Nach israelischen Angaben wurden am Freitag dreizehn Qassam-Raketen und sechs Mörsergranaten auf die Grenzstadt Sderot abgeschossen. Insgesamt wurden zwei Personen leicht verletzt. Eine Abordnung der Rassisten-Partei Yisrael Beiteinu die bis Ende nächster Woche unter der Führung von Ober-Rassist Avigdor Lieberman in Sderot zu treffen ist wurde knapp von einer Rakete beim Stolzieren erwischt. Bei verschiedenen Luftangriffen sterben eine 72-jährige an Herzversagen, ein einjähriges Kind [erneut al-Kafarna-Clan] durch direkten Treffer auf ein Wohnhaus und ein Hamas-Rocket-Engineer. [Opfer 84, nach 99 im Januar].
Jordan's King Abdullah called on Friday for greater U.S. efforts to reconcile Israelis and Palestinians, saying U.S. President George W. Bush's final year in office would be critical to Middle East peace. Jordan, which made peace with Israel in 1993, is anxious to end a conflict it sees as fueling Islamist militancy. Abdullah's visit to the United States comes before a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Israel and the Palestinian territories next week. Speaking at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Abdullah said 2008 offered an "unprecedented opportunity" to reach a peace agreement because Arab and Muslim countries have offered to recognize Israel. "At long last... we are in the best possible position to resolve 60 years of conflict between Israel and Palestine," he said. "The Arab and Muslim states have committed to an unprecedented and unanimous peace initiative." [...] The High Court on Friday rejected a petition against a police order prohibiting a memorial rally in Nazareth for George Habash, the founder of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who died in late January.
Gidi Weitz + Meron Rapoport, "This may be the last chance": Yasser Abed Rabbo is worried and one of the reasons for this becomes immediately apparent when we meet: An armed guard escorts him into his office on the third floor of a building in Ramallah midday on Saturday. "Who is he protecting you from - the Israelis or Hamas?" we ask. "From Hamas," he says without hesitating. A rare example of a Palestinian leader who is not ashamed to admit that he is completely secular, Abbed Rabbo is high on the hit list of Gaza militants. Nor does he appear to have any intention of having his name removed from the list. Hamas, he says, "is a trend in the Palestinian society and in the Arab society that is jeopardizing the future of my children. It will poison their lives. I see that they want to impose their ideology on me, and I hate ideologies. I believe in values far more than in ideologies, because I can share values with everyone in the world. I think that what they are doing now in Gaza is, in effect, trying to create a monolithic society on all levels: what you believe in, how you dress, what you eat and how you behave. From birth to death, they will decide everything for you. It's a version of Orwell's '1984,' but with a divine touch whose implication is that if you don't do a certain thing, God will punish you, or punish them - because they, after all, are the representatives of the great and wrathful God." [Gidi Weitz, tatsächlich auffällig starke Texte.]
James J. Zogby: This month, the US Institute for Peace released “Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East,” a report that examined US peace-making efforts over the past four decades. The study group, headed by Daniel Kurtzer (former US ambassador to Egypt and Israel), met during 2006-2007 and interviewed over 100 officials and experts from seven countries and three international organisations. The main body of the report is a concise and precise look at successes and failures, and strengths and weaknesses of the past three administrations’ efforts at Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. It concludes by detailing ten lessons learned and outlining recommendations based on those lessons to guide the next administration.
News roundup and comment, Joshua Landis: Is the Bush administration serious about Syria? Or is it just baring its teeth in a final show of strength for its allies before it bows out? The U.S. Navy is sending three ships to the eastern Mediterranean Sea to show its strength to Syria over Lebanon. The US has also announced that it is sanctioning an additional four Syrians for "helping with the flow of money, weapons, terrorists and other resources from Syria into Iraq." The US and Israel have kept up a steady drum beat of pressure on Syria over the Lebanon presidency. Beginning with the Israeli bombing of a military facility along the Euphrates, the imposition of sanctions against Syrians undermining democracy in Lebanon, against those engaged in public corruption, and just today against those "helping terrorists into Iraq." We must not forget the car bomb that dispatched Mughniya. Now we have US navy vessels tacking towards Tartus. [...]
Freitag, 29. Februar 2008
IDF kills Four
Auch am Freitag Vormittag sind im Gazastreifen Luftangriffe mit zum Großteil zivilen Opfern zu beklagen: Im Krankenhaus verstirbt ein Palästinenser an den Verletzungen die er am Vortag erlitten hat. Die Opferzahl der während eines Fußballspiels getöteten Minderjährigen wird um eins erhöht. And der Grenze zu Ägypten sollen IDF-Soldaten am Kerem Shalom Crossing ein ägyptisches Mädchen, 13, erschossen haben. [Diese angabe stammt von Familienangehörigen und ist noch nicht offiziell bestätigt.] Ein weiterer Mitarbeiter eines Versorgers wird in Gaza City in seinem Auto getötet. Verschiedene zivile Gebäude und Wohnhäuser von Milizionären werden im Camp Shati, in Jabalia und Bei Lahia durch Kampfflugzeuge angegriffen. Begründung jeweils "Terrorinfrastruktur". Bei vielen Zielen fällt diese Begründung schwer zu glauben: Headquarters of Palestinian Laborers Syndicate in Gaza City... Vierzehn Personen sollen bislang verletzt worden sein, darunter wieder Kinder. Fünf Personen werden dabei bei einem "Fehltreffer" verletzt. Vor Beit Hanoun operieren Panzereinheiten mit Luftunterstützung. Diese melden "Hits" die noch nicht genauer spezifiziert wurden. Das Attacken-Niveau der Qassam-Einheiten auf zivile Ziele ist deutlich reduziert: Fünf Projektile werden auf Sderot abgeschossen. Eine Israeli wird verletzt. Auf Militärposten werden zudem elf Projektile von verschiedenen Gruppen abgeschossen.
Politisch eskaliert die Lage ebenso: Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman informed the Defense Ministry on Friday that he was canceling his visit to Israel, scheduled to take place next week. Ministry officials attributed the cancellation to the escalated fighting in the Gaza Strip. [...] Foreign Minister director-general Aaron Abramovich traveled to Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit about the situation on the Egyptian-Gaza border. Government officials said that while Abramovich wanted to concentrate on how to combat the arms smuggling across and under the Philadelphi Corridor, Gheit was more interested in talking about how to get the Rafah crossing re-opened. The talks came in preparation for a high level discussion on the situation on the border excepted early next week with the arrival on Tuesday of both US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Suleiman. [...] Vollkommen außer Kontrolle geraten ist dieser Mensch hier: Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai went as far as threatening a "shoah," the Hebrew word for holocaust or disaster. The word is generally used to refer to the Nazi Holocaust, but a spokesman for Vilnai said the deputy defense minister used the word in the sense of "disaster," saying "he did not mean to make any allusion to the genocide." "The more Qassam fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, [the Palestinians] will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah because we will use all our might to defend ourselves," Vilnai told Army Radio on Friday. [...] The Israel Defense Forces must reoccupy part of the Gaza Strip for an unlimited time and overthrow the Hamas government, the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said Friday, in the wake of escalating rocket attacks that peaked Thursday with a direct hit on a home in Ashkelon. [...] Die Antwort auf Vilnai durch Hamas-Militärchef Sami Abu Zuhri erfolgte prompt: "We are facing new Nazis who want to kill and burn the Palestinian people." [...] Nun, das ist wohl etwas übertrieben. Die Wahrheit erläutert uns in epischer Breite der israelische Gesandte in Berlin, Ilan Mor, in diesem DLF-Interview: "Zunächst einmal trifft diese Abriegelung ganz minimal die Bevölkerung. Wir versuchen, keinen Zivilisten mehr Leid herbeizuführen. Aber das ist komisch, wenn ein Land, diese humanitäre Hilfe leistet, Strom weitergibt, wird es von Terroristen, die dort leben, abgefeuert. Das ist komisch, sogar makaber. Wir werden alles daran setzen, um eine humanitäre Katastrophe zu vermeiden." Nein, eben nicht. Mors Deutsch ist schlecht. Leute wie Vilnai und Mor erfassen ihre Breitenwirkung in Fremdsprachen nicht. Sie denken hebräisch korrekt und plappern für nicht-hebräer teilweise dummes Zeug. "Die Waffen kommen aus Syrien, aus dem Iran. Sie werden nach Gazastreifen geschmuggelt." Dazu wird in der Antwort die Stadt Sderot mit der Stadt Ashkelon verwechselt. Ein größenwahnsinnig zurückschlagendes schlechtes Gewissen, Ratlosigkeit und ein beispielloses Empfinden eines latenten attackiertseins.
Mal wieder ein Kommentar der nicht meine Billigung findet: The decision to put Ashkelon, and its 120,000 residents, within permanent range of their rockets from Gaza may turn out to have been a mistake on their part. As if it were not enough that the Israeli government is being asked to solve the continuing hardships of Sderot residents, it is now being faced with a much bigger problem in Ashkelon. Its conclusion, even if action is only taken in a month or two, is likely to be that a major military operation is needed in Gaza. Defense Minister Ehud Barak hinted as much Thursday. [Der Hauptfehler in der asymetrischen Kriegsführung liegt nicht so sehr an der Unterschiedlichkeit der Bewaffnung, sondern am Glauben der Überlegenen ihr strategisches Denken wäre gleichbedeutend mit einem strategischen Denken der Unterlegenen. Die in Hamas-Kreisen absolut gängige Retaliations-Mentalität traf Ashkelon. Daraus die Notwendigkeit einer strategischen Veränderung für die Israelis abzuleiten ist falsch. Einfacheres Beispiel: Sinai-Infiltratoren. Man hat nun aufgrund wohl EINER Gruppe von Terroristen, die nicht mal offiziell bestätigt wurden die Strategie entwickelt einen teueren Grenzwall zu bauen und hat sowohl Alarmstufen erhöht als auch einen Schießbefehl ausgegeben. Nun, falls die Geschichte heute Morgen stimmt hat man als Ergebnis nach 6 Wochen eine 13-jährige beim Spielen vor dem Haus abgeknallt, die im Übrigen in die politische Verantwortung eines gewissen Herrn Olmert fällt.] Schlechtes Deutsch, schlechtes Englisch und schlechte Strategen.
More Articles: IDF forces prepare for Gaza incursion - Dozens of tanks, artillery battery positioned just north of Gaza to reinforce infantry, engineering corps forces already inside Strip ahead of possible large-scale ground operation. [...] Hamas: Israel will flounder in Gaza like it did in Lebanon - Islamist group official says most gunmen will wait for IDF forces deep inside Palestinian territory to 'fight under conditions that we are familiar with.' [...] Eitan Haber: "This is the finest hour of various celebrities and spin-doctors. Politicians and military officers, mostly retired, will spread across all television screens and radio stations in the coming days and attempt to present the recipe for Israel’s salvation: Occupy Gaza, attack a neighborhood, destroy a district, kill Hamas leaders."
Anshel Pfeffer: There is something faintly ridiculous about Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's decision that Israel will not participate in the "Durban 2" Conference, a year from now. This is an event that so far lacks a definite date (merely some amorphous point at the beginning of 2009), a fixed venue (it is not even clear on which continent it will take place), and certainly a settled agenda. Even the conference's name is still under discussion. So what exactly is Israel, and apparently Canada, supposed to be boycotting?
Politisch eskaliert die Lage ebenso: Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman informed the Defense Ministry on Friday that he was canceling his visit to Israel, scheduled to take place next week. Ministry officials attributed the cancellation to the escalated fighting in the Gaza Strip. [...] Foreign Minister director-general Aaron Abramovich traveled to Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit about the situation on the Egyptian-Gaza border. Government officials said that while Abramovich wanted to concentrate on how to combat the arms smuggling across and under the Philadelphi Corridor, Gheit was more interested in talking about how to get the Rafah crossing re-opened. The talks came in preparation for a high level discussion on the situation on the border excepted early next week with the arrival on Tuesday of both US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Suleiman. [...] Vollkommen außer Kontrolle geraten ist dieser Mensch hier: Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai went as far as threatening a "shoah," the Hebrew word for holocaust or disaster. The word is generally used to refer to the Nazi Holocaust, but a spokesman for Vilnai said the deputy defense minister used the word in the sense of "disaster," saying "he did not mean to make any allusion to the genocide." "The more Qassam fire intensifies and the rockets reach a longer range, [the Palestinians] will bring upon themselves a bigger shoah because we will use all our might to defend ourselves," Vilnai told Army Radio on Friday. [...] The Israel Defense Forces must reoccupy part of the Gaza Strip for an unlimited time and overthrow the Hamas government, the chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee said Friday, in the wake of escalating rocket attacks that peaked Thursday with a direct hit on a home in Ashkelon. [...] Die Antwort auf Vilnai durch Hamas-Militärchef Sami Abu Zuhri erfolgte prompt: "We are facing new Nazis who want to kill and burn the Palestinian people." [...] Nun, das ist wohl etwas übertrieben. Die Wahrheit erläutert uns in epischer Breite der israelische Gesandte in Berlin, Ilan Mor, in diesem DLF-Interview: "Zunächst einmal trifft diese Abriegelung ganz minimal die Bevölkerung. Wir versuchen, keinen Zivilisten mehr Leid herbeizuführen. Aber das ist komisch, wenn ein Land, diese humanitäre Hilfe leistet, Strom weitergibt, wird es von Terroristen, die dort leben, abgefeuert. Das ist komisch, sogar makaber. Wir werden alles daran setzen, um eine humanitäre Katastrophe zu vermeiden." Nein, eben nicht. Mors Deutsch ist schlecht. Leute wie Vilnai und Mor erfassen ihre Breitenwirkung in Fremdsprachen nicht. Sie denken hebräisch korrekt und plappern für nicht-hebräer teilweise dummes Zeug. "Die Waffen kommen aus Syrien, aus dem Iran. Sie werden nach Gazastreifen geschmuggelt." Dazu wird in der Antwort die Stadt Sderot mit der Stadt Ashkelon verwechselt. Ein größenwahnsinnig zurückschlagendes schlechtes Gewissen, Ratlosigkeit und ein beispielloses Empfinden eines latenten attackiertseins.
Mal wieder ein Kommentar der nicht meine Billigung findet: The decision to put Ashkelon, and its 120,000 residents, within permanent range of their rockets from Gaza may turn out to have been a mistake on their part. As if it were not enough that the Israeli government is being asked to solve the continuing hardships of Sderot residents, it is now being faced with a much bigger problem in Ashkelon. Its conclusion, even if action is only taken in a month or two, is likely to be that a major military operation is needed in Gaza. Defense Minister Ehud Barak hinted as much Thursday. [Der Hauptfehler in der asymetrischen Kriegsführung liegt nicht so sehr an der Unterschiedlichkeit der Bewaffnung, sondern am Glauben der Überlegenen ihr strategisches Denken wäre gleichbedeutend mit einem strategischen Denken der Unterlegenen. Die in Hamas-Kreisen absolut gängige Retaliations-Mentalität traf Ashkelon. Daraus die Notwendigkeit einer strategischen Veränderung für die Israelis abzuleiten ist falsch. Einfacheres Beispiel: Sinai-Infiltratoren. Man hat nun aufgrund wohl EINER Gruppe von Terroristen, die nicht mal offiziell bestätigt wurden die Strategie entwickelt einen teueren Grenzwall zu bauen und hat sowohl Alarmstufen erhöht als auch einen Schießbefehl ausgegeben. Nun, falls die Geschichte heute Morgen stimmt hat man als Ergebnis nach 6 Wochen eine 13-jährige beim Spielen vor dem Haus abgeknallt, die im Übrigen in die politische Verantwortung eines gewissen Herrn Olmert fällt.] Schlechtes Deutsch, schlechtes Englisch und schlechte Strategen.
More Articles: IDF forces prepare for Gaza incursion - Dozens of tanks, artillery battery positioned just north of Gaza to reinforce infantry, engineering corps forces already inside Strip ahead of possible large-scale ground operation. [...] Hamas: Israel will flounder in Gaza like it did in Lebanon - Islamist group official says most gunmen will wait for IDF forces deep inside Palestinian territory to 'fight under conditions that we are familiar with.' [...] Eitan Haber: "This is the finest hour of various celebrities and spin-doctors. Politicians and military officers, mostly retired, will spread across all television screens and radio stations in the coming days and attempt to present the recipe for Israel’s salvation: Occupy Gaza, attack a neighborhood, destroy a district, kill Hamas leaders."
Anshel Pfeffer: There is something faintly ridiculous about Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's decision that Israel will not participate in the "Durban 2" Conference, a year from now. This is an event that so far lacks a definite date (merely some amorphous point at the beginning of 2009), a fixed venue (it is not even clear on which continent it will take place), and certainly a settled agenda. Even the conference's name is still under discussion. So what exactly is Israel, and apparently Canada, supposed to be boycotting?
IDF kills Seven
Am Abend geht die Serie der Luftangriffe der IAF auf Ziele im Gazastreifen weiter. Am Nachmittag verstirbt ein Hamas-Mitglied an den Folgen eines Angriffs vor Vormittag, die Identität des Toten al-Hayya gilt jetzt bestätigt als "Sohn" von PLC-Fraktionschef al-Hayya. Die Attacken der IAF nehmen mehr und mehr symbolischen Charcter an: In der Nähe des Wohnistzes von Hamas-Chef Haniyeh wird eine Polizeistation angegriffen: Ein Toter Hamas-Polizist, mehrere Verletzte. In Khan Younis wird ein Van der Arbeiter eines Stromversorgers transportiert angegriffen: Zwei Tote, mehrere Verletzte. Zwei weitere Palästineser werden in der Nähe des as-Shifa-Krankenhauses getötet. Am Nachmittag wird ein Hamas-Mitglied unter nicht bekannten Umständen getötet. Die Eskalation bringt Anzahl der bei Militäraktionen durch die IDF getöteten Personen auf 77, nach 99 im Januar. [Die offizielle Bethselem-Statistik spricht zur Zeit von 166, also 10 weniger.] Die derzeitigen statements der IDF zu den Vorfällen [wie der Tötung von vier fußballspielenden Minderjährigen] hält sich in den Grenzen zwischen "no comment" bis "targets are centers of terrorism", was vermuten läßt das sie vollkommen hilflos und planlos auf so ziemlich alles ballert was irgendwie verdächtig erscheint. Nach der offiziellen Bethselem-Statistik wird ein hoher Anteil an Zivilisten [29,5%] und Minderjährigen [9,0%] bei den Toten gezählt. Vergessen darf man nicht die in etwa 700 Verletzten, die zum Teil schwere Schäden für die Zukunft erlitten haben. [Die israelischen Toten, nämlich drei und einige Verletzte werden hier nciht vergessen, haben aber mit der ausuferneden Nichtsnutz-Strategie der IDF eigentlich überhaupt nichts zu tun.]
Unterdessen geht die Qassam-Strategie der Hamas in unverminderter Härte weiter. Weit über 40 Projektile werden am Donnerstag auf israelische Ziele abgeschossen. Wie schon Anfang Januar stellt man die Frage nach der Ausbaustufe in den Raum. Wie auch in diesem Bericht kommt hier die Angst vor der Evolution der Qassam zum Tragen. Sollte die Hamas tatsächlich solche Katyushas besitzen, was durch die "Fatah-Quellen"-Bestätigung eher in Zweifel zu ziehen ist wird sie diese Raketen-Typen erst einsetzen wenn ihr das Wasser zum Hals steht. [PS: "The Grads are taken apart, smuggled into Gaza through tunnels and reassembled, and Hamas has only a limited supply, the official said on condition of anonymity, in line with briefing regulations." Schöner Blödsinn. Weshalb sollte man sie "auseinandernehmen", wenn sie zuvor nie zusammen gebaut wurden? Das eigentliche Problem liegt im Antrieb der Rakete. Bild II zeigt die Qassam, die so dick gebaut werden muß da ein aus Kunstdünger zusammengebrautes Antriebsgemisch verwendet wurden, da nichts besseres zur Verfügung stand. Strategisch richtete man sich seitens der Hamas in Richtung "Payload-Erhöhung" ein, also größere Explosionskraft, Testversionen zB aus dem September 2005 als schlanke Raketen die ominöse 20 Kilometermarke überschritten wurden angesischts des israelischen Abzugs auf Halt gestellt. Experimentiert wurde auch mit zwei antrieben die hintereinander geschaltet wurden. Oder einfach und kurz gesagt: Sonlang man nicht endlich mal ein iranisches Bauwerk der Presse vorstellt sind solche statements von angeblichen Militärexperten eines Comical Ali würdig.] In der Nacht sollen israelische Truppen in der Nähe des Sufa-Crossings in den Gazastreifen eingedrungen sein.
Egypt is working on a plan with the Palestinians to supply all the besieged Gaza Strip's electricity needs and wean it off its reliance on Israel for power, an Egyptian energy official said Thursday. [...] The leader of Germany's Jewish community called on the German government Thursday to support Israel in the dispute over Iran's controversial nuclear program. Israel's intelligence community has information about a threat posed by Iran that strongly contradicted the "loose" assessment of the United States, said Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. [...] The Shin Bet security service on Thursday announced that a 17 year-old female resident of East Jerusalem was recently arrested for attempting to carry out a suicide attack in Israel.
A US Navy warship has been ordered to take up station off Lebanon's coast as a "show of support" as the standoff between Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government and the opposition continues, the Reuters news agency quoted an official in Washington as saying on Thursday. According to the agency, the USS Cole - the same high-tech destroyer whose bombing by Al-Qaeda militants off Yemen in 2000 killed 17 sailors - left Malta on Tuesday and will remain over the horizon, at least for the time being. Following repeated US warnings for Syria to stop its alleged meddling in the Lebanese crisis, the deployment was seen as the strongest signal yet that Washington means to maintain pressure on Damascus. The move had not been officially confirmed as The Daily Star went to press, but White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe affirmed that US President George W. Bush was monitoring the Lebanese situation "regularly."
Unterdessen geht die Qassam-Strategie der Hamas in unverminderter Härte weiter. Weit über 40 Projektile werden am Donnerstag auf israelische Ziele abgeschossen. Wie schon Anfang Januar stellt man die Frage nach der Ausbaustufe in den Raum. Wie auch in diesem Bericht kommt hier die Angst vor der Evolution der Qassam zum Tragen. Sollte die Hamas tatsächlich solche Katyushas besitzen, was durch die "Fatah-Quellen"-Bestätigung eher in Zweifel zu ziehen ist wird sie diese Raketen-Typen erst einsetzen wenn ihr das Wasser zum Hals steht. [PS: "The Grads are taken apart, smuggled into Gaza through tunnels and reassembled, and Hamas has only a limited supply, the official said on condition of anonymity, in line with briefing regulations." Schöner Blödsinn. Weshalb sollte man sie "auseinandernehmen", wenn sie zuvor nie zusammen gebaut wurden? Das eigentliche Problem liegt im Antrieb der Rakete. Bild II zeigt die Qassam, die so dick gebaut werden muß da ein aus Kunstdünger zusammengebrautes Antriebsgemisch verwendet wurden, da nichts besseres zur Verfügung stand. Strategisch richtete man sich seitens der Hamas in Richtung "Payload-Erhöhung" ein, also größere Explosionskraft, Testversionen zB aus dem September 2005 als schlanke Raketen die ominöse 20 Kilometermarke überschritten wurden angesischts des israelischen Abzugs auf Halt gestellt. Experimentiert wurde auch mit zwei antrieben die hintereinander geschaltet wurden. Oder einfach und kurz gesagt: Sonlang man nicht endlich mal ein iranisches Bauwerk der Presse vorstellt sind solche statements von angeblichen Militärexperten eines Comical Ali würdig.] In der Nacht sollen israelische Truppen in der Nähe des Sufa-Crossings in den Gazastreifen eingedrungen sein.
Egypt is working on a plan with the Palestinians to supply all the besieged Gaza Strip's electricity needs and wean it off its reliance on Israel for power, an Egyptian energy official said Thursday. [...] The leader of Germany's Jewish community called on the German government Thursday to support Israel in the dispute over Iran's controversial nuclear program. Israel's intelligence community has information about a threat posed by Iran that strongly contradicted the "loose" assessment of the United States, said Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. [...] The Shin Bet security service on Thursday announced that a 17 year-old female resident of East Jerusalem was recently arrested for attempting to carry out a suicide attack in Israel.
A US Navy warship has been ordered to take up station off Lebanon's coast as a "show of support" as the standoff between Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government and the opposition continues, the Reuters news agency quoted an official in Washington as saying on Thursday. According to the agency, the USS Cole - the same high-tech destroyer whose bombing by Al-Qaeda militants off Yemen in 2000 killed 17 sailors - left Malta on Tuesday and will remain over the horizon, at least for the time being. Following repeated US warnings for Syria to stop its alleged meddling in the Lebanese crisis, the deployment was seen as the strongest signal yet that Washington means to maintain pressure on Damascus. The move had not been officially confirmed as The Daily Star went to press, but White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe affirmed that US President George W. Bush was monitoring the Lebanese situation "regularly."
Donnerstag, 28. Februar 2008
IDF kills Thirteen
Während anhaltender schwerer Gefechte im Gazastreifen und in der Westbank werden in mehreren Vorfällen weitere zwölf Personen getötet. Zudem werden durch den anhaltenden Qassam-Raketenbeschuß, der nach Angaben der JPost am heutigen Donnerstag die Anzahl 17 Raketen beträgt eine israelische Zivilistin verletzt. Ebenso in Mitleidenschaft gezogen wird ein Bodyguard des Public Security Ministers Avi Dichter, der das Sapir College in Sderot besuchen wollte in dessen Nähe gestern ein Israeli ums Leben kam. Bei dieser Gelegenheit lehnte Avi Dichter die Wiedereroberung des Gazastreifens ab. Am Morgen wurden bei mehreren Luftangriffen im Osten von Gaza City insgesamt sechs Personen getötet. Der derzeite Status ist extrem unklar. Während die IAF ausschließlich auf bewaffnete PRC-Hamas-Mitglieder geschossen haben will und dabei den Sohn von Hamas-Fraktionschef in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya getötet haben will wird dieser von anderen Quellen selbst als getötet publiziert. Eine Dritte Quelle: "Earlier, six armed Palestinians were killed early Wednesday morning in three IAF strikes in the Saja'iya and Zeitun neighborhoods of Gaza City. Palestinians identified two dead Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) operatives and four Hamas members. At least five gunmen were wounded in the attacks. The army said that it had targeted armed terror operatives, including a Kassam launching cell.". Von Bodentruppeneinsatz wird nur sehr sporadisch berichtet. In der Westbank eskaliert vornehmlich im Raum Nablus derzeit die Situation. Während westbankweit über Nacht zwölf Personen festgenommen werden kommt es im Balata-Flüchtlingslager zu mehreren Schießereien rivalisierender Gangs, wobei IDF-Todesschwadronen zwei Anhänger der al-Aqsa-Brigaden töten. Dazu kursiert Teil III einer "Pardon-Liste" die Israelis den Ramllahnern aushändigen. Die auf den Listen befindlichen Personen sollen keiner Verfolgung mehr ausgesetzt sein, jedoch müssen sie sich an strikte Vorgaben halten. Da die al-Aqsa auch in der Westbank längst den Waffenstillstand aufgekündigt hat und die Israelis aus Liste II zehn Personen wieder gestrichen haben darf die Aktion als brutale Luftnummer bezeichnet werden. [...] A main office of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) was severely damaged in an Israeli air strike late on 27 February. A five-month-old baby was killed, and a mobile clinic unit and other medical supplies were destroyed in the attack. The Israeli military said the air strike targeted a Hamas headquarters in the western part of the Gaza Strip. [...] A large-scale ground operation in the Gaza Strip will not put an end to Kassam rocket fire on the western Negev, Interior Minister Meir "Make an example,take a neighborhood in Gaza and erase it" Sheetrit said Thursday morning, a day after the death of 47-year-old Roni Yihye in a Kassam attack on Sapir College. ... Former IDF chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. (res.) Amnon Lipkin-Shahak said Thursday that the army should have targeted Hamas leaders long ago in retaliation for the rocket attacks on southern Israel. [...] Zusatzbericht: Qassam barrages on southern Israel continue: Several rockets fired at Ashkelon Thursday afternoon; one rocket directly hits house in town. Earlier Thursday, two people lightly wounded in attacks on Sderot, factory catches fire. [...] Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called for the rocket attacks on Israel to stop and blamed Hamas for the situation in Gaza, speaking after a meeting with Olmert in Tokyo on Wednesday. [...] Unklarheit herrscht noch über die letzte Serie von Luftangriffen heute Nachmittag: An Israeli missile attack on Thursday killed four Palestinian youngsters playing football in the Gaza Strip, local medical workers said. Asked about the deaths, an Israeli military spokeswoman said the army was checking the report. [reuters] Die Israelis spekulieren hingegen munter über mittlerweile und angeblich acht "Grad-Type" Katyusha-Ausbaustufen: "Eight grad missiles exploded in Ashkelon on Thursday afternoon, one of which struck directly into a house in the city." Ohne Beweis kein Preis, bei der Attacke werden jedoch mehrere israelische Zivlisten verletzt. Zuvor werden bei einem Luftangriff auf den nördlichen Gazastreifen eine Person getötet und drei weitere verletzt.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that while he opposes taking up armed struggle against Israel at the present time, he would not rule out the option for the future. "I do not support a return to armed struggle at this point in time. But, at a later date, this could be an option for the Palestinian people," Abbas said on Thursday during an interview with the Jordanian newspaper Al-Duster.
New UN special envoy Robert Serry, in a maiden report highly critical of Israel to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, called for a "different and more positive strategy for Gaza" on Tuesday.
Sustainable income projects threatened by bad weather, access restrictions. [Wo ist denn eigentlich Tony Blair? Seit dem der Katholik im Heiligen Land ist hat er wohl ein Schweigegelübde abgelegt.]
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that while he opposes taking up armed struggle against Israel at the present time, he would not rule out the option for the future. "I do not support a return to armed struggle at this point in time. But, at a later date, this could be an option for the Palestinian people," Abbas said on Thursday during an interview with the Jordanian newspaper Al-Duster.
New UN special envoy Robert Serry, in a maiden report highly critical of Israel to the Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, called for a "different and more positive strategy for Gaza" on Tuesday.
Sustainable income projects threatened by bad weather, access restrictions. [Wo ist denn eigentlich Tony Blair? Seit dem der Katholik im Heiligen Land ist hat er wohl ein Schweigegelübde abgelegt.]
Updates
*** Gazastreifen: The Gaza Strip's water provider on Wednesday urged the area's 1.5 million residents to boil their drinking water, blaming a shortage of purifying chlorine on Israel's blockade of the strip. Israel Defense Forces said no Palestinian request for chlorine was made until Wednesday, and it was urgently trying to arrange a new shipment into Gaza. The Coastal Municipality Water Utility informed residents that sanctions have left Gaza without equipment and supplies needed to maintain the water system and chlorine deliveries stopped on January 21. More than one-third of Gaza's water supply is now untreated, said deputy director Maher Najjar, amid concern over a health disaster due to possible contamination. He appealed to the international community for help. [...] The Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution, and the Popular Campaign for Nationalist Reconciliation announced on Tuesday a campaign to collect signatures to urge the Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah to begin dialogue. The deputy director of the Democracy Centrer Iyad Al-Hujair said in a press conference in Gaza City: "We have proposed a plan for nationalist reconciliation through pursuing the origins of the conflict. Many legal experts and specialists in the Palestinian affairs from Arab countries have participated to the plan, and 250 thousand copies have been prepared to be distributed in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip." [...] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said that Al-Qaida militants have infiltrated the Gaza Strip and are receiving assistance from Hamas in establishing a base of operations in the Strip. "An alliance has formed between these two organizations," Abbas told the London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat on Wednesday. [...] Fourteen Palestinian patients from the Gaza Strip crossed into Egypt on Wednesday through an Israeli border crossing point used by vehicles, a Palestinian official said. The Palestinian patients first crossed into Israel at the main Erez checkpoint with northern Gaza, then through the Al-Oja cargo border crossing between Israel and Egypt, where buses were waiting to carry them to the Nasser Medical Center in Cairo for treatment, said Hani Jabbour, a Palestinian official. [...] Egyptian intelligence chief Omer Suleiman is scheduled to arrive in Israel next Tuesday for meetings with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in an effort to advance a new Egyptian initiative to reduce the tension on the border between Egypt, Israel and the Gaza Strip. [...] John Dugard: A report commissioned by the United Nations suggests that Palestinian terrorism is the inevitable consequence of Israeli occupation and laws that resemble South African apartheid - a claim Israel rejected Tuesday as enflaming hatred between Jews and Palestinians. [...] Nazir Majali: For several months now, the media has been reporting that Israel is angry at Egypt's behavior. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who is responsible for strengthening Israel's ties with the rest of the world, launched this trend in December. The rightist opposition continued it, from MK Yuval Steinitz to former minister Avigdor Lieberman. After Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak announced that red lines had been crossed and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit threatened that Egypt could have a negative influence on Israel's interests, Israeli officials ceased speaking on the record, but continued to attack Egypt anonymously, via unnamed "government officials." [...] Amira Hass, "The breakthrough that did not happen": For an entire day, the Israel Defense Forces raised the level of hysteria in Israel by announcing they were preparing for the possibility that thousands of Gazans would try to break through the checkpoints. It is easy now for the army to say that the breakthrough did not occur only because of the warnings that Hamas would be held responsible for the blood that would be shed. But anyone who is attentive to the Palestinians as an occupied people rather than as "an intelligence objective" (which openly provided the information that women and children would demonstrate against the siege on Monday), was aware they did not have a plan to topple the barriers at the Erez and Karni crossing points. The well-publicized army preparations had a racist subtext: Look how Hamas is prepared to send children and women to absorb the bullets. In other words, Hamas is indifferent to people's lives and can also set them in motion like pawns. But even the youngsters who two days ago threw stones at the Erez checkpoint walls, thus putting themselves in danger of being shot at and hit by the IDF, and who were arrested, did not do so because someone had "sent" them. In contrast to Israel, the Palestinians do not have compulsory military service. Everyone who puts himself in danger of dying in what appears to him and his society as the national struggle against the occupation, does so not because "the state" obliges him to do so and sends him but rather because that is what he chooses to do. [...] A prominent Israeli human rights group on Wednesday criticized an Israel Defense Forces probe that decided not to press charges in an errant artillery attack that killed 21 Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip in November 2006. The Military Advocate General announced late Tuesday that it was closing the case after its investigation determined the deaths were the result of a "rare and severe" technical malfunction. In a statement, the human rights group B'Tselem questioned whether the inquiry met proper legal standards: an investigation which is independent, effective, open to review and timely. The group also called on the IDF to take measures that would prevent similar incidents in the future, and urged it to compensate relatives of the dead. [...] Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas -met- with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Tuesday to discuss the latest developments in the Palestinian arena and the efforts to move the peace process forward. Abbas updated Mubarak on the outcome of his recent meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as well as the talks Abbas held yesterday with the Jordanian king Abdullah II.
*** Iran: Russia warned Iran on Wednesday that unless it ceased uranium enrichment within days Moscow would support new UN sanctions being prepared by the West against the Islamic Republic. The Russian envoy to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said Moscow could back a sanctions resolution that the Western powers have drafted and which they want to discuss in the Security Council this week. Churkin said via a video link from New York that Russia had undertaken "certain commitments" to "support the resolution that has been drafted in the past month" unless Iran stopped enrichment activities within the next few days. [Von dem erwarteten Treffen in Japan zwischen Olmert und Rice wird nichts gemeldet. Zuvor war gepoltert worden Rice würde Olmert bezüglich der schleppenden Verhandlungen mir Ramallah abbürsten. Eine Ente damit die Gesellschaft von den eigentlichen zielsetzungen der Beiden abgelenkt wird.
*** Syria-Lebanon: Saudi Arabia withdrew its ambassador from Syria as the two countries clash on how to resolve Lebanon's current political crisis, the Syrian daily Al Watan newspaper reported, citing unidentified diplomats. The kingdom will move its official to Qatar where it hasn't had an ambassador for some 5 years as the two neighboring countries disagreed over content broadcast on Qatar-based al Jazeera television, the report said. [...] Commentary by Joshua Landis: The situation in Lebanon becomes ever more dire as word circulates that Saudi Arabia is withdrawing its ambassador from Syria. The stalemate in Lebanon over the presidency threatens Lebanon's economy. Lebanese authorities are asking Saudi Arabia to plug the holes in the country's economic dike by upping its deposits in Lebanese banks and helping to subsidize the public debt, which cannot be refinanced.
Sehr Empfehlenswert, Blog-Entry I: The Carnegie Endowment has published the best short overview of the Middle East situation I have read. Read the entire Pdf file. "The New Middle East," by Marina Ottaway, Nathan J. Brown, Amr Hamzawy, Karim Sadjadpour, Paul Salem, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, February 2008. [...] Blog-Entry II: Dr. Alon Liel was speaking at the Middle East Institute in Washington last Thursday to a packed audience.
*** Iran: Russia warned Iran on Wednesday that unless it ceased uranium enrichment within days Moscow would support new UN sanctions being prepared by the West against the Islamic Republic. The Russian envoy to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said Moscow could back a sanctions resolution that the Western powers have drafted and which they want to discuss in the Security Council this week. Churkin said via a video link from New York that Russia had undertaken "certain commitments" to "support the resolution that has been drafted in the past month" unless Iran stopped enrichment activities within the next few days. [Von dem erwarteten Treffen in Japan zwischen Olmert und Rice wird nichts gemeldet. Zuvor war gepoltert worden Rice würde Olmert bezüglich der schleppenden Verhandlungen mir Ramallah abbürsten. Eine Ente damit die Gesellschaft von den eigentlichen zielsetzungen der Beiden abgelenkt wird.
*** Syria-Lebanon: Saudi Arabia withdrew its ambassador from Syria as the two countries clash on how to resolve Lebanon's current political crisis, the Syrian daily Al Watan newspaper reported, citing unidentified diplomats. The kingdom will move its official to Qatar where it hasn't had an ambassador for some 5 years as the two neighboring countries disagreed over content broadcast on Qatar-based al Jazeera television, the report said. [...] Commentary by Joshua Landis: The situation in Lebanon becomes ever more dire as word circulates that Saudi Arabia is withdrawing its ambassador from Syria. The stalemate in Lebanon over the presidency threatens Lebanon's economy. Lebanese authorities are asking Saudi Arabia to plug the holes in the country's economic dike by upping its deposits in Lebanese banks and helping to subsidize the public debt, which cannot be refinanced.
Sehr Empfehlenswert, Blog-Entry I: The Carnegie Endowment has published the best short overview of the Middle East situation I have read. Read the entire Pdf file. "The New Middle East," by Marina Ottaway, Nathan J. Brown, Amr Hamzawy, Karim Sadjadpour, Paul Salem, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, February 2008. [...] Blog-Entry II: Dr. Alon Liel was speaking at the Middle East Institute in Washington last Thursday to a packed audience.
Mittwoch, 27. Februar 2008
IDF kills Thirteen - Qassam kills One
Am heutigen Mittwoch sorgen schwere Eskaltionen in allen Krisenzonen für zum Teil extreme Gegenattacken. Hier die zeitlich geordnete Übersicht:
*** In der Nacht zum Mittwoch kommt es zu exzessiven Verhaftungswellen in der Westbank: 17 Palästinenser werden durch IDF-Marodeure entführt. Im Grenzstreifen Gaza-Israel wird in der Nähe des Kissufim Crossings ein palästinensischer Landwirt aus Khan Younis erschossen. [IDF: no comment.] Kurz später attackiert nach palästinensischen Angaben eine Drone Ausssenposten des Islamic Jihad vor dem Flüchtlingslager al-Bureij, wobei ein Milizionär getötet und zwei weitere verletzt werden. [IDF: No attack.]
*** Der ehemalige deutsche Aussenminister Joschka Fischer veröffentlicht ein statement mit der Aussage das die Chancen auf Frieden im Nahen Osten noch nie so gut waren. [Idiot]
*** Am Morgen attackieren israelische Kampfhubschrauber in Khan Younis eine Qassam-Einheit in der sich auch ein "Senior Qassam-engineer" der Hamas befunden haben soll. Fünf Hamasniks werden bei dem Angriff auf ihr Fahrzeug getötet, zwei verletzt. Verschiedene Zivilisten erleiden Verletzungen. Kurz nach dem Vorfall wird das "Begleitfahrzeug" der Einheit ohne Personenschäden zwerstört. ["Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip who were apparently planning a large scale terrorist attack against Israel after having been trained in Iran. The Shin Bet security service ventured a guess that the severity of the rocket attack against Israel Wednesday afternoon reflected the central role the dead Hamas men had played in the organization." Andere Quellen sprechen von einer syrischen Ausbildung.]
*** In der Westbank eskaliert unterdessen die Verhaftungsorgie der IDF-Marodierer. Bei einem Verhaftungsanschlag auf Mitglieder der Tanzim-Brigaden wird ein Milizionär erschossen und drei weitere verletzt. Nach IDF-Angaben suchten die wegen Militäraktionsplanung zu verhaftenden Tanzim-Mitglieder in einer nicht näher detailliert wieder gegebenen Art und Weise zu fliehen und wurden daher durchlöchert. Palästinensische Quellen hingegen bezeugen das die vier in einem Taxi saßen auf das kurzerhand durch die Marodierer geschossen wurde. Danaben veröffentlicht die Zeitung Maariv einen Bericht über rechtsstaatlich einwandfrei trainierte sicherheitsleute die an einem Checkpoint einen Palästinenser über drei Stunden mißhandelten, nackt auszogen und ihn im Anschluß vor ihnen tanzen ließen.
*** Am Nachmittag beginnt die Gegenaktion der Hamas, die insgesamt etwa vierzig Qassam-Raketen auf die Grenzstadt Sderot abschießent und dabei bei einem Treffer in der Nähe eines Autos einen israelischen Zivilisten durch Schrapnelle der Rakete tötet. Wütende israelische Artillerieschläge töten zuerst bei Ash-Shuja'iyya in einem Olivenhain zwei Zivilisten, wobei die Identifizierung des einen Opfers noch aussteht. Zwei Personen werden verletzt.
*** Am Abend werden vier Qassam-Raketen auf Askhelon abgefeuert. Die IAF greift darauf hin einen Qassam-Launcher in Nord-Gaza-City an. Bei der Attacke werden drei Kinder getötet darunter ein 6-Monate altes Baby und mehrere Kinder schwer verletzt. Anstatt den schweren Fehler und den Bruch sämtlicher Kriegsrechte zuzugeben verschanzt sich die IAF vorerst hinter dümmlichen Ausreden: Erst wird die Zeit des Angriffs um Stunden vorverlagert [in Richtung der Tötung des israelischen Zivilisten], dann der Zielort nach Beit Hanoun verlagert.
*** Im Süd-Libanon werden bei der Explosion einer IDF-Streubombe vier Personen verletzt.
*** In der beginnenden Nacht werden der Amtssitz von Imail Haniyeh und das angrenzende Innenministerium nebst Areal durch israelische Kampfflugzeuge bombardiert. Zwei Attacken werden auf metallverarbeitende Manufakturen gemeldet. Mehr als 30 Zivilisten werden verletzt.
Daneben pumpt sich der übliche Medienkrieg auf: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday said that a war was being waged in southern Israel and the Gaza Strip, and vowed that "no one in Hamas, not the low-level officials nor the highest echelon, will be immune against this war." [...] Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit called for an intensified campaign to target Gaza militants. "If it were up to me, I would hit everything that moves with weapons and ammunition," he told Army Radio. "I don't think we have to show pity for anyone who wants to kill us." [...] U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories next week in a bid to push along U.S.-brokered peace talks complicated by mounting violence in Gaza. State Department spokesman Tom Casey announced the trip on Wednesday and said Rice would leave on March 3 for meetings with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. She will then visit Brussels for a NATO foreign ministers meeting before going home on March 7. [...] "A solution to the Qassams will be found faster than what most people believe," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday night during a meeting with the heads of the western Negev communities at Sapir College, where 47-year-old Roni Yechiah found his death earlier in a rocket attack.
*** In der Nacht zum Mittwoch kommt es zu exzessiven Verhaftungswellen in der Westbank: 17 Palästinenser werden durch IDF-Marodeure entführt. Im Grenzstreifen Gaza-Israel wird in der Nähe des Kissufim Crossings ein palästinensischer Landwirt aus Khan Younis erschossen. [IDF: no comment.] Kurz später attackiert nach palästinensischen Angaben eine Drone Ausssenposten des Islamic Jihad vor dem Flüchtlingslager al-Bureij, wobei ein Milizionär getötet und zwei weitere verletzt werden. [IDF: No attack.]
*** Der ehemalige deutsche Aussenminister Joschka Fischer veröffentlicht ein statement mit der Aussage das die Chancen auf Frieden im Nahen Osten noch nie so gut waren. [Idiot]
*** Am Morgen attackieren israelische Kampfhubschrauber in Khan Younis eine Qassam-Einheit in der sich auch ein "Senior Qassam-engineer" der Hamas befunden haben soll. Fünf Hamasniks werden bei dem Angriff auf ihr Fahrzeug getötet, zwei verletzt. Verschiedene Zivilisten erleiden Verletzungen. Kurz nach dem Vorfall wird das "Begleitfahrzeug" der Einheit ohne Personenschäden zwerstört. ["Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip who were apparently planning a large scale terrorist attack against Israel after having been trained in Iran. The Shin Bet security service ventured a guess that the severity of the rocket attack against Israel Wednesday afternoon reflected the central role the dead Hamas men had played in the organization." Andere Quellen sprechen von einer syrischen Ausbildung.]
*** In der Westbank eskaliert unterdessen die Verhaftungsorgie der IDF-Marodierer. Bei einem Verhaftungsanschlag auf Mitglieder der Tanzim-Brigaden wird ein Milizionär erschossen und drei weitere verletzt. Nach IDF-Angaben suchten die wegen Militäraktionsplanung zu verhaftenden Tanzim-Mitglieder in einer nicht näher detailliert wieder gegebenen Art und Weise zu fliehen und wurden daher durchlöchert. Palästinensische Quellen hingegen bezeugen das die vier in einem Taxi saßen auf das kurzerhand durch die Marodierer geschossen wurde. Danaben veröffentlicht die Zeitung Maariv einen Bericht über rechtsstaatlich einwandfrei trainierte sicherheitsleute die an einem Checkpoint einen Palästinenser über drei Stunden mißhandelten, nackt auszogen und ihn im Anschluß vor ihnen tanzen ließen.
*** Am Nachmittag beginnt die Gegenaktion der Hamas, die insgesamt etwa vierzig Qassam-Raketen auf die Grenzstadt Sderot abschießent und dabei bei einem Treffer in der Nähe eines Autos einen israelischen Zivilisten durch Schrapnelle der Rakete tötet. Wütende israelische Artillerieschläge töten zuerst bei Ash-Shuja'iyya in einem Olivenhain zwei Zivilisten, wobei die Identifizierung des einen Opfers noch aussteht. Zwei Personen werden verletzt.
*** Am Abend werden vier Qassam-Raketen auf Askhelon abgefeuert. Die IAF greift darauf hin einen Qassam-Launcher in Nord-Gaza-City an. Bei der Attacke werden drei Kinder getötet darunter ein 6-Monate altes Baby und mehrere Kinder schwer verletzt. Anstatt den schweren Fehler und den Bruch sämtlicher Kriegsrechte zuzugeben verschanzt sich die IAF vorerst hinter dümmlichen Ausreden: Erst wird die Zeit des Angriffs um Stunden vorverlagert [in Richtung der Tötung des israelischen Zivilisten], dann der Zielort nach Beit Hanoun verlagert.
*** Im Süd-Libanon werden bei der Explosion einer IDF-Streubombe vier Personen verletzt.
*** In der beginnenden Nacht werden der Amtssitz von Imail Haniyeh und das angrenzende Innenministerium nebst Areal durch israelische Kampfflugzeuge bombardiert. Zwei Attacken werden auf metallverarbeitende Manufakturen gemeldet. Mehr als 30 Zivilisten werden verletzt.
Daneben pumpt sich der übliche Medienkrieg auf: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday said that a war was being waged in southern Israel and the Gaza Strip, and vowed that "no one in Hamas, not the low-level officials nor the highest echelon, will be immune against this war." [...] Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit called for an intensified campaign to target Gaza militants. "If it were up to me, I would hit everything that moves with weapons and ammunition," he told Army Radio. "I don't think we have to show pity for anyone who wants to kill us." [...] U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories next week in a bid to push along U.S.-brokered peace talks complicated by mounting violence in Gaza. State Department spokesman Tom Casey announced the trip on Wednesday and said Rice would leave on March 3 for meetings with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. She will then visit Brussels for a NATO foreign ministers meeting before going home on March 7. [...] "A solution to the Qassams will be found faster than what most people believe," Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Wednesday night during a meeting with the heads of the western Negev communities at Sapir College, where 47-year-old Roni Yechiah found his death earlier in a rocket attack.
Dienstag, 26. Februar 2008
Updates
*** Gazastreifen: Several thousand Palestinians, many of them schoolchildren, joined peaceful protests in the Gaza Strip along the border with Israel on Monday, forming human chains in some locations as part of a public campaign against the Israeli blockade. But the turnout was far smaller than had been expected, and fears in Israel that masses of Gaza residents might try to break through the border fence, as they breached the border with Egypt last month, proved unfounded. Shortly after the demonstrators dispersed, militants in Gaza fired a number of rockets at Israel. One landed outside an apartment block in the Israeli border town of Sderot. A boy, Yossi Yadlin Haimov, 10, was badly wounded in the shoulder by shrapnel and underwent surgery at a hospital in nearby Ashkelon. A woman and a baby were lightly wounded and were sent to a hospital for treatment. Also after the main protest ended, a group of Palestinian youths rioted at the Erez crossing on Gaza's northern border with Israel, throwing stones. They tried to approach the Israeli side and Israeli troops fired shots into the air to disperse them, an army spokeswoman said, speaking on condition of anonymity under army rules. She added that 49 Palestinians had been arrested, and that one Israeli officer had been lightly wounded in the confrontation. At least two Palestinians were wounded, according to Palestinian reports. [...] Das Niveau der Attacken ist in den letzten beiden Tagen merklich gestiegen. Der Angriff mit den Verletzten geht auf das Konto der PFLP und eine Fatah-Splittergruppe. Am Montag schossen zudem die Al-Aqsa-Brigaden drei Raketen auf Ashkelon und zwei auf Kfar Aza, die al-Quds-Brigaden feuern drei Mörsergranaten auf den Grenzübergang Kissufim. Am Abend beschiessen die PRC mit zwei Raketen und die PFLP mit Mörsergranaten israelsiche Grenzposten. Israelische Quellen berichten von zwei Qassam-Raketen auf Sderot in der Nacht zum Dienstag und heute werden bislang vier Raketenabschüsse gemeldet. Anat Meidan: Sderot’s war children - Monday’s rocket attack put an end to childhood of wounded boy and his sister + Kommentar: Hamas-linked Palestinian legislator Jamal al-Khudari has been working with colleagues in the Popular Committee Against the Siege to organize various mass nonviolent actions in the Strip. The latest, today, was a human chain along the length of the Strip. Members of the PCAS had previously expressed the hope that some 40,000 Gazans would take part. In the event, only a reported 5,000 did. The rainy weather did not help. [...] Trained terror activists and al-Qaeda operatives have recently entered the Gaza Strip through the breached border with Egypt, head of the IDF's Intelligence Branch Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin said Tuesday. In a briefing to the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yadlin stated that "the breaching of the border along the Philadelphi route has enabled Hamas to bring back to Gaza activists that were sent to undergo training in Syria and Iran, including snipers, explosives experts and engineers." [...] Fuel shortages and power outages in the Gaza Strip continue to affect civilians and institutions such as hospitals, and remain a part of daily life. Israel has capped the amount of industrial fuel allowed into the territory, and the sole power plant, which relies on diesel, can only produce about 55MW of electricity, though its capacity is 80MW. Earlier this month Israel also cut about 1 percent of the electricity it supplies directly to Gaza, exacerbating the problem. [...] Kommentar: It should not have come as a surprise that the Qassam rockets struck Sderot several moments after the Palestinian demonstration south of the Erez crossing died out. The small number of protesters the organizers managed to rally did not meet the expectations or the preparations of the Israeli security forces, and certainly not those of the media. But the lack of a story at Erez quickly changed with the horrifying scenes from Sderot - and with it so did the media's attention: The desperate situation of Gazan children under an economic siege moved to the immediate suffering of Sderot children, after one of them, Yossi Haimov, suffered injuries from Qassam rocket fragments to his shoulder. [...] The Palestinian government plans to connect more areas of the Gaza Strip to the Egyptian electricity grid, the head of the Palestinian Energy Authority said Tuesday, a move that would reduce the area's reliance on Israel for power. Abbas' energy chief, Omar Qattaneh, said the authority has secured financing from the Islamic Development Bank in Saudi Arabia for the $32 million project, which would be able to distribute up to 250 megawatts, or a large part of the area's needs. He said bids would be published in the coming days, and the project could be completed in 12 to 18 months.
*** Westbank: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that he is not certain Israel and the Palestinian Authority will be able to reach a peace agreement by the end of 2008, as they committed themselves to doing in the November U.S.-sponsored Annapolis conference. "We have a desire to reach an agreement within the year 2008," Olmert told a business conference in Tokyo, where he is making his first visit as prime minister. "I am not sure we will make it, but we are determined to make a giant step forward to end this dispute once and for all." Unterdessen looten und marodieren IDF-Milizionäre in der Westbank wie es ihnen gefällt: 15 Verhaftungen, Operationen in acht Orten, Schießereien, Schlachten mit Steinewerfern, Randalieren in Krankenhäusern und Geldbeschaffung [Israel Defense Forces troops seized the facilities of a Hamas-affiliated charity in the West Bank city of Hebron, saying it funneled money to the Islamic group's militant activities and recruited members to its ranks, the army announced Tuesday.] Zusätzlich wurde tagsüber Nablus besucht und sechs Verhaftungen getätigt. Nach Augenzeugenberichten wurden nach dem Verlassen des Lagerplatzes der Marodeure Blutlachen auf dem Boden gefunden. [...] The Palestinian education minister in the Ramallah-based caretaker government, Ibrahim Al-Abrash, told Ma'an on Monday that he submitted his resignation to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas two weeks ago. He said that he has not yet received the president's response. Al-Abrash said his resignation was related to what he views as a dire situation in the Palestinian society arena in light of the political separation between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as well as absence of any hope for a peaceful settlement with Israel. He said his resignation had nothing to do with rumored adjustments and changes in the caretaker cabinet headed by Salam Fayyad. There have been suggestions recently that the caretaker government will become a permanent government after having a shuffling of cabinet ministers. Abbas appointed the present government after firing the Hamas-Fatah unity government in the wake of Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. The president extended the term of the emergency cabinet after its one-month term expired, calling it a caretaker government. [...] The West Bank town of Jericho was connected to the Jordanian power grid on Monday in a move a Palestinian official said was meant to reduce dependence on Israeli electricity supplies. A Palestinian official responsible for the project said the connection cost $10 million and means the ancient town of Jericho and its surroundings no longer depend on Israeli electricity. "The aim of this step is to reduce our consumption of Israeli electricity and hook up with the Arab network," said Omar Kittaneh, head of the Palestinian Energy Authority. [...] Agriculture Ministry inspectors and the Border Police have confiscated some 120,000 eggs smuggled into Israel from the West Bank in recent weeks, warning that the eggs are dangerous to people's health.
*** Dümmstes Statement des Tages: Gaza demonstration "much ado about nothing" [E. Olmert]
*** Sonstiges: Vice Premier Haim Ramon told a Knesset panel Monday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wants to reach an agreement with West Bank settlers on the fate of the unauthorized outposts. In comments to the Knesset State Control Committee, Ramon warned that the government would dismantle the outposts by force if necessary. "We don't want a confrontation, but if there is no choice, the government will fulfill its obligations. [Vor einem Monat: "Olmert and Barak said they would use the coming six months to persuade the residents of Migron to leave the outpost voluntarily and move to another site, one that is legal and available. The state's representative, attorney Aner Hellman, added that if the negotiations over these months led to "substantial progress towards a voluntary evacuation," the state reserved the right to ask for more time to complete the process."] [Am 14.01.08: "Defense Minister Ehud Barak has reached an agreement with leaders of the settlement movement for the peaceful evacuation of 18 outposts in the West Bank, sources close to the minister told Haaretz."] [...] Former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Dan Shomron, who as an officer presided over the famous Entebbe rescue operation, died Tuesday at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. [...] Two Israel Defense Forces officers were injured Monday in an explosion at the Palmachim base in central Israel. The accident occured during the course of a test of weapons seized from the Lebanon-based guerilla group Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006. One officer suffered serious wounds in the blast and lost his arm. A non-commissioned officer was moderately hurt. [...] The Kadima Party MKs on Monday convened the party management forum, which includes all party members that aren't ministers, and expressed harsh criticism against the negotiations on the fate of Jerusalem. The forum decided that the party would adopt a uniform stance against the division of the capital. The forum convened as peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians were underway, jumpstarted in November at a U.S.-hosted peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. One of the core issues on the negotiating table is the fate of Jerusalem, parts of which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.
*** Westbank: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that he is not certain Israel and the Palestinian Authority will be able to reach a peace agreement by the end of 2008, as they committed themselves to doing in the November U.S.-sponsored Annapolis conference. "We have a desire to reach an agreement within the year 2008," Olmert told a business conference in Tokyo, where he is making his first visit as prime minister. "I am not sure we will make it, but we are determined to make a giant step forward to end this dispute once and for all." Unterdessen looten und marodieren IDF-Milizionäre in der Westbank wie es ihnen gefällt: 15 Verhaftungen, Operationen in acht Orten, Schießereien, Schlachten mit Steinewerfern, Randalieren in Krankenhäusern und Geldbeschaffung [Israel Defense Forces troops seized the facilities of a Hamas-affiliated charity in the West Bank city of Hebron, saying it funneled money to the Islamic group's militant activities and recruited members to its ranks, the army announced Tuesday.] Zusätzlich wurde tagsüber Nablus besucht und sechs Verhaftungen getätigt. Nach Augenzeugenberichten wurden nach dem Verlassen des Lagerplatzes der Marodeure Blutlachen auf dem Boden gefunden. [...] The Palestinian education minister in the Ramallah-based caretaker government, Ibrahim Al-Abrash, told Ma'an on Monday that he submitted his resignation to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas two weeks ago. He said that he has not yet received the president's response. Al-Abrash said his resignation was related to what he views as a dire situation in the Palestinian society arena in light of the political separation between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as well as absence of any hope for a peaceful settlement with Israel. He said his resignation had nothing to do with rumored adjustments and changes in the caretaker cabinet headed by Salam Fayyad. There have been suggestions recently that the caretaker government will become a permanent government after having a shuffling of cabinet ministers. Abbas appointed the present government after firing the Hamas-Fatah unity government in the wake of Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. The president extended the term of the emergency cabinet after its one-month term expired, calling it a caretaker government. [...] The West Bank town of Jericho was connected to the Jordanian power grid on Monday in a move a Palestinian official said was meant to reduce dependence on Israeli electricity supplies. A Palestinian official responsible for the project said the connection cost $10 million and means the ancient town of Jericho and its surroundings no longer depend on Israeli electricity. "The aim of this step is to reduce our consumption of Israeli electricity and hook up with the Arab network," said Omar Kittaneh, head of the Palestinian Energy Authority. [...] Agriculture Ministry inspectors and the Border Police have confiscated some 120,000 eggs smuggled into Israel from the West Bank in recent weeks, warning that the eggs are dangerous to people's health.
*** Dümmstes Statement des Tages: Gaza demonstration "much ado about nothing" [E. Olmert]
*** Sonstiges: Vice Premier Haim Ramon told a Knesset panel Monday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wants to reach an agreement with West Bank settlers on the fate of the unauthorized outposts. In comments to the Knesset State Control Committee, Ramon warned that the government would dismantle the outposts by force if necessary. "We don't want a confrontation, but if there is no choice, the government will fulfill its obligations. [Vor einem Monat: "Olmert and Barak said they would use the coming six months to persuade the residents of Migron to leave the outpost voluntarily and move to another site, one that is legal and available. The state's representative, attorney Aner Hellman, added that if the negotiations over these months led to "substantial progress towards a voluntary evacuation," the state reserved the right to ask for more time to complete the process."] [Am 14.01.08: "Defense Minister Ehud Barak has reached an agreement with leaders of the settlement movement for the peaceful evacuation of 18 outposts in the West Bank, sources close to the minister told Haaretz."] [...] Former Israel Defense Forces chief of staff Dan Shomron, who as an officer presided over the famous Entebbe rescue operation, died Tuesday at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv. [...] Two Israel Defense Forces officers were injured Monday in an explosion at the Palmachim base in central Israel. The accident occured during the course of a test of weapons seized from the Lebanon-based guerilla group Hezbollah during the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006. One officer suffered serious wounds in the blast and lost his arm. A non-commissioned officer was moderately hurt. [...] The Kadima Party MKs on Monday convened the party management forum, which includes all party members that aren't ministers, and expressed harsh criticism against the negotiations on the fate of Jerusalem. The forum decided that the party would adopt a uniform stance against the division of the capital. The forum convened as peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians were underway, jumpstarted in November at a U.S.-hosted peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. One of the core issues on the negotiating table is the fate of Jerusalem, parts of which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.
Montag, 25. Februar 2008
Fundsache
Nach vier entspannteren Wochen ist mir endlich wieder ein würdiger Preisträger über den Weg gelaufen.
Der heutige Ehrenpreis für Volksverdummung geht an den offensichtlich vollkommen außer Kontrolle geratenen Ober-Antisemiten und Möllemann-Anhänger Hanns Küper, Horneburg 1, 59368 Werne für seinen stinkenden Güllefluß an idiotisch-antisemitischen Aussagen die eliminatorischen Charackter aufweisen, der
stark die NS-Geschichte revisionierend seit neuestem Internetforen bei der WELT und bei Spiegel online verseucht. Dabei bemäntelt sich dieses Kerlchen auch noch als gläubiger Jesusfreak.
Zitat: Israel ist der Ursprung des Faschismus. Mussolini und Hitler haben ihre Lehre von Israels Priestern übernommen. Und heute übernimmt Israels Staat die faschistische Politik der Stärke gegen die Palästinenser. Mit Erfolg, weil sie per se die Guten sind. Das ist krank und nationalistisch. [Update: Mittlerweile hat die Zensur den entsprechenden Beitrag geläscht, aber der Amokläufer läuft dort immer noch frei herum...]
Und nach dieser Laudatio lehnen wir uns zurück und lauschen dem Männergesangsverein Hintertupfingen bei seiner Adaption von Beethovens "Antisemitische Schweinepriester, schöne Götterfunken!"
... Froh, wie Tausend Schweine fliegen,
Durch des Himmels prächt'gen Plan,
Laufet, antisemitische Schweinepriester, eure Bahn,
Freudig, wie der Held zum Siegen.
Seid umgebracht, Millionen!
Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!
Brüder, über'm Sterbebett
Muß ein lieber Diktator wohnen.
Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such' ihn über'm Sterbebett!
Über denen muß er wohnen
Seid umgebracht, Millionen!..
Der heutige Ehrenpreis für Volksverdummung geht an den offensichtlich vollkommen außer Kontrolle geratenen Ober-Antisemiten und Möllemann-Anhänger Hanns Küper, Horneburg 1, 59368 Werne für seinen stinkenden Güllefluß an idiotisch-antisemitischen Aussagen die eliminatorischen Charackter aufweisen, der
stark die NS-Geschichte revisionierend seit neuestem Internetforen bei der WELT und bei Spiegel online verseucht. Dabei bemäntelt sich dieses Kerlchen auch noch als gläubiger Jesusfreak.
Zitat: Israel ist der Ursprung des Faschismus. Mussolini und Hitler haben ihre Lehre von Israels Priestern übernommen. Und heute übernimmt Israels Staat die faschistische Politik der Stärke gegen die Palästinenser. Mit Erfolg, weil sie per se die Guten sind. Das ist krank und nationalistisch. [Update: Mittlerweile hat die Zensur den entsprechenden Beitrag geläscht, aber der Amokläufer läuft dort immer noch frei herum...]
Und nach dieser Laudatio lehnen wir uns zurück und lauschen dem Männergesangsverein Hintertupfingen bei seiner Adaption von Beethovens "Antisemitische Schweinepriester, schöne Götterfunken!"
... Froh, wie Tausend Schweine fliegen,
Durch des Himmels prächt'gen Plan,
Laufet, antisemitische Schweinepriester, eure Bahn,
Freudig, wie der Held zum Siegen.
Seid umgebracht, Millionen!
Diesen Kuß der ganzen Welt!
Brüder, über'm Sterbebett
Muß ein lieber Diktator wohnen.
Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such' ihn über'm Sterbebett!
Über denen muß er wohnen
Seid umgebracht, Millionen!..
IDF kills Two - Mass Rally on Monday
Bei einem Luftangriff der IAF [wohl] in der Rafah-Zone werden vor einer Stunde zwei Hamasniks getötet und zwei weitere verletzt. Im Tagesverlauf war es dort zu einer mittleren Operation gegen Schmuggel-Tunnel gekommen. Etwa vierzig Palästinenser werden verhaftet. Nach IDF-Angaben fünf Tunnel gefunden und gesprengt. Mit Spannung erwartet wird für heute eine Aktion der Hamas am Erez Crossing: Israel warned Hamas on Sunday evening that the organization would be responsible for any consequences of a planned march along the Gaza Strip's border Monday, saying any harm to civilians would be Hamas' fault. Some 40,000 Palestinians are expected to march along the Gaza Strip's border in protest of Israel's economic embargo on the coastal territory. "Israel will defend its territory and will stop any infiltration attempt into its sovereign borders," Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said in a joint statement sent to all Israeli embassies and missions. "Hamas is behind activities that place the civilian population on the front lines," the statement added. Derweil wird erneut durch ägyptische Grenzer eine Frau bei dem Versuch nach Israel illegal einzureisen erschossen. [Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday ordered the deportation of thousands of African asylum seekers who entered Israel illegally via Sinai and whose lives would not be endangered if sent home. + Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Sunday spoke out against the prime minister's instructions to relax Israel's policy on attempted infiltrators to make it easier for border troops to open fire on people trying to cross into Israel illegally. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday had ordered the defense establishment to step up efforts to prevent the illegal infiltration of job-seeking Africans into Israel through the border with Egypt. ] Am Nachmittag kommt es zu drei Qassam-Raketenabschüssen. Zwei landen noch auf palästinensischem Territorium.
Aus der Westbank wird die kurzzeitige Verhaftung nebst Verhör von Khaled Amayreh durch Ramallahner gemeldet. Der fatah-kritische und teils antisemitisch operierende Veteran war zuletzt durch eine "Waffenstillstandsvereinbarung" mit einem Siedler-Rabbi auffällig geworden. [...] Thousands of angry Hamas loyalists on Sunday marched at the funeral of a Muslim preacher who died in the custody of government interrogators, accusing the Palestinian Authority of killing the man and turning the ceremony into a rare show of defiance against President Mahmoud Abbas. Some 3,000 Hamas loyalists crowded the village of Kobar, carrying the body of 44-year-old Majed Barghouti, who died in a lockup run by intelligence officials on Friday, a week after he was arrested. [...] Fourteen Fatah-affiliated Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) members visited the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Sunday to investigate Israel's increasingly oppressive closure policies in the city, Munjid Jadu, a spokesperson for the Bethlehem governor's office said. The delegation was headed by Azzam Al-Ahmad, speaker of the Fatah bloc in the PLC. After visiting the Fatah headquarters in Bethlehem, the delegation met with the governor of Bethlehem, Salah Ta'mary, and the directors of the security services municipal councils in Bethlehem district. + After months of delay, Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Sunday set up teams of government experts to try to jumpstart U.S.-backed peace talks that critics say have yet to yield any progress. "The teams will focus on a range of specific issues, from security to trade and water use, that would form part of any agreement on a Palestinian state," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel.
Der Libanon kommt mal wieder hier zu kurz [war aber eh wenig los]: Arab League chief Amr Moussa held talks with rival political leaders in Lebanon on Sunday in a bid to break a deadlock that has left the country without a president for three months. Moussa hosted a meeting bringing together two leading members of the Western-backed ruling coalition, parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri Saad-Hariri-Profile Sep-07 and former President Amin Gemayel, and Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun. As The Daily Star went to press the meeting was still not adjourned. [...] Verweisen darf man auf die teilweise großartige Diskussion in diesem thread hier. Ergänzend: Saudis pull out $4.8 billion from Lebanon.
Raghida Dergham, "Arab attempts to lure Damaskus hit the walls of Syrian demands in Lebanon": There is increasing talk of intelligence information about an alleged dispute within the regime in Damascus; some intelligence information even refers to indicators implying that the Syrian regime is willing to accept proposals. A few take this information seriously and encourage responsiveness to any indicators heralding a potential positive change, especially if such change weakens certain figures associated with intelligence activities. Those embracing this view believe that responsiveness can save Syria from collective punishment. On the other hand, there is another camp with a completely different opinion, arguing that the regime is coherent and cohesive and that those messages and indicators claimed to be intelligence are in fact information propagated by the regime itself to distract others, buy time, target Lebanese institutions, and play on Arab fears. Regardless of what lies behind all this talk, the intelligence quasi-wars that accompany it in the region are carrying fears to a completely new level. Some even warn against an "intelligence free hand" among countries and within particular states. The assassination of Imad Mughniyyeh, Hezbollah's military official in Damascus, has raised a series of assumptions and expectations about retaliatory attacks by Hezbollah and Iran. Being the battlefield for wars-by-proxy, Lebanon is likely to pay the price.
Aus der Westbank wird die kurzzeitige Verhaftung nebst Verhör von Khaled Amayreh durch Ramallahner gemeldet. Der fatah-kritische und teils antisemitisch operierende Veteran war zuletzt durch eine "Waffenstillstandsvereinbarung" mit einem Siedler-Rabbi auffällig geworden. [...] Thousands of angry Hamas loyalists on Sunday marched at the funeral of a Muslim preacher who died in the custody of government interrogators, accusing the Palestinian Authority of killing the man and turning the ceremony into a rare show of defiance against President Mahmoud Abbas. Some 3,000 Hamas loyalists crowded the village of Kobar, carrying the body of 44-year-old Majed Barghouti, who died in a lockup run by intelligence officials on Friday, a week after he was arrested. [...] Fourteen Fatah-affiliated Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) members visited the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Sunday to investigate Israel's increasingly oppressive closure policies in the city, Munjid Jadu, a spokesperson for the Bethlehem governor's office said. The delegation was headed by Azzam Al-Ahmad, speaker of the Fatah bloc in the PLC. After visiting the Fatah headquarters in Bethlehem, the delegation met with the governor of Bethlehem, Salah Ta'mary, and the directors of the security services municipal councils in Bethlehem district. + After months of delay, Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Sunday set up teams of government experts to try to jumpstart U.S.-backed peace talks that critics say have yet to yield any progress. "The teams will focus on a range of specific issues, from security to trade and water use, that would form part of any agreement on a Palestinian state," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel.
Der Libanon kommt mal wieder hier zu kurz [war aber eh wenig los]: Arab League chief Amr Moussa held talks with rival political leaders in Lebanon on Sunday in a bid to break a deadlock that has left the country without a president for three months. Moussa hosted a meeting bringing together two leading members of the Western-backed ruling coalition, parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri Saad-Hariri-Profile Sep-07 and former President Amin Gemayel, and Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun. As The Daily Star went to press the meeting was still not adjourned. [...] Verweisen darf man auf die teilweise großartige Diskussion in diesem thread hier. Ergänzend: Saudis pull out $4.8 billion from Lebanon.
Raghida Dergham, "Arab attempts to lure Damaskus hit the walls of Syrian demands in Lebanon": There is increasing talk of intelligence information about an alleged dispute within the regime in Damascus; some intelligence information even refers to indicators implying that the Syrian regime is willing to accept proposals. A few take this information seriously and encourage responsiveness to any indicators heralding a potential positive change, especially if such change weakens certain figures associated with intelligence activities. Those embracing this view believe that responsiveness can save Syria from collective punishment. On the other hand, there is another camp with a completely different opinion, arguing that the regime is coherent and cohesive and that those messages and indicators claimed to be intelligence are in fact information propagated by the regime itself to distract others, buy time, target Lebanese institutions, and play on Arab fears. Regardless of what lies behind all this talk, the intelligence quasi-wars that accompany it in the region are carrying fears to a completely new level. Some even warn against an "intelligence free hand" among countries and within particular states. The assassination of Imad Mughniyyeh, Hezbollah's military official in Damascus, has raised a series of assumptions and expectations about retaliatory attacks by Hezbollah and Iran. Being the battlefield for wars-by-proxy, Lebanon is likely to pay the price.
Sonntag, 24. Februar 2008
Updates
*** Gazastreifen: Nach mittlerweile einhelligen Berichten wurden gestern drei Zivilisten in An-Nizar, Beit Hanoun durch israelsichen Artilleriebeschuß getötet. Die PFLP berichtet einer der Männer sei ein Mitglied von ihr gewesen. Die Picknick-Variante wird mit "im Haus nach dem Abendessen getroffen" ersetzt. Am Samstag Abend wird auch die Zone Ash-Shua'yya vor Gaza City mit Artillerie beschossen. Ein Leichtverletzter. Die "Qassam-Dichte" bleibt niedrig, drei Projektile am Morgen, ohne Treffer. Am Karni-Crossing soll es eine Schießerei gegeben haben in deren Verlauf palästinensische Milizionäre getroffen worden wären. Eine Bestätigung steht aus. Die Versorgungslage: Gasoline ran out in Gaza over the weekend in the aftermath of limitations imposed by Israel on imports into the Strip, excluding fuel for emergency vehicles. Diesel fuel is also said to be in short supply. Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces beefed up troops along the border with Gaza, fearing thousands of Palestinians may march on the border in protest of Israel's economic sanctions. Israel fears that crowds of Palestinians might rush the border, and that large numbers of casualties will result from the army's attempts to stop them. [...] The IDF deployed a number of battalions near the fence in the northern Strip to prepare for possible Palestinian attempts to breach the border. The IDF Gaza Brigade has been conducting exercises simulating mass civilian marches, outfitting the soldiers with riot-control gear. The army is concerned that Palestinians may try to take over crossings on the Israel-Gaza Strip border, and that Hamas intends to march them into a Jewish community near Gaza. [Es kann auch einen anderen Grund für die Aufstellung der Uniformen geben...] The cabinet approved Sunday a 327-million-shekel investment for the fortification of Sderot and Gaza belt homes. During his speech at the start of the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that "by 2010, it will be possible to provide a fitting response to Kassams in a multi-layered system that includes fortification, the Iron Dome interception system and an early-warning mechanism."
*** Westbank: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas opened an investigation into the death of a Hamas preacher who the Islamist group said was tortured by Fatah security services, officials said on Saturday. Hamas Islamists have accused security agents from Abbas's more secular Fatah faction of torturing to death imam Majd al-Barghouthi, a local Hamas leader in the West Bank city of Ramallah, near Jerusalem. Abbas's security force said on Friday that Barghouthi had died of a stroke. The 45-year-old father of nine had been detained for a week before his death. [...] Ärger gibt es auch mit einem selbsternannten Kandidaten für die Nachfolge von Mahmoud Abbas. Nachdem "interessierte Quellen" den Austritt von Farouk Qaddoumi aus der Fatah-Bewegung lancierten weist dieser in der Zeitung al-Quds al-Arabi zurück. [Hinergrund: Fatah's much-heralded, long-awaited and long-delayed sixth General Conference, slated for March, has fallen victim to Fatah's chronic internal contradictions. According to insiders in the movement's higher echelons, the conference has been postponed "until further notice". In Fatah-speak, this probably means "never". Many of Fatah's younger leaders and activists had hoped and probably still hope that the organisation of the conference would provide a rare opportunity to put Fatah's house in order and introduce badly-needed democratic reforms to a movement that is increasingly suffering from a host of ailments, including corruption, rampant factionalism and demoralisation.] Während aus verschiedenen Westbankstädten die üblichen Verhaftungsaktionen gemeldet werden südlich von Hebron für die Siedlung Eshkolot [knapp im Bereich der Mauer] palästinensische Privatgrundstücke konfisziert. [...] Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has seen signs of "slow progress" in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and hopes an agreement can be reached this year, Egypt's state news agency said on Saturday. "There are indications of slow progress between the two negotiating teams, but follow-up -- especially from the American side -- is important and necessary to overcome the difficulties facing the talks," Mubarak said in remarks carried on state news agency MENA. [...] Shooting Palestinian bystanders; illegally commandeering cars and going on joyrides; torturing a youth by pressing a heater to his face and beating cuffed prisoners on their way to custody. These are only some of the reported cases of abuse for which Israel Defense Forces soldiers serving in the West Bank are currently on trial. "We've been hit by a tsunami," said the commander of the Kfir Brigade, members of which were recently implicated in a rampage through a West Bank town that left two Palestinians wounded, one of them seriously. Kfir is the largest IDF unit in the West Bank. "I suppose every brigade goes through low and high periods, and right now we're in a low one."
The Foreign Ministry has begun a strategic overhaul of relations with the EU and its member nations, increasingly "plugging into" EU institutions and, in turn, allowing Europe to play a greater role in Israeli diplomatic and economic processes, The Jerusalem Post has learned. So central has Europe become to Israel's well-being, diplomatic officials have told the Post, that the Foreign Ministry believes it is time to reassess the Jewish state's traditional reliance on "two pillars" for Israeli survival: a strong IDF and an unbreakable alliance with America. Given the growing importance of the European Union in world events, and in the Middle East particularly, the officials said, a third pillar has become necessary: deepening ties to Europe. "Increasingly, Europe is involved in everything that touches us: trade, the Palestinians, Iran, UNIFIL in Lebanon," said a senior Israeli diplomatic source. "They are in the [Middle East] Quartet, and central in many other areas. Developing a strong relationship with Europe is becoming the third pillar safeguarding Israel's survival." [...] On midday Wednesday, minutes after it was reported that Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo had threatened to follow Kosovo's example and unilaterally declare an independent Palestinian state if the talks with Israel stalled, chief negotiator Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala) was on the phone to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Abed Rabbo, he told her, was fantasizing, adding that an official denial was on the way. Livni did not seem concerned. What was worrying her was the possibility that her talks with Abu Ala might not lead to a Palestinian state. In effect, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) long since declared an independent state conforming to the 1967 boundaries. This November will mark the 20th anniversary of the unborn state. The declaration was issued in 1988 at a meeting of the Palestine National Council in Algiers, which also recognized a Jewish state existing alongside the Palestinian state. Now it appears that if, as Abed Rabbo warned, the negotiations will reach an impasse at the end of the year, that declaration will end up on the trash heap of history. [...] Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is to leave Sunday on a four-day trip to Japan, with an eye to boosting bilateral trade. [...] Gideon Levy, "Jerusalem First": One could not believe in the negotiations Israel is conducting with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank; one may also believe that the parties want to succeed, but cannot. One also may think that talks cannot proceed without the elected representation of the Palestinian people, who chose Hamas. There are also no negotiations without Gaza. And now, after we have properly frowned on all these negotiations, we may also decide that for the moment, that's all there is: Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni on one side and Mahmoud Abbas and Saeb Erekat on the other - with all their weaknesses.
Lieberman to Zahalka: We'll make sure you end up where you deserve. Disagreement between Yisrael Beiteinu chairman, Balad leader regarding integration of Israeli Arabs in National Service turns ugly as former calls Arab MKs 'a fifth column; latter replies with 'shut up, fascist'.
Haaretz-Editorial: It is no longer relevant what the legal and political philosophy of Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann is, or whether his proposals may improve the legal system. No reform can offset the damage Friedmann causes the legal system every time he opens his mouth. There could have been a legitimate public debate on fundamentals had Friedmann opted to talk instead of incite, to criticize instead of smear; had he shown respect toward Supreme Court President 0Dorit Beinisch instead of besmirching her to a near criminal degree, while constantly criticizing her for defending herself against his endless accusations through meetings with the press and MKs.
*** Westbank: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas opened an investigation into the death of a Hamas preacher who the Islamist group said was tortured by Fatah security services, officials said on Saturday. Hamas Islamists have accused security agents from Abbas's more secular Fatah faction of torturing to death imam Majd al-Barghouthi, a local Hamas leader in the West Bank city of Ramallah, near Jerusalem. Abbas's security force said on Friday that Barghouthi had died of a stroke. The 45-year-old father of nine had been detained for a week before his death. [...] Ärger gibt es auch mit einem selbsternannten Kandidaten für die Nachfolge von Mahmoud Abbas. Nachdem "interessierte Quellen" den Austritt von Farouk Qaddoumi aus der Fatah-Bewegung lancierten weist dieser in der Zeitung al-Quds al-Arabi zurück. [Hinergrund: Fatah's much-heralded, long-awaited and long-delayed sixth General Conference, slated for March, has fallen victim to Fatah's chronic internal contradictions. According to insiders in the movement's higher echelons, the conference has been postponed "until further notice". In Fatah-speak, this probably means "never". Many of Fatah's younger leaders and activists had hoped and probably still hope that the organisation of the conference would provide a rare opportunity to put Fatah's house in order and introduce badly-needed democratic reforms to a movement that is increasingly suffering from a host of ailments, including corruption, rampant factionalism and demoralisation.] Während aus verschiedenen Westbankstädten die üblichen Verhaftungsaktionen gemeldet werden südlich von Hebron für die Siedlung Eshkolot [knapp im Bereich der Mauer] palästinensische Privatgrundstücke konfisziert. [...] Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has seen signs of "slow progress" in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations and hopes an agreement can be reached this year, Egypt's state news agency said on Saturday. "There are indications of slow progress between the two negotiating teams, but follow-up -- especially from the American side -- is important and necessary to overcome the difficulties facing the talks," Mubarak said in remarks carried on state news agency MENA. [...] Shooting Palestinian bystanders; illegally commandeering cars and going on joyrides; torturing a youth by pressing a heater to his face and beating cuffed prisoners on their way to custody. These are only some of the reported cases of abuse for which Israel Defense Forces soldiers serving in the West Bank are currently on trial. "We've been hit by a tsunami," said the commander of the Kfir Brigade, members of which were recently implicated in a rampage through a West Bank town that left two Palestinians wounded, one of them seriously. Kfir is the largest IDF unit in the West Bank. "I suppose every brigade goes through low and high periods, and right now we're in a low one."
The Foreign Ministry has begun a strategic overhaul of relations with the EU and its member nations, increasingly "plugging into" EU institutions and, in turn, allowing Europe to play a greater role in Israeli diplomatic and economic processes, The Jerusalem Post has learned. So central has Europe become to Israel's well-being, diplomatic officials have told the Post, that the Foreign Ministry believes it is time to reassess the Jewish state's traditional reliance on "two pillars" for Israeli survival: a strong IDF and an unbreakable alliance with America. Given the growing importance of the European Union in world events, and in the Middle East particularly, the officials said, a third pillar has become necessary: deepening ties to Europe. "Increasingly, Europe is involved in everything that touches us: trade, the Palestinians, Iran, UNIFIL in Lebanon," said a senior Israeli diplomatic source. "They are in the [Middle East] Quartet, and central in many other areas. Developing a strong relationship with Europe is becoming the third pillar safeguarding Israel's survival." [...] On midday Wednesday, minutes after it was reported that Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo had threatened to follow Kosovo's example and unilaterally declare an independent Palestinian state if the talks with Israel stalled, chief negotiator Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala) was on the phone to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Abed Rabbo, he told her, was fantasizing, adding that an official denial was on the way. Livni did not seem concerned. What was worrying her was the possibility that her talks with Abu Ala might not lead to a Palestinian state. In effect, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) long since declared an independent state conforming to the 1967 boundaries. This November will mark the 20th anniversary of the unborn state. The declaration was issued in 1988 at a meeting of the Palestine National Council in Algiers, which also recognized a Jewish state existing alongside the Palestinian state. Now it appears that if, as Abed Rabbo warned, the negotiations will reach an impasse at the end of the year, that declaration will end up on the trash heap of history. [...] Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is to leave Sunday on a four-day trip to Japan, with an eye to boosting bilateral trade. [...] Gideon Levy, "Jerusalem First": One could not believe in the negotiations Israel is conducting with the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank; one may also believe that the parties want to succeed, but cannot. One also may think that talks cannot proceed without the elected representation of the Palestinian people, who chose Hamas. There are also no negotiations without Gaza. And now, after we have properly frowned on all these negotiations, we may also decide that for the moment, that's all there is: Ehud Olmert and Tzipi Livni on one side and Mahmoud Abbas and Saeb Erekat on the other - with all their weaknesses.
Lieberman to Zahalka: We'll make sure you end up where you deserve. Disagreement between Yisrael Beiteinu chairman, Balad leader regarding integration of Israeli Arabs in National Service turns ugly as former calls Arab MKs 'a fifth column; latter replies with 'shut up, fascist'.
Haaretz-Editorial: It is no longer relevant what the legal and political philosophy of Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann is, or whether his proposals may improve the legal system. No reform can offset the damage Friedmann causes the legal system every time he opens his mouth. There could have been a legitimate public debate on fundamentals had Friedmann opted to talk instead of incite, to criticize instead of smear; had he shown respect toward Supreme Court President 0Dorit Beinisch instead of besmirching her to a near criminal degree, while constantly criticizing her for defending herself against his endless accusations through meetings with the press and MKs.
Samstag, 23. Februar 2008
IDF kills Three - Clashes in Bil'in and elsewhere
More than 20 activists were wounded Friday as Israel Defense Forces troops fired rubber bullets and tear gas grenades at protesters marking three years of struggle against the West Bank separation fence in the West Bank town of Bil'in. Among the wounded was an American activist. The IDF spokesman's office said that one soldier was hurt when a rock was hurled toward him, but that the IDF has no knowledge of wounded activists. More than 1,000 people attended the milestone demonstration Friday, though the event is a weekly occurrence with several dozen activists gathering in Bil'in every Friday over the last three years to protest the separation barrier that imposes hardship on Palestinians living in the West Bank.
Umstände unklar, vor kurzer Zeit tötet ein Luftangriff der IAF im Gazastreifen in der Gegend von Beit Hanoun drei Zivilisten. [Seit der Ankündigung das Ido Nehushtan, Spezialist für Luft-Dominanz in bevölkerten Zonen wird wohltuend zielgerichtet und sachlich operiert. Guter Mann. -Wer den Zynismus nicht versteht ist selbst schuld-. AP: Relatives of the three casualties said they were all civilians - bankers who were having a picnic in an open field when the missile struck. The IDF confirmed the missile strike, but said it targeted Palestinian terrorists on their way to fire mortar shells at Israel. Es wird Frühling in Gaza.] "Schöner" Blockade-Bericht: The Israeli fuel embargo on the Gaza Strip has led to petrol being sold at 20 shekels (5 US dollars) a litre on the streets of Gaza by unscrupulous dealers. With no controls on quality or prices, some Gazans, eager to cash in and are selling fuel that is a mixture of Egyptian petrol, brought into the Strip when breaches in the border wall allowed huge quantities to be imported, and the remains of Israeli gasoline that was supplied by fuel stations in the Gaza Strip. Derweil machte sich eine Hamas-Delegation nach al-Arish, Ägypten auf um nach eigenen Angaben die Wiederöffnung des Rafah-Grenzpostens zu komplettieren. Unterhändler soll Mahmoud Zahar sein, was seine unfassbare Angst vor extralegalen Tötungen seitens der Israelis dokumentiert. Die DFLP wird heute 39 Jahre alt. Herzlichen Glückwunsch. [Die Feierlichkeiten finden im Flüchtlingslager Ain al-Hilweh im Libanon statt, da die Westbank-Veranstaltungsorte alle belegt waren.] [...] Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal told the British daily The Guardian that he would be willing to negotiate directly with Hamas in an effort to reach a cease-fire and halt the near daily barrages of Qassam rockets that have plagued his town. "I would say to Hamas, let's have a ceasefire, let's stop the rockets for the next 10 years and we will see what happens," Moyal, who is officially a member of the Likud, told The Guardian in Saturday editions. "For me as a person the most important thing is life and I'm ready to do everything for that. I'm ready to talk to the devil."
Kadima and the Labor Party should pursue legislation granting settlers living east of the separation fence compensation in exchange for their evacuation, Vice Premier Haim Ramon told a gathering in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Ramon said such a move would advance final-status negotiations with the Palestinians while demonstrating to them and the international community Israel's seriousness in its intentions to end its control over the territories. [...] In der Westbank gehts derweil rund: Vier Hamas-Unterstützer werden durch die Fatah verhaftet, in Tulkarem laufen marodierende IDF-Milizionäre Amok, in der Tulkarem-Gegend werden vier Palästinenser verhaftet, es kommt zu Auseinandersetzungen mit jugendlichen Steinewerfern. Es darf vermutet werden das nach dem in der als "Terrorhochburg" verschrienen Stadt Nablus eine zweite "Terrorhochburg" kreiert werden soll damit der IDF die Jobs nicht ausgehen. Die Ausrede das Jenin-Leichenberge fehlen, darf nicht gelten: "Taktiken der psychologischen Kriegsführung" wie sich in eine Einkauffstraße zu stellen und mit MGs in die Läden reinzuballern taugen höchstens dazu den Eindruck zu bestätigen bei der IDF wären immer noch zu viele Schrauben locker. [...] Israel Defense Forces soldiers arrested a senior operative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the Ein Beit el Ma refugee camp in the West Bank town of Nablus, Israel Radio reported on Saturday. Palestinian witnesses told Israel Radio that the contingent of troops surrounded the building in which the suspect, Majdi Mabrouka, took refuge, and used an explosive charge to break through the entrance. Two people, including a 10-year-old boy, were injured during the course of the operation, a hospital doctor said.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak will hold consultations Sunday on a proposed fence along Israel's porous border with Egypt. Defense Ministry Director-General Pinchas Buchris will present Barak with a plan formulated in recent weeks that calls for the construction of a fence along two sections of the border - a 14-kilometer-long section in the Eilat area, and a 70-kilometer section south of the Gaza Strip. [Proposed? War das nicht schon beschlossen?]
The United States plans to announce tens of millions of dollars in new aid for the West Bank and Gaza next week to ease the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories, U.S. officials said on Friday. The funds will be channeled through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees, which handles U.S. and other assistance for food, health, education and other areas, said U.S. officials, who declined to provide the exact figure as the official announcement will be made during a trip to the region next week.
Und zum Schluß: Die George Bush-Intiative zur Befreiung der Welt von Frieden zeigt weitere Erfolge: Arab officials are warning they could withdraw their landmark offer of peace and full ties with Israel in exchange for a return of Arab lands, unless Israel explicitly accepts the initiative. The warnings reflect increasing Arab impatience with the long-stalled peace process with Israel. Peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have bogged down since they were relaunched at the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis peace conference last November after a seven-year hiatus. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal - whose country sponsored the Arab peace initiative, adopted by Arab nations in 2002 - warned Thursday that despair would force us to review these options, including withdrawing the proposal. He accused Israel of sabotaging the initiative, which is now facing grave danger.
Freitag, 22. Februar 2008
IDF kills Two - Olmerts Iron Dome Waterloo
In den heutigen Morgenstunden wird eine Patrouille der al-Quds-Brigaden vor al-Maghazi durch eine israelische Rakete getroffen: Zwei Tote. In der Nacht werden von israelischen Schnellbooten auf den Küstenstreifen 15 Granaten abgefeuert. Die palästnensische Seite feuert zwei Qassam-Rakten auf die Grenzstadt Sderot, ein weiterer Angriff auf den Kissufim-Crossing wird notiert. Derweil wird die Aussage von Ulrike Putz von israelischen Quellen bestätigt das die Qassam-Raketenproduktion auf Potassiumnitrat aus israelischen Beständen zurück greift. [...] Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice while both are in Japan next week. The meeting was requested by Rice. It is particularly surprising because Rice is due to come to Jerusalem for a working visit the following week. Government officials predicted that the meeting would focus on the situation in the Gaza Strip, and said that Rice probably wanted to express her concern over the humanitarian situation there. [...] A top US State Department official cautioned Israel Thursday on the use of force in Gaza as the IDF mulls an invasion to stop the rocket fire from the coastal strip. "We urge caution and proportionality," David Welch, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, told regional media at a press briefing here. [...] European Union lawmakers urged Israel on Thursday not to inflict "collective punishment" on Gaza's population, saying its isolation of the territory had failed and its actions were endangering civilians. They urged Israel to lift a blockade which has cut supplies to the 1.5 million people living in Gaza, run by the Islamist group Hamas, and let in aid and essential goods and services. [...] Hamas on Friday welcomed a European Parliament initiative to end Israel's crippling blockade on the 1.5 million residents of the Gaza Strip, most of whom are dependent on aid. Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri said he welcomed the resolution, adding that Hamas is ready to study any initiative that will contribute to stopping Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people. Abu Zuhri told Ma'an that the main problem lies in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, along with the siege imposed on the people of the Gaza Strip and the ongoing Israeli attacks on the sector. [...] A new civil court founded in Belgium by human rights organizations will convene for the first time Friday evening and discuss war crimes Israel had allegedly committee during the Second Lebanon War and war crimes the groups claim it is currently committing in the Gaza Strip.
Reven Pedatzur, "Iron dome found to be helpless against Qassams": Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was surprised to learn last Sunday that the Iron Dome defense system, which was approved last year and was supposed to protect Israel's citizens against Qassam rockets, is not capable of alleviating the distress of Sderot inhabitants. "Recent tests found the system to be effective against rockets fired from more than four kilometers away, but not against those fired from closer range," Haaretz noted that same day in its lead story. Because Sderot is less than two kilometers from Beit Hanun, from which the rockets are being fired, Iron Dome will be helpless against them. [...] An und für sich kein großes Problem. Es wurde hier schon die Absicherung über bereits existierende Gatling-Gun-Systeme diskutiert. Die übermittelte Aussage Olmerts: "The plan is that these means will give us the capability of stopping short-range rocket attacks including Kassams. This is applicable to both the northern and the southern fronts," ist nicht unbedingt grundfalsch. Es gäbe die Möglichkeit über modernste Sensortechnik Qassam-Einheiten zu spotten, die sich im fraglichen Bereich bewegen wobei solche Systeme seeehr teuer sind. Im letzten post über das Thema hinterfragte ich die angegebene Zeitschiene einer früheren Installierung des Iron dome Systems in Sderot, die wohl jetzt von Tisch ist. Für später ließe sich das System jedoch ergänzen. Zwar ist der Bericht von Pedatzur wirklich außerordentlicher Güte: The decision to focus on the development of Iron Dome raises so many questions that an examination of the process that led to it is in order. The questions include, for example, whether the decision was influenced by considerations relating to commercial bodies, the likely implications of a deal to export this defense system to a foreign country which is not located in the NATO continents (America and Europe), and the motives of some of those involved in the process. It may well be that nothing concrete lurks behind these questions, but we must not ignore the need to find satisfactory answers for them. The fact that Iron Dome is not effective against short-range rockets and therefore cannot protect Sderot was long known to the system's developers and to the Defense Ministry officials who chose to focus on it. For some reason, they decided not to go public with their information. When the Defense Ministry officials, led by the defense minister, promised that the residents of Sderot would be protected after the installation of the Iron Dome system, they knew they would not be able to deliver on this promise., aber ab und an etwas aufgeblasen und das Militär wird lapidar bemerken das im Falle eines ausgereiften Systems der Qassam-Terror bereits beendet sein wird. Denn das dieser bis 2011 so weiter geht daran glaubt keiner. Die etwas überraschende Veruntreuung des Themas durch Schwafelhans Olmert gehört zu seiner Persönlichkeitsstruktur und läßt die Schwüre einer Besserung nach dem Libanon-Feldzug absurd erscheinen. Großartig im Artikel jedoch Bereiche wie: "An examination of the economic aspect also casts grave doubts on the decision to choose Iron Dome..." Richtig ist das das Iron Dome System eher zur Absicherung kommender Fronten Hezbollah - Iran paßt und das der Qassam-Frage jeher zu wenig Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt wurde, da es sich letztlich nur um mit einem Treibsatz ausgestattete Rohre vollgestopft mit TNT handelt. "Mit Kanonen auf Spatzen schiessen" will einem nicht in den Kopf. Der grundsätzliche Fehler liegt jedoch in der Annahme man könne weiterhin den Zusammenbruch der Hamas erwarten. Nachdem die Variante "Dahlan" scheiterte ist den Strategen außer einer Verschärfung der Blockade bislang wenig eingefallen. Verschiedene Personalien in letzter Zeit lassen jedoch vermuten das man zuerst den Zellen selbst die Qassam-Raketen abfeuert auf den Leib rücken will, was bislang nur allzu wenig funktionierte, da speziell ausgebildete Truppenteile nicht existierten. Da zerfällt das Iron Dome System tatsächlich in der Bedeutung zu einem die defense industry stärkenden Nationalstolzprojekt mit eher symbolischer Wirkung. Das man unter Politikern wie Olmert keine strategische Meisterleistung erwarten kann, sondern nur Pomp und Protz ist leider so wie es ist. Die Bewohner von Sderot, die aktuell damit beschäftigt sind nach dem man sie sehr lange Zeit vertröstete eine breite Öffentlichkeit in ihre Belange einzubeziehen haben längst verstanden das sie im großen Spiel der Konflikte nur ein marginales Empathiekärtchen darstellen das man zu jeder Gelegeneheit benutzen kann. Militärisch bedeutungslos, aber was würde die Aussenministerin Livni ohne Sderot zu sagen haben? Nichts. Mit Raketen auf Sderot lebt sich viel besser als ohne.
Räuberpistole: A group of Palestinian militants who walked out of a Palestinian Authority prison in the West Bank town of Nablus on Thursday returned to jail voluntarily, a Palestinian security official said Friday. The prisoners, members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, had been involved in fighting against the IDF in recent months and were hiding in Nablus' old city, the Kasba. Some six weeks ago, the group turned itself in to the PA, following a comprehensive IDF operation in the Kasba.
Israel has extended its ban on Palestinian institutions operating in disputed Jerusalem, Palestinian officials charged, despite a requirement in a peace blueprint to allow them to reopen, just the latest snag in recently renewed negotiations. This month, the officials said Thursday, Israel renewed its order against a Palestinian center known as Orient House, the city's Arab Chamber of Commerce and other symbolic buildings that are rallying points for the Palestinian claims to Jerusalem's eastern sector.
Ari Shavit, "Time for generosity for Syria": According to foreign sources, it was Israel that attacked a strategic facility in eastern Syria on September 6, 2007. According to foreign sources, it can be assumed that it was Israel that assassinated an arch-terrorist in Damascus on February 12, 2008. These two operations, both carried out on Syrian soil, have a great deal in common. They demonstrate excellent intelligence expertise, superb operational capability and policy sophistication. Since both of them focused on targets that embarrass Bashar Assad, they badly batter the Syrian president without him being able to react.
Reven Pedatzur, "Iron dome found to be helpless against Qassams": Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was surprised to learn last Sunday that the Iron Dome defense system, which was approved last year and was supposed to protect Israel's citizens against Qassam rockets, is not capable of alleviating the distress of Sderot inhabitants. "Recent tests found the system to be effective against rockets fired from more than four kilometers away, but not against those fired from closer range," Haaretz noted that same day in its lead story. Because Sderot is less than two kilometers from Beit Hanun, from which the rockets are being fired, Iron Dome will be helpless against them. [...] An und für sich kein großes Problem. Es wurde hier schon die Absicherung über bereits existierende Gatling-Gun-Systeme diskutiert. Die übermittelte Aussage Olmerts: "The plan is that these means will give us the capability of stopping short-range rocket attacks including Kassams. This is applicable to both the northern and the southern fronts," ist nicht unbedingt grundfalsch. Es gäbe die Möglichkeit über modernste Sensortechnik Qassam-Einheiten zu spotten, die sich im fraglichen Bereich bewegen wobei solche Systeme seeehr teuer sind. Im letzten post über das Thema hinterfragte ich die angegebene Zeitschiene einer früheren Installierung des Iron dome Systems in Sderot, die wohl jetzt von Tisch ist. Für später ließe sich das System jedoch ergänzen. Zwar ist der Bericht von Pedatzur wirklich außerordentlicher Güte: The decision to focus on the development of Iron Dome raises so many questions that an examination of the process that led to it is in order. The questions include, for example, whether the decision was influenced by considerations relating to commercial bodies, the likely implications of a deal to export this defense system to a foreign country which is not located in the NATO continents (America and Europe), and the motives of some of those involved in the process. It may well be that nothing concrete lurks behind these questions, but we must not ignore the need to find satisfactory answers for them. The fact that Iron Dome is not effective against short-range rockets and therefore cannot protect Sderot was long known to the system's developers and to the Defense Ministry officials who chose to focus on it. For some reason, they decided not to go public with their information. When the Defense Ministry officials, led by the defense minister, promised that the residents of Sderot would be protected after the installation of the Iron Dome system, they knew they would not be able to deliver on this promise., aber ab und an etwas aufgeblasen und das Militär wird lapidar bemerken das im Falle eines ausgereiften Systems der Qassam-Terror bereits beendet sein wird. Denn das dieser bis 2011 so weiter geht daran glaubt keiner. Die etwas überraschende Veruntreuung des Themas durch Schwafelhans Olmert gehört zu seiner Persönlichkeitsstruktur und läßt die Schwüre einer Besserung nach dem Libanon-Feldzug absurd erscheinen. Großartig im Artikel jedoch Bereiche wie: "An examination of the economic aspect also casts grave doubts on the decision to choose Iron Dome..." Richtig ist das das Iron Dome System eher zur Absicherung kommender Fronten Hezbollah - Iran paßt und das der Qassam-Frage jeher zu wenig Aufmerksamkeit geschenkt wurde, da es sich letztlich nur um mit einem Treibsatz ausgestattete Rohre vollgestopft mit TNT handelt. "Mit Kanonen auf Spatzen schiessen" will einem nicht in den Kopf. Der grundsätzliche Fehler liegt jedoch in der Annahme man könne weiterhin den Zusammenbruch der Hamas erwarten. Nachdem die Variante "Dahlan" scheiterte ist den Strategen außer einer Verschärfung der Blockade bislang wenig eingefallen. Verschiedene Personalien in letzter Zeit lassen jedoch vermuten das man zuerst den Zellen selbst die Qassam-Raketen abfeuert auf den Leib rücken will, was bislang nur allzu wenig funktionierte, da speziell ausgebildete Truppenteile nicht existierten. Da zerfällt das Iron Dome System tatsächlich in der Bedeutung zu einem die defense industry stärkenden Nationalstolzprojekt mit eher symbolischer Wirkung. Das man unter Politikern wie Olmert keine strategische Meisterleistung erwarten kann, sondern nur Pomp und Protz ist leider so wie es ist. Die Bewohner von Sderot, die aktuell damit beschäftigt sind nach dem man sie sehr lange Zeit vertröstete eine breite Öffentlichkeit in ihre Belange einzubeziehen haben längst verstanden das sie im großen Spiel der Konflikte nur ein marginales Empathiekärtchen darstellen das man zu jeder Gelegeneheit benutzen kann. Militärisch bedeutungslos, aber was würde die Aussenministerin Livni ohne Sderot zu sagen haben? Nichts. Mit Raketen auf Sderot lebt sich viel besser als ohne.
Räuberpistole: A group of Palestinian militants who walked out of a Palestinian Authority prison in the West Bank town of Nablus on Thursday returned to jail voluntarily, a Palestinian security official said Friday. The prisoners, members of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, had been involved in fighting against the IDF in recent months and were hiding in Nablus' old city, the Kasba. Some six weeks ago, the group turned itself in to the PA, following a comprehensive IDF operation in the Kasba.
Israel has extended its ban on Palestinian institutions operating in disputed Jerusalem, Palestinian officials charged, despite a requirement in a peace blueprint to allow them to reopen, just the latest snag in recently renewed negotiations. This month, the officials said Thursday, Israel renewed its order against a Palestinian center known as Orient House, the city's Arab Chamber of Commerce and other symbolic buildings that are rallying points for the Palestinian claims to Jerusalem's eastern sector.
Ari Shavit, "Time for generosity for Syria": According to foreign sources, it was Israel that attacked a strategic facility in eastern Syria on September 6, 2007. According to foreign sources, it can be assumed that it was Israel that assassinated an arch-terrorist in Damascus on February 12, 2008. These two operations, both carried out on Syrian soil, have a great deal in common. They demonstrate excellent intelligence expertise, superb operational capability and policy sophistication. Since both of them focused on targets that embarrass Bashar Assad, they badly batter the Syrian president without him being able to react.
Donnerstag, 21. Februar 2008
Baraks Kriegserklärungen und Livnis NOFuture-generation
Defense Minister Ehud Barak has warned Syria through Turkish mediation that the Israel Defense Forces is planning to escalate its military operations against Hezbollah and Hamas, the London-based daily Al-Hayyat reported on Thursday. On his visit to Turkey last week, Barak asked Turkish President Abdullah Ghoul to urge Syrian President Bashar Assad to adopt a different stance toward Hezbollah, according to Al-Hayyat. The defense minister reportedly informed Turkey of Israel's intentions to widen its operation in Gaza and asked the Turkish leader to consider sending troops on an international mission to Gaza geared toward ending Qassam rocket fire and protecting the border. This multi-national force will comprise representatives from Qatar, Malaysia and Jordan, according to the report. [...] During the visit, Barak's hosts asked him toe extend by three years the work permits of 800 Turkish construction workers in Israel as part of the security deals between the two countries. The government will be asked to approve the request on Sunday. Barak is expected to make it clear that Israel has no choice but to implement its commitment to the Turks, and officials at his office expected the proposal to be approved without objections. The agreement is a continuation of the "Turkish Tank" deal, which includes an upgrade of Turkish tanks by the Israeli Military Industry in exchange for $700 million. [...] Die Kriegserklärung an die Hezbollah über Assad zu schicken und die Türken als Dienstboten zu verwenden darf als Märchen angesehen werden. Das man über die Fragen de Libanon Gespräche geführt hat ist sicher. Die türkische Meditation verläuft über US-Amerikanische Kanäle ab, die zwar von Israel mitgetragene Konstanten wie die Einstellung der Unterstützung der Hezbollah beinhalten aber derzeit nicht von Israel mitgeprägt werden. Die Kleinkrämerei mit einem türkischen Bauarbeiterkontingent und Waffendeals zeige ich damit man sieht wie tief angesetzt die eigentlichen diplomatischen Beziehungen sind. Al-Hayat bedient sich hier der historischen Fundgrube der End-Neunziger als Ehud Barak als Ministerpräsident sehr wohl die türkische Vermittlung nutzte und man doch sehr nahe an Friedensverhandlungen stand. Damals, zum "einsamsten aller israelischen Ministerpräsidenten" gekürt weil er alles alleine regeln wollte mögen solche Aktionen noch möglich gewesen sein. Der Lernprozeß, ersichtlich in vielen Bereichen vor allem im innenpolitischen einschätzen der Wingrad-Situation wird durch den al-Hayat-Bericht negiert. Es darf vermutet werden das es momentan eher im syrischen Interesse liegt sich über solche kleinen Propaganda-Stückchen [die niemandem weh tun] sich nach dem Desaster um Mughinyehs Tötung auf offener Damaskus-Straße wichtig zu machen. Ob Assad wirklich den Israelis derzeit so wichtig ist das man ihm Depechen schickt darf hier ernsthaft angezweifelt werden.
Tzipi Livnis Ausfälle in der Öffentlichkeit nehmen langsam ein Besorgnis erregendes Ausmaß an: Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Thursday that the Palestinian people had no future under Hamas, adding that Israel would continue its campaign against the terror created by the Islamist group. Livni met Thursday with her Romanian counterpart, amid mounting international pressure on Israel over its handling of the situation in the Gaza Strip. "Europe must realize that Hamas is not an organization interested in the establishment of a Palestinian state," Livni said, following the talks with Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu. "It is not asking for Palestinian rights, but rather wants to take rights away from others." She added: "All the indirect support for Hamas - even if made through discussions on opening border crossings or on the humanitarian situation - only weakens those interested in reaching an agreement. Es dürfte außer Zweifel sein das sie sich mit "those intrested in reaching an agreement" nicht gemeint haben kann: Israeli forces on Thursday morning apprehended 23 Palestinians from different West Bank districts, claiming they were 'wanted activists.' Ma'an's correspondent in Nablus said that Israeli forces raided the northern West bank town of Beita south of Nablus, imposing a curfew and ransacking several homes before arresting 18 Palestinians. Fierce clashes erupted between Palestinian citizens and the invading Israeli forces who fired gunshots, sonic bombs and tear gas canisters injuring 17-year-old Hussain Sabri. He was shot in the shoulder and was taken to hospital. Israeli media sources said the army arrested 23 Palestinians in the West Bank overnight.
Israel denied 94 percent of the building permit requests West Bank Palestinians submitted over the past seven years, the anti-settlement Peace Now group reported Thursday. In all, 91 of 1,624 requested permits were approved, Peace Now said. By contrast, 18,472 apartments and homes were built between 2000 and September 2007 in Jewish West Bank settlements, the group said, citing Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics. Peace Now also said the army demolished 33 percent of the 4,993 cases of illegal Palestinian construction against which it issued demolition orders. By contrast, 7 percent of the 2,900 cases of illegal settler construction that drew demolition orders were torn down, the group said. The data demonstrate "clear and conspicuous discrimination against the Palestinian population," Peace Now said.
If we don’t want to destroy Sderot we must destroy the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun, Safed's Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu ruled Wednesday following the ongoing Qassam rocket fire targeting the southern Israeli town. "We don’t have to kill the people living there, but we must definitely destroy Beit Hanoun," he added.
MK Michael Melchior (Labor-Meimad) knew of Hamas' plans to breach the Gaza-Egypt border some 48 hours before it occurred, yet did not notify Israel Defense Forces officials, according to an Army Radio report released on Thursday.
Israel Harel, "Kosovo's declaration of independence has sparked concern in certain circles in Israel. The day may not be far off when the Arabs of Galilee start clamoring for political independence, too. In recent years, many of them have been cutting themselves off, psychologically and physically, from the Jewish-democratic State of Israel. The Muslims of Kosovo constitute an absolute majority of the population, and the same is true for the Galilee Arabs. Quite a few Jews have been leaving the Galilee, especially since October 2000, and not many are joining the sparse Jewish population there, despite an array of financial incentives. The events in Kosovo have triggered memories of the thousands who took part in the violence in Wadi Ara in 2000, blocking major traffic arteries and cutting off access to Jewish communal settlements in an outbreak of rioting that coincided with Yasser Arafat's war of terror. ..." +++ Internet use is growing in the Arab sector, but so is the digital gap in comparison with Israeli Jews according to two new studies that are to be presented at the yearly convention of the Israel Internet Association to be held at the Kfar Maccabiah Hotel in Ramat Gan at the end of the month.
Nadav Shragai, "The Lies of Jerusalem": Ehud Olmert doesn't need a secret channel in order to conduct negotiations on Jerusalem. Whether or not Vice Premier Haim Ramon is talking to Palestinian adviser Mohammed Rashid about the future of the city, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is speaking about it to Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia, with Olmert's authority and permission, openly rather than under the table. Livni herself said as much in a meeting with foreign diplomats over a week ago. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reported this to European lawmakers who visited him in Ramallah two weeks ago. Even in the apparent letter of denial sent to Jerusalem municipal opposition leader Nir Barkat by Livni, a member of his own party, the foreign minister confirmed that all the core issues, as agreed upon in Annapolis, were already being discussed - adding the excuse that "until everything has been decided, nothing has been decided."
Tzipi Livnis Ausfälle in der Öffentlichkeit nehmen langsam ein Besorgnis erregendes Ausmaß an: Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Thursday that the Palestinian people had no future under Hamas, adding that Israel would continue its campaign against the terror created by the Islamist group. Livni met Thursday with her Romanian counterpart, amid mounting international pressure on Israel over its handling of the situation in the Gaza Strip. "Europe must realize that Hamas is not an organization interested in the establishment of a Palestinian state," Livni said, following the talks with Romanian Foreign Minister Adrian Cioroianu. "It is not asking for Palestinian rights, but rather wants to take rights away from others." She added: "All the indirect support for Hamas - even if made through discussions on opening border crossings or on the humanitarian situation - only weakens those interested in reaching an agreement. Es dürfte außer Zweifel sein das sie sich mit "those intrested in reaching an agreement" nicht gemeint haben kann: Israeli forces on Thursday morning apprehended 23 Palestinians from different West Bank districts, claiming they were 'wanted activists.' Ma'an's correspondent in Nablus said that Israeli forces raided the northern West bank town of Beita south of Nablus, imposing a curfew and ransacking several homes before arresting 18 Palestinians. Fierce clashes erupted between Palestinian citizens and the invading Israeli forces who fired gunshots, sonic bombs and tear gas canisters injuring 17-year-old Hussain Sabri. He was shot in the shoulder and was taken to hospital. Israeli media sources said the army arrested 23 Palestinians in the West Bank overnight.
Israel denied 94 percent of the building permit requests West Bank Palestinians submitted over the past seven years, the anti-settlement Peace Now group reported Thursday. In all, 91 of 1,624 requested permits were approved, Peace Now said. By contrast, 18,472 apartments and homes were built between 2000 and September 2007 in Jewish West Bank settlements, the group said, citing Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics. Peace Now also said the army demolished 33 percent of the 4,993 cases of illegal Palestinian construction against which it issued demolition orders. By contrast, 7 percent of the 2,900 cases of illegal settler construction that drew demolition orders were torn down, the group said. The data demonstrate "clear and conspicuous discrimination against the Palestinian population," Peace Now said.
If we don’t want to destroy Sderot we must destroy the Palestinian town of Beit Hanoun, Safed's Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu ruled Wednesday following the ongoing Qassam rocket fire targeting the southern Israeli town. "We don’t have to kill the people living there, but we must definitely destroy Beit Hanoun," he added.
MK Michael Melchior (Labor-Meimad) knew of Hamas' plans to breach the Gaza-Egypt border some 48 hours before it occurred, yet did not notify Israel Defense Forces officials, according to an Army Radio report released on Thursday.
Israel Harel, "Kosovo's declaration of independence has sparked concern in certain circles in Israel. The day may not be far off when the Arabs of Galilee start clamoring for political independence, too. In recent years, many of them have been cutting themselves off, psychologically and physically, from the Jewish-democratic State of Israel. The Muslims of Kosovo constitute an absolute majority of the population, and the same is true for the Galilee Arabs. Quite a few Jews have been leaving the Galilee, especially since October 2000, and not many are joining the sparse Jewish population there, despite an array of financial incentives. The events in Kosovo have triggered memories of the thousands who took part in the violence in Wadi Ara in 2000, blocking major traffic arteries and cutting off access to Jewish communal settlements in an outbreak of rioting that coincided with Yasser Arafat's war of terror. ..." +++ Internet use is growing in the Arab sector, but so is the digital gap in comparison with Israeli Jews according to two new studies that are to be presented at the yearly convention of the Israel Internet Association to be held at the Kfar Maccabiah Hotel in Ramat Gan at the end of the month.
Nadav Shragai, "The Lies of Jerusalem": Ehud Olmert doesn't need a secret channel in order to conduct negotiations on Jerusalem. Whether or not Vice Premier Haim Ramon is talking to Palestinian adviser Mohammed Rashid about the future of the city, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is speaking about it to Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia, with Olmert's authority and permission, openly rather than under the table. Livni herself said as much in a meeting with foreign diplomats over a week ago. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reported this to European lawmakers who visited him in Ramallah two weeks ago. Even in the apparent letter of denial sent to Jerusalem municipal opposition leader Nir Barkat by Livni, a member of his own party, the foreign minister confirmed that all the core issues, as agreed upon in Annapolis, were already being discussed - adding the excuse that "until everything has been decided, nothing has been decided."
Ephraim Halevy at Rosen - Cobban on Mughinyeh
Daniel Levy: I have quoted ex-Mossad Chief and Israeli National Security adviser, Efraim Halevy, in the past as an advocate of engaging with Hamas in line with arguments I have used many times. I have a great deal of respect for Mr. Halevy although we do not agree on many things and I particularly remember having my ear chewed by him when we met to discuss the details of the Geneva Initiative. Laura Rozen, a highly impressive young journalist here in DC, has just done a great service to the cause of advancing more level headed thinking on Israel-Palestine issues by producing this interview with Halevy in Mother Jones. The interview is well worth reading in full but here are a few choice highlights. [...] Israels Mossad, Out of the Shadows: Washington Dispatch: Former Israeli intelligence chief Efraim Halevy explains why he advocates talks with Hamas. By Laura Rozen, "It's fair to call Efraim Halevy—who served three Israeli prime ministers as chief of the Mossad, Israel's national intelligence service—a hawk. He negotiated a covert peace deal with Jordan that preceded the countries' public treaty in 1994. Nine years later, he resigned as head of Israel's National Security Council over policy differences with then-prime minister Ariel Sharon. And when he left the Mossad, Halevy received the prestigious CIA Director's Award from then-director George Tenet for his assistance to the U.S. intelligence service—the exact details of which Halevy cannot disclose. This month, St. Martin's Press published a paperback edition of Halevy's riveting 2006 memoir of his 35 years in the Mossad, Man in the Shadows: Inside the Middle East Crisis with a Man Who Led the Mossad. I interviewed Halevy by phone and email about his career, details of covert channels in his book, and his recent public call for both the Bush administration and Israel to talk with the Palestinian militant group, Hamas. [...]
"Mughniyeh, assasinations and their normalization" [Helene Cobban]: We should be clear about the moral quality of the blood-drenched career of Imad Mughniyeh, the high-level Hizbullah security operative who was assassinated in Damascus on February 12, apparently by Israel. Mughniyeh has been credibly accused of having master-minded a number of acts that have to count as significant atrocities: the bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut, and then of its annex, in 1983; the bombings of a Jewish community center and an Israeli consular center in Buenes Aires in 1992-94; the kidnappings of western civilians in Beirut, and perhaps the killing of Malcolm Kerr, the president of AUB. (I am not counting here actions taken against military personnel who have after all placed themselves in a position where they have a "right" to kill under certain circumstances and also knowingly accept the risk that they might be killed.) What should one seek to do with or about a person like Imad Mughniyeh? My main answer when considering the question of what to do with the perpetrators of atrocities-- and let's face it, gratuitously launching a war of invasion against a foreign country is also an atrocity; and was certainly recognized as such in the operations of the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals-- is that we, human society in general, clearly need to be protected against the future depredations of such people. We need to be able to credibly and verifiably incapacitate their ability to re-offend.
"Mughniyeh, assasinations and their normalization" [Helene Cobban]: We should be clear about the moral quality of the blood-drenched career of Imad Mughniyeh, the high-level Hizbullah security operative who was assassinated in Damascus on February 12, apparently by Israel. Mughniyeh has been credibly accused of having master-minded a number of acts that have to count as significant atrocities: the bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut, and then of its annex, in 1983; the bombings of a Jewish community center and an Israeli consular center in Buenes Aires in 1992-94; the kidnappings of western civilians in Beirut, and perhaps the killing of Malcolm Kerr, the president of AUB. (I am not counting here actions taken against military personnel who have after all placed themselves in a position where they have a "right" to kill under certain circumstances and also knowingly accept the risk that they might be killed.) What should one seek to do with or about a person like Imad Mughniyeh? My main answer when considering the question of what to do with the perpetrators of atrocities-- and let's face it, gratuitously launching a war of invasion against a foreign country is also an atrocity; and was certainly recognized as such in the operations of the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals-- is that we, human society in general, clearly need to be protected against the future depredations of such people. We need to be able to credibly and verifiably incapacitate their ability to re-offend.
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