Doc's Talk: Iran Early Bird-Tuesday

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Iran Early Bird-Tuesday

According to reports on official Iranian websites, hundreds of students from throughout the country participated last night in a demonstration in Tehran outside the offices of the bureau representing Egypt's interests in Iran, protesting what they defined as "the crimes of the Zionists in Gaza and the Egyptian cooperation with the Zionist regime," and chanting slogans against the Egyptian president: "Mubarak, Mubarak, shame on you, shame on you," "Death to compromisers," "Shame on you, foolish Arabs," "Mubarak should be executed" and the like. Expediency Discernment Council Chairman Hashemi Rafsanjani has also harshly criticized the Egyptian government after Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah Crossing and destroyed tunnels dug by Gaza residents for the passage of goods.. Mass demonstrations against the Israeli operations in Gaza are set to take place Friday throughout Iran.

3. The Tabnak website is reporting the arrest of a number of senior officials involved in Iran's nuclear program who are suspected of establishing ties with foreign states and passing on information about the program and the country's nuclear research projects.

4. Ala'a Aladin Broujerdi, chairman of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Affairs Committee, has announced that the panel will be sending a delegation to Turkey next week.

5. The wife of Ali-Reza Asqari, Iran's deputy defense minister and former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps in Lebanon, has demonstrated outside the Turkish Embassy in Tehran, claiming that her husband has not defected and has not been given political asylum, but was abducted in Turkey by Israel. The Turkish government therefore was responsible for his fate, she declared.

6. The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman has announced that Saeed Jalili, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and the country's chief nuclear negotiator, will participate in the upcoming Brussels meet via video-conferencing rather than in person. In addition, the spokesman failed to confirm a future meeting between Jalili and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, commenting only that if such a meeting were to be scheduled, an announcement would be made by the Supreme National Security Council's secretariat.

7. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman has denied reports that Iranian diplomats in Zagreb came under threats and pressure from Israel following the display of an anti-Zionist book at the Iranian pavilion during the international book fair in the city. According to the spokesman, the citizens of Croatia enthusiastically welcomed the Iranian exhibition.

1. The spokesman for the Majlis National Security and Foreign Affairs Committee has reported the arrest of a terror cell in eastern Iran, adding that the "traitors" would soon be publicly tried.

2. Quoting the Nahrain Net news site, the Conservative-affiliated Alef website is carrying a report on the support U.S. and Saudi Arabian security elements are giving to the Sunni Jondallah organization in an effort to undermine stability and security in Iran.

1. Despite Iran President Ahmadi-Nejad unofficial directive not to transfer or withdraw capital from the government's accounts at Melli Bank, state companies and ministries are continuing to transfer their accounts to other banks.

2. Iran has denied reports that it has exceeded the oil production quotas determined by OPEC.

3. The Iranian government has rejected an Oil Ministry proposal to charge heavy gas consumers export prices and, in general, to determine a gas price scale in keeping with consumers' economic status. Instead, the government decided that consumers who exceed the average consumption rate will pay a higher price for the excess.

4. Iranian deposits in foreign banks in the second third of 2008 exceeded $43 billion – an increase of some $2 billion in relation to the first third of the year.

5. A member of the board at the Iranian Chamber of Commerce has predicted a drop in the prices of goods in the local market over the coming months due to the slowdown in world markets. Meanwhile, the semi-official Aftab-News website is carrying a report on concerns among the Iranian public due to the ongoing rise in fruit and vegetable prices, and of tomatoes in particular.

6. According to figures published by the Iranian Customs Organization with regard to the past eight months:

· Exports of non-petroleum products increased 30 percent to reach more than 8 billion euros

· Imports totaled some $38 billion, including $2.5 billion in fuel – contrary to the figure released recently by the Oil Ministry, which said that Iran had utilized its full import quota of $3.3 billion. Customs officials said the discrepancy in the figures stemmed from the fact that the Oil Ministry calculated imports based on the quantity of fuel pumped into its storage facilities.

1. The Office of the President's electronic system has been further upgraded and the public can now send messages and letters to the office by e-mail, facsimile, text messages and the like.

2. Three people were executed this morning in the courtyard of the central prison in the Chahar Mahal va Bakhtiari Province.

3. Ali-Aslampour, a student activist at the Open University in Kordestan was banned from making an address on Student Day by the institution's heads. A member of the Student Basij spoke in his place, expressing support for the government and the Conservative factions.

4. Fifteen students at Shiraz University have been summoned to appear before the university's Disciplinary Committee after participating in Student Day events in the city.

5. Political prisoners at Evin Prison have written a plea of help to international human rights organizations. The prisoners are seeking assistance in improving their jail conditions and lifting the ban on meetings with their families that has been in place now for three weeks. The ban was imposed after the prisoners refused to participate in Friday prayers.

6. Scandal in Iran: A woman was forced by hospital officials to remain carrying her dead seven-month-old fetus for a month. The women, whose baby died after she was attacked by her spouse, was not allowed to carry out an abortion without the approval of her spouse and was forced to take the matter to court. A month later, the court ruled in her favor and ordered doctors to perform the abortion.

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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