Doc's Talk: Worthy news to know-today...

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

Worthy news to know-today...

The head of the Islamic Jihad in the center of the Gaza Strip was killed by IDF forces during an operation which ended an hour ago. (Guysen.International.News) 23:17 Kenya: the various political groups have agreed on a roadmap for reform of the constitution and to restore stability in the country. The Nigerian mediator, Oluyemi Adeniji, who took over from the former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, said that the agreement was ''a good omen for future cooperation in the future coalition government.'' The government and opposition have also decided to set up a commission which will be responsible for shedding light on the violence that followed the presidential elections of December 27, 2007 and that left a thousand deaths. (Guysen.International.News)
22:40 2 mortar shells landed near the security fence, near the Kissufim crossing in central Gaza. (Guysen.International.News)
22:31 Palestinian sources reported that the IDF actions in the Gaza Strip was over. An armed terrorist was killed. A baby was also killed in the ensuing fire. Several terrorists were arrested. (Guysen.International.News)
22:27 On the eve of the meeting of OPEC, the Minister of Petroleum of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammad Ben Zaen al-Hameli, said that ''all options are on the table''. OPEC is due to discuss a possible change in the level of production. The American president urged the organization to increase its oil production, but it does not seem favorable to this request and is considering lowering it instead. (Guysen.International.News)
21:20 Palestinian sources reported that exchanges of fire between IDF forces and Islamic Jihad terrorists have intensified, in Khan Yunis, The Israeli army surrounded a house in which there are several armed terrorists. (Guysen.International.News)
20:47 The Human Rights Council of the United Nations observed a minute's silence in memory of the ''saints who died in Gaza'' at the request of the Iranian Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki. He explained that ''it was necessary to observe a minute's silence in memory of women and children who are now under attack by the Zionist regime''. All present were silent for a minute while remaining seated. (Guysen.International.News)
20:17 Ehud Barak has threatened to increase pressure on the Gaza Strip if the rocket fire does not cease. ''I hear all over the world, also among our friends, questions arising: is Israel not using excessive force? To these critics I say that we need to attribute responsibility to the Qassam fire,'' the Defense Minister said. (Guysen.International.News)
20:03 United States: President George Bush said he was optimistic about the chances of signing a peace agreement in the Middle East by the end of his mandate. Following a meeting with King Abdullah of Jordan, he said that ''this process is still two steps forward and one step back, we must ensure that not more than one step backward.'' (Guysen.International.News)
18:54 The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for a truce between the Israelis and Palestinians. ''I stress the need to establish a comprehensive truce ... So that we can achieve our goal which is to make 2008 the year of peace,'' he said after a meeting with the American Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. (Guysen.International.News)
17:33 Russia: according to government representatives, Russia plans to sell 100 airplanes to Iran. The contract, estimated at $2- 2.5 billion, is expected to be signed in late May in Moscow. (Guysen.International.News)
17:22 Gaza Strip: a total of more than 160 humanitarian trucks crossed the border crossings and Sufa Kerem Shalom, on Tuesday. (Guysen.International.News)
16:59 Officers from the Givati brigade expressed satisfaction with the recent operation in the Gaza Strip. ''Hamas was surprised by the power of the IDF,'' they said. (Guysen.International.News)
16:26 Qassam rain on the Negev: 2 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip landed near a kibbutz, bringing to 8 the number of Qassams fired at southern Israel on Tuesday. There were no injuries or damage. (Guysen.International.News)
16:15 Iran: Mohammed Ali Husseini, a spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the UN decision to tighten sanctions against the Islamic Republic, calling them ''unacceptable and unnecessary". (Guysen.International.News)
15:41 On a visit to Israel, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice argued that through its terrorist actions Hamas was reducing the chances of reaching a peace agreement. She called on the Islamist organization to resume negotiations immediately. (Guysen.International.News)
15:30 The spokesman for Hamas, Sami Abu Zouhri, said that Condoleezza Rice's visit to the Middle East was a''sham''. "There is no peace process and no ongoing negotiations,'' he added. (Guysen.International.News)
14:13 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said, on Tuesday March 4, that Israel had ''the strength and power'' to defend itself against any Iranian threat. Olmert said this in response to the latest provocations from Tehran that maintains that it intends to continue its nuclear program, despite the United Nations decision to apply new sanctions. (Guysen.International.News)
13:54 Hamas says that it has a large arsenal it has not yet used against IDF forces. Khalil al-Hiya, one of the leaders of the terrorist organization, made these threatening comments, promising more surprises for the "occupier" in the next round. (Guysen.International.News)
12:55 Russia: after the counting all the ballots, Dimitri Medvedev was elected president with 70.28% of the vote. (Guysen.International.News)
12:36 Qassam rain on the Negev: two more rockets landed in front of Mefalsim, bringing to 6 the number of Qassams fired on southern Israel on Tuesday morning. Two mortar rounds also landed earlier near Kissufim. (Guysen.International.News)
12:07 On Monday, it was exactly 600 days since the abduction of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in Lebanon. The families of the two soldiers and their friends did not mark this sad event, but they intend to relaunch a public awareness campaign. ''From our point of view the 599th day or the 600th day does not make any difference: it is always the same great disappointment at the government inaction'' one of their relatives said. (Guysen.International.News)
11:37 A new outbreak of violence in Judea and Samaria: there are reports of stone-throwing and Molotov cocktails and burned tires thrown at soldiers and civilians in the Hebron area, as well as many stonings of Israeli vehicles near Itamar, Hawara (south of Nablus), and between Maaleh Shomron and Azoun. There were no injuries. (Guysen.International.News)
11:28 The Egyptian Foreign Minister denounced ''the excessive use of force by Israel in Gaza''. ''This must stop,'' Ahmed Aboul Gheit said during his joint press conference with Condoleezza Rice, adding that efforts are being made to try to obtain a cease-fire. (Guysen.International.News)
11:17 Condoleezza Rice urged Israel to ''save a maximum of civilians in its military operations''. The US Secretary of State, on a visit to Cairo, gave a joint press conference with her Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Aboul Gheit. She also called for an end to the firing of Qassams. "Those who fire rockets do not want peace. Hamas wants onlyt chaos'', she added. (Guysen.International.News)
11:06 The Israeli government has been trying in recent years to reduce the gaps between Jews and Druze, particularly in employment, education and housing. Ehud Olmert responded in those terms to the request of the leaders of the Druze community who demanded more construction land for their tribes. The Prime Minister promised to look into the matter but has already announced that the land could not be granted free of charge. (Guysen.International.News)
09:54 Qassam Rain on the Negev: the IDF operation in Gaza is complete, but for the people in the south of the country the ''routine'' of Qassams continues. Two more rockets landed in open space near Mefalsim and Saad. Two mortar shells landed near the security fence surrounding Gaza. Early Tuesday morning, two Qassam rockets hit Sderot, one of them hitting a home with full force. A total of 4 Qassams and 2 mortar shells have been fired since the beginning of the day. (Guysen.International.News)
09:41 The Kerem Shalom border crossing will reopen its doors on Tuesday for the first time in 6 weeks. Twenty trucks of humanitarian aid to the Palestinians will thus enter the Gaza Strip. Israel has also accepted the request of the Palestinian Minister of Health and authorized the transfer of drugs from the Teva company to Gazans via the Sufa crossing. Sixty trucks carrying equipment and food from Turkey and Jordan will cross the check-point. Eighty other trucks filled with grain will transit via the Karni checkpoint. (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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