prosor said such efforts would be futile for Palestinians, saying only bilateral negotiations presented a solution.
"To the Palestinians I also issue a call," Prosor said. "Take Israel’s outstretched hand. Seize the opportunities before us to advance down the real road toward peace – a road of solutions not resolutions; dialogue not monologue; and direct negotiations not unilateral declarations."
"Whether the Palestinians bring forward a resolution in the General Assembly or by invoking the 'Uniting for Peace' resolution it is clear that the Palestinians are not united and are far from united for peace," Prosor said.
The Israeli ambassador added, "There is much uncertainty about the future Palestinian government: its acceptance of the Quartet conditions, the peace process, control of its security forces, and many other questions. It will take at least a year until after the Palestinian elections next year before it is clear what Palestinian unity really means."
Prosor also commented on Iran and instability in the Middle East saying, "Last month’s panel of experts report made clear that Iran continues to pursue nuclear weapons capabilities, in complete disregard of the will of the international community. New information shows Iran’s intention to install uranium centrifuges at its facility in Qom – a facility that was concealed for years from the IAEA. Such behavior does not just endanger the Middle East, or a specific group of countries. It endangers us all."
When CNN hired Elliot Spitzer many complained that hiring the disgraced former governor was a new low in cable news. Allow me to submit to you that with the hiring of "Reverend" Al Sharpton to be their 6pm host, MSNBC has smashed through CNN's record and established a record for pulling a host out of the sewer that may never be topped. While CNN and others have hired people disgraced by political or sexual scandals, in hiring Sharpton MSNBC has contracted with a "Reverend" who bears false witness and a racial arsonist who is responsible for the deaths of at least nine innocent people.
Let's look at the Sharpton track record. Sharpton is the man who, in 1987, helped to make the Tawana Brawley false rape charge big news and to this day refuses to admit that it was proved a hoax.
A grand jury noted many problems with Brawley's story. Among these were that the rape kit results did not indicate sexual assault. Also, despite her claim of having been held captive for days, Brawley was not suffering from exposure, was well-nourished, and appeared to have brushed her teeth recently. Despite her clothing being charred, there were no burns on her body. Although a shoe she was wearing was cut through, Brawley had no injuries to her foot. The racial epithets written on her were upside down, which led to suspicion that Brawley had written the words. Testimony from her schoolmates indicated she had attended a local party during the time of her supposed abduction. One witness claimed to have observed Brawley's climbing into the garbage bag which she claimed to be her prison.
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Our Republican friends will do their darndest to convince us that the answer is Barack Obama. President Obama is not perfect, but let's compare him to his predecessors rather than to perfection.
George W. Bush (43) pressured Israel to allow Hamas to participate in Gaza elections despite the objections of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, thus granting Hamas a diplomatic coup and a legitimacy it otherwise could never have attained.
Bush failed to stop North Korea from acquiring nuclear weapons. Instead of making Iran a top priority, he eviscerated Iran's two natural enemies, Iraq and Afghanistan, leaving Iran free to focus on its quest for nuclear weapons. Bush, who never met a military action he didn't like, not only did not attack Iran, but he rejected Israeli requests for aid for an Israeli raid on Iran's main nuclear complex. Bush also violated security agreements with Israel in which the U.S. promised to preserve Israel's qualitative military edge over Arab armies.
George Bush (41) opposed loan guarantees because of Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza. He also opposed new "settlements" in the West Bank or East Jerusalem. Bush complained that he was "one lonely little guy" up against thousands of lobbyists on the Hill. Those "lobbyists" were volunteers exercising their rights as American citizens. People like you and me.
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President Obama has surrounded himself with staunchly pro-Israel advisors, including Dan Shapiro, Dennis Ross, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Rahm Emanuel.
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We're going to hear again and again about how President Obama is supposedly not strong on Israel from Republicans who value partisan gain more than strengthening the U.S.-Israel relationship. Our nation is united in its support for Israel. By using Israel as a wedge issue to create the illusion of policy differences between the parties on Israel, these Republicans only strengthen enemies of the US and Israel.
History proves that President Obama is a good friend of Israel.
For that we should all be thankful.
Police say a Norwegian man arrested after a massacre of at least 80 summer campers at an island retreat is a right-winger with anti-Muslim views, but they don't know whether that was a factor in the attacks.
National police chief Sveinung Sponheim told public broadcaster NRK that the suspected gunman's Internet postings "suggest that he has some political traits directed toward the right, and anti-Muslim views, but if that was a motivation for the actual act remains to be seen."
A massive explosion rocked central Oslo on Friday, injuring dozens of people and severely damaging government buildings including the Prime Minister’s office.
At least five civilians were killed overnight as tanks attacked districts in the Syrian city of Homs during a crackdown on protests against President Bashar Assad, residents said on Friday.
Homs, a city of 165 km (100 miles) north of Damascus, is the latest focus of a military campaign to crush four months or demonstrations against Assad's autocratic rule.
Israel Lands Administration accuses Sheik Raed Salah's Islamic Movement of planting 500 fake tombstones in Jerusalem's Mamilla cemetery, with goal of taking over the land • Inspectors find no evidence of actual graves underneath tombstones.
Daniel Siryoti
Industrial plants in Palestinian Authority controlled areas streaming massive amounts of heavy industrial waste into Israel • Wastewater seeps below ground level polluting ground water and springs, harming the quantity and quality of drinking water.
Activists aboard Gaza-bound Dignite al Karama refuse Navy's request to divert course to Ashdod Port or Egypt. IDF chief green-lights ship's takeover, Navy informs vessel to prepare for boarding; activists surrender peacefully
Balad MK removed from Knesset until end of annual session following her participation in last year's Gaza flotilla; to be banned from speaking at Knesset, attending debates. Ethics Committee: 'Participation in flotilla does not fall within an MK's legitimate freedom of action'
Shiite group, not PKK, was behind Istanbul terror attack last May, Italian newspaper reports. Working on behalf of Iran, group tried to assassinate Consul Moshe Kimchi
Israelis should subvert the system and contact Americans directly via social networking • Encourages Israelis to be 'speak the truth' and tell it like it is • Opposes Palestinian state within Israel's borders
Projectile fired from northern Gaza lands in Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council causing no harm
MK Hanin Zoabi (Balad) flew into an uncontrollable rage Wednesday during a Knesset speech by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu was answering Opposition members regarding a bill that regulates housing issues.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets Greek President Karolos Papoulias in Israel, thanks him for stopping the flotilla and sending aid during the Carmel fires • Papoulias asks for advice over his country's economic crisis.
Warm ties between Israel and Greece were further strengthened Monday as a delegation headed by Greek President Karolos Papoulias received a hearty Israeli welcome. Papoulias spent much of the day in meetings with Israeli government officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni.
The resounding refrain from the Israelis was gratitude for Greece's assistance in obstructing the recent Gaza-bound flotilla, as well as for Greece’s role in helping to battle Israel's Carmel forest fire last December.
“We have a deep friendship with Greece,” Netanyahu said after meeting with Papoulias. “We will continue to strengthen that friendship, both in economics as well as in tourism.”
Netanyahu also took advantage of his time with Papoulias to discuss the Gaza Strip, where he noted that the economic growth rate is 25 percent and that all food items can enter freely. “Those who want to free Gaza should work to free it from Hamas' rule, which brutalizes the peace activists there,” he said.
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The IDF has released a video of U.S. marines learning from Israelis. “We are learning new techniques. I love it. We want to come back,” says one marine. The video below shows Israelis teaching the Americans how to use the new made-in-Israel Tabor rifle.
Taba Border guards violate diplomatic protocol, search car delivering food to Israeli diplomats in Cairo
Israel's tense relations with Egypt were strained further recently, after Egyptian border guards stationed at the Taba Border detained vehicles transporting kosher food to the Israeli diplomatic staff stationed at the Cairo embassy, Ynet learned Sunday.
The vehicles underwent an extensive security check, which included stripping them from their cargo, before they were allowed to cross into Egypt.
In the past, Israeli vehicles carrying food transports were allowed through the Taba crossing immediately, since as diplomatic vehicles, they enjoy diplomatic immunity.
Jerusalem was irked by the act, calling it a violation of diplomatic protocol.
Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Yitzhak Levanon filed an official complaint with Cairo's Foreign Ministry.
The local elementary school in the Hatikva neighborhood, “HaYarden,” is now home to almost exclusively non-Jewis children of infiltrators and foreign workers. Israeli Jewish children are forced to leave their neighborhood in order to get the Israeli-Jiewsh traidition and Zionist oriented education that is the public school curriculum throughout the country, Tel Aviv City Council member Shlomo Maslawi related Thursday in an interview with Arutz Sheva's Hebrew-language news service.
Maslawi expressed protest on behalf of local Jewish Israeli parents, who have found that the school closest to their homes is no longer suitable for their children, who speak native Hebrew and would like a Jewish and Zionist education.
The parents have been abandoned to their own devices in their efforts to restore the local school's Israeli character, he reported. “The government and the city and Minister Eli Yishai all started this struggle with us, but media pressure silenced them,” he explained. “The state of Israel is not lifting a finger today, even Eli Yishai, who at first spoke out, has grown quiet.”
The current situation hurts local Israeli parents and children alike, Maslawi said. The parents are forced to travel out of their way in order to bring their children to and from school, he said, and the children find themselves outside their natural social circles, learning with children from other neighborhoods instead of forming bonds with their own neighbors.
The foreign non-Jewish children, who by next year will make up 97% of the school's 400 students, are the children of illegal entrants who crossed the Egyptian border into Israel, or of foreign workers, some legal and some who have remained in the country after their work permits expired. Thousands of non-Jewish foreign workers and illegal entrants have been allowed to remain in the country after arguing, with help from a massive Israeli media campaign, that their children are born in Israel and would suffer if they were forced to return to their home countries.
The city's policies are only making the situation worse, Maslawi said. “We have been fighting the city for two years with no success. I told the mayor, 'You're encouraging them, so they're going to keep coming here en masse.'”
City Responds
The Tel Aviv municipality said in response:
"Putting aside serious criticism of the government of Israel, which does nothing to close the borders and abandons residents to cope alone with the severe problems resulting from waves of illegal immigration, the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo sees itself as responsible to ensure the education and welfare of all children within the borders of the city. Primarily for moral and humanitarian reasons, and also to keep the children from being left on the streets, which could create even more severe problems.
"Together with this, and with sympathy for the true crisis facing residents of the area, the children of southern Tel Aviv have been given the opportunity to enroll in schools in the region other than HaYarden. In addition, in order that this not be done at the expense of local children, many resources have been invested in additional municipal services in these neighborhoods and in providing schools in the southern part of the city with enrichment programs, nutritious meals and a long school day. The burden has also been lessened by assigning some children of foreign workers and work-seekers to schools throughout the city, including in the northern and central neighborhoods."
Security forces gear for potential disruptions at BG Airport after relatively quiet morning. Dozens of pro-Palestinian activists arrive in Israel despite foreign airlines' efforts to follow passenger blacklist; detained by police
A document drop by LulzSec has revealed an ominous bulletin from police officials in Tucson, Arizona. In short, law enforcement is advised to be on the lookout for Hezbollah terrorists operating in the traditional smuggling corridors on our (wide-open) southern border with Mexico.
Made up of Puerto Iguazu, Argentina; Foz do Iguazu, Brazil; and Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, the area in South America known as the Tri-Border area (TBA), has long been considered a safe haven for organized crime and Islamic terrorist networks, including Hezbollah. As of 2002, the population of the TBA reached 630,000 of which approximately 25,000 were Arab or of Arab descent. Illegal activity in the region includes counterfeiting, money laundering, and the easy acquisition of false documents. The recent arrest of Moussa Ali Hamdan [arrested in Ciudad del Este, Paraguay, for conspiring to provide material support to Hezbollah] confirms Hezbollah’s continued presence in the region.
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Palmer report on 2010 flotilla, delayed over disagreements between Turkey, Israel, says IDF used excess force in raid but authorizes Gaza blockade. Report also accuses Turkey of ties with IHH, involvement in flotilla
Despite their claims of suffering impoverished conditions due to alleged humanitarian aid blockades imposed by Israel — Palestinians actually seem to be living high on the hog, enjoying a laundry list of luxury goods delivered directly to them by Israel. According to an UnDhimmi report, Israel has increased its delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. In addition to basic necessities the “aid” even reportedly includes daily shipments of Mercedes, high definition televisions, jacuzzi tubs,and frost-free refrigerators. Israeli officials cite the country’s humanitarian aid policies for the reported 15% increase in Gaza’s GDP.
Israel, while under a constant barrage of rocket and mortar fire from Gaza, still seems to take the term “high-road” to the next level.
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Two terrorists were killed and a third injured Tuesday in an IDF strike in central Gaza according to local medical officials, the PA-run Ma'an news agency reports..
The dead and injured man were evacuated from the village of Al-Masdar to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital. The medics who responded told Ma'an the injured man was in serious condition.
Israel's Reshet-Bet reported IAF warplanes had fired a missile at a group of terrorists attempting to fire a 'projectile' into Israel.
The IDF confirmed it had confirmed a hit on a squad of terrorists who were preparing to launch a rocket into Israel.
In a separate incident, terrorists fired at an IDF vehicle performing routine activity near the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip and lightly injured the driver, also causing damage to the vehicle.
"The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers and will continue to operate with strength and determination against any organization which uses terror against the State of Israel," the IDF spokesperson said.
"The IDF holds the Hamas terrorist organization solely responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip," they added.
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Is President Obama fearful that the tide of Jewish support might finally be turning for him in 2012? Obama, who received nearly 78 percent of the Jewish vote in 2008 has suffered backlash among Jewish supporters after airing some of his more egregious stances on Israel — namely his call for Israel to “return” to its “1967 borders.”
Obama, who conservatives believe has never been a friend of Israel, is preparing his campaign’s counterattack to criticisms on his Israel policy. Reportedly, Obama has enlisted a team of influential Jewish surrogates — who have, despite Obama’s spotted track record with Israel, remained loyal to the administration – to help fight his conservative critics. In addition to rallying support among voters and donors, the Jewish supporters on Obama’s team will reportedly publish Op-Ed pieces in various publications that “represent the White House’s viewpoint.”
The initiative will be spearheaded by Obama senior adviser David Axelrod
After showing behind anchor Russ Mitchell an image of the sign "To Gaza with Love" from one of the flotilla boats planning to challenge Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, Saturday’s CBS Evening News showed a report highlighting the allegedly nonviolent intentions of American activists on board one of the ships - named "The Audacity of Hope" - without noting that, during last year’s anti-Israel flotilla trip, some activists attacked Israeli troops as they attempted to board. CBS correspondent Barry Peterson merely recounted that Israeli troops killed some of the activists without explaining why:
Last year, boats ran the blockade. Israeli commandos stormed one ship, killing nine. This time, politics was enough to have Greece ban any boats leaving in a new flotilla. Israel and Greece do more than half a billion dollars in trade, and Israel is planning a natural gas pipeline to Greece. The American activists knew getting to Gaza was a long shot, but still practiced to resist Israeli soldiers who might have boarded their ship.
A clip was shown of this year’s activists sitting on the floor in a circle as if practicing to nonviolently resist Israeli troops.
And, as Peterson informed viewers that the terrorist group Hamas’s control of Gaza was Israel's motivation behind the blockade, he incorrectly claimed that the blockade was imposed after Hamas won elections when, in reality, the blockade was imposed a year and a half after the elections after Hamas staged a violent coup against Fatah in Gaza in June 2007. The CBS correspondent also failed to explicitly state that the blockade’s purpose is to prevent the shipment of weapons to Hamas. Peterson: "The Israelis blockaded Gaza in 2007 after the terrorist group Hamas won elections, and Israel maintains tight control of its checkpoints as Egypt does from its side."
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Syrian forces allegedly killed 24 protesters on Friday as hundreds of thousands took to the streets for fresh anti-government protests.
Organizers behind the US flotilla ship 'Audacity of Hope' said Geek authorities stopped the boat shortly after it left port, Reuters reported Friday.
The Audacity had reportedly left port 15-20 minutes before it was stopped, but was still in Greek territorial waters. Organizers had earlier said the boat would not disembark until early next week.
Following the incident Minister C. Papoutsis of the Greek Ministry of Citizen Protection released a statement saying his government had decided to prohibit the departure of ships flying either Greek or foreign flags "to the maritime area" of Gaza.
"By orders of the Hellenic Coast Guard Head Quarters to all local Hellenic Coast Guard Authorities, all appropriate measures are to be taken for the implementation of the said decision," the statement said.
The statement continued "broader maritime area of eastern Mediterranean will be continuously monitored by electronic means for tracking, where applicable, the movements of the ships allegedly participating" in the Gaza flotilla.
