Hamas was democratically elected. Perhaps the folks you voted for (Bush and the rest of his moronic minions) should have been tortured and assassinated because in my book, they were terrorists.
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Israeli-Palestinian conflict (53 Viewers)
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Jews-only homes for Ajami
Jonathan Cook reports from Ajami, in the mixed Jewish-Arab town of Jaffa, which has become the target of a takeover by extremist Jewish settlers bent on pushing the district’s Arab residents, who are citizens of Israel, out of their homes.
Over the past few days graffiti scrawled on walls around the mixed Jewish and Arab town of Jaffa in central Israel exclaims: “Settlers, keep out” and “Jaffa is not Hebron”.
Although Jaffa is only a stone’s throw from the bustling coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, Arab residents say their neighbourhood has become the unlikely battleground for an attempted takeover by extremist Jews more familiar from West Bank settlements.
Small numbers of nationalist religious Jews, distinctive for wearing knitted skullcaps, have begun moving into Jaffa’s deprived main Arab district, Ajami, over recent months.
Tensions have been simmering since a special seminary was established last year in the heart of Ajami for young Jewish men who combine study of the Bible with serving in the Israeli army. Many such seminaries, known as hesder yeshivas, are located in the occupied territories and have earned a reputation for turning out extremists.
Last week Ajami’s residents were dealt a further blow when an Israeli court approved the sale of one of the district’s few remaining building plots to B’Emuna (Hebrew for “with faith”), a construction company that specializes in building subsidized homes for religious families, many of them in West Bank settlements.
The Association of Civil Rights in Israel, the country’s largest human rights law centre, which petitioned the courts on the Arab residents’ behalf, called the company’s policy “racist”.
B’Emuna, which is expected to complete 20 apartments in the next few months, is applying for approval for a further 180, as well as a second seminary and a synagogue.
“We have no problem living peacefully with Jewish neighbours,” said Omar Siksik, an Arab councillor representing Jaffa in Tel Aviv’s municipality. “But these Jews are coming here as settlers.
“Like in Hebron, their policy is to weaken us as a population and eventually push us out of our homes,” he said, referring to a West Bank city where an enclave of a few dozen settlers has severely disrupted life for tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Jaffa’s fortunes have changed dramatically since early last century when it was the commercial hub of Palestine, famously exporting its orange crop around the world. During Israel’s founding in 1948, most of the town’s Palestinians were expelled or forced to flee, with the few remaining inhabitants confined to Ajami.
Today, Jaffa’s 18,000 Arab inhabitants are outnumbered two to one by Jews, after waves of immigrants were settled in empty homes during the 1950s.
Arab residents have long complained of being neglected by a municipality controlled from Tel Aviv. Ajami’s crumbling homes, ramshackle infrastructure and crime-ridden streets were on show in this year’s much-feted eponymous movie, nominated for an Oscar as best foreign-language film.
But the latest arrivals in Ajami are causing considerable anxiety, even from officials in Tel Aviv. Gilad Peleg, head of the Jaffa Development Authority, said he was “deeply concerned” at the trend of extremist organizations arriving “to shake up the local community”.
Nasmi Jabali, 56, lives in a modest single-storey home close to the olive grove where the new apartments will be built. “We’ve seen on TV how these settlers behave in the occupied territories, and don’t want them living next to us,” she said. “They’ll come here with the same attitudes.”
But despite widespread opposition, the Tel Aviv District Court last week rejected a petition from 27 residents who argued that the Israel Lands Authority had discriminated against them by awarding the land to B’Emuna, even though its policy is to build apartments only for Jews.
Yehuda Zefet, the judge, accused the residents of “bad faith” in arguing for equality when they wanted the interests of the local Arab community to take precedence over the interests of Jews.
Mr Siksik said the judge had failed to take into account the historical injustice perpetrated on Ajami’s population. “For six decades the authorities have not built one new house for the Arab population, and in fact they have demolished many Arab homes, while building social housing for Jews.”
Fadi Shabita, a member of the local Popular Committee for the Defence of Jaffa’s Lands, said the plots in Ajami being sold by the government originally belonged to Palestinian families, some of whom were still in the district but had been forced to rent their properties from the state.
“The land was forcibly nationalized many years ago and the local owners were dispossessed,” he said. “Now the same land is being privatized, but Ajami’s residents are being ignored in the development plans.
“For the settlers, the lesson of the disengagement [from Gaza in 2005] was that they need to begin a dialogue with Jews inside Israel to persuade them that a settlement in the West Bank is no less legitimate than one in Jaffa.”
B’Emuna told Israel National News, a settler website, that it was developing Jewish-only homes in several of the half dozen “mixed cities” in Israel to stem the flow of Jewish residents leaving because of poverty and falling property values caused by the presence of an Arab population.
B’Emuna has said it is looking to buy more land in Jaffa.
A short distance from the olive grove that is about to be developed is the Jewish seminary established last year. An Israeli flag is draped from the front of the building and stars of David adorn the gate at its entrance.
The manager, Ariel Elimelech, who was overseeing two dozen young men on Sunday as they pored over the Torah, said he commuted daily to Ajami from his home in Eli, an illegal settlement deep in the West Bank south of the Palestinian city of Nablus.
Mr Elimelech said he favoured coexistence in Jaffa but added that the seminary’s goal was to strengthen Jewish identity in the area. “We don’t call this place Ajami; it’s known as Givat Aliyah,” he said, using a Hebrew name that refers to the immigration of Jews to Israel.
He said the students performed a vital service by visiting schools to help in the education of Jewish children before performing 18 months of military service.
Kemal Agbaria, who chairs the Ajami neighbourhood council, said residents would launch an appeal to the Supreme Court and were planning large-scale demonstrations to draw attention to their plight.
Jonathan Cook
Jonathan Cook reports from Ajami, in the mixed Jewish-Arab town of Jaffa, which has become the target of a takeover by extremist Jewish settlers bent on pushing the district’s Arab residents, who are citizens of Israel, out of their homes.
Over the past few days graffiti scrawled on walls around the mixed Jewish and Arab town of Jaffa in central Israel exclaims: “Settlers, keep out” and “Jaffa is not Hebron”.
Although Jaffa is only a stone’s throw from the bustling coastal metropolis of Tel Aviv, Arab residents say their neighbourhood has become the unlikely battleground for an attempted takeover by extremist Jews more familiar from West Bank settlements.
Small numbers of nationalist religious Jews, distinctive for wearing knitted skullcaps, have begun moving into Jaffa’s deprived main Arab district, Ajami, over recent months.
Tensions have been simmering since a special seminary was established last year in the heart of Ajami for young Jewish men who combine study of the Bible with serving in the Israeli army. Many such seminaries, known as hesder yeshivas, are located in the occupied territories and have earned a reputation for turning out extremists.
Last week Ajami’s residents were dealt a further blow when an Israeli court approved the sale of one of the district’s few remaining building plots to B’Emuna (Hebrew for “with faith”), a construction company that specializes in building subsidized homes for religious families, many of them in West Bank settlements.
The Association of Civil Rights in Israel, the country’s largest human rights law centre, which petitioned the courts on the Arab residents’ behalf, called the company’s policy “racist”.
B’Emuna, which is expected to complete 20 apartments in the next few months, is applying for approval for a further 180, as well as a second seminary and a synagogue.
“We have no problem living peacefully with Jewish neighbours,” said Omar Siksik, an Arab councillor representing Jaffa in Tel Aviv’s municipality. “But these Jews are coming here as settlers.
“Like in Hebron, their policy is to weaken us as a population and eventually push us out of our homes,” he said, referring to a West Bank city where an enclave of a few dozen settlers has severely disrupted life for tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Jaffa’s fortunes have changed dramatically since early last century when it was the commercial hub of Palestine, famously exporting its orange crop around the world. During Israel’s founding in 1948, most of the town’s Palestinians were expelled or forced to flee, with the few remaining inhabitants confined to Ajami.
Today, Jaffa’s 18,000 Arab inhabitants are outnumbered two to one by Jews, after waves of immigrants were settled in empty homes during the 1950s.
Arab residents have long complained of being neglected by a municipality controlled from Tel Aviv. Ajami’s crumbling homes, ramshackle infrastructure and crime-ridden streets were on show in this year’s much-feted eponymous movie, nominated for an Oscar as best foreign-language film.
But the latest arrivals in Ajami are causing considerable anxiety, even from officials in Tel Aviv. Gilad Peleg, head of the Jaffa Development Authority, said he was “deeply concerned” at the trend of extremist organizations arriving “to shake up the local community”.
Nasmi Jabali, 56, lives in a modest single-storey home close to the olive grove where the new apartments will be built. “We’ve seen on TV how these settlers behave in the occupied territories, and don’t want them living next to us,” she said. “They’ll come here with the same attitudes.”
But despite widespread opposition, the Tel Aviv District Court last week rejected a petition from 27 residents who argued that the Israel Lands Authority had discriminated against them by awarding the land to B’Emuna, even though its policy is to build apartments only for Jews.
Yehuda Zefet, the judge, accused the residents of “bad faith” in arguing for equality when they wanted the interests of the local Arab community to take precedence over the interests of Jews.
Mr Siksik said the judge had failed to take into account the historical injustice perpetrated on Ajami’s population. “For six decades the authorities have not built one new house for the Arab population, and in fact they have demolished many Arab homes, while building social housing for Jews.”
Fadi Shabita, a member of the local Popular Committee for the Defence of Jaffa’s Lands, said the plots in Ajami being sold by the government originally belonged to Palestinian families, some of whom were still in the district but had been forced to rent their properties from the state.
“The land was forcibly nationalized many years ago and the local owners were dispossessed,” he said. “Now the same land is being privatized, but Ajami’s residents are being ignored in the development plans.
“For the settlers, the lesson of the disengagement [from Gaza in 2005] was that they need to begin a dialogue with Jews inside Israel to persuade them that a settlement in the West Bank is no less legitimate than one in Jaffa.”
B’Emuna told Israel National News, a settler website, that it was developing Jewish-only homes in several of the half dozen “mixed cities” in Israel to stem the flow of Jewish residents leaving because of poverty and falling property values caused by the presence of an Arab population.
B’Emuna has said it is looking to buy more land in Jaffa.
A short distance from the olive grove that is about to be developed is the Jewish seminary established last year. An Israeli flag is draped from the front of the building and stars of David adorn the gate at its entrance.
The manager, Ariel Elimelech, who was overseeing two dozen young men on Sunday as they pored over the Torah, said he commuted daily to Ajami from his home in Eli, an illegal settlement deep in the West Bank south of the Palestinian city of Nablus.
Mr Elimelech said he favoured coexistence in Jaffa but added that the seminary’s goal was to strengthen Jewish identity in the area. “We don’t call this place Ajami; it’s known as Givat Aliyah,” he said, using a Hebrew name that refers to the immigration of Jews to Israel.
He said the students performed a vital service by visiting schools to help in the education of Jewish children before performing 18 months of military service.
Kemal Agbaria, who chairs the Ajami neighbourhood council, said residents would launch an appeal to the Supreme Court and were planning large-scale demonstrations to draw attention to their plight.
Jonathan Cook
Anyway, 3 cases are the most important now in the Palestinian case:
1- What will the rebel Fatah officer Shabaneh reveal next Monday in his promised press conference that he said will be a very critical point in showing the real face for the corrupt Fatah and specifically - the so called - Palestinian president Abbas. He said that Abbas won't dare to show his face publicly after showing his scandals.
2- How and When will Hamas implement its revenge for its leader Mabhouh?
3- Who will represent Palestinians in the coming Arab summit in Libya?
1- What will the rebel Fatah officer Shabaneh reveal next Monday in his promised press conference that he said will be a very critical point in showing the real face for the corrupt Fatah and specifically - the so called - Palestinian president Abbas. He said that Abbas won't dare to show his face publicly after showing his scandals.
2- How and When will Hamas implement its revenge for its leader Mabhouh?
3- Who will represent Palestinians in the coming Arab summit in Libya?
The Austrian Federal Ministry for the Interior announced that it too has launched an investigation due to suspicions that the team which assassinated senior Hamas figure Mahmoud al-Mabhouh used Austrian cell phone lines.
Apparently, at least seven of the telephones were operated using dialing cards bought in advance in Austria. (AFP)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3850851,00.html
Apparently, at least seven of the telephones were operated using dialing cards bought in advance in Austria. (AFP)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3850851,00.html
Follow up (wanted bold some bits, but all of its bold worthy):
Mossad chief won't quit over Dubai hit: source Reauters
Dan Williams
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Mossad chief Meir Dagan sees no reason to resign over a scandal-fraught assassination in Dubai, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to ask him to, a confidant of the Israeli spymaster said on Thursday.
World
While Israel has declined to comment on the January 20 slaying of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) named the suspected killers, including several who had copied the European passports of actual immigrants to Israel.
Discerning a Mossad modus operandi and predicting a stink over the trans-national identity thefts, some Israeli pundits suggested Dagan would be forced to step down -- like predecessor Danny Yatom in 1997 after a botched assassination in Jordan.
But the confidant, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters: "Dagan has no intention of quitting before his tenure is completed."
Resignation would be tantamount to taking responsibility, the confidant said. The hotel-room hit on Mabhouh was dressed up as death by natural causes but was uncovered more than a week later when UAE police launched a murder probe at Hamas's urging.
Dagan, a former general, was appointed in 2002 with a mandate to take the fight to Israel's foes abroad. He won plaudits from successive prime ministers and an unusually long eight-year term.
The Mossad chief's success in other and ongoing operations against Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran would outweigh any desire by Netanyahu to have him fall on his sword, said the confidant, who also hails from Israel's intelligence community.
"There are national priorities here," the confidant said.
LOBBY COUNTERPARTS
Instead, the confidant anticipated Mossad would quietly lobby counterpart agencies in Britain, Ireland, Germany and France -- the countries whose passports were used for the Dubai mission -- to mellow their governments' scrutiny on Israel.
"This may not work, given the anger that some of these foreign ministries are signaling," the confidant said. "But even if there's only a process of internal deliberation, that might be enough to take the sting out of the recrimination."
In his first term as premier, Netanyahu approved Yatom's plan to poison Hamas head Khaled Meshaal in Amman. The Mossad assassins, posing as Canadians, fumbled the attack and were arrested by Jordan after seeking refuge at the Israeli embassy.
Israel had to make amends, such as with Yatom's resignation, "because in that case, our men were prisoners, which meant both proof of involvement and that concrete action was required to recover them," the confidant said.
Netanyahu was also mindful of the need to repair relations with Jordan, one of two Arab nations to have recognized Israel. By contrast, the UAE has no formal ties with the Jewish state, though it does admit select Israelis for trade, sport or talks.
Israel's most pressing domestic blowback from Dubai appears to be in the prospect that the seven of its citizens unwittingly identified as suspects could be subject to prosecution abroad.
"This could complicate things for Dagan, though the real legal risks are not at all clear yet," the confidant said.
Dagan, 64, is scheduled to retire at the end of the year. While Netanyahu could seek cabinet endorsement to keep him on longer, the confidant described that as improbable:
"There was already some grumbling about his last extension. It doesn't matter how good you are -- no one's immune from complacency. A security agency, like any corporation, needs a regular turnover at the top to keep its edge."
Mossad chief won't quit over Dubai hit: source Reauters
Dan Williams
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Mossad chief Meir Dagan sees no reason to resign over a scandal-fraught assassination in Dubai, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is unlikely to ask him to, a confidant of the Israeli spymaster said on Thursday.
World
While Israel has declined to comment on the January 20 slaying of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) named the suspected killers, including several who had copied the European passports of actual immigrants to Israel.
Discerning a Mossad modus operandi and predicting a stink over the trans-national identity thefts, some Israeli pundits suggested Dagan would be forced to step down -- like predecessor Danny Yatom in 1997 after a botched assassination in Jordan.
But the confidant, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters: "Dagan has no intention of quitting before his tenure is completed."
Resignation would be tantamount to taking responsibility, the confidant said. The hotel-room hit on Mabhouh was dressed up as death by natural causes but was uncovered more than a week later when UAE police launched a murder probe at Hamas's urging.
Dagan, a former general, was appointed in 2002 with a mandate to take the fight to Israel's foes abroad. He won plaudits from successive prime ministers and an unusually long eight-year term.
The Mossad chief's success in other and ongoing operations against Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria and Iran would outweigh any desire by Netanyahu to have him fall on his sword, said the confidant, who also hails from Israel's intelligence community.
"There are national priorities here," the confidant said.
LOBBY COUNTERPARTS
Instead, the confidant anticipated Mossad would quietly lobby counterpart agencies in Britain, Ireland, Germany and France -- the countries whose passports were used for the Dubai mission -- to mellow their governments' scrutiny on Israel.
"This may not work, given the anger that some of these foreign ministries are signaling," the confidant said. "But even if there's only a process of internal deliberation, that might be enough to take the sting out of the recrimination."
In his first term as premier, Netanyahu approved Yatom's plan to poison Hamas head Khaled Meshaal in Amman. The Mossad assassins, posing as Canadians, fumbled the attack and were arrested by Jordan after seeking refuge at the Israeli embassy.
Israel had to make amends, such as with Yatom's resignation, "because in that case, our men were prisoners, which meant both proof of involvement and that concrete action was required to recover them," the confidant said.
Netanyahu was also mindful of the need to repair relations with Jordan, one of two Arab nations to have recognized Israel. By contrast, the UAE has no formal ties with the Jewish state, though it does admit select Israelis for trade, sport or talks.
Israel's most pressing domestic blowback from Dubai appears to be in the prospect that the seven of its citizens unwittingly identified as suspects could be subject to prosecution abroad.
"This could complicate things for Dagan, though the real legal risks are not at all clear yet," the confidant said.
Dagan, 64, is scheduled to retire at the end of the year. While Netanyahu could seek cabinet endorsement to keep him on longer, the confidant described that as improbable:
"There was already some grumbling about his last extension. It doesn't matter how good you are -- no one's immune from complacency. A security agency, like any corporation, needs a regular turnover at the top to keep its edge."
Israeli Embassy boasts Peer's 'hit on Dubai target'
On backdrop of mounting tensions opposite London, embassy in Britain issues online Twitter message pertaining to Israeli tennis player's win in Dubai quarterfinals
Hagit Klaiman
Published: 02.19.10, 11:45 / Israel News
LONDON – It was a strange coincidence that the exposure of the hit squad which assassinated Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, an act attributed to the Mossad, coincided with an impressive winning streak by Israeli star tennis player Shahar Peer in the Emirate. More astonishingly the hit squad members were caught by Dubai security cameras disguised as tennis players. Sports reporters feasted over the concurrence.
However, the coincidence led to more embarrassing consequences. On Thursday, following Peer's win over Danish opponent Caroline Wozniacki in the Dubai championships which qualified her for the semifinals, Israel's UK Embassy posted a puzzling message on its Twitter account.
The post read "You heard it here first: Israeli tennis player carries out hit on Dubai target," and was linked to a report informing of Peer's victory on the International Jewish Press website.
The tweet prior to being removed by the Israeli embassy
Sources at the embassy told Ynet that the message was indeed posted by its official Twitter account, however minutes later it was removed from the page.
The clumsy report comes at a most inopportune time in terms of Israel-Britain relations which have been strained recently over the Dubai assassination affair.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that he expects clarifications from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on the use of British passports in the hit operation.
Earlier this week Israel's Ambassador to Britain Ron Prosor was summoned for a meeting in the British Foreign Office during which he noted he had no information on the matter.
It should be noted that the Twitter message was posted on Thursday at around 12 pm prior to Prosor's meeting and was reported by the British Guardian newspaper's website.
The Israeli Embassy in the UK issued a statement in response reading, "Naturally, messages on the Twitter network are characterized with a great deal of creativity. In this case the creativity was undoubtedly inappropriate. The ambassador told off the employee who wrote the message and it was removed."
On backdrop of mounting tensions opposite London, embassy in Britain issues online Twitter message pertaining to Israeli tennis player's win in Dubai quarterfinals
Hagit Klaiman
Published: 02.19.10, 11:45 / Israel News
LONDON – It was a strange coincidence that the exposure of the hit squad which assassinated Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai, an act attributed to the Mossad, coincided with an impressive winning streak by Israeli star tennis player Shahar Peer in the Emirate. More astonishingly the hit squad members were caught by Dubai security cameras disguised as tennis players. Sports reporters feasted over the concurrence.
However, the coincidence led to more embarrassing consequences. On Thursday, following Peer's win over Danish opponent Caroline Wozniacki in the Dubai championships which qualified her for the semifinals, Israel's UK Embassy posted a puzzling message on its Twitter account.
The post read "You heard it here first: Israeli tennis player carries out hit on Dubai target," and was linked to a report informing of Peer's victory on the International Jewish Press website.
The tweet prior to being removed by the Israeli embassy
Sources at the embassy told Ynet that the message was indeed posted by its official Twitter account, however minutes later it was removed from the page.
The clumsy report comes at a most inopportune time in terms of Israel-Britain relations which have been strained recently over the Dubai assassination affair.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that he expects clarifications from Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on the use of British passports in the hit operation.
Earlier this week Israel's Ambassador to Britain Ron Prosor was summoned for a meeting in the British Foreign Office during which he noted he had no information on the matter.
It should be noted that the Twitter message was posted on Thursday at around 12 pm prior to Prosor's meeting and was reported by the British Guardian newspaper's website.
The Israeli Embassy in the UK issued a statement in response reading, "Naturally, messages on the Twitter network are characterized with a great deal of creativity. In this case the creativity was undoubtedly inappropriate. The ambassador told off the employee who wrote the message and it was removed."
We don't say that he was a civilian guy, but seeing how Israel implemented its operation with passports of 4 other countries, and using phone cards from a fifth country and leading the operation from there, and the credit cards used were from USA, it just shows that Israel does not care about the whole world when it wants to target anybody.