[i]Belarus cemetery a dumping ground[/i] www.jta.org
[u]A historic Jewish cemetery in Belarus reportedly is being used as a garbage dump and a place to graze cattle. [/u]Citing a report in this week’s edition of an independent newspaper in Belarus, the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union said the 400-year-old cemetery is in the town of Chernikov in Belarus’ Mogilev province. Several years ago, local authorities removed the fence surrounding the cemetery grounds; since that time residents have turned it into a garbage dump. The town’s small Jewish community has complained several times to the authorities about the situation, but officials so far have done nothing to protect the cemetery grounds, according to a report placed Tuesday on the newspaper’s Web site.
[u]Israel challenged the International Court of Justice’s right to rule on its security fence. [/u]A Foreign Ministry official said Friday that Israel is arguing that issues like the security fence must be handled through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and not through the tribunal. Friday was the deadline to submit documents to the court, with deliberations to begin Feb. 23. The Palestinian Authority insisted Friday that the court had full jurisdiction and accused Israel of trying to perpetuate the “occupation of 3.5 million Palestinians against their will.”
[b]SEE ALSO[/b]: [i]U.S., Britain back Israel[/i] www.jta.org
The United States and Britain submitted documents arguing that the International Court of Justice should not rule on the West Bank security fence. Both Washington and London have criticized the route of the barrier, which in places crosses over the pre-1967 boundary between Israel and the West Bank, but feel it’s a matter to be decided in direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. British Foreign Office minister Baroness Symons, who is responsible for the Middle East, told London’s Jewish Chronicle that bringing the question to the court would “politicize the court in a way for which it was not designed.”
[b]SEE ALSO[/b]: The European Union, as a whole, joined dozens of countries in filing last-minute objections to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague on its hearing over the legality of Israel's construction of the West Bank security fence, saying the court is not competent to hold the hearing. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...
Hamas leaders say they will kidnap Israelis to use as bargaining chips for the release of Palestinian prisoners. The statement came a day after Israel freed 429 Arab prisoners in exchange for a kidnapped Israeli businessman and the bodies of three Israeli soldiers. Many Israelis had worried that the exchange would encourage other terrorists to kidnap Israelis for ransom.
[b]SEE ALSO[/b]: [i]License to kidnap[/i] In agreeing to a prisoner exchange with a terrorist organization, Israel not only turned Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah into a glorious victor, but granted him a license to kidnap -- and the motivation to kill those who fall into his clutches, Yoel Marcus writes. (Ha'aretz) http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/...
Munir Ja'arah, the father of the Palestinian suicide bomber who carried out Thursday's attack in Jerusalem, said, "My son is a hero and we are proud of what he did," speaking as scores of Palestinians arrived at his home to "congratulate" him on the "martyrdom" of his son, Ali. Neighbors said that as soon as the bomber's identity was announced, many local residents took to the streets to express their joy. The bomber's uncle, Jihad Ja'arah, one of 13 Palestinian gunmen deported after being holed up inside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem in 2002 for several weeks, told relatives by phone from Ireland that he fully supported the attack. (Jerusalem Post)
[b]SEE ALSO[/b]: This aspiration to die, which contradicts the basic human instinct for survival, is at the core of the suicide terrorism fervor. Only when this death worship component is recognized as a basic tenet of Palestinian belief will it be possible to understand the challenges Israel and the world face from suicide terror. Palestinian society actively promotes the religious belief that their deity craves their deaths. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1075263109860" title="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1075263109860" target="_blank"http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...
YES, THE MURDER OF 10 ISRAELI CIVIILIANS IS SO AMBIGUOUS
Security Council envoys were deadlocked on Thursday in a bid to condemn Thursday's suicide bombing that killed 10 people in Jerusalem, deciding after three hours to drop the idea and say nothing. While the U.S. pressed for such a statement, Algeria argued for a statement denouncing Wednesday's Israeli raid that killed eight Palestinians in Gaza. Backing the U.S. were Britain, Germany, and Romania, while Pakistan, Brazil, and China lined up with Algeria, diplomats said. Israel's U.N. ambassador, Dan Gillerman, scheduled a news conference for Friday to discuss "the UN's lack of response to terrorism" following the suicide bombing. (Reuters)
[i]Foreign Ministry releases 'bloody' bus movie[/i]
Graphic pictures of the latest terror attack that killed 10 is the best way to show why Israel needs a security fence to stop bombers, said the Foreign Ministry on Thursday, as it posted a video of victims being evacuated from the bombed out bus in Jerusalem on its web site. http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/hom...
[b]SEE BELOW FOR AN UPDATE ON THE TERROR BOMBING STORY[/b]
On July 18, 2004, the people of Argentina will commemorate the tenth anniversary of the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires. This tragedy took the lives of 85 people and injured over 300 others. TEN YEARS have passed and no one has been convicted of this crime -- the largest anti-Semitic catastrophe since World War II. Recently declassified documents indicate that members within Argentina's own government and police force may have collaborated with the terrorists in this heinous act.
Please read and sign this petition to President Nestor Kirchner requesting that JUSTICE be served. This petition will be presented to President Kirchner at the 10th anniversary commemoration ceremony this summer. President Kirchner, as well as the Argentine government, is very conscious of world opinion and your signature will contribute significantly to the wave of support for action on this matter. After signing, it is very important you forward this to your family, friends and colleagues.
[i]‘Palestine’ ; boosted in El Salvador [/i] www.jta.org
The mayor of El Salvador’s capital gave the keys to the city to the Palestinian ambassador for Central America. This week’s move by Carlos Rivas Zamora in San Salvador caused an uproar among Jewish leaders and Israeli officials in El Salvador. In addition, a Palestine Square was inaugurated near an Israel Square in the city. Israeli officials said they would work to get a map removed on the Palestinian monument that has the words “Palestine, Holy Land” over the State of Israel. The names of two major candidates to March 2004 presidential elections — both of whom are of Palestinian origin — support the monument, officials said. Several hundred Jews live in El Salvador, which has a 60,000-strong Palestinian community. El Salvador and Nicaragua are the only two countries in the world whose embassies in Israel are located in Jerusalem. Both of the Palestinian candidates for El Salvador’s presidency said they intend to move it to Tel Aviv.
[i]Columbia University hire blasted[/i] www.jta.org
Jewish groups are criticizing Columbia University for hiring a controversial former U.N. official. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Zionist Organization of America blasted the hiring this month of the former U.N. human rights commissioner, Mary Robinson, to teach in the school’s Department of International and Public Affairs. Robinson repeatedly has criticized Israel for what she sees as its human-rights abuses. “How many Jewish parents will want to send their children to a campus with such a hate-infested atmosphere,” ZOA National President Morton Klein said.
Growing anti-Semitism in France has prompted a big rise in the number of French Jews emigrating to Israel. Figures released in Israel Wednesday showed that 2,380 moved last year and 2,556 the year before. In the 1990s only about 800 French Jews emigrated to Israel each year. Natan Sharansky, an Israeli minister, said on Sunday: "Last year the number of anti-Semitic incidents in France doubled and 47% of all anti-Semitic attacks in Western Europe occurred there."
[i]Israel to Join with India in Moon Mission (DeepikaGlobal-India)[/i] http://www.deepikaglobal.com/latestnews.asp?ncode=11988" title="http://www.deepikaglobal.com/latestnews.asp?ncode=11988" target="_blank"http://www.deepikaglobal.com/...
Israeli Minister of Science and Technology Eliezer Sandberg, who visited India last month, said Prime Minister Sharon has given his go-ahead to proposals to join India in the moon mission Chandrayaan-I in 2008.
[i]10 KILLED IN JERUSALEM TERROR BOMBING[/i] http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1075349808440" title="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1075349808440" target="_blank"http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...
Ten people were murdered and 50 wounded when a suicide bomber exploded inside a bus on the corners of Gaza and Arlozorov streets, near the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem's Rehavia neighborhood at about 8:45 Thursday morning . . . . Yasser Arafat's Fatah-linked Al Aksa Martyrs Brigades claimed repsonsibility for the attack in a call to Army Radio. The bomber was identified as Ali Jaara, 24.
[b]UPDATE[/b]: The murderer, 24-year-old Ali Jaara, has been identified as a "policeman" for Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...
A Maariv interview with Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer in which he allegedly called for Israelis to migrate to Australia raised a hue and cry in Israeli diplomatic and political circles on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Foreign Ministry personnel and MKs declared it a most politically incorrect outrage that the foreign minister of another country should come as a guest to Israel and try to lure away some of the country's best and brightest with promises of a great life in the lucky country.
Elhanan Tannenbaum and the coffins of the three kidnapped Israeli soldiers flew out of Beirut early Thursday for Germany where they are to be handed over as part of a major exchange of prisoners with Israel.
[b]GOSH, I WONDER WHY PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS GET KILLED. COULD IT BE BECAUSE THEIR BRAVE WARRIORS RETREAT BEHIND WOMEN AND CHILDREN AFTER FIRING UPON THE IDF?[/b]
[image]rsheinfield_300598 64.jpg[/image]
Palestinians take cover during clashes with Israeli troops in the Zitoun neighborhood in Gaza CIty, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2004. Palestinian medical sources said at least eight people were killed in the clashes. (AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)
[i]U.S. folds up the road map [/i] http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?strwebhead=U" title="http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?strwebhead=U" target="_blank"http://www.jta.org/page_view_...%2ES%2E+folds+up+the+road +map&intcategoryid=5
The Bush administration is quietly folding up the “road map,” the U.S.-led peace plan that neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis seem willing to follow. And after two years of tough talk, the Bush administration is asking for help and advice from the Israelis, some Arab nations and Europe.
EVEN MORE POWERFUL THAN THE IDF: LAWYERS (UPDATED)
A federal judge in Providence, R.I., ordered the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, to pay $116 million in damages for the deaths of an American citizen and his Israeli wife in a drive-by shooting in 1996 near the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh. Family members of Yaron Ungar sued in March 2000 under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1991 allowing relatives of American victims of overseas terrorism to seek damages in U.S. courts. U.S. District Judge Ronald Lagueux awarded $30.5 million each to the Ungars' children and $15 million each to Yaron Ungar's parents. The lawsuit also names the PLO and the PA as defendants for allegedly providing a haven and operational base for Hamas, which is responsible for many of the suicide bombings in Israel. (AP/Washington Post)
[b]AND MORE:[/b]
[i]Bereaved family members sue PA for NIS 430 mil.[/i]
Bereaved family members of a lethal Jerusalem suicide bombing filed a NIS 430 million civil suit Wednesday against the Palestinian Authority in the Jerusalem District Court.
[i]Holocaust memorial vandalized in Budapest[/i] http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1075185791557&p =1008596981749" title="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1075185791557&p =1008596981749" target="_blank"http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...
Vandals smeared red paint Tuesday on a mosaic placed on the banks of the Danube River to commemorate Jews killed during World War II, the state-run news agency MTI reported.
The memorial honors Jews shot and thrown into the Danube by pro-Nazi forces. Around 600,000 Hungarian Jews were killed in the Holocaust.
The vandalism coincided with observances of Holocaust Remembrance Day. It marks the day when the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp complex - where more than 1.5 million people perished, 90 percent of them Jews - was liberated by advancing Soviet troops on Jan. 27, 1945.
INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE: EVEN WORSE THAN THE NYT
[b]HERE'S AN EXCERPT FROM AN INTERESTING ARTICLE BY EVELYN GORDON IN WHICH SHE ASSERTS THAT INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE EDITORS CHANGE NEW YORK TIMES' STORIES TO MAKE THEM EVEN MORE BIASED AGAINST ISRAEL: [/b] http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1075114460215" title="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1075114460215" target="_blank"http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...
What sparked the discovery was a piece in the IHT's December 27-28 edition, entitled "Israeli tactics assure future bombings, Palestinians assert" and credited to the Times. The article's main thrust was that the Israel Defense Forces believes its two-pronged anti-terror campaign – construction of the separation fence and frequent raids aimed at arresting terrorists and destroying bomb-making facilities – has significantly reduced the number of successful attacks.
But the article also claimed that the December 25 bombing at the Geha Junction ended a three-month period that "seemed to be a sort of unofficial cease-fire. In that time, Palestinian radical groups carried out no suicide bombings."
This struck me as outrageous, since a cease-fire implies that no attacks were attempted – whereas, according to IDF statistics, there were no fewer than 22 attempted suicide bombings during that time, all foiled by Israel's security forces. But when I checked the article on the Times Web site in preparation for an angry letter to that paper, I discovered the following:
The Times never referred to this period as a cease-fire.
The Times explicitly mentioned that "numerous terror attempts" had been made during this period and were thwarted by Israel; that entire paragraph was cut from the IHT piece.
The Times did not say that Palestinians "carried out no suicide bombings," giving the false impression that they attempted none; it merely said, correctly, that no bombings took place. Moreover, the Times article carried a very different – and far more accurate – headline:
"Bombing after lull: Israel still believes the worst is over."
The result is that the average Times reader came away with the following impression: Israel's military activity produced three months in which no Israelis were killed, despite "numerous terror attempts." This activity is thus saving Israeli lives, and therefore potentially justifiable.
But the IHT reader received the opposite impression: Neither the fence nor the raids were justified, since there was an "unofficial cease-fire" and Palestinians were not committing attacks in any case. Moreover, since no attempts took place during this period, Israel's activity did not save a single life.
.....
Since this episode, I have discovered that the IHT often subtly alters Times copy to make its readers dislike Israel more.
On January 2, for instance, the Times ran an article stating that in 1973, the Nixon administration considered invading three Arab countries "if the [oil] embargo, imposed by Arab nations in retaliation for America's support for Israel in the 1973 Middle East war, did not end." The IHT altered this to state that Nixon planned to invade "if tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors continued to escalate after the October 1973 Middle East War or if the oil embargo did not abate."
Moreover, the IHT erased the statement – repeated twice in the Times article – that the embargo was due to America's wartime support for Israel, substituting the statement that it was imposed "to try to pressure the United States and other Western countries to force Israel to withdraw from Arab land."
Thus the Times reader concludes that Nixon was angered by an Arab action, the embargo, which was retaliation for an American action – wartime support for an ally. Israel was clearly involved, but this was primarily an Arab-American dispute.
The IHT reader, in contrast, concludes that Nixon's main concern was not the Arab action, but "tensions between Israel and its Arab neighbors;" the embargo gets only second billing. Moreover, the embargo was aimed not at American policy, but at a mysterious Israeli seizure of Arab land whose background – the fact that it was captured in a defensive war – is never explained. In short, the entire crisis was Israel's fault.
In 1948, there were more than 150,000 Jews living in Baghdad. Now there are 21 left.
No one comes to worship at the synagogue anymore. It would be too dangerous for Iraq's Jews to gather in one place. The rabbi has been dead for seven years.
Most of the people who live near the synagogue are unaware of its existence. Those who do seem to know about it appear to view any Western visitors with deep suspicion.
The temple itself is heartbreaking. It looks always ready for a service that will never happen. There are stacks of scriptures at the ends of the cushioned benches. On one wall, there's a clock with Hebrew lettering, the hands frozen at 7:30. A pair of old pajamas hung from a clothesline strung across the front of the building one recent Saturday. It little mattered. No one was coming to pray that day. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Nightlin e/iraq_jews_040125-1.html" title="http://abcnews.go.com/sections/WNT/Nightlin e/iraq_jews_040125-1.html" target="_blank"http://abcnews.go.com/section...
There is currently an upsurge of anti-Semitism all over Europe. In France, the European country with the largest Jewish community (600,000 to 1 million, or 1% to 1.5 % of a global population of 62 million), it is reaching alarming proportions. According to recent polls, anywhere from one-third to one-half of French Jews either feels threatened enough or unsure enough about the future to consider leaving the country or to advise his children to leave the country....
President Chirac, who first flatly denied anything like that was taking place, now acknowledges it as a major political concern. On November 17, 2003, he solemnly warned that "attacks against French Jews are attacks against France" and issued orders for a monthly review, at the highest government level, of anti-Semitic incidents.....READ ON HERE: http://www.frontpagemag.com/A...
THROW IN 10,000 VIRGINS AND YOU HAVE A DEAL....NOT
Top Hamas official Abdel Aziz Rantisi told Reuters Sunday that [u]Hamas had come to the conclusion that it was "difficult to liberate all our land at this stage, so we accept a phased liberation." [/u]"We accept a state in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. We propose a 10-year truce in return for [Israeli] withdrawal and the establishment of a state," he said. Rantisi said the proposal would not mean that Hamas recognized Israel or spell the end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Reuters/Ha'aretz)
Israeli security officials said some 30 wanted Palestinians were holed up in Arafat's headquarters compound, among them the upper echelon of the militant Fatah Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Israel Radio reported Tuesday. Several months ago, Palestinian officials expelled the fugitives, but they have now returned under the protection of commanders of Force 17, Arafat's personal guard. (Ha'aretz)
The current Conservative Party leader, Michael Howard, is a practicing Jew. But an ICM poll published in the Jewish Chronicle found that 47% of people were unable to agree with the statement: "A British Jew would make an equally acceptable prime minister as a member of any other faith." The poll found 20% did not think that Jews made a positive contribution to political, social, and cultural life, while 18% believed that Jews had too much influence in Britain. Neville Nagler, director general of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: "I read this survey as saying that 82% of people are content to have a Jewish prime minister or they would not mind if there was one. There have been many Jewish cabinet ministers." (Independent-UK)
The Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) has launched a special section focusing on the candidates, the issues and the trends shaping the 2004 election season. http://www.jta.org/page_election_2004.asp" title="http://www.jta.org/page_election_2004.asp" target="_blank"http://www.jta.org/page_elect...
The Democratic candidates reached out to Jewish voters in exclusive statements to JTA. They were asked to outline their policy positions on Mideast peace and their views on church-state issues. [u]Al Sharpton's campaign said he was not able to provide a statement at this time.[/u] Maybe he'll have some comments for us when he makes his inaugural speech in Washington next January. (I'll be living in Canada or Israel).
[i]Journalist sorry for ‘Jew’ gaffe [/i] www.jta.org
[u]A CNN anchorman apologized to Sen. Joseph Lieberman for asking him to answer a question “as a Jew.” [/u]“Senator, as a Jew, do you believe the construction of the security wall in Israel is the right path to peace?” Bill Hemmer asked Lieberman last Friday. The Connecticut Democrat and presidential candidate told Hemmer the question was “inappropriate” and said he would answer the question “as an American who happens to be Jewish.” Hemmer later called Lieberman’s campaign to apologize, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Israel's security establishment last week prevented a suicide bombing planned for central Tel Aviv, according to details released Monday, Army Radio said. Following his arrest in Askar in the West Bank on Sunday, Tanzim member Ahmed Ashkar, 18, said he had set out in the direction of Tel Aviv last Tuesday, accompanied by a number of other Palestinians, with an explosive device hidden in a computer monitor. When they reached the town of Bidya, near Elkana, the terrorists spotted an IDF unit, causing them to hide the device and flee. The bomb was uncovered Monday. (Ha'aretz)
The Kuwaiti newspaper Al Siyasa reported Saturday that a new peace initiative led by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah would bring an end to the conflict between Israel and the Arab states, which would declare a normalization in their ties with Israel, including the appointment of ambassadors. The Arab states will demand that Israel withdraw to its borders prior to the June 1967 war. Two million Palestinian refugees would be allowed to return to the new Palestinian state. More than two million others would be absorbed by other Arab states and compensated for the suffering they had endured. The Arab countries would open their gates to the refugees on the condition that their number won't exceed 10% of the existing population. (Ha'aretz)
[i][b]See also [/b]PA Denies Refugee Resettlement Report - Khaled Abu Toameh[/i]
A PA official told the PA daily Al-Ayyam on Sunday that a Kuwaiti newspaper report regarding a Saudi initiative that calls for the resettlement of Palestinian refugees "is concocted. It has no basis whatsoever, it is completely fabricated." The paper claimed that the refugees would be resettled in eastern Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Saudi Arabia has also denied the report. (Jerusalem Post)
A Palestinian accused of collaborating with Israel was killed in Nablus Sunday. The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a terrorist group linked to Arafat's Fatah faction, claimed responsibility for the death of Nidal al-Dabbik, 27.
Interim Electricity Minister Aiham al-Samarrai of the Iraqi Interim Governing Council (IGC) said Sunday his country was ready to sell electricity to Israel.
According to the Qatari news agency, he said "it was necessary to change the old mindset that banned dealing with them [Israel]. It is a democratic world."
A poll published Monday by the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera indicates that every third European feels Jews should stop playing "Holocaust victim" games.
The poll, by the Ipso research institute which covers nine European countries, states that 46% of those polled feel Jews are "different", and 71% call upon Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories.
Nine percent (9%) of respondents don't "like or trust Jews," and 15% would have preferred Israel not to exist.
40% of Europeans polled in Italy, France, Belgium, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, and Britain believe that Jews have "a particular relationship with money."
In all the countries polled for the Italian newspaper, anti-Semitic sentiment was positively correlated with anti-Israel sentiment.
[u]Hamas has posted on its Internet site pictures of its latest suicide bomber posing with her two young children[/u], in seeming defiance of Palestinian critics who say the Islamic militant group was wrong to send 22-year-old Reem Raiyshi on a mission that left her toddlers motherless.
The pictures, which appeared on the Hamas site over the weekend, [u]show Raiyshi in camouflage dress holding an assault rifle in one hand while cradling her 3-year-old son, Obedia, in the other arm. The boy is clutching what appears to be a mortar shell, and both mother and child wear Hamas headbands. Another picture shows her in a bedroom, gazing at Obedia and her 18-month-old daughter, Doha. [/u]
[i]Anti-Semitic attacks down except in France[/i] http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1075051426615" title="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1075051426615" target="_blank"http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...
Anti-Semitic attacks around the world dropped in 2003, with only seven counted in the United States, but the number rose sharply in France, according a report released Sunday.
In an era of anti-American and anti-Israel political correctness Australia has become the leader of a counterrevolution based on morality and common sense.
Instead of double-talk and double standards from much of the self-declared "international community," Australian leaders consistently say what they mean, and mean what they say.
When the head of Sydney University's Peace Foundation emptied the concept of peace of any content by honoring Hanan Ashrawi, the PLO's star propagandist and leader in the demonization of Israel, officials noted the absurdity of the decision and stayed far away.
The policies adopted and implemented by Prime Minister John Howard and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer – who is in Israel for an official visit – are characterized by a combination of backbone, courage and principle, which have paid off well for the Australian people. ....
[i]HIZBULLAH EXCHANGE DEAL FINALIZED[/i] http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1074931449584" title="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1074931449584" target="_blank"http://www.jpost.com/servlet/... Israel and Hizbullah wrapped up months of laborious negotiations Saturday agreeing to swap civilian Elhanan Tannenbaum and the remains of St.-Sgts. Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan, and Omar Sawayid for 435 Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners, German and Israeli sources confirmed Saturday night.
[b]THAT SEEMS LIKE A FAIR EXCHANGE. TELLING, ISN'T IT? WELL CHECK OUT THIS GLOATING:[/b]
Hizbullah’s leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in a press conference in Beirut earlier Sunday said he would release details of the prisoner exchange once the deal was completed, in the next two to three days.
“Only on the day of the completion of the deal will we know who is alive and who is dead,” he said.
Nasrallah said that the prisoner swap needed to be done in two stages in order to reach a complete solution since the final deal includes Israeli prisoners that are not being held by the Hizbullah.
“We see the prisoners as our responsibility, regardless of their nationality,” the Hizbullah leader said. The Arab prisoners who are not included in the list should know that the door is not closing on them, for this is only the first stage, he added. “We will not forget them, as we never have. Even when Israel withdrew from south Lebanon we did not forget them.”
Ron Arad’s affair will open the door to the release of more Arab and Palestinian prisoners, Nasrallah said, including the ‘harsh’ cases.
[u]“In the future we will achieve even greater results than today,” Nasrallah said. Asked if Hizbullah would carry out further kidnappings, Nasrallah smiled and said “yes”.[/u]
Referring to the prisoners who are to be released, Nasrallah said that more than 400 prisoners is a good number, considering Israel’s initial refusal to release any prisoners.
[u]“Some of Israel’s principles were broken today; they can never go back, in future negotiations.”[/u]
[i]Arafat: Time running out for 2-state solution[/i] http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1074931449587&p =1008596981749" title="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1074931449587&p =1008596981749" target="_blank"http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...
[b]Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told the Guardian that "time is running out for the two-state solution," presumably [u]a threat that the Palestinians may change their strategy to seeking equal voting rights in a "single democratic state[/u]." His prime minister Ahmed Qurei recently made the same threat more explicity.
Arafat [u]dismissed the unilateral withdrawal plan [/u]as a fruitless attempt to annex parts of the West Bank. "Will they solve their problem by withdrawing unilaterally?" he asked, saying that the way forward was for a "strong push from the international community and the rapid deployment of UN forces or observers".
Arafat blamed Israel for Mahmoud Abbas's resignation as Palestinian prime minister. "Abu Mazen failed because the Israelis didn't give him anything," Mr Arafat said, "no release of prisoners, nothing on the building of the wall, no lifting of the siege of the president."
Regarding the Geneva Accord, he said "It's not binding because they weren't official talks, but we appreciate it."
"[u]They know they can't replace me[/u]," Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told The Guardian. "We are not in Afghanistan - [u]we are proud of our democracy[/u]".[/b]
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharaf ruled out establishing diplomatic relations with Israel. But he allowed that ties could be established following the creation of a Palestinian state.
"This is an extremely touchy issue," Musharaf said at a press conference Friday. "The relationship is directly proportional to improvement in the Israeli-Palestinian issue."
Americans are overwhelmingly convinced that the Palestinians have not met the Bush administration's conditions for statehood, and a vast majority is opposed to resettling all Jews from the West Bank and Gaza Strip inside the Green Line.
The findings, from a poll commissioned by the Zionist Organization of America that was conducted in mid-January, found that 67.4% of 1,000 Americans surveyed say the Palestinians have not met the conditions outlined by President George W. Bush for statehood, including fighting terrorism and ending incitement, and 66.6% are against expelling all Jews from their homes in the territories.
The poll, commissioned by the firm McLaughlin & Associates, also found that nearly three quarters of Americans (73.6%) support halting $200 million in annual aid to the Palestinians, and just 15% support continuing the aid.
In addition, 55.7% of respondents said they agreed that the Palestinians' goal is "the eventual destruction of Israel" compared to 21.3% who say their goal is statehood alongside Israel.
Some 65.2% said the Palestinian Authority "cannot be trusted to fulfill peace agreements that it signs with Israel" vs. 18.6% who said they trust the PA.
[i]Janes: U.S. Gearing for Showdown with Syria (Jerusalem Post)[/i]
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is considering provoking a military confrontation with Syria by attacking Hizballah bases near the Syrian border in Lebanon, according to the authoritative London-based Jane's Intelligence Digest.
In an article published Friday, the journal said multi-faceted U.S. attacks, which would be conducted within the framework of the global war on terrorism, are likely to focus on Hizballah bases in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon.
"Given the Bush administration's doctrine of preemptive strikes," Janes states, "it remains entirely possible that Washington will soon launch military strikes against Lebanon, regardless of the consequences for wider regional stability."
The journal noted that the U.S. administration has long considered Damascus "a prime candidate for regime-change," along with Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, and possibly Saudi Arabia. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1074745160550&p =1006688055060" title="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1074745160550&p =1006688055060" target="_blank"http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...
Jewish war graves were desecrated in northern France. Two gravestones marked with Stars of David were damaged in the World War I cemetery in Villiers-au-bois, close to the English Channel coast, the French daily Liberation reported Thursday. More than 1,000 British soldiers of all faiths are buried at the site. www.jta.org
Actor Ashton Kutcher told Conan O’Brien he was inspired to wear hats by yarmulke-wearing Jews. On “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” early Friday morning, the star of “That ‘70s Show” and “The Butterfly Effect” said he began wearing hats after his spiritual adviser told him that Jews’ yarmulkes represent a “restriction” between positive and negative. Kutcher, who is not Jewish, said the head-covering constitutes a “filament” that is a source of good things, much like the filament of a light bulb radiates light. Asked whether the power of the head-covering has worked for him, Kutcher noted that things have been going well for him since he started wearing hats. Rabbi Mayer Waxman, an Orthodox Union official, said there are two primary reasons why Jews wear head-coverings: “In Jewish law it is respectful to cover your head,” he said, and the yarmulke is “a constant reminder that God is above us.” www.jta.org
Two leading Jewish groups gave a thumbs-down to Mel Gibson’s new movie about Jesus’ death. Officials of the Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee who saw the film at separate screenings said it echoed centuries-old charges that the Jews were behind the crucifixion.
“At every single opportunity, Gibson’s film reinforces the notion that the Jewish authorities and the Jewish mob are the ones ultimately responsible for the crucifixion,” ADL National Director Abraham Foxman said. David Elcott, director of interreligious affairs for the AJCommittee, said the movie offers an “ugly” vision of Jews and “reasserts offensive stereotypes about Jews that Catholic and Protestant leaders have overwhelmingly rejected.” www.jta.org
[b]Even the Pope appears to have retracted his initial approval of the film. [/b] http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/" title="http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/" target="_blank"http://www.opinionjournal.com...
AND ONLY 18% OF ISRAELIS THINK THE BRITISH NEED SERIOUS DENTAL WORK
About one in five Britons is moderately anti-Semitic, would be unhappy with a Jewish prime minister and considers that Jews wield too much power, according to a poll published by the Jewish Chronicle in London on Friday.
The poll also reveals that one in seven Britons believes the Holocaust has been exaggerated, while a minority – 37 percent – believe Jews have made a "positive contribution" to British society.
[b]IMAGINE IF YOU WILL THAT CANADA WERE HARBORING A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION THAT VOWED TO DESTROY THE U.S. THIS ORGANIZATION LAUNCHED ROCKETS OVER OUR NORTHERN BORDER AND KILLED AMERICANS. THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT THEN EXPRESSED APPROVAL AND SUPPORT FOR THIS MURDER. WOULD WE ATTACK CANADA? WOULD THE U.N. BE OUTRAGED?[/b]
Lebanon's President Emile Lahoud and the Lebanese government expressed their support for Hizbullah's attack on an Israeli military bulldozer along the Lebanese-Israeli border earlier this week.
[b]MEMRI has an interesting translation of the remarks of Walid Jumblatt, chairman of the (Druze) Socialist Progressive Party and member of the Lebanese parliament, praised the January 14, 2004 suicide bombing by a Palestinian woman in Gaza. [/b] http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD64904" title="http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD64904" target="_blank"http://www.memri.org/bin/open...
"Yesterday, the Palestinian mother Reem Al-Riyashi sacrificed herself, and by so doing joined the columns of the brave Jihad warriors and broke the atrocious and troublesome Arab silence, the helplessness, and the retreat that precede failure and disintegration. She offered hope in a sea of complacency, indecisiveness, and fear. It is a new Intifada. It is the Intifada of the revolutionary Palestinian woman and of the land, opposing the 'Jewification' [of Palestine], the Jewish reality, and the Arab regimes. Did it come out of despair?
"No, and again no. It is an act of belief and it is the correct path, because the fall of one Jew, whether soldier or civilian, is a great accomplishment in times of decline, subservience, and submissiveness, as a way to undermine the plan to 'Jewify' all of Palestine.
"I say 'Jew' and I apologize to the Lebanese intellectuals, or at least some of them, who welcomed the Geneva initiative, applauded it, and considered it an historical solution to the Middle East conflict. They play word games [and differentiate] between Jew and Israeli, between Right and Left, and between doves and hawks....."
A British Parliament member stirred controversy Thursday night after saying in an interview to Sky News that she understands why some people became suicide bombers.
"It is out of desperation and I guess if I was in their situation, with my children and grandchildren, and I saw no hope for the future at all, I might just think about it myself," liberal democrat Jenny Tonge said.
[b]MEMO TO THE IRA: IGNORE THIS IDIOT. HEY, MAYBE IF I WERE IN A SITUATION WHERE I SAW NO HOPE FOR THE FUTURE, I'D TRY TO MAKE THINGS [i]BETTER[/i]. PERHAPS I'D TRY TO CHANGE MY GOVERNMENT FROM AN ARAFATIAN DICTATORSHIP TO A PEACEFUL, LIBERAL DEMOCRACY. NAH. I'D JUST BLOW MYSELF UP ON A BUS FULL OF CHILDREN. UNBELIEVABLE.[/b] :shock:
[b]UPDATE: TONGE HAS LOST HER PARTY JOB: [/b]
A British lawmaker lost her party job for saying she might be a suicide bomber if she were Palestinian. .. The leader of Tonge’s Liberal Democratic Party, Charles Kennedy, announced her dismissal as the party spokeswoman on children. “There can be no justification, under any circumstances, for taking innocent lives through terrorism,” Kennedy said. “Her recent remarks about suicide bombers are completely unacceptable.” www.jta.org
[i]ICJ to let Fifty-five Arab states testify against fence[/i] http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1074745159500" title="http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag ename=JPost/JPArticle/Sho wFull&cid=1074745159500" target="_blank"http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...
Fifty-five Arab states including Afghanistan and Cameron can now testify against the security fence through the Organization of the Islamic Conference when the contentious case comes before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) at The Hague on February 23, the court ruled on Thursday.
The decision follows an ICJ ruling by the ICJ last week that the Arab League may testify.
A senior Israeli official said he wasn't surprised by the decision, calling it just one more step in the court and the United Nations anti-Israel campaign. "They will do everything they can to bash Israel," he said.
RAMAT HASHARON, Israel (Reuters) - Israel unveiled a system on Thursday aimed at stopping suicide bombers boarding buses and carrying out attacks like those that have killed hundreds of people in the past three years.
Bus bombings are some of the most deadly of all — partly because windows toughened to resist shooting attacks or stone-throwing turn the vehicle into a pressure chamber if a bomb goes off.
The new system lets the driver block anyone he thinks is suspicious by hitting a red button to close a turnstile. Electronic gates will be installed at back doors, which have been used by bombers to sneak on without the driver knowing.
A sheet of armor is also mounted on the front of the bus below the window to trap shrapnel if a bomber detonates right outside....
The system still depends on the driver being able to see through the would-be bomber’s disguise, but later variations will be built using electronic explosives detectors that trigger an alarm and let the driver shut the door.
Are Palestinian female suicide bombers active members of a Death Cult, or unwilling participants in it? Are they religious fanatics, Western-style revolutionaries, or clinically depressed human beings facing No Exit lives? Have they been indoctrinated and brainwashed by master seducers or have they been brutally forced into it?
[i]Crime Should Not Pay - Moshe Arens (Ha'aretz)[/i]
Crime should not pay - that is a maxim of all civilized societies. This is equally true for nations that have committed crimes against their neighbors. Aggression should not be rewarded, it should be punished.
The accepted rule of international behavior is that a nation committing aggression not be "rewarded" by the return of territories it lost as a result of the war it had started. Violation of this rule is nothing less than an invitation to further aggression.
Today's Germany is not demanding the return of territories it lost to Poland in the last world war. Nor is Japan demanding the return of Korea or Manchuria to Japanese control. Only the case of Israel and its Arab neighbors seems to be different.
People tend to forget that the doctrine of "territories for peace" was used by Hitler in 1939, when he declared that he would leave Europe in peace if territories in Poland that Germany lost in World War I were ceded to Germany.
Now along comes Syria, which attacked Israel three times: in 1948, 1967 and again in 1973, demanding control of territories it lost in wars of aggression and demanding that Israel "return to the 1967 borders."
Common sense and the accepted rules of international behavior should determine Israel's response to Bashar Assad's overtures. Sure, we are prepared to negotiate a peace treaty with Syria. But forget about the Golan Heights, and consider yourself lucky if you are not presented with a bill for economic reparations for the damage your aggressive behavior has caused Israel and its citizens over the past 56 years.http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/...
Democrat Tom Lantos, the only Holocaust survivor ever elected to the US Congress, will go to Libya to see if Gadhafi’s renunciation of nuclear weapons is genuine:
[i]Rep. Lantos to Check Libya's WMD Program [/i]
WASHINGTON - A senior Democratic congressman plans to go to Libya this weekend at the invitation of Moammar Gadhafi to check on the Libyan leader’s pledge to dismantle his nation’s nuclear weapons program.
Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., will meet with Libyan officials and possibly Gadhafi, whose decision to halt development of weapons of mass destruction marked a major policy shift by the North African leader.
Lantos, senior Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, will report his findings to Congress and to the Bush administration, his office said in a statement announcing the trip.
A separate congressional group headed by Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., is going to Libya, as well.
The visits signal a growing momentum to repair U.S. relations with Libya, although the administration has taken no action to remove Libya from its list of countries that support terrorism or to lift the economic sanctions the listing requires.
The latest report on [u]Palestinian Arab Violations of Roadmap[/u] contains an eye-opening statistic:
"During the first 38 weeks since the Road Map was issued, there have been a total of at least 954 Palestinian Arab terrorist attacks or attempted attacks, in which 140 people were murdered and 743 wounded." http://www.imra.org.il/story....
Jewish voters in Iowa turned to Sen. John Kerry because of his campaigns´ outreach to Jews — and because of ongoing concerns about Howard Dean. http://www.jta.org/page_view_...+takes+Iowa+Jews&intcateg oryid=5
Israel's West Bank security fence is a crime against humanity, Yossi Sarid writes in a hypothetical argument to the International Court of Justice. (Ha'aretz) http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/...
[i]Businessman indicted for bribing Sharon, Olmert[/i]
The State Attorney's Office on Wednesday issued an indictment against businessman and Likud kingpin David Appel for bribing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, his son, Gilad, and Labor Trade and Industry Minister Ehud Olmert, in the first indictment to be filed in one of two political scandals involving the Sharon family. Reflective of the legal cloud of uncertainty still hanging over the premier's head, Justice Ministry officials said Wednesday that a decision will be made in "the coming weeks" whether charges will also be filed against the premier, his son and Olmert.
According to the law, if Sharon were to be indicted -- something far from certain -- he would be obliged to suspend himself from office pending the outcome of the trial. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...
[i]Arafat's Idea of Peace Is the Elimination of Israel - Peter Worthington[/i]
"Peace," per se, is not a goal of Palestinian leaders. Nor is independence and sovereignty. Otherwise, Arafat would have accepted 95% and begun agitating for the remaining 5%. No, Arafat wants Israel eliminated. In light of dismaying efforts at encouraging peace, maybe it's time to abandon the Palestinian Authority. The PA was created in 1993 when Israel recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization and allowed it entry into Israeli-held land on the condition violence would be curbed and Israelis would steadily withdraw. The PA was a gamble by Palestinians that if they won, they'd keep everything, and if they lost, their losses would be restored. (Toronto Star) http://www.canoe.ca/Columnist...
[i]Arab League in Cairo Bars Israeli Journalists (Aljazeera-Qatar)[/i]
The Arab League headquarters in Cairo has denied entry to two Israelis who had been sent to Egypt by a Spanish television station on Monday to help conduct an interview with Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa.
Israel has had diplomatic ties with Egypt since 1979, but has none with most of the 22 members of the Arab League. http://english.aljazeera.net/...
[i]British Foreign Office Minister, Arafat to meet[/i]
British Foreign Office Minister, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean, will meet Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during a three-day visit aimed to resuscitate the road map. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/...
Sources close to Egyptian President Hussni Mubarak report that Syrian President Bashar Assad is prepared to begin negotiations with Israel from point zero and not from where they left off with former PM Ehud Barak, reports ynet. His only condition, states the source, is that Israel too arrive with no pre-conditions.
