- 7 febr 2012
Ethiopian students? Not in our school
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUivyO5T_34
Students of Ethiopian descent living in Netanya are sent to 'their own' school; municipality: Registration areas determined years ago.
In the Azorim neighborhood in Netanya 40% or residents are of Ethiopian descent. Most of them live on Motzkin and Eshkol Streets. The local Rambam elementary school is on Eshkol Street. The school has a student body that consists of mostly Ethiopian students.
In its website, the municipality made a statement that more than anything underscores the separation that exists within schools. On the same street, but in different 'blocks' there are two separate registration areas.
For example, from 2 Motzkin Street to 20 Motzkin Street, where residents are mostly from the Ethiopian community, children are registered at the nearby Rambam School. Those living in numbers 22 through 28, the newer houses on the block, are registered at the Uziel School some 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) away.
The municipality said in response that the registration areas were determined several years ago after the Uziel School's student body dwindled as the neighborhood average age increased. This led the municipality to expand the Uziel School registration area.
This, in contrast to the Rambam School, where no such problem arose. "Sadly over the years, due to social processes of which the municipality has no control, there is a growing trend of students leaving the neighborhood and the city over their parents' refusal to send them to Rambam School.
"Some chose to go to independent haredi schools which led to a situation where the number of haredi schools has risen dramatically and their number now equals State schools.
"In order to deal with this new reality and with the mistakes made by the State of Israel when they allowed the Ethiopian aliyah to settle in large concentrated numbers, the education minister and mayor are working to form a plan that will assist in integration and which will change the current reality."
http://fwd4.me/0rob
Jewish extremists spray racist slogans on mixed school
JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- Jewish extremists sprayed racist anti-Arab slogans on the walls of a mixed school in Beit Safafa, East Jerusalem on Tuesday.
"Death to Arabs", and "Kahane was right" were sprayed in Hebrew on walls in the school's playground, Israeli radio station Reshet said.
Both Jewish and Palestinian students attend the school, which is located between Beit Safafa and the Jewish neighborhood of Katamon.
Meir Kahane founded the far-right Kach party, which has been banned under Israeli anti-terrorism laws.
Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli-American who murdered 29 Palestinians in a 1994 Hebron massacre, was a devotee of Kahane.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=458485
'Death to Christians' sprayed on Jerusalem monastery
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- A Jerusalem monastery, built on the spot where tradition holds the tree from which Jesus's cross was made, was defaced with graffiti bearing the hallmarks of Jewish extremists, police said on Tuesday.
"Death to Christians" was daubed in Hebrew on the outer walls of the Monastery of the Cross, an 11th-century fortress-like holy site situated in a valley overlooked by Israel's parliament.
Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the words "Price Tag" were also painted overnight by the vandals, who damaged two cars parked outside the monastery in the rare attack on a Christian shrine in Jerusalem.
The slogan, used by Jewish settlers in vandalism attacks on mosques and Palestinian homes in the West Bank, refers to the retribution they say they will exact for any attempt by the Israeli government to curb settlement in the territory.
"I am a priest and I forgive," Father Claudio of the monastery, which is administered by the Greek Orthodox church, told Reuters.
Rosenfeld said police had opened an investigation.
In December, Jewish extremists torched a mosque in Jerusalem and sprayed the Star of David, "price tag," "Muhammad is a pig" and "A good Arab is a dead Arab" in Hebrew on the ancient building's walls.
In the West Bank, roughly 4.5 percent of the Palestinian population are Christian, a figure of around 200,000 people.
In Israel, around 11 percent of Palestinians are Christian, down from 21 percent of the Palestinian population in 1949, a minority rights group says.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=458445 9 feb 2012, 13:52 , Respect -
Maria 9 febr 2012
Israeli sperm bank only taking donations from IDF veterans
Israel's 15 sperm banks, two of them privately run, are operating in a regulatory fog that can present ethical problems.
The Health Ministry has yet to issue updated regulations governing the collection or use of sperm donations in Israel, even though the state comptroller called for such rules in 2007.
As a result, Israel's 15 sperm banks, two of them privately run, are operating in a regulatory fog that can present ethical problems and increases the very slight risk of two siblings later marrying each other, though no such case is known to have occurred in the decades that donor inseminations have been performed.
Two private sperm banks, Cryobank, in operation a little over a year, and Superm, launched a few months ago, were opened in response to an increasing demand for donor sperm that isn't being met by the 13 public sperm banks that operate in hospitals, only seven of which are really active. They are also setting their own criteria for sperm donors.
For example, Cryobank, which operates at the Assouta Medical Center in Rishon Lezion, only accepts sperm donations from army veterans, while the other private sperm bank, Superm in Tel Aviv, won't take sperm from men over 30.
"The criteria of army service is just another layer of donor screening, since the army has already evaluated them and declared them healthy," Assouta Medical Center explained. "There is nothing ideological about this."
Some 350 babies are born annually in Israel from donor sperm.
The current regulations governing sperm donations date back to 1992. The updated Health Ministry regulations, which have been drawn up but have yet to be issued, would govern what genetic tests should be performed on both the donors and the women applying to be inseminated and would codify the trustee role the sperm bank must play, should the father ever need to be identified by a state or Rabbinical court.
The new regulations would also restrict a given donor to making sperm donations at only one facility and would restrict the number of children that each donor could "father." American fertility experts recommend a limit of 25 children from any single donor in a population of 800,000 people.
The state comptroller, in his 2007 report, said his investigators had found four donors who had fathered more than 20 children each, and several donors who had made more than 100 sperm donations.
A program to build a national registry that would identify donors by a string of digits from their identity numbers, and thus prevent donations to different facilities, is being developed.
At the public sperm banks, women or couples seeking insemination may need to wait months for suitable sperm to become available, while at the private clinics there is almost no wait.
Moreover, both private clinics have signed agreements with foreign sperm banks to receive a steady supply of sperm samples from abroad. Many women or couples prefer using foreign sperm to lessen the possibility of future incestuous relationships. While foreign sperm is also available at the public clinics, there is a longer wait.
The private clinics also perform more screenings on the donors to reduce the chance of their passing on genetic diseases. Superm, for example, claims that it performs 42 tests on its donors for various genetic and infectious diseases.
At the hospital banks, donors are only given tests covered by the health basket, such as tests for Tay-Sachs and Fragile X Syndrome. The new regulations would expand the number of tests, in accordance with the ethnic origin of the sperm donor.
At all sperm banks, women or couples seeking insemination can choose their donor based on age, height, weight other physical features, educational achievement and IQ. Cryobank claims its donor profile goes into even more detail, including the donor's "interests, language fluency, his parents' countries of origin and astrological sign."
Sperm donations are not included in the health basket. A dose of local sperm costs between NIS 600 and NIS 1,000, with the price higher at the private sperm banks. A dose of imported sperm cost around $1,000.
Israeli donors, who are mostly students, get NIS 220 for every sperm donation. As of 2007, some 5,000 sperm donations were being made annually in Israel.
http://fwd4.me/0sda
Calling Israel "free state" is insult to language
By Khalid Amayreh
Paul Auster, a prominent American Jewish writer, apparently couldn't overcome his tribal instincts recently when he sought to desperately justify his double standards of criticizing Turkey's record on human rights while keeping completely reticent about Israel's scandalous maltreatment of non-Jews, particularly its thoroughly-tormented and discriminated-against Palestinian subjects.
Instead of quietly admitting his moral duplicity, Auster resorted to evasiveness and prevarication, saying that all countries had their failings and no country is perfect.
Earlier, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyep Erdogan called Auster an ignoramus for visiting the apartheid Israeli state but not Turkey .
"If he comes, so what? If he doesn't come so what? Will Turkey lose prestige?" Erdogan was quoted as saying.
In a statement released last week and published in the New York Times' Arts Beat blog, the Zionist author sought to defend his decision to boycott Turkey , saying that whatever the Turkish Prime Minister might think about Israel , the fact is that free speech exists there and no writers or journalists are in jail.
Well, in truth Israel has no true freedom of speech. And it is not true that journalists are not detained and imprisoned in the self-described Jewish state.
In fact, journalists are detained and imprisoned in Israel for a host of reasons ranging from violating censorship laws to refusing to disclose their sources of information. In addition, intellectuals, including Jewish intellectuals, are barred from entering Israel if they are critical of Israel's racist policies and notoriously criminal practices against the Palestinians.
Israel, for example, has barred two American Jewish intellectuals, Noam Chomsky and Norman Finkelstein for criticizing Israeli policies and crimes.
This writer, too, has been repeatedly suppressed and abused for speaking up against Jewish fascism and racism. Expressions of this abuse included, inter alia, a prolonged and continuing travel ban, closure of a press office and a closure of an East Jerusalem newspaper. Some years ago, the Israeli "Civil Administration" in the West Bank ordered all Arabic newspapers in the occupied territory to refrain from publishing any article by me for reasons I still don't know.
Today, there are many journalists who are imprisoned in Israeli detention camps without charge or trial. For example, Nawaf el Amer, who hails from the village of Beit Furik near Nablus, has been languishing in an Israeli military jail for working with a "hostile medium," a reference to the Beirut-based al-Quds satellite TV.
His lawyer has repeatedly appealed to the Israeli judicial authorities to inform him of the charges against his client but to no avail.
Amin Abu Warda, a Nablus journalist, is also being held in Israeli dungeons without charge or trial. According to the Tadamun Foundation for Human Rights, Abu Warda has been sent to administrative detention (a euphemism for being held hostage without charge or trial) for five months extendable, starting Wednesday, 8 January.
The flagrant imprisonment was ordered at the request of the Israel's domestic security agency, the Shin Beth.
Tadamun said in a press release that Abu Warda, 46, was taken from his home in Nablus on 28 December, 2011 and that he was being held in the Megiddo prison.
The group said the administrative detention to which the Palestinian journalist was subjected to was utterly illegal and unjust and that it proved that the Shin Beth was unable to produce any indicting or incriminating evidence against him that would stand a court hearing.
Similarly, Samer Allawi, al Jazeera's correspondent in Afghanistan was imprisoned incommunicado for several weeks and reportedly tortured by Israeli interrogators on frivolous charges.
Allawi came to the West Bank for a brief visit to his family and was arrested upon reaching the Allenby border crossing.
Eventually, every effort by the Israeli security authorities to concoct charges against the man failed, forcing them to release the 45-year-old journalist.
None the less, Israeli violations of freedom of speech are a very tiny part of the apartheid state's overall criminal discourse against millions of people who don't belong to the "holy tribe", e.g. who are not Jewish.
Paul Auster should know better than claiming that Israel is a western democracy where everyone is treated equally regardless of religion, ethnicity and sex. Failing to recognize this most axiomatic reality should raise serious questions about Auster's rectitude and honesty.
In the final analysis, Israel is or about to become a hateful theocracy ruled by anachronistic Talmudic laws that view non-Jews as infra-human beings. Yes, we know the mendacious mantra about Israel being democratic and Jewish. But even imbeciles know quite well that the practice of democracy is only confined to Jews and that when there is the slightest collision between what is democratic and what is Jewish, which comes first!
Last year, Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual mentor of the fundamentalist party, Shas, which represents Jews from the Middle East, said in Sabbath homily in West Jerusalem that non-Jews, including presumably hundreds of millions of American and European Christians who are infatuated with and hysterical about supporting Israel, were actually donkeys or beasts of burden created by the Almighty so that they will serve the master race or chosen people.
Ovadia Yosef can't be dismissed as a marginal or anecdotal figure in Israel. He enjoys the loyalty and allegiance of hundreds of thousands of people. This is the reason he is viewed as a "kingmaker" and politicians from right and left make frequent pilgrimage visits to his home, especially in election seasons.
What is especially disgraceful is the fact that Yosef's statements and other statements which are even more outrageous don't raise many eyebrows among most Israelis.
I would like to ask Auster a question: How would he react to similar statements from a Muslim or Christian religious leader, in America or abroad, that Jews are actually donkeys and that their lives are insignificant and had no sanctity?
I know that most Jewish American writers refrain from facing and tackling Israeli racism, or more correctly Jewish racism, head-on since doing so would expose the stark duplicity between the liberal values these intellectuals claim to espouse and the reality of their tribalism, e.g. supporting Israel right or wrong.
The truth of the matter is that there is an enormous gap, measured in light years, between Israel and western democracy.
Where in the democratic world, other than Israel, a state colludes and connives with criminal elements to hide evidence and legalize criminal activities? In Israel, however, such is a routine practice, especially if and when the victim is non-Jewish.
Besides, it is totally dishonest to point out to one aspect of democracy while utterly ignoring other aspects such as the nonexistence of a non-discriminatory justice system? In Israel one would have to be totally mendacious and dishonest to claim that Jews and non-Jews are treated equally before the courts.
In most cases, especially when the aggressor is Jewish and the victim is non-Jewish, every conceivable trick is sought and used to exonerate the Jew. As to the non-Jews, he or she is always guilty until proven otherwise.
As I write these words, the Israeli media has reported that Jewish settlers scrawled offensive slogans on the walls of Muslim and Christian holy places in Jerusalem. The offensive graffiti included "death to Christianity" and "death to the Arabs." Moreover, a mixed Arab-Jewish school in Beit Safafa, south of Jerusalem, has also been the target of hateful graffiti by suspected settlers.
This is not the first time Goyem-hating settlers resort to such hateful acts. Last year, settlers attacked and torched several mosques in the West Bank. Palestinian property and olive groves have also been vandalized and torched ad nauseam, but the Israeli police and occupation army have utterly failed to apprehend the perpetrators.
Even Israeli observers of government inaction can't conceal their convictions that the police, the army and even the political level are all colluding with the settlers, the Hitler Youth of our time.
I call upon Paul Auster to devote some of his time to expose Israel's evil practices to his American audience. I know it is hard for a committed Zionist to call the spade a spade as far as Israel is concerned. But it is the moral thing to do.
http://fwd4.me/0sc6 10 feb 2012, 17:19 , Respect -
Maria 10 febr 2012
Hanna condemns Zionist falsification of the history of Christian holy places
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)-- Atallah Hanna, the Archbishop of Sebastia, condemned the campaign of falsification and deception lead by Zionist organisations that claim to be Christian with the help of the Israeli ministry of tourism.
He called on church leaders in the Holy Land and all over the world to take this matter seriously, reveal the facts and condemn the falsification and the exploitation of religion to serve the occupation's racist policies.
“There are Zionist organisations, supported by Zionists which seek to falsify historic facts pertaining to the holy places, especially in Bethlehem and Jerusalem," he said pointing out that those organisations are disseminating copies of a film that contains false information which contradicts history and Christian heritage and tries to promote places to visit by the tourists at the expense of authentic historic places associated with the Christian faith. This, he said, strips the Palestinian people of their holy places, both Muslim and Christian.
He stressed that the matter is serious and should not be accepted as the occupation ministry of tourism gives out this film to tourists and pilgrims in a bid to deceive and influence their views.
Hanna further explained that these American Zionist organisations which claim to be Christian, have nothing to do with Christianity, but are only trying to exploit the Christian religion for political ends in the service of the occupation.
http://fwd4.me/0t2T 13 feb 2012, 08:34 , Respect -
Maria 12 febr 2012
UN rapporteur slams Israeli policy of 'Judaization'
Professor Raquel Rolnik
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A United Nations Special Rapporteur said Sunday that Israel is systematically implementing a discriminatory policy of housing and planning in Israel, East Jerusalem and the Occupied West Bank.
"From the Galilee and the Negev to East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the Israeli authorities promote a territorial development model that excludes, discriminates against and displaces minorities, particularly affecting Palestinian communities," Professor Raquel Rolnik, UN rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, said on Sunday.
During a two week visit to Israel and the Occupied West Bank, Rolnik has met with both Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials, together with international agencies and local NGOs, a statement said.
Speaking at the conclusion of her trip, Rolnik said she had witnessed the effect of Israeli policies in East Jerusalem which "severely restrict Palestinians from building legally."
"Israel has not provided Palestinians with the necessary planning framework to ensure that their basic housing and infrastructure needs are met," she added.
The UN rapporteur also slammed Israeli policies in the West Bank where a "Palestinian presence was progressively limited in parallel to a disproportional support to the expansion of Jewish communities."
Bedouin communities in the Negev and Jewish settlements in Area C and in Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem are the "new frontiers of dispossession of the traditional inhabitants, and the implementation of a strategy of Judaization and control of the territory," Rolnik said.
A report detailing all findings of her mission will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in 2013.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=459870 13 feb 2012, 14:17 , Respect -
Maria 13 febr 2012
Lieberman: Israel will not tolerate an attack on its diplomats abroad
FM says attack on Israeli official in India, attempted attack in Georgia show Israel and its citizens face daily threat of terror, both physical and diplomatic.
Israel will not tolerate an attack on its officials abroad, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Monday, after a blast near Israel's New Delhi embassy left the wife of an Israeli diplomat moderately wounded and multiple threats were reported against Israeli officials around the world.
In addition to the New Delhi blast, a failed bomb attack was reported in Tbilisi, where an explosive device was neutralized by Georgian forces notified by an Israeli official.
The "attacks against Israeli embassies abroad... just means that the State of Israel and its citizens face a daily threat of terror, both physical and diplomatic," Lieberman said in response to the incidents. "We know exactly who is responsible for the attack and who planned it, and we're not going to take it lying down."
"Today's events remind us again how Israeli diplomats stand at the forefront of the fight which Israel is leading around the world," he added.
The incidents on Monday come one day after the fourth anniversary of the assasination of Hezbollah's deputy leader, Imad Mughniyah, a killing the Islamist organization blames on Israel.
http://fwd4.me/0tcy
Israeli missions in India, Georgia targeted
(3:46) Car Blast Near PM Manmohan's House @ Delhi REMOVED
Explosion heard near Israeli Embassy in New Delhi; diplomat's wife injured. Explosives found near Israeli embassy building in Tbilisi neutralized safely. Lieberman: Israel knows how to identity those responsible.
An explosion tore through an Israeli diplomat's car in the vicinity of the Israeli Embassy in New Delhi, India, Monday. One woman was injured.
The blast came just one day after the fourth anniversary marking the assassination of Hezbollah arch-terrorist Imad Mugniyah.
Israeli Embassy Spokesman David Goldfarb confirmed that an explosion took out a diplomat's car and that one woman was injured, but did not identify the victim. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor also refused to discuss the identity of woman or the extent of the injuries, saying only that the Foreign Ministry was "looking into the incident and cooperation with local security forces is excellent.
Initial details suggest that the injured woman is the wife of an Israeli diplomat for the Defense Ministry's mission. The explosion apparently took place after she dropped of their children off at a local preschool. She suffered minor injuries and was rushed to a nearby medical center for treatment.
Indian police said only that a car was on fire on the street outside the embassy. New Delhi media reported that two people were wounded. Television footage showed a charred minivan with blue diplomatic plates, its rear door apparently blown out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teZfPAUsYUU
Explosives were also found near the Israeli Embassy building in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. The device was neutralized safely.
Israeli Ambassador to Georgia Yitzhak Gerber told Ynet that "We don't have all the details yet. The local authorities are looking into it, but so far it doesn’t look too dramatic.
"From what we know now, there was an attempt to place an explosive device on a car belonging to one of our local employees. He noticed it while he was on his way to us, and alerted the authorities. The device was defused."
Gerber added that "these kinds of things are part of the job. It's very unpleasant, but it's always in the back of our mind. Considering that yesterday was the day we bid farewell to Imad Mugniyah this was to be expected."
Shota Uitashvili, Spokesman for the Georgian Interior Ministry, said the driver noticed a package attached to his car's undercarriage on Monday and called police. Police found a grenade in the package and it was defused, Utiashvili said.
Israel placed its foreign missions on high alert ahead of the Feb. 12 anniversary of the assassination. The Foreign Ministry said that its missions worldwide were been briefed on the events.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was briefed of the events immediately. "Israeli diplomats are on the front lines," he said adding that Israel "knows how to identity who is responsible for the blast."
Following the attack in India and the attempted attack in Georgia, Israeli diplomats have been advised against travelling in cars in the immediate future.
The incident followed reports by Azeri media, which suggested that the Israeli ambassador in Baku was the target of a terror plot.
http://fwd4.me/0tcN 14 feb 2012, 11:04 , Respect -
Maria 14 febr 2012
Western Negev Councils Send Rocket Complaint to UN
Mr. Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General
United Nations
Dear Sir,
This is an official complaint about the firing of rockets and mortar bombs targeting innocent Israeli civilians in the Eshkol and Shaar-Hanegev regions during the year 2011. We are lodging this complaint in the name of the 20,093 residents of the Eshkol and Shaar-Hanegev regions who are the objects of terror attacks sponsored by governmental elements in the Palestinian Authority and who suffer from these violent terror acts that endanger their lives.
During the year 2011, a total of 382 rockets and mortar bombs were fired at the residents of Eshkol and Shaar-Hanegev. These projectiles were aimed with the purpose of killing and injuring innocent civilians. Clear proof of this intent was the firing of a Kornet guided missile aimed directly at a yellow school bus that was transporting children in April 2011.
During this same period terror organizations acted to harm our residents by initiating several attempts to infiltrate into our residential communities.
The people of Eshkol and Shaar-Hanegev like all other human beings have fundamental rights to quiet and safe lives, to raise their children, to educate them in the value of peace and to earn enough to support their households. All of these rights have been violated by the perpetrators of these attacks.
To our good fortune, most of the rockets and bombs have fallen in open fields adjacent to the villages and thus far, the number of killed and injured has been minimal. However, the ongoing attacks, the sound of nearby explosions and the sounding of alerts, compel the children of these areas to contend with the effects of anxiety and post traumatic stress.
The civilian population greatly suffers from these terror attacks directed against average innocent residents, whose chief desire is to lead normal lives.
We request that you forcefully condemn the continuous attacks targeting our innocent civilian residents.
Sincerely, Haim Jelin
Chairman Eshkol Regional Council
Alon Shuster
Chairman Shaar-Hanegev Regional Council
Israel
http://sderotmedia.org.il/bin/content.cgi?ID=879&q=3
Abu Zuhri warns Israeli occupation of violating exchange deal
GAZA, (PIC)-- Dr. Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman, has described as a “serious violation” the Israeli occupation authority’s (IOA) arrest of two Palestinians freed in the prisoners’ exchange deal.
He called on the Egyptian officials, in a press release on Tuesday, to shoulder their responsibility in their capacity as patrons of that deal and to demand the release of those detained.
Abu Zuhri warned the IOA against persisting in such serious practice, and advised it to release the detainees or else face the consequences.
The Israeli occupation forces recently re-arrested Ayman Shirwana and Ayman Abu Daoud who were released in the exchange deal between Hamas and the IOA.
http://fwd4.me/0u47
Israeli Academics Demand Canceling Decision to Convert Ariel College into University
TEL AVIV, (WAFA) – WAFA Tuesday received a copy of the letter that around 300 Israeli academics signed demanding the Israeli Minister of Education to cancel the decision to convert Ariel settlement college in the West Bank into a university for being “ part of the Israeli occupation and oppression.”
The letter said: “Occupation is destroying the democratic foundation of Israel…It is our duty to stop the attempt to invest academia in serving the occupation.”
Among the signing academics were 20 awarded professors, some of whom called to internationally boycott Israel due to its occupation, settlement activities and assaults against Palestinians.
“Ariel college was established on political grounds and for settlements’ purposes and not for academic development,” added the letter.
The Israeli Council of Higher Education issued a recommendation to the Education Minister to recognize Ariel as a university, under the pretext that it meets the criteria to transfer it into a university. The Minister approved the recommendation.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18983 16 feb 2012, 10:18 , Respect -
Maria 15 febr 2012
Despite domestic cuts, US aid to Israel up by $25 million in proposed budget
An examination of the proposed US budget submitted by President Barack Obama to the US Congress this week shows that although billions of dollars will be cut from domestic programs and the US military, annual aid to Israel remains intact, and includes an increase of $25 million from last year.
Last year, the US government gave $3.075 billion in unrestricted aid to Israel, and this year’s proposed budget includes $3.1 billion. This aid is given in addition to around $3 billion in loan guarantees which, unlike other loans, do not have to be paid back.
The cuts in this Congressional budget include an 18% cut in aid to former Soviet republics in Eastern Europe, all of which have much lower GDPs than Israel. In fact, Israel is the only country receiving US aid to be above the 50th percentile economically – Israel is ranked in the richest one-third of countries in the world.
The US State Department will receive a 10% decrease in funding for its programs in Iraq, despite the increased role of the State Department there now that the US military has pulled out. US combat operations overseas will be cut 23%, largely due to the military pullout from Iraq.
President Obama proposed the budget, which equals $3.8 trillion and includes over $1 trillion in cuts, in order to address the massive deficit left by former President George W. Bush. A bi-partisan committee known as the ‘budget supercommittee’ tasked with recommending cuts last October failed to reach an agreement on what to cut, leaving it up to the President to propose a budget that would significantly reduce the deficit.
US aid to Israel has been a part of each annual Congressional budget since 1967, and the amount has increased over time. Upon taking office, Obama recommended that US aid to Israel continue at the $3 billion a year rate for the next ten years, totaling at least $30 billion (without counting loan guarantees and gifts of weaponry). The US Congress overwhelmingly agreed with this assessment.
http://www.imemc.org/article/63007 16 feb 2012, 12:37 , Respect -
Maria 16 febr 2012
Some Israeli Reactions towards Calamitous School Bus Accident “Heartless”
RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – Following the tragic school bus accident that took place on Thursday near Ramallah, a screen capture of some Israeli insensitive and racist reactions were circulated across social networks.
Israeli news website ‘Walla’ reported on the accident on its ‘Facebook’ page. The news received racist comments by extremist Israelis rejoicing and celebrating the news.
Some Israelis commented on the news expressing joy and relief for the death of the children, saying “Thank God they are Palestinians,” “Great! Less terrorists!” while another said “Calm down, it’s a bus with Palestinian children, lets pray there will be deaths or at least severe injuries, this is great news to start the day with.”
The previous comments received heavy criticism by many users including Israelis, who expressed deep sorrow for the victims’ families and revolted against such racist reactions.
Users of many social networks deemed the comments of those extremist Israelis as “racist,” that reflected the Israeli deep-rooted hatred against Palestinians.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=19016
Mossad deputy targeted in Spain car bomb
The deputy chief of Israel's spy agency, Mossad, has been targeted in a car bomb in Spain, a report says.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/226976.html
Netanyahu is not welcome in Cyprus, No alliance with the murderers of Palestinian people
Palestinian Community in Cyprus
Right wing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is coming to Cyprus for an official visit on February 16th. His visit is a challenge to every democrat in this country who does not forget that the blood of hundreds of innocent Palestinians drips from Netanyahu's hands.
It was not a long time ago when hundreds of Greek and Turkish Cypriots, Palestinian, Iraqi and Syrian demonstrators surrounded the Israeli and the US embassies chanting "No Blood for Oil", protesting against the attack of US and their allies on Iraq, on Afghanistan or protesting against the Israeli invasion in Lebanon, in Gaza or in the West Bank. Some of those who will roll out the red carpet tomorrow to welcome and shake hands with Netanyahu were among us during those protests.
This is not the reception that he deserves. On the contrary, we should show to Netanyahu that he is not welcome in Cyprus as long as he refuses to stop Israeli settlement building on the occupied West Bank, while Palestinians are still being evicted from their homes and as long as the siege of Gaza continues.
Particularly today when Israel becomes more aggressive against Iran while US and European Union showing their tolerance and their support.
The axis between Greece, Cyprus and Israel is considered strategically important for the ruling class of these three countries to assert their interests. US support this axis since it suits their plans in the region. However this means in practice that Israel's borders will extend up to Pafos and Piraeus. Moreover the alliance between Greece, Cyprus and Israel entails their entanglement in the fierce antagonisms in the region, and in effect leading to new wars and crimes.
Join the protest and show that the slogan "NO BLOOD FOR OIL" it is still well timed now that Cyprus can claim her own oil or gas deposits and especially in a period when the peoples in the Middle East have risen demanding their rights while Netanyahu threatens the region with a new blood bath.
Greek and Turkish Cypriot activists together with Palestinian and Syrian activists will prepare another reception to Netanyahu deservedly to his criminal record. We will express our opposition and expose the hypocrisy of the Cyprus Government and the ruling class who enter geopolitical and military agreements for the sake of developing with the criminal Israeli state the gas deposits, discovered beneath the east Mediterranean Sea.
THURSDAY 16th February 2012, at 18:30hrs
Meeting: Parking place near PASYDY (Pancyprian Public Employees Trade Union) - 3 Dimostheni Severi Avenue.
March and protest outside the venue of the official reception.
http://fwd4.me/0uZ0 17 feb 2012, 10:32 , Respect -
Maria 17 febr 2012
Israel, not Iran, has more to gain from blast
India, (Pal Telegraph) - Bad journalism was on display as Indian news channels scrambled to beat each other in covering the alleged attack on an Israeli diplomat’s wife in New Delhi. Israel predictably hit the ground running, insisting that Iran was responsible for the alleged attack in which the woman was travelling even before the flames had been doused. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set the political ball rolling as he declared within minutes of the incident that Iran had launched a terror attack on Israel.
Predictable, because Israel seems to be on a one-point mission to isolate Iran so that it can attack the country for a variety of trumped up reasons. The US might be paying the price for invading Iraq, at home and internationally, but from the Israeli strategic point this has constituted a victory at all levels. A hostile state has been turned into a terror hellhole, a well-known anti-Israel leader has been exterminated, and the political forces in Tel Aviv are reaping the benefit. Iran and Syria are next on Israel’s list and currently its diplomacy is focusing on getting the world to support military action against the two regimes.
It was thus very unfortunate that the Indian media decided to accept Israel’s allegations as the gospel without any regard for the facts, or the consequences. The investigations had not even begun when the media launched into discussions of an Israel vs Iran war being fought on Indian soil. The Iranian denial was drowned in the din and one suspects an over-eagerness to please the corporate and allied interests. By the second day, sections of the print media joined the bandwagon, with not a single story questioning the legitimacy of Israel’s claims.
Fortunately, despite the tremendous pressure from Washington and Tel Aviv, India has continued to resist the temptation to support Israel, and cut off links with Iran. It is no secret that the US made its displeasure of India’s renewed friendship with Iran very clear during foreign secretary Ranjan Mathai’s visit to Washington.
But New Delhi seems to be holding out, although given prime minister Manmohan Singh’s proximity to the US, one cannot say at this stage for how long.
Fortunately, there is a division in the strategic elite establishment that crowds government corridors. Iran is quite a favourite with the Indian people, as well as sections of the establishment. Given the dip in growth statistics, it is apparent even to those in government that the need to mop up energy resources is urgent. India cannot afford to dismiss Iran as it had earlier. Against this backdrop, the timing of the attack could not have been better for Israel, not Iran.
After a hiatus, India had started to mend relations with Iran. This was clearly a source of worry for Israel and the US. Thus, the questions that need to be answered are: why would Iran at this stage risk its growing friendship with India by launching a terror attack against Israel? That too on Indian soil? Against a lowly Israeli official?
Sleuths across the world establish the motive first while investigating a crime. In this case, Israel has a motive, in that it wants relations between India and Iran to sour and break. Iran does not have a motive as its efforts currently are to strengthen relations as it needs India’s friendship in countering the Israeli offensive.
Investigators also like to study the modus operandi. The sticky bomb that was supposedly used to blow up the Israeli diplomatic vehicle has till now been used only by Israel in its targeted assassinations across the world. The magnetic bomb was used by Mossad operatives to kill Iranian nuclear scientists in recent months. It is well known that Mossad specialises in such operations, and crosses borders to reach and exterminate targets. Iran has not adopted such a modus operandi yet, and has really been more of a victim on this front than an aggressor. But now the Israelis would have the world believe that their weapons and their methods are being used by targeted nations.
India did err by voting against Iran at a crucial juncture at the IAEA on the nuclear issue. It also dropped out of the energy-rich Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline, under US pressure. Many experts criticised this move, and it has taken some time for the UPA government to realise that Iran is essential for energy, which is essential for growth, which is essential for the ruling Congress before the next general elections.
India will make a major strategic mistake if it shifts position against Iran under pressure. It might be recalled that after abstaining from a vote at the UNSC against Syria, it has now sided with the US against Syria, costing it much goodwill in the neighbourhood. Foreign policy under the UPA government has taken the shape of a see-saw that bends on the one or the other side under pressure. This has weakened India’s position in the developing world, as non-western governments are no longer sure of its policy at any given point in time. The government has often moved back from categorical assertions, defying comprehension.
One can only wait and see how the current crisis plays out. Meanwhile, one can only hope that the Indian media strikes a more independent note, and instead of reporting opinion, sticks to the facts.
The writer is a senior New Delhi-based columnist
http://networkedblogs.com/u5cii
Moussa: The peace treaty with Israel should be reconsidered
CAIRO, (PIC)-- Amr Moussa, a likely candidate for the presidential elections in Egypt, said on Thursday that his country should reconsider some sides of its peace treaty with Israel.
Moussa, the former secretary-general of the Arab League, told the US magazine Foreign Policy that the peace agreement of 1979 almost expired and was not implemented as it should have been.
He added Egypt would be committed to its peace treaty with Israel as long as the latter was also committed to it.
The Egyptian leader stressed the need for reconsidering the treaty with Israel especially with regard to the security issue in the Sinai, noting that this treaty with its current form led to Egypt's failure to impose its sovereignty over the Sinai and to fully secure its borders.
http://fwd4.me/0uj5
Hezbollah denies role in attack on Israel's missions
BEIRUT (Reuters) -- Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah denied Israeli accusations on Thursday that his group was behind bombers who attacked Israeli missions in India and Georgia this week.
"I assure you that Hezbollah has nothing to do with this," he told supporters. Israel accused Iran and Hezbollah of being behind twin bomb attacks on Israeli embassy staff in India and Georgia on Monday, wounding four people. Tehran also denied the Israeli accusations.
Nasrallah was speaking at an event marking the fourth anniversary of the assassination of its military commander Imad Moughniyah. The Shiite group accused Israel of killing Moughniyah in a car bomb in Syria and has vowed revenge.
Israel has denied involvement, and said that it has since foiled several Hezbollah attempts to kidnap Israelis abroad.
Nasrallah reiterated the group's vow to respond to Moughniyah's killing: "As long as there is blood in the veins of any (member) of Hezbollah (then) the day when we will avenge the killing of Imad Moughniyah will come."
Hezbollah fought against Israel in a 34-day war in 2006 after the group captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. Some 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, were killed and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, died.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=461077 18 feb 2012, 16:08 , Respect -
Maria 18 febr 2012
TA councilman calls for separate buses for ‘smelly’ foreigners
A Tel Aviv city councilman is appealing to the state to allocate separate buses for African refugees and migrant workers, according to an article published on Mynet on Thursday
Last week, Tel Aviv City Councilman Binyamin Babayoff (Shas) sent a letter to Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, Minister of Transportation Israel Katz, and Dr. Moshe Tiomkin, a Tel Aviv councilman and the head of the city’s Transportation, Traffic and Parking Authority. In an excerpt published by Mynet (local online Hebrew news affiliated with Ynet), Babayoff wrote that “illegal foreign workers fill the buses…” leaving no room for Jewish Israeli residents of South Tel Aviv. He added that “foreign workers… give off a bad smell and they might, God forbid, cause all kinds of diseases.”
Reminding of Jim Crow laws, Babayoff proposes that the state introduce separate buses for migrant workers and refugees or limit their access to buses during peak hours of heavy traffic, thus giving preference to Jewish Israeli residents.
Speaking to Mynet, Babayoff claimed that his proposal was not racist. He said that Jewish Israelis in South Tel Aviv “live a life of hell” because of the foreigners in the neighborhood. He added that his letter was a response to the appeals of “scared” residents.
The Tel Aviv municipality condemned Babayoff’s proposal and called it “racist,” adding that it is committed to “caring for immigrant workers and their basic health needs, education, and welfare…”
(Homeless African refugees might beg to differ with the city’s statement, however).
After Babayoff embarked on a campaign against migrant workers and refugees in the summer of 2010—calling on South Tel Aviv landlords not to rent to these “infiltrators” and claiming that doing so violates Jewish religious law--25 area rabbis signed an “Edict Forbidding the Rental of Apartments to Infiltrators.” Shortly thereafter, 10 South Tel Aviv real estate agents signed a petition stating they would not rent to illegal residents.
Later that year, hundreds of Israeli rabbis across the country signed a religious edict forbidding the rental or sale of property to Palestinian citizens of the state.
In 2010, Babayoff also participated in a campaign against opening a new kindergarten in the South Tel Aviv neighborhood of Kiryat Shalom. While the school was planned to accommodate migrant workers’ and refugees’ children, it would also provide education to Jewish Israeli students.
In addition to his issues with non-Jews, Babayoff has also publicly voiced homophobic sentiments, referring to Tel Aviv’s Gay Pride Parade as a “shame parade.”
http://fwd4.me/0uoV
NYTimes new J’lem bureau chief accused of bias against Likud
The demand that the New York Times new Jerusalem bureau chief – who has yet to take up her post here – be “unbiased” towards the Netanyahu government is the height of ‘chutzpah’
Jeffrey Goldberg, the former IDF prison guard and self-appointed gatekeeper of all things Jewish and Zionist, is not happy with the incoming New York Times Jerusalem bureau chief, Jodi Rudoren. He has two problems with her.
The first, and most important, is that Rudoren had the temerity to read Peter Beinart’s new critical book about Israel and, lo and behold, support it. Goldberg whines that she is showing “bias” against Likud.
Which, I think, is perfectly fine. After all, the Likud prime minister recently said that his main enemies are the NYTimes and Haaretz. He has refused to write an oped for the NYTimes, snarkily saying he didn’t want to “Bibiwash” it. Once a public official takes a public stand as a self-declared enemy of a newspaper, I don’t think the paper should continue to treat him differently than any other public official. Journalists are not, and should not be, angels. To blame the NYTimes bureau chief of “bias” against Likud after this is utter chutzpah (nerve) and evidence that the writer is a propagandist.
Goldberg also calumnies Ali Abunimah, claiming that he is an “advocate of Israel’s destruction” and comparing him to a “settler rabbi,” and deplores Rudoren’s “chummy” relations with him. You don’t have to like Abunimah – I’m not a fan, myself – to bristle at this. Unlike settlers, rabbis or not, Abunimah is not committing war crimes by his very existence and he does not rely on the subjugation of another people for it. Furthermore, Abunimah does not “advocate Israel’s destruction:” he merely demands Israel stop being Zionist.
Given that in this world, practical Zionism is racist and cannot be otherwise, this is a worthy demand which has nothing to do with the “destruction of Israel,” merely its transformation. (Yes, I can imagine an ideal world in which Zionism is not necessarily racist; if you do visit that world, please give my regards to the pink unicorn.)
And finally, Goldberg graciously grants Rudoren his permission to not be a Zionist. One would think that, as the NYTimes Jerusalem bureau also covers Palestine and Palestinians, that this should be an actual requirement (otherwise, the bureau chief should prima facie be considerd biased), but I guess that since the previous New York Times bureau chief’s son served in the IDF, we should be grateful for small mercies.
http://fwd4.me/0uoP
Understanding UN Bias Against Israel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7Mupoo1At8 22 feb 2012, 10:10 , Respect -
Maria 22 febr 2012
Zahalka: “Lieberman’s Statements Reveal Israel’s Racist Nature”
FM Avigdor Lieberman
Arab Member of Knesset (MK), Jamal Zahalka, of the National Democratic Assembly, strongly denounced the statements of Israeli Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, who attacked Arab members of Knesset, and stated that “they turned their parties into representatives of terrorist groups at the Knesset”.
Lieberman attacked the Arab MK’s who visited the ailing detainee Adnan Khader who ended on Tuesday his 66 days of hunger strike after Israel decided to release him on April 17th.
Lieberman said that the “Arab MK’s betrayed Israel, by defending representatives of the Islamic Jihad, and remained silent over the killing of thousands of protestors in Syria”.
Responding to Lieberman’s statements, MK Zahalka said that “Lieberman should be thanked for being frank, and for showing the true face and nature of Israel that wears the mask of democracy to cover its ugly face of racism”.
MK Jamal Zahalka
“We cannot consider Lieberman as a minor issue, he has 15 members of Knesset who support him, he can topple the Israeli government whenever he wishes”, Zahalka added, “He is the Foreign Minister who plays an important role in Israeli politics; the world must know that the racism of Lieberman shows the true nature of racism in Israel, all what we need to do is to translate his statements, as they are, from Hebrew into English”.
Zahalka further stated that “Lieberman’s statements against the Arab MKs are very serious and dangerous as he is using the word betrayal, and accuses them of representing terrorism at the Knesset; such statements are a call to attack the Arab MK’s, but this hatred and racism makes us more determined to achieve and maintain our rights”.
http://www.imemc.org/article/63039 26 feb 2012, 16:11 , Respect -
Maria 25 febr 2012
Demonstration against the deportation of children of migrant workers - TA
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Ow_rt39VA
27 feb 2012, 17:06 , Respect -
Maria 26 febr 2012
Israeli Energy and Water Resources Minister Uzi Landau in an interview to Times Now
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8wxztgEOtw
Army opens Eilat road closed after attacks
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Israeli army announced Saturday it has opened the main road to southern Israel city Eilat after it was closed following an armed attack in August.
Israeli army commander in the south Tal Russo said in a statement traffic will be permitted in the area on road 12 near the Egypt border between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and off-road travel near the border is still banned.
The road has been fitted with extra defense measures and increased army surveillance, the release added.
The August 18. attacks near Eilat killed eight Israelis and injured dozens, as armed gunmen opened fire on vehicles on the passageway.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=463224
29 feb 2012, 16:47 , Respect -
Maria 27 febr 2012
Report: Police sanction protest against Zoabi in Nazareth
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli police have given permission for a right-wing march against a Palestinian member of the Israeli parliament in her home town of Nazareth, Israeli media reported Monday.
Part of a campaign under the slogan "Expel Hanin Zoabi from the Knesset", her fellow parliamentarian Michael Ben-Ari will accompany activists from far-right group Our Land of Israel in the procession through the Palestinian city on March 11, Hebrew newspaper Maariv said.
Zoabi, a member of Palestinian party Balad, said she feared the group would spark clashes with locals.
The first female Palestinian to sit in Israel's parliament, Zoabi has drawn the ire of Israel's right-wing for her outspoken support of Palestinians.
Around 20 percent, or 1.3 million people, of Israel's population are of Palestinian origin.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=463557
Ben White book launch - 'Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzhD32yqg18
Ben White is a freelance journalist and writer, specialising in Palestine/Israel. His first book, 'Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide', was published by Pluto Press in 2009, receiving praise from the likes of Desmond Tutu, Ilan Pappe, Nur Masalha, and Ali Abunimah. Ben has been regularly visiting the Middle East since 2003 and his articles have appeared in the Guardian online's 'Comment is free', Electronic Intifada, the New Statesman, Christian Science Monitor, Middle East International and many others.
'Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy' is the new book by Ben White, and considers an issue neglected by the mainstream "peace process" and many commentators: the Palestinian minority in Israel.
What many in Israel call 'the demographic problem' White identifies as 'the democratic problem' which goes to the heart of the conflict: Israel's definition not as a state of its citizens, but as a Jewish state.
With a foreword by Member of Knesset Haneen Zoabi, and endorsements by the likes of Prof. Ilan Pappe and Booker Prize-shortlisted author Ahdaf Soueif, White's new book describes how a consistent emphasis on privileging one ethno-religious group over another cannot be seen as compatible with democratic values and that, unless addressed, will undermine any attempts to find a lasting peace.
Distributor in Japan Drops Israeli Company due to its Illegal Practices
RAMALLAH, (WAFA) - DaitoCrea, the general agent in Japan for Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, announced on its website that they would no longer be distributing Ahava products manufactured in the Israeli illegal settlement of Mitzpe Shalem in the West Bank as of January 31, 2012, Monday said a statement issued by the Palestine forum Japan.
Ahava is an Israeli cosmetics company with a manufacturing plant in an illegal West Bank settlement, which has been the subject of an international boycott campaign since 2009 because of its illegal practices.
Ahava’s plant, visitors center and research facility are in the West Bank settlement of Mitzpe Shalem. All Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, including Mitzpe Shalem, are illegal under international law according to the International Court of Justice, the United Nations, Israeli and international human rights organizations.
“This decision is the direct result of a concerted campaign by the Palestine Forum Japan starting in 2010 to educate Daito Crea and Japanese consumers about Ahava’s illegal practices. Activists wrote letters, organized a social media campaign, and eventually had a sit-down meeting with Daito Crea,” said the statement.
Once the Japanese agent was made aware of the legal and ethical issues involved with Ahava’s products, they began to take steps to sever ties with the company.
Ahava’s profits subsidize Mitzpe Shalem and the settlement of Kalia, both of which are co-owners of the enterprise. In addition, Ahava sources the mud used in its products from the occupied shores of the Dead Sea in direct contravention of the Geneva Convention’s ban on the pillage of occupied natural resources.
In addition to its efforts directed at DaitoCrea, members of the Palestine Forum Japan also met with the Consumer Affairs Agency, the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, informing them about Ahava’s occupation profiteering and the occupation’s harmful effects on the Palestinians of the West Bank.
In a meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in May 2010, the Ministry confirmed that it was inappropriate for Ahava to label its goods as “Product of Israel” when in fact they were manufactured in the Occupied West Bank. This fraudulent labeling has also come under scrutiny in France, The Netherlands, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.
This is the second major Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) victory in Japan, following on the success of the “STOP MUJI” campaign in 2010; where Activists used a variety of tactics, including sending post cards, organizing a Twitter campaign, and staging in-store protests to pressure MUJI, a large Japanese retail chain that sells consumer goods and electronics, not to open a planned store in Israel.
Building on these two successes, the Palestine Forum Japan will continue its work to support Palestinian rights. There is plenty to do as Israeli companies seek to deepen their reciprocal ties with Asian countries while losing market share in Europe and North America because of human rights campaigns.
Last July, a Hello Kitty store was opened in the suburbs of Tel Aviv; this is the first Japanese retail shop in Israel. Classic Japan, a cut flower import company, was for many years a trading partner of Agrexco, a now bankrupt Israeli agricultural supplier that sold products grown in illegal West Bank settlements.
Classic Japan is now importing flowers from Bickel, another Israeli agricultural concern with greenhouses in illegal Jordan Valley settlements. In October of this year, Synergy Trading in Osaka began to carry Soda Stream products, which are manufactured in the illegal settlement of Mishor Adumim. In December, a prominent theater director, Yukio Ninagawa, announced plans to stage “The Trojan Women” in Tokyo and Tel Aviv with sponsorship of both governments.
As our governments continue to allow Israel to flout international law with impunity—witness the blockade of Gaza, the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank, the confiscation of land in Nabi Saleh, Bilin and other villages, the home demolitions in East Jerusalem—it is up to global civil society to hold Israel accountable. It is through grassroots BDS efforts that citizens of the world can support Palestinian human rights and work to end Israel’s brutal occupation and its system of apartheid.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=19126
Bomb explodes near IOF post in Ramallah
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- A crude device exploded on Sunday night near an Israeli army post to the north east of Ramallah city without any casualties inflicted, Hebrew media reported on Monday.
Yediot Ahronot said that the device was planted to target an Israeli army patrol near to the separation wall, which is frequently patrolled by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF).
The device was put inside a tire and dumped near an asphalted road but for unknown reasons exploded prematurely before any patrols were passing nearby.
Meanwhile, local sources told the PIC reporter in Qabia village near to the site of the blast that IOF soldiers combed the village to search for perpetrators but no arrests were made.
The Hebrew paper claimed that the IOF soldiers detected an 8-kilogram device a week ago near Beit Ummar village to the north of Al-Khalil.
http://fwd4.me/0vOz 1 mar 2012, 14:10 , Respect -
Maria 29 febr 2012
Israel orchestrates plot to penetrate Syrian territories
A picture taken from the Syrian side shows the Quneitra border crossing between Syria and the Israeli annexed Golan Heights
Israel is reportedly preparing the grounds for military meddling in Syria by creating chaos in the southwestern Syrian province of Quneitra near the Israeli border.
Informed sources say Tel Aviv is making efforts to create an insecure and tense atmosphere in the Syrian border province of Quneitra in order to pave the way for the presence of UN observers there which will then be followed by Israeli forces.
The move comes after the failure of Western-backed attempts to create buffer zones along Syria’s border with Turkey and Lebanon.
According to informed sources, Quneitra’s residents are receiving phone calls and SMS from unknown parties, urging them to hold anti-government protest rallies and cause unrest in the border town. Sources also said unknown groups of people have entered the province in recent days, apparently for committing acts of violence in the region.
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak's recent call for the establishment of tents along the Syrian-Israeli border for the Syrian refugees fleeing violence in their country, is believed to be part of Tel Aviv's new anti-Syria plot.
Israel openly supports armed groups fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, arguing that it would break the Iran-Syria nexus of resistance against Tel Aviv.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. The violence has claimed the lives of hundreds, including security forces.
While the opposition blames the Assad government, Damascus blames ‘outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups’ for the unrest, asserting that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/229266.html