Doc's Talk: Iran Early Bird-Tuesday

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Iran Early Bird-Tuesday

Speaking at a joint press conference with the Iranian foreign minister, former Lebanon president Emile Lahoud stressed that Iran, Qatar and Syria were Lebanon's true friends. Lahoud also commented on his meeting with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, noting that their talks would definitely have a positive influence on the Lebanese arena. Iran's ambassador in Lebanon has spoken of Iran's willingness to open a branch of Tehran University in Lebanon.

3. New appointments at the Iranian Foreign Ministry: Mohammad Jalal Firouz Nia, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' director-general for Persian Gulf affairs, has been named Iranian ambassador to Italy; Mahdi Safari, head of the ministry's Department for European Affairs, will take up the position of Iran's ambassador in Saudi Arabia; Majid Bizmark has been named Iranian ambassador to Thailand; and Hosseyn Farahi will serve from now as director-general for ministerial affairs.

4. Ayatollah Janati, secretary of the Council of Guardians of the Constitution, has urged the governors of Iran's provinces to make all necessary arrangements to facilitate the public's participation in next year's presidential election. Janati stressed that the public would participate in the elections only if it was satisfied with its leaders, adding that the majority of the Iranian people supported the regime.

5. Members of the Conservative factions in the Majlis have called on Interior Minister Ali Kordan to resign his post ahead of the no-confidence vote he faces next week.

6. Representatives of the family of Musa Sadar (who went missing in Libya) have agreed to allow Iranian film director Kamal Tabrizi to make a documentary on Sadar's life and disappearance. The film will be called "When Musa Cried."

7. In an address to Iranians living in the United States, Iran's deputy president, Rahim Mashaee, again made controversial statements, commenting: "The Soviet Union fell because of the absolute dictatorial regime; but the United States is not like that and thus it will not crumble and fall."

1. Speaking at a dedication ceremony for a new naval base on the island of Jasek, the commander of the Iranian Army's Naval Corps, General Habibollah Sayari, said that the presence of foreign forces in the waters surrounding Iran had given rise to the need for the establishment of new military bases in the Gulf of Oman. Sayari emphasized that the new base created an additional defensive line in the eastern section of the Strait of Hormuz, adding that if required, Iran would be able to prevent all enemy vessels from entering the Persian Gulf.

2. According to Iran's deputy chief of staff: "We are issuing a warning to the enemies of Iran… They must know that the era of bullying and sanctions against nations has come to an end. They must surrender to the justice and values of the nations. The Iranian Army and IRGC are the regime's two powerful arms and are ready at any given time to defend the Persian Gulf."

3. The head of the security forces' organization that oversees compulsory military service has announced an extension of the deferment period afforded to students, noting that students who are unable to complete their studies in time will receive an extension of up to seven semesters before being drafted into the army.

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1. The deputy chairman of the parliamentary committee on planning and budgeting has announced that the balance of Iran's Oil Stabilization Fund now stands at $25 billion. The deputy chairman said the drop in oil prices was to blame for the fall in the balance, and called on the country's leaders to reduce Iran's dependency on oil revenues. For his part, Iran's finance minister said that the country's foreign currency reserves were in good shape and that there was no cause for concern in this regard. The minister added that Iran's foreign currency revenues during the first half of the year had totaled some $60 billion.

2. The deputy chairman of the Statistical Center of Iran has announced that the organization is willing and ready to calculate and announce the country's official inflation rate. The deputy chairman clarified that the talks to determine the official source of the inflation rate were continuing and that the changes at the Central Bank had caused the delay in the announcement.

3. Iranian websites are reporting that former interior minister Pour-Mohammadi, who serves today as the government comptroller, has submitted a secret report to the Majlis on the financial and economic misdemeanors and violations of the current regime. The relevant Majlis committees are slated to review the report during the course of the week. Iran's official news agency announced last week that the government had filed a complaint against Pour-Mohammadi, accusing him of submitting false economic data.

4. According to an expert on agricultural affairs who was interviewed by the semi-official Aftabnews website, the drought Iran is suffering is serving as an excuse for senior government officials to cover up their failed performance in the field and reason the rise in the prices of fruit, rice and other agricultural produce. The people who are defining the drought, which was expected, as a crisis are trying to cover up their mismanagement in the field of agriculture, the expert said.

5. The deputy chairman of the Trade Development Organization has announced that Iran's exports over the past year exceeded $21 billion; he stressed, however, that in light of Iran's capabilities, this sum was not satisfactory, and urged action to increase it.

6. In an effort to advance commerce between Iran and the Netherlands, Iran has opened the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran in the Dutch port of Rotterdam.

7. The eighth meeting of the joint Syria-Iran committee on industry opened yesterday in Iran and will continue until the end of the month. The Syrian delegation is headed by the country's industry minister.

8. Iran's energy minister has announced that water and electricity prices will not go up this year.

9. An Iranian economics expert claims that the strike by bazaar storeowners in protest against the VAT increase was prompted by concerns on the part of the storeowners with respect to exposing their revenues for tax purposes.

10. Iranian experts have successfully developed an anesthetic machine for medical purposes. Until now, the machine had been imported.

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1. Human rights activists are reporting that over the past few days, the Iranian regime has adopted harsher measures against women's rights activists and the "One Million Signatures" campaign for equal rights, noting that the activists are being subjected to increased duress, threats, arrests and the like. For its part, the Conservative-affiliated Kayhan daily has defined the campaign organizers as a group of clowns with American ties that is being guided by elements from the U.S. State Department.

2. According to reports, student activist Amir Hosseyn Fatouhi is being subjected to intense pressure from his university and has been forced to sign an undertaking to refrain from all political activity. Fatouhi was suspended from his studies in the past after participating in student demonstrations and giving an interview to the Voice of America television station.

3. The Iranian Appeals Court has upheld the 10-year jail sentence that was imposed on Kurdish minority activist Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudwand for setting up an illegal organization. Kaboudwand is still facing two additional charges of manipulating public opinion and disseminating anti-government propaganda.

4. The committee that oversees the publication of journals at Iran's universities has slapped a ban on two Kurdish minority student publications at Zanjan University.

5. In a special raid in Tehran yesterday, security forces seized some 15,000 discs containing "immoral" and "unauthorized" movies.

6. Two drug smugglers were executed this morning in the city of Zahedan.

7. The movie, "Buddha Collapsed out of Shame," by Iranian director Hana Makhmalbaf has captured three awards at the Melodist international film festival in Ukraine.

8. An armed robbery took place yesterday at a Tehran department store. The perpetrator was looking to steal "a milk substitute for babies" for his son.

1 comment:

Unknown said...: who compiles the Iran Early Bird?; 12:34 PM

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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