Doc's Talk: News of the Israeli-Palestinian Confrontation

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

News of the Israeli-Palestinian Confrontation

Overview

During the past week rocket fire from the Gaza Strip at western Negev population centers, including Ashqelon , was “routine,” although there were fewer hits. Sniper fire targeted Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter's convoy during a visit to the Sderot area; the minister's aide was wounded.

Regarding the Annapolis process, on April 7 Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen after a hiatus of a month and a half. The IDF removed 60 barriers in Judea and Samaria as part of the package of eased restrictions promised to the Palestinians by Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Palestinians spokesmen played down the importance of the events. Important Events

“Routine” rocket fire continues

This past week there were fewer rockets fired into Israel than in previous weeks . Nine hits were identified in Israeli territory 1 compared with 32 the previous week. On April 7 three rockets fell south of Ashqelon , one in the city's industrial zone. At the same time there was an increase in the number of mortar shells fired at Israeli population centers near the security fence and at IDF forces operating near the fence and in the Gaza Strip. During the past week a total of 49 mortar shells were fired, compared with 26 the previous week.

Hamas continues avoiding rocket fire but does claim responsibility for mortar shell fire. The Popular Front, the Democratic Front and groups within Fatah also claimed responsibility for rocket and mortar shell fire. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for mortar shell fire.

Snipers fire at the Internal Security Minister’s convoy

On April 4 snipers attacked the convoy of Avi Dichter, the Internal Security Minister, during a tour near Kibbutz Nir Am near Sderot. One of his aides was wounded by the fire and evacuated to the hospital in Ashqelon (Ynet, April 4).

Hamas and a Fatah-affiliated group calling itself the Defenders of Al-Aqsa claimed joint responsibility for the attack (Al-Aqsa TV, April 12). According to a Hamas Website, the attack was in retaliation for Israeli activities and for the “holocaust” in the Gaza Strip 2 (Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades Website, April 4). Hamas also posted a video clip documenting the attack. The Popular Resistance Committees and the PIJ-affiliated National Army also claimed responsibility for the attack (Ma'an News Agency, April 4).

In response to the attack on the Minister's convoy, which was accompanied by a Canadian delegation, Canadian Foreign Minister Maxim Bernier condemned the incident and said that attacks on civilians were unacceptable (Agence France Presse, April 5).

Stabbing at Shiloh (Follow-up)

On March 31 a Palestinian terrorist attempted to stab two Israeli civilians waiting for a ride near at the junction between Eli and Shiloh . A group calling itself Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades/the Struggle and Return Battalions claimed responsibility for the attempted attacks (Qudsnet Website, Ma'an News Agency, March 31). Photographs posted on a Hamas forum showed the funeral of the terrorist, Abd Al-Latif Ali Muhammad Kharoub, his body wrapped in a Hamas flag . Hamas flags and those of other Palestinian terrorist organizations were flown at the funeral (PALDF Forum, April 3).

The Gaza Strip

The IDF continued its counterterrorist activities near the security fence with local incursions into the Gaza Strip:

• April 3 – During an IDF activity in the central Gaza Strip the force encountered a squad of armed terrorists and shot and hit three of them. The Palestinians reported six wounded, among them at least one PIJ operative (Palestine-info Website, April 3).

Judea and Samaria

Dangerous materials confiscated

On April 2 the Israeli security forces at the Tarqumia roadblock, northwest of Hebron , found 300 liters (79 1 gallons) of sulfuric acid in an Israeli truck (IDF Spokesman's Website, April 3). In another event security forces in the villages of Tamoun and Tubas, northeast of Nablus, found sacks of fertilizer weighting 300 kg (660 lbs) (IDF Spokesman's Website, April 4). The use and possession of both materials are forbidden in Judea and Samaria because the terrorist organizations use them to manufacture explosives.

Twelve Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades operatives escape from jail in Nablus

On the night of April 4, 12 Fatah/Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades operatives escaped from the Al-Juneid prison in Nablus . They had been imprisoned since the beginning of the year as part of the wanted prisoners' amnesty agreement. One of the fugitives, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander in Nablus Mahdi Abu Ghazaleh , said that despite the fact that the operatives were not in jail, they were completely committed to the cease fire and lull in the fighting with Israel, and that they had escaped because of the harsh treatment received at the hands of the Palestinian security forces (Nablus TV, April 4).

Nablus district governor Jamal al-Muheisin said that the escape would not influence Nablus 's internal situation, but added that Israel was liable to exploit the situation to undertake actions in the Nablus region. He added that Israel was supposed to examine the issue of wanted prisoners after they had spent three months in jail, but that the escape might influence its decision (PNN Website, April 5).
The Annapolis Process

Olmert and Abu Mazen meet

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman Abu Mazen met on April 7 in Jerusalem . The meeting took place after a hiatus of a month and a half (Haaretz, April 8).

Saeb Erekat , head PLO negotiator, said after the meeting that there were still serious disagreements between the two sides. He said that “most of the meeting was spent discussing the settlements. Israel continues to build new ones” (Palestinian TV, April 7).

Barriers removed in Judea and Samaria
As part of the package of easing restrictions offered by the Israeli Defense Minister on March 30 in a meeting with the American Secretary of State and the PA Prime Minister, 60 dirt barriers in Judea and Samaria were removed. Saeb Erekat claimed that nothing had changed on the ground and that Israel continued its “blockade” of the Palestinians (Al-Quds newspaper, April 4).

Abducted Soldier Gilad Shalit

Senior Hamas figure’s statements about Gilad Shalit

Musa Abu Marzuq , deputy chief of Hamas's political bureau, said of Gilad Shalit that if Israel did not release the 350 prisoners demanded by Hamas in return for Shalit's release, “ he will remain with us and we will use his bones to bargain with ” (Kuwaiti daily newspaper Al-Qabas, April 6). Such a statement, hinting at a threat on Shalit's life, is exceptional and in our assessment was meant to exert pressure on Israel to accede to Hamas's conditions.

1 As of 12 noon , April 8, three rockets were fired at Sderot, two of them hitting the entrance to the city and one in landing in an open field. They are not included in the weekly total.

2 The Hamas media continue to refer to Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip as a “holocaust.” For further information see our March 12 Bulletin entitled “Throughout the recent escalation, the Palestinian propaganda campaign has frequently employed the term “holocaust” to provide a false description of IDF activity in the Gaza Strip” .

3 The package included both security and civilian components. For further information see our March 26 Bulletin entitled “News of the Israeli-Palestinian Confrontation March 18-25, 2008” .

Thanks
Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center

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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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