donderdag 30 december 2010

Bij aanvang 2011 telt Israel 7,7 miljoen inwoners


De demografische cijfers van dit jaar: er wonen nu meer dan 7,5 miljoen mensen in Israel, waarvan 75% Joden en 20% Arabieren. Zoals ieder jaar is ook dit jaar de bevolking weer licht gestegen. Afgezien van de beperkte hoeveelheid drinkwater blijkt het land deze groeiende bevolking wel aan te kunnen, ondanks voorspellingen aan het begin van de 20ste eeuw dat het land niet meer dan een miljoen zielen zou kunnen herbergen (en dat gold voor het mandaatgebied Palestina, waar dus ook Gaza en de Westoever bijzaten). Overigens telt Israel wel de inwoners van de nederzettingen bij haar bevolking.
 
RP
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On eve of 2011, Israel's population reaches 7.7 million




75.4 percent of Israeli are Jews, 20.4% are Arab; 16,000 immigrated to Israel in 2010; 28% of population under age of 14.

On the eve of 2011, Israel's population stands at 7,695,000, according to figures released Wednesday by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), ahead of the start of the new year on Saturday.

In terms of ethnic divisions, Israel's Jews now count for some 5,802,000 or 75.4 percent of the population; Arabs 20.4% or 1,573,000 people and the remaining 320,000, 4.2%, people not registered as Jews or Arabs by the Interior Ministry's Population and Immigration Authority.

Overall, the numbers show a steady growth rate of 1.9% or an increase of 143,000 individuals to the population over the past year, a rise that has been consistent since 2003 and that reflects a similar growth rate to the 1980s, prior to the mass aliya of Jews from the Former Soviet Union during the 1990s.

Of the 143,000 individuals that joined the Israeli population in 2010, the majority (88%) was the result of births; and the rest were either as new immigrants (16,000) or children born to returning ex-pat Israelis (6,000). An additional 4,000 came to Israel under a special government program that unites non-Jewish relatives with their families here.

According to CBS statistics released three months ago, Israel is still a fairly young nation with 28% of its population being under the age of 14, compared to 17% in most other Western countries and only 10% of the population being over 65. In other Western countries that average is closer to 15%.

The data also shows that the average Jewish family still hovers between 2.8 and 2.9 children. In the Muslim community, the average number of children per mother is 3.73 and among Christian families its 2.1.

In terms of demographic distribution, the majority of the Jewish population is concentrated in Jerusalem or the center of the country, including Tel Aviv, and 60% of the Arab population lives in the North.

In fact, annual data from the CBS shows that while one fifth of the general population lives in the North, only 10% of those people are Jewish. In the South, the split falls in the opposite direction, with only 11% of the population there being Arabs, mostly Bedouins.

WikiLeaks onthult details wereldwijde wapensmokkel Iran aan terreurgroepen

 
Dit is voor velen geen nieuws meer, maar binnen pro-Palestijnse kringen wordt een en ander nog graag afgedaan als zionistische propaganda.
 
RP
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20.12.2010

Global Iranian Arms Smuggling to Terrorist Groups Detailed by WikiLeaks

http://www.realite-eu.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=9dJBLLNkGiF&b=2315291&ct=8978805

In December 2010, Western nations charged Iran uses "complex and complicated" methods to trade in arms and explosives, in order to bypass EU and UN sanctions. Martin Briens, France's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, said Iran was behind "a considerable flow of arms and other dangerous material" and that "worrying new routes" for shipments were found in Africa. [1]

In October 2010, Nigerian agents in Lagos seized 13 containers of weapons originally loaded at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas and reportedly destined for The Gambia.

US government cables released by WikiLeaks revealed that Egypt, fearing both Iran's influence in the region and an Iranian nuclear bomb, told US officials Iran was trying to "recruit Bedouin in the Sinai Peninsula to smuggle arms into the blockaded Gaza Strip". The WikiLeaks cable reported that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak thinks "the Iranian nuclear program is a strategic and existential threat to Egypt and the region". What seized Mubarak's "immediate attention are Iran's non-nuclear destabilizing actions such as support for Hamas, media attacks, weapons and illicit funds smuggling, all of which add up in his mind to 'Iranian influence spreading like a cancer from the GCC to Morocco'". [2]

Other documents released by WikiLeaks report that Iran used ambulances to smuggle weapons into Lebanon during Hezbollah's war with Israel in 2006. Other cables reveal that Iran has "far more advanced missiles than the US had previously supposed it had" in its arsenal. [3]

Iran is using multiple countries and front companies to assemble its weapons arsenal. According to WikiLeaks, Turkish firms "may sign a contract to export military materiel to Iran" including bullets, grenade launchers and magazines for assault rifles. [4]

Iran successfully tested a newly developed air defense missile system during the Islamic Republic's biggest ever air defense drill in November. [5] Earlier, in March 2010, Iran's Defense Minister, Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi, announced a new production line of short-range cruise missiles, capable of evading radar. He said: "The Nasr-1 missile is able to destroy 3000-ton targets." [6]

Iran's arsenal consists of a variety of artillery rockets, including the Shahin, Oghab, Fajr, Naze'at and Zelzal. Iran produces a number of rockets using components originating in China and Russian, including the Haseb, Noor and Arash rockets and is currently constructing medium range (up to 1000km) ballistic missiles. [7]

WikiLeaks: Iran's Support for Terrorist Organizations

WikiLeaks cables revealed that Iran had supplied Scud-D missiles to Hezbollah. [8]

The newly published cables revealed that Syria also was providing Hezbollah with weapons. US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said: "We are aware […] of current Syrian efforts to supply Hezbollah with ballistic missiles." Syria denied the allegations but the Pentagon detailed that Hezbollah had amassed up to 50,000 rockets and missiles. [9]

According to reports, Hezbollah is rearming in Southern Lebanon, smuggling rockets and weapons from Syria and its other backers into the region. [10] UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended the war between Israel and Hezbollah, banned all unauthorized weapons between the Litani River and the Blue Line, the UN-monitored border between Israel and Lebanon. [11] This arms embargo was never enforced by the UN monitors along the border between Lebanon and Syria. [12] According to Western officials and Hezbollah itself, the Shiite Muslim organization has rearmed and is stronger than it was before the conflict with Israel. [13]

Iran views Hezbollah "as an essential partner for advancing its regional policy objectives," the Pentagon recently reported. [14] Lebanon receives US military and economic aid, intended largely to strengthen the Lebanese armed forces and to weaken Hezbollah's influence. [15] In January 2010, President Suleiman described Lebanese-Iranian relations as "good on all aspects". [16]

In the WikiLeaks documents, Jordanians refer to Iran as "an octopus whose tentacles reach out insidiously to manipulate, foment and undermine the best laid plans of the West and regional moderates: Iran's tentacles include its allies Qatar and Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian territories, an Iraqi government sometimes seen as supplicant to Tehran, and Shi'ite communities throughout the region." [17]

WikiLeaks also revealed that two years ago the Saudis proposed creating an Arab force backed by the US and NATO to intervene in Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah. Though the plan was never enacted it demonstrates the "anxiety of Saudi Arabia – as well as the US – about growing Iranian influence in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East". [18]

The cables also expose how the US State Department warned Sudan in 2009 "not to allow the delivery of unspecified arms that were expected to be passed to Hamas in the Gaza Strip" at the time of Israel's Operation Cast Lead. [19]


References:

[1] "West raises fears over Iran arms smuggling," Agence France Presse, December 10, 2010, http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20101210/wl_mideast_afp/irannuclearpoliticsun_20101210185059

[2]  "WikiLeaks: Iran tried to recruit Sinai Bedouin to smuggle arms into Gaza," Reuters, December 16, 2010, http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/wikileaks-iran-tried-to-recruit-sinai-bedouin-to-smuggle-arms-into-gaza-1.330983

[3] "WikiLeaks: Red Crescent smuggled weapons for Iran," YnetNews, November 29, 2010, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3991099,00.html

[4] Shachtman, Noah: "WikiLeaks Reveals Iran's Secret, Worldwide Arms Hunt," Wired.com, November 28, 2010, http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/11/wikileaks-reveals-irans-secret-worldwide-arms-hunt/

[5] Dareini, Ali Akbar: "Iran says it tested new air defense missile system," Associated Press, November 18, 2010, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40257437/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

[6]  "Iran starts production of short-range missiles," Arab News, March 7, 2010, http://arabnews.com/middleeast/article26945.ece

[7]  "Iranian Artillery Rockets," GlobalSecurity.org, http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iran/mrl-iran.htm

[8] "WikiLeaks: U.S. secretly blocking Syria and Iran arms flow, with help from Israel," Haaretz, December 7, 2010, http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/wikileaks-u-s-secretly-blocking-syria-and-iran-arms-flow-with-help-from-israel-1.329306?localLinksEnabled=false

[9] Ibid.

[10] Davies, Wyre: "De-mining volatile Israeli-Lebanese frontier," BBC Online, September 10, 2010, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11250434

[11] "Lebanon, Iran to coordinate in UN Security Council: Lebanese president," Xinhua, January 17, 2010, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2010-01/17/content_12822627.htm

[12] "Sleiman in talks on strengthening relations with Iran," The Daily Star, March 24, 2010, http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=1&article_id=113093#axzz0mJF7RLqg

[13] "Lebanon receives "messages of support" from Iran, Syria," Trend.az, March 23, 2010, http://en.trend.az/regions/met/arabicr/1658158.html

[14] Gienger, Viola: "Iran Gives Weapons to Re-Arm Hezbollah, Pentagon Says," Bloomberg, April 20, 2010, http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-20/iran-gives-weapons-funds-to-help-lebanese-hezbollah-re-arm.html

[15] Schneider, Howard: "Hariri's struggles in Lebanon show limits of U.S. influence," The Washington Post, January 11, 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/10/AR2010011002516.html

[16] "Lebanon, Iran to coordinate in UN Security Council: Lebanese president," Xinhua, January 17, 2010, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/10/AR2010011002516.html

[17] Keinon, Herb: "Diplomacy: The WikiLeaks torrent," The Jerusalem Post, December 3, 2010, http://www.jpost.com/Features/FrontLines/Article.aspx?id=197839

[18] MacAskill. Ewen: "WikiLeaks cables: Saudis proposed Arab force to invade Lebanon," The Guardian, December 7, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/07/wikileaks-saudi-arab-invasion-lebanon

[19] Black, Ian: "WikiLeaks cables: Sudan warned to block Iranian arms bound for Gaza," The Guardian, December 6, 2010, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/06/wikileaks-sudan-iranian-arms-gaza

 

woensdag 29 december 2010

Zionisme wordt ook gedelegitimeerd door rechtse racisten in Israel

 
Bij deze oproep tot zelfkritiek en veroordeling van de eigen extremisten sluit ik mij van harte aan.

In the happy meeting between Judaism and modern Western thought, after nearly two millennia of misery, most Jews internalized fundamental democratic ideals. Jews saw how the most welcoming polities respecting individual rights and fostering mutual respect, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, were also the most successful societies. Jews also functioned as society's watchdog, denouncing anti-Semitism and other prejudices.  Every one of us who demanded in the 1980s that Jesse Jackson disavow Louis Farrakhan's anti-Semitism, every one of us who demanded in 2008 that Barack Obama disavow the Reverend Jeremiah Wright's anti-Jewish and anti-American demagoguery, must combat our own anti-Arab, anti-immigrant bigots.

...Political morality transcends policy differences.  We need a passionate debate about the complicated questions regarding growing anti-Zionism among Israeli Arabs, regarding the messy immigration dilemmas bedeviling America and Europe not just Israel, regarding the complicated quest to empower a Jewish majority and an Arab minority in a democracy besieged by its neighbors. But we also need red lines against stereotyping, demonization, and bigotry.  Tzfat's racist rabbis, Jerusalem's Jewish hooligans constitute an ugly minority. They pervert Zionism, threatening to corrupt the collective Jewish soul, while unintentionally inviting us to clarify our values and affirm defining principles.

RP
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Racist Right and the silent Center: Stop delegitimizing Zionism

By Gil Troy, Jerusalem Post, 12-28-10

http://giltroyzionism.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/racist_right_silent_center_stop_delegitimizing_zionism/

Unfortunately, those of us fighting the delegitimization of Zionism face a new challenge.  Anti-Semitic Arabs and European useful idiots, the loony left and their puppet professors, relentlessly attack Zionism, caricaturing the liberal, democratic movement of Jewish nationalism as racist.  Now, in a strange perversion whereby victims of a smear absorb some characteristics bigots attribute to them, an ugly strain of Israeli racism is festering, threatening to delegitimize Zionism from within. Silent centrists must not stand by, idly watching racist rabbis in Tsfat ban selling houses to Arabs, young Jewish hooligans in Jerusalem beat Arabs, and loud bigots rally against Arabs and immigrants in Bat Yam and Tel Aviv.  Zionists must reject these immoral and outrageous acts as unwelcome in our otherwise big broad Zionist tent devoted to building a thriving, democratic Jewish state in the Jewish people's traditional homeland.

Jewish racists betray Judaism and Jewish history. Having taught the world how humane and open religion can be, we must never forget Judaism's sensitivity to others. Having suffered from discrimination, we must never practice it.

Similarly, Zionist racists betray Zionism and the Zionist mission.  Zionism's rise is intertwined with liberal democratic nationalism, mixing ethnic and civic nationalism. And Zionism's mandate to end anti-Semitism must never degenerate into discrimination against others.

The bullying bigots constitute a shrill minority – and have been widely denounced. Police arrested the hooligans. The Likudnik Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin – among many others – said the racist Rabbis' letter "shames the Jewish people." Given the relentless attacks on Israel and Zionism, given how mainstream anti-Semitic discourse is among Arabs, given how Palestinians routinely outlaw land sales to Jews, given how intellectuals have camouflaged modern anti-Semitism as anti-Zionism, it is a tribute to Zionism's moral fibre that these voices remain so marginal.

Still, the demagogues test us all, morally, ideologically, educationally. The bigotry – which is nation-based not race-based – festers due to many problems today. It highlights the Israeli rabbinate's corruption, hijacking state funds to advance a soulless, picayune, anti-Zionist, non-humanistic perversion of Judaism that has alienated generations of Israelis. It showcases epidemics of educational failure, growing violence, untrammeled aggressiveness, pagan youth, religious Jews loving land more than people or peace, in an increasingly rudderless society needing strong leaders and a reaffirmation of its founding ideals. It reflects the growing scar tissue of a society inured to any mistakes made regarding Palestinians because of Palestinian violence and rejectionism – which the world enables.

Silence is consent. Every rabbi, every educator, every settler, every Israeli citizen, every Zionist must boldly, loudly, and constructively denounce this ugliness. Rabbis must reaffirm the Torah's teachings seeking justice based on mutual respect, because we were strangers in a foreign land.  Educators must launch a civics curriculum teaching democratic values based on inherent rights. Settlers, so often caricatured as anti-Arab aggressors, can distance themselves from this scourge by rejecting racist rabbis in their communities and implementing programs affirming democratic values.

Israeli leaders must spearhead this fight while all Israeli citizens should recommit to the defining civic, democratic values expressed in Israel's Proclamation of Independence and embodied by David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin. Meanwhile, Zionists everywhere should reaffirm the teachings of Theodor Herzl and Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Ahad Ha'am and Rav Kook, that healthy nationalism rejects racism, that a Jewish state can be a democracy not a theocracy, that Zionism involves cultivating the best in us not bringing out the worst.

Contempt for "the goyim" is an ugly Jewish characteristic Zionism tried burying in Europe. Oppressed peoples use insularity and superiority as defense mechanisms. African-American humor mocks white Americans; Jewish humor mocks non-Jews. But when you return to history, wield power, become a majority, those jokes stop being funny – or necessary.

Zionism was about becoming whole again, about taking responsibility. This Altneuland was to be another normal expression of nationalism, as so many other peoples fulfilled their rights of self-determination through nation-states. This old-new state was also to be a special framework for fulfilling Jewish values in a state, not theorizing about them in seminaries.

In the happy meeting between Judaism and modern Western thought, after nearly two millennia of misery, most Jews internalized fundamental democratic ideals. Jews saw how the most welcoming polities respecting individual rights and fostering mutual respect, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, were also the most successful societies. Jews also functioned as society's watchdog, denouncing anti-Semitism and other prejudices.  Every one of us who demanded in the 1980s that Jesse Jackson disavow Louis Farrakhan's anti-Semitism, every one of us who demanded in 2008 that Barack Obama disavow the Reverend Jeremiah Wright's anti-Jewish and anti-American demagoguery, must combat our own anti-Arab, anti-immigrant bigots.

The Obama case is instructive. Many of us resented that Obama and his family regularly attended a church led by a man whose offensive rantings targeted us. We abhorred Obama's passivity, dismissing his denunciations in 2008 as calculated and long overdue. Here now is our opportunity to lead, demonstrating that every movement produces extremists, every form of nationalism has its xenophobes but constructive, democratic movements understand the value of self-policing and living up to our highest standards, not treating others as our enemies treat us.

Political morality transcends policy differences.  We need a passionate debate about the complicated questions regarding growing anti-Zionism among Israeli Arabs, regarding the messy immigration dilemmas bedeviling America and Europe not just Israel, regarding the complicated quest to empower a Jewish majority and an Arab minority in a democracy besieged by its neighbors. But we also need red lines against stereotyping, demonization, and bigotry.  Tzfat's racist rabbis, Jerusalem's Jewish hooligans constitute an ugly minority. They pervert Zionism, threatening to corrupt the collective Jewish soul, while unintentionally inviting us to clarify our values and affirm defining principles.

===========

Gil Troy is Professor of History at McGill University and a Research Fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. He is the author of "Why I Am A Zionist: Israel, Jewish Identity and the Challenges of Today," and, most recently, "The Reagan Revolution: A Very Short Introduction." giltroy@gmail.com

Islamitische beweging in Israel probeert religieuze lokaties terug te krijgen


De strijd om het land wordt niet alleen op de Westoever uitgevochten, maar ook in Israel zelf. We hadden al eens eerder een artikel over de islamitische begraafplaats naast het Onafhankelijkheidspark in Jeruzalem, waar nep-graven werden aangelegd om een groter gebied in te pikken. `(Dat was geen 2 maar 4,5 maanden geleden.) Inmiddels loopt die zaak nog bij de rechter, net als tientallen andere zaken waar leden van de militante islamitische beweging in Israel rechtszaken over hebben aangespannen. Ze eisen in feite alle plaatsen die voor de stichting van Israel islamitisch waren terug, waarbij elke moskee of begraafplaats 'heilig' wordt genoemd. Met dezelfde logica zouden Joden wereldwijd duizenden ex-synagoges en Joodse begraafplaatsen kunnen opeisen, met een totale oppervlakte waarbij Israels bescheiden omvang in het niet zou vallen. De ruim een miljoen moslims in Israel hebben natuurlijk recht op moskeën en begraafplaatsen, maar het is niet reëel dat alle plaatsen in Israel die ooit islamitisch zijn geweest de moslims weer moeten toebehoren.
 
Uiteraard hoeven Joden in Arabische en islamitische landen dit niet te proberen. Alle Joden minus enkele duizenden zijn uit de Arabische wereld gevlucht en verdreven, maar dit wordt zelfs door landen waarmee Israel officieel vrede heeft gesloten niet erkend. Joden mogen in Egypte niet eens de plaatsen opzoeken waar zij vroeger hebben geleefd en eigendommen achter moesten laten. Dergelijke excursies zijn een paar jaar geleden verboden vanwege de angst dat het zou kunnen leiden tot meer bewustwording en claims. Er zou wellicht wederzijds compensatie kunnen worden toegekend aan de verdrevenen, maar het zal welhaast onmogelijk zijn om een goede schatting van de eigendommen te maken, en ik zou ook niet weten wat voor instantie de onafhankelijkheid heeft om dit te bepalen. De VN in ieder geval niet.
 
RP
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Holy battle or scam?

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4005289,00.html

Ynet special: Islamic Movement uses questionable tactics to retake possession of sacred sites

Nechama Duek

Published: 12.28.10, 09:16

 

Jerusalem municipality employees could not believe their eyes when they arrived one early morning, about two months ago, to the ancient Muslim cemetery in the capital's Independence Park.

A few days earlier, city officials in coordination with local Muslim leadership decided to fence the vicinity in order to make it easier to restore the site, which was neglected and rundown.

However, the employees were stunned to discover 250 new tombstones scattered among the old graves – some dating back to the Crusaders and ancient Muslim periods.

"The tombstones are identical in size and shape, and are easily distinguishable," said Dimitry, who works in the area.

Municipality employees removed 150 of the fictitious tombstones, most of which had nothing underneath them but weeds and dirt.

However, when representatives of the Islamic Movement learned that the tombstones were being removed, they appealed to the court and requested an injunction against their removal, claiming it was a sacred site.

The court rejected the appeal twice. At the third hearing, hundreds of Muslims showed up at the courtroom.

"The atmosphere was quite scary," one of the participants said. "Eventually, the judge suspended the removal of the tombstones until a final verdict is issued. We're still waiting for the verdict. This issue is as explosive as dynamite."

"Placing the tombstones there is part of the Islamic Movement's attempt to take over the state-owned land," said Israel Land Administration Spokeswoman Ortal Tzabar in an official statement.

'Our strength is our faith'

The Muslim cemetery in Jerusalem's Independence Park is not the only bone of contention within the Green Line.

Islamic Movement activists are also demanding to reclaim the mosque in Caesarea – which is currently a restaurant; the mosque in Ashkelon – which has been converted into a museum; as well as additional mosques in Jerusalem, Tiberius, Kfar Hitim, and the Muslim cemetery in Ashkelon, in addition to thousands of other sites within the Green Line.

Group members travel through the country with the Al-Aqsa Company and locate cemeteries, mosques, and other ancient prayer sites. Some are on the verge of collapse, while others have been converted into schools, restaurants or gardens. They then write a detailed description of the site, take photos and map it. Houses or plots that once belonged to Arabs are not part of the struggle, which focuses only on sacred sites.

In many cases the group appeals to the High Court of Justice against what it calls "the plunder." Many of the appeals have been dragging on for years, and dozens of proceedings are still pending. "

For the time being, the Islamic Movement hasn't won any of the proceedings," an Israel Land Administration official said. "But we fear that if they win possession over one of these sites, the road from there to claiming all abandoned property – which amounts to thousands of dunams – will be short."

In certain cases, the activists return to the site and simply take over the area; they fence it, paint the ruins and even reinstate prayer services in some of the old mosques.

"We found more than 3,500 sites that are sacred to Islam, and have been nationalized," said senior Northern Islamic Movement member Omar Ali Abu Sheikha.

"They should return these sites to us, and we'll take care of them properly," he noted, adding, "We don't want to take over, just clean. They stop us, but we will continue. They imprison us, but we won't give up. We will continue to document, go to court, and won't let go."

"They shut down Al-Aqsa Association, claiming it was an illegal organization, so we established the Al-Aqsa Company. If they shut it down, we'll start a new one. Our strength is our faith, which belongs to us," Abu Sheikha said.

Officials at the Israel Land Administration are expressing growing concern over the spreading phenomenon of ownership battles over holy Islamic sites.

The tombstones that doubled over night in the Jerusalem cemetery is only one example of a wider trend.

Fake tombstones were also discovered in a Muslim cemetery near Moshav Ofer, after Land Administration officials claimed the northern Islamic Movement instructed its followers to restore the cemetery so that they can take over the land.

Another facet of the struggle focuses on slow annexation of land and setting facts on the ground. An example is the battle surrounding the beautiful Hassan Beck Mosque in Tel Aviv, located on land managed by the Administration.

The mosque, which stood abandoned for many years, was restored some 20 years ago. In the process, the builders exceeded the permitted height of the minaret. The municipality ordered it removed and issued a demolition order., prompting the minaret to be lowered slightly, while still exceeding the permitted height. Ultimately, officials just gave in and accepted it as is.

'Muhammad Watch'

Israel's area expands over 22 million dunams (about 5.5 million acres). The Israel Land Administration administers 93% of the state's land, out of which some 15% – or about 3.3 million dunams (about 815,000 acres) – are under the management of the Development Authority for lands of absentee assets.

The administration of these lands has long been transferred from the custodian of absentee assets in the Treasury to the Land Administration. These lands include holy sites that are spread across thousands of dunams and include mosques, cemeteries and prayer houses that have been abandoned during the War of Independence or earlier.

A brochure published in 1995 by the Al-Aqsa Foundation stated that, "The properties of the Muslim waqf are numerous and varied. Research shows that they are spread over an area equal to a sixth of the size of the State of Israel. The injustice is painful and horrid, and no single sane person around the world, whether Christian or Jewish, would accept such an impingement on his holy sites."

Government consultan Dr. Yechiel Shavi says the Islamic Movement's struggle over holy sites had nothing to do with nostalgia. "It is part of an extensive campaign aimed at securing an Islamic-Palestinian foothold within the boundaries of the State of Israel...Their supreme goal is to take hold of the land, so that they can implement the right of return in the future. So far the governments of Israel have ignored this phenomenon and buried their heads in the sand."

"A few months ago I was asked to advise the Prime Minister's Office on the matter," Dr. Shavi said. "In my view, the State has to curb this nationalistic activity, executed under the guise of religion, and transfer these sites to the Antiquities Authority and declare them as historic sites. I recommended sealing some structures and declaring others as national parks, rather than religious sites."

The Israel Land Administration issued the following response: "As part of an Islamic Movement campaign to take over state-owned land, there is also a demand to regain possession of different sites. These are sacred sites that are no longer operational or usable, including abandoned cemeteries, madrassas, mosques and so on...the courts ruled that Administration will take care of these lands."

But MK Ibrahim Sarsur (Ra`am-Ta`al) is not giving up so quickly.

"This is our land. We want to protect the places that are sacred to us. We established an apparatus that follows the activity on the field. Volunteers pass by the sites and tell us what is going on. We call this apparatus "Muhammad Watch."

 

NIW: Moslim machtsblok domineert de Verenigde Naties

 
De PLO van Arafat kreeg al in 1974 haar speciale waarnemerstatus bij de Algemene Vergadering van de VN, lang voordat ze halfhartig Israel erkende, en in 1975 werd de "zionisme is racisme" resolutie aangenomen door de VN. Aparte VN-afdelingen zijn opgericht om de Palestijnse zaak te steunen, en de "Mensenrechtenraad" heeft tientallen speciale sessies aan Israel gewijd en veroordeling na veroordeling uitgesproken, maar kan er maar niet toe komen om Soedan, Iran of Pakistan ook eenduidig te veroordelen.
 
RP
 
Zie ook:
  • Vluchtelingen
  • Verenigde Naties 
  • The Question of Palestine
  • Anti-Zionism: Where does the stench come from? 
    -----------------------------

    http://www.likud.nl/artik46.html
    http://www.vkblog.nl/blog/138054/Likoed_Nederland

    MOSLIM MACHTSBLOK domineert VN

    De grote kracht van de Arabisch/Islamitische lobby komt het meest naar voren bij de Verenigde Naties (VN). Daar ziet de Organisatie van Islamitische Landen (OIC) met haar machtsblok van 57 landen kans om veel door te drukken wat maar tegen de democratische staat Israel is.

    De OIC bereikt dit doordat het beschikt over een gecombineerd blok van 57 stemmen van Islamitische landen, tegen 1 van de Joodse staat Israel.

    Daarbij wordt het Islamitische blok vaak gemakkelijk aan een meerderheid geholpen door de steun van andere dictaturen, zoals Noord-Korea, Cuba, Myanmar enz.

    Palestijnse kwestie

    De macht van de Arabisch-Islamitische lobby blijkt onder meer uit het feit dat Palestijnen bij de Verenigde Naties allerlei speciale regelingen hebben:
    - Een eigen solidariteitsdag.
    - Een eigen hulpdepartement,
    - Twee eigen voorlichtingsdepartementen etc.

    Geen enkele andere vluchtelingengroep heeft deze privileges.

    Ook gelden voor Palestijnse vluchtelingen heel andere criteria dan voor andere vluchtelingen. Zo konden Arabieren 'Palestijnse vluchteling' worden, ook zonder Palestijn te zijn en zonder ooit te zijn gevlucht. Vervolgens zijn zelfs al hun elders geboren nakomelingen officieel 'vluchtelingen'. Zonder deze volledig afwijkende criteria zou het Palestijnse vluchtelingenprobleem niet meer bestaan. Zie verder het artikel: 'De twee soorten vluchtelingen van de VN: Palestijnse en gewone'.

    Mensenrechtenraad

    Bij de VN Mensenrechtenraad, waar op dit moment meedogenloze dictaturen als China en Saoedi-Arabië in zitten, is het zo mogelijk nog erger. Zie bijvoorbeeld de berichtgeving van Radio Nederland Wereldomroep van 16 september j.l. waarin (toen nog) minister Maxime Verhagen van Buitenlandse Zaken zich zeer beklaagt over de Raad:

    "Landen die zelf de mensenrechten schenden, zorgen er doelbewust voor dat de VN Mensenrechtenraad in Genève niet effectief kan zijn." De minster vindt ook dat "Israël disproportionele aandacht krijgt binnen de raad, waardoor de situatie in andere landen onderbelicht blijft. Lidstaten van de Mensenrechtenraad tasten de middelen aan die de VN hebben om mensenrechten juist te beschermen."

    De internationale mensenrechtenorganisatie Freedom House is het grotendeels met Verhagen eens. Volgens Freedom House "dekt de raad sommige ernstige mensenrechtenschendingen zelfs toe."

    De Mensenrechtenraad is dankzij het grote aantal Arabische/Islamitische landen verworden tot een veroordelingsmachine van Israel. Zo veroordeelde de Mensenrechtenraad Israel vaker dan alle andere 191 lidstaten samen!

    Sterker nog, er zijn in het verleden slechts 9 andere staten veroordeeld. Iran bijvoorbeeld niet, terwijl dit land haar bevolking meedogenloos onderdrukt, homo's ophangt alleen vanwege hun geaardheid en de holocaust ontkent.

    Over de volgende schendingen van de mensenrechten zal de VN Mensenrechtenraad zich dus niet uitlaten:
    - De voortgaande genocide door moslims op de christenen in Zuid-Soedan - 2 miljoen doden!
    - De totale etnische zuivering van Grieken in Noord-Cyprus.
    - De voordurende bezetting van de Westelijke Sahara door Marokko,
    - De Turkse bezettingen van Koerdistan en Noord-Cyprus.
    - De discriminatie van Palestijnen in Libanon.
    - De onderdrukking van christenen in bijvoorbeeld de Palestijnse gebieden, Egypte en Saoedi-Arabië.
    - De ophangingen van homo's en de stenigingen van vrouwen in Iran.

    Niet voor niets zei oud-premier Balkenende bij zijn toespraak tot de Algemene Vergadering van de VN op 25 september 2010 dat de VN dringend aan hervorming toe zijn, onder andere vanwege de "gepolitiseerde verhoudingen".

    Vrouwen, Joden en homo's

    Zeer recente opvallende voorbeelden van hoe de Verenigde Naties zich laten sturen door de Arabisch/islamitische lobby blijkt uit:
    - De benoeming van nota bene het uiterst vrouwonvriendelijke en streng-islamitische Saoedi-Arabië tot lid van de VN Vrouwenraad.
    - het door de Unesco op papier veranderen van een eeuwenoude Joodse heilige plaats - het graf van Rachel - in een moskee.
    - het schrappen van de bepaling dat de doodstraf op grond van seksuele orientatie wordt veroordeeld, zodat homo's in Islamitische landen de doodstraf kunnen krijgen enkel omdat ze homo zijn.

    De conclusie is dan ook dat onder invloed van de Arabisch-Islamitische lobby de VN zich ontwikkeld heeft tot een zeer vrouw-, jood- en homo-onvriendelijk instituut.

    ----NB

    Dit artikel is gepubliceerd in het NIW (Nieuw Israelitisch Weekblad) van 24 december 2010.

    Het is deel 2 van een drieluik over de macht van Arabisch-Islamitische lobby.

    Deel 1 ging erover hoe het de Arabisch-Islamitische lobby gelukt is om via de Verenigde Naties het Palestijnse vluchtelingenprobleem grotendeels kunstmatig te creeren en kunstmatig in stand te houden: 'De twee soorten vluchtelingen van de VN: Palestijnse en gewone'.
    http://www.likud.nl/artik41.html.

    Dit deel 2 gaat over de invloed van de Arabisch-Islamitische bij de Verenigde Naties in het algemeen.

    Deel 3 gaat over de werking van de Arabisch-Islamitische lobby in de Verenigde Staten.

  • Hamas: zionisten uit Israel en Palestina of sterven

    Members of Al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, take part in a news conference in Gaza City December 25, 2010. (Photo by: Reuters)
     
     
    Twee jaar na het begin van Israels operatie in Gaza melden verschillende kranten dat de spanningen toenemen en er een nieuwe oorlog dreigt. Wat de Nederlandse kranten er niet bij vermelden is dat Hamas heeft gezegd dat het 'verzet' doorgaat totdat Israel vernietigd is en er nog zionisten in Palestina zijn.
    Haaretz meldt:

    Hamas would not rest until Israel was ousted from Palestine, said Ahmed al-Jabari, leader of the Izz a-din al-Qassam Brigades, adding that Israel had two options - to leave Palestinian territories or face death. He said that Hamas resistance would continue as long as Zionists remained in Palestine.

    Ook volkomen genegeerd is het feit dat een paar dagen voordat Israels offensief begon Hamas een eigen operatie tegen Israel startte, genaamd 'Oil Stain' en aanvankelijk grote successen claimde en dreigende taal sprak over uitbreiding van de operatie. Dit alles, voor de duidelijkheid, voordat Israel haar offensief, 'Cast Lead', startte.
     
    RP
    ----------


    Hamas: Israel has two options - death or leaving Palestinian lands
    As second anniversary of Gaza war approaches, Hamas says it will not disregard 'attempts of the enemy to escalate the situation.'
    Published 13:42 25.12.10
    http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-israel-has-two-options-death-or-leaving-palestinian-lands-1.332867
     
     
    The head of Hamas' armed wing warned Israel on Saturday against launching any new military action in the Gaza Strip, accusing Israel of attempting to escalate the situation. The statement came after days of renewed rocket fire on Israeli communities and Israel Defense Forces strikes in Gaza.

    Hamas would not rest until Israel was ousted from Palestine, said Ahmed al-Jabari, leader of the Izz a-din al-Qassam Brigades, adding that Israel had two options - to leave Palestinian territories or face death. He said that Hamas resistance would continue as long as Zionists remained in Palestine.

    Also Saturday, Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman Abu Obeida warned Israel to refrain from any further aggression in the Gaza Strip, at a news conference in Gaza to mark the second anniversary of Operation Cast Lead, a three-week IDF incursion aimed at halting rocket fire on Israel's southern communities from the strip.

    "We are now stronger than before and during the war, and our silence over the past two years was only for evaluating the situation," Abu Obeida told the news conference. "We won't face the current attempts of the enemy to escalate the situation with silence."

    Abu Obeida said that the news conference was being held to mark the second anniversary of the Gaza war, and the 23rd anniversary of the founding of Hamas.

    Israel Air Force warplanes carried out three airstrikes late Friday against targets in the Gaza Strip. Israeli F-16s flying over the coastal enclave fired two missiles at suspected smuggling tunnels on the border between southern Gaza and Egypt. No injuries were reported, witnesses said.

    An IDF spokesman confirmed the three air raids, saying the strikes were in response to a homemade rocket fired earlier Friday by Gaza militant groups at southern Israel.

    Earlier Friday, a Hamas official said that the organization was committed to the unofficial ceasefire with Israel reached after Operation Cast Lead in 2008, despite the recent rise in violence.

    But rocket and mortar fire from Gaza have increased in the run-up to the second anniversary of Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip, which began on December 27, 2008 and lasted for three weeks.

    dinsdag 28 december 2010

    "Hoe kun je nu Israel verdedigen?"

     
    Pro-Israel standpunten worden steeds meer met rechts geassocieerd, maar dat is niet per se terecht, zoals uit onderstaand artikel blijkt.
     
    It's the driving lesson in Jerusalem, with the student behind the wheel a devout Muslim woman, and the teacher an Israeli with a skullcap. To judge from media reports about endless inter-communal conflict, such a scene should be impossible. Yet, it was so mundane that no one, it seemed, other than me gave it a passing glance. It goes without saying that the same woman would not have had the luxury of driving lessons, much less with an Orthodox Jewish teacher, had she been living in Saudi Arabia.
     
    It's the two gay men walking hand-in-hand along the Tel Aviv beachfront. No one looked at them, and no one questioned their right to display their affection. Try repeating the same scene in some neighboring countries.
     
    RP
    ---------
     
     

    I was sitting in a lecture hall at a British university. Bored by the speaker, I began glancing around the hall. I noticed someone who looked quite familiar from an earlier academic incarnation. When the session ended, I introduced myself and wondered if, after years that could be counted in decades, he remembered me.

    He said he did, at which point I commented that the years had been good to him. His response: "But you've changed a lot."

    "How so?" I asked with a degree of trepidation, knowing that, self-deception aside, being 60 isn't quite the same as 30.

    Looking me straight in the eye, he proclaimed, as others standing nearby listened in, "I read the things you write about Israel. I hate them. How can you defend that country? What happened to the good liberal boy I knew 30 years ago?"

    I replied: "That good liberal boy hasn't changed his view. Israel is a liberal cause, and I am proud to speak up for it."

    Yes, I'm proud to speak up for Israel. A recent trip once again reminded me why.

    Sometimes, it's the seemingly small things, the things that many may not even notice, or just take for granted, or perhaps deliberately ignore, lest it spoil their airtight thinking.

    It's the driving lesson in Jerusalem, with the student behind the wheel a devout Muslim woman, and the teacher an Israeli with a skullcap. To judge from media reports about endless inter-communal conflict, such a scene should be impossible. Yet, it was so mundane that no one, it seemed, other than me gave it a passing glance. It goes without saying that the same woman would not have had the luxury of driving lessons, much less with an Orthodox Jewish teacher, had she been living in Saudi Arabia.

    It's the two gay men walking hand-in-hand along the Tel Aviv beachfront. No one looked at them, and no one questioned their right to display their affection. Try repeating the same scene in some neighboring countries.

    It's the Friday crowd at a mosque in Jaffa. Muslims are free to enter as they please, to pray, to affirm their faith. The scene is repeated throughout Israel. Meanwhile, Christians in Iraq are targeted for death; Copts in Egypt face daily marginalization; Saudi Arabia bans any public display of Christianity; and Jews have been largely driven out of the Arab Middle East.

    It's the central bus station in Tel Aviv. There's a free health clinic set up for the thousands of Africans who have entered Israel, some legally, others illegally. They are from Sudan, Eritrea, and elsewhere. They are Christians, Muslims, and animists. Clearly, they know something that Israel's detractors, who rant and rave about alleged "racism," don't. They know that, if they're lucky, they can make a new start in Israel. That's why they bypass Arab countries along the way, fearing imprisonment or persecution. And while tiny Israel wonders how many such refugees it can absorb, Israeli medical professionals volunteer their time in the clinic.

    It's Save a Child's Heart, another Israeli institution that doesn't make it into the international media all that much, although it deserves a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize. Here, children in need of advanced cardiac care come, often below the radar. They arrive from Iraq, the West Bank, Gaza, and other Arab places. They receive world-class treatment. It's free, offered by doctors and nurses who wish to assert their commitment to coexistence. Yet, these very same individuals know that, in many cases, their work will go unacknowledged. The families are fearful of admitting they sought help in Israel, even as, thanks to Israelis, their children have been given a new lease on life.

    It's the vibrancy of the Israeli debate on just about everything, including, centrally, the ongoing conflict with the Palestinians. The story goes that U.S. President Harry Truman met Israeli President Chaim Weizmann shortly after Israel's establishment in 1948. They got into a discussion about who had the tougher job. Truman said: "With respect, I'm president of 140 million people." Weizmann retorted: "True, but I'm president of one million presidents."

    Whether it's the political parties, the Knesset, the media, civil society, or the street, Israelis are assertive, self-critical, and reflective of a wide range of viewpoints.

    It's the Israelis who are now planning the restoration of the Carmel Forest, after a deadly fire killed 44 people and destroyed 8,000 acres of exquisite nature. Israelis took an arid and barren land and, despite the unimaginably harsh conditions, lovingly planted one tree after another, so that Israel can justifiably claim today that it's one of the few countries with more wooded land than it had a century ago.

    It's the Israelis who, with quiet resolve and courage, are determined to defend their small sliver of land against every conceivable threat - the growing Hamas arsenal in Gaza; the dangerous build-up of missiles by Hezbollah in Lebanon; nuclear-aspiring Iran's calls for a world without Israel; Syria's hospitality to Hamas leaders and transshipment of weapons to Hezbollah; and enemies that shamelessly use civilians as human shields. Or the global campaign to challenge Israel's very legitimacy and right to self-defense; the bizarre anti-Zionist coalition between the radical left and Islamic extremists; the automatic numerical majority at the UN ready to endorse, at a moment's notice, even the most far-fetched accusations against Israel; and those in the punditocracy unable - or unwilling - to grasp the immense strategic challenges facing Israel.

    Yes, it's those Israelis who, after burying 21 young people murdered by terrorists at a Tel Aviv discotheque, don the uniform of the Israeli armed forces to defend their country, and proclaim, in the next breath, that, "They won't stop us from dancing, either."

    That's the country I'm proud to stand up for. No, I'd never say Israel is perfect. It has its flaws and foibles. It's made its share of mistakes. But, then again, so has every democratic, liberal and peace-seeking country I know, though few of them have faced existential challenges every day since their birth.

    The perfect is the enemy of the good, it's said. Israel is a good country. And seeing it up close, rather than through the filter of the BBC or the Guardian, never fails to remind me why.

     

    Zijn de 'grenzen van 1967' verdedigbaar voor Israel?


    Een goed commentaar van Elder of Ziyon op een stuk van Martin van Creveld, die geldt als militair expert. Tijdens de Gaza Oorlog kwam hij een paar keer aan het woord in Nederlandse actualiteitenrubrieken, als de zogenaamde pro-Israel stem. Hij zei niet altijd even handige dingen, en bevestigt het vooroordeel dat men in Israel alleen maar in militair-strategische termen denkt.
     
    RP
    ----------
     

    "Israel doesn't need the West Bank to be secure" (van Creveld)

    http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/12/israel-doesnt-need-west-bank-to-be.html
     
     
    This op-ed in the Forward  last week Martin van Creveld made some waves, because the writer has some serious credentials.

    His thesis is that the 1967 borders are defensible. I am not a military analyst, but I will annotate where I find problems with his logic:

    When everything is said and done, how important is the West Bank to Israel's defense?
    To answer the question, our best starting point is the situation before the 1967 war. At that time, the Arab armed forces surrounding Israel outnumbered the Jewish state's army by a ratio of 3-to-1. Not only was the high ground in Judea and Samaria in Jordanian hands, but Israel's capital in West Jerusalem was bordered on three sides by hostile territory. Arab armies even stood within 14 miles of Tel Aviv. Still, nobody back then engaged in the sort of fretting we hear today about "defensible borders," let alone Abba Eban's famous formulation, "Auschwitz borders." When the time came, it took the Israel Defense Forces just six days to crush all its enemies combined.
    If Jordan had tanks on the ridge, and would have attacked Israel a few hours sooner, things very well may have turned out differently. The fact is that Jordan was not terribly interested in war and that is what made the Green Line "defensible" before 1967 - Jordan's King Hussein was not the aggressor Nasser was.

    In reality, the snaking Green Line is more than twice the length of the border between the West Bank and Jordan. That by itself makes the Green line less defensible.
    Since then, of course, much has happened. Though relations with Egypt and Jordan may not always be rosy, both countries have left "the circle of enmity," as the Hebrew expression goes. Following two-and-a-half decades of astonishing growth, Israel's GDP is now larger than those of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt combined. As to military power, suffice it to say that Israel is the world's fifth-largest exporter of arms.
    True, but I believe irrelevant.
    Syria, Israel's main remaining hostile neighbor, has never on its own been strong enough to seriously threaten Israel. While Damascus is getting some weapons from Iran, the latter is no substitute for the genuine superpower patron that Syria had in the old Soviet Union.
    Also true, but this article is not about the Golan - and there are other issues there.
    Overall, therefore, Israel's position is much stronger than it was at any time in the past. So how does the West Bank fit into this picture?
    One of the main threats that Israel faces today is from ballistic missiles. Yet everybody knows that holding on to the West Bank won't help Israel defend itself against missiles coming from Syria or Iran. Even the most extreme hawk would concede this point.
    Van Creveld is ignoring shorter-range Qassam and Grad-type missiles. There would be nothing stopping a Palestine from allowing those to be smuggled in or built, and nothing Israel could do tostop them.

    While they may not be a military threat, Israel has never looked at the conflict in purely military terms, as van Creveld seems to like to do. Israel's position has always been, to its credit, that the security of its citizens are paramount. A danger to civilians is a more pressing issue than the ability to win a war. Van Creveld seems to be thinking in terms of military history, his area of expertise, but that is only part of the story - an Israeli victory in the field can easily be a Pyrrhic victory in terms of the number killed. A situation where easily assembled rockets can effectively hold the biggest population centers of Israel hostage is simply unacceptable, and Israel's ability to win a war is not important if the entire country must live their entire lives the way Sderot lived two years ago.
    As far as the threat of a land invasion, it is of course true that the distance between the former Green Line and the Mediterranean is very small — at its narrowest point, what is sometimes affectionately known as "Old" Israel is just nine miles wide. As was noted before, it is also true that the West Bank comprises the high ground and overlooks Israel's coastal plain.
    On the other hand, since the West Bank itself is surrounded by Israel on three sides, anybody who tries to enter it from the east is sticking his head into a noose. To make things worse for a prospective invader, the ascent from the Jordan Valley into the heights of Judea and Samaria is topographically one of the most difficult on earth. Just four roads lead from east to west, all of which are easily blocked by air strikes or by means of precision-guided missiles. To put the icing on the cake, Israeli forces stationed in Jerusalem could quickly cut off the only road connecting the southern portion of the West Bank with its northern section in the event of an armed conflict.
    Van Creveld seems to be making a number of unspoken assumptions here. I'll make mine explicit: a demilitarized Palestine will not remain so for long,and Israel would be powerless to stop say, a Hamas government in the West Bank to outsource its army duties to Iran. Or a Muslim Brotherhood coup in Jordan changing the equation. If tanks are already positioned on the high ground, there is little that Israel can do to stop them from cutting the country in half without having a significant proportion of the reserves always mobilized.

    Similarly, under that scenario, I do not believe that there is much Israel could do to protect Jerusalem from being cut off from the rest of the country, exactly as it was in 1948.
    The defense of the West Bank by Arab forces would be a truly suicidal enterprise. The late King Hussein understood these facts well. Until 1967 he was careful to keep most of his forces east of the Jordan River. When he momentarily forgot these realities in 1967, it took Israel just three days of fighting to remind him of them.
    Sorry, but I don't understand why. And even if it was "suicidal," if the enemy is motivated by promises of virgins in paradise, we cannot assume rationality in their decision-making.
    Therefore, just as Israel does not need the West Bank to defend itself against ballistic missiles, it does not need that territory to defend itself against conventional warfare. If it could retain a security presence in the Jordan Valley, keep the eventual Palestinian state demilitarized and maintain control of the relevant airspace, that would all be well and good. However, none of these conditions existed before 1967; in view of geography and the balance of forces, none is really essential today either.
    Again, I reject the premise that a military edge is the only pre-requisite for Israel's security.
    And how about terrorism? As experience in Gaza has shown, a fence (or preferably a wall) can stop suicide bombers from entering. As experience in Gaza has also shown, it cannot stop mortar rounds and rockets. Mortar and rocket fire from the West Bank could be very unpleasant. On the other hand, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran already have missiles capable of reaching every point in Israel, Tel Aviv included. Many of those missiles are large and powerful. Compared to the damage they can cause, anything the Palestinians are ever likely to do would amount to mere pinpricks.
    It certainly appears from this statement, and the earlier ones, that van Creveld looks at war like a videogame. Actual human casualties from Qassam-type rockets and terrorism are merely "unpleasant." But from Israel's perspective, they are entirely unacceptable, and his facile acceptance of the hell that Israelis would live under shows that he is not in touch with Israel's very raison d'etre.
    Furthermore, in recent years Israel has shown it can deal with that kind of threat if it really wants to. Since 2006, when the Second Lebanon War killed perhaps 2,000 Lebanese, many of them civilians, and led to the destruction of an entire section of Beirut, the northern border has been absolutely quiet.
    Um, the LAF shot and killed an IDF officer earlier this year during the tree-cutting ambush. It does not help his argument when he makes statements that are demonstratively false. Besides, Hezbollah's motivation is not to secure Lebanon but to destroy Israel and kill as many Jews as possible - a basic concept that seems to elude van Creveld.
    Since Operation Cast Lead, which killed perhaps 1,200 Gazans, many of them civilians, and led to the destruction of much of the city of Gaza, not one Israeli has been killed by a mortar round or rocket coming from the Gaza Strip. Since mortar rounds and rockets continue to be fired from time to time, that is hardly accidental. Obviously Hamas, while reluctant to give up what it calls "resistance," is taking care not to provoke Israel too much.
    His description of the destruction is exaggerated.

    There is no doubt that Israel's reactions in the north and the south have deterred Hezbollah and Hamas for the time being, but van Creveld ignores that in the time since both wars, both the enemies have more than recovered their losses and are both militarily much stronger than they were before. He also ignores that in both those cases, the wars were sparked by Arab actions that had no military value on their part. Van Creveld is again assuming a conventional war scenario where each side acts rationally, but that is simply not the case with Iranian-backed Islamist groups.
    Keeping all these facts in mind — and provided that Israel maintains its military strength and builds a wall to stop suicide bombers — it is crystal-clear that Israel can easily afford to give up the West Bank.
    That statement is beyond absurd. Van Creveld did not even touch on many other arguments against ceding the West Bank to a sworn enemy.

    One example is the vulnerability of Ben Gurion Airport to simple anti-aircraft missiles.

    Another is the amount of time it takes for Israel to mobilize its reserves - in those 48 hours, the amount of damage that Israel must absorb is significantly higher without the West Bank as a buffer.

    A third is the simple realization that Israel, by ceding the West Bank, could be setting up a scenario where it is completely surrounded by Iranian proxy forces in Lebanon, Syria, "Palestine" and "Hamastan."

    In addition, there are a number of papers on the topic of defensible borders written by people with much more military expertise than I have. They bring up many more points that van Creveld ignores with his flat statement that his thesis is "crystal clear."
    Strategically speaking, the risk of doing so is negligible.
    Only if you consider it acceptable to have an entire nation held hostage by radical Islamists with crude rockets - that Israel cannot defend against without potentially starting a war with the Arab world. They might not run to defend Gaza but a sovereign nation, with defense pacts, is a different story - especially if they think they can win. Israel's perceived weakness in withdrawing from lands won in war will never make Arab nations less likely to attack!
    What is not negligible is the demographic, social, cultural and political challenge that ruling over 2.5 million — nobody knows exactly how many — occupied Palestinians in the West Bank poses. Should Israeli rule over them continue, then the country will definitely turn into what it is already fast becoming: namely, an apartheid state that can only maintain its control by means of repressive secret police actions.
    Now we see that van Creveld might have more of an agenda than simply speaking from a purely military perspective. The issue is real, but it does not belong in an article like this; it indicates that his analysis might be colored by his bias.
    To save itself from such a fate, Israel should rid itself of the West Bank, most of Arab Jerusalem specifically included. If possible, it should do so by agreement with the Palestinian Authority; if not, then it should proceed unilaterally, as the — in my view, very successful — withdrawal from Gaza suggests. Or else I would strongly advise my children and grandson to seek some other, less purblind and less stiff-necked, country to live in.
    Israel's withdrawal from Gaza resulted in thousands of rockets and a war that killed some 1200 people. What exactly are his criteria for success? Again, a statement like that calls into question van Creveld's entire perspective on what it means to be an Israeli, and what its citizens should be forced to endure, for his seemingly bizarre concept of living in security.
    Martin van Creveld is an Israeli military historian and the author of "The Land of Blood and Honey: The Rise of Modern Israel" (St. Martin's Press, 2010).

    Holocaust artikel over Yad Vashem levert vooral antisemitische reacties op op Yahoo

     
    Je plaatst een artikel over de Holocaust en wat gebeurt er? Je zou zeggen: mensen zijn onder de indruk wanneer zij lezen over de grootste volkerenmoord aller tijden. Maar dat is gerekend buiten het oplevende antisemitisme. Hieronder staan een aantal reacties die verschenen onder een artikel dat meldde dat Yad Vashem vier miljoen slachtoffers van de Holocaust heeft geidentificeerd. We moeten ons diep, heel diep schamen.
     
    RP
    ---------
     
    Yahoo becomes hub for mass anti-Semitism after running Holocaust article

    http://www.robinshepherdonline.com/yahoo-becomes-hub-for-mass-anti-semitism-after-running-holocaust-article/

    Robin Shepherd, 24 December 2010

     

    Earlier this week, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in Israel, announced that it had identified four million of the six million victims of the Holocaust. The project to discover the names of all of those who were murdered is a profound and moving testament to the Jewish people's commitment that the victims of the greatest single crime in history should never be forgotten. When Yad Vashem makes announcements of this kind, all decent men and women pause, reflect and bow their heads.

    But the world we live in is not solely comprised of decent men and women. Here is a selection of comments representative of a disturbingly large proportion of the 443 entries posted by readers following the publication of a news report on the Yad Vashem announcement by Yahoo, the world's second most popular search engine and internet portal after Google:

    "What about the 50,000 + Palestinians that have been murdered since 1948 by the Nazi A.K.A Zionists?" (By AK)

    "What about the Armenians? I saw worst pictures of them being slaughtered than I did of the Jews." (By Flour)

    "What about those who were not Jews? Do they deserve to be counted? Do the even count?" (By Native)

    "When did America become so easily manipulated. AIPAC controls your Congress and even lobbies them with your tax payer money and your too busy being distracted". (unnamed)

    "The other third changed their names and went to Palestine….how else you think Israel was created. Where do you think all these angry Jews came from? Poland , Russia, Germany….they showed up in Palestine and terrorized the British into letting them destroy Palestine. (unnamed)

    "When will we hear the end of this holocaust story? I give it another 200 years." (By Terry)

    "Is there any 3rd party checking on this so called database by a self-serving group in Israel? And what about the Jews who moved away, or starved, or died of disease or old age, or were mudrered in Allied terror raids. Were they too "killed by the Nazis"? (By Augmentarium)

    "Keep milking it israel. I'm sure you can parlay those names into a few billion more of American tax dollars". (By Dan)

    "this turd is getting old" (By Joe Blow)

    "We get it..the Holocaust was bad…move on with it…you run Hollywood and the entertainment industry and all the banks now..isnt that enough"? (By Monica)

    "Throughout recorded history Zionists/Jews have been instigators of hate, murder, ethnic cleansing, and general crimes against humanity. They were thrown out of Rome, Germany, Russia, and many other countries for committing crimes against humanity, and created one of the worst holocausts in history against African Americans and Palestinians to mention a few. Their crimes against humanity have been consistent for over 2000 years. Always they use the same bromide of whining and play the same old tattered and torn victim card whenever they are caught and punished. Forever, they are the "victim". One of their most recent use of the victim card was after they attacked the Germans in 1933 and their plan failed. The 500,000 German Jewish residents paid dearly for Jewish crimes as did the Jewish people in Russia before them. Now Zionists have attacked the innocent people of Palestine and before this crime is finished they will be punished and pass the same whining bromide as they always do with their worn out victim card. Zionists are not now nor have they ever been victims, they are criminals that will once again be held responsible for their crimes against humanity". (By Freedom)

    And that is just a sample from the first five pages which are generally the most widely read. There are 40 more such pages (which according to the dateline may have been tagged on from previous such discussions) and browsing through them are things like this:

    "BE READY FOR THE REAL HOLOCAUST.NO SURVIVOR THIS TIME." (By Dr Chang)
    "The biggest scam in history !" (By Mission man)
    "HOLOCAST my ass. Jews looking for sympathy while murdering the Palis in their own land". (By D)
    etc

    What to make of all this? The fact that there are some sick and twisted people out there is sadly unsurprising, though quite how many of them there are is nonetheless a shock to the system. But the key point here is that these comments form part of a media package to consumers that is being put in the public domain by Yahoo with the Associated Press brand name attached. These are extremely prestigious organisations.

    Now, social media is still in its infancy. Working out how to strike a balance whereby readers can participate in a public discussion provoked by any particular article or blog entry while retaining basic standards of decency or even legality (many of these comments will be illegal in some jurisdictions) is not easy.

    In the old days it was more straightforward. If you got out your typewriter and sent a letter to the New York Times, the editorial team would make a decision to publish or not to publish on the basis of taste, decency and your letter's effectiveness in contributing to enlightened debate. If you peppered your letter with racist abuse, you wouldn't get published and the public domain would be protected from your bigotry.

    Nowadays, it comes down to the website policing itself and protecting its own brand name from reputational damage since the website in question becomes the publisher of all the comments that appear below any given article. That costs time and money and a concomitant commitment to decency in the public sphere. You either have to have moderators watching every single move who can remove inappropriate postings as soon as possible, or you have to have a system of so called pre-moderation where comments are stored for subsequent approval before being published.

    Yahoo does not appear to have either system in place which raises serious questions about its commitment to ensuring a public discussion free from hate speech and bigotry. The Associated press, while not responsible for Yahoo's failure properly to police its website, might also like to reassess its policy of distributing news to organisations that will not take their own responsibilities seriously.

    My hope is that this is just an oversight. Both Yahoo and the Associated Press are great organisations, and I have no doubt that they will be as shocked at this episode as I am. Nonetheless, they urgently need to review their procedures to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

    NB: It might be helpful if any concerned readers passed this article on to the relevant people on the boards of Yahoo and the Associated Press.

    Volgens PA krant is Israel "uit op vernietiging van mensheid"


    Uit de Palestijnse krant Al Hayat Al Jadida, die is geliëerd aan de gematigde Palestijnse Autoriteit, gecreëerd onder de Oslo Akkoorden om vrede te sluiten met Israel:
     
    Israel is a country -
    "whose aim is destruction and ruin of humanity"
    "which disseminates destruction, ruin and weapons in the world"
    "which acts to kill nations, to threaten them and to occupy their land"
    "which acts to disseminate the culture of hatred and racism among human beings"
     
    Het wordt misschien zo zoetjesaan eens tijd bepaalde voorwaarden te verbinden aan de vele miljoenen die de EU jaarlijks naar de PA stuurt, en waarvan ook de Palestijnse media worden gefinancierd?
     
    RP
    -----------

    PMW Bulletin

    Dec. 28, 2010

    Click here to view PMW's new website
    PA daily demonizes Israel as
    "a country whose aim
    is destruction and ruin of humanity"
    http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=4065

    by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
     
    The PA continues to demonize and incite hatred of Israel. An article in the official PA daily described Israel this way:
     
    Israel is a country -
    "whose aim is destruction and ruin of humanity"
    "which disseminates destruction, ruin and weapons in the world"
    "which acts to kill nations, to threaten them and to occupy their land"
    "which acts to disseminate the culture of hatred and racism among human beings"
     
    This article appeared in the sports section of the official PA daily in an article about Qatar being chosen as host of World Cup in 2022. Israel was presented as the example of evil in the world in contrast to Qatar's excellence.
     
    The article also denied the legitimacy of Israel's existence when it labeled the Israeli Carmel Mountains "the occupied Palestinian Carmel Mountains."
     
    The following is an excerpt of the article in the sports section of Al-Hayat Al-Jadida following Qatar's selection to host the 2022 World Cup:
    Headline: "Great Qatar and small Israel"
    "That night [of the announcement concerning Qatar] we followed the news. The most prominent items on the news broadcasts were the selection of Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup, and the fire that broke out in the occupied Palestinian Carmel Mountains. The Arabs and Qataris are celebrating this great human achievement, for which Qatar has been preparing itself for years. It was the result of tremendous efforts which [our] sister, Qatar, has invested.
    In contrast, we followed the developments concerning the fire. Israel, which used to pride itself on - and still boasts of - its power, is crumbling in the face of the fire. A state of fear and confusion is washing over the Israeli street, and loud voices at the top of the Zionist government are calling to the world to intervene in extinguishing the fire. Israel - whose preparations for destruction and war we hear about daily - is now unable to protect nature, which belongs to [all] mankind. This is a natural outcome for a country whose aim is destruction and ruin of humanity.
    That is the difference between a country (Qatar) that strives for progress and for human development, and a country (Israel) which disseminates destruction, ruin and weapons in the world; between a country which acts to build a human generation, and a country which acts to kill nations, to threaten them and to occupy their land; between a country which acts to disseminate the culture of love and peace, and a country which acts to disseminate the culture of hatred and racism among human beings."
    [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 8, 2010]


    p:+972 2 625 4140     e: pmw@palwatch.org
    f: +972 2 624 2803    w: www.palwatch.org
    PMW | King George 59 | Jerusalem | Israel

    Jaws 5: Israel zet zionistische haaien en dodelijke kwallen in tegen Egyptenaren


    Het duurt even, maar dan komt het hoge woord bij de Egyptische duikinstructeur eruit:
     
    Mustafa Ismail: You wanted to hear the true story, so I will tell you. There are some friendly neighboring countries, which do not wish us well at all. I am not talking about the conspiracy theories of the days of Abd Al-Nasser. This conspiracy continues and will continue to all eternity, until Allah bequeaths the land... The conspiracy continues.

    For three months, we have been hearing that country [Israel] warning its citizens to leave the Sinai as quickly as possible. You can check how many Israelis left Sinai in haste at the Tourism Chamber. It was as if they were fleeing an Apartheid or something.
     
    Vroeger werden raadselen en nare gebeurtenissen allemaal aan goden, geesten en magische krachten toegeschreven. Tegenwoordig heeft men daar in de Arabische wereld, ook in landen waarmee Israel vrede heeft gesloten, een aardsere verklaring voor: Israel en de Joden. Oppermachtig en kwaadaardig als ze zijn, kunnen ze aardbevingen, tsunami's, aids, zedelijk verval en wat al niet meer veroorzaken. Dit is een van de redenen dat de Arabische wereld geen vrede met Israel wil. Als er werkelijk vrede is, niet alleen op papier maar ook tussen de volken, dan zal men een andere zondebok en symbool moeten zoeken waar mensen hun woede en frustraties op kunnen afreageren, en die alle ellende en problemen kan verklaren. De Arabische regeringen riskeren dan dat de woede van het volk over hun falen en corruptie en zelfverrijking zich tegen hen zal richten.
     
    RP
    ------
     

    Evil Zionist Jellyfish terrorize Egyptians

    http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2010/12/evil-zionist-jellyfish-terrorize.html
     
     
    The Zionist Attack Zoo has a new member!

    From MEMRI:

    Following is an interview with Mustafa Ismail, an Egyptian diving instructor, which aired on Egyptian TV on December 5, 2010:

    Interviewer: What do you think are the reasons for [the Sinai shark attacks]? I am concerned resident of Sharm Al-Sheik.

    Mustafa Ismail: You want me to be frank?

    Interviewer: Yes.

    Mustafa Ismail: The fish that caused the problem is not a sea fish. This type of shark is not a sea shark.

    Interviewer: What kind of shark is it?

    Mustafa Ismail: An ocean shark. This type of shark migrates from South Africa all the way to the top of the Earth. They don't enter alleys. The Red Sea is an alley compared to the ocean.

    Interviewer: That much we know. What made it go into this alley?

    Mustafa Ismail: The real question is: Who made it go into the alley? I will talk about something else, and then come back to this. Do you remember that when we were kids, the jellyfish in Alexandria would sting? Back home, in Al-Ghardaqa and in the Red Sea, you could roll the jellyfish in your hands and nothing would happen. Okay? There are all kinds of jellyfish. We would cut them up with a knife and use them for fish bait.

    For some years now, there is a phenomenon nobody is talking about. Killing, paralyzing jellyfish have appeared in Al-Ghardaqa and on the Red Sea. Who brought these jellyfish there?

    Interviewer: Who?

    Mustafa Ismail: Who indeed? Who brought the sharks there? Even if this is a baby shark that got lost and passed through the Mandab Strait, could it possibly have continued like a peaceful angel, flapping its fins, all the way to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Shark Al-Sheik, in order to attack there? Why didn't it attack at Masra Alam or Brothers Islands? Why didn't it attack there? I have been diving at Sharm Al-Sheik for 50 years, and there has not been a single shark attack on any living creature.

    Go ahead and say it, don't make gestures. Out with it.

    Interviewer: I already asked you who, and you started telling me jellyfish stories.

    Mustafa Ismail: Who? I will be even more frank. I'm not afraid of anyone.

    Interviewer: Go ahead.

    Mustafa Ismail: Two or three months ago, an Israeli diver said to me...

    Interviewer: What diver?

    Mustafa Ismail: An Israeli diver. We work with everybody.

    Interviewer: Without any problem?

    Mustafa Ismail: It doesn't matter to us.

    Interviewer: How can it not bother you?

    Mustafa Ismail: Just listen to me for a moment. He told me that they had found a baby shark of a certain species opposite the Eilat port. Whey they found it, they saw it had a GPS device on it.

    Interviewer: A guiding device? 
    Mustafa Ismail: Yes, on its back. Anyone else would have ignored it, but not us. Whoever brought these sharks to us from the ocean... From the Mandab Strait, there are about 4,000 kilometers, so how come there were incidents only around Sinai?

    Interviewer: So how did it get all the way to Eilat?

    Mustafa Ismail: You wanted to hear the true story, so I will tell you. There are some friendly neighboring countries, which do not wish us well at all. I am not talking about the conspiracy theories of the days of Abd Al-Nasser. This conspiracy continues and will continue to all eternity, until Allah bequeaths the land... The conspiracy continues.

    For three months, we have been hearing that country [Israel] warning its citizens to leave the Sinai as quickly as possible. You can check how many Israelis left Sinai in haste at the Tourism Chamber. It was as if they were fleeing an Apartheid or something.

    So now our Zionist Attack Zoo has dogs, pigs, wolves, lions, ratssheep, squirrels, pigeons, sharks and jellyfish.