Doc's Talk: News across the pond

Monday, March 17, 2008

News across the pond

23:16 A left-wing breakthrough in French municipal elections, conquering the right held municipalities in the major cities of Strasbourg, Toulouse, Amiens, Caen, Saint Etienne, Reims, Quimper and Blois. (Guysen.International.News) Angela Merkel arrived in Israel on Sunday, March 16 for a highly symbolic three days visit. Germany wants to emphasize both its historical responsibility in the Holocaust and look to the future with the organization of regular consultations: this visit is intended to strengthen ties with Israel. Angela Merkel will visit Yad Vashem during this historic visit. For the first time, a German chancellor will give a speech in German at the Knesset. At least one MK will be absent from her speech: Arye Eldad, who said he would not hear German inside the Knesset. Germany is now Israel's most important European partner. (Guysen.International.News)
23:05 USA: from the analysis of 600,000 documents a Pentagon report establishes that no link existed between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. The rebuttal of the premise of the American attack in Iraq has embarrassed the American administration, which withdrew the report from circulation. The Iraqi dictator nevertheless supported and financed terrorist groups including the families of many Palestinian terrorists who carried out suicide bombings. (Guysen.International.News)
21:48 Tibet: the Dalai Lama has called for an international investigation into Chinese repression of demonstrations in Tibet. He denounced a ''cultural genocide'' while the Tibetan government in exile reported at least 80 deaths since Friday. (Guysen.International.News)
21:27 According to a CSA Dexia survey, the left won 49.5% of the votes against 47.5% for the UMP and its allies, in the cantonal and municipal elections in France. (Guysen.International.News)
21:19 The Palestinian government intends to rebuild the house of Mohamed Shahade, the Islamic Jihad terrorist killed by the IDF last week in Bethlehem. (Guysen.International.News)
21:03 Lebanon: a Cabinet member said that Beirut will not participate in the Arab League summit to be held at the end of the month in Damascus. ''It is crucial that Lebanon does not attend the summit headed by Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is trying to conceal his crimes,'' Marwan Hamade, the Minister of Telecommunications, said. (Guysen.International.News)
20:59 Mali: the branch of Al-Qaeda in the Maghreb agreed to postpone the ultimatum regarding the two kidnapped Austrian tourists. The terrorist organization had previously demanded the release of all its prisoners in Tunisia and Algeria by tonight. (Guysen.International.News)
20:06 More than ten people were injured in clashes between right wing activists on the one hand and the police and residents of Jabel Moukaber on the other. The right-wing activists were trying to dismantle the funeral tent erected in honor of the terrorist who murdered eight students of the Merkaz Harav yeshiva, ten days ago. (Guysen.International.News)
19:58 According to the Palestinian news agency Maan, the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is thinking of officially announcing the collapse of the Annapolis process. (Guysen.International.News)
19:32 The Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad, have taken responsibility for the firing of two Qassams that hit near Kibbutz Or Haner a few minutes ago. The terrorist organization announced that the shooting came in response to the elimination of three of their men by the Israeli army yesterday in the Gaza Strip. (Guysen.International.News)
18:58 Paris was against the boycott of the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer. The Secretary of State for Human Rights Rama Yade Sunday made a statement to that effect, saying that France was ''not in favour of a boycott,'' stressing that such actions were ''rarely effective.'' (Guysen.International.News)
17:56 A victory of the conservatives in Iran: the party of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the parliamentary elections with 163 seats out of 290 seats. The reformist opposition party won 40 seats. (Guysen.International.News)
17:17 Stone-throwing at Israeli cars in the Galilee is continuing. An Arab youth from the village of Zangrya Touba, in the Upper Galilee, was arrested by police after throwing stones at a school bus, slightly injuring two children. (Guysen.International.News)
16:57 German Chancellor Angela Merkel who arrived Sunday afternoon in Israel for a 3-day visit, first visited the tomb of David Ben-Gurion, Sde Boker, where she laid a wreath. She was accompanied by President Shimon Peres. (Guysen.International.News)
16:08 China: at least 7 Tibetans were killed by gunfire on Sunday at the demonstration repressed by the police in Ngawa, in a Tibetan district of Sichuan Province. (Guysen.International.News)
15:54 Two Qassam rockets fired from the Gaza Strip, landed in an uninhabited area of the county council Sdot Hanegev. There were no injuries. (Guysen.International.News)
15:18 In order to encourage trade in Sderot and towns bordering the Gaza Strip, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has opened a special website, where they can advertise their products for free. The Minister Eli Yishai has also launched an appeal to businesses to purchase Passover gifts for their employees, in stores in the region. The e-mail address of this site: www.moital.gov.il/moked-sderot. (Guysen.International.News)
14:11 The IDF has warned of Hamas attempts to gain control of Judea and Samaria. According to a senior security official, ''Hamas is trying by all means to be strengthened throughout the country''. It is deployed in every city and trying tirelessly to carry out attacks against the IDF. (Guysen.International.News)
12:18 Two Qassam rockets landed in the compound of the regional councils of Shaar Hanegev and Sdot Negev, without causing injuries or damage. The Saladin Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, claimed the shooting. (Guysen.International.News)
11:51 Iran: the EU "seriously doubts" that the recent legislative were held democratically. ''The international rules were violated because the Iranian people cannot elect candidates freely" the European Union said in a statement. (Guysen.International.News)
11:22 India: 2000 Tibetan exiles demonstrated in the north of the country against the Chinese regime in Tibet. They walked 10 km in the direction of Dharamsala, a town where the Dalai Lama has lived for 49 years, and burned Chinese flags. Riots in the capital of Tibet, violently suppressed by the Chinese army, left at least 80 dead in recent days. (Guysen.International.News)
11:11 ''Hizbullah is not subservient to Syria, it is his friend,'' the Syrian Foreign Minister said. Questioned by the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa on the possibility of a new war by Israel against Lebanon and Syria, he felt that ''all options are open''. (Guysen.International.News)
10:09 Egypt is stepping up efforts to establish a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Contrary to recent reports in the media, Palestinian and Egyptian sources indicated to a Kuwaiti newspaper that the contacts to achieve a truce have not been frozen, but have instead been renewed. (Guysen.International.News)
09:36 According to the Sunday Times, Adolph Eichman reportedly ordered the protection of about 800 people from mixed marriages between Jews and non-Jews, held in a hospital in Berlin. They survived thanks to the protection of the architect of the ''final solution''. The British magazine revealed that the Red Army destroyed the archives of the hospital when it took the city in 1945. (Guysen.International.News)
09:25 Hamas has said it will focus on the Israeli Air Force as its target. The terrorist organization is particularly interested in getting their hands on an Israeli fighter pilot. (Guysen.International.News)
09:19 The Tibetan government in exile announced that at least 80 demonstrators were killed by the Chinese army in the rioting that has bloodied Lhasa since Friday. (Guysen.International.News)
09:08 The Islamic Jihad announced that it had developed a rocket with a range of 22 km, which would be capable of reaching northern Ashkelon. (Guysen.International.News)
08:51 China: the Parliament extended the premiership of Premier Wen Jiabao to head the government for five years. (Guysen.International.News)
07:34 Tibet: Condoleezza Rice has requested the Chinese government "to exercise restraint in its handling of events" and to refrain from resorting to violence. Demonstrations of Buddhist monks on Friday in the Tibetan capital had degenerated and resulted in two deaths, several injured and buildings and vehicles being burned. The US Secretary of State was ''deeply saddened to learn that the troubles that emerged in Lhasa after what had started as peaceful demonstrations eventually resulted in the loss of life, and that the violence is likely to continue.'' (Guysen.International.News)
07:05 The Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Finance, Yoram Ariav, said that growth in Israel in 2008 will be around 3.5%, or 15% less than original estimates at 4.2%. He said that Israel was not in a recession but that the impasse in the American economy had caused a slowdown in economic activity in the Jewish state. (Guysen.International.News)
05:42 Iraq: according to a report by the American army, the overwhelming majority of perpetrators of suicide attacks in the country are foreigners, unmarried with no children, aged between 18 and 30 years old and members of large families. (Guysen.International.News)

04:26 The United States will increase its pressure on Israel and the Palestinian Authority for substantial progress to be made in negotiations before the President George Bush's visit in May, according to a diplomat from the State Department. (Guysen.International.News)
02:42 The leader of the Likud party, Binyamin Netanyahu, is going to sue the television channel, Arutaz 10, for slander. Journalists from the network announced on Friday that the former Israeli prime minister had spent over 130,000 shekels during a six-day trip to London during the Second Lebanon War in August 2006. Binyamin Netanyahu had visited England to plead Israel's case to politicians, journalists and academics. He said that his trip "had not cost the State of Israel one shekel". (Guysen.International.News)

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

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