Doc's Talk: Iran Early Bird-Wednesday

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Iran Early Bird-Wednesday

1. Dominating the headlines on Iranian websites this morning are reports on Barack Obama's victory in the U.S. presidential elections. Commenting on the results in an interview with the media, former Majlis speaker Khader Adal said that Obama's victory constituted an admission by the U.S. public of the United States' failure around the world and the failure of Bush's policies. In the wake of the ousting yesterday of the interior minister in a no-confidence vote in the Majlis, Ahmadi-Nejad's first deputy has announced that the president will soon be naming an acting minister who will fill the position until a permanent appointment is made. Khaider Musalhi is widely expected to be named as the new interior minister, with current Deputy Interior Minister for Political Affairs Kamran Daneshju to be appointed interim acting minister. Meanwhile, Majlis members are planning no-confidence votes in three additional ministers (health, agriculture and education).

3. The Conservative-affiliated Kayhan daily has found another reason to attack the Reformists – this time, for their support for Obama's victory. The newspaper laughs off statements by Reformists that if Obama can win in the United States, the Reformists will win in Iran, adding that both Obama and John McCain are outright supporters of Israel and enemies of Iran.

4. According to a Majlis decision, presidential candidates must now meet an additional requirement: They must be in possession of a Master's degree or higher, or have a corresponding religious degree.

5. New appointments to the secretariat of the Supreme National Security Council: Mahdi Bokharaei-Zade has been named director of foreign policy affairs; Ahmad Khaledi will serve as director of economic affairs; and Ahmad Khadam Almamle has been appointed director of media affairs.

1. The General Staff of Iran's armed forces has published a warning to the commanders of the U.S. Army in Iraq, advising them to cease U.S. helicopter flights close to the Iranian border so as to avoid any infiltration of Iranian airspace. The warning notes that any such infiltration, even unintentional, will be met with a response.

2. According to the representative of Iran's supreme leader in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, the IRGC's principal role is to preserve God's religion. The IRGC, he said, was the tool for realizing God's will to preserve the religion.

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1. The head of Tehran's Chamber of Commerce, Al-Eshaq: "Turkey is trying to be the leader that will direct the economies of the Islamic countries, and is conducting extensive action to this end. This is a warning light for Iran, which is interested in a similar role. The Iranian economy, which is based on oil revenues, will be significantly affected by the global crisis. If we do not devote maximum attention to the matter, we will encounter grave and difficult problems."

2. Indian government sources have announced that the Indian government will be prepared to pay the price Iran is asking for its gas only if Iran agrees to deliver the gas at the border point between India and Pakistan. According to the sources, Iran wants to make the delivery at its border with Pakistan, adding that India is very concerned about the security situation in the area and believes it could threaten the Iran-India gas pipeline project.

3. Iran's Central Bank has announced that inflation in the country over the past 12 months reached 24 percent. According to the head of the Central Bank's Economics Division, inflation in Iran is influenced primarily by the amount of cash in the economy. If the amount of cash is reduced, he said, inflation would fall to 16 percent.

4. The head of the Economics Ministry's department for foreign investment affairs has announced that foreign investments totaling $500 billion were approved during the course of the year for various projects in the country. Most of the foreign investments, he added, went to the fields of industry and mining.

5. UAE-based company Crescent has announced that the deal concerning the importing of Iranian gas that has been postponed on numerous occasions (due, among other reasons, to suspicions of corruption in light of the very low price stipulated in the contract) will go ahead in the near future.

6. Majlis member Ali-Reza Moradi: The West currently does not have faith in the American banks, and this is a wonderful opportunity for Iran to work towards recruiting the leading investors in the West.

7. Iran's energy minister has named Mohammad Behzad director-general of the Iranian Electricity Development Company. In addition, the Iranian electricity company has announced a gradual price hike for subscribers whose electricity consumption rates are higher than average.

8. According to the head of Iran's standards institute, Iran's oil refineries do not currently have the ability to produce fuel in keeping with the new Euro-4 international standard.

9. The head of Iran's national airline has announced efforts to institute a direct flight between Tehran and New York, adding that the U.S. reasons for preventing civilian flights from Iran to U.S. cities remains unclear and that IranAir will continue to pursue the matter.

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1. Meeting with members of the Iranian Journalists Union, Expediency Discernment Council Chairman Hashemi Rafsanjani said that the restrictions that have been placed on reporters are completely unreasonable and unjustified. According to Rafsanjani, the restrictions are an obstacle in the way of the legal and proper conveyance of information and stir mistrust among the public.

2. According to Mojtaba Samie-Zade, a blogger and former political prisoner, he and his wife have been threatened by members of the Iranian security and intelligence forces who demanded that he cease his activities.

3. Iran's Appeal Court has upheld the punishment imposed on Rezvan Moghadam, a member of the "One Million Signatures" campaign for equal rights for women. Moghadam was sentenced to six months in prison and 10 lashings.

4. Mohammad Hassan Falahye, editor-in-chief of the Akalam Al-Talbe newspaper and former reporter for the Al-Alam television network, has been transferred to solitary confinement in Evin Prison after refusing to participate in the political prisoners' morning inspection. His refusal comes on the backdrop of the humiliation the political prisoners are subjected to during the inspection.

5. Asha Momeni, the American-Iranian student who was arrested a month ago while visiting Iran, has been charged with undermining national security. In the framework of her academic studies, Momeni conducted a series of interviews with women's rights activists and members of the "One Million Signatures" campaign.

6. Students from the Management Faculty at Beheshti University have demonstrated against a decision by the institution to segregate between men and women in the faculty library, which serves as a meeting place for students during their free time.

7. According to the Tehran Municipality, some 7,000 children live on the streets of the city. Most of the children, the municipality claims, are not from Tehran and came to the capital from surrounding cities and towns. Some 30 percent of them, the municipality says, are Afghanis.

8. The Education Department in the city of Saqez has instructed female students to add a forehead cover to the regular veil they wear during the school day.

9. Tehran's biggest blockbusters at present are two Iranian films, "Mahya" and "Song of Sparrows." The film, "Mayha," tells the story of a young man in love who encounters difficulties in realizing his love; "Song of Sparrows," which captured international awards, tells the story of a worker at an ostrich farm who is fired from his job and travels to the big city, Tehran, to look for work.

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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.

Doc's Talk