AI: Exiled and Suffering: Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon

Der angekündigte 31-seitige report der Menschenrechtsorganisation liegt zwar nur in Auszügen vor, jedoch diese werden hier verlinkt: Press Release + Auszug 1 + Auszug 2

Syrien-Affaire: Syria denied Wednesday its representatives to the United Nations had confirmed that an Israel Air Force strike last month targeted nuclear facility, and added that such facilities do not exist in Syria, state-run news agency said. On Tuesday, a UN press release sent after a meeting of the First Committee, Disarmament and International Security, in New York quoted Syria's UN ambassador, Bashar al-Jaafari, as saying that a nuclear facility was hit. "Israel was the fourth largest exporter of weapons of mass destruction and a violator of other nations' airspace, and it had taken action against nuclear facilities, including the 6 July attack in Syria," the release quoted al-Jaafari as saying, in an apparent error as to the date of the September 6 air strike. [Ich veröffentliche hier das Orginal: Also speaking in the right of reply, the representative of Syria said that the delegation of Israel had spoken out of context yesterday. Israel had used lies and accusations, which was not useful since the entire world was aware of the objectives and practices of that “colonial” entity, which encouraged State terrorism and had never respected the resolutions adopted against it by the United Nations. There had been politically motivated acts by Israel against Syria, and, at the same time, Israel had tried to distract attention from its actions, in particular, its interference in the internal affairs of Lebanon. Concerning the Lebanese border, he said that the Lebanese Minister of Defence had denied that anything had crossed the border, and those controlling the border had confirmed that. Syria had informed the Secretary-General of that in writing. Contacts between Lebanese and Syrian authorities had been ongoing to protect the border, and the countries had regularly reported to the Security Council on their meetings. Syria had also recently increased the number of guards on its border, preventing any transfer of weapons from Iraq or any other countries. In a letter dated 4 May, Syria had reported on that. It had also asked Europe for help in securing its border, but had not received any such assistance. The accusations by Israel, therefore, were totally unjustified. Israel was an “enemy entity” occupying Syrian territory. Israel regularly filmed trucks carrying fruits and vegetables into the country, and had recently bombed one of them. Israel was building eight reactors in a small territory and preparing itself “in nuclear terms” for a possible war, with 20 nuclear warheads, using thousands of cluster bombs, and not providing maps to show where they were dropped or where the nuclear waste was being disposed of. It was an entity that claimed that Gaza was trying to occupy areas, when it was itself occupying territory. Moreover, Israel was the fourth largest exporter of weapons of mass destruction and a violator of other nations’ airspace, and it had taken action against nuclear facilities, including the 6 July attack in Syria. He vowed that whenever a right of reply was exercised, Syria would expose the underlying goals of the Zionist entity.] Also, ich habe keine Ahnung von was der Mann da spricht. Am 6. July gab es keinen Angriff. Ob er sich auf die erste Aussage bezieht oder auf die zweite, oder auf Beide... sehr unklar. Gottlob haben die israelischen Kommando-Einheiten Beweise gesichert, die sie bald der IAEA als zuständigem Gremium vorlegen werden. Diese plumpen Spekulationen ob sich der Kerl verhaspelt hat, oder [wer hat jemals davon gehört?] wann Israel einen Gemüselaster bombardiert hat gehen mir mächtig auf die Nerven. :-) Gemüselaster-Bombing-Zeugen gesucht!

Update via Chearles Levinsion: "July? The strike was on September 6, not July 6. Someone had to have made a mistake. It’s going to turn out that the Syrian ambassador, speaking in Arabic, was referring to the “Tamouz” air strike against Iraq in 1981 and the interpreter got it wrong. Tamouz means July in Arabic. It’s also the Arabic term for the Osirak reactor. A potentially disastrous translation error."

Westfront: An IDF soldier was shot dead Wednesday during a firefight with Palestinian gunmen in the southern Gaza Strip, near Khan Yunis, the army said. The soldiers encountered fierce resistance during operations near the border fence as Palestinians fired bullets and an anti-tank missile at the soldiers. The troops retuned fire, killing one of the Palestinians and wounding several others, said the IDF.

Ostfront: Ein wenig weniger Tourismus-Programm wäre angebrachter, Miss Peacenik: "Being here, at the birthplace of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, has been a very special and moving experience," Rice, the daughter and granddaughter of Christian clergymen, told reporters after visiting the church. +++++ Clashes erupted between Palestinian farmers and Israeli settlers on Wednesday morning near Elba checkpoint west of Nablus in the northern West Bank. +++++ Israeli forces on Wednesday morning invaded the northern West Bank town of Marda in the district of Salfit district leaving four people injured [Rubber Bullets + Tear Gas] and several houses demolished. +++++ Israeli forces on Wednesday stormed Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank discharging gunfire and sonic bombs, Palestinian sources told Ma'an-newsagency . Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli forces ransacked the home of an activist from the Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades. +++++ In Bethlehem... man ahnt es schon: Weihevolle Stille und keine IDF-Aktivitäten für Condi rice, die ihren Wohnsitz wohl in die Westbank verlegen sollte.

Dann bekomme ich eine Gehaltserhöhung: 24.08.: "Der von den israelischen Medien hervorgehobene "Rücktritts"-Grund [Haniyeh aide said to quit over Fatah-Hamas rift] erscheint angesichts solcher Aktivitäten des Medienspzialisten Ramzi Hamad eher konstruiert". Da ist er ja wieder, der Hamad!

Umweltfront: Israel is the biggest polluter in the eastern Mediterranean, dumping over 140 tons of heavy metals into the sea every year with government approval, an environmental group claimed in a recently published report. According to the Zalul organization, more than 100 permits for discharging wastewater into the sea are granted by a government committee every year -sometimes very close to bathing beaches..... Full report of Zalul. And visit the Zalul-Blog for more information about water-pollution in Israel.