IDF kills Child - Mughniyeh-probe troubles Syrian System

Unconfirmed: Four terrorists were killed Sunday afternoon in a fire exchange between troops from the IDF's Givati Brigade and a group of gunmen in the center of the Gaza Strip, the military said. IDF sources stated that this event, which took place near Gaza's el-Bureij refugee camp, was "part of IDF operations to uproot terrorist infrastructure to prevent infiltration attempts." No IDF soldiers were wounded and operations in the area continued late Sunday afternoon.

Während eines Gefechts israelischer Truppen mit palästinensischen Milizen vor dem Flüchtlingslager al-Bureij wird ein 5-jähriger durch einen Granatsplitter israelischer Bauart getötet. [Es sollte erwähnt werden das die Israelis aus zivilen Gebäuden heraus besschossen wurde, wobei es keine anderen Gebäude in dem lLager gibt.] Zwei weitere Kinder werden verletzt. Ein PFLP-Mörsergranatenangriff und eine DFLP-Qassam sind am Sonntag zu notieren, die keine Schäden anrichten. Die Lage in der Westbank war über das Wochenende ausgesprochen ruhig, wobei es in Qabatia zu einem Schußwechsel kommt in dessen Verlauf ein IDFler leicht verletzt wird. [...] In der cellphone-Schmuggelaffaire Mitte März gibt es einen geständigen Namen: Raja'i Abu Zaydah hat ein Geständnis unterschrieben alleiniger Täter zu sein. Bei Zaydah handelt es sich um den Fahrer des ex-PLC-Sprechers Fattouh, einem engen Vertrauten von Mahmoud Abbas für dessen Stall an Schönlingen die Sendung wohl gedacht war. Es lebe der Sündenbock für die Böcke die man zu Gärtnern machte. [...] Die Fayyad-Regierung hat schon wieder ein Legal-Problem [kein Wunder ist ja auch eine illegale Regierung: Palestinian civil servants in the West Bank, including teachers and health workers, will go on strike on Monday in what has become an escalating confrontation with the Palestinian Authority (PA) over the right to strike itself. The union is calling for the government to reverse an executive order that allows the Palestinian high court to force striking workers to return to their jobs. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued the order on Sunday at the request of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who sought more leverage against teachers who on strike for better pay. Die Abschaffung des Streikrechts ist zentraler Baustein der Reformen Fayyads im auftrag der amerikaner und Europäer auf das die blühenden Landschaften in den Geldbeuteln der Fatahianer noch blühender werden.

Top-Thema des Tages sollte eigentlich die Veröffentlichung des syrischen Berichts zur Tötung des Hezbollah-Militärchefs Imad Mughniyeh werden. Leider verzögert sich dieser. Statt dessen feiert die Presse den Regime-Flüchtling Abdel-Halim Khaddam, dessen Aussagen zum Teil wahr sein können, aber wohl zumeist Wichtigtuerei sind: Major General Assef Shawkat, head of Syria's military intelligence and President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law, is under house arrest, former Syrian Vice President Abdel-Halim Khaddam said in remarks published Sunday. Speaking from his self-imposed exile in France, Khaddam told Lebanon's Al-Mustaqbal daily that Shawkat's house was under security watch and he was banned from traveling. He said Assad decided to tighten the noose around Shawkat since June 2005, four months after the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. Khaddam believed that Assad "benefited" from the assassination of top Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus on February 12 to remove Shawkat from his post and appoint his [Assad's] cousin Brigadier General Hafez Makhlouf with the task of taking charge of the investigation into Mughniyeh's killing. [June 2005 ist das Rücktrittsdatum Khaddams, seit dem versucht er einen regime change im Westen zu initieren, was aufgrund seiner Loyalität zum Vater Bashars Hafez negiert wird. Diese Behauptung ist kaum nachvollziehbar, denn...] Khaddam stressed that the bomb was planted inside Mughniyeh's car, adding that the assassination of the Hizbullah commander took place in a "tight security area" under Shawkat's control. Khaddam said that Shawkat, who was head of the probe into Mughniyeh's murder, was removed from his post after declaring that the explosion took place inside the car, an "indication that the murderers were from Syria." [... ich vertraue doch nicht einem dessen Haus ich bewachen lasse Sicherheitszonen und Untersuchungen an. Seine "indication" kann er sich sowieso in die Haare schmieren.] Unüberprüfbar und möglicherweise richtig jedoch der Punkt: Bushra al Assad, sister of Syrian president Bashar al Assad -und Frau Shawkats- has been living in Paris along with her two children since Lebanon's Hezbollah commander was murdered und der Punkt Assef Shawkat is expected to be officially accused of negligence in the case of the assassination of Mughniyah. Daraus abzuleiten, that there are growing suspicions that certain elements of the Syrian regime might have been involved in Mughniyah's death, and Syrian President Bashar al Assad appears to be building a case against his brother-in-law ist eine der vielen Möglichkeiten den der Fall in sich birgt. Nach dem Tod des Vaters von Bashar ist eine Reihe an Top-Leuten des Regimes wegen außenpolitischer Entwicklungen [Machtverlust im Libanon] und innenpolitischen Richtungsstreits verdächtig das Regime zu stören. Bashars Figur selbst polarisiert hier. Er ist der Despot der den Syrern erst erlaubt sich in sozialen Netzwerken im Internet zu betätigen weil er selbst ein begeisterter Surfer ist und doch schlißet er den kontakt nach außen weil er den Sicherheitsbedenken des immernoch regimestützenden Geheimndienstes nachgeben muß. Weder sich noch anderen wird er es jemals recht machen können falls er nicht wenigstens einmal eine Sache von A bis Z durchzieht. Die Verwerfungen im Mughniyeh-Fall könnten den Despot durchaus im System "erwachsen" werden lassen und Beispiel für den Reformkurs werden, oder ... für das Gegenteil. Derweil wird anderwo Isolations-Lobbyismus betrieben: Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora accused Syria on Sunday of kidnapping Protection-Firms-for-Executives Lebanon and seeking a ransom Risky-Business from Saudi Arabia. "It is inappropriate for an Arab state to hold a brother state hostage to extract ransom from a third brother state," he said. Speaking to reporters after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo, Siniora said that the three-point Arab initiative to end Lebanon's political crisis has given priority to the election of a new president. [Bush-Puppets am Rande des Nervenzusammenbruchs.] Die jordanische al-Arab al-Yawm meldet: Kuwaiti reports said the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, kuwaitischer Premierminister, will visit Riyadh on Saturday to mediate between Saudi Arabia and Syria to ease tensions over the Lebanese crisis. Sources said the emir, who attended the Arab summit boycotted by the Saudi monarch, will deliver to King Abdullah a Syrian message that is hoped would defuse tensions between them.] The commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, announced in remarks published Thursday that he would leave his post in August and warned feuding political factions that he would bow out of the presidential race if his election as a compromise candidate is not secured by then. [...] Hezbollah's deputy leader said on Sunday that Israel's decision to hold nation-wide military exercises this week was intended to prepare for a new war on Lebanon. Sheik Naim Kassem also warned Sunday that the Islamic militant group was fully ready to defend Lebanon if Israel attacks again. The decision to hold the largest-ever emergency drill in Israel's history was not caused by fears of escalation on the borders with Syria and Lebanon, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said during a Knesset meeting on Sunday. Olmert said the goal of the exercises is only to check the ability of the various areas of the Home Front Command to carry out their responsibilities, and has nothing to do with expectations of renewed fighting in the North. "Israel is not expecting any violent clashes in the North," Olmert said, adding that the Syrians "know they have no reason to assess the drill any differently." Und das Schmankerl am Rande: News of the death of Hizbullah's notorious operations officer Imad Mugniyah has been greatly exaggerated. At least if you ask Interpol. The organization's online database of still lists Mugniyah most-wanted Lebanese offenders, months after his assassination in Damascus.

Der Ehrenpreis für Offenheit und Ehrlichkeit gebührt heute Nir Rosen, der bei einer Senatsanhörung dem mächtigen Joe Biden folgendes erwiederte:
BIDEN: Based on what you’ve said, there’s really no hope— we really should get the hell out of there right now. I mean, there’snothing to do. Nothing.
ROSEN: As a journalist, I’m uncomfortable advising an imperialist power about how to be a more efficient imperialist power. And I don’t think that we’re there for the interest of the Iraqi people. I don’t think that’s ever been a motivation. […]
BIDEN: [If we withdraw], the good news is we wouldn’t be imperialists in Iraq, from your perspective.
ROSEN: Only elsewhere in the region. (laughter). … There’s no positive scenario in Iraq these days. Not every situation has a solution. Website Rosen. Ram der Vorstellung.

Israel's government is promising a lavish 60th anniversary party this summer, with aerial displays, concerts, and a nationwide laser light show in a package with a NIS 98 million price tag. At a news conference Sunday to announce the events, Cabinet minister Ruhama Avraham Balila said some of the budget would go on projects with a lifespan beyond this year's celebrations. One is a 1,200 kilometer trans-Israel cycle trail, a footpath circling the Sea of Galilee and renovation of war memorials around the country. ... Palestinian rally drivers, unable to fully show their skills on open roads because of Israel Defense Forces roadblocks, sought to promote motor sports in the West Bank by staging indoor races. "It's hard to drive fast around the West Bank," said Jamal Tofaha on Sunday, revving his engine before the start of indoor speed tests for modified street cars near the city of Hebron. Die IDF verspricht Besserung und entfernt 10 Dreckhaufen, denen sie vorher das Schild "roadblock" anklebte damit die Statistik schöner aussieht. Nach ihren Angaben werden auch Hilfsgüter auf 76 trucks in den Gazastreifen gelassen. ... Auf einem Flug der ELAL nach Kiew randalieren Haredis weil ein Film gezeigt wird. Andere suspektive Haredis randalieren in Jerusalem und beschmieren Bilder von Richters des Obersten Gerichtshofs mit Swastikas. ... Yuval Diskin lobt zur Abwechslung mal die Ägypter: Shin Bet security services chief Yuval Diskin told cabinet ministers on Sunday that Egypt is doing more to prevent weapons smuggling from Sinai into the Gaza Strip along the Philadephi strip. "The Egyptian activity isn't perfect and much more must be done but they are preventing more smuggling attempts," Diskin said. ... ein schlecht gewählter Moment sie zu loben, Dichter: Several Gazans who were recently released from Egyptian prison said they were "brutally tortured" during interrogations. According to the Palestinians, who returned to the Gaza Strip last week, the torture methods included severe beatings, stripping naked, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, electric shocks, whippings and verbal abuse.

Und Lapalia Livni hat eeeeeendlich einen Freund gefunden: Foreign minister meets with Evangelical leader John Hagee, tells him international community must understand that Israel 'has no plans to compromise on its red lines' in negotiations with Palestinians. Und nicht nur Livni, auch Bibi macht sich präsent: American Evangelist John Hagee on Sunday announced donations of $6 million to a number of Israeli causes and declared that Israel must remain in control of all of Jerusalem. Hagee, who has been in the news lately for his endorsement of US Presidential candidate John McCain and his criticism of the Catholic Church, brought hundreds of backers on a solidarity trip to Israel.