Doc's Talk: Haniyeh cancels Mecca trip as hopes rise for Schalit deal

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Haniyeh cancels Mecca trip as hopes rise for Schalit deal

Nov. 25, 2009
KHALED ABU TOAMEH, YAAKOV KATZ and TOVAH LAZAROFF , THE JERUSALEM POST

In a sign that negotiations on an Isralei prisoner exchange for captive soldier Gilad Schalit were moving forward, Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh canceled a trip to Saudi Arabia for the annual Muslim pilgrammage at the last minute on Tuesday. Anticipation that hundreds of Palestinian prisoners might soon be released in a deal with Israel was so high in Gaza that Hanieyh had been asked to remain in the Gaza Strip to greet the prisoners, said a Hamas legislator in Gaza City.

Meanwhile, Hamas representatives flew to Damascus on Tuesday to consult with their leadership after holding talks in Cairo with German and Egyptian mediators.

The representatives, Mahmoud Zahar, Khalil al-Haya and Nizar Awadallah are scheduled to return to Cairo later this week for more meetings with the mediators.

In Damascus on Tuesday, Hamas official Mohammed Nazzal said Israel still had reservations over releasing some prisoners sought by Hamas who had "long prison terms."

"If Israel reacts with flexibility it will end soon, or it will be postponed indefinitely," he said. "During the next few days the picture will become clear."

A day before convening the security cabinet for its weekly meeting, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu continued to tone down expectations that an agreement was immanent.

"There is no deal as of yet, and I do not know if there will be one," he told reporters Tuesday. "But one thing I can tell you is that it will first to go to the cabinet for approval."

From Cairo to Jerusalem, Arab, Israeli and foreign officials weighed in on the matter, with statements that both raised and dampened public hope that Schalit would be freed after 1,248 days in captivity.

Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said he hoped that Schalit would return home soon.

"As the commander of the military and as the one who sent Gilad Schalit, I will make every effort to complete our mission to return Gilad home," Ashkenazi said during a tour of the South.

"We do everything we can to return soldiers from their missions. Unfortunately, soldiers get wounded and killed but the IDF does not leave wounded behind."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak told new recruits at the Tel Hashomer Induction Center that Israel is responsible for retrieving Schalit.

"We have a deep responsibility - ethical and as commanders - to bring Gilad home in every possible and appropriate way," he said.

Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) told Army Radio from Turkey, "I'm very happy that this deal is heading to its conclusion very soon. Are we closer than ever? My answer is definitely affirmative."

Egyptian officials said that a deal was close, but was unlikely to be sealed in the next few days, whereas Hamas spokesmen Ayman Taha and Sami Abu Zuhri expressed cautious optimism about the prospects of reaching a deal in the coming days.

However, the two said it was early to talk about a major breakthrough in the mediation efforts.

Hamas has instructed its leaders and spokesmen to refrain from making public comments about the secret negotiations.

As Hamas representatives headed to Damascus, the Egyptians and Germans have, meanwhile, briefed the Palestinian Authority leadership on the recent progress in their mediation efforts.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who is visiting the region met in Jerusalem with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and in Ramallah on Tuesday with PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Westerwelle, whose countryman Ernst Urlau has played a key mediating role in the trying to put together an agreement, would not discuss the matter when he met with journalists.

He said that while he hoped an agreement would be soon in the offing, premature discussion could jeopardize any deal.

He did, however, talk privately with Fayyad about the deal.

Egyptian Intelligence Chief Gen. Suleiman phoned senior PA officials and also briefed them on the details of the agreement.

The PA leadership is worried that a prisoner exchange accord would bolster Hamas¹s standing among Palestinians.

PA officials have in the past few days stepped up their rhetorical attacks on Hamas, particularly in light of reports that the movement has agreed to stop firing rockets at Israel.

The officials, including PA President Mahmoud Abbas, have also accused Hamas of conducting clandestine talks with Israel.

Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top PLO official who also serves as an advisor to Abbas, said that Hamas was prepared to ally itself with the devil to achieve its goal of undermining the PA.

He accused Hamas of adopting a hypocritical approach by talking about the need to continue the resistance against Israel while, at the same time, it was holding secret talks with Israelis and agreeing to stop rocket and missile attacks.

A senior Fatah operative in Ramallah voiced concern that the release of several hundred Palestinians from Israeli jails would boost Hamas¹s popularity at the expense of the PA.

"It would be very embarrassing for the Palestinian leadership if Hamas manages to free a large number of prisoners in return for the soldier," the official told The Jerusalem Post. "I'm not sure our leaders will be happy."

Fayyad described all Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails as heroes and called for their immediate release.

Addressing a conference on Palestinian prisoners, Fayyad did not make any mention of the reports regarding an imminent prisoner swap deal.

"To our heroic prisoners I say, the day of freedom is near" he said. "Your freedom is part of the freedom of the homeland and people."

Fayyad also saluted Amneh Muna, a female prisoner from Fatah who is serving a life sentence for her role in the abduction and murder of 16-year-old Ofir Rahum at the beginning of the second intifada.

His government, Fayyad said, was now seeking to rally support for international recognition of the Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails as prisoners of war.

He sent his greetings to Fatah operative Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life terms in prison and Ahmed Sa'dat, Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who was charged with masterminding the assassination of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi in 2001.

It's unclear if Barghouti and Sa'dat are on the list of prisoners due to be released.

Barghouti's wife on Tusday told Channel 2 she hoped her husband would be home by next week.

She added she wanted to see a "fair deal" which would also see imprisoned Palestinian women and children released.

On Tuesday, three bereaved parents filed a petition to the High Court of Justice demanding that the government release the full name of the more than 1,000 prisoners that are due to be swapped for Schalit.

It expected that in the first stage of the deal, Schalit would be transferred from Gaza to Egypt, while Israel frees 450 prisoners including those who have killed Israelis.

In the second stage he would be brought back to Israel and more than 550 more prisoners, charged with low level offenses, would then be freed.

It expected that the cabinet would approve the deal, but some ministers have been cagy about their position.

At a joint press conference with Westerwelle, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said needed to see all the details before taking a stand.

"I will be able to deal with the issue when I know what is on the table," he said.

Herb Keinon, AP and Jpost.com staff contributed to this report
This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1259010974763&pagename=JPArticle%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