DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
EU accused of meddling in Israeli democracy
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today JUNE 30,10 @ 10:45 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - An archly conservative group with strong links to the Israeli government has attacked the human rights community in the Jewish state, saying that it is being bankrolled by the EU in a secretive attempt to undermine democracy. Israeli diplomats are touting in Brussels the investigative work of NGO Monitor, a body which claims that a clutch of officials in the heart of the EU is plotting to delegitimise Israel by funding local human rights organisations.
Professor Gerald Steinberg, NGO Monitor president, was last week brought to Brussels by Israel's EU mission to speak to MEPs and to promote his work among journalists.
The EU gives public funds to a small group of opposition groups in an effort to manipulate the political process,he told eurodeputies.In violation of the principle that democracies do not attempt to manipulate or interfere with the internal political processes in other democracies, anonymous European officials in charge of NGO allocations seek to exploit a minority group of Israelis to impose EU-favoured policies on the wider Israeli public.I don't see it as a conspiracy,he later told reporters.But with the EU lack of transparency in general, it is very hard to sort out.He compared the sums, amounting to 68.8 million shekels (€15 million) since 2006 for Israeli civil society groups including B'Tselem, Peace Now, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Mossawa and Physicians for Human Rights Israel, whom he terms radical fringe NGOs, to the €15 million annually Israel spends internationally on its public diplomacy efforts.Mr Steinberg also named Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam as part of what he calls third-generation warfare against Israel.First came attacks from nation-states, he says; second came violence from non-state actors such as the PLO and the Intifada uprisings; and now the new form of war that is being mounted against the Jewish state comes in the form of human rights discourse that aims to delegitimise its right to exist.Across the board, these organisations cast Israel as having a poor record on human rights. They have a structural bias against Israel and they are very active in the demonisation and delegitimisation campaign of Israel,he said.
He is especially critical of B'Tselem, saying they play fast and loose with death rates and casualty counts in particular.They are primarily an anti-occupation organisation. They should campaign for Israeli human rights as much as they do for Palestinians,he said.He highlighted a November 2008 conference in Cairo that was funded by Oxfam and the EU entitled Impunity and Prosecution of Israeli War Criminals,saying plans were hatched at the event for two Belgian lawyers to later target Israeli officials with legal claims in Belgium on war crimes.Why is the EU giving money to private Israeli organisations? he said. My speculation is that it's a group of EU bureaucrats with personal ideological interests. And with the EU and these groups clinging to secrecy so stubbornly, it suggests that there's something going on under the surface.Sarit Michaeli, of B'Tselem, dismissed the accusations, saying that NGO Monitor attacks all civil society groups in Israel no matter how moderate, as soon as they criticise the current government.Everyone, all human rights NGOs are instantly delegitimisers and demonisers of Israel. There are no shades of grey [for NGO Monitor],she told EUobserver.She added that Mr Steinberg gives the impression of being an objective academic studying NGOs in the region, but is in fact a partisan of the current administration: He maintains he is independent of the Israeli government, but he has been a consultant to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has represented Israel within the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe programmes. This is not in any way someone who is independent of the Israeli government.She said that NGO Monitor fits in with the Israeli government's attempt to silence internal critics, such as NGO Breaking the Silence, an organisation of former Israeli soldiers who speak out about human rights abuses perpetrated in the occupied territories. In 2009, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs had meetings with the Spanish, Dutch and British governments in an attempt to stop them funding the group.It is tantamount to the government campaigning to discredit Israeli civil society and human rights NGOs,Ms Michaeli said. What [Steinberg] is actually doing in discrediting human rights groups in Israel, he is assisting in the creation of a system of repression of the crushing of internal dissent and actually injuring Israeli democracy - the very fragile democracy we have here.Mr Steinberg's own organisation receives most of its funding from private American Jewish foundations.The Israeli mission in Brussels for its part insists that NGO Monitor is not sponsored by the foreign ministry. We would be happy to help out with arrangements for B'Tselem if they had approached us about coming to Brussels,an Israeli diplomat said.
Israel's Barak to meet Palestinian PM Fayyad
9:15 AM JUNE 30,10
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak is to meet with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad in the coming days, the two sides said on Wednesday, for a rare high-level meeting between the two.Barak confirmed the meeting after talks with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, but did not say when it would take place.
We are due to meet in the next few days. This is not the first time we are meeting and we will talk, I assume, about the situation on the ground, about security coordination,Barak told reporters after the meeting.We will talk about economic issues, issues they want to raise and where we have things we want to raise, like confiscating goods (from settlements) or attempts to stop (Palestinian) workers from working in the settlements,he said.Barak said he would also raise the issue of the Palestinian "activities against us in the international arena.I'm sure we will also hear their complaints and demands from us, Barak said.Fayyad's office confirmed the meeting and said Palestinians planned to discuss demands that Israel lift it's blockade of the Gaza Strip and Israeli military incursions into Palestinian cities.
Barak said his talks with Mitchell, who has been shuttling between Jerusalem and Ramallah, focused on moving to direct peace talks.The aim of the talks at this stage is to succeed in moving from proximity talks to direct talks with the Palestinians on all issues, Barak said.Mitchell was due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later on Wednesday and with Palestinian leaders on Thursday.Direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been blocked since December 2008 when Israel launched a deadly offensive against Gaza to halt rocket attacks.
Israeli soldier arrested for spying for Hezbollah
JUNE 30,10
JERUSALEM (AFP) – An Israeli soldier and several civilians have been arrested for allegedly passing information to the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and smuggling drugs across the border, the army said on Wednesday.It is suspected that an IDF warrant officer and a number of Israeli civilians were in contact with Lebanese drug dealers so as to smuggle drugs over the border,a statement said.According to the investigation, it is alleged that the warrant officer passed on military-security information to Lebanese drug dealers, connected to the Hezbollah terror organisation,it said.The statement, which did not identify the soldier or give further details on the civilians or their number, said charges would be filed in the coming days.Lebanon has arrested more than 70 people since launching a major crackdown in April 2009 against suspected Israeli spy networks, including a number of high-profile arrests of security force members.Israel launched a deadly offensive against Hezbollah in 2006 and Lebanon and the Jewish state remain technically in a state of war.
Israel's east Jerusalem demolitions a peace obstacle: EU
Wed Jun 30, 6:42 am ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) – The planned demolition of Palestinian houses in east Jerusalem, as part of an archaeological project, is an obstacle to peace, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said Wednesday.Jewish settlements and the demolition of homes are illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible,Ashton warned in a statement.The European Union's High Representative stressed that the EU has never recognised Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem.If there is to be genuine peace, a way must be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of two states,Ashton added.The Palestinians reluctantly agreed to launch the indirect talks in May after months of shuttle diplomacy by US envoy George Mitchell, but said they would not move to direct talks without a complete Israeli settlement freeze.Ashton called on Israel to refrain from measures which may undermine the ongoing (indirect) proximity talks,where mediators shuttle between the two parties.These talks enjoy our full support and the parties need to engage seriously in these negotiations, the EU foreign affairs chief underlined.
Israeli police clashed on Sunday with some 200 Palestinian protesters in an Arab neighbourhood of east Jerusalem that is the planned site of the controversial archaeological park.The clashes occurred in Silwan, an Arab neighbourhood, which has been the focus of the plan by Jerusalem municipality to raze 22 Arab homes to make way for an archaeological park.Silwan is part of the so-called Holy Basin, just outside the walls of Jerusalem's famed Old City, and is believed to be the site of ancient Jerusalem during the time of the biblical kings David and Solomon.It is now a crowded Arab neighbourhood in a part of the city occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognised internationally.Israel considers the whole of Jerusalem as its eternal and indivisible capital while the Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state.
Israel weighs wider mandate for Gaza flotilla panel
Wed Jun 30, 1:47 am ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel may upgrade the mandate of its investigation of a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, by allowing it to subpoena witnesses, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.The panel headed by former Israeli Supreme Court justice Jacob Turkel launched its probe on Monday and served notice that Netanyahu and his defense chief may be called to testify about the May 31 incident in which nine Turkish citizens were killed.Israel went ahead with the inquiry after a world outcry against the raid, though it rejected a United Nations proposal for an international probe. The raid by Israeli commandos put a spotlight on Israel's blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza, which has since been eased.The Israeli statement published on Tuesday, said Turkel had filed a request to broaden the authorities of the committee (investigating) with respect to the ability to require witnesses to appear before it and give testimony under oath.There is no reason not to give positive consideration to this request, it said, adding that ministers would also weigh a separate appeal to expand the number of members on the panel, and soon ask the Israeli cabinet to render a formal decision.In addition to Turkel, the panel includes an Israeli expert on international law, a former general, and two non-voting foreign observers: David Trimble, a Northern Ireland politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Canadian jurist Ken Watkin.Due to the limited scope of the inquiry, it is seen as unlikely to pose any political threat to Netanyahu's year and a half old right-wing government.Turkel has said his panel's mandate calls for an examination of whether Israel's naval blockade and the flotilla's interception conformed with international law as well as an investigation of the actions of the convoy's organizers and participants.
The flotilla incident has soured Israel's strategic ties with Turkey, an important Islamic ally, which has since recalled its ambassador and canceled joint military exercises with the Jewish state.Israel has said its commandos, who boarded one of the Turkish-sponsored vessels to enforce the blockade it sees as necessary to prevent weapons from reaching Islamist militants, opened fire when activists assaulted them with knives and clubs.In response to Western criticism, including from its biggest ally, the United States, Israel has since eased a land blockade of Gaza where 1.5 million Palestinians live, allowing most civilian goods through, while continuing to enforce a naval embargo of the coastal territory.(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, Editing by Noah Barkin)
Obama, Saudi King discuss 2-state Mideast solution
By Alister Bull – Tue Jun 29, 10:11 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Tuesday stressed the importance of a two-state solution to Middle East peace that secured a Palestinian homeland alongside a strong Israel.Arab leaders are disappointed that Obama has not made more progress in pressuring Israel to give ground in U.S.-mediated peace talks. Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on July 6.Obama said his lunch with King Abdullah ranged over various strategic issues, including Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as the importance of moving forward in a significant and bold way in securing a Palestinian homeland that can live side by side with a secure and prosperous Israeli state.Netanyahu began indirect talks with the Palestinians in May but has imposed strict conditions for accepting their demand for statehood.In addition, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said earlier Tuesday that problems with the talks, and divisions among the Palestinians, meant no Palestinian state would be founded by 2012. This was an apparent reference to a call by the Quartet -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- for an accord by that time.Obama and King Abdullah expressed their hope that proximity talks between Israelis and Palestinians will lead to the resumption of direct talks with the aim of two states living side-by-side in peace,the White House said.King Abdullah only spoke briefly after their meeting, thanking Obama for his hospitality and praising the friendship between their two countries.We appreciate all that you personally have done to further broaden and deepen and strengthen this relationship, he said, speaking through in interpreter in the Oval Office.Analysts say the Saudis want Obama to lean on Netanyahu over stalled peace talks with the Palestinians and on freezing Jewish settlements on occupied Arab land.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the King had assured Obama of his continued support for the Arab Middle East peace initiative.This is the 2002 plan originated by King Abdullah offering Israel recognition in exchange for returning occupied territories and allowing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.Last year Obama revived a long-standing U.S. request for Saudi Arabia to make gestures toward normalizing relations with Israel as an incentive to the Jewish state to take up serious negotiations over establishing a Palestinian state.(Editing by Patricia Zengerle and Sandra Maler)
Turkey bars Israeli military planes amid deepening rift
Tue Jun 29, 12:51 pm ET
ISTANBUL (AFP) – Turkey has twice denied Israeli military planes access to its airspace in retaliation for the deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid ships, a diplomat said Tuesday, in a sign of the deepening rift between the one-time allies.There have been two flights in request and we refused both, a diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said while denying the refusals constituted a blanket ban.This does not mean that we will refuse them in the future but we are taking them one by one,he stressed, adding that civilian flights remained unaffected as they were an international obligation.The May 31 raid on the aid flotilla, which left eights Turks and a dual US-Turkish citizen dead, shattered Turkey's already strained ties with the Jewish state, with Ankara recalling its ambassador and cancelling three planned joint military exercises.The two countries had been close allies since a 1996 military cooperation deal before their ties nosedived amid sharp Turkish criticism of Israel's devastating war on Gaza begun in December 2008.Turkish officials gave no details of the flights which were refused, but Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that an Israeli military plane heading to Poland was barred from flying over Turkey immediately after the raid.Turkish media quoted the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot as saying that the military plane had been taking an army delegation of 100 officers to the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz.
Turkey's English-language Hurriyet Daily News reported on Monday that a second flight had been barred, but gave no details.Israel's Transport Minister Yisrael Katz said in a statement Monday the country had not been informed of any procedural changes for entering Turkish airspace.The refusal of the overflight permissions is a result of the indignation the Israeli assault caused in Turkey, foreign ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin told a press conference in Ankara.We have already announced that we would take some measures if our demands were not met.Turkey has said it wants Israel to apologize for the deaths and injuries, compensate the victims' families, agree to an international inquiry, release three Turkish vessels seized in the operation and lift the blockade on Gaza.Ankara has also urged Washington, a close ally of Israel, to intervene in the crisis, with Erdogan discussing the issue with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Canada ahead of a July trip by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington.A Turkish diplomatic source said on condition of anonymity that Ankara believed the United States could persuade Israel to meet the Turkish demands for an apology, compensation and return of the ships.But it is unlikely that there will be any progress on the demand for an international inquiry, he said.Israel has set up its own commission to investigate the raid, but Turkey has dismissed it as insufficient, insisting on a UN-led international probe.The activists abroad the aid ships say Israeli soldiers opened fire as soon as they landed. Israel denies the charge and argues that troops used force only after coming under attack from the activists.Forensic reports made available to AFP Tuesday by lawyers' representing the victims' families showed that all but two of the nine victims were shot more than once, and five died from bullet wounds to the head.
The nine volunteers were shot a total of 31 times, according to the documents. The findings make it clear the Israeli forces shot to kill the activists and not to overpower them,one of the lawyers, Yasin Divrak, told AFP. The youngest victim, a 19-year-old who held both Turkish and US citizenship, was shot five times, including twice in the head, his autopsy report said.Another victim was shot six times, including once in the abdomen, while a third was hit by five bullets, among them a fatal one in the chest, according to the documents.
Egypt bars Jordanian activists from reaching Gaza
Tue Jun 29, 12:28 pm ET
AMMAN (AFP) – A group of Jordanian trade unionists who tired to get into the blockaded Gaza Strip returned home on Tuesday after Egypt denied them entry through the Rafah crossing.We decided to go back to Jordan after Egypt refused to give us permission,Ahmad Armuti, head of the delegation and president of the trade unions' council, told AFP.We contacted Egyptian authorities several times but we failed to get the reasons behind their decision.Earlier Alaa Borqan, who is in charge of public relations at the Islamist-dominated trade unions, said the 12-member group including journalists left for Rafah on Saturday.They were carrying nothing but solidarity for the people of Gaza,he said, adding the unions had sent a letter to Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif urging him to allow the delegation into the enclave.Borqan said Egypt granted entry to a Lebanese delegation on Monday and we have information that a Malaysian group will enter the Strip today.However, the Egyptian authorities justified their refusal to allow the group into Gaza by the fact that it had failed to give prior notice of its arrival.The entry of the delegations and of aid is not permitted without advance coordination with the Egyptian authorities, a security official told AFP.The security services were surprised to see the (Jordanian) delegation arrive at the crossing without prior agreement,he added, confirming that a Lebanese group had entered Gaza after receiving the green light from Egypt.Jordan's Islamic Action Front, the main opposition party, urged Egypt in an online statement to help all those who want to ease the sufferings of Palestinians in Gaza.
The impoverished Palestinian territory of 1.5 million people has been under a crippling blockade since militants captured an Israeli soldier in a deadly cross-border raid in 2006.Israel tightened its grip after the Islamist Hamas movement seized control of Gaza the following year.The Rafah border is Gaza's only crossing that bypasses Israel.Egypt, which is building an underground steel barrier to stop the smuggling of goods and weapons into Gaza via a network of underground tunnels, had kept Rafah largely closed, opening it for humanitarian cases on two days a week.
But earlier this month Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered the opening of the border after a deadly Israeli raid on a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Israel hopes Russian leader will visit this year
Tue Jun 29, 6:31 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday after a meeting with Moscow's top diplomat that he hoped Russia's president or prime minister would visit the Jewish state in 2010.I hope that by the end of the year there will be a visit by President Dmitry Medvedev or Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Lieberman said at a press conference with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.Lieberman, an immigrant from Moldova whose mother tongue is Russian, said they had discussed the two countries' close bilateral relations and the situation in the Middle East,without providing further details.Lavrov said he hoped for the renewal of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians following the launch of indirect US-brokered negotiations in May.He also welcomed Israel's recent decision to allow more goods into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip while calling for the complete lifting of its four-year blockade of the impoverished territory.Meanwhile, Lavrov requested an explanation from Washington regarding the arrest of an alleged spy ring, which came at a time of rapidly warming ties between the two countries.They did not explain what the matter is about. I hope they will, he said, referring to US authorities.The moment when it was done has been chosen with a special finesse,he said with apparent sarcasm.Medvedev and US leader Barack Obama met in Washington earlier this month to underscore warming ties between the two Cold War adversaries.
But on Monday US authorities said they had cracked open a massive alleged spy ring, announcing the arrest of 10 deep-cover suspects after unravelling a mission secretly monitored by the FBI for more than a decade.
Palestinians seek new partner: American Jews By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer - Tue Jun 29, 3:18 am ET
JERUSALEM – The Palestinians have long feared the Jewish lobby in Washington. Now, they are embracing it.During a swing through the U.S. capital this month, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was the guest of honor at a dinner with a small but influential gathering of more than 30 Jewish American leaders and political heavyweights. In what participants on both sides have described as a highly successful meeting, Abbas patiently fielded questions for more than 90 minutes, discussing such touchy topics as Mideast peace talks, anti-Israeli incitement in the Palestinian media, violence and terrorism and the Holocaust.It was a dramatic departure for the Palestinians, who have traditionally viewed the American Jewish leadership with a mixture of awe, animosity and envy for its political skills and influence over what is seen as a pro-Israel U.S. policy.Palestinian officials say it was the first time Abbas has met with such a large and diverse group of Jewish leaders, and reflected a realization that courting American Jews could benefit the Palestinians.I think it's a mistake to ignore these institutions and communities by saying that they are against us, and that we should not talk to them, Abbas told The Associated Press.No, we should sit with them, and we should try to convince them by talking to them.With indirect U.S.-brokered peace talks just getting under way, Abbas said he also felt it was important to explain his positions. Specifically, he defended his refusal to hold direct negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying more progress is needed before face-to-face talks can begin.This week, Abbas said in the West Bank that he has heard nothing from Israel to encourage him to move to direct talks — highlighting his decision to find other ways to influence events as efforts to engage Israel falter.
According to a transcript of the June 9 dinner, Abbas made a number of conciliatory statements. He repeatedly condemned violence, recognized the Jewish connection to the Holy Land and informed the audience that he had sent representatives to attend Holocaust commemoration ceremonies in Russia and Poland.I want to tell everyone that these people suffered, and we are suffering. Now we want peace between each other, Abbas was quoted as saying. He rejected Holocaust denial, a common sentiment in Palestinian society.Abbas also acknowledged Israeli security concerns, saying he would allow foreign troops into a future Palestine to help maintain the peace. He vowed to remove incitement from Palestinian airwaves and textbooks.The event took place at the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, and the audience included leading personalities that spanned the spectrum of Jewish opinion.Among them were Elliot Abrams, a veteran of the Reagan and second Bush White Houses; Sandy Berger, the National Security Adviser to Bill Clinton; publisher Mortimer Zuckerman; and leaders from major Jewish groups like the powerful AIPAC lobby, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Anti-Defamation League.
The center's president, former Democratic congressman Robert Wexler, said that Abbas' comments — particularly his condemnations of violence — went a long way with the audience.The unequivocal rejection of violence was both a powerful statement and made a significant impression,Wexler said.Abbas' statements on other issues, such as anti-Israel incitement in Palestinian media and textbooks, were less persuasive with some participants, Wexler said. In vowing to fight incitement, Abbas suggested a dormant U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian committee resume work on the topic.Nonetheless, Wexler said Abbas' attempt to reach out to the Jewish community appeared to be widely appreciated.He said Abbas insisted the session be conducted on the record, and after a brief opening statement in Arabic, conducted the session in English to better connect with the audience. Abbas rarely speaks English in public.Participants said Abbas was so engrossed in the conversation that he didn't even eat his dinner. When flying home two days later, he still spoke warmly about the event. The point I think leaders took was that this was a unique opportunity to create a true, candid dialogue between parties, meaning the Palestinian leadership and the American Jewish community, where that dialogue in the past has been lacking,Wexler said.
Not all guests were swayed.
Abrams, a top Bush adviser on Mideast affairs, acknowledged that Abbas' condemnations of violence make him an appealing person.But he said that most of Abbas' comments lacked substance, and that he likely did little to change people's minds.For those in the Peace Now camp, Abrams said, referring to a dovish Israeli activist group,it showed how dedicated to peace he is. He seems to realize fully that the use of violence will only harm Palestinians. But for those who are more skeptical about his ability to deliver, his evasiveness suggested that he doesn't want to be pinned down on substantive issues.Abrams acknowledged that the Palestinians' meeting with Jewish leaders is an intelligent thing to do, but added,if they think it is a substitute for meeting with the government of Israel, they are making a huge mistake.Israeli government officials in Jerusalem and the Israeli Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the meeting. Abbas said he hoped to continue the dialogue by inviting the group to visit the West Bank. He also hopes to hold a similar meeting with Jewish leaders in France in the near future. I talked to them in the same language that I speak on the Palestinian street. I found them accepting what I was saying, and this is good,Abbas said.
Israel arrests Arabs wanted for Qaeda-inspired attacks
Mon Jun 28, 2:06 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel has arrested seven Arab citizens on suspicion of planning attacks against Jews and Christians that were inspired by the speeches of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, officials said Monday.According to documents released by the district court in Nazareth, northern Israel, three of the men were charged with the murder of a 54-year-old Jewish taxi driver and the attempted killing of another man.
The suspects were arrested two months ago, but the news was blocked by a court gag order which was lifted on Monday.Police said six of the men were from Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel, and the seventh from a nearby village.Regional police chief Aviv Elgrisi said the group was uncovered after two of its members went to east Africa, hoping to join Islamic militants there.Two Nazareth residents travelled to Kenya with the intention of reaching Somalia and fighting alongside the Muslims against the infidel and the American enemy,Elgrisi told Israeli public radio.These two aroused the suspicions of the security services in Kenya who sent them back here and informed our security service.Elgrisi said Israel's Shin Bet internal security service arrested the men upon arrival and interrogated them, which led to the arrest of the five other suspects. Their intention was to harm any non-Muslim,he said.
Court documents charge Ahmed Ali Ahmed, 21, with the fatal shooting last year of cab driver Yefim Weinstein and name Ghaleb Ghanaim, 25, and Haider Zaidana, 21, as accessories, accused of helping him flee the scene.The charge sheet also accuses members of the group of kidnapping and wounding a man from the Jewish suburb of Upper Nazareth and attempting to murder a Christian who they believed had cursed the prophet Mohammed.They also allegedly torched a Nazareth business owned by a Christian Arab.The accused shouted Long live Osama bin Laden and God is greatest as they were led into the courtroom, according to the radio.Members of the group were arraigned on different charges, including murder, kidnapping, assault and weapons offences. They were then remanded in custody for six weeks, with no trial date set.
Israel's Arab citizens, who make up nearly 20 percent of the population, are Palestinians who remained in the Jewish state following the 1948 war that attended its creation and their descendants.
Rival Hamas, UN summer camps compete over children By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jun 28, 1:06 pm ET
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Masked men trashed a U.N. summer camp Monday, tying up guards and slashing tents and an inflatable pool in the second such attack blamed on suspected extremists in just over a month — a sign of how, in Gaza, youth camp is not just about crafts and volleyball.Rival day camps by the United Nations and Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers compete for the hearts of the next generation, the roughly 700,000 children under 15 who make up nearly half of the Gaza Strip's population.Hamas camps teach an anti-Israeli doctrine and military-style marching, along with horseback riding, swimming and Islam. U.N. camps try to instill hope in a better future, a message wrapped in fun and games.The U.N. says it hopes to help shield Gaza's children against the lure of militancy, a task that's getting harder in the impoverished territory. Educators say today's children are more vulnerable than the previous generation, having witnessed war with Israel last year, internal Palestinian fighting and the violent Hamas takeover in 2007, followed by an Israeli-Egyptian blockade that has virtually cut Gaza off from the outside world.Time is against us, warned local U.N. chief John Ging.We are losing an entire generation.In Monday's vandalism, two dozen masked men broke into a U.N. camp before dawn, while children were not present. They tied up four guards, then slashed and burned tents, toys and a plastic swimming pool.
Hamas police condemned the attack and there was no claim of responsibility.However, Islamic extremists, including a Hamas legislator, have accused the U.N. in the past of corrupting Gaza's youth, objecting to camp activities such as folklore dancing. A number of Islamic groups more militant than Hamas have carried out violence in the territory in the past few years.Hamas is also becoming more assertive in imposing its strict version of Islam on daily life in Gaza. It has ordered male coiffeurs out of women's salons, and teenage girls are under intense pressure from teachers to wear headscarves and robes in government schools.For now, Hamas has largely avoided confrontation with Ging's U.N. Relief and Works Agency, well aware of how vital it is to the lives of impoverished Gazans. UNWRA runs schools, clinics and food centers for two-thirds of Gaza's 1.5 million people.The U.N. agency stays clear of Hamas, internationally shunned as a terror group.Hamas says some 100,000 youngsters have signed up for its camps, compared to about 250,000 registered for the U.N. program. Both types of camps are free, and are arranged by age groups.The U.N. camps run for two weeks each, for schoolchildren through ninth grade. Hamas camps offer 10 days of activities for children and teens from first grade through high school. There are also smaller, private camps — one nonpolitical day camp where students try to memorize sections of the Quran, for instance, has drawn about 20,000 children.While Hamas and the U.N. may use the opportunity to get their ideas across, the motive for many Gaza parents and youngsters in turning to the camps is the same as that of families around the world: The camps break up an otherwise tedious summer.The problem is particularly acute in Gaza, which offers few diversions. Families tend to be large, many homes are crowded and kids are often sent into the streets by stressed parents. Frequent power cuts make idle days more miserable.Mahmoud Migdad, a 15-year-old from the Shati refugee camp, says he often gets yelled at by neighbors for playing football in the streets and gets kicked out of the house by his older sisters when they want to clean. He says that's why he's not only joined a Hamas camp, but is also trying to sign up for the U.N. program.
On a recent afternoon, at one of the Hamas youth camps near Shati, dozens of elementary school students took turns riding horses, swimming in the Mediterranean, sailing in a fishing boat and learning the choreography of Muslim prayer.After the children recited Quranic verses, a camp supervisor gave a brief lecture. We have two aims in our camps, our prisoners and al-Aqsa,said the man, referring to Islam's third holiest shrine, in Israeli-ruled east Jerusalem, and the more than 6,300 Palestinians held by Israel.First we must free the prisoners, and then also al-Aqsa.
Where is al-Aqsa? he asked.In the hands of the occupation,the children responded. Who is the occupation? he asked.Israel,they responded.Where are the prisoners?" he asked.In the hands of the occupation,they said.Each camp is dedicated to a Hamas prisoner, and a large banner with the photo and name of this camp's patron, Mahmoud Nimr Shaheen, was draped over the entrance. Shaheen, an aide to a Hamas militant leader, was released this month after serving 18 years.Asked what he knows about the camp's patron, 12-year-old Tareq al-Ghoul said,He was in prison because he fought for us.After the lecture, the boys lined up outside the tent and practiced marching in formation, to the singsong of a drill sergeant, shaking their fists to shouts of Allah.Ahmed Yousef, a representative of Hamas' more pragmatic wing, denied the children were being indoctrinated. He said the emphasis on religion meets the demands of a conservative society. However, Hamad al-Raqoub, a Hamas official involved in the camps, said their aim is also to forge a generation that will lead the liberation of Palestine from the Israeli occupation regime.
At a U.N. camp, the atmosphere was more laid back.Three boys rehearsed a skit with an anti-smoking message. Others splashed in a water tank. Crafts projects were on display. We need to be hopeful to bring about real change,read one of the cheerful signs posted on tent walls. Life skills are part of the program, and the day's lesson was about human rights, a topic also taught in U.N. schools. The boys quickly shouted out the answers to the instructor in their circle. The right to be healthy, said one. The right to play, added another.One eager participant, Abdel-Hamid Ashi, said he loves going to camp, like most of the boys in his neighborhood. Most don't care which camp they attend, added the 13-year-old. They just want to have fun.
Associated Press writer Ibrahim Barzak contributed to this report from Gaza City.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
NO PALESTINIAN STATE BY 2012
REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE (THE EU DICTATORS TEMPLE)
ISAIAH 30:10-15
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
DANIEL 9:27
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
REBUILT 4TH TEMPLE (THE TRUE MESSIAHS TEMPLE)
ZECHARIAH 6:12-13
12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
ISAIAH 60:9-10
9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.
ISAIAH 2:1-5
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
MARK 11:9-10,15-17
9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
EZEKIEL 40 TO 48 IS THIS 4TH TEMPLE TO BIG FOR THE MOUNT I BELIEVE TO BE BUILT 25 MILES FROM JERUSALEM.
New Zealand Jewry Threatens PM with Law Suit on Shechita Ban
by Hillel Fendel JUNE 29,10
Six Jewish representatives of New Zealand’s Jewish community met with Prime Minister John Key last week to discuss the country's recent ban of shechita [ritual Jewish slaughter of cattle, lambs and chickens]. They told him that if the ban was not repealed, they would have no choice but to take the matter to court – where many in the Jewish community feel they could win.The move leaves New Zealand’s Jews without kosher chicken, as the country forbids chicken imports. Kosher beef is permitted for import from Australia.Jewish sources say the ban could be attacked on grounds that it violates the legally-accepted principles of freedom of religion and discrimination, as well as New Zealand’s Animal Welfare Act, which states that animals’ rights do not override religious rights.The ban on shechita was announced a month ago, when Agriculture Minister David Carter annulled all exemptions to the country’s new commercial slaughter code, which requires stunning prior to slaughter. Carter cited concerns for animals’ suffering – and even said that though we may have upset a relatively small religious minority… frankly I don’t think any animals should suffer in the slaughter process. He later apologized.New Zealand Jewish Council chairman Geoff Levy said in a statement that legal action may be the only course open to us.New Zealand’s Jewish community numbers less than a fifth of a percent of the total population - 7,000 out of 4.1 million. JewishJournal.com reports that several thousand chickens were shechita-slaughtered in New Zealand each year. The ban also affects a small number of cattle and lambs, less than 100 each year.
The website also quoted Rabbi Moshe Gutnick of Australia, who supervises kosher certification of products in New Zealand, calling the ban outrageous. He said, Hunting is still permitted for deer and ducks, and that is certainly not humane. The government, using flawed science, institutes a new code and the only people affected by this are the Jews. People are wondering what their real motivation is.The chairman of Shechitah UK, Henry Grunwald, wrote in the Jewish Chronicle that the ban succumbs to the popular myth that shechitah is painful, ignoring ample evidence to the contrary.Just this month, the European Parliament voted to back the proposal to require special labeling on meat produced by Jewish ritual slaughter. According to the new resolution, which must still be approved by the European Union Commission, the meat would be marked as meat from slaughter without stunning – rendering it less attractive on the general market and driving up prices.(IsraelNationalNews.com)
Destruction of First Temple Commemorated with Day of Fasting
by Hillel Fendel JUNE 29,10
The Three Weeks of gradually-increasing mourning over the destruction of the Holy Temples and Israel's exile begins today (Tuesday) with the fast of the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz. This is the day on which Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces breached the walls of Jerusalem in 422 BCE, after 18 months of siege, on their way to destroying the First Temple.The Three Weeks end on the 9th of Av - Tisha B'Av - the date on which both the First and Second Temples were destroyed, roughly 2,500 and 2,000 years ago respectively.The 17th of Tammuz marks other calamities in Jewish history as well. It is the date on which Moses, having descended from Mount Sinai for the first time, saw the people sinning with the Golden Calf and broke the first set of Ten Commandments. In addition, the priests of the First Temple era were forced on this day, a year before the Temple's destruction, to stop offering the daily sacrifice due to the shortage of sheep.The Talmud also teaches that on this date some decades earlier, the evil King Menasheh had an idol placed in the Temple's Holy Sanctuary. Later, during Second Temple times, a Roman general placed an idol in the same place and publicly burned the Torah.
The fast ends at 8:11 PM in the Jerusalem area; for other cities, click here .Note that in may cities an hour must be added for Daylight Savings Time. For Hebrew, click here. Mourning customs such as no weddings, parties, or haircuts continue until the morning after Tisha B'Av; there are slight differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardic customs.Maimonides (Rambam) explains that the purpose of days of fasting and mourning is not to remember the hardships suffered by our ancestors, in the same way that we remember days of joy, but rather to awaken [our] hearts and clear the paths to repentance. This reminds us of our evil deeds and those of our forefathers [that] brought these calamities upon them and us. Recalling these matters causes us to better ourselves, as it is written, They shall confess their transgressions and the transgressions of their fathers. Like other fast days, the morning prayers on the 17th of Tammuz include special selichot prayers, mourning our losses and asking for forgiveness. Excerpts from the selichot of the 17th of Tammuz:
We rebelled against Him Who dwells in heaven, therefore we were scattered in all directions... We acted rebelliously before Thee with slandering tongues, therefore our tongues were made to learn to utter lamentation... The tempest-tossed afflicted people were utterly broken up and dispersed; the dry land became a boat wrecked for lack of a captain; she received [punishment] for her sins with principal and double interest, with mourning and moaning... Their adversaries assailed them on that day and... drove the nation like a chased gazelle, and there was none that sought to protect it... Turn to us, O Thou that dwellest on high, gather our dispersed from the four corners of the earth. Say to Zion, Arise! And we shall arise. Convert the 17th of Tammuz into a day of salvation and comfort.(translation by Rev. Abraham Isaac Jacob Rosenfeld)(IsraelNationalNews.com)
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
TAU Works on Computer Chip Implant to Treat the Brain
by Hana Levi Julian June 29,10
A team of scientists at Tel Aviv University is working on a project that involves implanting a computer chip into the brain in order to treat conditions such as depression and Parkinson's disease.Professor Matti Mintz, a member of the Psychobiology Research Unit at the Department of Psychology, is part of a European consortium that is working on issues relating to neurophysiology, human behavior and mental health. TAU colleague Professor Yossi Shaham-Diamond is also involved, working on the issue of adding sensors while miniaturizing the size of the deep brain electrodes used to deliver the stimulation. Two other TAU scientists, Professor Hagit Messer-Yaron and Dr. Mira Kalish, are also involved in the project as well as partners from Spain, Austria and England.The Rehabilitation Nano Chip (ReNaChip), as it is called, is designed to help doctors connect computer software to the brain. If it is successful, the chip will deliver deep brain stimulation precisely to the areas where it is needed. It is hooked up to tiny electrodes implanted directly into the brain – only the electrodes are implanted. The chip itself can be placed just under the skin, like pacemakers for the heart, explained Mintz,ensuring the brain is stimulated only when it needs to be.However, scientists are working towards a chip that can be made small enough to be etched on to the electrodes themselves, rather than have to be hooked up.It is hoped that such technology may someday be used to treat neurologically-based conditions such as depression, Parkinson's disease and possibly diseases involving damage to specific areas of the brain. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
ISRAELS INHERITED LAND IN THE FUTURE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWmPqY8TE0&feature=player_embedded
DEUTERONOMY 7:7-8
7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people;(ISRAEL) for ye were the fewest of all people:
8 But because the LORD loved you,(ISRAEL) and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
ZECHARIAH 2:8
8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
JEREMIAH 3:14
14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you:(ISRAEL) and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
ISAIAH 42:1
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect,(ISRAEL) in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
ISAIAH 45:4
4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
ISAIAH 65:9,22
9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect (ISRAEL) shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect (ISRAEL) shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
ISAIAH 56:5
5 Even unto them (ISRAELIS) will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name,(ISRAEL) that shall not be cut off.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
Israeli FM: No Palestinian state by 2012 By Amy Teibel, Associated Press Writer – JUNE 29,10
JERUSALEM – Israel's hard-line foreign minister said Tuesday that there was no chance a Palestinian state would be established by 2012 — a message that threatened to cloud the latest visit by Washington's Mideast envoy.The comments by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman drew swift Palestinian condemnations and could put Israel at odds with the international community, which has set a 2012 target for brokering a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.As an optimist, I see no chance that a Palestinian state will be established by 2012, Lieberman said at a news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. We can express interest, we can dream, but in reality, we are still far from reaching understandings and agreements on establishing an independent state by 2012.Russia, along with the U.S., European Union and United Nations, make up the Quartet of Mideast negotiators — an international group that has spent nearly a decade trying to forge a peace agreement.
White House envoy George Mitchell was set to arrive in Israel later Tuesday to mediate a fifth round of indirect talks between the sides. Mitchell is trying to prod Israel and the Palestinians into direct negotiations.It wasn't clear whether Lieberman was expressing his own opinion or government policy. A spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to comment.Lieberman is a contentious figure because of his support for redrawing Israel's borders to push areas with heavy concentrations of Arabs out of Israel and into Palestinian jurisdiction. He also launched a failed effort in parliament to force Israeli Arabs to take a loyalty oath or lose their citizenship.A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' West Bank government accused Lieberman of defying international efforts to wrap up a deal.
Lieberman is issuing a challenge to the international community, which is in agreement on the two-year ceiling, Ghassan Khatib said.Talks between Palestinians and Israelis resumed in May after a 17-month breakdown. The Palestinians have insisted on U.S. mediation, saying they are frustrated by Israel's refusal to declare a halt to all construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, lands they claim for a future state along with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.The aim is to shift gears to direct talks in late September. But much will depend on whether Israel agrees to extend a construction slowdown it has declared in the West Bank and a de facto moratorium in effect in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want for a future capital.Abbas said Monday that Israel has not offered enough to make it worthwhile to move to direct talks.Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said in response that direct talks are the only way to solve the conflict.At their news conference, Lieberman and Lavrov expressed very different positions on Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. Israel and many Western countries boycott Hamas as a terror organization, while Russia has contacts with the group.Lavrov recently met with one of the group's Damascus-based leaders. In Jerusalem on Tuesday, he noted that Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006, and said Russia uses its meetings with Hamas to try to persuade the group to become more moderate.Lieberman said Israel was unhappy about this Russian policy.It is not a secret that we don't agree about this, he said.The approach to Hamas is definitely one of the points on which we do not agree.Associated Press writer Diaa Hadid contributed to this report from Jerusalem.
ISAIAH 30:10-15
10 Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11 Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.
12 Wherefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel, Because ye despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay thereon:
13 Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.
14 And he shall break it as the breaking of the potters’ vessel that is broken in pieces; he shall not spare: so that there shall not be found in the bursting of it a sherd to take fire from the hearth, or to take water withal out of the pit.
15 For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
16 But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
DANIEL 9:27
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
REBUILT 4TH TEMPLE (THE TRUE MESSIAHS TEMPLE)
ZECHARIAH 6:12-13
12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:
13 Even he shall build the temple of the LORD; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.
ISAIAH 60:9-10
9 Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the LORD thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
10 And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee: for in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favour have I had mercy on thee.
ISAIAH 2:1-5
1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
MARK 11:9-10,15-17
9 And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord:
10 Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest.
15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;
16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.
17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
EZEKIEL 40 TO 48 IS THIS 4TH TEMPLE TO BIG FOR THE MOUNT I BELIEVE TO BE BUILT 25 MILES FROM JERUSALEM.
New Zealand Jewry Threatens PM with Law Suit on Shechita Ban
by Hillel Fendel JUNE 29,10
Six Jewish representatives of New Zealand’s Jewish community met with Prime Minister John Key last week to discuss the country's recent ban of shechita [ritual Jewish slaughter of cattle, lambs and chickens]. They told him that if the ban was not repealed, they would have no choice but to take the matter to court – where many in the Jewish community feel they could win.The move leaves New Zealand’s Jews without kosher chicken, as the country forbids chicken imports. Kosher beef is permitted for import from Australia.Jewish sources say the ban could be attacked on grounds that it violates the legally-accepted principles of freedom of religion and discrimination, as well as New Zealand’s Animal Welfare Act, which states that animals’ rights do not override religious rights.The ban on shechita was announced a month ago, when Agriculture Minister David Carter annulled all exemptions to the country’s new commercial slaughter code, which requires stunning prior to slaughter. Carter cited concerns for animals’ suffering – and even said that though we may have upset a relatively small religious minority… frankly I don’t think any animals should suffer in the slaughter process. He later apologized.New Zealand Jewish Council chairman Geoff Levy said in a statement that legal action may be the only course open to us.New Zealand’s Jewish community numbers less than a fifth of a percent of the total population - 7,000 out of 4.1 million. JewishJournal.com reports that several thousand chickens were shechita-slaughtered in New Zealand each year. The ban also affects a small number of cattle and lambs, less than 100 each year.
The website also quoted Rabbi Moshe Gutnick of Australia, who supervises kosher certification of products in New Zealand, calling the ban outrageous. He said, Hunting is still permitted for deer and ducks, and that is certainly not humane. The government, using flawed science, institutes a new code and the only people affected by this are the Jews. People are wondering what their real motivation is.The chairman of Shechitah UK, Henry Grunwald, wrote in the Jewish Chronicle that the ban succumbs to the popular myth that shechitah is painful, ignoring ample evidence to the contrary.Just this month, the European Parliament voted to back the proposal to require special labeling on meat produced by Jewish ritual slaughter. According to the new resolution, which must still be approved by the European Union Commission, the meat would be marked as meat from slaughter without stunning – rendering it less attractive on the general market and driving up prices.(IsraelNationalNews.com)
Destruction of First Temple Commemorated with Day of Fasting
by Hillel Fendel JUNE 29,10
The Three Weeks of gradually-increasing mourning over the destruction of the Holy Temples and Israel's exile begins today (Tuesday) with the fast of the 17th of the Hebrew month of Tammuz. This is the day on which Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces breached the walls of Jerusalem in 422 BCE, after 18 months of siege, on their way to destroying the First Temple.The Three Weeks end on the 9th of Av - Tisha B'Av - the date on which both the First and Second Temples were destroyed, roughly 2,500 and 2,000 years ago respectively.The 17th of Tammuz marks other calamities in Jewish history as well. It is the date on which Moses, having descended from Mount Sinai for the first time, saw the people sinning with the Golden Calf and broke the first set of Ten Commandments. In addition, the priests of the First Temple era were forced on this day, a year before the Temple's destruction, to stop offering the daily sacrifice due to the shortage of sheep.The Talmud also teaches that on this date some decades earlier, the evil King Menasheh had an idol placed in the Temple's Holy Sanctuary. Later, during Second Temple times, a Roman general placed an idol in the same place and publicly burned the Torah.
The fast ends at 8:11 PM in the Jerusalem area; for other cities, click here .Note that in may cities an hour must be added for Daylight Savings Time. For Hebrew, click here. Mourning customs such as no weddings, parties, or haircuts continue until the morning after Tisha B'Av; there are slight differences between Ashkenazi and Sephardic customs.Maimonides (Rambam) explains that the purpose of days of fasting and mourning is not to remember the hardships suffered by our ancestors, in the same way that we remember days of joy, but rather to awaken [our] hearts and clear the paths to repentance. This reminds us of our evil deeds and those of our forefathers [that] brought these calamities upon them and us. Recalling these matters causes us to better ourselves, as it is written, They shall confess their transgressions and the transgressions of their fathers. Like other fast days, the morning prayers on the 17th of Tammuz include special selichot prayers, mourning our losses and asking for forgiveness. Excerpts from the selichot of the 17th of Tammuz:
We rebelled against Him Who dwells in heaven, therefore we were scattered in all directions... We acted rebelliously before Thee with slandering tongues, therefore our tongues were made to learn to utter lamentation... The tempest-tossed afflicted people were utterly broken up and dispersed; the dry land became a boat wrecked for lack of a captain; she received [punishment] for her sins with principal and double interest, with mourning and moaning... Their adversaries assailed them on that day and... drove the nation like a chased gazelle, and there was none that sought to protect it... Turn to us, O Thou that dwellest on high, gather our dispersed from the four corners of the earth. Say to Zion, Arise! And we shall arise. Convert the 17th of Tammuz into a day of salvation and comfort.(translation by Rev. Abraham Isaac Jacob Rosenfeld)(IsraelNationalNews.com)
REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all,(WORLD SOCIALISM) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM
TAU Works on Computer Chip Implant to Treat the Brain
by Hana Levi Julian June 29,10
A team of scientists at Tel Aviv University is working on a project that involves implanting a computer chip into the brain in order to treat conditions such as depression and Parkinson's disease.Professor Matti Mintz, a member of the Psychobiology Research Unit at the Department of Psychology, is part of a European consortium that is working on issues relating to neurophysiology, human behavior and mental health. TAU colleague Professor Yossi Shaham-Diamond is also involved, working on the issue of adding sensors while miniaturizing the size of the deep brain electrodes used to deliver the stimulation. Two other TAU scientists, Professor Hagit Messer-Yaron and Dr. Mira Kalish, are also involved in the project as well as partners from Spain, Austria and England.The Rehabilitation Nano Chip (ReNaChip), as it is called, is designed to help doctors connect computer software to the brain. If it is successful, the chip will deliver deep brain stimulation precisely to the areas where it is needed. It is hooked up to tiny electrodes implanted directly into the brain – only the electrodes are implanted. The chip itself can be placed just under the skin, like pacemakers for the heart, explained Mintz,ensuring the brain is stimulated only when it needs to be.However, scientists are working towards a chip that can be made small enough to be etched on to the electrodes themselves, rather than have to be hooked up.It is hoped that such technology may someday be used to treat neurologically-based conditions such as depression, Parkinson's disease and possibly diseases involving damage to specific areas of the brain. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
ISRAELS INHERITED LAND IN THE FUTURE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWmPqY8TE0&feature=player_embedded
DEUTERONOMY 7:7-8
7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people;(ISRAEL) for ye were the fewest of all people:
8 But because the LORD loved you,(ISRAEL) and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
ZECHARIAH 2:8
8 For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
JEREMIAH 3:14
14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you:(ISRAEL) and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion:
ISAIAH 42:1
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect,(ISRAEL) in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
ISAIAH 45:4
4 For Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
ISAIAH 65:9,22
9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect (ISRAEL) shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect (ISRAEL) shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
ISAIAH 56:5
5 Even unto them (ISRAELIS) will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name,(ISRAEL) that shall not be cut off.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
Israeli FM: No Palestinian state by 2012 By Amy Teibel, Associated Press Writer – JUNE 29,10
JERUSALEM – Israel's hard-line foreign minister said Tuesday that there was no chance a Palestinian state would be established by 2012 — a message that threatened to cloud the latest visit by Washington's Mideast envoy.The comments by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman drew swift Palestinian condemnations and could put Israel at odds with the international community, which has set a 2012 target for brokering a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.As an optimist, I see no chance that a Palestinian state will be established by 2012, Lieberman said at a news conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. We can express interest, we can dream, but in reality, we are still far from reaching understandings and agreements on establishing an independent state by 2012.Russia, along with the U.S., European Union and United Nations, make up the Quartet of Mideast negotiators — an international group that has spent nearly a decade trying to forge a peace agreement.
White House envoy George Mitchell was set to arrive in Israel later Tuesday to mediate a fifth round of indirect talks between the sides. Mitchell is trying to prod Israel and the Palestinians into direct negotiations.It wasn't clear whether Lieberman was expressing his own opinion or government policy. A spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to comment.Lieberman is a contentious figure because of his support for redrawing Israel's borders to push areas with heavy concentrations of Arabs out of Israel and into Palestinian jurisdiction. He also launched a failed effort in parliament to force Israeli Arabs to take a loyalty oath or lose their citizenship.A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' West Bank government accused Lieberman of defying international efforts to wrap up a deal.
Lieberman is issuing a challenge to the international community, which is in agreement on the two-year ceiling, Ghassan Khatib said.Talks between Palestinians and Israelis resumed in May after a 17-month breakdown. The Palestinians have insisted on U.S. mediation, saying they are frustrated by Israel's refusal to declare a halt to all construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, lands they claim for a future state along with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.The aim is to shift gears to direct talks in late September. But much will depend on whether Israel agrees to extend a construction slowdown it has declared in the West Bank and a de facto moratorium in effect in east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want for a future capital.Abbas said Monday that Israel has not offered enough to make it worthwhile to move to direct talks.Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said in response that direct talks are the only way to solve the conflict.At their news conference, Lieberman and Lavrov expressed very different positions on Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip. Israel and many Western countries boycott Hamas as a terror organization, while Russia has contacts with the group.Lavrov recently met with one of the group's Damascus-based leaders. In Jerusalem on Tuesday, he noted that Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006, and said Russia uses its meetings with Hamas to try to persuade the group to become more moderate.Lieberman said Israel was unhappy about this Russian policy.It is not a secret that we don't agree about this, he said.The approach to Hamas is definitely one of the points on which we do not agree.Associated Press writer Diaa Hadid contributed to this report from Jerusalem.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
CHAVEZ ENEMIES
Chavez: Israel and US empire are enemies
Sun Jun 27, 11:53 pm ET
CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced Israel as a genocidal government on Sunday as he hosted Syrian President Bashar Assad on his first visit to Latin America.Chavez has drawn close to Syria and Iran, and cut ties with Israel last year to protest its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.We have common enemies, Chavez said, describing them as the Yankee empire, the genocidal state of Israel.Chavez had particularly strong words for Israel throughout Assad's visit. He reiterated his view Saturday that the Golan Heights — captured from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — should one day be returned to Syria.Someday the genocidal state of Israel will be put in its place, in the proper place and hopefully a real democratic state will be born, Chavez said Saturday.But it has become the murderous arm of the Yankee empire — who can doubt it? — which threatens all of us.Assad on Sunday called Israel a state based on crime, slaughter.It's a state without limits,he said through an interpreter.Assad praised Chavez for standing up to the U.S. and supporting the Palestinians. Chavez's outspoken stances in favor of Iran and against Israel have given him a following in the Middle East, and Assad referred to him at one point as an Arab leader.The two allies spoke to an audience of Syrian immigrants at a Caracas hotel on Sunday before Assad left for Cuba, where he did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport. His regional tour will also eventually take him to Brazil and Argentina.Before leaving Venezuela, the Syrian leader condemned Israel's blockade of Gaza and said Syria wants peace in the Mideast but not submission on Israel's terms.
Assad also sardonically suggested Venezuela and Syria could help form an an organization called the axis of evil, in which good governments would participate. Former President George W. Bush once used that term for enemies such as Iran and Syria.
Protesters clash with Israeli police over park plan
Sun Jun 27, 3:55 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli police clashed on Sunday with some 200 Palestinian protesters in an Arab neighbourhood of east Jerusalem that is the planned site of a controversial archaeological park, police said.The protesters threw stones and fire bombs at a Jewish home in the area before private security guards fired in the air and police were called in to disperse them, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
Six policemen were lightly injured in the clashes, said Rosenfeld. He had no details on any casualties among the protesters.The clashes occurred in Silwan, an Arab neighbourhood, which has been the focus of the plan by Jerusalem municipality to raze 22 Arab homes to make way for an archaeological park.Silwan is part of the so-called Holy Basin, just outside the walls of Jerusalem's famed Old City, and is believed to be the site of ancient Jerusalem during the time of the biblical kings David and Solomon.It is now a crowded Arab neighbourhood in a part of the city occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognised internationally.Israel considers the whole of Jerusalem as its eternal and indivisible capital while the Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state.
Captured soldier's family marching to Jerusalem By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer – Sun Jun 27, 3:11 pm ET
JERUSALEM – The family of a captured Israeli soldier, flanked by hundreds of supporters, set out Sunday on a 12-day march to Jerusalem to press their government to make a deal with Hamas militants to win his freedom.Sgt. Gilad Schalit was taken captive four years ago during a cross-border raid by militants from the Gaza Strip. His parents say they will camp outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's official residence until the government wins the release of their 23-year-old son, who hasn't been seen in person since he was seized.Today we say,We won't wait any longer, we won't wait any longer in our home, Schalit's father, Noam Schalit, said before the start of the march. Israel's leaders, he added, have to put an end to this sad saga.
Thousands, including supermodel Bar Refaeli and dozens of local celebrities, are expected to join the march from the Schalits' home in northern Israel to Jerusalem.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said about 2,000 supporters accompanied the family as it left its home in the small community of Mitzpe Hila on the Israel-Lebanon border. Many wore yellow ribbons or T-shirts with the soldier's photo.Some carried signs reading, Gilad Schalit, we're waiting at home for you, and The government of Israel, Gilad Schalit is screaming, Help! Israel has agreed to release many of the 1,000 Palestinian prisoners that Hamas wants freed, but has balked at freeing some who were convicted in deadly attacks on Israelis. It also objects to releasing them to their homes in the neighboring West Bank for fear they would establish militant footholds there, and wants them deported.Schalit's ordeal has touched a nerve in Israel, where military service is compulsory for most Jews, and almost all Jewish families have relatives who serve. The march dominated Israeli newspapers Sunday, and one leading daily, Haaretz, implored the government to make the necessary concessions to bring Schalit home. A recent poll suggested that a large majority of Israelis would be willing to see convicted killers released so he could go free.The Schalits launched the protest march after Israel eased its blockade of Gaza last week without assuring their son's release.Israel began restricting the movement of goods into and out of Gaza after Schalit was captured, hoping to pressure Hamas to release him, and later imposed an all-out blockade after Hamas overran the territory a year later.
That embargo was eased in recent weeks after a deadly Israeli raid on a blockade-busting flotilla drew an international outcry over the plight of 1.5 million Gazans affected by the embargo.Schalit's parents now say the Israeli government has abandoned their son and lost important leverage over Hamas by easing the blockade.
Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday that the government was working to free the serviceman and urged the international community to stand by the state of Israel in its unequivocal and just demand that our captive soldier be returned immediately.
Israel has been negotiating Schalit's release through Egyptian and German mediators because it does not have direct talks with Hamas, which it considers a terror organization.Little is known about Schalit's condition. His captors have barred any access to him and released only a brief videotaped statement last year to prove he was still alive.Israel has a long history of paying a disproportionate price for its captive soldiers. However, there has been no indication the government might yield to the public pressure generated by the march. Some officials have suggested the protests would be counterproductive and cause Hamas to dig in deeper.
Hamas had no comment on the march Sunday.Also Sunday, Palestinians clashed with Israeli police in east Jerusalem near an enclave of Israeli settlers in the neighborhood of Silwan. Police said around 150 protesters threw stones, slightly wounding six policemen. There were no immediate reports of injured protesters. Israeli moves to settle Jews in largely Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem have raised tensions in the city.
Syria wants Brazil to help Mideast peace: report
Sun Jun 27, 2:53 pm ET
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has invited Brazil to help negotiate peace in the Middle East, a sign that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has strengthened his country's standing abroad.In an interview in Brazil's Estado de S. Paulo newspaper published on Sunday, Assad said he would discuss the possibility of Brazil helping bring Israel to the table with other Arab countries to diffuse tensions stemming from its policy on Gaza.Lula along with Turkey unsuccessfully sought to broker a solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis,In my view, the combined effort of Brazil and Turkey in the Iranian nuclear question has raised Brazil's role to a new level,Assad said.For this, we hope Brazil can act to stabilize the Middle East.In a rare visit to Latin America that started on Friday, Assad is traveling to Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Cuba in a bid to extend his diplomatic reach as Syria emerges from isolation from the West and seeks needed investments in its tattered infrastructure.Nearing the end of a successful and extremely popular two-term presidency, Lula has intensified his efforts to bring Brazil greater international recognition.Brazil's foreign minister (Celso Amorim) said Brazil is interested in the peace process and we welcome Brazil's help,Assad said, suggesting that Brazil might help bring the Israelis to future negotiations with Arab countries in the region.Israeli security forces killed nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists on May 31 when it boarded an aid ship attempting to break its blockade on Gaza. Bowing to international pressure, Israel has eased its blockade but tensions between Israel and its neighbors remain high.
Brazil and Turkey helped broker an agreement announced in May under which Tehran would send uranium abroad, similar to an earlier fuel swap plan drafted by the United Nations to keep Iran's nuclear activities in check.This quickly fell apart as the U.N. Security Council pushed through tighter U.N. sanctions against Iran in June, arguing that Iran was merely attempting to stall international demands that it curb its uranium enrichment program.(Reporting by Reese Ewing; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Iran says Egypt barring Gaza aid ship from canal
Sun Jun 27, 6:40 am ET
TEHRAN (AFP) – The Iranian Red Crescent said on Sunday that in addition to restrictions imposed by Israel, Egypt had barred a Gaza-bound aid ship from entering the Suez Canal, leading to the trip being postponed.The ship's departure has been postponed because of more restrictions imposed by the Zionist Quds occupying regime on the movement of aid to Gaza and prevention of the ship from using the Suez Canal, despite coordination with international bodies, the Red Crescent said in a statement faxed to AFP.The statement said the voyage to the blockaded Gaza Strip had been put off despite the vessel being ready to set sail from the southern port of Bandar Abbas for the Palestinian territory.But in Egypt, the Suez Canal Authority said it would allow the ship through.Under an international treaty, the canal is obligated to let any ship through, whether it is Iranian or not, a canal official told AFP.
We have not received any instructions to ban the Iranian aid ships from using the Suez Canal,the official said.An Iranian official had announced on Thursday that sending the aid ship had been cancelled because of restrictions imposed by Israel.The trip is not going to happen, said Hossein Sheikholeslam, secretary general of the International Conference for the Support of the Palestinian Intifada, a panel set up by the Iranian parliament.The Red Crescent had initially planned to send two aid ships to the Palestinian territory this month.Tehran's decision to send aid came after a May 31 Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla left nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists dead and sparked international outrage.The Islamic republic does not recognise Israel, and tensions have worsened between the two countries under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has repeatedly said the Jewish state is doomed to disappear.
Palestinians must ease Gaza electricity crisis: UN
Sun Jun 27, 4:39 am ET
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Sunday called on bickering Palestinian factions to resolve a deepening electricity crisis in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.It is such a tragedy that, on top of all the other crises that we have in the Gaza Strip, we now have a crisis of electricity, said John Ging, director of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza.It's an unbearable situation here at the moment, and it needs to be solved very quickly. It's a Palestinian problem, made by Palestinians, and causing Palestinian suffering. So let's have a Palestinian solution,he told reporters.UNRWA, which provides vital aid to more than one million registered refugees in Gaza, has repeatedly decried Israel's four-year blockade of the territory but rarely extended its criticism to Gaza's Hamas rulers.The territory's sole power plant, which provides 25 percent of its electricity, was forced to shut down over the weekend as a result of a payment dispute between Hamas and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).The PA has blamed Hamas for not forcing tens of thousands of salaried Gazans to pay their bills and thereby share in the cost of industrial fuel for the plant.But Hamas has pointed the finger at the PA and accused it of worsening the blockade.Closing the power plant has added to Gaza's chronic power outages at a time when temperatures regularly exceed 30 degrees C (90 F), forcing residents to rely even more on diesel generators.
The industrial diesel needed to run the power plant comes through an Israeli-controlled fuel terminal, with Israel setting import quotas.The quantity of fuel brought in to Gaza has declined since November, when the European Commission transferred responsibility for buying the fuel to the PA after its aid programme expired.Israel supplies about 70 percent of Gaza's power and Egypt provides five percent, with the remainder coming from the power plant, which has had to shut down several times in the past because of fuel shortages.Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have been fiercely divided since the Islamist movement violently seized power in Gaza in 2007.
Israel's Gaza blockade not sustainable: G8
Sat Jun 26, 1:26 pm ET
TORONTO, Canada (AFP) – Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip is not sustainable in its current form and must be changed to allow more aid through to its Palestinian population, G8 leaders said Saturday.In a statement issued after their summit in Canada, the heads of the world's major industrialized economies also said they deeply regret the loss of life that happened last month when Israel stormed an activist boat off Gaza.We urge all parties to work together to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1860 and to ensure the flow of humanitarian and commercial goods and persons, to and from Gaza, the final communique said.The current arrangements are not sustainable and must be changed,it said, welcoming the Israeli government's decision to loosen some of the controls it imposes on goods traffic in and out of the Hamas-controlled territory.We urge full and effective implementation of this policy in order to address the needs of Gaza's population for humanitarian and commercial goods, civilian reconstruction and infrastructure, and legitimate economic activity.The statement also said Israel's legitimate security concerns ... must continue to be safeguarded.Israel's blockade, imposed after attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian militants, has come under more scrutiny since May 31, when nine activists were killed when commandos stormed a Turkish ship heading to Gaza.
Israel marks four years of cruel Shalit captivity by Patrick Moser – Fri Jun 25, 3:17 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israelis on Friday released balloons and took to the streets to mark four years in captivity of soldier Gilad Shalit who is being held by Hamas in what Human Rights Watch called cruel conditions.Residents of the southern Israeli city of Sderot launched balloons from a hill overlooking the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, where the 23-year-old Israeli soldier is believed to be held.In Tel Aviv, about 100 bikers rode in convoy to the embassies of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council with flags bearing Shalit's likeness and the Israeli colours flying from their motorcycles.They handed in letters asking for a special Security Council session on Shalit.In the northern city of Naharia, hundreds of people joined a demonstration of support for Shalit.Other planned events included thousands of yellow balloons being released in Haifa and a candle-lighting ceremony in Tel Aviv.
Demonstrations of support for Shalit, who also holds French nationality, have also been held in several capitals this week, including Rome and Paris.In a letter to the soldier's parents, French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote of his indignation at Shalit's continued captivity.But he also added: It is wrong to believe that creating a state of deprivation for the (Palestinian) population will bring his release.On Sunday, the Shalit family and thousands of supporters will begin a march from their home in northern Israel to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence, a distance of about 200 kilometres (120 miles.)In a statement marking Friday's anniversary, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Shalit's prolonged incommunicado detention may amount to torture.Hamas authorities are violating the laws of war by refusing to allow Shalit to correspond with his family,the New York-based group said.
Shalit, then a 19-year-old corporal, was captured by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in a deadly cross-border raid from Gaza on June 25, 2006.He has had no contact with his family or the International Committee of the Red Cross.Regardless of Hamas?s grievances against Israel, there are no grounds to cut Shalit off completely from his family, HRW said.Hamas authorities in Gaza should immediately end the cruel and inhuman treatment of Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit.The Islamist movement has said that allowing outside access to Shalit could reveal his location to Israel.
HRW pointed out that Israel has prevented detainees from the Gaza Strip from having family visits since Hamas seized power there in 2007. They are, however, allowed periodic Red Cross visits.Israel imposed a blockade on the enclave four years ago a bid to force Hamas to free Shalit, but eased the sanctions this week amid international pressure fuelled by a deadly commando raid on a Gaza-bound activist aid flotilla. Negotiations for a prisoner swap, mediated by Egypt and Turkey, have hit deadlock.Hamas wants Israel to release hundreds of prisoners, including several top militants responsible for killing scores of Israelis, in exchange for Shalit -- a price the Jewish state has been reluctant to pay.Israel will end up yielding to the conditions of the resistance,Osama Hamdan, Hamas' representative in Lebanon, said in a statement posted on the website of the armed wing of the group. Most Israelis favour a swap, according to a poll published by the Yediot Aharonot daily on Friday.Seventy-two percent said yes when asked if they would support a prisoner exchange deal in which hundreds of terrorists, including murderers, are released in exchange for Gilad Shalit.The largest Israeli newspapers gave the anniversary blanket coverage.Maariv inserted a yellow ribbon in its Friday edition, which featured an emotional appeal from Shalit's mother, while Yediot Aharonot splashed the headline: Gilad we love you.
Satellite firm cuts Hamas TV broadcasts to Europe
Fri Jun 25, 11:22 am ET
PARIS (AFP) – A Gaza-based television station, accused of inciting hatred of Jews and Israel, has had its broadcasts to Europe shut off, Eutelsat satellite firm said on Friday.Paris-based Eutelsat said its client Noorsat, the operator which handles the broadcasting of Al-Aqsa TV to parts of Europe and throughout the Middle East, cut the satellite signal on Thursday.Reacting to the move, Al-Aqsa director Hazem al-Charawi said: The legal battle has just started and we are determined to pursue it.
He told a news conference in Gaza City late on Thursday that the shutdown of its broadcasts to Europe amounted to another layer of the Gaza blockade imposed by the Zionist lobby with France's help.Charawi also pledged to expand broadcasts in Latin America by striking deals with Arab satellites that beam to that part of the world in order to make the (Israeli) occupier and his crimes known to the world.Al-Aqsa TV, which is run by the Islamist movement Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip, went off the air in Europe at 1800 GMT on Thursday.Before the signal on Eutelsat was turned off, Al-Aqsa TV broadcast a message to its European viewers denouncing the unjust decision and inviting them to switch to Nilesat and Arabsat satellite operators.Programmes -- accompanied by the caption a new beginning -- were still being broadcast on the other frequencies to the Middle East region on Friday.
Earlier this month the French government ordered Eutelsat to take Al-Aqsa TV off the air after receiving a complaint from the European Commission that it violated rules on incitement.France's CSA broadcasting authority in 2008 and 2009 warned Eutelsat about breaching French laws that ban incitement to hatred, but these warnings did not lead to any change in the content broadcast via its satellites.Al-Aqsa TV shows music videos and cartoons glorifying the killing of Israeli soldiers, as well as a children's show with a Mickey Mouse-like character that encourages martyrdom and armed struggle leading to the destruction of Israel.Israel repeatedly targeted the channel during its devastating Gaza offensive launched in late 2008 and aimed at halting Hamas rocket attacks. The offensive destroyed all of the channel's studios but failed to take it off the air.Hamas, which won Palestinian elections in 2006 and violently seized power in Gaza the following year, is sworn to the destruction of Israel and has launched scores of deadly attacks since it was founded in 1987.
Israel invites Italy FM to head EU visit to Gaza
Fri Jun 25, 10:31 am ET
ROME (AFP) – Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has invited his Italian counterpart to lead a European ministerial delegation to Gaza, ending a diplomatic blockade on the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave.Lieberman raised the idea at a meeting in Rome on Thursday with Franco Frattini, suggesting his Italian counterpart tour the impoverished coastal strip with other European foreign ministers, the Italian foreign ministry said.Frattini has taken note of the Israeli proposal and will give a response after discussing it with his European and international partners, it said in a statement.The proposal came just four days after Israel said it was easing draconian barriers on imports to Gaza and would allow all strictly civilian goods into the strip while preventing weapons and certain dual-use items from entering.
Export restrictions remain in force.Israel imposed the sanctions after soldier Gilad Shalit was snatched by members of the Islamist movement Hamas and other militant groups on June 25, 2006.The closure was further tightened the following year when Hamas seized control of the territory.International pressure on Israel to lift sanctions soared after its forces killed nine Turkish activists during a May 31 raid on a flotilla of aid ships attempting to run the blockade.Israeli media said on Friday that Lieberman had suggested Frattini lead a delegation of colleagues including the foreign ministers of France, Britain, Germany and non EU-member Norway to Gaza so they could see for themselves that the residents were not starving.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was told of the proposal by Frattini, his spokesman said. The German ministry did not say whether Westerwelle would join such a visit but said the proposal indicates a step towards change in Israel's Gaza policy.The Jerusalem Post cited Israeli government sources as saying the visitors would be asked not to meet Gaza's Islamist rulers.Since imposing the land, sea and air blockade, Israel has in most cases refused to let senior foreign officials cross its border with Gaza.On Sunday, it refused passage for German Development Minister Dirk Niebel, who wanted to meet representatives of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which cares for Palestine refugees.The Israeli foreign ministry said at the time that opening the doors to visiting ministers would legitimise Hamas rule in the strip.Israel has, however, allowed access to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness welcomed Lieberman's decision, saying that a high-level visit would not only highlight the needs of poverty-stricken Gazans but could also help win the release of Shalit, who is still a captive.I would hope that if politicians take up the suggestion and visit Gaza, they would be able to raise with the local authorities the case of Gilad Shalit,Gunness said.I welcome the policy of engaging, not isolating Gaza. The isolation of Gaza and the resulting desperation of the people there is in no one's interests except the extremists. It just isn't in the interests of Israel to have one and a half million desperate and isolated people on its own doorstep.An Israeli opposition MP criticised the move as capitulation to Hamas. What's happening now is that the government is paying high prices and getting nothing in return,Yohanan Plesner of the centrist Kadima party told public radio.
Hamas is in fact getting its demands, opening of crossings, lifting the diplomatic blockade,he said.
Israel's Likud backs West Bank settlement growth
Thu Jun 24, 1:58 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's right-wing Likud party backed on Thursday the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, with an eye to a building spurt when a building moratorium expires in September.The central committee of the Likud has unanimously approved the pursuit of construction and development in Judea and Samaria, said a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party, using the Biblical name for the West Bank.Some 2,500 members of the policy-making central committee debated the motion which supports building and developing throughout the Land of Israel including... Greater Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria.Judea and Samaria are the biblical names for the West Bank. Greater Jerusalem includes mainly Arab east Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed immediately after.The central committee calls on representatives of all (the party's) institutions and on its elected officials to act in conformity with the spirit of this motion and to advance the development of settlements in Judea and Samaria,the statement added.The debate was proposed by legislator Danny Danon in a bid to emphasise the party's wholehearted support for a return to construction when the freeze expires in September, although neither the moratorium nor the deadline was mentioned in the wording of the draft resolution.The essence of today's decision is that the Likud movement is saying to its leaders, Knesset members, ministers, the prime minister: We are committed to building in Judea and Samaria on September 26 when the (freeze) order runs out and we resume building,he told Israel's educational TV channel.
Netanyahu reluctantly imposed a 10-month ban on new building in November following months of US demands for gestures to help relaunch peace talks with the Palestinians suspended during the 2008-2009 Gaza war.But the Palestinians dismissed the move as insufficient because it did not include projects already under way, public buildings or east Jerusalem, which they claim as the capital of their future state.Israel's Peace Now group, which monitors settlements, said last week that so many projects were approved before the freeze began that it has has done little to slow the expansion of settlements.Likud central committee chairman Moshe Kahlon, who is also communications minister, confirmed that the motion did not make direct reference to the freeze or its expiry date.The debate today is not about the freeze, he told the radio. Netanyahu would not attend the committee session in Tel Aviv, Kahlon said, insisting that his absence had no political significance.Likud MP Ofir Akonis told public radio the motion endorsing settlement expansion was so popular that Netanyahu did not need to attend the meeting, while stressing that the premier did support the party's position.On July 6 Netanyahu will meet President Barack Obama in the White House. Washington has repeatedly criticised West Bank settlement as an obstacle to the peace process.The last thing (Netanyahu) needs is that two weeks before the meeting with US President Barack Obama, he goes to a meeting of his own party which seeks to oblige him to build in Judea and Samaria, the radio station's political reporter said.The Palestinians grudgingly agreed to relaunch indirect US-brokered peace talks with Israel in May, but have said they will not move to direct negotiations without a complete settlement freeze including in east Jerusalem.The presence of nearly half a million Israelis in more than 120 settlements scattered across the West Bank and east Jerusalem has long been seen as a major threat to the establishment of an independent, viable Palestinian state.
Sun Jun 27, 11:53 pm ET
CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez denounced Israel as a genocidal government on Sunday as he hosted Syrian President Bashar Assad on his first visit to Latin America.Chavez has drawn close to Syria and Iran, and cut ties with Israel last year to protest its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.We have common enemies, Chavez said, describing them as the Yankee empire, the genocidal state of Israel.Chavez had particularly strong words for Israel throughout Assad's visit. He reiterated his view Saturday that the Golan Heights — captured from Syria by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — should one day be returned to Syria.Someday the genocidal state of Israel will be put in its place, in the proper place and hopefully a real democratic state will be born, Chavez said Saturday.But it has become the murderous arm of the Yankee empire — who can doubt it? — which threatens all of us.Assad on Sunday called Israel a state based on crime, slaughter.It's a state without limits,he said through an interpreter.Assad praised Chavez for standing up to the U.S. and supporting the Palestinians. Chavez's outspoken stances in favor of Iran and against Israel have given him a following in the Middle East, and Assad referred to him at one point as an Arab leader.The two allies spoke to an audience of Syrian immigrants at a Caracas hotel on Sunday before Assad left for Cuba, where he did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at Havana's Jose Marti International Airport. His regional tour will also eventually take him to Brazil and Argentina.Before leaving Venezuela, the Syrian leader condemned Israel's blockade of Gaza and said Syria wants peace in the Mideast but not submission on Israel's terms.
Assad also sardonically suggested Venezuela and Syria could help form an an organization called the axis of evil, in which good governments would participate. Former President George W. Bush once used that term for enemies such as Iran and Syria.
Protesters clash with Israeli police over park plan
Sun Jun 27, 3:55 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli police clashed on Sunday with some 200 Palestinian protesters in an Arab neighbourhood of east Jerusalem that is the planned site of a controversial archaeological park, police said.The protesters threw stones and fire bombs at a Jewish home in the area before private security guards fired in the air and police were called in to disperse them, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
Six policemen were lightly injured in the clashes, said Rosenfeld. He had no details on any casualties among the protesters.The clashes occurred in Silwan, an Arab neighbourhood, which has been the focus of the plan by Jerusalem municipality to raze 22 Arab homes to make way for an archaeological park.Silwan is part of the so-called Holy Basin, just outside the walls of Jerusalem's famed Old City, and is believed to be the site of ancient Jerusalem during the time of the biblical kings David and Solomon.It is now a crowded Arab neighbourhood in a part of the city occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognised internationally.Israel considers the whole of Jerusalem as its eternal and indivisible capital while the Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state.
Captured soldier's family marching to Jerusalem By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer – Sun Jun 27, 3:11 pm ET
JERUSALEM – The family of a captured Israeli soldier, flanked by hundreds of supporters, set out Sunday on a 12-day march to Jerusalem to press their government to make a deal with Hamas militants to win his freedom.Sgt. Gilad Schalit was taken captive four years ago during a cross-border raid by militants from the Gaza Strip. His parents say they will camp outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's official residence until the government wins the release of their 23-year-old son, who hasn't been seen in person since he was seized.Today we say,We won't wait any longer, we won't wait any longer in our home, Schalit's father, Noam Schalit, said before the start of the march. Israel's leaders, he added, have to put an end to this sad saga.
Thousands, including supermodel Bar Refaeli and dozens of local celebrities, are expected to join the march from the Schalits' home in northern Israel to Jerusalem.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said about 2,000 supporters accompanied the family as it left its home in the small community of Mitzpe Hila on the Israel-Lebanon border. Many wore yellow ribbons or T-shirts with the soldier's photo.Some carried signs reading, Gilad Schalit, we're waiting at home for you, and The government of Israel, Gilad Schalit is screaming, Help! Israel has agreed to release many of the 1,000 Palestinian prisoners that Hamas wants freed, but has balked at freeing some who were convicted in deadly attacks on Israelis. It also objects to releasing them to their homes in the neighboring West Bank for fear they would establish militant footholds there, and wants them deported.Schalit's ordeal has touched a nerve in Israel, where military service is compulsory for most Jews, and almost all Jewish families have relatives who serve. The march dominated Israeli newspapers Sunday, and one leading daily, Haaretz, implored the government to make the necessary concessions to bring Schalit home. A recent poll suggested that a large majority of Israelis would be willing to see convicted killers released so he could go free.The Schalits launched the protest march after Israel eased its blockade of Gaza last week without assuring their son's release.Israel began restricting the movement of goods into and out of Gaza after Schalit was captured, hoping to pressure Hamas to release him, and later imposed an all-out blockade after Hamas overran the territory a year later.
That embargo was eased in recent weeks after a deadly Israeli raid on a blockade-busting flotilla drew an international outcry over the plight of 1.5 million Gazans affected by the embargo.Schalit's parents now say the Israeli government has abandoned their son and lost important leverage over Hamas by easing the blockade.
Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday that the government was working to free the serviceman and urged the international community to stand by the state of Israel in its unequivocal and just demand that our captive soldier be returned immediately.
Israel has been negotiating Schalit's release through Egyptian and German mediators because it does not have direct talks with Hamas, which it considers a terror organization.Little is known about Schalit's condition. His captors have barred any access to him and released only a brief videotaped statement last year to prove he was still alive.Israel has a long history of paying a disproportionate price for its captive soldiers. However, there has been no indication the government might yield to the public pressure generated by the march. Some officials have suggested the protests would be counterproductive and cause Hamas to dig in deeper.
Hamas had no comment on the march Sunday.Also Sunday, Palestinians clashed with Israeli police in east Jerusalem near an enclave of Israeli settlers in the neighborhood of Silwan. Police said around 150 protesters threw stones, slightly wounding six policemen. There were no immediate reports of injured protesters. Israeli moves to settle Jews in largely Palestinian neighborhoods in Jerusalem have raised tensions in the city.
Syria wants Brazil to help Mideast peace: report
Sun Jun 27, 2:53 pm ET
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has invited Brazil to help negotiate peace in the Middle East, a sign that President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has strengthened his country's standing abroad.In an interview in Brazil's Estado de S. Paulo newspaper published on Sunday, Assad said he would discuss the possibility of Brazil helping bring Israel to the table with other Arab countries to diffuse tensions stemming from its policy on Gaza.Lula along with Turkey unsuccessfully sought to broker a solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis,In my view, the combined effort of Brazil and Turkey in the Iranian nuclear question has raised Brazil's role to a new level,Assad said.For this, we hope Brazil can act to stabilize the Middle East.In a rare visit to Latin America that started on Friday, Assad is traveling to Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina and Cuba in a bid to extend his diplomatic reach as Syria emerges from isolation from the West and seeks needed investments in its tattered infrastructure.Nearing the end of a successful and extremely popular two-term presidency, Lula has intensified his efforts to bring Brazil greater international recognition.Brazil's foreign minister (Celso Amorim) said Brazil is interested in the peace process and we welcome Brazil's help,Assad said, suggesting that Brazil might help bring the Israelis to future negotiations with Arab countries in the region.Israeli security forces killed nine pro-Palestinian Turkish activists on May 31 when it boarded an aid ship attempting to break its blockade on Gaza. Bowing to international pressure, Israel has eased its blockade but tensions between Israel and its neighbors remain high.
Brazil and Turkey helped broker an agreement announced in May under which Tehran would send uranium abroad, similar to an earlier fuel swap plan drafted by the United Nations to keep Iran's nuclear activities in check.This quickly fell apart as the U.N. Security Council pushed through tighter U.N. sanctions against Iran in June, arguing that Iran was merely attempting to stall international demands that it curb its uranium enrichment program.(Reporting by Reese Ewing; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
Iran says Egypt barring Gaza aid ship from canal
Sun Jun 27, 6:40 am ET
TEHRAN (AFP) – The Iranian Red Crescent said on Sunday that in addition to restrictions imposed by Israel, Egypt had barred a Gaza-bound aid ship from entering the Suez Canal, leading to the trip being postponed.The ship's departure has been postponed because of more restrictions imposed by the Zionist Quds occupying regime on the movement of aid to Gaza and prevention of the ship from using the Suez Canal, despite coordination with international bodies, the Red Crescent said in a statement faxed to AFP.The statement said the voyage to the blockaded Gaza Strip had been put off despite the vessel being ready to set sail from the southern port of Bandar Abbas for the Palestinian territory.But in Egypt, the Suez Canal Authority said it would allow the ship through.Under an international treaty, the canal is obligated to let any ship through, whether it is Iranian or not, a canal official told AFP.
We have not received any instructions to ban the Iranian aid ships from using the Suez Canal,the official said.An Iranian official had announced on Thursday that sending the aid ship had been cancelled because of restrictions imposed by Israel.The trip is not going to happen, said Hossein Sheikholeslam, secretary general of the International Conference for the Support of the Palestinian Intifada, a panel set up by the Iranian parliament.The Red Crescent had initially planned to send two aid ships to the Palestinian territory this month.Tehran's decision to send aid came after a May 31 Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla left nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists dead and sparked international outrage.The Islamic republic does not recognise Israel, and tensions have worsened between the two countries under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has repeatedly said the Jewish state is doomed to disappear.
Palestinians must ease Gaza electricity crisis: UN
Sun Jun 27, 4:39 am ET
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – The UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Sunday called on bickering Palestinian factions to resolve a deepening electricity crisis in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.It is such a tragedy that, on top of all the other crises that we have in the Gaza Strip, we now have a crisis of electricity, said John Ging, director of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in Gaza.It's an unbearable situation here at the moment, and it needs to be solved very quickly. It's a Palestinian problem, made by Palestinians, and causing Palestinian suffering. So let's have a Palestinian solution,he told reporters.UNRWA, which provides vital aid to more than one million registered refugees in Gaza, has repeatedly decried Israel's four-year blockade of the territory but rarely extended its criticism to Gaza's Hamas rulers.The territory's sole power plant, which provides 25 percent of its electricity, was forced to shut down over the weekend as a result of a payment dispute between Hamas and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA).The PA has blamed Hamas for not forcing tens of thousands of salaried Gazans to pay their bills and thereby share in the cost of industrial fuel for the plant.But Hamas has pointed the finger at the PA and accused it of worsening the blockade.Closing the power plant has added to Gaza's chronic power outages at a time when temperatures regularly exceed 30 degrees C (90 F), forcing residents to rely even more on diesel generators.
The industrial diesel needed to run the power plant comes through an Israeli-controlled fuel terminal, with Israel setting import quotas.The quantity of fuel brought in to Gaza has declined since November, when the European Commission transferred responsibility for buying the fuel to the PA after its aid programme expired.Israel supplies about 70 percent of Gaza's power and Egypt provides five percent, with the remainder coming from the power plant, which has had to shut down several times in the past because of fuel shortages.Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have been fiercely divided since the Islamist movement violently seized power in Gaza in 2007.
Israel's Gaza blockade not sustainable: G8
Sat Jun 26, 1:26 pm ET
TORONTO, Canada (AFP) – Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip is not sustainable in its current form and must be changed to allow more aid through to its Palestinian population, G8 leaders said Saturday.In a statement issued after their summit in Canada, the heads of the world's major industrialized economies also said they deeply regret the loss of life that happened last month when Israel stormed an activist boat off Gaza.We urge all parties to work together to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1860 and to ensure the flow of humanitarian and commercial goods and persons, to and from Gaza, the final communique said.The current arrangements are not sustainable and must be changed,it said, welcoming the Israeli government's decision to loosen some of the controls it imposes on goods traffic in and out of the Hamas-controlled territory.We urge full and effective implementation of this policy in order to address the needs of Gaza's population for humanitarian and commercial goods, civilian reconstruction and infrastructure, and legitimate economic activity.The statement also said Israel's legitimate security concerns ... must continue to be safeguarded.Israel's blockade, imposed after attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian militants, has come under more scrutiny since May 31, when nine activists were killed when commandos stormed a Turkish ship heading to Gaza.
Israel marks four years of cruel Shalit captivity by Patrick Moser – Fri Jun 25, 3:17 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israelis on Friday released balloons and took to the streets to mark four years in captivity of soldier Gilad Shalit who is being held by Hamas in what Human Rights Watch called cruel conditions.Residents of the southern Israeli city of Sderot launched balloons from a hill overlooking the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, where the 23-year-old Israeli soldier is believed to be held.In Tel Aviv, about 100 bikers rode in convoy to the embassies of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council with flags bearing Shalit's likeness and the Israeli colours flying from their motorcycles.They handed in letters asking for a special Security Council session on Shalit.In the northern city of Naharia, hundreds of people joined a demonstration of support for Shalit.Other planned events included thousands of yellow balloons being released in Haifa and a candle-lighting ceremony in Tel Aviv.
Demonstrations of support for Shalit, who also holds French nationality, have also been held in several capitals this week, including Rome and Paris.In a letter to the soldier's parents, French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote of his indignation at Shalit's continued captivity.But he also added: It is wrong to believe that creating a state of deprivation for the (Palestinian) population will bring his release.On Sunday, the Shalit family and thousands of supporters will begin a march from their home in northern Israel to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence, a distance of about 200 kilometres (120 miles.)In a statement marking Friday's anniversary, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Shalit's prolonged incommunicado detention may amount to torture.Hamas authorities are violating the laws of war by refusing to allow Shalit to correspond with his family,the New York-based group said.
Shalit, then a 19-year-old corporal, was captured by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in a deadly cross-border raid from Gaza on June 25, 2006.He has had no contact with his family or the International Committee of the Red Cross.Regardless of Hamas?s grievances against Israel, there are no grounds to cut Shalit off completely from his family, HRW said.Hamas authorities in Gaza should immediately end the cruel and inhuman treatment of Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit.The Islamist movement has said that allowing outside access to Shalit could reveal his location to Israel.
HRW pointed out that Israel has prevented detainees from the Gaza Strip from having family visits since Hamas seized power there in 2007. They are, however, allowed periodic Red Cross visits.Israel imposed a blockade on the enclave four years ago a bid to force Hamas to free Shalit, but eased the sanctions this week amid international pressure fuelled by a deadly commando raid on a Gaza-bound activist aid flotilla. Negotiations for a prisoner swap, mediated by Egypt and Turkey, have hit deadlock.Hamas wants Israel to release hundreds of prisoners, including several top militants responsible for killing scores of Israelis, in exchange for Shalit -- a price the Jewish state has been reluctant to pay.Israel will end up yielding to the conditions of the resistance,Osama Hamdan, Hamas' representative in Lebanon, said in a statement posted on the website of the armed wing of the group. Most Israelis favour a swap, according to a poll published by the Yediot Aharonot daily on Friday.Seventy-two percent said yes when asked if they would support a prisoner exchange deal in which hundreds of terrorists, including murderers, are released in exchange for Gilad Shalit.The largest Israeli newspapers gave the anniversary blanket coverage.Maariv inserted a yellow ribbon in its Friday edition, which featured an emotional appeal from Shalit's mother, while Yediot Aharonot splashed the headline: Gilad we love you.
Satellite firm cuts Hamas TV broadcasts to Europe
Fri Jun 25, 11:22 am ET
PARIS (AFP) – A Gaza-based television station, accused of inciting hatred of Jews and Israel, has had its broadcasts to Europe shut off, Eutelsat satellite firm said on Friday.Paris-based Eutelsat said its client Noorsat, the operator which handles the broadcasting of Al-Aqsa TV to parts of Europe and throughout the Middle East, cut the satellite signal on Thursday.Reacting to the move, Al-Aqsa director Hazem al-Charawi said: The legal battle has just started and we are determined to pursue it.
He told a news conference in Gaza City late on Thursday that the shutdown of its broadcasts to Europe amounted to another layer of the Gaza blockade imposed by the Zionist lobby with France's help.Charawi also pledged to expand broadcasts in Latin America by striking deals with Arab satellites that beam to that part of the world in order to make the (Israeli) occupier and his crimes known to the world.Al-Aqsa TV, which is run by the Islamist movement Hamas which controls the Gaza Strip, went off the air in Europe at 1800 GMT on Thursday.Before the signal on Eutelsat was turned off, Al-Aqsa TV broadcast a message to its European viewers denouncing the unjust decision and inviting them to switch to Nilesat and Arabsat satellite operators.Programmes -- accompanied by the caption a new beginning -- were still being broadcast on the other frequencies to the Middle East region on Friday.
Earlier this month the French government ordered Eutelsat to take Al-Aqsa TV off the air after receiving a complaint from the European Commission that it violated rules on incitement.France's CSA broadcasting authority in 2008 and 2009 warned Eutelsat about breaching French laws that ban incitement to hatred, but these warnings did not lead to any change in the content broadcast via its satellites.Al-Aqsa TV shows music videos and cartoons glorifying the killing of Israeli soldiers, as well as a children's show with a Mickey Mouse-like character that encourages martyrdom and armed struggle leading to the destruction of Israel.Israel repeatedly targeted the channel during its devastating Gaza offensive launched in late 2008 and aimed at halting Hamas rocket attacks. The offensive destroyed all of the channel's studios but failed to take it off the air.Hamas, which won Palestinian elections in 2006 and violently seized power in Gaza the following year, is sworn to the destruction of Israel and has launched scores of deadly attacks since it was founded in 1987.
Israel invites Italy FM to head EU visit to Gaza
Fri Jun 25, 10:31 am ET
ROME (AFP) – Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has invited his Italian counterpart to lead a European ministerial delegation to Gaza, ending a diplomatic blockade on the Hamas-run Palestinian enclave.Lieberman raised the idea at a meeting in Rome on Thursday with Franco Frattini, suggesting his Italian counterpart tour the impoverished coastal strip with other European foreign ministers, the Italian foreign ministry said.Frattini has taken note of the Israeli proposal and will give a response after discussing it with his European and international partners, it said in a statement.The proposal came just four days after Israel said it was easing draconian barriers on imports to Gaza and would allow all strictly civilian goods into the strip while preventing weapons and certain dual-use items from entering.
Export restrictions remain in force.Israel imposed the sanctions after soldier Gilad Shalit was snatched by members of the Islamist movement Hamas and other militant groups on June 25, 2006.The closure was further tightened the following year when Hamas seized control of the territory.International pressure on Israel to lift sanctions soared after its forces killed nine Turkish activists during a May 31 raid on a flotilla of aid ships attempting to run the blockade.Israeli media said on Friday that Lieberman had suggested Frattini lead a delegation of colleagues including the foreign ministers of France, Britain, Germany and non EU-member Norway to Gaza so they could see for themselves that the residents were not starving.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle was told of the proposal by Frattini, his spokesman said. The German ministry did not say whether Westerwelle would join such a visit but said the proposal indicates a step towards change in Israel's Gaza policy.The Jerusalem Post cited Israeli government sources as saying the visitors would be asked not to meet Gaza's Islamist rulers.Since imposing the land, sea and air blockade, Israel has in most cases refused to let senior foreign officials cross its border with Gaza.On Sunday, it refused passage for German Development Minister Dirk Niebel, who wanted to meet representatives of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) which cares for Palestine refugees.The Israeli foreign ministry said at the time that opening the doors to visiting ministers would legitimise Hamas rule in the strip.Israel has, however, allowed access to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness welcomed Lieberman's decision, saying that a high-level visit would not only highlight the needs of poverty-stricken Gazans but could also help win the release of Shalit, who is still a captive.I would hope that if politicians take up the suggestion and visit Gaza, they would be able to raise with the local authorities the case of Gilad Shalit,Gunness said.I welcome the policy of engaging, not isolating Gaza. The isolation of Gaza and the resulting desperation of the people there is in no one's interests except the extremists. It just isn't in the interests of Israel to have one and a half million desperate and isolated people on its own doorstep.An Israeli opposition MP criticised the move as capitulation to Hamas. What's happening now is that the government is paying high prices and getting nothing in return,Yohanan Plesner of the centrist Kadima party told public radio.
Hamas is in fact getting its demands, opening of crossings, lifting the diplomatic blockade,he said.
Israel's Likud backs West Bank settlement growth
Thu Jun 24, 1:58 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's right-wing Likud party backed on Thursday the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, with an eye to a building spurt when a building moratorium expires in September.The central committee of the Likud has unanimously approved the pursuit of construction and development in Judea and Samaria, said a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party, using the Biblical name for the West Bank.Some 2,500 members of the policy-making central committee debated the motion which supports building and developing throughout the Land of Israel including... Greater Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria.Judea and Samaria are the biblical names for the West Bank. Greater Jerusalem includes mainly Arab east Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed immediately after.The central committee calls on representatives of all (the party's) institutions and on its elected officials to act in conformity with the spirit of this motion and to advance the development of settlements in Judea and Samaria,the statement added.The debate was proposed by legislator Danny Danon in a bid to emphasise the party's wholehearted support for a return to construction when the freeze expires in September, although neither the moratorium nor the deadline was mentioned in the wording of the draft resolution.The essence of today's decision is that the Likud movement is saying to its leaders, Knesset members, ministers, the prime minister: We are committed to building in Judea and Samaria on September 26 when the (freeze) order runs out and we resume building,he told Israel's educational TV channel.
Netanyahu reluctantly imposed a 10-month ban on new building in November following months of US demands for gestures to help relaunch peace talks with the Palestinians suspended during the 2008-2009 Gaza war.But the Palestinians dismissed the move as insufficient because it did not include projects already under way, public buildings or east Jerusalem, which they claim as the capital of their future state.Israel's Peace Now group, which monitors settlements, said last week that so many projects were approved before the freeze began that it has has done little to slow the expansion of settlements.Likud central committee chairman Moshe Kahlon, who is also communications minister, confirmed that the motion did not make direct reference to the freeze or its expiry date.The debate today is not about the freeze, he told the radio. Netanyahu would not attend the committee session in Tel Aviv, Kahlon said, insisting that his absence had no political significance.Likud MP Ofir Akonis told public radio the motion endorsing settlement expansion was so popular that Netanyahu did not need to attend the meeting, while stressing that the premier did support the party's position.On July 6 Netanyahu will meet President Barack Obama in the White House. Washington has repeatedly criticised West Bank settlement as an obstacle to the peace process.The last thing (Netanyahu) needs is that two weeks before the meeting with US President Barack Obama, he goes to a meeting of his own party which seeks to oblige him to build in Judea and Samaria, the radio station's political reporter said.The Palestinians grudgingly agreed to relaunch indirect US-brokered peace talks with Israel in May, but have said they will not move to direct negotiations without a complete settlement freeze including in east Jerusalem.The presence of nearly half a million Israelis in more than 120 settlements scattered across the West Bank and east Jerusalem has long been seen as a major threat to the establishment of an independent, viable Palestinian state.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
LIKUD BACKS SETTLEMENT GROWTH
Israel's Likud backs West Bank settlement growth
JUNE 24, 2:50 PM
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's right-wing Likud party backed on Thursday the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, with an eye to a building spurt when a building moratorium expires in September.The central committee of the Likud has unanimously approved the pursuit of construction and development in Judea and Samaria,said a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party, using the Biblical name for the West Bank.Some 2,500 members of the policy-making central committee debated the motion which supports building and developing throughout the Land of Israel including... Greater Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria.Judea and Samaria are the biblical names for the West Bank. Greater Jerusalem includes mainly Arab east Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed immediately after.The central committee calls on representatives of all (the party's) institutions and on its elected officials to act in conformity with the spirit of this motion and to advance the development of settlements in Judea and Samaria,the statement added.The debate was proposed by legislator Danny Danon in a bid to emphasise the party's wholehearted support for a return to construction when the freeze expires in September, although neither the moratorium nor the deadline was mentioned in the wording of the draft resolution.
The essence of today's decision is that the Likud movement is saying to its leaders, Knesset members, ministers, the prime minister: We are committed to building in Judea and Samaria on September 26 when the (freeze) order runs out and we resume building,he told Israel's educational TV channel.Netanyahu reluctantly imposed a 10-month ban on new building in November following months of US demands for gestures to help relaunch peace talks with the Palestinians suspended during the 2008-2009 Gaza war.But the Palestinians dismissed the move as insufficient because it did not include projects already under way, public buildings or east Jerusalem, which they claim as the capital of their future state.Israel's Peace Now group, which monitors settlements, said last week that so many projects were approved before the freeze began that it has has done little to slow the expansion of settlements.Likud central committee chairman Moshe Kahlon, who is also communications minister, confirmed that the motion did not make direct reference to the freeze or its expiry date.The debate today is not about the freeze,he told the radio. Netanyahu would not attend the committee session in Tel Aviv, Kahlon said, insisting that his absence had no political significance.Likud MP Ofir Akonis told public radio the motion endorsing settlement expansion was so popular that Netanyahu did not need to attend the meeting, while stressing that the premier did support the party's position.On July 6 Netanyahu will meet President Barack Obama in the White House. Washington has repeatedly criticised West Bank settlement as an obstacle to the peace process.
The last thing (Netanyahu) needs is that two weeks before the meeting with US President Barack Obama, he goes to a meeting of his own party which seeks to oblige him to build in Judea and Samaria,the radio station's political reporter said.The Palestinians grudgingly agreed to relaunch indirect US-brokered peace talks with Israel in May, but have said they will not move to direct negotiations without a complete settlement freeze including in east Jerusalem.The presence of nearly half a million Israelis in more than 120 settlements scattered across the West Bank and east Jerusalem has long been seen as a major threat to the establishment of an independent, viable Palestinian state.
Israel to expel Hamas politicians from Jerusalem By BEN HUBBARD, Associated Press Writer - JUNE 24,10
JERUSALEM – Israel's decision to expel four Hamas politicians from Jerusalem threatened to set off a new crisis over the disputed city and could hinder U.S. efforts to restart peace talks.The expulsions of the three Palestinian lawmakers and a former Cabinet minister could start as early as Friday. Israel has not said where they would be sent, but the West Bank is a possible destination.Israel revoked their Jerusalem residency rights in 2006 and arrested them because they belong to Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls the Gaza Strip and has carried out scores of deadly attacks against Israelis. The expulsion orders were delayed because the men have been in prison until recently.Israel has stripped thousands of Palestinians of their residency rights in east Jerusalem since capturing and annexing the area in the 1967 Mideast War. However, human rights activists said Israel has never before stripped Palestinians of Jerusalem residency because of their political affiliation.
This is a very dangerous precedent,Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said.We won't accept it. We won't allow it. We won't just overlook it.He said the Israeli government was creating the biggest obstacles yet on the path to peace.Jerusalem is holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians and the fate of Israeli-annexed eastern sector of the city has been the most explosive issue in two decades of on-and-off negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem as a capital, while Israel says it won't relinquish any part of the city.Some 190,000 Israelis have moved into Jewish neighborhoods built since 1967 in east Jerusalem, surrounding the older Arab sections, and Palestinians say this is undermining their claims to the city.Most of the 250,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem carry Israeli-issued residency documents. Israel has stripped those documents from about 13,000, according to government statistics obtained by the Israeli human rights group HaMoked. But in those cases, Israel cited administrative reasons such as staying away from the city for too long.Palestinians say revoking Jerusalem IDs is part of an overall Israeli policy to reduce the number of Jerusalem's Palestinians, who make up one-third the city's population.Hamas and the Western-backed Abbas are bitter rivals, but Abbas apparently spoke out because of concerns that the expulsions will set a precedent of removing Palestinians from Jerusalem for their political views.
The four Hamas politicians said they won't leave voluntarily.They will have to yank me out,said Hamas lawmaker Mohammed Abu Teir, one of those set for expulsion.If Israel goes through with the expulsions, it will almost certainly complicate U.S. attempts to restart direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. For now, a U.S. envoy is shuttling between the two sides, but Abbas insists he won't resume direct talks until Israel freezes all settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories it captured in the 1967 Mideast War.Israel says it has the right to expel the four because they belong to a terror organization.The only precedent here is a very clear warning to Hamas and all those who promote terror that adhering to violence will (have a) backlash, said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.Abu Teir and two other Jerusalemites facing expulsion — Mohammed Totah and Ahmed Abu Atoun — were among those elected on a Hamas slate in 2006 when Jerusalem's Arabs participated in elections for a Palestinian parliament. The fourth politician is former Cabinet minister Khaled Abu Arafa.Israel revoked their Jerusalem residency rights in 2006 and arrested them, along with dozens of Hamas politicians from the West Bank, after the capture of an Israeli soldier by Hamas-allied militants in Gaza.My parents and relatives have been in this village and near Jerusalem for 500 years, and you've only been here since 48 when the occupation started,Abu Teir said, addressing the Israelis.Associated Press writers Karin Laub and Dalia Nammari in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.
Syria, Jordan slam Israel over blocked peace efforts
JUNE 24,10
DAMASCUS (AFP) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and visiting Jordanian King Abdullah II on Thursday blamed Israel for blocking peace efforts in the Middle East, the official SANA news agency reported.Assad, on the eve of his first Latin American tour, and Abdullah also demanded that Israel lift the inhuman blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip,the agency said.It said the two leaders called for a common international position to face up to the policies of the Israeli government which is blocking peace efforts and any chance of reaching a comprehensive peace in the region.
Israel marks four years since soldier held in Gaza
by Michael Blum - JUNE 24,10
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Four years after Gaza-based Palestinian militants snatched Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the chances of his release are looking remoter than ever and the family's patience is fast running out.Shalit, now 23, was captured on June 25, 2006 by the Islamist Hamas organisation and two smaller armed groups in a deadly cross-border dawn raid.But years of diplomatic efforts to secure his release, which almost saw a breakthrough in December, have since hit a brick wall.It is also four years since a strict blockade was imposed on Gaza in a bid to force its Hamas rulers into freeing Shalit, but the siege's conditions were eased dramatically this week as Israel bowed to a wave of global pressure.Israel's U-turn on its siege policy came in the wake of a botched raid on a fleet of aid ships which were trying to run the blockade, which left nine foreign activists dead.The move was a bitter blow for the Shalit family.It is a terrible feeling to learn that the prime minister has given in to international pressure without taking our son into account, Noam Shalit said, vowing to pursue a more aggressive campaign for his son's release.Four years, two prime ministers, two defence ministers and two chiefs of staff have failed -- they have all failed to bring Gilad home, he told AFP.In those four years, two successive governments have explored various options for a prisoner swap with Shalit's Hamas captors.Hamas wants Israel to release hundreds of prisoners, including several top militants responsible for killing scores of Israelis, in exchange for Shalit -- a price the Jewish state appears reluctant to pay.Although Israel was reportedly prepared to release 450 prisoners, negotiations hit deadlock in December after the government presented an offer through a German mediator to which Hamas has still not responded.
On Tuesday, the soldier's 86-year-old grandfather Zvi Shalit managed to secure a long-awaited audience with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.But he emerged despondent, saying he was not optimistic.After years of on-off negotiations and no progress to show for it, the family's patience appears to be running out, with Noam Shalit urging Netanyahu to take the necessary difficult and unpopular decisions needed to bring his son home.I won't be happy if terrorists and dangerous murderers and people who have the potential to return to terror are released, but after four years, the time has come to make up one's mind, especially since the government is not proposing any other alternative and there are no negotiations right now and no response from Hamas to the German proposal, he told the Haaretz daily.So would the prime minister kindly make a decision and pay what is being demanded? Over the past four years, the Shalit family has waged an unceasing campaign for his release, meeting world leaders and other key figures in a bid to put pressure on Hamas.French President Nicolas Sarkozy has assured the family of of his full support and said France was committed to securing the release of Shalit, who also has French nationality.Earlier this week, thousands of people staged a large rally of support in Paris, with Noam Shalit himself due to lead another huge demonstration in Rome later on Thursday.
On Friday, the anniversary of his capture, thousands of yellow balloons will be released by supporters across Israel and the world -- yellow being the colour of support for the young captive who is being held in a secret location somewhere in Gaza.And on Sunday, the Shalit family accompanied by thousands of supporters will set off on a march from their home in northern Israel to Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence, a distance of about 200 kilometres (120 miles.) As the march heads south, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra will hold a free concert at a location near the Gaza Strip next week.But as the new campaign to free Shalit gathers pace, his fate still lies in the hands of those involved in the negotiations -- the Israeli government and the radical Hamas movement.I only do what I can do,Noam Shalit said after four years spent battling for his son's release.I fight to save Gilad and to bring him home.
87 US senators support Israeli self-defense
Wed Jun 23, 7:34 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Eighty-seven of the US Senate's 100 members have voiced support for Israel's right to self-defense in the face of threats from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, the Senate said Wednesday.The lawmakers wrote in a letter to President Barack Obama that they fully support Israel?s right to self-defense.In response to thousands of rocket attacks on Israel from Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Israel took steps to prevent items which could be used to support these attacks from reaching Gaza,they said, referring to Israel's four-year naval blockade of the Palestinian territory.Israel last week announced it was easing its siege to allow all strictly civilian goods into Gaza, after a crisis exploded when Israeli forces killed nine activists during a May 31 raid on a flotilla of aid ships attempting to run the blockade.The lawmakers, from both sides of the political aisle, also stressed that it is our national interest to support Israel at a moment when Israel faces multiple threats from Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the current regime in Iran.The lawmakers brought particular attention to the Turkish Muslim charity involved with organizing the aid flotilla, and urged Obama to consider branding the IHH -- the acronym for the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation -- as a terrorist organization, as Israel did earlier this month.They also commended Obama for the action he took to prevent the adoption of an unfair United Nations Security Council resolution (about the deadly raid) which would have represented a rush to judgment by the international community.A UN Security Council statement condemned the attack, but fell short of a call for an independent investigation, with the United States backing an Israeli probe.
Barak seeks to put aside rows to advance peace process
Wed Jun 23, 6:04 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called here Wednesday for pushing ahead with the Middle East peace process by putting aside rows following a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.Barak made the comments as he went into talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to review Israel's decision to ease its blockade of Gaza and looked at ways to revive direct Israeli-Palestinian talks.We have a full commitment to work together with the secretary and try to find ways to move forward with the peace process in Israel and put aside all the difficulties and rows in the recent weeks, Barak told reporters.The goal is to put them behind us in a proper manner in order to concentrate on how to change the direction of the events in the whole area,the Israeli minister said.In this regard, no one can underestimate the effort, the commitment, the devotion and resources that the secretary puts into helping players in the region to find a way to move forward, Barak said.Clinton welcomed an old friend and someone who is certainly deeply involved in every important decision that affects Israel's security and prospects for peace.Israel was forced to review its Gaza policy after triggering a diplomatic storm when its commandos late last month raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla from Turkey, killing nine Turkish activists, including a dual US-Turkish national.
Israel announced at the weekend it would allow all strictly civilian goods into Gaza while preventing a specific list of weapons and dual-use items from entering the territory run by the militant group Hamas.Crowley said Barak indicated to the secretary directly that Israel is developing a list of goods that will be allowed into Gaza without actually giving her details.But he made very clear that it (Israel) anticipates a dramatic expansion in the flow of materials into Gaza, Crowley told reporters after the Israeli-US meetings that included a 30-minute face-to-face Barak-Clinton encounter.He indicated that working with the UN and others, he anticipated there would be a significant increase in the projects that will go forward in Gaza. He did not lay out a specific list, Crowley said.Under the previous Israeli policy, cement deliveries were barred for fear that Hamas militants might use them for bunkers or other military purposes.Crowley said that George Mitchell, the US Middle East peace envoy, will return to the region next week to resume the proximity talks, or indirect talks between the two sides.The Palestinians reluctantly agreed to launch the indirect talks in May after months of shuttle diplomacy by US envoy George Mitchell, but said they would not move to direct talks without a complete Israeli settlement freeze.Crowley said Barak and Clinton discussed some of the ways in which we can build momentum to move toward those direct negotiations from the current proximity talks, but gave no details.The State Department spokesman also said that Barak did discuss with Clinton the Israeli investigation into the botched raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Israel: Flotillas aim to get weapons to Gaza By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer –Wed Jun 23, 4:34 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged Wednesday that the real motivation behind plans to send blockade-busting ships toward Gaza is to allow free flow of weapons into the Palestinian territory.Netanyahu spoke as preparations were under way to send several ships carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists toward Gaza, setting up potential confrontations at sea.On May 31, Israeli naval commandos killed nine pro-Palestinian activists in clashes aboard a Turkish ship headed for Gaza, setting off a world outcry and forcing Israel to ease its three-year-old blockade.Israel already has warned archenemy Iran to drop its plan to send a blockade-busting ship to Gaza. The Iranian ship is one of several that activists say will head for Gaza in the next few months. One is said to be heading for Gaza from Lebanon within days.On Wednesday, Lebanon warned that it would hold Israel responsible for any further attacks on blockade-busting ships.Netanyahu said his government is drawing up a list of weapons and items with military uses that will not be allowed into Gaza so that we can permit all the rest.He said the new list will be made public in the coming days.In Washington, where Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. would be a part of that conversation of drawing up the list.Barak assured Clinton that building materials would be let in for a significant increase in the projects that will go forward in Gaza, Crowley said.Since the violent 2007 takeover of Gaza by Hamas — an Islamic militant group responsible for firing thousands of rockets at Israeli border communities — Israel has let in only limited humanitarian supplies, including basic foods and medicine.
Construction materials, which Israel maintains Hamas could use to make weapons and build bunkers, were barred, and the vast majority of Gaza's 1.5 million people could not travel. The blockade strangled the already poor territory's economy but failed to undermine Hamas, one of the blockade's main goals.Under Israel's new policy, approved Sunday,Anyone who wants to bring products can do so — food, toys, medicines, anything,Netanyahu said Wednesday at his Jerusalem office, where he was meeting Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann.Israel insists that all cargo from the flotillas must be inspected at one of its ports to remove weapons, and then the aid supplies would be transferred over land to Gaza. Flotilla organizers have rejected this procedure, prompting Israel to take control of the boats at sea and bring them to Ashdod port.The May 31 flotilla was made up of six ships, and violence erupted on only one of them. Israel says its commandos were attacked with iron bars, clubs and knives and opened fire in self-defense.
Flotilla organizers say the Israeli gunfire was unprovoked.Netanyahu said the removal of the ban on civilian products shows that the object of the new flotillas is to stage a provocation to break the military quarantine, not the civilian quarantine, that is, the quarantine against missiles, rockets and other weapons.
Netanyahu did not repeat earlier Israeli vows to stop all ships heading for Gaza. Israel's military, stung by the international outrage over its bloody attack on the Turkish flotilla, has been drilling new procedures for stopping ships at sea.Two ships carrying aid are planning to make the trip to Gaza from Lebanon. Lebanese authorities have so far granted one of them permission to sail first to Cyprus and not directly to Gaza because Lebanon and Israel are technically at war. A Lebanese official said Lebanon sent a letter to the U.N. holding Israel responsible for any attack on the ships, noting Lebanon cannot stop ships from leaving its ports if they comply with its law.The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak publicly due to the sensitivity of the issue.Associated Press writer Zeina Karam in Beirut and Matthew Lee in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.
Israel launches spy satellite: defence ministry
Wed Jun 23, 10:35 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel has launched a spy satellite from a base in the south of the country, the defence ministry said, with the device reportedly capable of monitoring arch-foe Iran.A few minutes ago the State of Israel launched the Ofek-9 (Horizon-9) satellite from the Palmachim base, the ministry said on Tuesday.The results of the launch are being examined by the technical team.It gave no details on the satellite, but public radio said it, like its predecessors in the Ofek series, were cable of taking high resolution pictures and aimed at monitoring Iran's nuclear programme.The radio said the satellite was developed by Israel Aircraft Industries and launched on a Shavit rocket.Israel, which has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, regards Iran as its principal threat after repeated predictions by the Islamic republic's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Jewish state's demise.Along with the West, it suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under the guise of its nuclear programme, a claim Tehran denies.With the launch of Ofek-9, Israel has six spy satellites in space.An attempt to launch an Ofek-6 in 2004 failed with the satellite crashing into the Mediterranean Sea after a technical malfunction with the launcher.
Israeli army chief vows to stop Lebanese, Iranian ships
Tue Jun 22, 4:29 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's army chief vowed Tuesday to prevent Lebanese and Iranian aid ships from entering the Gaza Strip, saying the coastal enclave would not become an Iranian port, media reported.We have the right to inspect and prevent the flow of arms into Gaza, the Ynet news website quoted Israeli chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi as saying.We can't let Gaza become an Iranian port, he said speaking at a Jewish seminary in northern Israel.Earlier Tuesday Iranian Red Crescent officials said an Iranian aid ship is to leave the Gulf port of Bandar Abbas for a 14-day journey to Gaza at the end of this week, the ISNA news agency reported.Lebanese civilian groups are also planning to send two ships to the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory via Cyprus.If a flotilla comes from Lebanon we will deal with it. If they are peaceful we will deal with it peacefully, if not we will deal with it as we need to, Ashkenazi said.The planned Iranian and Lebanese aid shipments come after a May 31 Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists dead and sparked international outrage.
Israel has eased the blockade on Gaza in the wake of the incident.Israel has argued the closures -- imposed when one of its soldiers was seized by Gaza militants in a deadly June 2006 raid and tightened a year later when Hamas took over -- are needed to contain the Islamist movement.The Jewish state is highly wary of aid flotillas. Israel is officially at a state of war with Lebanon and Israeli media have said that the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah might be planning to send materials into Gaza. Israel argues that Hamas is seeking weapons from the aid missions.Israel views Iran as its principal threat after repeated predictions by the Islamic republic's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Jewish state's demise.Along with the West, it suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under the guise of its nuclear programme, a claim Tehran denies.
Israeli troops arrest four in West Bank raids
Wed Jun 23, 7:26 am ET
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Israeli troops overnight arrested four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, among them a former intelligence officer, a Palestinian security official said Wednesday.The army arrested Shadi Amwasi, 30, who is also a member of president Mahmud Abbas' Fatah party, in Ramallah and searched his home for weapons. The three others were arrested in neighbouring villages, the official said.The military confirmed it arrested four wanted Palestinians without providing further details.The Western-backed Palestinian Authority has long objected to Israeli incursions in Area A, parts of the occupied territory where it enjoys limited self-rule, including its administrative seat in Ramallah.The military says it has the right to operate anywhere in the territory.
Concerns raised over Jerusalem archaeological park
Tue Jun 22, 6:10 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The State Department said Monday the United States is concerned over plans announced by the Jerusalem municipality to move ahead on a new archaeological park that call for the demolition of Arab homes.This is expressly the kind of step that we think undermines trust that is fundamental in making progress to the proximity talks and ultimately in direct negotiations, said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, referring to US efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians together at talks.We're concerned about it. We've had a number of conversation with the government of Israel about it.The plans, which have raised fears of unrest in the Holy City, call for an archaeological park in a part of the so-called Holy Basin, believed to be the site of ancient Jerusalem during the time of the biblical kings David and Solomon.It is now a crowded Arab neighborhood in a part of the city occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognized internationally.The city's planning and building committee approved the Gan Hamelech (King's Garden) project, a municipal spokesman said, using the Hebrew name for the area outside Jerusalem's Old City known as Al-Bustan to its mostly Arab residents.
The plans call for the demolition of 22 Arab homes.In March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Jerusalem's Mayor Nir Barkat to freeze the project to avoid sparking conflict in Jerusalem and further straining ties with Washington amid a row over Jewish settlements.
Israeli panel revives East Jerusalem housing plan By Allyn Fisher-Ilan - Mon Jun 21, 5:41 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli municipal authorities moved ahead on Monday with a plan to raze some 20 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, risking more U.S.-Israeli friction over a building project seen by Palestinians as settlement expansion.The Jerusalem city planning board ratified a proposal that could renew diplomatic pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day after he bowed to world calls to ease a Gaza blockade following Israel's deadly raid on an aid flotilla.Citing concern over Israel's international image, Netanyahu had persuaded Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to put the King's Garden project on hold in March, at a time when Washington was struggling to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the United States was concerned about the project, though he said it was a preliminary step being taken by the Jerusalem municipality and not the Israeli government.We've had a number of conversations with the government of Israel about it,Crowley told reporters in Washington.This would appear to be the kind of action that undermines trust and ... adds to the risk of violence, he said, adding that housing and other projects in the occupied areas of Jerusalem should be decided in talks between the two sides.Netanyahu's office said later in a statement the plan was extremely preliminary and still faced a long process and opposition before it could receive final approval.City spokesman Stephan Miller said the board gave zoning approval for building 1,000 homes across 54 acres in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan.The blueprint also calls for demolishing about 20 Palestinian homes built without permits, while licensing another 60 of the houses Israel says were built illegally.
BUILDING PERMITS AT ISSUE
Palestinians say building permits are impossible to obtain from Israel. The Obama administration has publicly appealed to Netanyahu not to demolish Palestinian homes.
Palestinian leaders have described the project as another attempt by Israel to cement its claim to all of Jerusalem, whose eastern sector it captured in a 1967 war and annexed in a move that is not recognized internationally.This is a municipality of colonization,said Adnan al-Husseini, the Palestinian Authority-appointed governor of Jerusalem.You cannot claim to be building gardens while you are depriving people of a house to live in.Israel drew U.S. anger in March, when it announced during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden a plan to build 1,600 homes for Jews in an area of the occupied West Bank it considers part of Jerusalem. Israel assured Washington building at the Ramat Shlomo settlement site would not begin for at least two years.
Under world pressure to rethink a Gaza embargo condemned by critics as collective punishment, Israel announced on Sunday that it would allow in all goods except for weapons and materials used to make them, while maintaining a sea blockade.Netanyahu announced the new policy, which won U.S. and European praise, together with international Middle East envoy Tony Blair, who had been lobbying Israel to revise an embargo in force since Hamas Islamists rose to power in the coastal territory in 2006.The White House said after the announcement that U.S. President Barak Obama would meet Netanyahu on July 6.Miller said the King's Garden project was intended to improve the quality of life in Silwan and that a park and public complex slated to be built in the area would be used by Arabs and Jews alike. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.Miller said that even with the approval of the Jerusalem planning board, final ratification of the project, which also must go through a district commission, could take months.Any move that could bring the home demolitions closer seems likely to direct more world anger at Israel, which was rocked by an international outcry over its killing of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists in the flotilla raid.
Israel said its naval commandos acted in self-defense after activists wielding metal rods and knives swarmed a boarding party in the May 31 interception.(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
JUNE 24, 2:50 PM
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's right-wing Likud party backed on Thursday the expansion of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, with an eye to a building spurt when a building moratorium expires in September.The central committee of the Likud has unanimously approved the pursuit of construction and development in Judea and Samaria,said a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party, using the Biblical name for the West Bank.Some 2,500 members of the policy-making central committee debated the motion which supports building and developing throughout the Land of Israel including... Greater Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria.Judea and Samaria are the biblical names for the West Bank. Greater Jerusalem includes mainly Arab east Jerusalem, which was occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed immediately after.The central committee calls on representatives of all (the party's) institutions and on its elected officials to act in conformity with the spirit of this motion and to advance the development of settlements in Judea and Samaria,the statement added.The debate was proposed by legislator Danny Danon in a bid to emphasise the party's wholehearted support for a return to construction when the freeze expires in September, although neither the moratorium nor the deadline was mentioned in the wording of the draft resolution.
The essence of today's decision is that the Likud movement is saying to its leaders, Knesset members, ministers, the prime minister: We are committed to building in Judea and Samaria on September 26 when the (freeze) order runs out and we resume building,he told Israel's educational TV channel.Netanyahu reluctantly imposed a 10-month ban on new building in November following months of US demands for gestures to help relaunch peace talks with the Palestinians suspended during the 2008-2009 Gaza war.But the Palestinians dismissed the move as insufficient because it did not include projects already under way, public buildings or east Jerusalem, which they claim as the capital of their future state.Israel's Peace Now group, which monitors settlements, said last week that so many projects were approved before the freeze began that it has has done little to slow the expansion of settlements.Likud central committee chairman Moshe Kahlon, who is also communications minister, confirmed that the motion did not make direct reference to the freeze or its expiry date.The debate today is not about the freeze,he told the radio. Netanyahu would not attend the committee session in Tel Aviv, Kahlon said, insisting that his absence had no political significance.Likud MP Ofir Akonis told public radio the motion endorsing settlement expansion was so popular that Netanyahu did not need to attend the meeting, while stressing that the premier did support the party's position.On July 6 Netanyahu will meet President Barack Obama in the White House. Washington has repeatedly criticised West Bank settlement as an obstacle to the peace process.
The last thing (Netanyahu) needs is that two weeks before the meeting with US President Barack Obama, he goes to a meeting of his own party which seeks to oblige him to build in Judea and Samaria,the radio station's political reporter said.The Palestinians grudgingly agreed to relaunch indirect US-brokered peace talks with Israel in May, but have said they will not move to direct negotiations without a complete settlement freeze including in east Jerusalem.The presence of nearly half a million Israelis in more than 120 settlements scattered across the West Bank and east Jerusalem has long been seen as a major threat to the establishment of an independent, viable Palestinian state.
Israel to expel Hamas politicians from Jerusalem By BEN HUBBARD, Associated Press Writer - JUNE 24,10
JERUSALEM – Israel's decision to expel four Hamas politicians from Jerusalem threatened to set off a new crisis over the disputed city and could hinder U.S. efforts to restart peace talks.The expulsions of the three Palestinian lawmakers and a former Cabinet minister could start as early as Friday. Israel has not said where they would be sent, but the West Bank is a possible destination.Israel revoked their Jerusalem residency rights in 2006 and arrested them because they belong to Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls the Gaza Strip and has carried out scores of deadly attacks against Israelis. The expulsion orders were delayed because the men have been in prison until recently.Israel has stripped thousands of Palestinians of their residency rights in east Jerusalem since capturing and annexing the area in the 1967 Mideast War. However, human rights activists said Israel has never before stripped Palestinians of Jerusalem residency because of their political affiliation.
This is a very dangerous precedent,Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said.We won't accept it. We won't allow it. We won't just overlook it.He said the Israeli government was creating the biggest obstacles yet on the path to peace.Jerusalem is holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians and the fate of Israeli-annexed eastern sector of the city has been the most explosive issue in two decades of on-and-off negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem as a capital, while Israel says it won't relinquish any part of the city.Some 190,000 Israelis have moved into Jewish neighborhoods built since 1967 in east Jerusalem, surrounding the older Arab sections, and Palestinians say this is undermining their claims to the city.Most of the 250,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem carry Israeli-issued residency documents. Israel has stripped those documents from about 13,000, according to government statistics obtained by the Israeli human rights group HaMoked. But in those cases, Israel cited administrative reasons such as staying away from the city for too long.Palestinians say revoking Jerusalem IDs is part of an overall Israeli policy to reduce the number of Jerusalem's Palestinians, who make up one-third the city's population.Hamas and the Western-backed Abbas are bitter rivals, but Abbas apparently spoke out because of concerns that the expulsions will set a precedent of removing Palestinians from Jerusalem for their political views.
The four Hamas politicians said they won't leave voluntarily.They will have to yank me out,said Hamas lawmaker Mohammed Abu Teir, one of those set for expulsion.If Israel goes through with the expulsions, it will almost certainly complicate U.S. attempts to restart direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. For now, a U.S. envoy is shuttling between the two sides, but Abbas insists he won't resume direct talks until Israel freezes all settlement construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories it captured in the 1967 Mideast War.Israel says it has the right to expel the four because they belong to a terror organization.The only precedent here is a very clear warning to Hamas and all those who promote terror that adhering to violence will (have a) backlash, said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor.Abu Teir and two other Jerusalemites facing expulsion — Mohammed Totah and Ahmed Abu Atoun — were among those elected on a Hamas slate in 2006 when Jerusalem's Arabs participated in elections for a Palestinian parliament. The fourth politician is former Cabinet minister Khaled Abu Arafa.Israel revoked their Jerusalem residency rights in 2006 and arrested them, along with dozens of Hamas politicians from the West Bank, after the capture of an Israeli soldier by Hamas-allied militants in Gaza.My parents and relatives have been in this village and near Jerusalem for 500 years, and you've only been here since 48 when the occupation started,Abu Teir said, addressing the Israelis.Associated Press writers Karin Laub and Dalia Nammari in Ramallah, West Bank, contributed to this report.
Syria, Jordan slam Israel over blocked peace efforts
JUNE 24,10
DAMASCUS (AFP) – Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and visiting Jordanian King Abdullah II on Thursday blamed Israel for blocking peace efforts in the Middle East, the official SANA news agency reported.Assad, on the eve of his first Latin American tour, and Abdullah also demanded that Israel lift the inhuman blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip,the agency said.It said the two leaders called for a common international position to face up to the policies of the Israeli government which is blocking peace efforts and any chance of reaching a comprehensive peace in the region.
Israel marks four years since soldier held in Gaza
by Michael Blum - JUNE 24,10
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Four years after Gaza-based Palestinian militants snatched Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the chances of his release are looking remoter than ever and the family's patience is fast running out.Shalit, now 23, was captured on June 25, 2006 by the Islamist Hamas organisation and two smaller armed groups in a deadly cross-border dawn raid.But years of diplomatic efforts to secure his release, which almost saw a breakthrough in December, have since hit a brick wall.It is also four years since a strict blockade was imposed on Gaza in a bid to force its Hamas rulers into freeing Shalit, but the siege's conditions were eased dramatically this week as Israel bowed to a wave of global pressure.Israel's U-turn on its siege policy came in the wake of a botched raid on a fleet of aid ships which were trying to run the blockade, which left nine foreign activists dead.The move was a bitter blow for the Shalit family.It is a terrible feeling to learn that the prime minister has given in to international pressure without taking our son into account, Noam Shalit said, vowing to pursue a more aggressive campaign for his son's release.Four years, two prime ministers, two defence ministers and two chiefs of staff have failed -- they have all failed to bring Gilad home, he told AFP.In those four years, two successive governments have explored various options for a prisoner swap with Shalit's Hamas captors.Hamas wants Israel to release hundreds of prisoners, including several top militants responsible for killing scores of Israelis, in exchange for Shalit -- a price the Jewish state appears reluctant to pay.Although Israel was reportedly prepared to release 450 prisoners, negotiations hit deadlock in December after the government presented an offer through a German mediator to which Hamas has still not responded.
On Tuesday, the soldier's 86-year-old grandfather Zvi Shalit managed to secure a long-awaited audience with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.But he emerged despondent, saying he was not optimistic.After years of on-off negotiations and no progress to show for it, the family's patience appears to be running out, with Noam Shalit urging Netanyahu to take the necessary difficult and unpopular decisions needed to bring his son home.I won't be happy if terrorists and dangerous murderers and people who have the potential to return to terror are released, but after four years, the time has come to make up one's mind, especially since the government is not proposing any other alternative and there are no negotiations right now and no response from Hamas to the German proposal, he told the Haaretz daily.So would the prime minister kindly make a decision and pay what is being demanded? Over the past four years, the Shalit family has waged an unceasing campaign for his release, meeting world leaders and other key figures in a bid to put pressure on Hamas.French President Nicolas Sarkozy has assured the family of of his full support and said France was committed to securing the release of Shalit, who also has French nationality.Earlier this week, thousands of people staged a large rally of support in Paris, with Noam Shalit himself due to lead another huge demonstration in Rome later on Thursday.
On Friday, the anniversary of his capture, thousands of yellow balloons will be released by supporters across Israel and the world -- yellow being the colour of support for the young captive who is being held in a secret location somewhere in Gaza.And on Sunday, the Shalit family accompanied by thousands of supporters will set off on a march from their home in northern Israel to Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence, a distance of about 200 kilometres (120 miles.) As the march heads south, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra will hold a free concert at a location near the Gaza Strip next week.But as the new campaign to free Shalit gathers pace, his fate still lies in the hands of those involved in the negotiations -- the Israeli government and the radical Hamas movement.I only do what I can do,Noam Shalit said after four years spent battling for his son's release.I fight to save Gilad and to bring him home.
87 US senators support Israeli self-defense
Wed Jun 23, 7:34 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Eighty-seven of the US Senate's 100 members have voiced support for Israel's right to self-defense in the face of threats from Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran, the Senate said Wednesday.The lawmakers wrote in a letter to President Barack Obama that they fully support Israel?s right to self-defense.In response to thousands of rocket attacks on Israel from Hamas terrorists in Gaza, Israel took steps to prevent items which could be used to support these attacks from reaching Gaza,they said, referring to Israel's four-year naval blockade of the Palestinian territory.Israel last week announced it was easing its siege to allow all strictly civilian goods into Gaza, after a crisis exploded when Israeli forces killed nine activists during a May 31 raid on a flotilla of aid ships attempting to run the blockade.The lawmakers, from both sides of the political aisle, also stressed that it is our national interest to support Israel at a moment when Israel faces multiple threats from Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the current regime in Iran.The lawmakers brought particular attention to the Turkish Muslim charity involved with organizing the aid flotilla, and urged Obama to consider branding the IHH -- the acronym for the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation -- as a terrorist organization, as Israel did earlier this month.They also commended Obama for the action he took to prevent the adoption of an unfair United Nations Security Council resolution (about the deadly raid) which would have represented a rush to judgment by the international community.A UN Security Council statement condemned the attack, but fell short of a call for an independent investigation, with the United States backing an Israeli probe.
Barak seeks to put aside rows to advance peace process
Wed Jun 23, 6:04 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak called here Wednesday for pushing ahead with the Middle East peace process by putting aside rows following a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.Barak made the comments as he went into talks with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to review Israel's decision to ease its blockade of Gaza and looked at ways to revive direct Israeli-Palestinian talks.We have a full commitment to work together with the secretary and try to find ways to move forward with the peace process in Israel and put aside all the difficulties and rows in the recent weeks, Barak told reporters.The goal is to put them behind us in a proper manner in order to concentrate on how to change the direction of the events in the whole area,the Israeli minister said.In this regard, no one can underestimate the effort, the commitment, the devotion and resources that the secretary puts into helping players in the region to find a way to move forward, Barak said.Clinton welcomed an old friend and someone who is certainly deeply involved in every important decision that affects Israel's security and prospects for peace.Israel was forced to review its Gaza policy after triggering a diplomatic storm when its commandos late last month raided a Gaza-bound aid flotilla from Turkey, killing nine Turkish activists, including a dual US-Turkish national.
Israel announced at the weekend it would allow all strictly civilian goods into Gaza while preventing a specific list of weapons and dual-use items from entering the territory run by the militant group Hamas.Crowley said Barak indicated to the secretary directly that Israel is developing a list of goods that will be allowed into Gaza without actually giving her details.But he made very clear that it (Israel) anticipates a dramatic expansion in the flow of materials into Gaza, Crowley told reporters after the Israeli-US meetings that included a 30-minute face-to-face Barak-Clinton encounter.He indicated that working with the UN and others, he anticipated there would be a significant increase in the projects that will go forward in Gaza. He did not lay out a specific list, Crowley said.Under the previous Israeli policy, cement deliveries were barred for fear that Hamas militants might use them for bunkers or other military purposes.Crowley said that George Mitchell, the US Middle East peace envoy, will return to the region next week to resume the proximity talks, or indirect talks between the two sides.The Palestinians reluctantly agreed to launch the indirect talks in May after months of shuttle diplomacy by US envoy George Mitchell, but said they would not move to direct talks without a complete Israeli settlement freeze.Crowley said Barak and Clinton discussed some of the ways in which we can build momentum to move toward those direct negotiations from the current proximity talks, but gave no details.The State Department spokesman also said that Barak did discuss with Clinton the Israeli investigation into the botched raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla.
Israel: Flotillas aim to get weapons to Gaza By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer –Wed Jun 23, 4:34 pm ET
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu charged Wednesday that the real motivation behind plans to send blockade-busting ships toward Gaza is to allow free flow of weapons into the Palestinian territory.Netanyahu spoke as preparations were under way to send several ships carrying aid and pro-Palestinian activists toward Gaza, setting up potential confrontations at sea.On May 31, Israeli naval commandos killed nine pro-Palestinian activists in clashes aboard a Turkish ship headed for Gaza, setting off a world outcry and forcing Israel to ease its three-year-old blockade.Israel already has warned archenemy Iran to drop its plan to send a blockade-busting ship to Gaza. The Iranian ship is one of several that activists say will head for Gaza in the next few months. One is said to be heading for Gaza from Lebanon within days.On Wednesday, Lebanon warned that it would hold Israel responsible for any further attacks on blockade-busting ships.Netanyahu said his government is drawing up a list of weapons and items with military uses that will not be allowed into Gaza so that we can permit all the rest.He said the new list will be made public in the coming days.In Washington, where Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the U.S. would be a part of that conversation of drawing up the list.Barak assured Clinton that building materials would be let in for a significant increase in the projects that will go forward in Gaza, Crowley said.Since the violent 2007 takeover of Gaza by Hamas — an Islamic militant group responsible for firing thousands of rockets at Israeli border communities — Israel has let in only limited humanitarian supplies, including basic foods and medicine.
Construction materials, which Israel maintains Hamas could use to make weapons and build bunkers, were barred, and the vast majority of Gaza's 1.5 million people could not travel. The blockade strangled the already poor territory's economy but failed to undermine Hamas, one of the blockade's main goals.Under Israel's new policy, approved Sunday,Anyone who wants to bring products can do so — food, toys, medicines, anything,Netanyahu said Wednesday at his Jerusalem office, where he was meeting Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann.Israel insists that all cargo from the flotillas must be inspected at one of its ports to remove weapons, and then the aid supplies would be transferred over land to Gaza. Flotilla organizers have rejected this procedure, prompting Israel to take control of the boats at sea and bring them to Ashdod port.The May 31 flotilla was made up of six ships, and violence erupted on only one of them. Israel says its commandos were attacked with iron bars, clubs and knives and opened fire in self-defense.
Flotilla organizers say the Israeli gunfire was unprovoked.Netanyahu said the removal of the ban on civilian products shows that the object of the new flotillas is to stage a provocation to break the military quarantine, not the civilian quarantine, that is, the quarantine against missiles, rockets and other weapons.
Netanyahu did not repeat earlier Israeli vows to stop all ships heading for Gaza. Israel's military, stung by the international outrage over its bloody attack on the Turkish flotilla, has been drilling new procedures for stopping ships at sea.Two ships carrying aid are planning to make the trip to Gaza from Lebanon. Lebanese authorities have so far granted one of them permission to sail first to Cyprus and not directly to Gaza because Lebanon and Israel are technically at war. A Lebanese official said Lebanon sent a letter to the U.N. holding Israel responsible for any attack on the ships, noting Lebanon cannot stop ships from leaving its ports if they comply with its law.The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak publicly due to the sensitivity of the issue.Associated Press writer Zeina Karam in Beirut and Matthew Lee in Washington, D.C. contributed to this report.
Israel launches spy satellite: defence ministry
Wed Jun 23, 10:35 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel has launched a spy satellite from a base in the south of the country, the defence ministry said, with the device reportedly capable of monitoring arch-foe Iran.A few minutes ago the State of Israel launched the Ofek-9 (Horizon-9) satellite from the Palmachim base, the ministry said on Tuesday.The results of the launch are being examined by the technical team.It gave no details on the satellite, but public radio said it, like its predecessors in the Ofek series, were cable of taking high resolution pictures and aimed at monitoring Iran's nuclear programme.The radio said the satellite was developed by Israel Aircraft Industries and launched on a Shavit rocket.Israel, which has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, regards Iran as its principal threat after repeated predictions by the Islamic republic's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Jewish state's demise.Along with the West, it suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under the guise of its nuclear programme, a claim Tehran denies.With the launch of Ofek-9, Israel has six spy satellites in space.An attempt to launch an Ofek-6 in 2004 failed with the satellite crashing into the Mediterranean Sea after a technical malfunction with the launcher.
Israeli army chief vows to stop Lebanese, Iranian ships
Tue Jun 22, 4:29 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's army chief vowed Tuesday to prevent Lebanese and Iranian aid ships from entering the Gaza Strip, saying the coastal enclave would not become an Iranian port, media reported.We have the right to inspect and prevent the flow of arms into Gaza, the Ynet news website quoted Israeli chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi as saying.We can't let Gaza become an Iranian port, he said speaking at a Jewish seminary in northern Israel.Earlier Tuesday Iranian Red Crescent officials said an Iranian aid ship is to leave the Gulf port of Bandar Abbas for a 14-day journey to Gaza at the end of this week, the ISNA news agency reported.Lebanese civilian groups are also planning to send two ships to the Israeli-blockaded Palestinian territory via Cyprus.If a flotilla comes from Lebanon we will deal with it. If they are peaceful we will deal with it peacefully, if not we will deal with it as we need to, Ashkenazi said.The planned Iranian and Lebanese aid shipments come after a May 31 Israeli commando raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists dead and sparked international outrage.
Israel has eased the blockade on Gaza in the wake of the incident.Israel has argued the closures -- imposed when one of its soldiers was seized by Gaza militants in a deadly June 2006 raid and tightened a year later when Hamas took over -- are needed to contain the Islamist movement.The Jewish state is highly wary of aid flotillas. Israel is officially at a state of war with Lebanon and Israeli media have said that the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah might be planning to send materials into Gaza. Israel argues that Hamas is seeking weapons from the aid missions.Israel views Iran as its principal threat after repeated predictions by the Islamic republic's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the Jewish state's demise.Along with the West, it suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under the guise of its nuclear programme, a claim Tehran denies.
Israeli troops arrest four in West Bank raids
Wed Jun 23, 7:26 am ET
RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Israeli troops overnight arrested four Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, among them a former intelligence officer, a Palestinian security official said Wednesday.The army arrested Shadi Amwasi, 30, who is also a member of president Mahmud Abbas' Fatah party, in Ramallah and searched his home for weapons. The three others were arrested in neighbouring villages, the official said.The military confirmed it arrested four wanted Palestinians without providing further details.The Western-backed Palestinian Authority has long objected to Israeli incursions in Area A, parts of the occupied territory where it enjoys limited self-rule, including its administrative seat in Ramallah.The military says it has the right to operate anywhere in the territory.
Concerns raised over Jerusalem archaeological park
Tue Jun 22, 6:10 am ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The State Department said Monday the United States is concerned over plans announced by the Jerusalem municipality to move ahead on a new archaeological park that call for the demolition of Arab homes.This is expressly the kind of step that we think undermines trust that is fundamental in making progress to the proximity talks and ultimately in direct negotiations, said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley, referring to US efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians together at talks.We're concerned about it. We've had a number of conversation with the government of Israel about it.The plans, which have raised fears of unrest in the Holy City, call for an archaeological park in a part of the so-called Holy Basin, believed to be the site of ancient Jerusalem during the time of the biblical kings David and Solomon.It is now a crowded Arab neighborhood in a part of the city occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognized internationally.The city's planning and building committee approved the Gan Hamelech (King's Garden) project, a municipal spokesman said, using the Hebrew name for the area outside Jerusalem's Old City known as Al-Bustan to its mostly Arab residents.
The plans call for the demolition of 22 Arab homes.In March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Jerusalem's Mayor Nir Barkat to freeze the project to avoid sparking conflict in Jerusalem and further straining ties with Washington amid a row over Jewish settlements.
Israeli panel revives East Jerusalem housing plan By Allyn Fisher-Ilan - Mon Jun 21, 5:41 pm ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli municipal authorities moved ahead on Monday with a plan to raze some 20 Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem, risking more U.S.-Israeli friction over a building project seen by Palestinians as settlement expansion.The Jerusalem city planning board ratified a proposal that could renew diplomatic pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day after he bowed to world calls to ease a Gaza blockade following Israel's deadly raid on an aid flotilla.Citing concern over Israel's international image, Netanyahu had persuaded Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat to put the King's Garden project on hold in March, at a time when Washington was struggling to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said the United States was concerned about the project, though he said it was a preliminary step being taken by the Jerusalem municipality and not the Israeli government.We've had a number of conversations with the government of Israel about it,Crowley told reporters in Washington.This would appear to be the kind of action that undermines trust and ... adds to the risk of violence, he said, adding that housing and other projects in the occupied areas of Jerusalem should be decided in talks between the two sides.Netanyahu's office said later in a statement the plan was extremely preliminary and still faced a long process and opposition before it could receive final approval.City spokesman Stephan Miller said the board gave zoning approval for building 1,000 homes across 54 acres in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan.The blueprint also calls for demolishing about 20 Palestinian homes built without permits, while licensing another 60 of the houses Israel says were built illegally.
BUILDING PERMITS AT ISSUE
Palestinians say building permits are impossible to obtain from Israel. The Obama administration has publicly appealed to Netanyahu not to demolish Palestinian homes.
Palestinian leaders have described the project as another attempt by Israel to cement its claim to all of Jerusalem, whose eastern sector it captured in a 1967 war and annexed in a move that is not recognized internationally.This is a municipality of colonization,said Adnan al-Husseini, the Palestinian Authority-appointed governor of Jerusalem.You cannot claim to be building gardens while you are depriving people of a house to live in.Israel drew U.S. anger in March, when it announced during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden a plan to build 1,600 homes for Jews in an area of the occupied West Bank it considers part of Jerusalem. Israel assured Washington building at the Ramat Shlomo settlement site would not begin for at least two years.
Under world pressure to rethink a Gaza embargo condemned by critics as collective punishment, Israel announced on Sunday that it would allow in all goods except for weapons and materials used to make them, while maintaining a sea blockade.Netanyahu announced the new policy, which won U.S. and European praise, together with international Middle East envoy Tony Blair, who had been lobbying Israel to revise an embargo in force since Hamas Islamists rose to power in the coastal territory in 2006.The White House said after the announcement that U.S. President Barak Obama would meet Netanyahu on July 6.Miller said the King's Garden project was intended to improve the quality of life in Silwan and that a park and public complex slated to be built in the area would be used by Arabs and Jews alike. Palestinians want East Jerusalem to be the capital of a state they hope to establish in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.Miller said that even with the approval of the Jerusalem planning board, final ratification of the project, which also must go through a district commission, could take months.Any move that could bring the home demolitions closer seems likely to direct more world anger at Israel, which was rocked by an international outcry over its killing of nine Turkish pro-Palestinian activists in the flotilla raid.
Israel said its naval commandos acted in self-defense after activists wielding metal rods and knives swarmed a boarding party in the May 31 interception.(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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