Friendship prior Peace

Israel Land of Shalom. Impressions written by "D"

2011-08-02T20:56:00.000-07:00

Preface

Despite the "Friendship prior Peace" website is closed since a few months, I'm very pleased for the opportunity to publish a very special trip report of "D" (the name is kept "D" for confidentiality reasons). I was very surprised by D's tour to Israel. I couldn't manage to meet D face to face due to the very short notification, but I managed to call D and we have a phone conversation before leaving Israel.

I could hear in D's voice during our conversation his satisfaction of visiting Israel, even it was very short. I asked D to write his impressions from his visit and I'll be more than happy to publish it on "Friendship prior Peace" even the web blog is no longer active. I want to thank deeply from my heart for his dedication and time to compose his impressions for the benefit of anyone who reads this blog.

Hanan Leshnovolsky
_______________________________________________________

Israel Land of Shalom

Written by: "D"

In the last year I had been thinking about visiting my Malaysian uncle's homeland. I was blessed with the opportunity to go in July. I had made quite a few entries on Friendship Prior Peace Blogspot and i wanted to experience the Holy Land for myself. I just return from Israel after a week.

It is my hope to share my trip and experiences of going to Israel, Good and Bad.

Three hours before boarding El Al the security check-in staff arrived with four music stands. They proceeded to screen the people in the line. My screeners put me through a long winded interrogation. At one point I was introduced to the El Al Chief Security officer, another El AL Senior Officer along with an EL AL Junior Officer. All my luggage was screened for explosives and i got a full screening for bomb residue. I felt uncomfortable and understand how Muslims feel when they think they are being singled out at Airports. Finally, I was allowed to board the plane.

The attendants on El Al flight were cordial. I was still a little unbalanced. Upon arriving in Tel Aviv I felt much better. Tel Aviv is a very dense city with an interesting milieu of Jewish cultures. People were very friendly in helping me navigate to my Hostel. One Israeli had his GPS on his IPhone directing me as we approached my bus stop. Tel Aviv is hot and humid but to my surprise no mosquitoes.

Tel Aviv never sleeps and has an active 'disco-disco' nightlife. Walking the beach my first night. There were lots of people swimming around. Several food kiosks and promenade with local bands playing music. Lots of interesting music.The Mediterranean ocean is actually warm. Not your Pacific ocean type coldness.

The most interesting sight was Religious Hebrews dancing on the sidewalk and on a busy street with very interesting tunes and handing out brochures to locals.

Tel Aviv Gordon St Shabbat

Religious Hebrews Dancing

Tel Aviv Beach

Jerusalem the cradle of the Abrahamic religions Christianity, Islam and Judaism is like a city within cities. Jewish, Islamic and Christian sections within the City squeezed together like sardines. The Jewish quarter has the newest buildings which were rebuilt after the Jordanians demolished most of the site in the 1967 war. Interestingly, there is a tiny Mosque in the middle that was untouched and preserved by the Israeli's. There was a Jewish family that had converted to Islam and donated their small house which the Mosque was built on. That is why there is a tiny minaret next to a huge Synagogue in the picture. Of course the Wailing Wall is the most prominent site for the Jewish Religion. People come to pray and write their wishes on paper which is inserted into the wall. In Jerusalem we passed by multiple Holy Sites including the Dome of the Rock, Al Aqsa, Holy Church of Sepulchre, Church of Gethsemane and others. Jerusalem itself is a smorgasbord for archeologists. Even outside the Old City I saw archeological remnants everywhere. An unknown tomb of a wealthy jewish remnant recently discovered by Hebrew University, ancient jewish tombstones hundreds of them on the slopes. You could probably excavate everywhere around Jerusalem and find something there.

Garden of Gesthemene

Jerusalem Overview

Jewish Tomb

Al Aqsa

Mosque and Synagogue

Wailing Wall

Wailing Wall Tunnel

Touring Bethlehem and Jericho I got to experience the security wall. Let me describe it as best I can. Firstly, it is not possible to make a value judgement from the brief period crossing the wall. However, i can tell you what i saw and what people I’ve talked to say about it. In order to cross into East Jerusalem you must pass through the wall from Israeli to Palestinian control areas. The wall is intimidating to say the least. Tall with sensors,cameras and barbwire. You cross by yourself through a narrow corridor and pass through a checkpoint where an IDF soldier in a booth checks your identity (Passport). He waved us through. I saw Arabs/Palestinians pass-through using finger print hand scanners. The soldier was respectful and did not question us or stop any persons. Passage was quick without any issues. There weren't any crowds on both-sides as expected because it was on a Shabat (Saturday). We met our Palestinian guide Sam on the other-side. Sam described the wall and hardship it had caused to the Palestinians. Travel has become a difficult daily occurrence. You must have permission and biometrics (hand) coded. There is apparently a curfew period of when you can cross and return, as well as, restricted passage once you cross into the Israeli side i.e. proof of work and path you are allowed to take to work. I wondered if the security wall was necessary ? Speaking with Rachel the night clerk at the Hostel later. I realized the motivation behind the wall. Before the building of the wall. The last Intifada resulted in many deaths as a result of a slew of suicide attacks. The daily occurrence sometimes twice a day lead to the building of the wall. Israeli parents stopped sending their children to school and there was a paranoia about taking public transportation or being in public places. My feeling is the wall should be taken down as soon as possible when both sides come to a mutual agreement.

Message bodyMary’s' Grotto, Sheppard’s Field and the Church of the Nativity were the highlights in Bethlehem. As a Christian city, Bethlehem's Christian population is dwindling. It will be a sad day if the community ceases to make a presence in the place of Jesus's birth. We had to go through two road checkpoints between Israeli and Palestinian control areas. Again, IDF soldiers were respectful and cordial. They chatted with our bus driver in a cordial tone. There were no concerns as tour guests on the bus. They waved us through quickly. Israeli IDF conscripts are a mix of youthful and senior ranks. It seems to me the media, at least in the West likes to show clips of aggressive IDF soldiers but it is not what i observed. Jericho is believed to be the oldest city in the world. It is 244m below sea (lowest point) level and therefore a natural spring as the water table sits beneath the city. It is amazing as you see a water fountain springing out in the middle of the Judean Desert at 42C. We passed through a Palestinian checkpoint. They were cordial and waved us through. We had lunch at mall and got to view archeological remnants.

Border crossing

Marys Grotto

Sheppards Field Display

Jericho Spring

I enjoyed the Dead Sea and Masada tour the most. For several reasons. I travelled to Israel with knee problems. I have an old work injury on my right knee acts up once in a while. My muscles lock up and prevent me from bending. So I use a cane or brace when it acts up. Also, my feet were irritated from walking on the beach in Tel Aviv and my scratching didn't help. The Dead Sea apparently helps blood circulation and is good for your skin especially with skin disorders like psoriasis. I was reminded of the biblical narrative of Namaan and the Jordan River. At the beach you apply mud on your skin for treatment and immerse yourself in the dead sea which is full of salts and minerals. It disinfects your body and permeates through your body. After two hours of soaking and rinsing. I felt relaxed and my the muscles in my knee loosened up. The skin irritation went away. It really helped my blood circulation. At least, for me i had full movement in my knee.

Masada is a symbol of Jewish 'Chutzpah' (Audacity). It was the last stronghold that the Romans (10th Legion) sieged. The siege lasted 3 years whereby the Romans built a seige ramp using Jewish slaves at Masada. Zealots held out in defiance until it became apparent that Masada would be bridged. Preferring death before slavery. 10 men were chosen to complete the task of killing the tribe leaving one to kill the 9. Today Israeli Soldiers take an oath in remembrance of Masada. It is also a popular place for Bar Mitzvah's. How did the Zealots survive on top of a mountain for 3 years? An ingenious method of ancient engineering. Aqueducts were carved on the mountain sides to collect rain water from the mountains that were directed into carved cisterns. They also built a bath-house, food (Dried Fruits) and fuel storage (Olive oil). Infact, Masada was one of Herod's palaces.

My tour Operator Mr. Manashe reminded me of my uncle. I really liked him and told him he reminded me of my uncle at the end of the tour. Here he is feeding an Israeli (Tristram’s Grackle) bird by hand. The bird actually flies onto your hand and picks the food out your hand. On the topic of animals. I love the cats in Israel. They are so mellow. I find them so pleasant to look at and they like to pose for pictures. They're not well groomed but short-haired cats. Israeli's love their dogs you see them jogging and cycling with their pets everywhere. They even bring them into restaurants. At a Pizza Hut restaurant I spoke to a Israeli with her old blind dog. I asked about the cats. She mentioned that most of them are strays.

Aquaduct Model

Aquaduct

Cistern Reservoir

Mr. Manashe Feeding Bird

Masada

Israeli Cats

My favourite Felafel and Donair eatery is north of Gordon St along Dizengoff St. The donair meat just melts in your mouth.I love the lemonade as it goes down well on a hot day. My last night was spent walking the beach in Tel Aviv to Old Jaffa. I had stumbled across a large crowd of Israeli Jews, Arabs etc having a night out barbequing. I was amazed by the people barbequing 'kabobs'. It smelled so good. They use tiny BBQ (tray sized) Charcoal Briquettes. I wanted to go over and ask for some. The whole pathway along the beach smelled of Kabobs I ended up walking to Old Jaffa (old quarter) with all the castle like buildings. At one location it looked like an abandoned building but loud screeching sounds permeating from the inside. To my surprise looking through the door gate there were hundreds of bats clinging to the ceiling, flying back and forth.

BBQ Kebab

Donair Eatery

Old Jaffa

Dead Sea

Dead Sea shore

Judean Desert Sea Level

The flight back was much more relaxed and security at Ben Gurion went much smoother. I found that Airport Security were very respectful and cordial unlike my maiden voyage from Canada. El Al Attendants were very much more relaxed and pleasant. They paid special attention to the children on the flight. Israeli's have a deep deep love for their children. It is apparent when you see them holding and hugging them. They are like little treasures that cling to their hearts. Perhaps it is because as a society they've experience suicide attacks, rocket attacks or fighting so many wars that make them dote their children so much. One thing i noticed about EL Al flights, credit to the pilots. The horizontal pitch at cruising altitude was very steady and comfortable.

As a land that is steeped with religious traditions. I felt a peace and tranquility in Israel. My daily prayers were for the Peace of Jerusalem. Protection for Israeli's (Arabs, Jews and Christians) from the front, back and sorround her with Yahweh's divine presence.

Israeli child

Israeli Mall

Ben Gurion Airport

"Friendship prior Peace" is closed

2011-05-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

The "Friendship prior Peace" web blog is closed starting 1-May-2011.

No updates, articles and commentary will be posted.

Friendship with our enemy is naive.
As long as Islam treats the Jews as infidels, the Palestinian conflict will remain.
As long as butchery between Muslims is a way of life, it is no wonder that it will be easily turned against the Jews.

The Muslims must mature from their barbarism and the Palestinians from their terrorism. They must proof the world that they are human and tolerant.

Since I think a big turmoil is in front of us, friendship will need to wait for decades.

This web blog will remain as a tomb or statue of a good will that was spoiled by evil murderous people guided by faith or wrongly interpreted the faith. It doesn't matter, either is evil.

Maybe someone will revive it in the future...

Ynet News: 'Murdered simply for being a Jew'

2011-04-24T07:29:00.000-07:00

Preface

The "Oslo agreement" is talking about free Jews entarnce to "Joseph's Tomb". Here is the part of the document:

Hanan

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Thousands bid farewell to Ben-Yosef Livnat, who was killed Sunday morning in a shooting at Joseph's Tomb, allegedly by Palestinian policemen. 'It was cold-blooded murder,' says victim's aunt Sports and Culture Minister Limor Livnat. Brother of teen injured in incident: 'They knew what they were getting into, and level of risk involved, but they wanted action'

Yair Altman Published: 04.24.11, 16:31 / Israel News

'Just wanted to pray.' Ben-Yosef Livnat Photo: Curtesy of The Shomron Settlers' Committee

Thousands gathered at Mount Olives Cemetery in Jerusalem to bid farewell to Ben-Yosef Livnat, who was killed Sunday morning in a shooting at Joseph's Tomb, presumably by Palestinian policemen.

Among the participants were right-wing activists, rabbis and public figures, as well as Sports and Culture Minister Limor Livnat, who is Ben-Yosef's aunt.

Windshield sustained bullet holes Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg

Prior and during the funeral procession, participants shouted "vengeance," but Noam Livnat, the victim's father, said "revenge is irrelevant because the perpetrators will get what they rightfully deserve."

Limor Livnat's father, Azriel Livnat, compared Ben-Yosef's death to that of Shlomo Ben-Yosef, the first Jew executed by the British authorities during the mandate period.

Funeral procession (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

A member of the settlement project told Ynet that "even if they find the murderers, they will probably sit in prison, get an academic degree on the expense of the tax payer, earn the respect of their own people for being Jew killers and eventually find their way back to freedom in this or the other deal, just like what happened in the Itamar massacre."

No eulogies were made due to the holiday, but Sports and Culture Minister Limor Livnat said over her nephew's fresh grave: "I woke up this morning and received a phone call from Ben-Yosef's mother, who told me that he was murdered by a terrorist masked as a Palestinian police officer.

Limor Livnat and Ben-Yosef's grandfather (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg)

"It was cold-blooded murder. Ben-Yosef went to pray with other Jews, and he was murdered simply for being a Jew," she said.

"It's hard to grasp these things. This is why that area should be under the control of Israel. My own private nephew, a personal sacrifice, I hope that he's the last victim," she said.

'Went withut rabbi's permit'

Meanwhile, the police asked the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court to remand three Breslov Hasidim, aged 19 from Jerusalem and Bnei-Brak, for five days, for violating a restricted military zone order.

The motion said that the three, along with 15 other hasidim, entered the Joseph Tomb compound on Sunday morning sans the proper permits. The act resulted in the shooting incident that left one Israeli dead and five others injured.

The Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court ordered to release the three under a two-day house arrest.

The court permitted the three to attend prayer services with the escort of family members and ordered them to pay bail of NIS 5,000 each (about $1,400).

The 17-year-old brother of one of the wounded men arrived at Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva, where they have been hospitalized.

"They knew what they were getting into, and the level of risk involved. But they considered it as action," the brother told Ynet.

"They only wanted to pray; sometimes fate can be pretty bad and unpleasant," he said, adding "they have a rabbi that coordinates these entries. This time they came without a permit or authorization of the rabbi.

"When the visits are coordinated nothing happens – the rabbi looks after us. However this time the rabbi wasn’t there with them; it was a crime for them to enter the tomb without the rabbi or a permit," noted the brother.

Raanan Ben-Zur contributed to this report

Ynet News: Mideast without Christians

2011-04-21T13:18:00.000-07:00

Op-ed: Christians must realize Israel’s fate intertwined with fate of non-Muslims in region

Giulio Meotti Published: 04.18.11, 21:14 / Israel Opinion

This is the saddest Easter in the long epic of Arab Christianity: The cross is near extinction in the lands of it origin. The much-vaunted diversity of the Middle East is going to be reduced to the flat monotony of a single religion, Islam, and to a handful of languages.

Protests in Egypt (Archives) Photo: AP

In 1919, the Egyptian revolution adopted a green flag with the crescent and the cross. Both Muslims and Christians participated in the nationalist revolution against British colonialism. Now, according to the Egyptian Federation for Human Rights, more than 70 Christians a week are asking to leave the country due to Islamist threats.

The numbers are telling. Today there is only one Middle Eastern country where the number of Christians has grown: Israel. As documented in the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics, the Christian community that numbered 34,000 people in 1949 is now 163,000-strong, and will reach 187,000 in 2020.

In the rest of the Middle East, the drive for Islamic purity is going to banish all traces of pre-Islamic pasts. This has affected not only Christians, but other non-Islamic communities too, such as the Zoroastrians and Baha’is in Iran (the late also found refuge in Israel, in Haifa.)

The silence of the global forums, the flawed conscience of human rights groups, the self-denial of the media and the Vatican’s appeasement is helping facilitate this Islamist campaign. According to a report on religious freedom compiled by the US Department of State, the number of Christians in Turkey declined from two million to 85,000; in Lebanon they have gone from 55% to 35% of the population; in Syria, from half the population they have been reduced to 4%; in Jordan, from 18% to 2%. In Iraq, they will be exterminated.

Should the exodus of Christians from Bethlehem continue in the next two or three decades, there may be no clergy left to conduct religious services in Jesus’ birthplace. In Iran, Christians have become virtually non-existent since 1979, when Khomeini ordered the immediate closure of all Christian schools. In Gaza, the 3,000 who remain are subjected to persecution. In Sudan, Christians in the South are forced into slavery.

Israel’s flag a symbol of hope

In Lebanon, the Maronites, the only Christians to have held political power in the modern Arab world, have been reduced to a minority because of Muslim violence and Hezbollah’s rise. In Saudi Arabia, Christians have been beaten or tortured by religious police. Benjamin Sleiman, archbishop of Baghdad, is talking about “the extinction of Christianity in the Middle East.”

The Christian Egypt was symbolically represented by former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, a Christian married to a Jewish woman whose sister was the wife of Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban. In 1977, Boutros-Ghali, who was then Egypt’s foreign minister, accompanied President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem.

Sadat, who as a child had attended a Christian school, was killed because the treaty his signed with the “Zionists,” among other reasons, and his cold peace is now under attack from the new rulers in Cairo.

In 1948, the Middle East was cleansed of its ancient Jews. Today is the Christians’ turn. Just as Islamist totalitarians have ruthlessly persecuted Christians in the Middle East, they have been waging war for the past 63 years to destroy the Jewish state in their midst. That’s why the fate of Israel is intertwined with the fate of the non-Muslim minorities.

Should the Islamists prevail, the Middle East will be completely green, the colour of Islam. Under atomic and Islamist existential threats, the remnant of the Jewish people risks being liquidated before Israel’s centennial in 2048. It’s time for Christians to recognize that Israel’s survival is also critical and vital for them. During the Holocaust, when most Christians were bystanders or collaborators, the Yellow Star was a symbol of death for the Jews. Today, the white flag with the beautiful six pointed star is a symbol of survival and hope for both Jews and Christians.

Giulio Meotti, a journalist with Il Foglio, is the author of the book A New Shoah: The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism

Glenn Beck peels the scorching onion (truth is scorching)

2011-04-20T14:00:00.000-07:00

Recently I was watching Glenn Beck's shows. I was astonished by his brilliant interpretation of what is going on in our world. Glenn peeled off the onion leaf after leaf as truth is exposed in is most bitterness, scorching as a fresh onion.

He peeled of the true face of the US president Barack Obama and his staff of advisors and cabinet. He peeled off the combined plan of the extreme Islam to dominate the world starting with the middle east by wiping off Israel from the map. Isn't it a kind of the "Protocols of the eldest of Muslims" (with the analogy to what is claimed as "The protocols of Eldest of Zion")? The Protocols of the Eldest of Zion" is a fiction while the plan according Islam is to Islamize the world either by good will or by the Jihad sward. This is not a fiction, it is written in blood today, it was written in blood in the past and it will be written in the future.

I still wonder if friendship can be established in such circumstances. More generations must pass to wait for that moment.

You can watch the shows attached hereby. I hope you'll watch all of them.

If this is not the truth or almost the truth, than what is the truth?

Ynet News: Itamar massacre solved; 2 arrested

2011-04-17T09:00:00.000-07:00

Preface

In relation to the slaughtering of the five members of the Fogel family in Itamar, including a 3 months baby girl, Israeli security forces managed to fing and arrest the beasts who did it. The sights from the butchery arena can be viewed here: http://friendship-prior-peace.blogspot.com/2011/03/pictures-and-video-clips-from-itamar.html.

Another reason to reject "Freindship" while the Palestinians are still teaching their youth the hatred of Jews.

Is this the vision of Islam?
Is this called Jihad?
Palestinians must wash their own dirty laundry. No one will do it for them. Till then, no one in the world will be able to like them except the leftist and anarchist hypocrites.
Is our world a safer pleace to live with such beasts?
Cold blooded beast who slaughtered a 3 month baby girl.

Hanan
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Joint investigation of Fogel family murder by Shin Bet, IDF and police culminates in the arrest of two Palestinians. Both suspects admit involvement in terror attack; say they wanted to 'die martyrs' death'

Hanan Greenberg Published: 04.17.11, 12:21 / Israel News

Cleared for Publication: Shin Bet, IDF and police have arrested two Palestinians, both residents of the village of Awarta, in connection to the Fogel family massacre in Itamar in March.

The first suspect is Hakim Mazen Awad, 18, a high school student whose father was active in the Popular Front terror organization. Awad has a prison record. His uncle, who was killed in clashes with IDF forces in 2003, was involved in a June 2002 terror attack in Itamar, which left five dead.

Hakim Mazen Awad Photo courtesy of the Shin Bet

The second suspect, Amjad Mahmad Awad, 19, also a student, is affiliated with the Popular Front.

Amjad Mahmad Awad Photo courtesy of the Shin Bet

The two suspects confessed to their involvement in the murders, and said that they sought to carry out a terror attack in order to kill Israelis. They expressed no regret over the murders.

The Shin Bet arrested the two subsequent to a strenuous investigation, which included the interrogation of multiple persons of interest in the case.

On April 5 and April 10, IDF forces arrested Amjad and Hakim. The investigation into the attack revealed that the two decided to carry out a terror attack and attempted to acquire weapons three days before the March 11 attack.

In order to obtain the weapons they turned to a Popular Front militant in their village, but he refused to acquiesce to their request. And yet, at midday on Friday March 11, they decided that they would go to Itamar that night, armed with knives and carry out the attack.

Masterminds of evil

At approximately 9:00 pm the two cut the settlement fence and entered its ground, masked. At first, they entered a neighboring house, found it empty, and stole an M-16 rifle, clips and a Kevlar vest. From there they moved onto the Fogel home.

Before entering the house the murderers noticed that there were children in the home. Undeterred, they still chose to proceed, killing two of the children immediately after breaking in. Parents Ehud and Ruth were murdered next. According to the investigation's report, the two struggled with their attackers before succumbing to multiple shotgun wounds.

Before fleeing the scene, the two stole an additional gun from the Fogel home. When they had already left the house and saw a patrol car outside, they feared they would be captured. At that point, Amjad insisted on going back into the house and searching for additional weapons. Unfortunately, this was when the Fogel's baby girl started crying. Fearing it would attract attention, the two murdered her, as well.

As for the two surviving children, the murderers said they hadn't noticed them. Had they found the two, both said, they would not have hesitated to kill them, as well.

The Fogel family home after the attack

The heinous deed done, the two, who are not related, returned to their village on foot and appealed to Hakim's uncle, Salah Awad, also a Popular Front militant, for assistance, giving him a detailed report of the attack they had carried out.

Salah Awad helped them conceal their weapons and bloodstained clothes, and later, he transferred the stolen weapons to a Ramallah resident, for hiding. The latter was arrested after the weapons were discovered in his possession.

Israeli security forces also arrested five of the two's family members and friends in connection to the case.

Complex investigation, chilling reenactment

The Shin Bet noted that even though the murderers are affiliated with the Peoples Front, it appears that they acted of their own accord and were not following orders. The issue is still under investigation.

A senior Shin Bet official said that the massacre had the characteristics of a "lone-terrorist" attack and even though it was carried out by two people, it was difficult to receive any information in advance which could have prevented the attack.

A senior Shin Bet official said that the massacre had the characteristics of a 'lone terrorist' attack and even though it was carried out by two people, obtaining intelligence to thwart such attacks in extremely difficult.

Sources familiar with the investigation said the two offered a dispassionate account of the attack, and "a chilling reenactment." Shin Bet officers described it as one of the most "shocking, cold, remorseless and detailed description," they had ever come across.

Amjad noted that he went to Itamar to "die a martyr's death", which strengthened his willingness to carry out an act of terrorism. During their interrogation the two suspects made no distinction between the murder of the parents and the children, describing it simply as an act against five Jewish Israelis.

The village of Awarta, with 8,000 residents is known as a breeding ground for terror and has quite a few hostile elements. Nevertheless, following the massacre and the series of arrests carried out by the defense establishment, the residents renounced the massacre and even attempted to point the blame away from the village.

The Shin Bet said that in spite of the time that passed between the murder and the case's resolution, it was a major achievement.

Following today's discoveries, Ruth Fogel's brother, Yochai Ben Yishai told Ynet: "We are very proud of the State and the security services. But on a personal level, there is no consolation, the pain remains sharp."

Yishai added that "the capture of he murderers gives us a sense of satisfaction on a national level but we must get to a point where these people are deterred before they take action and not just apprehended after the murder."

Ynet News: Hamas: Body of kidnapped activist found

2011-04-15T10:14:00.000-07:00

Preface

Can we trust the Palestinians and make with such people peace?
Can we trust those evil Muslims?
Are they human beings?
Are they beasts?
Where are those so called moderate Muslims to speak?
Muslims among themselves must vomit from their society the evil. If not then their moderate destiny is sealed with blood from their own brothers.
Who can be a friend of such people?

Another good reason to close this "Friendship prior Peace" web blog.

Hanan
__________________________________________

(Video) Body of International Solidarity Movement member kidnapped in Strip said to be found in Gaza City, mere hours after news of abduction break. Hamas police arrest two suspects

News agencies Latest Update: 04.15.11, 05:57 / Israel News

VIDEO - The body of an Italian pro-Palestinian activist abducted Thursday by Islamic extremists has been found hanged in a Gaza City house, after a clash between Hamas police and the abductors, Hamas officials said in the early hours of Friday morning.

The officials said Hamas police stormed an apartment in Gaza City belonging to a member of the extremist group that released a video of the activist. Hamas police said they found the man dead from an apparent hanging. Security officials added that two men were arrested and others were being sought in the killing.

The International Solidarity Movement had identified the kidnapped activist as Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, a member from Italy. An Italian doctor was reportedly on his way from Israel to examine the body, a Hamas official said.

Arrigoni, a pacifist and blogger, had lived in the Gaza Strip for some time. Huwaida Arraf, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, identified him as one of the group's members. Arrigoni had not been heard from in the past 24 hours, Arraf said.

Italy's government condemned Arrigoni's kidnapping and "brutal murder" on Friday.

Arrigoni in the Gaza Strip (Photo: AP)

The Italian foreign ministry "denounces in the strongest manner the act of vile and senseless violence committed by extremists who are indifferent to the value of human life," a statement said.

The ministry expressed "its deep horror over the barbaric murder and its most sincere condolences to the family."

Arrigoni's abduction was first kidnapping of a foreigner since Hamas overran Gaza in 2007. In the past, all foreign kidnap victims in Gaza had been released unharmed.

According to accounts, Gaza police were surrounding the small house where the clash took place. A police officer said the body was inside, adding that two people were arrested in another location in connection with the abduction, and a third was being sought.

A video released earlier Thursday night showed a man with a thick black blindfold and a large bruise on his face. Apparently seated, he was held in front of the camera by an unseen person.

Video posted by kidnappers

In a message on the video, an extremist group calling itself "Monotheism and Holy War" demanded that Hamas free its leader, Sheikh Abu Walid-al-Maqdasi, who was arrested in early March; and two other members whose names had not been previously known. The Hamas government had no immediate reaction.

Early Friday, the group – beleaived to be affiliated with al-Qaeda – posted a statement on its website denying responsibility for the abduction.

Before the body was found, the Italian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was aware of the kidnapping, was in touch with Arrigoni's family and was taking steps to ensure his safety. "Foreign Minister Franco Frattini is in touch with diplomats in the country and is following the situation with great attention," the statement said.

'A heinous murder'

Hamas' Interior Ministry called a special press conference following the recovery of the Italian peace activist's body in Gaza.

The ministry denounced the act: "This is a heinous murder which does not represent our religion, values and costume," it said in a statement, adding the act "harms the Palestinian people's goals." Hamas police have launched a full inquiry in the case.

Hamas itself is a fundamentalist Islamic group, but it faces challenges from even more extremist offshoots of Islam, including Walid-al-Maqdasi's group, that take inspiration from al-Qaida and the world jihad movement. Hamas has denied that al-Qaeda has a presence in Gaza.

Kidnappings of foreigners were common before the Hamas takeover. Most of those abducted were foreign correspondents, including Alan Johnston of the BBC, who was abducted and held for 114 days before being freed in July 2007, just after Hamas overran Gaza, expelling forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

ISM operates in the West Bank and Gaza and is known for trying to prevent the Israeli military from carrying out its missions. Arraf said this activist has been going in and out of Gaza for more than two years. He was working with farmers and fishermen.

The ISM incident that got the most attention was the 2003 death of American activist Rachel Corrie, who was crushed by an Israeli military bulldozer in southern Gaza while trying to block its path.

'Fighting an occupation is in my DNA'

Since his murder, online videos of an interview Arrigoni held earlier this year have surfaced on the internet.

"I arrived in Gaza on August 23, 2009 on a boat of the Free Gaza Movement with about 40 activists from 17 different countries," he said. "We arrived and broke a siege lasting since 1967. I remember this day as one of the happiest in my life."

Arrigoni said he came from a family of partisans. "My grandfathers died fighting an occupation, another occupation, the Nazi-fascist occupation in Italy. For this reason, my DNA, my blood probably has parts pushing me to fight for freedom and human rights."

Arrigoni said that there are people who are willing to devote their lives to support the people in Gaza despite their governments' complaisance and "cooperation with the Zionist-Israeli regime."

He said that he and his friends came to Gaza to "face the snipers as a human shield" and did what the UN should be doing to enforce international law.

Elior Levy, Reuters and AFP contributed to this report

This is what Vitorio Aggrosini was thinking.

Ynet News: Actor Juliano Mer-Khamis shot dead in Jenin

2011-04-04T09:04:00.000-07:00

Preface

I cannot simply understand the behavior of the Palestinians. They are murdering in the same speed as slaughtering a goat. I have no other words but just to describe those people as the garbage of humanity. A man came to make their situation better and they just spit into the well, sorry shit (I have no other expression at the moment) into their drinking well.

They simply murdered a man of friendship and those are the people we need to deal with them peace. I don't want to dig deeper into their culture and faith which encouraged them to be easy on their guns to their own brothers and friends. So how easy will be their gun against the infidel Jews? It is no wonder if clerics and leaders like Erdogan, Mahathir and other radical anti-Semitic Muslim leaders are brainwashing their minds. They are the cancer of themselves. Just watch what Muslims are doing to Muslims. It is related to the religion. Not all Muslims are terrorists but almost all terrorists are Muslims. Just for that reason of being easy to murder and kill, the Muslims will be punished with a great bloodshed in a brother's war in a very short time. This is not my punishment, it is a divine punishment. They will face darkness for centuries.

In this case we don't need friendship, we don't need peace, not that prior this nor this prior that.

I'm about to change my blog name or remove it from the web. I simply don't want to be a friend of any Palestinian. They should learn first the minimal human behavior.

Hanan Leshnovolsky

Israeli-Arab actor, a pro-Palestinian activist, has received death threats for establishing theater

Elior Levy Published: 04.04.11, 17:27 / Israel News

The Israeli-Arab actor Juliano Mer-Khamis was shot to death in Jenin, Palestinian police in the West Bank announced.

The actor was shot by a masked man who fired five bullets at him as he was exiting his car in the neighborhood in which he resides, afterwards fleeing the scene, police say. Mer-Khamis has resided in Jenin and Haifa alternately.

Civil Administration officials say his body has been transferred to the Abu-Kabir Forensic Institute.

The 52-year old Mer-Khamis, a pro-Palestinian political activist born to a Jewish mother and Arab father, has previously received death threats after establishing a theater at Jenin refugee camp.

The refugee camp disseminated fliers in 2009 calling the actor a fifth column. "If words don't help we will have to speak in bullets," the fliers said.

The theater, which became one of the city's main culture centers since its establishment five years ago, has sustained many firebomb attacks. In April of 2009 the theater's door was torched.

The Washington Post: Reconsidering the Goldstone Report on Israel and war crimes

2011-04-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

The Washington Post: Reconsidering the Goldstone Report on Israel and war crimes

By Richard Goldstone, Friday, April 1, 8:42 PM

We know a lot more today about what happened in the Gaza war of 2008-09 than we did when I chaired the fact-finding mission appointed by the U.N. Human Rights Council that produced what has come to be known as the Goldstone Report. If I had known then what I know now, the Goldstone Report would have been a different document.

The final report by the U.N. committee of independent experts — chaired by former New York judge Mary McGowan Davis — that followed up on the recommendations of the Goldstone Report has found that “Israel has dedicated significant resources to investigate over 400 allegations of operational misconduct in Gaza” while “the de facto authorities (i.e., Hamas) have not conducted any investigations into the launching of rocket and mortar attacks against Israel.”

Our report found evidence of potential war crimes and “possibly crimes against humanity” by both Israel and Hamas. That the crimes allegedly committed by Hamas were intentional goes without saying — its rockets were purposefully and indiscriminately aimed at civilian targets.

The allegations of intentionality by Israel were based on the deaths of and injuries to civilians in situations where our fact-finding mission had no evidence on which to draw any other reasonable conclusion. While the investigations published by the Israeli military and recognized in the U.N. committee’s report have established the validity of some incidents that we investigated in cases involving individual soldiers, they also indicate that civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy.

For example, the most serious attack the Goldstone Report focused on was the killing of some 29 members of the al-Simouni family in their home. The shelling of the home was apparently the consequence of an Israeli commander’s erroneous interpretation of a drone image, and an Israeli officer is under investigation for having ordered the attack. While the length of this investigation is frustrating, it appears that an appropriate process is underway, and I am confident that if the officer is found to have been negligent, Israel will respond accordingly. The purpose of these investigations, as I have always said, is to ensure accountability for improper actions, not to second-guess, with the benefit of hindsight, commanders making difficult battlefield decisions.

While I welcome Israel’s investigations into allegations, I share the concerns reflected in the McGowan Davis report that few of Israel’s inquiries have been concluded and believe that the proceedings should have been held in a public forum. Although the Israeli evidence that has emerged since publication of our report doesn’t negate the tragic loss of civilian life, I regret that our fact-finding mission did not have such evidence explaining the circumstances in which we said civilians in Gaza were targeted, because it probably would have influenced our findings about intentionality and war crimes.

Israel’s lack of cooperation with our investigation meant that we were not able to corroborate how many Gazans killed were civilians and how many were combatants. The Israeli military’s numbers have turned out to be similar to those recently furnished by Hamas (although Hamas may have reason to inflate the number of its combatants).

As I indicated from the very beginning, I would have welcomed Israel’s cooperation. The purpose of the Goldstone Report was never to prove a foregone conclusion against Israel. I insisted on changing the original mandate adopted by the Human Rights Council, which was skewed against Israel. I have always been clear that Israel, like any other sovereign nation, has the right and obligation to defend itself and its citizens against attacks from abroad and within. Something that has not been recognized often enough is the fact that our report marked the first time illegal acts of terrorism from Hamas were being investigated and condemned by the United Nations. I had hoped that our inquiry into all aspects of the Gaza conflict would begin a new era of evenhandedness at the U.N. Human Rights Council, whose history of bias against Israel cannot be doubted.

Some have charged that the process we followed did not live up to judicial standards. To be clear: Our mission was in no way a judicial or even quasi-judicial proceeding. We did not investigate criminal conduct on the part of any individual in Israel, Gaza or the West Bank. We made our recommendations based on the record before us, which unfortunately did not include any evidence provided by the Israeli government. Indeed, our main recommendation was for each party to investigate, transparently and in good faith, the incidents referred to in our report. McGowan Davis has found that Israel has done this to a significant degree; Hamas has done nothing.

Some have suggested that it was absurd to expect Hamas, an organization that has a policy to destroy the state of Israel, to investigate what we said were serious war crimes. It was my hope, even if unrealistic, that Hamas would do so, especially if Israel conducted its own investigations. At minimum I hoped that in the face of a clear finding that its members were committing serious war crimes, Hamas would curtail its attacks. Sadly, that has not been the case. Hundreds more rockets and mortar rounds have been directed at civilian targets in southern Israel. That comparatively few Israelis have been killed by the unlawful rocket and mortar attacks from Gaza in no way minimizes the criminality. The U.N. Human Rights Council should condemn these heinous acts in the strongest terms.

In the end, asking Hamas to investigate may have been a mistaken enterprise. So, too, the Human Rights Council should condemn the inexcusable and cold-blooded recent slaughter of a young Israeli couple and three of their small children in their beds.

I continue to believe in the cause of establishing and applying international law to protracted and deadly conflicts. Our report has led to numerous “lessons learned” and policy changes, including the adoption of new Israel Defense Forces procedures for protecting civilians in cases of urban warfare and limiting the use of white phosphorus in civilian areas. The Palestinian Authority established an independent inquiry into our allegations of human rights abuses — assassinations, torture and illegal detentions — perpetrated by Fatah in the West Bank, especially against members of Hamas. Most of those allegations were confirmed by this inquiry. Regrettably, there has been no effort by Hamas in Gaza to investigate the allegations of its war crimes and possible crimes against humanity.

Simply put, the laws of armed conflict apply no less to non-state actors such as Hamas than they do to national armies. Ensuring that non-state actors respect these principles, and are investigated when they fail to do so, is one of the most significant challenges facing the law of armed conflict. Only if all parties to armed conflicts are held to these standards will we be able to protect civilians who, through no choice of their own, are caught up in war.

The writer, a retired justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and former chief prosecutor of the U.N. International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, chaired the U.N. fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict.

The Tulip mania effect and the approaching mortal of the Israeli Arab conflict

2011-04-02T02:09:00.000-07:00

The Tulip mania effect and the approaching mortal of the Israeli Arab conflict

Dr. Guy Bechor, 7-March-2011
(Translation from Hebrew: Hanan Leshnovolsky)

The fantasized “Israel” and the struggle against it were used as a tool by regimes to unite the sections, tribes, communities and the peoples they ruled. But today the masses are not buying anymore that lie, which is tagged, not for good, with the old regimes. The masses always knew that this struggle is artificial and fake, but they needed to devote themselves to the governing anti-Israeli fantasy. Nowadays it is not bothering them anymore. They have a more vital intimidation like survival. In front of us there are ten rare tulips with a raising price tag.

There is an effect in the rarity law of economics: Removing an item off the market creates an immediate value. Its price will rise. During the 17th century in Holland, the upper class wanted to transform the tulip from a regular flower into a social and economical status icon. They made the flower rare and almost impossible to get. By doing this they were able to create so called “Tulip Mania”, which means the tremendousness for the tulip. A single tulip value was higher than its value in the weight of gold.

The greater is the quest, the greater is the tulip’s value. From a simple flower it became a social-economical phenomenon, a status grade, a condition, a declaration. This is what means “The tulip effect”. And now it is our (Israel) turn: We experience the “Tulip Effect”.

Quietly, almost without a notice, increasingly now, twining, wriggling between the walls the “Tulip Effect” is growing around Israel. It is an essential and vital process, which we haven’t yet possessed through our history. As much as in a spell, Israel is now disconnecting from the Arabic Middle East and its value is leaping higher. The more the Arabs riots are developing, the more the violence is spreading, the more is increasing Israel’s value, day by day. It is a spell since our conflict is melting in front of our eyes. It is vanishing without even noticing it. It is squelching for those who claims that Israel is the Middle East conflict root cause, the problem.

Why is that a historical process?

1. As the huge waves of riots, that will increase and develop, the Arabs don’t have any more time for Israel, As it happened in Iraq after Saddam Hussein. Those are not just simple defined countries; those are tribes against tribes, high class elite against the oppressed lower class, communities against communities, Shiites against Sunnis, establishment against establishment, peoples against peoples, sections against sections, organizations against organizations, radical Islam against the rest while all that is crumbed in front of our eyes.
Will the Egyptian sections have the time for Israel, or the Libyan tribes, or the Tunisian parties, or other countries on their way to crumble? They will be busy among themselves for decades. If reformists will ascend, the communal-tribal crumble will resist. If the political Islam will ascend – the reformists will resists and so will be the cycle of protests, riots, murdering and revenge. Since today nothing is any more stabile and who has the power and time to deal with Israel? This is the paradox: indeed great anti Israeli forces will rise in the Arab world, but the internal turbulence of the internal enmity will keep them busy more than the Israeli problem.
Hence this is not the real overthrow, but the vanishing of Israel as a tool, a function, as the bonding glue. The imaginary “Israel” and the “struggle” against it were used as a tool by the regimes to unite the sections, tribes, communities and peoples under their governing. But today the masses are not buying anymore that lie, which is recognized, not for its good, with the old regimes. The masses knew always that this struggle is artificial and fake, but were enforced (by brainwashing and power) to obey the anti Israeli illusion. Iraq of Saddam Hussein was the anti Israeli spearhead, just to hide the dictatorship governing of Sunnis on Shiites. Nowadays, who has time for Israel in Iraq? There is no need in “Israel” (as an issue) because the Shiite majority is already governing. As more as the fakeness in the Arab countries is collapsing, the lower is the need to use “Israel”. Israel was the Arab scale of fakeness. It was the glue, and that glue is no more bonding like in the past.
The Israeli-Arab conflict will become distant from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

2. The automatic support for the Palestinians is expected to be lower now. Who will be interested in them? In the past, the official Arab media used the Palestinians as a tool, a kind of a scarecrow. Now, who has the time for them? This should worry the Palestinians. Saddam was their great patron, so is Gaddafi and Mubarak. But who has the time at the moment in Iraq, Libya or Egypt for the Palestinians? They are defined as trouble makers, as a luxury which doesn’t bother anyone nowadays. The more the conflict with Israel will become minor, the less will be the support for the Palestinians.

3. The exposure. Since half a year we could peep on the real Middle East via WeekyLeaks documents and now we are facing it in real. The region is bothering about Iran, the political Islam and the economy. But what about the (Israeli-Arab, Israeli-Palestinian) conflict/s? It is clear that the Arab world already accepted Israel and the proof is the “Arab Peace Plan”. The purpose of it was to bridge a bit between the artificial usage of “Israel” as an imaginary enemy and the reality. So the reality of WeekyLeaks is the reality in the field. Where is that fakeness still remaining? In those countries where the riots virus didn’t reached there, Syria (is already under heavy protests and riots), Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestinian Authority. But much more is in front of us. There is no need any more in WeekyLeaks; the Arabic Middle East was revealed.

4. So, in front of our eyes, the Israeli-Arab and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are minimizing, shrinking. It can be determined with high confidence that it is not the heart of the Middle Eastern conflict. Three huge conflicts broke out and those are not related to us (Israel) any more. The first is the economic-social-tribal. The second is the big conflict between Shiites and Sunnis. And the third is between the political Islam and the Arab nationalism. Those three will keep busy the Arab world for decades. We (Israel) are a peewee compared to the inner Arab enmity. The strait of destiny: Europe tried to overthrow on us (Israel) that conflict, but now it is falling on them, with the North African anarchies and accelerating emigration towards it.

5. The “regional superpowers” Iran and Turkey. Everything looks now different, even if Iran will get a nuclear bomb; it isn’t pointed against Israel at all, but to threaten the Sunnis and to protect the regime from the world. All is changed. Israel is no more the bonding glue; it is not a valuable function. The Iranian regime tried to attach the internal riots to Israel – but no one is buying it anymore, and Iran faces problems of marketing the hatred toward Israel as an ideology. It is interpreted in the region not as fakeness but as an escape; not as strength, but as a weakness. So is about the Turkish regime. From now on it will be difficult to relate everything to Israel, because now it is well known that the claim is artificial. Both regimes, the Iranian and the Turkish, were left naked of their self-legitimacy. Israel fled away from them.

6. While Israel is captured as an island of stability, security, interesting and western, the regimes and Arab societies around us (Israel) are doing the job for us. They are violent, non stabile, dangerous. This is the conclusion of every TV watcher around the world. Israel’s enemies are inventing it from the very new beginning, and this is the best explanation we could expect. The relation towards Israel is changing. It is no more the problem but the solution. Refinement fakeness was masking the anarchy of the Arab world till now, the violence, the hypocrisy and the aggressiveness. Now all that is vomited out. Napoleon said once: “I never disturb enemies for self hanging”.

7. It is true that the world’s expectations from Israel are higher, but today it is drawn as a solid point of human rights, constitutional and governing by law. While thousands are massacred in the entire Middle East the process will just get bitter and bitter, the birth of constitutions in Egypt by the slaughter of the governing military junta regime, and so they vanish. So did the UN against Israel? Goldstone (regrets his report)? The UN human rights organizations, which Libya was a leading member? Ha, human rights are a relative business. Suddenly, everything is getting dominant colors in the Middle East. In Egypt that is ruled by the military junta regime, in Libya where people are massacred, in Yemen where they disappear, or Tunisia, Bahrain or Kuwait, they are simply shot to death. it is speechless about the violent oppression in the countries the riots not yet arrived.

8. The price hike effect: The more the stability in the Arab space vanishes – Israel becomes a stability icon. The more the rights vanish – Israel becomes a temple of individualism. The more the tribal a communal behavior leaps, the Israeli unity is emphasized. The more the regional economy withers; Israel’s is an astonishing one. The more the Middle Eastern scale lowers, Israel’s is rising. That effect should open for us (Israel) a unique opportunity of a complete diplomacy throughout the world and Israel's legitimacy. It is an opportunity.

9. A preference tough question: Regional stability, but an endless bothering with Israel? Or an Arabic chaos, while no one has really the time and cares about Israel? I know well my preference.

It is a spell. Quietly, almost without noticing it, it is growing, twining, developing – “The tulip effect” around Israel.

This article was translated intentionally for the foreign audience to read Guy Bechor's brilliant analysis about the recent events in the Middle East.

Ynet News: Ignoring Israel’s goodness

2011-03-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

Op-ed: Israel’s amazing altruism largely ignored by media as it doesn’t fit with Zionist stereotypes

Giulio Meotti Published: 03.29.11, 17:36 / Israel Opinion

Israel was the first country in the world to send aid to Haiti after the earthquake. An impressive mass of goods, people and emergency facilities was sent to the Caribbean island after the natural disaster. It happened also with the tsunami in Asia, when Israel was among the most generous countries. And now again, when disaster struck in Japan, Israel was the first to dispatch a field hospital to assist in the recovery effort.

IDF clinic in Japan Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit

However, Israel’s amazing altruism never had its legitimate space in the global media, because this radical goodness doesn’t fit in with the Zionist stereotype of the colonialist, fascist and apartheid occupier.

In Haiti, an IDF team worked to identify the victims. After the 9/11 attacks, Israeli pathologists helped their fellow Americans at Ground Zero. In 1979, Israel sent a delegation of medical staff to provide medical relief to thousands of displaced people in Cambodia following the downfall of genocidal communist Pol Pot. The Israelis also ran a pediatric field hospital in Rwanda during the Tutsi genocide, assisted the Albanians during the Kosovo war and helped Turkey following the 1999 earthquake.

There is an untold, sad reason for Israel’s ability to offer such help. For the Jewish State, terrorism has always been an involuntary master of speed, precision and caring. There is an amazing quantity of research, inventions and new techniques for helping the disabled and the paralyzed return to normal life after terrorist destruction.

During the Second Intifada, Dr. David Applebaum invented a special method to treat wounded people transported to the emergency room. In New York, Dr. Applebaum showed slides illustrating how it is possible to treat “44 injured people in 28 minutes,” as he had done after a terrorist attack in Jerusalem. Then he returned to Israel and took his daughter Nava to Cafe Hillel, the day before her wedding was supposed to take place. Both of them were killed by a suicide bomber. Applebaum’s method has been copied around the world.

Boycotters hurting themselves

Israel’s ignored goodness can be extended to the incredible record of scientific and medical discoveries. Especially now that the “light among nations”, as Israel was called by David Ben Gurion, is boycotted by universities around the world. The Jewish State is one of the world’s leaders in the per capita registration of US patents by its scientists and doctors. One of the most important tumor suppressor genes was cloned in 1983 by scientists at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot (defective copies of this gene are found in more than half of all human cancers.)

A non-invasive diagnostic method for detecting breast and prostate cancer was developed by another Weizmann’s pioneer. Israel developed the early diagnosis of “Mad Cow” bovine disease in Creutzfeldt Jakob genetic disease in humans with a urine test instead of a brain biopsy. The list of miracles includes the identification of the gene that causes muscular dystrophy, a revolutionary supportive metal in a coronary arteries to prevent a heart attack, a vaccine that prevents the development of juvenile diabetes, the discovery of a gene linked to post-traumatic stress disorder, the development of drugs to combat Alzheimer, cancer, Parkinson and multiple sclerosis and the late deciphering of the structure of the ribosome - the cell’s protein factory.

Israel is also the definitive model for finding solutions to major climate challenges, from the fight against desertification to water shortages. The boycotters and the haters of Israel are damaging their own interests, because the Jewish State truly is a light that benefits humanity as a whole.

The first child born after the Haiti earthquake came into the world in the tents of the Israeli army. The mother had no doubts about the child’s name: Israel.

IDF Delegation in Port-au-Prince (Archives) Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Office

Giulio Meotti, a journalist with Il Foglio, is the author of the book A New Shoah. The Untold Story of Israel's Victims of Terrorism

The hypocrites who claim against committing human crimes of IDF (Israeli Defence Forces)

2011-03-26T23:18:00.000-07:00

The video clips that are following are just showing the brutality of the regime in Syria. They are the people who are claiming about crimes against humanity done by Israel (IDF). I wonder where is the Humans Rights Committee and Judge Goldstone to make an investigation. Oh, how fast was it established for the "crimes" of IDF in Gaza? Where are those leaders/figures like Erdogan, Mahathir and others? I wonder why are they so silent?

Sure when an anti-Semite is an anti-Semite he will forever remain an anti-Semite. And they just wonder why we call them anti-Semites.

A few video clips are better than 1000 words to describe the brutality of those people. I just wonder from where are they nursing it. Is it education? Is it their religion? Is it their "beasts schools" with hatred brainwashing. I just know that who teaches to hate the Jews blindly, the hatred will become a sward against him. Maybe that time is arriving.

Ynet News: Israel to open field clinic in Japan

2011-03-24T07:03:00.000-07:00

Two planes carrying 50 doctors, tons of equipment leave Saturday. Israeli doc: Japanese are grateful

Itamar Eichner Published: 03.23.11, 12:48 / Israel News

Israeli mission to aid Japan crisis on its way: A medical delegation, including 50 doctors, is expected to fly from Ben-Gurion Airport on Saturday and head to Japan.

Israel will send two planes, one holding nearly 20 tons worth of humanitarian aid and the other full of 50 tons worth of medical equipment intended for an Israeli field clinic which will be established in the town of Minamisanriku.

"The view here is extremely harsh. Everything is destroyed. Nothing is left of this town," IDF Home Front Medical Corps Commander, Colonel Dr. Ariel Bar, told Yediot Ahronot about the sights he had seen in the town.

"In this area alone there are about 10,000 homeless people. People sleep on the floor and seem unresponsive. They definitely need help and fast."

The Israeli clinic will provide the Japanese with pediatrics, internal and orthopedic medicine. A field X-ray lab and a blood test lab will also be built on location.

"The Japanese think very highly of Israeli knowledge and especially our ability to act independently in the field," said Bar. "When it comes to Japanese culture it's not an easy thing to ask for help or admit their inability to do something. But this crisis is hard enough so that they do. They are grateful."

Israel's ambassador to Japan Nissim Ben Shitrit is the one in charge of contacts between local authorities. Director of the North East Asia Department of the MFA (Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Hagai Shagrir, is assisting Ben Shitrit from Israel.

"Not one building is left standing. Everything is in ruins," said Bar. "Those who are still alive suffer from different diseases. That's why we're going to establish a field clinic and provide various medical services."

Ynet News: 'Assad using Hezbollah to suppress civil unrest'

2011-03-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

Opposition figures say members of Lebanese Shiite group working alongside Syrian security forces to quell Deraa riots; local hospital says bodies of 25 protestors brought in, 'all with gunshot wounds'

Roee Nahmias, agencies Published: 03.24.11, 13:33 / Israel News

At least 25 bodies of protestors who were killed in clashes with Syrian security forces were evacuated to the main hospital in the southern city of Deraa, a medical official reported Thursday.

"They all had gunshot wounds," the official said.

'Massacre in Deraa' Photo: AP

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition leaders have accused President Bashar Assad of using Hezbollah to suppress the anti-government protests. Abd el-Razek told BBC Arabic that Hezbollah operatives were working alongside Syrian security forces to quell the riots in Deraa. Other opposition leaders have made similar claims.

'Corrupt government is butchering us'

An independent Syrian human rights organization condemned the wave of arrests of anti-government activists in the country. The group reported that blogger and communications student Ahmad Hadifa was detained in Damascus Thursday by secret police. Last month Hadifa was held in police custody for six days.

According to the organization, Hadifa was arrested due to his "activity on Facebook in support of the protest in Deraa."

Amnesty International published the names of 93 activists it claims were arrested this month in cities throughout Syria. It said the actual number of those arrested was much higher.

A video posted on YouTube showed an activist pleading with Arab and foreign news networks to "Save us, there is a massacre in Deraa. This corrupt government is butchering us. There are tanks and other armored vehicles here. Save us. Deraa calls out to you; Deraa is dead; I beg of you."

The official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that late Wednesday an "armed gang attacked an ambulance crew that drove by the al-Omari mosque in Deraa, resulting in the deaths of a physician, medic and ambulance driver."

SANA said security forces would "continue to hunt down armed gangs that terrorize civilians and murder, steal and torch public buildings and homes in Deraa."

Hurriyet Daily News: You shall not kill!

2011-03-17T00:14:00.000-07:00

I found this article written by a Turkish journalist who is pointing out exactly the hypocrisy of the Muslim leaders. I also wonder how those hot blooded angry Muslims, among them so called "moderate" were so silent and not condemning the Itamar family massacre (as well as other past events). None of them said that he/she is sorry. How can I believe that Muslims and Islam is the religion and nation of peace? It is not for me or us to prove that they are peaceful, but they need to strive and show the world that they are. Islamophobia is not baseless.

Hanan.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

BURAK BEKDİL

It was 2010, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was speaking, as tempered as always, to a crowd as tempered as the prime minister could be.

“These [people] even see babies in their cradles as a threat. They have killed babies in their mothers’ arms,” he boomed.

“These people,” naturally, were the Israelis.

Addressing Israel’s leaders from a public rally in Turkey, Mr. Erdoğan said in both Turkish and English: “You shall not kill.” Then he showed his linguistic capabilities and went on: “You still don’t get it? Then I shall speak to you in your own language: Lo tir’tsach!” He was referring to the sixth of the 10 commandments in the Old Testament.

In various other speeches, Mr. Erdoğan claimed that his fits of anger toward the death of children were “indiscriminative” of race and religion. “Wherever, whenever,” he often said, “a child has been killed,” he would fiercely stand against the murderers. All the same, he has been mute since Saturday.

In the early hours of Saturday, a Palestinian broke into a house in the settlement of Itamar and stabbed to death a couple and their three children, aged 3 months, 4 years and 10 years old. The slain bodies were discovered by the couple’s 12-year-old daughter who was not at home when the murder was committed.

The “Imad Mughniyeh” cell, with alleged links to the al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorist group is named after the “phantom” terrorist Imad Mughniyeh who was killed in a car bomb attack in Damascus which Hezbollah blamed on Israeli agents. Mr. Mughniyeh, or the “Shia bin-Laden,” was one of the world’s most wanted men (wanted in 42 countries) while he was enjoying a safe haven in the Syrian capital prior to his assassination.

Most predictably, we have not heard Mr. Erdoğan saying "You shall not kill" in Arabic, and we probably never will. That’s hardly surprising since we have never heard Mr. Erdoğan speaking “indiscriminately” in the past against the killing of children and defenseless people in Itamar, or elsewhere in Israel – for Saturday’s attack in Itamar was not the first of its kind. In May 2002, a Palestinian killed a 14-year-old boy and wounded another teenager in the same settlement. A month later, another Palestinian killed a woman and her three children. In July the same year another Palestinian stabbed and wounded a couple. And in August 2004, a Palestinian killed a resident of Itamar.

The killing of a 3-month old baby reminded me, inevitably, of what a “Palestinian warrior” told me in Ramallah in 2006. When he praised his suicide bomber sister who had injured a 95-year-old woman (and killed herself) in an attack, I asked him what was the point of injuring or killing elderly women or toddlers when young Palestinians also died in these attacks. He smiled and explained as simply as he could: “For us, even a 1-year-old Israeli baby is a soldier. And that [95-year-old] woman was also an Israeli soldier!” I thought it might not be safe to ask him any further questions.

But in 2008, this time in London and speaking to another Palestinian, I felt more comfortable and dared question the logic of the act that “indiscriminately angers our prime minister.” I reminded him of a verse in the Quran (4:93): “Whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell wherein he will abide eternally, and Allah has become angry with him and has cursed him and has prepared for him a great punishment.”

My Palestinian friend counter-attacked with another verse (17:33): “And do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden, except by right.” Then came his loud and tempered explanation: “The verse 4:93 forbids killing a believer. Israelis are not believers.” I looked out from the window of the pub where his orange juice vs. my wine stood on the table like two objects silently telling us why we could never agree.

For a moment, I thought about reminding him that Jews, too, are believers, like other non-Muslim believers, or ask him if the Quran (in verse 4:93) permitted the killing of atheists. But he loudly went back to verse 17:33, with radiating eyes satisfied with the near victory in our little intellectual duel. “You see, that verse forbids killing ‘except by right.’ And it is evident that some killings fall into the category of ‘exception by right.’”

I sipped my wine and got lost in thought, wondering how a doctoral candidate of engineering from a decent British university could defend the murder of innocent people only because they belonged to a faith other than his. How could he twist his own (and my) holy book so as to find holy justifications for the killing of innocent people?

“Never mind,” he interrupted my thoughts, “You are not Muslim anyway. It is normal that you don’t understand.” “Wait a minute,” I protested, “What does it mean ‘you are not Muslim anyway?’” “I see that you are drinking wine,” he replied. “I hope you don’t mind if I leave you alone now. I have an appointment,” he smiled and left the pub.

I didn’t mind because he left. But one does mind when someone tells him that he does not belong to the religion to which he thinks he belongs. I cursed the missed opportunity of reminding him of the verses and hadiths that forbid Muslims from judging other people’s faith by a man-made faith-meter. But then I thought my cute friend would find a way to twist them, too.

The hypocrisy over the killing of innocent people is not coincidental in any way. Last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hosted, in Tehran, a delegation from the disastrous Turkish flotilla Mavi Marmara, comprising the “Mavi Marmara mujahedeen, ghazis and families of the shahids.”

The delegates participated in Iran's Revolution Day ceremonies, and the head of the Turkish delegation noted that: “We are here today with the longing and the determination to build a Middle East without Israel and America, and to refresh our pledge to continue on the path of the Mavi Marmara shahids.”

On Feb. 12, the same Mavi Marmara activist reiterated “the promising words of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran… that 'only a short time is left for the building of a Middle East without Israel or America in it, and we are praying for the quick arrival of that bright day, when all of us will meet in a free al-Quds [Jerusalem].’”

With five “Jooos” having disappeared from earth after the Itamar attack, that bright day must be arriving sooner.

I am still curious, however, about what rank the 3-month old Israeli “soldier” held. Captain? Lieutenant colonel? Certainly too young to be a general.

Ynet News: Unmasking Israel’s critics

2011-03-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

Op-ed: Mideast chaos an opportunity to expose those who ignored Arab world crimes

Manfred Gerstenfeld Published: 03.16.11, 10:32 / Israel Opinion

Gaddafi’s murderous behavior toward his country’s citizens is probably the closest current example to what invading Arab countries and their Palestinian allies would have done to the Jews here had they been successful after Israel’s independence. This is extremely politically incorrect to say. However, that does not make it less true. To prove the point, one only needs to collect statements from prominent Arab figures in 1947 and 1948 and testimonies from Israeli witnesses of the war.

The recent chaotic events in many Arab countries may provide a unique opportunity for Israel to fully unmask many of those who are causing it damage. This includes those who have heavily criticized or delegitimized the country for years, as well as those who have looked away consistently from the massive crimes in the Arab world.

Many categories fit this bill. One can start with a long list of human rights NGOs. NGO Monitor has already accused Human Rights Watch of covering up human rights violations in Libya. How many of the human rights NGOs, if any, have protested against the membership of Libya in the United Nations Human Rights Council? Can they claim today that they didn’t know Gaddafi’s Libya is a nation that should regularly have been on the agenda of the UNRHC, rather than on its board?

Muammar Gaddafi. Violent crackdown Photo: Reuters

This is only one of a long list of questions that will enable Israel to correctly label substantial parts of the international human rights community as imposters. Also included in this category are those who voted for the anti-Israel resolution at the 2001 Durban conference.

Gaddafi’s visit to France

A second category is a selection of Western politicians. Regarding some, one doesn’t even have to ask questions about the policies of their country. British Prime Minister David Cameron admitted a few days ago, during a visit to Kuwait, that the popular uprisings in the Middle East showed that the West had been wrong to back dictators and undemocratic regimes. He added that British foreign policy had put economic self interest above promoting Western democratic values.

This was followed by Cameron telling students in Qatar that some Middle Eastern rulers were using the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a distraction from their own oppressive regimes. In this framework it would, for instance, be very useful to investigate what the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said about the Arab states since she was appointed in December 2009 and compare that with her statements on Israel.

As all is relative, French president Nicolas Sarkozy is far from being one of Israel’s major critics. He is the first one to recognize the Libyan opposition, which in the future may no longer have any territory to rule over. Sarkozy received Gaddafi for a state visit in December 2007. The French president announced then that the Libyan ruler would sign a 10 billion euro agreement for military hardware and a nuclear reactor. He also said that he had asked the Libyan ruler to progress on the road to human rights.

The next category in line for exposure is a number of mainstream Christian bodies, mainly liberal Protestants. They have almost consistently looked away from how Christians of many denominations have been oppressed in a variety of Arab and Muslim countries. The murderous attacks on Copts in Egypt over the past decades are one example. These have been followed by several more murders of Copts during the Egyptian revolution of the past few weeks.

It would not be too much work for an Israeli official to peruse the websites of a few of these anti-Israeli Christian organizations and examine whether and how they have dealt with this. A few suggestions of bodies to expose are: the United Church of Christ in the US, the Methodist Church in Great Britain, the United Church of Canada, as well as organizations such as Diakonia in Sweden, Icco in the Netherlands and in particular, the friends of Sabeel in many countries. Israel’s embassy in Norway can help by checking how much or how little a few notoriously anti-Israeli Lutheran bishops in that country have spoken about these abuses against other Christians in Arab countries.

Exposing so-called journalists

In the academic world, the prestigious London School of Economic provides an excellent example of hypocrisy. At the beginning of March its director Sit Howard Davies resigned because the university had accepted money from the Gaddafi foundation run by one the Libyan dictator’s sons. Davies had also travelled to Libya to advise the country about financial reforms. However, what bothered the LSE student union in 2008 was Israel. They voted with a great majority to divest from companies that support Israel’s “apartheid regime.”

Yet another category that merits public exposure is the so-called Mideast journalists. Many of them are decent people. Many others have withheld, in line with their papers’ policies, essential negative information about the Arab world. Will anybody believe these media that there was little or nothing to report about what was wrong in Arab countries in recent years - in comparison to Israel?

In the past, one had trouble proving that a substantial number of journalists reporting from here were mainly news manipulators. Occasionally there was an easy case such as that of Riccardo Cristiano when he was correspondent of the Italian state network Rai in the Palestinian territories. In October 2000, two Israeli reserve soldiers were lynched by a Palestinian mob in Ramallah. Italian network Mediaset filmed the murder and then smuggled the pictures out of the country.

Cristiano thereafter wrote a letter published on October 16th in Palestinian newspaper Al Hayat al Jedida. He disclosed that it had been Mediaset that had taken the pictures. Cristiano also indicated that he would never have published the pictures had they been his own. In his open letter, he also offered "congratulations and dear blessings" to his dear friends in Palestine.

The above list of Western whitewashers of Arab crimes, hypocrites and imposters to be exposed is only the beginning. The blatant misconduct in all the above categories, and a few others, merit far more detailed documentation. This is the moment for the Israeli government to get its act together.

Due to present developments in the Arab world, shortly there will be even more proof of how large numbers of Western individuals and organizations cheated when focusing their moral indignation on Israel. What in the past could be done only by time-consuming exposure of individual cases, can now already be done wholesale. Many more such cases are likely to come to light in the near future.

Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld has published 19 books, several of which deal with Israel’s international relations

Ynet News: Abbas’ hate education

2011-03-15T13:24:00.000-07:00

Op-ed: While speaking softly, Palestinian leader carries horrendous stick of hate education

Yoram Ettinger Published: 03.15.11, 18:08 / Israel Opinion

The March 11, 2011 heinous stabbing to death of a Jewish family - while asleep on the eve of the Sabbath - including a three month old baby, a four year old toddler, an 11 year old child and their parents was carried out by graduates of Mahmoud Abbas' hate education. This slaughter was not an anomalous phenomenon.

The slaughter was a derivative of the infrastructure of hate education and incitement via school text books, Abbas-controlled media and Abbas-controlled mosques. It was installed in 1994 by Abbas, then Arafat's deputy, and perpetuated, since 2005, by Abbas, the Chairman of the Palestinian Authority. It is an extension of Palestinian incitement and terrorism, introduced by Haj Amin al-Husseini in the 1920s, and 1,400 years of Arab/Muslim hate-mongering and terrorism toward each other, but mostly against "the infidel."

While speaking softly, Abbas carries a horrendous stick of hate education, which is largely funded by US foreign aid (over $2BN since 2007.) Since 1994, he has brainwashed Palestinian youth, producing manufacturing lines of hundreds of thousands of potential terrorists/suicide bombers.

One's education is the most authentic reflection of one's ideology, vision, goals and character.

According to Prof. Efraim Karsh, Head of the Middle East and Mediterranean Studies program at King's College in London (Palestine Betrayed, Yale University Press, 2010, pp. 255-6), "For all their drastically different personalities and political styles, Arafat and Abbas are warp and woof of the same fabric: dogmatic PLO veterans who have never eschewed their commitment to Israel's destruction and who have viewed the 'peace process' as the continuation by other means of their lifelong war…He (Abbas) described the proclamation of Israel as an unprecedented historic injustice and vowed his unwavering refusal to ever accept this injustice…(There is) no fundamental difference between the ultimate goals of Hamas and the PLO vis-à-vis Israel: neither accepts the Jewish state's right to exist and both are committed to its eventual destruction…."

On August 13, 2009, Abbas – who enrolled in KGB courses and coordinated PLO ties with the Communist Bloc - ratified the resolutions of Fatah's 6th General Conference, which state (article 19):"The struggle shall not end until the Zionist entity is eliminated and Palestine is liberated."

Honoring terrorists

Holocaust denial is promoted by Abbas' school textbooks, such as Modern World History for tenth graders (p.83). Prof. Karsh notes that Abbas' doctoral dissertation, submitted at the Moscow University, and published in 1984 in Amman, "endeavored to prove…the existence of a close ideological and political association between Zionism and Nazism…(that) fewer than a million Jews had been killed in the Holocaust, and that the Zionist movement played a role in their slaughter." Hence, Mein Kampf and the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion are best sellers in the Palestinian Authority.

Abbas' school textbooks reaffirm the founding document of the PLO, the Palestinian Covenant. It was compiled in June, 1964, aiming at the pre-1967 Israel. Two thirds of the Covenant is dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish State, as a prerequisite for the attainment of Palestinian goals.

Abbas and Salam Fayyad pay condolence visits - and authorize the transfer of monthly allowances - to families of suicide bombers. In February, 2011 they named a soccer tournament in honor of Wafa Idris, a suicide bomber. On January 16, 2010 they named a major square in El Bireh (in addition to two schools and a summer camp) in honor of Dalal Mughrabi, who commanded the March 11, 1978 massacre of 38 bus passengers on Israel's coastal road.

The school textbooks of Abbas – who supervised the 1972 Munich Massacre of 11 Israeli athletes and the March 1973 murder of two US ambassadors in Sudan - idolize suicide-bombing, fuel anti-Semitism and repudiate Israel's right to exist. For example, fifth grade Our Beautiful Language (pp. 26, 31, 32, 36, 70), tenth grade Grammar (pp. 30, 146) and Islamic Education (pp. 42-4, 48, 50) and tenth grade Modern World History (p.64).

On October 12, 2010 Abbas' official TV channel heralded the terrorists who murdered six Israeli civilians in 1975 (Kfar Yuval) and 1980 (Misgav Am.) On January 29, 2010 Abbas' official TV channel broadcast the weekly sermon, referring to Jews as "the enemies of Allah and humanity, modern day Nazis, who must be annihilated."

Hate education is the root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict, which has always been over the existence – and not over the size – of the Jewish State. Hate education on one hand, and peace negotiation on the other hand, constitute an oxymoron.

Japan and Germany were transformed from hateful to peaceful countries by uprooting regimes of hate education; not merely by condemning hate education. To ignore the centrality of hate education, is to reward and fuel terrorism at the expense of peace and Western democratic values.

Ynet News: End Palestinian game

2011-03-15T03:54:00.000-07:00

Op-ed: Israel should make it clear that Abbas will pay heavy price for his two-faced game

Guy Bechor Published: 03.15.11, 00:40 / Israel Opinion

There are naïve people among us who are impressed by Salam Fayyad’s and Mahmoud Abbas’ condemnations of the Itamar massacre. However, the time has come to understand that the current Palestinian Authority plays a much more sophisticated and dangerous game against Israel than Yasser Arafat’s PA.

Arafat played a two-faced game, engaging in both a diplomatic process vis-à-vis Israel and terror against it simultaneously. However, Abbas and Fayyad realized that terror against Israel in fact strengthens the Jewish State, both domestically and internationally. Hence, they shifted to a more refined game, engaging in both a diplomatic process vis-à-vis Israel as well as a de-legitimization campaign against it.

Abbas’ Palestinian Authority is the one that manages an anti-Israel campaign in the United Nations, at other international forums, and in global public opinion. In September of this year, the PA also wants to force a Palestinian state upon Israel. Indeed, Abbas’ PA makes an effort to embarrass us at every opportunity and work against our very existence.

This de-legitimization is more dangerous than Hamas’ terror, so paradoxically Hamas rule in the Arab parts of Judea and Samaria is better for Israel than Abbas’ duplicitous game, as it would make clear to the world who the good and bad guys are in this story.

The time has come to put an end to this game. Those who engage in peace negotiations cannot at the same time work against the other side’s right to exist. That is, not only fail to recognize it, but undermine its existence, embarrass it, and insult it at every opportunity.

Israel keeps PA alive

The Palestinian Authority is currently being kept alive by Israel. Had it not been for the IDF’s presence in the West Bank and had it not been for the arrests of wanted suspects night after night, this Authority would no longer exist. Hamas would topple and eliminate it within a few days, as it did in Gaza in 2007.

At the time, Hamas activists threw down their Fatah “brethren” from high-rises to their death. Strangely, no international inquiry was established in the wake of that massacre, just like no commission of inquiry will be formed in the wake of massacres committed by authorities against their own people in Libya, Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen and so on and so forth throughout the Arab Middle East.

Israel must not accept the Palestinian Authority’s two-faced game, played at the Jewish State’s expense, while the latter keeps the PA alive only to be hit with insults and anti-Israel activity. We should also not wait until September for the PA’s international moves against Israel. The time has come to exert counter-pressure.

At this time we should already make it clear to Abbas that should his game of de-legitimization continue, Israel will change realities: It will fully withdraw from populated Palestinian areas in Judea and Samaria and set a new boundary in the territories, even at the price of moving isolated settlements. The world shall laud this move, yet by undertaking this step Israel will leave Abbas and his comrades at the mercy of Hamas, which will not treat them as kindly as Israel does.

This should not just be a threat. The government must prepare to carry out this move, thereby putting an end to the Palestinian Authority’s existence. Hamas will finish the job, as it was able to do in Gaza.

This warning should be presented to Abbas and Fayyad now. Should they continue to embarrass Israel and the United States and demand a unilateral state at the UN, they will pay an existential price. Even condemnations of a despicable massacre won’t help them.

Pictures and video clips from Itamar family massacre by Palestinian terrorists (beasts)

2011-03-14T01:44:00.000-07:00

A single picture is more than thousand words.

Ynet News: Horror in Samaria: Terrorist murders family of 5

2011-03-12T00:15:00.000-08:00

Terrorist stabs five family members to death in settlement of Itamar early Saturday; three children, including baby girl, among victims. Paramedic describes horrific sight, toys next to pools of blood

Yair Altman Latest Update: 03.12.11, 06:20 / Israel News

Horror in Samaria: A terrorist infiltrated the West Bank settlement of Itamar, southeast of Nablus, early Saturday and stabbed five family members to death.

Troops launch manhunt for terrorist Photo: Ido Erez

The shocking attack occurred around 1 am as the terrorist entered the family home and murdered three children aged 11, 3, and a baby girl along with their parents. The victims were apparently sleeping as the killer came in.

Itamar residents reported that shots were heard in the area; the terrorist managed to flee the scene.

Ambulance in Itamar (Photo: Ido Erez)

Three other children at the home, a 12-year-old girl and her two brothers, aged 6 and 2, were able to escape to a nearby house and inform their neighbors of the attack.

The terrorist who carried out the massacre cut the fence surrounding Itamar and entered the home of the victims through the window, an initial probe of the murder showed. Authorities could not immediately discount the possibility that more than one attacker was involved in the murder.

'Toys next to pools of blood'

Following an initial report of the incident, large IDF and police forces rushed to the site. The Air Force also joined the effort to track down the terrorist, deploying numerous aircraft in the area. The night’s sky was lit up with flares, as special IDF and police forces were called in to assist in the manhunt.

The IDF Spokesman’s Office said “troops are scouring the area in search of the suspect. The IDF is performing inspections at all crossing points set up in the region.”

IDF troops near Itamar (Photo: Ido Erez)

Magen David Adom ambulance service teams pronounced the victims dead at the scene. MDA spokesman Zaki Heller said the ambulance service got a call around 1 am and dispatched large teams of paramedics to the area.

“When rescue forces entered the house they encountered a very difficult sight...There were five people there who were hurt. We could do nothing but pronounce them dead,” he said.

Paramedic Kabaha Muayua was among the first responders at the site and described the horrific scene he encountered.

“We could not help the first four stab victims. Following an inspection of the scene I spotted an infant of about three who still had a pulse. We engaged in lengthy resuscitation efforts but had to pronounce him dead,” he said. “The murder scene was shocking. Kids’ toys right next to pools of blood.”

Paramedic Gil Moscowitz, who serves as MDA’s director of operations, said teams dispatched to the home discovered “parents and three children who were brutally murdered.”

“The parents were lying next to each other in their room…we found three bodies in the master bedroom; the two parents and a baby,” he said.

‘Government must back settlers’

Yesha Council Chairman Danny Dayan, who arrived at the site, appeared shocked by the brutal attack.

“This is no doubt one of the most terrible attacks in recent years," he told the reporters on hand.

Dayan at entrance to Itamar Photo: Ido Erez

“Words cannot describe the extent of the horror and pain,” he said. “Those tempted to think that the Palestinians ceased their acts of murder see that they do not shy away from any tactic and any Jewish victims, regardless of how young they are.”

“The time has come for the government to regain its senses and start backing up the settlement enterprise, which remains vulnerable on the frontlines,” he said.

The settlement of Itamar, which is surrounded by Palestinian villages, has been the site of murderous attacks in the past. In June of 2002, a terrorist entered the community and opened fire, killing Rachel Shabo and three of her seven children, Neriya, Tzvika, and Avishai. Yossi Twito, who commanded the local security team at the settlement, was also shot to death in the attack.

Ynet News: The price of moderation

2011-03-06T12:47:00.000-08:00

Op-ed: Supporters of two-state solution have sown seeds for the de-legitimization of Israel

Martin Sherman Published: 03.06.11, 19:13 / Israel Opinion

“…The maximum that any government of Israel will be ready to offer the Palestinians … is much less than the minimum that any Palestinian leader can accept.” Maj.-Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland, Febuary 2009

The foregoing citation from the former chairman of Israel's National Security Council underscores the essential futility of pursuing what has become to be regarded as the sine qua non for a resolution of the Palestinian issue and hence a lasting Middle East Peace - and by implication for eradicating the basic cause of friction between the West and Islam: The two state solution.

Future historians will be baffled as to how such a manifestly disastrous and unworkable concept came to be so widely and warmly embraced - not only by those who had a vested interested in feigning support for it, but by those who had a vested interest in exposing it as the duplicitous subterfuge it is. They will be mystified as to why - despite the fact that it entailed devastatingly detrimental consequences for all involved - both Arabs and Jews - it became the acknowledged hallmark of refined reason.

An instructive example was the recent defense, by prominent Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, of Israel's right to present its case which focused on the February 2010 incident at UC, Irvine, when Ambassador Michael Oren was prevented from addressing students by Palestinian hecklers. What made this particularly egregious in Dershowitz's eyes was the fact that Oren was "a moderate supporter of the two-state solution", thus, inadvertently perhaps, hinting that this would not be so had he opposed such an approach.

The point that many well-intentioned pro-Israeli advocates seem be to missing is that it is precisely "moderate supporters of the two-state solution" that have in large measure sown the seeds for the de-legitimization of Israel. While initially this contention may appear somewhat counter-intuitive, the logic behind it is unassailable. For, once the legitimacy of a Palestinian state is conceded, the de-legitimization of Israel cannot be avoided. The chain of reasoning for this is clear:

If the legitimacy of a Palestinian state is accepted, then necessarily any measures incompatible with its viability are illegitimate. However, Israel's minimum security requirements necessarily obviate the viability of Palestinian state.

Israel’s security requirements

Ever since Abba Eban's characterization of the 1967 Green Line as "Auschwitz Borders" it has been generally accepted that such a frontier cannot afford Israel acceptable levels of security – except under wildly optimistic and unrealistic assumptions. Iconic Labor party moderates such as Yigal Allon declared that "One does not have to a military expert to easily identify the critical defects of the armistice lines that existed until June 4, 1967," warning that for Israel they could herald "the physical extinction of a large part of its population and the political elimination of the Jewish state."

Shimon Peres concurred that the 1967 lines "constituted almost compulsive temptation to attack Israel from all directions …" and warned that "without a border which affords security, a country is doomed to destruction in war."

Significantly, both Allon and Peres derided the oft-aired claim that modern weaponry largely diminished the strategic value of geographical expanse and topological structures. Allon observed that it "... not only fail to diminish the value of strategic depth and natural barriers, but in fact enhance their importance; while Peres again concurred that with the advances in modern military prowess "the defensive importance of territorial expanse has increased."

This view has been endorsed by US military experts. A study conducted by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff to inform the president on the security concerns of Israel advised that "the security of Israel required Israel to receive parts of the territory of the West Bank as essential to its defense….(including) the prominent high ground running north-south."

Eugene Rostow, who as under-secretary of state was the senior US diplomat involved in the formulation of UN Security Council Resolution 242 and hence clearly familiar with the its intent, remarked that "all the studies of the Israeli security problem reached the same conclusion – from the security point of view, Israel must hold the high points in the West Bank and areas along the Jordan River."

The position of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was reaffirmed by a 1974 US Army Command and Staff College study which also concluded that Israel must control the high ground east of the central axis along the West Bank's mountain ridge.

In a recent study by a host of senior Israeli military and diplomatic figures - including a former IDF chief of staff, a former head of Military Intelligence and the National Security Council, and ambassadors to the UN, US and France – concluded that to maintain minimum security requirements Israel must retain control of the mountain range in Judea and Samaria that commands the coastal metropolis, the Jordan Valley, and the air space up to the Jordan River

So what do these minimum requirements, which require Israeli control of wide swathes of territory in the "West Bank," entail for the viability of Palestinian statehood?

Solomon’s wisdom

The answer is provided by an article, The Myth of Defensible Borders, in the January edition of Foreign Affairs. In it, the authors Omar Dajani and Ezzedine correctly point out that:

“A policy of defensible borders would...perpetuate the current sources of Palestinian insecurity, further delegitimizing an agreement in the public's eyes. Israel would retain the discretion to impose arbitrary and crippling constraints on the movement of people and goods... For these reasons, Palestinians are likely to regard defensible borders as little more than occupation by another name.”

Recent events in the Mid-East, with the specter of an ascendant Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan and Egypt, are hardly likely to contribute to reducing Israeli threat perception and thus serve only to heighten the incompatibility between a viable Palestinian state and a secure Israel.

Thus, by accepting the admissibility of a Palestinian state, one necessarily admits the inadmissibility of measures required to ensure Israeli security. Conversely any measures required to ensure the viability of Israeli security, necessarily negate the viability of a Palestinian state.

Accordingly for Israel to regain legitimacy, the notion of a Palestinian state must be discredited and removed from the discourse over the resolution of the Israel-Arab conflict.

This of course easier said than done. For rolling back the accumulated decades of distortion, deception and delusion that have become entrenched in the collective international consciousness will be a Herculean task. But the immense scale of the task cannot diminish the imperative of its implementation.

For the unpalatable - and unfashionable - truth is that between the (Jordan) River and the (Mediterranean) Sea, there can prevail (and eventually will prevail) either total Jewish sovereignty or total Arab sovereignty.

The side that will prevail is the side whose political acumen is the sharper and whose political will is the stronger. Indeed, never has the biblical wisdom of Solomon been more apt: Whoever agrees to divide that which is dear to him, will – at the end of the day- lose all of it. The Jews must realize that they can either be master of all the land west of the Jordan or none of it – and sooner that the better.

Ynet News: Jew-hatred in Holland

2011-02-15T02:54:00.000-08:00

Dutch government won’t pay for security of Jews, while anti-Semitism continues to grow

Manfred Gerstenfeld Published: 02.13.11, 20:13 / Israel Jewish Scene

The Dutch government continues to refuse to pay for the security of its threatened Jewish citizens. The Jewish community has stated on various occasions that it is the only group in society which cannot organize activities without including guards or other security measures.

The other week during a debate in a parliamentary commission on the current anti-Semitism in the Netherlands, several MPs asked the Dutch government to pay for the Jews’ security. However, Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten stuck to the position of his predecessors saying that security is the responsibility of the Jewish community itself and if necessary, of the local authorities. The latter are rarely willing to pay for these expenses.

Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs. Frequently insulted in public

Photo courtesy of Rabbinical Center of Europe

The Dutch Parliament has existed for almost 200 years. The first plenary meeting ever on contemporary anti-Semitism took place last June after a series of articles in the media about anti-Semitic incidents. One article in the prominent daily NRC Handelsblad was titled: “Anti-Semitism is more than an incident. It is normal.” The fact that a second parliamentary meeting was called for a few months later is a sign that nothing has been solved.

The main targets of anti-Semitic harassment in public are a small number of Jews who are recognizably attired as such. In past weeks, several newspapers have reported that Rabbi Raph Evers, the head of the Dutch Jewish Seminary, no longer travels on public transportation because of the harassment he encounters there. He walks out on the street as little as possible. Chief Rabbi Binyomin Jacobs is also frequently insulted in public. His home is fitted with an alarm system which links him directly to the police. Jacobs says 35 year ago, no one insulted him.

What were not mentioned in the Dutch media are the experiences of those Jews who had been repeatedly harassed and now live elsewhere. One Dutch Jewish youngster living in Jerusalem told me that while he was a student at Amsterdam University, he earned a living working in a supermarket in the center of town. He wore a small yarmulke. He was insulted at work on the average twice a week with calls like: “cancer-Jew” of “Hamas Hamas, Jews to the gas.” All of this harassment came from customers of Moroccan ethnicity.

I also interviewed another youngster now living in Jerusalem, who wears ultra-Orthodox garb. A few months ago he visited his parents in the Netherlands. When he changed trains after arriving from Belgium at the Dutch border station Rozendaal, he was immediately shouted at in English by a man with a heavy Dutch accent: “You killed Jesus.” At his arrival in Arnhem, where he exited the station through the back door, he was insulted as well. The same happened when he left from the same station. During his stay in The Netherlands he hardly left his parents’ home.

Non-selective immigration policy

Only limited parts of the Dutch Jewish community encounter substantial anti-Semitism. Besides the aforementioned harassment of recognizably dressed Jews, it impacts mainly on Jewish children in schools and through insults in the workplace. The Jewish community now explicitly blames the disproportionately large role in anti-Semitic incidents of Muslims who account for six percent of the population. The most problematic elements come from the Moroccan, and to a lesser extent, Turkish community.

Over the past decades, Dutch governments have non-selectively allowed in 1.6 million non-Western immigrants, about 10% of the population. Of these, one million originate in Muslim countries where anti-Semitism is far stronger than in the Netherlands. It is thus not surprising that the percentage of anti-Semites among these immigrants is substantially higher than among the local Dutch population. One could put it differently: the Dutch government has for many years followed an anti-Semitism-promoting immigration policy.

It would be desirable to undertake a detailed poll on anti-Semitism among Muslim immigrants as compared to the autochthonous population. One could then also analyze to what extent this anti-Semitism is fueled by families, mosques, schools, friends, or foreign incitement. This would be very useful in the battle against one of the main sources of anti-Semitism. Such an investigation would be, however, far too big a betrayal of Dutch taboos.

Last week’s parliamentary debate had its origin in the media discussion engendered by my book “The Decay: Jews in a Rudderless Netherlands.” It quoted senior Dutch politician and former EU commissioner Frits Bolkestein stating that recognizable Jews should advise their children to leave for the United States or Israel.

However, the book did not focus on anti-Semitism. It had two major themes. The first one, that Jews have a symbolic importance in the Netherlands which goes far beyond the real importance of the community, and the second was that by watching the interaction of the Jewish community and Dutch society at large, one obtains a prism on many aspects of the functioning and problems of Dutch society.

The recent discussions and debates have borne these two points out once more. Minister Opstelten stated that there would be zero tolerance for anti-Semitic incidents and registration of incidents at school. However, the Dutch police are unlikely to be able to become more efficient in the coming months. It is also unlikely that recognizable Jews can soon walk unhindered in certain parts of the country in the near future.

Approximately 10 years ago, there were major inquiries and debates in Dutch society about government failures of post-war restitution of Jewish assets looted in the Holocaust. One of the many criticisms about the Dutch government’s handling of the situation was that it had wrongly charged the surviving Jews for the administrative services involved in returning what was looted from them because the Dutch government could not protect them during the occupation.

A commission of inquiry said that this was a public duty and thus needed to be provided free of charge.

One wonders whether in the future, investigators will conclude that the Dutch government has misbehaved against the Jews once again by failing to pay for their protection and that of their institutions, which is also, clearly, a public duty.

Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld has published nineteen books, several of which deal with European anti-Semitism

Mending Hearts...Building Bridges: Children Currently in Israel

2011-02-12T11:18:00.000-08:00

Children Currently in Israel

Who is in Israel This Week: 06/02/11

Save a Child's Heart is currently treating seventeen children:

Before surgery

After surgery

ANGOLA

Julia Mario Macaco, Angola

Julia is an 11 year old girl. She lives with her father who is a fisherman and her younger sister who is 8 years old. Her mother also has a heart disease and must live in another city so that she can be nearer to hospital. Julia cannot go to school because the walk from her house is too far and she does not have the energy to walk the distance. Julia likes to clean the house, wash dishes and likes paying with sand and bottles. She never gets tired of listening to the Lion King soundtrack and she loves singing along. She is strong willed and very bright. Julia is a loving and friendly child, who has captured the hearts of all of the SACH staff.

INDONESIA

Kevin Audy Azizi, Indonesia

Kevin is a one year old boy from Indonesia. When he was 8 days old, he was diagnosed with a congenital heart disease. His mother was unable to afford the high cost of the operation and so contacted a friend to see if he could help. The friend carried out research and discovered Save a Child's Heart. After sending over the necessary medical documentation, Kevin's mother was told that we could help her son and on 15th Decmeber, exactly 4 months after their initial contact with us, Kevin arrived in Israel with his mother for his life-saving heart surgery.

IRAQ

Rawa, Iraq

Rawa is an 8 year old boy from Iraq.

Akar, Iraq

Akar is a 4 year old boy from Iraq.

PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

Mansour, Palestinian Authority

Mansour is a two month old baby boy from Jabalia, Gaza. He was diagnosed with a heart defect one week after birth through a regular check up. He has two sisters aged 4 and 2. His mother is a college student and his father works in construction.

Shaban, Palestinian Authority

Shaban is a one week old baby from Torqueman.

Basheer, Palestinian Authority

Basheer is a two month old baby boy from Beit-Lahya, Gaza. He was diagnosed with a heart defect at birth. He has one brother aged 3 and one sister aged 1. His brother was also born with a heart defect (hole) but it healed by itself. His mother is a housewife and his father is a gardener. They live in an asbestos house which includes one room and a kitchen and bathroom and which is based on governmental land.

Mahmad, Palestinian Authority

Mahmad is a six month old baby boy from Jabalia, Gaza. At the age of two months he was diagnosed with a heart defect after he appeared blue. He has two sisters aged 4 and 2.5 years old and one brother aged 6 years old. His mother is a housewife and his father is unemployed.

PANAMA

Migdalia Milagros Cedeno Artega, Panama

Migdalia is a 1 year old girl from Pacola in Panama. Her mother doesn’t work and her father is a driver. She has 5 siblings - 2 sisters aged 13 and 6 and 3 brothers aged 19, 17 and 11. Her family live in a 4 bedroom house, which is a one hour drive away from the local hospital. Her parents found out about her heart problem when she was 20 days old. Her heart problem affected her developmental growth so we are delighted that a few weeks after her operation she took her first steps in the SACH house! Migdalia loves eating milk with cereal though her favourite food is potatoes. She enjoys playing with dolls and balls and since coming to Israel, she has slowly begun to show her strong willed, independent personality.

PHILIPPINES

Alexia Vien Castro, Philippines

Alexia is a 16 month old girl from the Philippines.

TANZANIA

Ester Samuel Ndakata, Tanzania

Ester is a 9 year old girl from Tanzania. She is a Massai child living in an orphanage, run by Sister Angelika Wohlenberg for female Massai orphans. When Esther fell ill, Sister Angelika took her to Mater Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, and was told that Esther needs heart surgery otherwise she will not live for more than two years. Unable to afford the high costs associated with her surgery in Nairobi, it was recommended that Sister Angelika contact Save a Child's Heart for help. For the full story of how Ester reached Save a Child's Heart, please click here.

Ester loves reading, doing puzzles, listening to music and especially watching movies. She is very bright and has arrived in Israel with lots of homework so that she does not fall behind in her studies. She goes to an English speaking school so her level of English is very high. Ester is an outgoing and friendly child and within a day of being in the Save a Child's Heart children's home, she was getting involved in all of the acitvities. She was accompanied to Israel by Sara, a German volunteer who was working in the orphanage where Ester lives.

A TV report from the Israeli Channel 2:
http://www.mako.co.il/news-channel2/Friday-Newscast/Article-6bfccaded061e21004.htm

ZANZIBAR

Kassim Makame Hilali, Zanzibar

Kassim is a 13 year old boy from Zanzibar. He is the 4th child in a family of 7 chidlren. He likes playing games and eating fish and rice. He was diagnosed with a heart disease when he was 6 years old. He cannot go to school because of ill health. He feels too breathless. Kassim’s ambition is to become a pilot. Kassim is a very talented and artistic boy. He is a shy boy and although it would be easy for him to be meak in the house, he always gives his best in the house activities.

Nassor Salum Nassor, Zanzibar

Nassor is a 14 year old boy from Zanzibar. He is the eldest of his 2 siblings. Nassor lives with his grandmother. His father is a shopkeeper and his mother is a housewife. He goes to school, a one hour bus ride away from his house. Nassor was diagnosed with a heart disease when he was 4 years old. His ambition is to be a doctor when he’s older. He enjoys playing football and he likes to eat rice and chicken. Nassor brings a lot of playfulness to the Save a Child's Heart children's home. He is also very creative when it comes to arts and crafts.

Zainab Adibu Abdalla, Zanzibar

Zainab is one and a half year old girl from Zanzibar. She is the youngest child in her family of seven. She was diagnosed with a heart disease soon after she was born. Her mother is a housewife and her father works in the Ministry of Health as a mason. Zainab is a very loving child and will anyone love who is forthcoming with themselves. She easily falls asleep in anyone's arms. She is a very peaceful and delicate child.

Ynet News: 'Troops reassured me as I went into labor'

2011-02-10T00:31:00.000-08:00

Shirin Muhammad Salamin, 27, recounts positive experience of giving birth to baby boy in military ambulance with help of IDF soldiers

Omri Efraim Published: 02.08.11, 08:09 / Israel News

Shirin Muhammad Salamin, a 27-year-old Palestinian woman residing south of Jericho, lies exhausted but overjoyed in the maternity ward at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. She had a decidedly different delivery experience than that of the rest of the women on the ward.

Sgt. Gilad Nesher in class simulation Archive photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit

"It all started in the evening. I went to sleep with pain which grew stronger around 11 pm," she relates. "The family called an ambulance, but it couldn't make it to our house, which is situated at a mountain top, because of the rain. They called an Israeli ambulance but that didn't work either. Eventually my family took me down to the road where we met soldiers inside the army's ambulance."

The baby was delivered by the soldiers and the army medic. "I was alone inside the army's ambulance, my mother and the rest of my family didn't come with me, and I was scared. But the soldiers reassured me throughout the ride. At one stage I literally felt the baby come out and the soldiers put a blanket and helped me give birth. When he came out, they smiled at me and him and asked me to talk to him in order to calm him down. They gave me the baby and let me breastfeed him."

IDF sources said the baby later had trouble breathing. After resuscitating him, the baby and mother were flown via an Air Force helicopter to the hospital. Both are doing well.

Despite the language barrier Shirin says she had no difficulty communicating with the soldiers. "The soldiers were speaking to me and the baby the whole time and made sure we stayed calm."

Shirin is grateful for the care she was given and says she would like to meet the soldiers who helped her. "I would like to thank the soldiers who greatly helped me and wish them health," she says.

"There is a great deal of satisfaction in giving life," Sergeant Gilad Nesher, a paramedic who treated the woman and child, told Ynet earlier.

AFP: Synagogue torched in Tunisia: Jewish leader

2011-02-02T03:14:00.000-08:00

(AFP) – 22 hours ago

TUNIS — Arsonists set fire to a synagogue in the southern Gabes region of Tunisia, a leader of the local Jewish community said Tuesday.

"Someone set fire to the synagogue on Monday night and the Torah scrolls were burned," Trabelsi Perez told AFP, criticising the lack of action by the security services to stop the attack.

Worshippers visit the Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, southern Tunisia

"What astonished me was that there were police not far from the synagogue," added Perez, who is also head of the Ghriba synagogue on the island of Djerba, the oldest synagogue in Africa.

Twenty-one people were killed, including 16 European tourists, when Al-Qaeda bombers attacked Ghriba in April 2002.

Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved.

A Book Is Man’s Best Companion

2011-02-01T11:31:00.000-08:00

A Book Is Man’s Best Companion

This is a universal idea that transcends all cultures and civilizations. Ever since writing systems were invented in ancient civilizations, human beings have been using books to share their emotions and their experiences, their fears and their joys, and to advance knowledge.

This “sharing” of knowledge and experience, of history and values, is at the heart of the Aladdin Online Library and its translation of major works into different languages. The books in this library are a collective call to conscience and to vigilance, addressed to every reader, so that ultimately the forces of reason and dialogue shall prevail.

The first works on the shelves of Aladdin are books that throw light on some of the darkest pages of history, the universal symbol of human suffering, the Holocaust.

Members of the Experts Committee of the Aladdin Online Library, intellectuals from different cultures, firmly believe in the necessity of sharing values based on mutual knowledge and mutual respect, rejection of conflicts of memory and all forms of Holocaust denial and trivialization. Their aim is to promote a greater knowledge of our common and specific cultures, more particularly those of Muslims and Jews.

Jacques Andréani,
Ambassadeur de France
Chairman of the Experts Committee

.

Ynet News: Iran: 64 people executed in 24 days

2011-01-24T04:11:00.000-08:00

Six people executed in Islamic Republic on Monday alone, including two opposition activists, three rapists, one serial killer

Dudi Cohen Published: 01.24.11, 11:43 / Israel News

Unprecedented wave of executions in the Islamic Republic. Iran executed six people on Monday bringing the number of executions since the beginning of 2011 to 64, an average of one person every nine hours.

It was reported that among those executed were two activists who were members of an exiled group that joined post-election protests. The Tehran prosecutor's office named the two as Jafar Kazemi and Mohammad Ali Hajaghaei. In addition, those executed included three men accused of sexual assault and a serial killer who was sentenced to a public flogging.

Besides drug charges, the Iranian constitution gives out a death sentence for murder, rape, adultery, armed robbery and espionage. Most of the citizens executed since the beginning of the year were convicted of drug offences. Just last week, ten drug smugglers were executed. National media outlets reported that the ten were flogged and fined before they were killed.

The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran accused the regime's security forces of participating in an "execution celebration" though Tehran claims that they stiffened drug offence sentences in a bid to cope with the phenomenon.

The regime's critics claim that the fact that drug use and trafficking - especially among the younger sectors in the population - is expanding proves that the death sentence policy has failed. They called on the Republic to end its cruel execution policy.

Iran is considered the country with the highest rate of executions in the world, relative to the population, and ranked second after China, in the number of annual executions. Last year, at least 180 people were executed in Iran.

Ynet News: Bulgarian Jewry's amazing story

2011-01-17T02:20:00.000-08:00

(Video) Experts discuss heroic efforts to save Bulgarian Jews during WWII, Balkans' tolerance and revival of Jewish life in Sofia

Leadel. NET Published: 01.15.11, 08:02 / Israel Jewish Scene

VIDEO - Bulgarian Jews completely assimilated to European society with the exception of during WWII. The survival of the whole Jewish community is an amazing phenomenon.

There is also the example of the Danish community saving over 99% of their Jewish citizens during the Holocaust. However, Denmark was an occupied state, where Bulgaria was an aligned Nazi state.

Bulgarian society, saturated with multicultural and multiethnic history, gives us a great lesson of tolerance.

Dr. Rumiana Marinova-Christidi gives us the historical insights for the root causes of the heroic efforts of Bulgarian people to save the Bulgarian Jews during WWII.

Nikolay Mladenov, Bulgarian minister of foreign affairs, speaks about the sensitivity of Balkans to the Jews and tolerance in the region.

Alexander Oscar, president of the Sophia Jewish community, touches upon the revival of Jewish life in Sofia thanks to the help of other nations both financially and socially.

Ynet News: Old Jaffa in pictures

2011-01-09T04:41:00.000-08:00

Miko Schwartz's photos reveal beauty of old Clock Square, mosques and past ways of life

Nadav Man Published: 01.07.11, 12:04 / Israel Travel

Today we return to the photos of Miko Schwartz, who was a photojournalist and also worked for Keren Hayesod, the Jewish National Fund and several media outlets. This time his pictures focus on the city of Jaffa.

The photos were taken between 1939 and 1945. Those years, after the Arab revolt, taking pictures in Jaffa was not very safe, but Miko was a licensed photographer on behalf of the mandatory news authority.

The authority operated the Voice of Jerusalem radio station and issued a booklet called "The Radio" with photos from across the country every fortnight. The biweekly was published in English, Hebrew and Arabic.

Naturally, most of the photos in Jaffa show the Arab community, focusing on the beauty of the public buildings, streets and gardens, as well as the daily life of fishermen and worshippers.

2. Post office on Jaffa's Jerusalem Blvd.

3. Alhambra cinema or theater

4. Post office on Jerusalem Blvd. from a different angle

6. Praying at a local mosque

8. View of the Clock Square and Tel Aviv in the horizon

10. Clock Tower – Jaffa's symbol. On the left, Barclays Bank

14. Fishermen near the port

16. Building the ships

Survivor Of Islam - Brigitte Gabriel Speaks Candidly

2010-12-29T02:41:00.000-08:00

Survivor Of Islam - Brigitte Gabriel Speaks Candidly

Ynet News: Telling our story

2010-12-27T10:07:00.000-08:00

Op-ed: Israel’s story is about returning to ancient homeland, not just Holocaust legacy

Benny Levy Published: 12.27.10, 11:01 / Israel Opinion

Almost every day we’re told of further deterioration in Israel’s position in global public opinion. This has grave concrete implications, to the point of calls rejecting the state’s right to exist. Israel is failing to curb this phenomenon. Many tend to blame the faulty English of some ambassador or the fact that the IDF’s spokesman fails to provide “positive footage.”

Yet this is nonsense. Israel is losing the battle because it aims to explain itself with arguments on the operative level, while the world is asking “what the hell are the Jews doing there?” A leading Israeli public relations expert who returned from a PR campaign overseas recently lamented that “they simply don’t understand us.” Well, why should they?

Most of the world’s citizens at this time are unfamiliar with the Jewish people’s historical connection to the Land of Israel. Many view us as refugee who have no connection to this territory and who escaped European distress to find shelter, randomly, in Palestine.

When President Obama asserted in his Cairo speech that the aspirations for a Jewish homeland originated in our undeniably tragic history, many around here were insulted. “Why did he say that? After all, we’re not here because of the Holocaust.” Yet Obama is not at fault. After all, the Holocaust is the narrative presented by Israel itself to its guests (and to its own sons.)

Wasn’t Obama taken directly to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum after landing here? Don’t we take our millions of guests there to teach them “who we are and what we’re doing here”?

The custom of bringing Israel’s guests to Yad Vashem first carries a loud message. It creates the impression that the Holocaust is the reason and justification for the state’s existence; it places Israel on a podium of victimization, refugees, and the quest for a shelter.

However, Israel’s pillars were laid dozens of years before the Holocaust. Its cornerstone is the Zionist idea. Israel is first and foremost a national revival enterprise. Historian Barbara Tuchman once wrote that Israel is the only nation in the world “that is governing itself in the same territory, under the same name, and with the same religion and same language as it did 3,000 years ago."

No easy task

Israel’s full story – national revival and a return to an ancient homeland that is the only place where the Jewish idea can materialize – is fascinating and exciting. It has “buyers” and it softens up resistance. “You have a case I weren’t familiar with” is a remark I heard dozens of times from people exposed to this story for the first time. Our right to live here is inherent in this story.

The Jewish people returned to its historical homeland consciously and righteously, not by coincidence. Israel, with all its flaws, is the amazing realization of a 3,800-year vision of Jewish nationalism. Being a nation that seeks justice and charity is the essence of Judaism and the reason for the ancient pact: “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.”

Judaism is a recipe for the conduct of a nation and the individuals who make it up. Its application requires the existence of a Jewish national framework, and there is no place that is more natural and right for managing this Jewish state than the Land of Israel.

The State of Israel is not 100% Jewish or 100% democratic (there is no such thing in reality,) yet it is the most Jewish-and-democratic state in the world. Only in Israel the two aspects of Judaism – the religious and national – come into being, and the commitment to Judaism takes on its full significance.

This is our real story, and without it Israel has no purpose, no justification, and no hope. Imparting this story to the world is a very difficult task, yet without it we’ll be unable to restore Israel’s deteriorating position and image here and abroad.

Benny Levy is the founder of chairman of the Shivah – Being a Free Nation in our Land non-profit organization

Ynet News: Patient transferred from Syria to Israel

2010-12-24T04:31:00.000-08:00

Young Druze man studying dentistry in Damascus suffers brain hemorrhage, rushed to Haifa hospital through Quneitra Crossing

Hagai Einav Published: 12.24.10, 10:45 / Israel News

An 18-year-old Druze from Majdal Shams was transferred Friday into Israel through the Quneitra Crossing in the Golan Heights, after suffering a brain hemorrhage while studying in Syria.

"He is a young and talented man who went to Syria to study dentistry, like many other students from villages in the north Golan Heights," Head of Majdal Shams Council Daulan abu Salah told Ynet.

"His family was informed of the incident last Saturday, and he has since been hospitalized at Al Shami Hospital in Syria, waiting to be transferred to Israel.

"As a regional council we offered the family support with the help of the social services department, and also appealed to Israeli elements in an effort to obtain a crossing permit for urgent medical treatment in Israel," he added.

The patient was then taken via helicopter to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.

Medical emergency chopper at scene (Photo:Avishag Shaar-Yashuv)

On Thursday, the family was informed that the Defense, Health and Interior Ministries authorized all the necessary permits in order to transfer the young man – who is in serious condition – into Israel.

However, shortly before crossing the border, the Red Cross announced that it has not completed all the necessary preparations, and the mission was delayed by a few hours.

IDF officials stressed that even though the border crossing closes at 6 pm daily, the post is manned 24-hours-a-day and could be opened for an authorized humanitarian crossing in a relatively short period of time.

After finally crossing into Israel, a Magen David Adom ambulance took the young man to a Lahak Aviation helicopter, which flew him to Rambam Medical Center.

"It cost more than NIS 30,000 (about $8,300), and because HMO insurance does not cover aerial evacuations and the State does not include it in its health services, the family had a hard time raising the money," said abu Salah.

"Fortunately, many village residents came to their aid, and we hope we will be able to save this dear man's life," he concluded.

Ynet News: Stabbing victim's friends shocked

2010-12-20T05:07:00.000-08:00

Neighbors, acquaintances of Kaye Susan Wilson stunned by brutal attack in mountainous area outside Jerusalem. 'Who could hurt such a gentle woman?' says her housekeeper tearfully

Roi Mandel Published: 12.19.10, 21:19 / Israel News

Searching for Logan Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg

Kaye Susan Wilson, the 46-year-old tour guide who was bound and stabbed multiple times Saturday in a mountainous area outside Jerusalem, continues to recover at the Jerusalem Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, and digest the news of her friend's death.

Wilson's neighbors and friends at the Jerusalem neighborhood of Givat Ze'ev were shocked by the news of the attack, and wondered who could hurt "such a gentle woman".

"What did she do to these insane people? She never had a problem with anyone," said Tamam Shawamra, who has been working as Wilson's housekeeper in recent years.

"She is such a good woman," she noted tearfully, while holding the Sunday paper with the picture of Wilson on the front page.

Wilson in the hospital (Photo: Aviel Magnezi)

Tamam and her son Yosef, who also worked for Wilson, described her as a generous and very modest woman who never got into trouble.

"She is like my sister," said Yosef, "She would leave me the key and trust me to take care of her house while she would go travelling for a few days, sometimes even a week.

"She had many friends that used to stay with her. She never argues with anyone, I don’t understand who would do this to her," he added.

Tamam and Yosef said they plan to visit Wilson in the hospital. "This is absolutely horrible, what did she do to make them stab her and her friend? Look at her, what a gentle face of a good woman. Who could do such an awful thing," Tamam said while barely holding back her tears.

The two ruled out the possibility of a personal attack. "I never saw her fight with anyone, I can't imagine that it has anything to do with her. There are plenty of crazy people in the world that would do such a think," noted Tamam.

'Loves life'

On Saturday, police officers arrived at Wilson's house in Givat Ze'ev and spoke with her neighbors in an effort to find out more details.

"I heard about the incident in the news and suddenly a few police officers appeared and told me what happened," Shulamit Avital, Wilson's landlord and neighbor recounted on Sunday.

"They asked me to open the door to her apartment and took out some documents and personal belongings. No one knows the details of the incident," she added.

Avital, who rented an apartment to Wilson two months ago, said she hardly got to know her.

"I knew she was a tour guide and that she was gone for days at a time because of her work. I don’t know much about her life, and I've never seen her friends around – only her and her dog," she said.

Wilson has been working at Shoresh Tyulim guided tours company for the past few years. Her colleagues described her as "a happy woman who loves life and loves the land of Israel very much."

Aviel Magnezi contributed to this report

Ynet News: UK Imam prays for Carmel Fire victims

2010-12-15T01:28:00.000-08:00

Leaders of European Muslim, Jewish communities convene in Brussels to discuss initiative for better relations between communities. Delegation meets European Council President Herman Van Rompuy

Ynetnews Published: 12.09.10, 07:47 / Israel Activism

Rabbi Schneier and Herman Van Rompuy Photo: Michael Thaidigsmann

Over 50 leaders of Muslim and Jewish communities from across Europe convened in Brussels on Monday for the first Gathering of European Muslim and Jewish Leaders to discuss initiatives for better relations between the two communities.

At the opening session Imam Dr. Abduljalil Sajid from Britain spoke prayers, in which he included the victims of the recent Carmel fire disaster in Israel and the floods in Pakistan.

The meeting is co-organized by the New York-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding (FFEU), the World Jewish Congress (WJC) and the European Jewish Congress (EJC). Earlier on Monday, a delegation met with the President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, to whom a common statement was presented which calls for closer cooperation between the two communities in Europe and steps “to ensure that Jews and Muslims are able to practice our respective faiths fully and unimpeded by intrusive, discriminatory and unfair governmental regulations.”

The leaders’ declaration urges “cooperative projects to succor the poor and homeless of all backgrounds, to help protect new immigrants who are threatened by hatred and xenophobia, and to heal the environment, bringing together Muslim and Jewish youth for joint programming.” It also denounces all forms of violence in the name of any religion or ideology.

FFEU President and WJC Vice President Rabbi Marc Schneier called the first Brussels Gathering of European Muslim and Jewish leaders “a promising beginning.” He stated: “Today, we have hopefully kick-started a movement that will spread across Europe. The recipe really is quite simple: our two communities must focus more on what unites us than what separates us. We also must restrain the radicals within our own ranks and make sure they don’t gain the upper hand.”

'Starting at the micro level'

Dr. Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, declared: “I think it is very important that Jews and Muslims start talking more with each other, and less about the other. Pointing the finger at the other side and accuse it of being the root cause of all evil on this planet may be easy and convenient, but most of the time it is wrong – and counter-productive.

"How are all the disparate nations of Europe going to co-exist if citizens of the same country can’t share neighborhoods? We need to start at the micro level to succeed at the macro level. We need to pay attention to every level of intolerance, hate and xenophobia.”

Senior representatives of both faiths from Austria, Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the United States attended the one-day gathering, which concluded with a Diplomatic Dinner attended by numerous ambassadors posted in Brussels.

Ynet News: Palestinian firefighters help battle Carmel blaze

2010-12-05T20:56:00.000-08:00

Head of Palestinian team says assistance is a 'humanitarian gesture' that has nothing to do with Israel-PA relations

Hassan Shaalan Published: 12.05.10, 14:18 / Israel News

Twenty-one Palestinian firefighters arrived at the Mount Carmel region on Sunday to assist Israel in its battle against the huge wildfire which has claimed the lives of 41 people.

Palestinian fire truck in Israel Photo: AFP

"I've dreamed of visiting Haifa for a long time," Ibrahim Ayash, the head of the Palestinian rescue team told Ynet, "But unfortunately I came at a very sad time."

'Humanitarian gesture.' Palestinian firefighters in Israel (Photo: AFP)

The Palestinian firefighters entered Israel through the Salem crossing. They were accompanied by Civil Administration personnel. "We arrived in Haifa two hours ago, and we are supposed to help extinguish the fire that has spread in the Carmel Forest," Ayash said. "I consider our assistance a humanitarian gesture."

According to Ayash, the Palestinian people viewed the disaster with a great deal of sorrow.

He said the cooperation has nothing to do with the relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. "We came here to help without addressing the issue of Jews and Arabs," Ayash added. "We will stay in the Carmel region until the fire is put out."

The Palestinians joined hundreds of firefighters who have been battling the fire since it erupted on Thursday.

Ynet News: Israel to send aid to Haiti

2010-11-24T21:04:00.000-08:00

After medication sent to combat cholera outbreak, Israel Aid Agency intends to set up permanent trauma unit, train local teams in island's second largest city

Ronen Medzini Published: 11.24.10, 20:07 / Israel News

The Foreign Ministry sent some 200,000 doses of medication against cholera to Haiti this week, where more than 1,000 have died already from the outbreak. Israel also intends to set up a permanent trauma and emergency unit on the crisis-ridden island to assist in treating the thousands of patients.

Trauma unit within four months (illustration) Photo: AFP

The international cooperation branch of Israel Aid Agency announced it intends to come to the aid of Haiti which less than six months ago was hit by a devastating earthquake which left the island in ruins. It intends to assist both by sending medicines and by long-term aid.

Haitian hospital (Photo: AFP)

"This is an aid project in a place where we see a need not being filled by others," said Dr. Yossi Peretz, a senior consultant for medical and humanitarian issues. "Many groups are operating there, but not all with good reputations and not all with appropriate coordination and to satisfactory levels from the point of view of the local authorities."

The unit will be located in the island's second largest city, Cap-Haïtien, which was chosen after authorities said there was a tangible need for a quality unit in the city, Peretz said. Cap-Haïtien has more than a million residents, and the unit's operations will also assist in developing the economy.

"We came to an agreement that we'd build a large unit meeting Israeli standards," Peretz said. "This is a pilot project. There is currently no infrastructure for trauma victims and the wounded, and there is a lack of experience and knowledge. We have taken it upon ourselves to build and train, and we are now preparing to take out the equipment. This will require many containers and Israeli construction and training teams, all 'blue and white' (from Israel). We intend to finish the project within four months and hand it over to them."

The UN has recently called on states around the world to contribute some $164 million to increase international efforts to combat the cholera outbreak, which has claimed the lives of 917 people so far and infected at least 14,600. According to Save the Children, 40% of those who died did not receive adequate medical attention. According to UN estimates, the number of those infected is liable to reach 200,000 – some 2% of the Haitian population.

Mending Hearts...Building Bridges

2010-11-20T03:01:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I watched on the TV news a report about an Israeli (Zionist) association of cardiologist doctors and surgeons who are treating children worldwide - "Save a Child’s Heart (SACH)". They are treating kids with heart problems and illness from many countries and places like SE Asia, Africa, Europe, Arab countries and the Palestinian Authority. A great number of treated kids are from enmity countries to Israel and about 1000 children from the Palestinian Authority were treated successfully.

I'll not speak for those doctors and refer you to their website links so you can get the impression first hand.

http://www.saveachildsheart.org/14-en/Sach.aspx

"Betty's Story" (English) - The Story of Save a Child's Heart activities around the world with a focus on little Betty from Ethiopia

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/xinhua/2010-10-04/content_960812.html

Ynet News: IDF rescues Lebanese woman caught in border fence

2010-11-15T03:37:00.000-08:00

Troops patrolling northern border detect elderly woman tangled in barbed wire fence on Lebanese side near mine field, safely return her to Lebanon in coordination with UNIFIL forces

Hagai Einav Published: 11.14.10, 23:49 / Israel News

Troops carrying woman Photo: The IDF Spokesperson's Unit

An IDF force patrolling along the northern border Saturday detected an 80-year-old woman whose clothes had tangled in the Lebanese side of the border fence. The troops informed United Nations personnel stationed at the area and rescued the woman together.

The elderly woman was caught in a part of the fence which was adjacent to a mine field and when it became clear the Lebanese Army could not assist her, the IDF stepped in.

A joint military force pulled the woman into Israeli territory while the Lebanese Army observed the rescue operation. After making sure the woman was not injured UNIFIL representatives contacted the Lebanese Army and coordinated her return to Lebanon via the Rosh Hanikra crossing.

Rescue operation. 'Woman posed no security risk' (Photo: The IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

An IDF source told Ynet the woman posed no security risk and was in evident distress. "As a humanitarian measure it was decided to help her and return her safely to her village in Lebanon," he said.

"The woman's rescue was performed by a joint force of engineering, scouts and Golani troops who are intimately familiar with the area and who managed to release the woman from the fence and transfer her to the Israeli side safe and sound."

Ynet News: Restoring Poland's Jewish past

2010-11-10T12:50:00.000-08:00

Special Israeli-Polish collaboration has Polish inmates renovating, restoring Jewish cemeteries ruined in WWII

Noah Klieger Published: 11.09.10, 12:07 / Israel Jewish Scene

POLAND – Sixty-five years after Jewish cemeteries were demolished by the Nazis, they are now being restored and renovated by the unlikeliest of volunteers - Polish inmates.

Jewish cemetery in Warsaw Photo: Visual/Photos

Hundreds of prisoners from some 50 Polish jails have been spending the last few months renovating and performing restoration work on Jewish cemeteries as part of a special and unprecedented collaboration between Israel's Prison Service and the Polish prison service. More prisons are scheduled to join the project in the future.

It should be noted that the prisoners participating in the project have volunteered to do so after learning of its significance from their wardens.

The project was first conceived in 2005 when Israeli and Polish prison service representatives met during an international conference and decided to cooperate in various fields.

The Polish representatives later told their Israeli counterparts that the warden of a prison in Lublin had initiated the renovation of a local Jewish cemetery and that dozens of prisoners volunteered to take part in the effort. The Israelis were also told that the plan had been coordinated with Poland's chief rabbi and the Director of Poland's Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage, Monika Krawczyk.

The Israeli Prison Service officers immediately saw the project's huge potential and shortly thereafter offered their Polish counterparts to turn the initiative into a national project.

Haim Shmulevich, former Prison Service legal advisor and a Polish native speaker was appointed as the Israeli contact person. Last January, he and Prison Service discipline director Benny Poloczek held a tour of Poland to monitor the project's progression and finalize the necessary details of its expansion.

Jewish philanthropist

As the project's scope grew bigger it became apparent there was need for outside funding. This is where Brian Anderson, a British tycoon who moved to Israel six years ago, came into the picture. Anderson, 54, is the son of a Holocaust survivor who immigrated to England after WWII.

He made his fortune working as an importer of Far East products since his teen years. The son of ardent Zionists, Anderson visited Israel frequently as a young man. In one of his visits, he met his wife Irit, with whom he has three daughters. After retiring and making aliyah, Anderson created a donors club for the benefit of various causes in Israel which mainly consists of wealthy British Jews. The club's members provide funding for terror victims, lone soldiers and IDF wounded veterans.

Last year, one of Anderson's friends introduced him to the Prison Service. When he learned about the cemeteries campaign he decided to recruit his fellow philanthropists and raise the necessary funds to keep the project going.

Tombstone maker's secret

On Monday, several of a donors, together with a Prison Service delegation attended a special ceremony marking the completion of the first stage of the unique collaboration in the Polish city of Radom. A monument built by the Polish prisoners using old Jewish tombstones was unveiled.

An interesting story lies behind these tombstones. During the German occupation, a Polish tombstone maker decided to move 70 gravestones from the local Jewish cemetery to a warehouse near his house. Choosing the most extravagant headstones, he planned on selling them when the time came. In doing so, he in fact saved them.

The Germans used the thousands of tombstones that remained in the cemetery to build a runway for their fighter jets and to pave a road from the city to the airport. After the war, the Communist regime prohibited citizens from holding on to items of historical value, thus preventing the Polish tombstone maker from selling his treasure.

The tombstones were discovered only decades later when Haim Kintzler, chairman of the Radom Jews association visited his hometown and learned of the cemetery's sad fate. When he discovered the hidden tombstones, he recruited the help of the mayor of Radom and together they convinced the tombstone maker's sons to return them to the municipality, which promised to feature them in a special new museum.

It took Kintzler 13 years to realize his plan and showcase the tombstones. While the municipality could not afford to keep its promise, a solution was found with the help of the organizers of the Polish cemeteries renovation project. It was decided that a monument featuring the tombstones would be set up to mark the special project.

Monday's ceremony in Radom was attended by the Polish justice minister, municipal officials, Israeli Prison Service representatives, Brian Anderson and 20 members of his donors club, as well as Israeli Ambassador to Poland Zvi Rav Ner.

Ynet News: Muslim president inaugurates Jewish school

2010-11-08T13:41:00.000-08:00

Azerbaijan leader applauded at Jewish education center in Baku, says hopes 'school's graduates will be proud Jews and proud Azeri citizens'

Dmitriy Prokofyev Published: 11.07.10, 08:23 / Israel Jewish Scene

A Muslim president of a Muslim country inaugurating a Jewish school is not exactly a common event. And yet, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev recently visited a Jewish education center in the capital city of Baku, accompanied by his education minister, minister for religious affairs, mayor and other senior officials.

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev. 'Courage and wisdom' Photo: Reuters

Upon his arrival, the president was applauded and cheered by the ceremony's attendees. "I hope the graduates of this school will be proud Jews as well as proud Azerbaijani citizens," he said.

President Shimon Peres sent a televised greeting to his Azeri counterpart in honor of the occasion, expressing his deep appreciation of the unusual gesture in building the large Jewish center in Baku.

"I would like to salute you for your courage and wisdom, in this pragmatic world we live in, to maintain values of building schools and centers for all religions so that not a single book is buried and not a single prayer is lost. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the traditional way you treat the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Your father and you will always be remembered as great personalities, who have a vision and act courageously and humanely."

Israel was represented by Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who was impressed by the national and religious tolerance in Azerbaijan, blessed President Aliyev and the citizens of his country, and installed a mezuzah on the entrance gate.

Another important guest was Israeli businessman Lev Leviev, who donated funds to the center.

Baku is the capital of Azerbaijan, a Shiite country and neighbor to Iran. It is a very rich city, as Azerbaijan is a major exporter of oil to Western Europe, and has about two million residents. Its Jewish community has some 30,000 members.

The school, intended for 450 students, was built in a luxurious neighborhood on a hill facing the sea. The compound, which stretches over 3.5 acres, has three modern buildings housing a school, a kindergarten, a daycare center, sports facilities, a concert hall and a synagogue. The money was invested by Leviev's Or Avner fund.

The education center's inauguration was preceded by a meeting between Aliyev, Rabbi Amar, Leviev, and Chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities Berel Lazar.

The route leading to the president's residence was blocked to traffic, and police officers standing in every corner saluted the convoy. Rabbi Amar was shocked, noting that "this is the first time traffic in a city is blocked to allow Israel's chief rabbi to get through."

Against anti-Semitism

During the meeting, President Aliyev turned to Leviev as an old friend. The two have known each other for many years thanks to the Jewish businessman's humanitarian gestures.

Aliyev told the rabbis, proudly, that his country's Jews never experienced anti-Semitism and that he himself was unfamiliar with the word "anti-Semite" until he traveled abroad for academic studies.

He showed proficiency in the affairs of his country's Jewish community and invited the chief rabbi to inaugurate a government-funded synagogue slated to be built in Baku in the next two years.

During the meeting, I asked Lev Leviev about the luxurious project and the activity of the Or Avner fund during the financial crisis.

"Crisis or no crisis, the fund continues to operate and donate," he replied, "because this is a real investment in our future as a people. We are gaining more and more Jews. This way we'll be stronger, and I have no doubt you will be blessed by God. We now have more than 500 active communities in the Commonwealth of Independent States alone, and they are developing dynamically."

Why did you choose to build the biggest and most luxurious education center you've ever established in Baku of all places?

"Because of real needs and a coincidence. We have a very intelligent community here, but it's very assimilated, with many mixed families. When the child goes with his father to the mosque on Friday and with his mother to synagogue on Saturday, it turns on a red light. We simply have to give that child the option to receive Jewish education, and for both parents to agree to send him to a Jewish school it has to be a school of the highest quality. At the same time, we received a great response from the political echelon, which even provided the land for free."

What next?

"The education center in Baku is only one chapter. Several weeks ago we opened a school called Or Avner in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, now we are opening one in Azerbaijan, and in Hanukkah we will open a similar center in Minsk."

Ynet News: Jaffa square named after Muslim leader

2010-11-08T01:08:00.000-08:00

Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality decides to commemorate Islamic Movement's Sheikh Bassam Abu Zayid. 'He was very likeable to Jews because he made sure to maintain moderation, coexistence,' says Meretz councilman

Yoav Zitun Published: 11.07.10, 22:48 / Israel News

Sheikh Bassam Abu Zayid

Tel Aviv-Jaffa municipality has decided to name a Jaffa square after Bassam Abu Zayid, who was a senior figure in the Islamic Movement in Israel and founded the movement's Jaffa branch.

Abu Zayid, who passed away in July of 2008, was considered by Jaffa's residents to be one of the foremost religious authorities.

A square located on the corner of Dolphin and Yehuda Hayamit Streets is to be named after the sheikh, who remained neutral during the internal split of the movement into northern and southern branches.

Since his death a public battle has taken place regarding his commemoration, led by Jaffa council member Ahmad Mashrawi (Meretz), who resigned from his post at the municipality over the issue.

Mashrawi. Resigned over battle Photo: Afaf Mashrawi

"The fact that Sheikh Bassam was not a member of any branch, northern or southern, makes him very likeable to Jews because he made sure to maintain moderation and coexistence," Mashrawi told Ynet. "There are hundreds of streets named after Jews in Jaffa, some of them biblical characters, even in Ajami neighborhood, which is absurd."

Likud councilman Arnon Giladi expressed surprising support for the move. "The Likud supports the commemoration of people who contributed to coexistence and moderation for the benefit of Israel's prosperity, whether they were Arabs or Jews," he said.

Another street will also be named after an Arab, the seventh so far. It will carry the name of George Hananiya, who chaired Jaffa's Orthodox Union and was one of the city's most beloved leaders.

Giladi. Supports move Photo: Ofer Amram

The city council is also embarking on a neighborhood-naming spree, as part of which Giladi has suggested calling his neighborhood after former Prime Minister Menachem Begin. However he encountered opposition on the part of Councilwoman Haviva Avi-Guy, of the Pensioners' Party.

"Begin was the first prime minister to bring peace. If we commemorate prime ministers, as we have the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, it would be proper to honor him with a neighborhood as his namesake as well," Giladi responded.

Ynet News: Israelis attacked on way to Jerusalem pub

2010-11-05T23:07:00.000-07:00

Three students and Australian tourist take wrong turn on way to Jerusalem's city center, find themselves in heart of Arab neighborhood of Issawiya. 'Dozens of young men began throwing stones and sticks at us. It was a well-planned ambush,' driver recounts

Yair Altman Published: 11.05.10, 13:04 / Israel News

Three students from the central city of Givatayim and their Australian friend will never forget their nightly drive to Jerusalem's city center. The three, who picked up the young woman from the Hebrew University's Mount Scopus campus, almost paid with their lives after taking a wrong turn.

"There were four of us in the car, and we planned to sit in a quiet pub on Ben-Yehuda Street and talk," the driver, Assaf Ben-Ari, told Ynet on Friday morning. "There were no signs, and since we don't live in the area we didn't know how to turn back. We took a right turn on one of the curves and found ourselves on a one-way road in an unfamiliar area."

Shortly afterwards the four began feeling discomfort, which was soon replaced with real fear.

"After driving for a minute, we saw a 12-year-old boy walking on the side of the road. We explained to him that we lose our way and asked how to get to Ben-Yehuda Street. He said in an Arabic accent that he didn't speak Hebrew and called someone. That's when I began realizing that something was wrong," Assaf recounted.

As he and his friends were waiting, Assaf noticed that all the store signs in the area were in Arabic. "An older person arrived and he and the kid began laughing at us. They told us to continue driving on the same road, while the older one was on the phone and simply sent us into a well-planned ambush."

'Look of murder in their eyes'

The group had no choice and continued driving according to the instructions, and found themselves in the heart of the neighborhood of Issawiya. They decided to turn back, but were shocked to discover that the road had been blocked.

"I don't know how they managed, but only two minutes later they set up a barrier which included a barbed-wire fence, chairs, and iron pipes. We were in shock. We suddenly heard an explosion sound in the back, and saw the boy and the adult who we spoke to throwing bricks at us."

'It was like a nightmare' (Photo: Assaf Ben-Ari)

The car's rear windowpane was smashed, and young men began coming out of the neighborhood houses and throwing stones at the vehicle. The driver began speeding into the center of Issawiya.

"My friend contacted the police, and after we managed to get away I stopped and contemplated what to do. I had never encountered such a situation of helplessness without any preparation, and with friends and a terrified tourist," Assaf said.

Meanwhile, "the entire neighborhood woke up and dozens of young men gathered next to us and waited for us with sticks and stones. I considered escaping from the vehicle or even hiding until the police arrived, but I knew we wouldn't stand a chance if they found us outside the car. Several minutes later we were surrounded, and I realized that I must drive my car into the barrier if I want to get out of here alive."

At that moment, he began driving fast while being hit with stones and iron pipes from all directions. "I pressed the gas pedal with all my might, and simply drove into the barrier at 110 kilometers an hour. The barbed-wire fence was caught under the wheels and dragged along. There were sparks in the air."

Part of barbed-wire fence in improvised barrier (Photo: Assaf Ben-Ari)

After crossing the first barrier, the group was shocked to discover a second trap. "Several meters ahead they placed a row of taxis attached to each other in order to prevent us from passing. Luckily, we managed to get through a small gap between the pavement and the wall, a moment before another taxi arrived to close us in."

At the same time, three Border Guard jeeps arrived in the area and ensured that there were no injuries. According to the police, "The fighters dispersed the rioters and the matter has been handed over to the minority department."

"It was like entering a nightmare. They had a look of murder in their eyes," the driver said after the incident. "Had we stayed there one more minute we wouldn't be alive anymore. It wasn't just an attempt to stone us, but an intentional desire to lynch us only several meters way from the university."

Gil Naveh contributed to this report

__________________________________________________________________

Stones thrown at ambulance treating Palestinian

Paramedics treating injured Palestinian flee Issawiya after stones damage their vehicle

Yair Altman Published: 11.06.10, 20:46 / Israel News

Stones were thrown Saturday at an ambulance and an MDA mobile intensive care unit near the village of Al-Azariya just a day after some young Israelis were attacked as they drove through nearby Issawiya, in east Jerusalem. The ambulance teams had been called to village to treat a young man who had fallen from the fifth floor of a building.

At about 6 pm, an ambulance was called to Al-Azariya, in the vicinity of east Jerusalem. Due to the critical condition of the patient, the intensive care unit was called. As paramedics treated the patient, a number of teens from Issawiya began throwing stones at the vehicle, making the paramedics' task difficult. The windscreen of the vehicles was damaged, as was another Israeli vehicle that was driving behind them.

Hagai Bar-Tov, an MDA paramedic, spoke of those minutes of fear. "On the way to the hospital, as the paramedics treated the patient… we had to take care of our own lives at the same time," he said. "A shower of stones fell on us… Luckily the vehicle was armored, so the windscreen was damaged but not completely broken in."

"Unfortunately, we see once again how terror groups operate without limits, even when it's clear to all that ambulances don't do any damage anywhere in the world" said Danny Rotenberg, MDA spokesman in the Jerusalem region. "The team, which was in the middle of intensive treatment saving the life of a seriously wounded Palestinian patient, feared for its life, making the situation even worse."

Police said they had begun searches in the area to find those responsible for throwing the stones. The police view the incident gravely, as they do the attempted lynch of three students from Givatayim and an Australian tourist. Police sources said they intend to increase operations against stone throwing in Issawiya, to pressure the local population to keep public order.

The students and tourist, who only wanted to go to a pub in the city, almost paid with their lives after making a wrong turn. They said they followed the directions of children in the neighborhood and almost reached the center of Issawiya. When they tried to go back they saw the street was blocked, and saw the eldest child who had given directions throw stones at them. None of the group was injured, despite the shower of stones.

Ynet News: Egyptian refusenik: I'm pro-Israel

2010-10-25T05:52:00.000-07:00

Maikel Nabil Sanad claims he's first conscientious objector in Egypt, blames Palestinians for conflict, says doesn't want to shoot Israeli defending his state

Roee Nahmias Published: 10.25.10, 11:52 / Israel News

Maikel Nabil Sanad is perhaps the most unusual Egyptian you've heard of recently. He is 25 years old, a veterinarian, graduate of a university in Asyut, and now officially a conscientious objector to military service in the Egyptian army.

"The army told me its final decision was that I must present myself for an officers' course on October 22 in Fayid and start obligatory service of three years," he wrote on his blog last week. "I thought about this a lot and decided to refuse to serve in the Egyptian army, and accept the results, whatever they would be, even though I knew the results would be hard because I am the first young Egyptian to refuse to serve for pacifist reasons."

Sanad also explained his decision: "I am a pacifist, I am against bearing arms and participating in military and paramilitary organizations. Recruitment goes against my conscience. I don't want to act against my conscience, whatever the price. I also am not willing to be a pawn on the chessboard of an arms race, struggles and bloodbaths in the region. I don't want to point a weapon at a young Israeli, recruited into obligatory service, defending his state's right to exist. I think obligatory service is a form of slavery and I have worked for years for my freedom."

Egyptian soldiers (Archive photo: AP)

He claims the military establishment began a propaganda campaign against him. "They accused me of collaboration, of treachery, of working for foreign interests. In light of this campaign, I began fearing for my life if I were to serve in the army, especially in an organization that enjoys censorship, a non-neutral military judicial system etc. In my desire to preserve my life, even if I sit in jail for years, I prefer this to the adventure of being killed in the army."

Conscientious objection in Syria too

This is certainly unusual case of an unusual young man, and when one speaks with him his unusual thinking is also evident – certainly to Israeli ears.

"Though they haven't contacted me directly, they managed to get the message to me that I should sign up, but I decided against it," he said to Ynet. "I thought about it a lot and decided this because I am a pacifist and believe in peace."

Sanad says he is not a lone voice. "I lead a political movement called 'No to Obligatory Service.' Some 20 or 30 activists work on the ground but our Facebook group has some 3,000 members. And what's more, I was happy to learn that our ideas took wing in the Arab world, and a similar group with similar ideas has been set up in Syria. I am trying to spread the ideas as much as I can."

As the conversation progresses, it becomes clear that these are not the only strange ideas Sanad has. "I am pro-Israel," he says. "I don't want to take part in anti-Semitic operations or those that negate Israel's right to exist in the region. I see Israel as a liberal, modern state with a religious character. I have friends in Israel and I think Israelis have a right to defend themselves."

Operation Cast Lead: A 'normal' response (Photo: AP)

The young Egyptian doesn't even hesitate to say the Palestinians are to blame for the conflict with Israel. "If the Palestinians had a democratic leadership, everything would be solved," he says. "Take the war on Gaza for example (Operation Cast Lead) two years ago. Hamas started it. They refused to hold elections in Gaza and took control of the regime. They planned a dictatorial and fundamentalist regime. They refused to speak to Israel, fired rockets at it and caused it to defend itself."

He says the IDF response to the rockets was "normal" compared to any nation in the world. "I don't see what the difference is between that and Turkey's response against the Kurds in northern Iraq. It's exactly the same."

'They say I'm a spy'

When asked if he is afraid to express such views in public, he says, "I have been speaking like this for eight years already, and I have been arrested a few times for political reasons. It's not new. I am a serious supporter of peace, tolerance and mutual forgiveness."

He adds that he fears nothing. "I have lived all my life under risk and I'm used to it," he claims. "They are already saying in the Egyptian media that I'm a spy."

He explains his attitude to Israel thus: "From a young age I read a lot about the Israeli-Arab conflict. I understood the Arab media hid facts that support Israel. I tried to contact Israeli activists and started asking them questions, such as, 'Is it true that Israel is a militaristic state?' or, 'Is it true that Israel wants to expand and reach the Nile? That's how I learned. I understood a lot about the state, society and its laws. Many Arabs living in Israel told me how they are really treated and how much they prefer living in Israel above any Arab state. I also read about Israeli pacifist organizations."

Despite his love for Israel, he has not had a chance to visit because Egypt forbids his exit from the country. "I am forbidden from leaving for the next three years because of the military service I am supposed to do, and I imagine this prohibition will be extended," he says, but also notes that "the Israeli nation must know there are many Egyptians who support it, that we love Israel and support its right to exist. The picture painted by the media that all Egyptians hate Israel is false. This picture is not correct, and I want to make that clear to you."

Ynet News: US: Lincoln prof. calls for Israel's destruction

2010-10-24T05:02:00.000-07:00

History Professor Kaukab Siddique insists statement calling on Muslims to 'stand united to defeat, to destroy, to dismantle Israel – if possible by peaceful means,' was blown out of proportion. 'I am against Israel, not against Jews," he says

Ynet Published: 10.24.10, 09:27 / Israel News

Lincoln University History Professor Kaukab Siddique is in the eye of a new storm in the United States, after several statements he made calling for the destruction of Israel prompted US senators to urge an investigation in the matter.

Speaking at a recent Labor Day rally, Siddique said: "We must stand united to defeat, to destroy, to dismantle Israel – if possible by peaceful means... For the Jews, I would say, 'See what could happen to you if the Muslims wake up.' And I say to the Muslims, Dear brothers and sisters – unite and rise up against this hydra-headed monster which calls itself Zionism.'"

Siddique's statements followed several articles in which he questions the validity of the Holocaust and calling it "a hoax."

Originally from Pakistan, Siddique, 67, is a vocal critic of what he calls "Israel's record of human-rights abuses in the Palestinian territories." Nevertheless, he maintains that his Labor Day statements have been misunderstood.

'I don't believe in laying low'

The professor's remarks sparked outrage among pro-Israeli groups and as Lincoln University is a Pennsylvania State-sponsored school, State Senator Daylin Leach – and numerous other members of the State Assembly – have urged Lincoln president Ivory Nelson to ensure the professor's "anti-Semitic diatribes" had not made their way into the university's classrooms.

"We support academic freedom and certainly a professor has the right to criticize Israel, or any other entity or policy he wishes," they wrote. "However… the Holocaust is not a theory or opinion. It is historically documented fact, denied only by those with a hateful or anti-Semitic agenda."

A Lincoln statement said it had "not been made aware of any instance in which Siddique's views were taught in his classes or shared in any public forums on campus."

Siddique said Thursday that he stands by his statements and "would not back down from detractors out to threaten academic freedom," adding that he had the support of his faculty and students and that he would continue to speak his mind, despite pressure from those who have referred to him as an "anti-Semite."

"I got a little fired and said a few things that were pretty strong," said Siddique. "That doesn't mean I wouldn't say them again. I don't believe in laying low."

"When I refer critically to the 'Jews' I am referring to the current leadership of the 'state of Israel' and to their major supporters, not to the Jewish race as a whole," he said in an email to CBN News.

"Most of my readers and listeners understand this; if it was taken to mean otherwise, then I offer my apologies to those I have offended.

"I am not anti-Semitic. . . . I am certainly not hostile to, nor do I discriminate against the Jewish people because of their lineage," he maintained.

Yitzhak Benhorin, in Washington contributed to this report

Ynet News: Haitian kids to undergo surgery in Israel

2010-09-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

Stephanie Ann, Jean Francois and Jacqueline suffer from heart defects preventing them from performing physical exercise. Holon's Edith Wolfson hospital, where they will soon be operated on, gives them new hope

Meital Yasur-Beit Or Published: 09.21.10, 07:42 / Israel Activism

Twelve-year-old Stephanie Ann Elisabeth never attended a gym class or rode on a bicycle. A congenital heart defect makes it hard for her to perform any kind of physical activity. Now, she may be able to realize her dream of playing volleyball after undergoing surgery in the Edith Wolfson Medical Center in Holon.

Stephanie Ann, Jacqueline and Jean (Photo: Ofer Amram)

Stephanie Ann arrived in Israel from Haiti together with 2-year-old Jacqueline Santos and 3-year-old Jean Francois Drensky. All three came to Israel with their mothers in order to undergo heart surgeries for their various birth defects as part of a project organized by the Save a Child's Heart foundation.

The first Haitian boy to arrive in Israel was 6-year-old Woodley Elysee who came directly after the devastating earthquake that hit the Caribbean country. Since then, Woodley has been treated and returned to Haiti.

Woodley Elysee with member of the IDF mission to Haiti (Photo: Noam Barkan)

"Had we not operated on him he would have died soon after," Dr. Sion Houri, head of Pediatric ICU in Wolfson, said Thursday. Today Woodley is a healthy, full functioning little boy.

Kids and their mothers at Wolfson Hospital (Photo: Ofer Amram)

Meanwhile, Lydia, Stephanie Ann's mother still awaits her daughter's operation.

"All those years they told us it was impossible for her to exercise or ride a bike," she says. "Now, we're supposed to stay here for three months and we have high hopes." Stephanie Ann says shyly that she's a 7th grader in a Port-au-Prince high school, that she does not have many friends and that her dream is to play volleyball.

Lydia says that she heard little about Israel before coming. "We looked Israel up on the internet and I saw there were religious people wearing black here," she relates. "In Haiti people wear black when someone dies."

The family were very fortunate during the earthquake, the mother says. "No one was hurt and the house wasn't ruined either. My workplace was completely destroyed. I have a good friend who lost her husband and her leg. Haiti will never be the same. Many homes are still in rubbles," she says.

Jean Francois on his mother's lap (Photo: Ofer Amram)

Dr. Huri explains the importance of the procedures the three kids will undergo in Israel. "I hope we can operate on some of them next week and on the rest after Sukkot," he says. "Because of their heart defects they can't run or play any kind of sport. They're fine as long as they don't exert themselves.

"Their condition is dynamic and would have deteriorated had we not treated them," he said, adding that the children are in risk of developing neurological problems but that he hoped they would return to form within 90 days.

The Save a Child's Heart foundation was established 15 years ago and has since arranged surgeries in Israel for more than 2,400 kids, half of whom were Palestinians and the rest from third-world countries like Iraq, Morocco, Angola, Zanzibar and Romania.

The foundation receives funds from the European Union and Israel's Ministry of Regional Development and hopes to facilitate the operations of 250 children this year.

Kongsi Raya

2010-09-09T15:22:00.000-07:00

By: Manggis, 10-Sep-2010

Assalamualaikum

Shalom Aleichem

To the bloggers whoever you are, of whatever faith you are and to the faithless.

Today 9th September, the Jews are celebrating their Rosh Hashanah; therefore I would like to wish Happy New Year or Shana Tova Umetukah to the Jewish community all over the world including the few remaining Jews in Malaysia.

But tomorrow is the end of Ramadan 10th September, and I would like to greet the Muslims Eid Mubarak and may Allah accepted your fasting and give you barakah.

Being a multi-religious, multi-cultural country, Malaysians are used to sharing celebrations and festivals. This phenomenon is called Kongsi Raya. The word “kongsi”, is perhaps a Chinese word (D, please verify), which means “sharing”. Malaysians started to notice this many years ago when Hari Raya (the end of Ramadan celebration) was shared with the Chinese New Year. For the Chinese, the greeting is “Kong Si Fat Chai”, so in Malaysia we turned this term to become “Kongsi Raya” to signify the sharing of this Chinese New Year festival with Hari Raya.

Kongsi Raya is very rich and jovial festivals since the Malays and the Chinese will have their Big Makan (feast) almost at the same time. For both the Chinese and Malay communities, festivals means feast. It also means, visiting each other. For the Chinese the Big Feast is celebrated with their family on the eve of the festival followed by gambling sessions with family members and friends. Gambling in Chinese festival is almost a must. It’s significant and important to the Chinese culture because Chinese largely think, life is a gamble. To succeed, one needs a kind of gamble to take risk, to try new things and to explore the unknown. Gambling sessions is a practise to be bold to control one own destiny by chance.

While for the Muslims the feast is celebrated differently with their families after the Shalat (prayer) Eid-ul-Fitr, which will be mid-morning. But for Muslims, especially in Malaysia (not elsewhere, I think), prior to the feast is a special time, i.e. the time for the ritual of “forgiving and forgetting”. During this ritual, the younger family members will ask forgiveness from the elders, i.e. children to their parents etc... This is a special bonding event where the children will kiss the hands of the elders; this is the time when the elders will feel most appreciated, despite their children being distance, either physically or emotionally. They will recalled for any differences and ask for forgiveness, and make “halal” of whatever they (the younger ones) have taken either knowingly or unknowingly. This is the moment, when bad relationships are mended between relatives and friends. Our usual greetings to each other are:

Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir dan Batin, Halalkan Makan dan Minum.

“Maaf Zahir dan Batin” means, forgive me for all the wrongs that I have done outwardly or internally.

In the Muslim family household, this event of forgiving and forgetting is so special and sweet that no family members would wish to be alone during hari raya. They would almost feel like outcasts if they have no family homes to go to. Where ever they are, they would wish to come home to see their father and mother during this period. Since most elders live in the villages, big cities in Malaysia would be like ghost towns and empty during the festival, for the city dwellers would certainly return home to visit their elders. For those who really cannot go home, they will try to reach home, these days via telephone or other means of communications. For Malaysian Malays overseas, this moment will be celebrated by big gatherings. No one, really want to be alone during this period.

In addition, for the Muslims, this period is also celebrated by giving away alms and charity (sedekah). The compulsory alms (zakat fitrah), must be paid before the prayer Eid-ul-Fitr, the amount paid is equivalent to a day meal for yourself. Malaysia has numerous well organised alms collection centres throughout the country and will re-distribute the collection to the poor and needy. In addition, during this period, most people will perform their 4th Muslim ritual of giving alms (zakat) due to their wealth. This is a Muslim form of taxation. Remember, non-Muslim do not pay zakat. It is not obligatory for them to perform this. For all Malaysians (Mulsims and non-Muslims) they pay the normal income tax. In addition for Muslims, they must pay their obligatory alms. So Muslims pay double taxation. In order to adjust for this “slight injustice”, the Government allows, for Muslims to claim tax rebate for the alms paid.

Sometimes, I heard accusation that non-Muslims pay jizyah in the Muslim world, this is not true especially in Malaysia, Muslims pays double taxation. I pay double taxation. But I am a happy tax payer and am proud that I contribute to my community.

Many delicious cookies are made or purchased during hariraya; some are traditional while many are being created to suit the time and modernity. For example, many cookies these days are made from cornflakes, chocolates, nuts and other ingredients imported from the western cultures. Many people make a lot of money for making these cookies for sale “Hari raya cookies making “ is now a well-known, once a year business enterprise. My own favourite cookies are the pineapple tarts.

Eid-ul-Fitr is celebrated in a very grand (raya) way in Malaysia and that is why it is called hari raya. This is the day when you must wear your best cloth, usually new ones. In old days, only during hari raya that you get a change of clothing. So usually, my parents will give me two new clothes which will last me for the whole year. So of course this is also a flourishing business time for tailors and dress makers. As our economic position is improving a lot, it is not uncommon, for the tailoring business to accept orders one year in advance, i.e. as soon as hari raya ends, the tailor would receive new orders for the next year raya celebration.

For children, eid-ul- fitr is also magical and important. Apart from the celebration means they can play with fire crackers, it is also time for them to have as many cookies as possible. In addition, they will receive money. This is what children look forward to, since during hari raya, they will be able to collect some extra pocket money, from “duit raya”. During my childhood days of duit raya for the Malays ranges from 5 sen to one ringgit, if I am lucky. These days, it ranges from 20 sen to two ringgit typically. But of course, children will get more from their uncles, aunties or relatives.

Copying the tradition of the Chinese ang paw, also money given away for children during Chinese New Year, these days, duit raya is given in green packet, while ang paw is in red-packet. Come to think of it, the traditions of giving ang paw packet red or green and playing with fire crackers are non-Islamic. These are local cultures possibly from China infused into the Malay culture and adopted during the Muslims festival.

On the 7th night before the end of Ramadan, usually in the village, it is traditional for the Malays to lit up their compounds with light from little kerosine lamps. These nights are called “malam tujuh likur”. Again, I do not think, this is part of the Muslims tradition. I would like to think, this tradition to be the remnant of the Hindu tradition on their light festival (the Deepavali). Anyway, Malaysia is a melting pot, everything can, Malaysia Boleh.

One tradition which was invented during the last 10-20 years, as Malaysia become a modern country, is the “open house culture”. When city dwellers come back to their cities, they want to celebrate hari raya with their friends. Hence, they make an open house party where all friends and relatives are invited. It is open house, which means, friends of friends of friends are all welcome. By right, you do not need an invitation to come to any of this sort of party. Gate-crashers are welcomed. Important people, like Kings, Sultans and Politicians have their open houses on the first or second day of hariraya. In some cases, for example Tun Mahathir’s open house, received as many as 30,000 people in one day. Tun and his family shake hands with each and every one of these 30,000 people! And to each one, he will greet “Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir dan Batin”.

In Malaysia, (unlike in other Muslim countries), hari raya is celebrated in a very grand way; it almost lasted one whole month of Shawal!

The other nice feature of hari raya, because Muslim calendar is based on lunar cycle, the Muslim year is short by 10 days. This makes hariraya, shifted by 10 days every year. Hence, Kongsi Raya is now an event shared between other faiths that have their festival based on lunar/solar cycle. A few years ago, Kongsi Raya was with the Chinese New Year, i.e. when hariraya was in February or January. Then Kongsi Raya happened during Christmas (December), after that Deepavali (November), this year Kongsi Raya is with the Jewish Rosh Hashanah (October). Unfortunately, this Jewish celebration is almost unknown to me. I wish Hanan can tell us a bit more of this festival. Of course, I can read about it in Wikipedia, but surely the celebration will have its own local flavour. I wonder how the Israelis celebrate this festival in Israel.

I wonder also how, the Palestinians celebrated the end of Ramadan. In Gaza, they must have celebrated this celebration modestly. My heart feels for them. I wish both the Israelis and their Palestinian cousins have this culture of “forgiving and forgetting’. I wish they will take advantage of both the festivities (Eid-ul-Fitr) and Rosh Hashanah, to shake hands, to forgive and to forget the past. I wish they reconcile with each other and they determine to start afresh and new. May you Israelis and Palestinians ”kongsi“ the land together. No more fighting and no more killing.

I wish for peace in the Middle East. May Allah grant peace and friendship for these two groups of people.

Wassalam.

Ynet News: Palestinian organ donation saves 3 people

2010-09-08T00:28:00.000-07:00

Father of 3-year-old killed in mishap: Happy to see him alive in others, whether Jewish or Arab

Dr. Itay Gal Published: 09.06.10, 19:29 / Israel News

Three people have been granted the opportunity for a new life, after the family of a Palestinian child who died in a mishap donated his liver and lungs.

Palestinian child saves three other people – Abdul Hai Salhut

The transplants recipients are all in stable condition and are currently recovering at hospital.

The tragic incident took place about 10 days ago, when three-and-a-half-year-old Abdul Hai Salhut of east Jerusalem's Jabel Mukaber fell and sustained grave injuries near his home. His family drove him to a local hospital, and from there he was taken to Jerusalem's Hadassah Ein Karem medical center.

The child was taken directly into surgery where doctors struggled to save his life. He was hospitalized for a week but his condition continued to deteriorate; he passed away this past Thursday. However, despite the tragedy, his parents approved an organ donation.

Dr. Ran Steinberg with liver recipient (Photo: Schneider Hospital)

The donation saved three people, including a five-year-old boy who required an urgent liver transplant. The child is currently hospitalized at the intensive care unit at Schneider Children's Medical Center in stable condition.

Meanwhile, a lung was transplanted in a seven-and-a-half year old girl suffering from an inborn lung disease. Another lung was transplanted in a 55-year-old man after it was found unsuitable for any other children.

"My son reached a state where it was impossible to save him," Moussa Salhut, the dead boy's father, told Ynet. "We're happy to see him alive in other people, regardless of whether they are Arab or Jewish. It doesn't make a difference when you save life. In the shadow of our difficult loss, we are touched to have saved lives."

Ynet News: Jewish filmmaker tells Palestinian story

2010-09-06T00:50:00.000-07:00

Viewing four decades of Palestinian history through Palestinian eyes in 'Miral,' Julian Schnabel says 'because I'm an American Jews it’s a big part of my life'

AFP Published: 09.06.10, 07:35 / Israel Culture

Julian Schnabel, an American Jew born three years after the creation of Israel, views four decades of Palestinian history through Palestinian eyes in "Miral," which screened Thursday at the Venice film festival.

Julian Schnabel. Touched by novel

"Obviously it's a Palestinian story, but it's very important that an American Jewish person tell a Palestinian story," Schnabel, 58, said on a stop in Paris en route to Venice for the screening.

The film is based on an autobiographical novel of the same name by Palestinian journalist Rula Jebreal, a book the director said provided a "pretext" for approaching a conflict that most of Western cinema usually keeps at arm's length.

Like Jebreal, Miral grew up in an orphanage in east Jerusalem set up by a Jerusalem socialite from a wealthy Palestinian family, who one morning in 1948 came across a group of children who escaped the massacre of Dir Yassin, a nearby village, committed by radical Jewish militants.

Adapted in collaboration with the author, Schnabel's film traces the lives of these two women from the establishment of the orphanage until the Oslo peace accords of 1993, a moment of great hopes later to be dashed.

"The whole point is because I'm an American Jew, and that's why it touched me because it's a big part of my life," Schnabel said.

"It's important for Muslims to hear that, it's important for Jewish people to hear that, and for Israel and for people everywhere," said Schnabel, whose "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" won the award for best director at Cannes in 2007 as well as several Oscar nominations.

"When I was a child, Israel was like a supreme point to my mother... The success of Israel was something very important to her and very important to me," he said.

"So in order to continue that and to achieve that we have to understand the Palestinian people and people that are in the middle."

'Israeli-Palestinian conflict like a marriage'

A native New Yorker who is also a neo-expressionist artist famous for his oversized ceramic "plate paintings", Schnabel admits he "didn't know much about the Palestinians" when he set out to make his fifth film.

Jebreal's book was "a perfect way to get into this," he said.

Schnabel recruited Indian actress Freida Pinto, who played Latika in "Slumdog Millionnaire," for the role of Miral and Hiam Abass of Israel ("The Syrian Bride," "Lemon Tree") for the elegant orphanage director Hind Husseini in the French-Israeli-Italian-Indian production.

'Miral.' Pretext for approaching a conflict Book cover

For authenticity - and perfect light - Schnabel shot in Israel and the West Bank despite especially tense circumstances.

"The incursion into Gaza took place just three days before we arrived in Jerusalem and I was looking for a location in east Jerusalem," he said.

"I wanted to shoot in the Husseini house but I couldn't really have people with walkie-talkies looking like the army and speaking Hebrew inside this house," he said.

"But they trusted me, and the Israeli people in my crew were very respectful and they spoke English when they were working on the location," Schnabel said.

Of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said it was like a marriage: "These people live in the same house and ultimately they have to survive together. If you're married to somebody, sometimes you have to give up some parts of yourself in order to get something that might be greater than what you had when you were alone."

Schnabel says he still harbors hope for a resumption of direct peace talks, and dedicates the film to "people on both sides who still believe that peace is possible."

The Little Girl from China

2010-08-21T01:37:00.000-07:00

Preface

Last May (2010) I have visited China in a tour. The trip included many places and counties during 21 wonderful days. China is a great place (territorial) and a place of great people. I was very impressed by the many faces of the Chinese people as well of the site views which are very unique. I was touched by the Chinese kids which looked to me so nice and beautiful. I saw kids from rich families, mid class families and poor families. The most touching portraits were from the poor kids who are living in the villages. When I say "poor" I don't mean that they are living in total poverty, but just to compare to those kids of the higher class kids (mainly towns).

The kids in the towns are playing with modern toys while the village kids are playing with simple toys and outside in their neighborhood yards.

I was lucky to shot over 3000 photos during my visit to China. Just imagine how much time it takes to digest all photos. What is amazing is the fact when I shot the photo I had no time to think deeply about what I really shot. There is very little time to think about the meaning of every photo shot since the tour must go on. I had a feeling that some of my photos are very artistic and expresses a deeper meaning than just a photo. But that deep interpretation of the photos can be done only after returning home and digesting the whole visit.

I sent a few photos of a little girl from China (Goizhou county) to a dear friend "Manggis" and asked what can be interpreted of those photos. After a day or two I received a very touching reaction from Manggis". I got the approval from "Manggis" to post the article.

Before moving to Manggis writing I would like to share with you a few photos of that little girl. At the end of this posting I'm sharing with you some other photos of other Chinese kids.

The Little Girl from China (photo: Hanan Leshnovolsky)

(photo: Hanan Leshnovolsky)

The girl's parents. Her mother is medically dissabled and her father works hard using a buffalo in the field (photo: Hanan Leshnovolsky)

_____________________________________________________________________

The Little Girl from China

By: Manggis, August-21-2010

Thank you for sending me this lovely picture. It is indeed an inspiring gaze and full of meaning that compelled me (or anyone) to guess what is that she was thinking.

No, I do not have a picture of myself at this age, if you suspect that I may look like her at the same age. One of my daughters does indeed resemble her. The only picture in my possession was when I was a baby, a happy baby sitting on the pushed chair. But according to my mother, this was the one and only time I was laughing when placed in the pushed chair, and for this they managed to take one precious snap shot. At other times, I refused the push chair completely.

Other than that, I do not posses any other picture before the age of 7, i.e. when school began. At the age of 7, there was a picture of me with my class taken at the end of the year, and subsequently, almost every year thereafter, there will be at least one picture of me from the school collection.

I do not know the exact reason why photographs were lacking in my household; perhaps my parents were poor and did not have any camera or maybe they just did not to preserve any childhood memory of their children, being uneducated and too busy with their daily chores. Although, relatively speaking I had a deprived childhood, i.e. compare to children these days, but Alhamdullilah, I was never hungry, unlike those children from the war zones like Palestine and Iraq that we frequently saw in the news. Above all, there was peace in my country, I never face war in my lifetime and hope peace and stability continue.

I was never hungry and there was always food on the table. But I have to get involved with the family business from the time I can remember in my childhood days. Before breakfast, I must sweep the floor of the external corridor, watered the plants and sometimes fed the farm animals. Then, there was always, time to help grandmother’s business, from cleaning the duck eggs for her telor pindang (a special curry flavoured eggs, similar to Chinese herbal eggs cooked for 3 days), to peeling off the skin of onions, garlic, or prawns skin (all in kilograms), or simply weighing and packing the end products of this little family run cottage industry. The products ranged from dodol, lempuk, koleh kacang.... and sometimes traditional freshly grounded curry mixture (home made). My family has always been involved business venture; none of my family members (at that time) was taking salaries. Somehow, I do not regret this harsh childhood environment.

According to the western value, they may have used me as a child labour but I learned enormously from those experiences. I have to clean the eggs 3 times, first with soapy water to clean off the dung remains, then twice with clean water, and then check one by one against a light bulb searching for rotten eggs, which must be removed otherwise this would spoil the whole stock of some 300 eggs each time my grandmother prepared, out of her monthly output of over 1000 eggs. My illiterate grandmother never had lesson in quality control but she was very prodigious about cleanliness and quality. She always delivered the best products to her long list of customers that span around an area of over 10km from our house; she paddled to their houses almost every day. Sometimes I followed her and knew she actually allowed her customers to pay later with no interest.

In her dodol production (dodolis a special traditional cake made from glutinous rice, coconut milk and coconut sugar), the best in town, often I helped to grate the coconut using special grater, in those days this is how you get coconut milk. Although, not involved in making it directly, since it was made in a big wok (or cauldron) of more than one metre in diameter; it was a tough job even for man because the dodol is very viscous to manipulate. I had tried to stir dodol mixture; I could not even move the stirring rod more than half an inch. At this point, my grandfather would chased me away so as not to disturb him else I would spoil the whole batch of dodol and also it might be dangerous for me since, the stirring rod was as tall as I was at that time.

Instead I helped in the dodol packing production line. After the dodol was prepared, it will be set in a big oval pan for a few days, before it is ready to be cut, weighed and wrapped. All these were my task performed together with my grandmother. Of course, I help her with the weighing scale, since she did not really know how to operate and zero the scale from time to time. Of course, apart from I like being close to my grandmother, this early training has made me very sensitive to numbers, weight and measures; all of which are useful in my later profession.

Being in a deprived environment is not necessarily bad, especially when endowed with good values from parents, grandparents, uncles, aunties, brothers and sisters in a large extended family. Even though, most of them are illiterate, uneducated or less educated, they were mostly very kind, generous, honest and good-hearted. As I attended my daily chores, I learnt and absorbed those values from them and am ever so thankful. My sensitivity and compassion toward the plight of the Palestinian people must have come from this sort of nurturing environment full of compassion and ehsan. I can feel their pain; I can feel them anxious when the bomb being dropped or when their houses being demolished. I cannot imagine if my house being gunned and ramped down and what more, if I am only a little girl amidst the violence, which I do not understand. I do not know the politics behind the violence; which sides is right and which side is wrong, all I can see and feel is the violence, the bloody violence.

I never see a war in my whole life, not even seen a live protest or demonstration. The closest I get to see a soldier when I was a child were those marine/armies from the Naval Base in Singapore. At that time, it was just after the war and we still had British/European armies around very much like in Iraq now. I felt intimidated when trucks full of these armies passed by my village that I ran home to my grandmother telling her about the white men (orang putih) and their guns. These were peace time armies unlike those IDFs that guard the checkpoints or the borders who must have been or appear to be more fierce and ferocious to a little child like me, I would definitely shudder and cry or even faint for my inner self is very fragile (lemah semangat). I just cannot imagine how to face a soldier with guns, bombs and sophisticated killing machine. Even at my age now, an army dressed in full uniform with his riffle or machine gun pointing to the sky looked formidable to me, when I saw him at the Singapore Tuas checkpoint recently.

I recalled taking a limousine taxi service to Heathrow airport several years ago; when the limousine driver told me he used to work in Singapore Naval Base for the British force. He was holding a high ranking position and recalled the good time he had in a big house on top of a hill with several household maids, gardener and a driver and his eventual good fortune for being able to travel around the world on boat cruise. During the ride, we chatted happily recalling various memorable places and spots and local interests since apparently his house was not too far away from mine, but silently, I wondered if he was one of those armies who used to frighten me before. But of course, I was not afraid of him then since our situations were very different.

At school, I work hard because I know this was the only way to improve myself and my family. My family did not expect much from me, since they themselves do not know anything else other than their food business. My mother can only see me becoming a teacher at most or else join the family food business. Doctors, engineers, lawyers, pilots etc... , are professions totally unheard and unknown to our family. I never dreamt to become any of these professions. But my parents told me to study hard and do not become like them, in their simple language. Because of their illiteracy, I usually helped them to read letters, especially official letters, or filling in form, or help them to negotiate with many official processes. All these, helped me to develop my leadership skills and self-confident when faced with the outside world.

Compare to my experience, a Palestinian child’s, must be different. If they only live in violence, hatred and instability, who do you expect of them to become when they grew up. I cannot imagine the tragedy in Palestine have been prolonged for nearly 4 generations. The enormous frustration, anger, hatred all culminate to the aggressive action they are now forced to take. How come the cleverest people on earth, cannot solve this simple human relationship problem? Or do they not want to solve this problem for some other hidden reason. This point is always playing on my mind.

Back to the girl from china that inspires me to write this short note, I guess her story is not different from mine. She probably comes from a remote village in China with some deprivation, but may be not to the extent I experienced, since I guess she must be a dotting and only one child in her family. But being a girl may be a disadvantage to her, since Chinese usually prefers a male off-spring. It is known that Chinese give away their female off-springs. If she is one of these unfortunate ones, could it be her intense gaze represents a sense of longing in search of her real family. Your guess is as good as mine. But nevertheless, her gaze touches anyone heart. It is also unthinkable in the present time, that her family does not have a camera to take her picture. But just in case, this is the case, then wouldn’t it be a tragedy, this single beautiful shot is kept away from her possession. I beg you to find ways and means to send this picture to her. If she is like me, she will definitely appreciate your kind gesture. Some Chinese people who read this blog may help you to find ways to contact her. I hope you give reference to the location or village of her dwelling, to narrow down the search.

Somehow, Chinese culture that suppresses women is not highlighted compare to that in Islam. Not many know about Chinese girls who were given away, but this was a common phenomenon in my country during the depression after the war, that you can see many Malay girls were actually born Chinese. No human right movement protests the abortion of female fetus in China presently that leads to its lopsided gender distribution (1.14 male: female) in favour of male of more than 10% compare to that for the rest of the world (1.05 male:female) according to the CIA factbook. In the very old and traditional Chinese culture, a girl is not wanted and considered to be a burden to the family. They are not part of the family since they do not carry the family name after being given away for marriage. Actually, most old world cultures including European’s, disfavoured females and consider females to be a liability that when she get married, a dowry was paid to the man as a form a compensation. This is still practised widely in India even now. India is another country that show uncommon ratio of 1.12male/female. In these two big population countries, below the age of 15, there was more girls’ mortality suggesting a further oppression of baby girls. In other parts of the world (Thailand and Mexico for examples) female oppression takes a different form, in the worst case these young girls are forced to prostitution to earn themselves a living for themselves and for those who look after them. Female infanticide was known in the Arab culture, but Islamic teaching suppressed this horrible practice since 1500 years ago. Only in Islam, a girl receives a dowry when she gets married. A dowry in Islam is a token; it can be as little as the man (husband) teaching one verse of the Al-Quran to the girl, or it can be any material amount affordable to the man. Likewise the Jewish culture also honours their females. Evidently from CIA factbook, the Israeli gender distribution ratio is normal and healthy. This is indeed praiseworthy and exemplary.

Could it be that the gazing eyes (of this mystery girl from China) which you had captured and photographed symbolizes a silent sadness of female oppression the world never discussed.

Actually, I experience a similar story when I was a teenager. It was on a hot afternoon when I was waiting for a bus next to a rubbish dump, a car passed me and stopped. A European man and woman (probably his wife) came down to ask permission to take my picture. I allowed them and since I knew how to speak English by that time, I asked them where they were from. They told me they were from Germany. Likewise, I hope any German who reads this will help me track that old unique photograph (a girl with her umbrella by the rubbish dump) nearly 40 years ago!

I dedicate this writing to the mystery girl from china and all the Palestinian children. I openly ask the Israeli government to restore peace and stability in this region for the sake of these children and their future. May be this is what that sort gaze means, a plea from the unwanted half of humanity.

Ynet News: I Shall Not Hate

2010-08-17T13:46:00.000-07:00

Palestinian doctor who lost three daughters in Gaza war writes of hope, faith in humanity despite pain

Ali Waked Published: 08.17.10, 16:02 / Israel News

Mourning through writing. "The wound and the pain have not disappeared, but suffering is part of the process of forgiveness. Not forgiveness for Israelis, but first and foremost for myself, in order to shake off the hatred and the rage and hope for a better path," Dr. Izeldeen Abuelaish told Ynet.

Dr. Abuelaish lost his three daughters in an IDF shelling during Operation Cast Lead and recently published a book, "I Shall Not Hate."

In the book, Abuelaish shares his life story and the worldview of someone who remains, after and despite it all, a peace seeker.

Still believes in hope, humanity (Photo: Roee Gazit)

"What pushed me to write is faith in God and intellect. Everything that happens was and is written by God. My faith as a Muslim that 'everything is from above' helped me overcome the hardships and emotional scars."

The idea to write came to him before the tragedy. He wanted to write a memoir about being a Palestinian doctor working in Israel, where he saved lives. According to Abuelaish, faith is a positive thing, and not only in the most difficult times. "Faith is something very strong. Even if a person believes in a rock, in anything," he said.

The Gaza doctor, who worked in Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv, says his work as a doctor helped him with the writing process: "Being a doctor is a job that is all about hope. How you help a patient, improve his condition, save his life, and even how you draw conclusions from treatment that didn't succeed so that next time the treatment won't end with death – all of this helped me in writing the book."

Abuelaish said that his goal in writing the book is to shout, "In life, don't count on things that can change. Power can change. Today, you are strong like Israel, tomorrow you are weak. Rely only on what is basic and permanent. In other words, the humanity in all of us. The tolerance, the capacity for forgiveness and the desire for a better life," he said.

'Violence is manmade'

At this time, Dr. Abuelaish lives in Canada, where he first published his book. Since being published about three months ago, the book is among the best-sellers in the country, reaching the top of the list for a few weeks.

"The responses to the book are unending and are very positive, good and inspiring. Thank God, the book is going well and is helping to expose the Palestinian distress to the world, and particularly that the use of weapons and force cannot bring security or solve problems in the long term," he said. "Force can only help one side and for a limited amount of time. Thus, we must think of other ways of coping."

When Dr. Abuelaish speaks of Palestinian suffering, he mainly means the distress of Gaza's residents. Being the peace advocate that he is, Abuelaish warns against the situation in the Gaza Strip and its consequences.

"I have never seen Gaza in such state. A million and a half people in an intolerable situation, without hope, as no one in the world even looks in their direction. The Gazans are pushed into difficult situations, so no one should come to them afterwards with gripes of why they did things one way and not another. Whoever complains should come first and ask himself what he did to change the situation," he says.

A prominent theme in the book is change. "Many people, including those in my close circle, wondered how I could write these things after what I had been through. They asked about the meaning of the conciliatory tone. I tell them that the wound and the pain still exist. The feeling that you are angry and going to explode still exists, but I say that we must take action to change things and not base ourselves on rage and despair."

"We are in a tense region, but tension and violence is manmade, and not an act of God," the doctor says. "They are not a tsunami or a flood that cannot be changed, but things that can be confronted if we believe that nothing is impossible."

Ynet News: Soccer camp makes peace look feasible

2010-08-15T22:44:00.000-07:00

Kids from Jenin meet Jewish, Arab-Israeli children for week of summer camp and tough questions

Boaz Fyler Published: 08.12.10, 08:19 / Israel Activism

In the spirit of the recently concluded Soccer World Cup, 80 Palestinian, Arab-Israeli, and Jewish children graduated from a summer camp recently in which they learned coexistence through the popular sport.

The camp was part of a year-long program called Barkai-Jenin, held by the Maccabim Association. The children in the program, 40 of whom reside in Jenin and 40 of whom reside in Kibbutz Barkai, meet once every two months to share conversations and games. In honor of the World Cup a week-long soccer camp was held.

Kids take a break on the field (Photo: Roee Gazit)

As part of the program, many of the Jenin children visited the seashore for the first time in their lives, when counselors took them to a Caesarea beach. While attending the camp they slept at the Jewish children's homes – another first.

Haytam Ayish, who runs the Modern Language Center of Jenin, recounted some of their experiences. "One of the children, who was a guest at his Jewish friend's house, slept in his sister's room, a soldier who remained at the base for the weekend," he said.

"When she called home to wish her family Shabbat Shalom, it was a little strange for her to hear that while she was in Gaza, a boy from Jenin was sleeping in her bed."

'Kids still have mental flexibility'

Ibrahim Abu-Mokh, who serves as a camp counselor, said the children had to struggle at first to find a common language. "Soccer is a universal language," he said. "At first they spoke in signs, or one would score a goal and another would call his name and say, 'Kifak'. That's how friendships started."

As time went on, the children learned to accept each other, he said, recounting a story about a Jewish boy who thought at first that one of the Palestinian children had an explosive device under his shirt. On another occasion, a Palestinian boy wanted his Jewish friends to promise none of them would join the IDF and shoot him.

Eventually the children learned how to deal with their fears, and became friends, the counselors say. Now they keep in touch through e-mails and Facebook.

Ori Winitzer, who founded the Soccer for Peace organization that funds the camp, says it prompted the idea for a year-long program. Winitzer, a New Yorker whose family left Israel when he was a young child, says he had become frustrated by the situation in the country.

"I wanted to do something optimistic and hopeful," he says. "We chose children because they haven't yet undergone a process of incitement, and still retain mental flexibility. Soccer contains more than language, or an allegory for peace. Soccer is the way these children actually make peace – peace that overflows from the field into their personal lives."

On one of the sunny camp days, the children watched a documentary on the life of peace activist Ismail Khatib. His son, 12-year old Ahmed, was killed by IDF troops who thought he was a terrorist because he was playing with a toy gun.

Khatib decided to donate his son's organs to six Israeli children. "As a man who lost his son, I know that the only way to protect our children is to make peace," he said.

We need to walk hand in hand, Jews, Muslims, Bedouin, and Christians, to do something for life, for the children, and to stay away from war and destruction."

Ynet News: 'Non-citizens' treated poorly in Arab countries

2010-08-11T04:29:00.000-07:00

Problem of foreign migrants' status far more severe in Arab states than in Israel, but much less publicized. Arab families where one parent is a foreigner speak to Ynet about hardships, discrimination

Roee Nahmias Published: 08.11.10, 12:52 / Israel News

The status of migrant workers and their children is a problematic issue not only in Israel, but in neighboring Arab countries as well.

In at least eight Arab countries, particularly in the Persian Gulf but in Syria too, when a citizen weds a foreign man, their children are not considered citizens and do not have the right to own property. In some of these countries, these children cannot even inherit their mothers' estate, in accordance with a law that forbids foreigners from owning property or real estate.

Looking for a loophole (archives) Photo: AP

Suhaila el-Awaji, a businesswoman in Bahrain, married a German man and gave birth to four children. Under local law, she has to apply for stay permits for her children every two years. In addition, her children will not be able to inherit her estate when she passes away.

The "foreign" children also need special permits to travel abroad. Their stay permits expire at the age of 18, but el-Awaji plans to give her eldest son a job in one of her companies once he reaches that age in order to take advantage of a loophole in the law, which grants stay permits to adult workers.

But el-Awaji is considered lucky. Many families facing the same predicament do not have the same options. The Abed el-Aziz family is just one example. Forty-five years ago the head of the family, a Saudi man, married a woman from Bahrain. Yet despite living in Bahrain for many years, he has yet to obtain citizenship. The couple's children are not considered citizens either.

'Ticking bomb'

The problem is even more severe in the United Arab Emirates. "A local woman cannot marry a foreigner. If she does she is punished, forbidden to work or study and is not entitled to medical insurance. She cannot even travel abroad," according to a man who immigrated to the UAE from an Arab country and lives there with a local woman.

"This is a widespread phenomenon that affects some 50,000 women, but the issue rarely makes headlines because protests against it are banned," he tells Ynet. "Many local women married Palestinians from east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, and if they (men) obtain citizenship they will no longer care about the whole Palestinian, Fatah and Hamas issue.

"The local authorities simply do not want local women to marry foreigners, and they have deported a large number of Palestinians. It is forbidden to discuss the issue. There is a kind of 'censorship'," he says.

The status of foreigners residing in Saudi Arabia is not better. An Iraqi man who immigrated to the country without proper documentation married a local woman, who gave birth to their child in 2005. Shortly after the child's birth, the man traveled to Iraq, but was unable to return to Saudi Arabia because he had been placed on a "black list" of those who entered the kingdom illegally.

Due to her husband's status, the mother could not register her son as a Saudi citizen. Furthermore, Saudi authorities ordered to expel the child from the kingdom within 20 days. The mother pleaded with the authorities and managed to extend the baby's stay permit by 18 months.

"This law is neither Arabic nor Islamic," the 26-year-old mother says. "How is it possible that my brother, who is married to a foreign woman who is not even Muslim, has all of the rights while I have none. And why do they want to deport my baby to a war-torn country as though he were a terrorist or a criminal."

The Al-Arabiya television network recently reported that several hundred people who have been denied citizenship in the UAE have asked to obtain citizenship in New Zealand. Some of them have been granted citizenship status, the report said.

Bader el-Nassim proudly shows off his New Zealand passport. "(While in the UAE) I obtained a fake passport and traveled to a neighboring country. From there I flew to New Zealand through Hong Kong. As soon as I landed I turned to the authorities, and, with the help of an interpreter, told them I was a 'non-citizen' and was carrying a fake passport. I was shocked that they didn’t beat me up.

"After just two weeks I was granted permanent residency status and began working for a Palestinian merchant. Later on I opened my own business and married a young Muslim woman who is a citizen of New Zealand. I became a citizen less than three years later," he recalls.

However, many "non-citizens" want to remain in Arab countries. A month-and-a-half ago a columnist for a newspaper in Bahrain suggested sending a petition with a million signatures to the next Arab summit. The Saudi parliament debates the 'non-citizens' issue every now and then, and articles tackling the problem occasionally appear in the UAE press. Activists have also opened Facebook groups supporting reform, but the status of "non citizens" remains problematic, and is considered by many a 'ticking bomb' within Arab society.

Ynet News: United by hate for Israel

2010-08-08T03:03:00.000-07:00

Op-ed: Effort to catalogue our enemies needles; they all share anti-Semitic desire to expel us

Hagai Segal Published: 08.06.10, 14:58 / Israel Opinion

An old routine prompts us, after every hostile act at any hostile front, to invest great efforts in resolving the question of responsibility for the attack: Who did it this time?

The smoke was still billowing Monday morning at the bleeding rocket landing sites in the Gulf of Eilat when radio announcers ruled – based on God-knows-what – that the attacks were the work of Global Jihad, rather than some bored Bedouin in the Sinai or the Gaza-based Hamas.

Searching for the rocket that fell in Eilat Photo: Yair Sagi, Yedioth Ahronoth

A day later the fire resumed in the north, prompting our defense establishment to immediately point an accusing finger at some newly appointed division commander in the Lebanese army and explain to us that Nasrallah is currently preoccupied with the findings of the Hariri assassination report and has no time for trivialities.

Clearing trees on the Lebanese border Photo: AFP

Simultaneously, we saw the emergence of a fascinating debate on the question of whether Hezbollah is slyly penetrating the Lebanese army, or whether the Lebanese army is growing more radical all by itself.

Meanwhile, the ongoing Qassam attacks targeting the western Negev repeatedly reignite a similar discussion: Was it a Hamas or Islamic Jihad missile? Was it the work of the global al-Qaeda or local terror cells?

Same clenched fist

We are eager to convince ourselves that there is some kind of order and logic in the regional abuse we suffer; we aspire to draft an accurate map of threats, while repressing the rather homogenous makeup of Israel hate in the Middle East.

Yet this is ridiculous. From a military standpoint, it may be important to know exactly who fires at us each time and where he lives. However, in terms of the essence of the issue we can spare ourselves the effort.

The despicable people who bombed Eilat and the archenemies who killed the battalion commander on the northern border are merely different fingers in the same clenched fist. All of them hate us equally.

As result of propaganda constraints, they adopt different pretexts for their attacks, yet the overwhelming majority among them are driven by an anti-Semitic desire to permanently expel us from our country. They don’t want us in Eilat, or in a northern border community, or in Ashkelon, or in Gush Etzion.

The time has come to accord all of them the same treatment, in order to minimize the chances of them ever celebrating our defeat in a jointly organized party.

Ynet News: Syrian bride celebrates honeymoon in Tel Aviv

2010-07-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

Dutch Jew Matthew Lusia and his bride Zalga Kass Hanna, who immigrated to Holland from Syria, forced to cut ties with their families in order to be together. Now they enjoy time in Holy Land, plan to visit Sderot

Boaz Fyler Published: 07.14.10, 19:10 / Israel News

Despite having spent their honeymoon in Israel since last week, no one has noticed Zalga Kass Hanna and her new husband Matthew Lusia roaming the streets of Tel Aviv. Indeed, there doesn't seem to be any apparent reason distinguishing them from the crowd. "Everyone here really looks like us. They think we're Israeli, which is funny and very nice," Zalga said. "The people here are all so nice to me, even when they realize that I'm Syrian," she told Ynet and related her unusual life story.

For most of her childhood, Israel was for Zalga, 23, no more than a distant enemy state. She was born in the town of Kamishli in northern Syria, near the Iraqi-Turkish tri-border area. "Every morning we would have to sing and salute to Assad's picture. Israel wasn't even mentioned on the maps in our schools and was constantly referred to as 'the enemy'," Zalga noted, "If one would have asked me about Israel, I wouldn't have been even able to tell you where it was located. I never heard of the Nazis or World War II when I was there (in Syria)."

Things changed for Zalga when her family left Syria and immigrated to Holland when she was 11-years-old. "When I got there, I told the Dutch girls they should be happy in their school, since during my studies in Syria I felt locked inside a prison. It was hard for them to understand what I was talking about."

Zalga in the Tel Aviv beach. 'Everyone is nice to me here'

After a brief adjustment period and well into her teenage years Zalga began to notice the differences between local Dutch girls and immigrants from Islamic states. "I had many Turkish and Syrian girlfriends and I suddenly noticed all the efforts they were making in order to conceal their sexuality as a moral disguise. It all happened because they had no positive example from home and were not given the proper tools to openly and healthily channel it out. That is why they would 'run wild' in a destructive way behind their parents' backs, much more so than any Dutch friends I had, but they always wound up marrying whomever their parents liked and chose for them."

Zalga criticized her friends but got a painful reminder of life in Syria. "Those friends told my father what I had told them. He said I must stop thinking 'freely' and threatened to 'spill blood' if I didn't listen to him and break my legs so I wouldn't go to university.

"My father was the person who provided me with the final confirmation that the culture I came from was based on false honor. It hurt me because it served as proof that honor, particularly opposite one's neighbors, was more important to them than their love for me. That is the point I lost respect for my parents. I think that whoever comes to a Western country should abide by its rules and not by the old rules, otherwise one can immigrate to another Arab state.

"That's why I always say: Don't cry when Muhammad is being insulted in caricatures and don't belittle your wives. Fortunately, that's when Matthew came and saved me. That is when I started realizing how little I knew of the world."

Secret relationship

Zalga met Matthew at the age of 15 in high school. After realizing the rules of the game at home she decided to keep the relationship a secret, but not for long. "Everything was a secret since my parents would not under any circumstance allow me to have a boyfriend. After a year, various people who saw us together told them and I was ordered to break it off with him immediately."

In order to avoid a conflict Zalga said she would end the relationship but continued to meet Matthew in secret. "After a year I told them how much I loved him and what a good friend he was to me."

Naturally, the confession didn't go over well with her parents and Zalga realized she would at some point have to choose between her family and the relationship with Matthew and her new lifestyle.

"They tried to separate us and banned me from seeing him, claiming I was too young to understand. The fact that he was from a different culture was a major problem. At the age of 18 I rented out a room alone and became independent. They still, however refused to accept him. At the end, that was what caused me to cut ties with my family," she said.

Zalga nevertheless tried to prove her parents wrong and for a year after moving out of their home had a hard time coming to terms with losing contact with her family. "Only after that did I realize that my parents never really wanted me to be happy with my chosen man, because family honor was at the top of their priorities. Still, I kept trying to prove them wrong and get them to accept me. I was a top law student and they didn't budge. It was clear to me that the real reason for their objection, though they never admitted it, was Matthew's Jewish and Western culture."

Zalga didn't receive a warm welcome in Matthew's parents' house either. "Matthew's parents were very nice to me in the beginning, but after they realized that my family didn't accept him, they began to oppose the relationship themselves and think that it was a bad idea due to the nature of the society I came from.

"Eventually Matthew was faced with the same dilemma I had faced. He, too, cut contacts with his family and although it isn't easy for us both we want to start a new, better family together. In the meantime, we're raising a dog and a goldfish," she said with a smile.

'I fit in here'

Earlier in the month, the two tied to knot and became husband and wife. Immediately after their wedding, they came to Israel, their second visit in the country within a year. "What's particularly great for me here is that I look like Israelis and fit right in.

"It's a free country with human rights, equality for women - a Western culture within the Middle East. To me it's like a dream. I wish the women in Syria could walk down the street uninterrupted the way they do here, but sadly I'm afraid this will never happen. This is all topped by the great food you have here, tons of falafels, hummus and pizzas."

The couple is scheduled to visit Haifa and Jerusalem during their visit in Israel, as well as a less obvious site – Sderot. "We plan on visiting Sderot to see how the people live there in the shadow of terror attacks and rockets," Zalga said. She nevertheless noted that there are areas she would not like to visit, which remind her of painful childhood memories. "I do not want to visit Jaffa because it bothers me to see women wearing head scarves or men walking with their wife as if they were cattle."

Ynet News: Rabbi Ovadia to Mubarak: Get well fast, your highness

2010-07-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

Shas' spiritual leader send letter to Egyptian president, wishes him 'full, speedy recovery'

Ronen Medzini Published: 07.12.10, 18:45 / Israel News

Kept in close touch. Rabbi Ovadia Photo: Ata Awisat

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has written a letter to President Hosni Mubarak, in which he wished him health, following the Egyptian president's recent medical treatment in Germany and reports about his deteriorating health. "We pray to the creator of the universe to send you full and speedy recovery," he wrote.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hand the letter to Mubarak on behalf of Ovadia, during the leaders' scheduled meeting on Wednesday.

Will he run again? Mubarak Photo: Reuters

For your highness, President of Egypt Muhammad Hosni Mubarak, may his glory be exalted," wrote Shas' spiritual leader.

"May you continue to lead you countrymen in majesty, courage and strength, for a lifetime and in peace; may you succeed in all your doings, according to your heart's desire," the letter read.

Rabbi Ovadia signed the letter with a warm greeting, "Respectfully yours, in the greatness of your virtue."

The rabbi and Shas Chairman, Interior Minister Eli Yishai, have kept in close touch with Mubarak for many years. Only recently, journalist Yotam Feldman, who was arrested in Egypt, was released from custody with the help of Yishai's mediation.

Arab media has been reporting about Mubarak's deteriorating health condition for many years, and recent reports have rekindled the debate over who will inherit the presidency, with his son, Gammal, leading the race.

However, President Mubarak never confirmed such reports and is due to complete his fifth year of his sixth tenure as president. He has yet to announce whether he will compete in the upcoming elections slated for 2011.

Speculations over Mubarak's health have increased in recent months following his March trip to Germany, where he underwent an operation to remove a gull bladder. Doubts about his medical situation surfaced again last week after Mubarak made a sudden visit to Paris and met with President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Daily Arab newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi reported that the Egyptian president conducted medical check ups while visiting the European country.