Doc's Talk: Mubarak 'feels betrayed' by Hamas

Monday, November 10, 2008

Mubarak 'feels betrayed' by Hamas

Khaled Abu Toameh , THE JERUSALEM POST

Egypt informed the various Palestinian factions over the weekend of its decision to postpone indefinitely a long-awaited conference for solving the dispute between Hamas and Fatah, Palestinian Authority officials said.

The decision came shortly after Hamas told the Egyptians that it would boycott the conference, which was scheduled to open in Cairo on Sunday. The Egyptians ordered representatives of various Palestinian factions who had already arrived in Cairo for the parley to leave Egypt immediately. Twelve Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, were expected to take part in the conference, which was also being held under the auspices of the Arab League.

Quoting top PA officials, The Jerusalem Post revealed Thursday that the Egyptians were "seriously" considering postponing the conference following threats by Hamas to stay away.

The decision to call off the "national reconciliation" conference is seen by PA officials in Ramallah as a severe blow to Egyptian efforts, with leaders who have been working hard over the past year to end the crisis between Hamas and Fatah.

A PA official told the Post Saturday that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was "furious" with Hamas for canceling its participation in the conference at the last minute.

The official said that Mubarak had instructed his government to suspend all contacts with Hamas and to keep the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt closed until further notice.

"President Mubarak feels betrayed by Hamas," the official said, citing unnamed Egyptian government representatives. "From now on we will see a rapid deterioration in relations between Hamas and Egypt."

Another PA official in Ramallah predicted that the new crisis between Hamas and Egypt would have a negative impact on efforts to release kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Schalit. Over the past two years, Egyptian Intelligence Chief Gen. Omar Sulieman has been acting as a mediator between Hamas and Israel to secure Schalit's release.

Hamas officials said the decision to boycott the conference was made in protest the PA security forces' continued clampdown on its supporters in the West Bank. They added that parts of the Egyptian initiative for solving the crisis with Fatah were "totally unacceptable."

The initiative calls, among other things, for the establishment of a Palestinian "unity" government, the reconstruction of the PA security forces so that they would include members of all Palestinian factions and preparing for holding new presidential and parliamentary elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Hamas officials said they were recently surprised to learn that the Egyptians were also trying to include the issue of PA President Mahmoud Abbas's term in office in the conference's agenda. Although Abbas's time in office expires in January 2009, he has made it clear that he intends to stay in power for at least another year - a move strongly opposed by Hamas and other Palestinian factions.

Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip, accused Abbas's forces of launching a massive crackdown on Hamas members in the West Bank in a bid to foil the planned conference.

Last week Hamas released scores of Fatah detainees held in its prisons in the Gaza Strip as a goodwill gesture on the eve of the Cairo discussions and urged Abbas to reciprocate.

However, Abbas announced over the weekend that there are no Hamas detainees in PA prisons in the West Bank. His announcement enraged Hamas leaders who responded by publishing a list of dozens of Hamas "political" detainees who had been arrested by Abbas's security forces in the past few months.

Masri said that Abbas's announcement was one of the reasons why Hamas decided to boycott the Egyptian-sponsored gathering. He said another reason was Abbas's decision to ban Hamas representatives in the West Bank from traveling to Egypt for the conference.

Khalil al-Hayeh, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, linked between Abbas's refusal to release Hamas detainees and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Ramallah on Friday.

"Abbas is clearly under pressure from the Americans not to solve the dispute [with Hamas]," he said. "This explains his false announcement last Friday that there are no Hamas members in his prisons."

The two Hamas officials blamed Abbas and the PA security forces for the failure of Egypt's mediation efforts and the cancellation of the conference.

They accused Abbas of lying to the Palestinian public by claiming that all those who were detained by his forces were thieves and murderers.

In the first sign of increased tensions between Hamas and Egypt, the Islamic movement organized a demonstration over the weekend in protest the continued closure of the Rafah terminal. Hundreds of protesters shouted anti-Egyptian slogans and accused Mubarak of participating in the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Yahya Moussa, a Hamas legislator, said it was "shameful" that Egypt was refusing to reopen the border.

"I call on the Egyptian leadership to draw conclusions from all the developments that have been taking place in the world lately," he said. "Shame on you that you are keeping the border crossing closed for your Palestinian brothers."

In separate incidents over the past two weeks, the Egyptian authorities banned a Hamas delegation from crossing the border into Egypt and a European team of parliament members from entering the Gaza Strip.

PA officials reacted angrily to the postponement of the conference and held Hamas responsible.

PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayad denied that the PA was holding Hamas members for political reasons and said the decision to call off the intra-Palestinian discussions was unjustified.

"The postponement does not serve the Palestinian cause," he said. "We are in dire need to end the divisions between the two parts of the homeland."

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top PLO official and Abbas adviser, said Hamas's decision was taken under pressure from "regional powers" - an apparent reference to Iran and Syria - to foil Egypt's mediation efforts.

"President Abbas and the PLO leadership deeply regret Hamas's decision, which is harmful to the Palestinian cause," he said.
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1225910065861&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

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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