IDF kills Two + One

In einem Krankenhaus in Gaza verstirbt ein Angehöriger der al-Quds-Brigaden an seinen am Donnerstag erlittenen Verletzungen. Am Morgen werden zwei Palästinenser am Grenzzaun zu Gaza erschossen. Zudem stirbt ein palästinensischer Insasse des Gilboa-Sicherheitsgefängnisses an mutmaßlicher medizinischer Unterversorgung. Seit dem letzten Post werden bislang ein Angriff mit Mörsergranaten auf Nazal Oz [Militär] und 2 Qassam-Abschüsse aus Sderot [Zivil] gezählt. Kleinere israelische Operationen finden in verschiedneen Städten im Gazastreifen statt. Die Hamas verbietet jedgliche Fatah-Aktivitäten in Bezug auf das kommende Neujahr und verhaftet zudem im Nuseirat-Camp verschiedene Fatahisten. Die Fatah verhaftet in der Westbank 14 Hamasniks. Am Samstag werden zwei Palästinenser die mit Messer bewaffnet waren an einem Checkpoint in Nablus verhaftet. Ebenso am Samstag veröffentlicht die IDF einen Schmuggelfund der einige Wochen zurückliegt: In Säcken der EU-Hilfe sollen 6,5t "potassium Nitrate" verbotenerweise in die Westbank geschmuggelt worden sein.

Nach dem Tod zweier IDF-Soldaten in der Westbank nutzt PM Ehud Olmert die Gelegenheit um die bereits seit längerem ergebnislosen Verhandlungen mit Ramallah und Sicherheitsrisiko einzustufen. Industrieminister Eli Yishai ruft zur Absage weiterer Verhandlungen auf. Während der Beerdigung in Kyrjat Arba kommt es zu separatistischen Äusserungen. Ramllahs Superminister Fayyad berichtet am Samstag von der Verhaftung verschiedener Verdächtiger im Zusammenhang mit den Morden. +++ Harel/Issacharov: "Blocking the escalation": The effort by the security forces to capture those who carried out the shooting attack where two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed west of Hebron on Friday is doubly important this time. It hopes to pay back the terrorists and keep them from attacking again, but it is also designed to nip in the bud the creation of a new Jewish terror organization in the West Bank.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert intends to refrain from authorizing further
construction projects in East Jerusalem, but will allow construction in the neighborhood of Har Homa, sources close to the prime minister told Haaretz Saturday. The sources added that Olmert is seeking to introduce stricter supervision of construction plans in the region. According to the sources, Olmert told Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim last week that he is interested in making it "understood that no construction is carried out in East Jerusalem." However, Olmert reportedly said that the current construction of 307 housing units in the south-eastern neighborhood of Har Homa, which is on the Palestinian side of the Green Line, will not be terminated. The sources added that Olmert intends to instruct the relevant ministers to alert the cabinet about possible future crises involving construction in East Jerusalem.

The hundreds of women and the few men who on Friday celebrated the 20th
anniversary of Women in Black didn't seem to know whether the event they were attending was a somber one, or a party. After all, the cause the movement has championed for the past 20 years has not been achieved. The Israeli occupation still exists.

Am Wochenende soll der als reichster jüdischer Mann geltende Sheldon Adelson mit Führerh der Shas unf Israel Beiteinu zusammentreffen um sie aus der Kolation zu ... kaufen. + Education Minister Yuli Tamir wants the High Court of Justice to approve a one-year postponement on a ruling that stops the ministry from funding ultra-Orthodox schools that do not teach core-curriculum subjects. Tamir faces opposition from Haredi school administrators, as well as politicians from Shas and United Torah Judaism.

Während die israelische Seite sich mit dem Gedanken trägt dem Syrischen System den Titel des "rouge states" abzuerkennen läßt dieses fünf vor Monaten inhaftierte Regimegegner frei. Zudem wird von einer Rückwanderungsbewegung berichtet: Syrian expatriates return home in hopes of new wealth: Many Syrian-Americans are leaving for Damascus, lured by the opportunities offered by a newly open economy.

State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza described as "inaccurate" reports in two local newspapers on Friday, An-Nahar and As-Safir, that referred to "new clues" surfacing in the investigation into the assassination of General Francois Hajj. Mirza said he has called for an investigation into the sources of information both papers used in their reporting. The papers reported that investigations have uncovered the identities of the owners of the BMW vehicle used in the assassination. Both papers said Friday that progress has been made in the investigation after the Leban-ese intelligence services obtained pictures of the two men who purchased the car that was used in the bombing.

Speaker Nabih Berri has postponed for the 11th time a parliamentary session to elect a new president to January 12, according to a statement issued by the General Secretariat of the Chamber of Deputies on Friday. The statement said there is no longer a need for a constitutional amendment to allow grade one civil servants to be elected to the presidency. It referred to an interpretation of Article 74 of the Constitution that waives restrictions on such candidates, as they would normally have to resign from their post before their election to the presidency.

Raghida Dergham, "The international court is coming quicker than everyone thinks": Photo-op diplomacy and the studied noise campaign to save the heads of states and regimes from accountability has failed, no matter how much they try to drug public opinion, which has also failed at true self-determination in many countries. This is thanks to the arts of putting the public to sleep and being lazy about precision in the strategies of nations and the tactics of governments. The US is a good example of the supremacy of these arts and the practice of toying with people's minds during election campaigns, especially when Congress or the White House carry out their duties This takes place with huge assistance from the media, and is not just a result of slick media and advertising campaigns. This is how public opinion is led in one direction or another, until a surprise appears, along with a date for holding US President George Bush accountable; Bush is perhaps now paying the price of the excessive use of the technology of words and pictures.

Und weil wirs gerade von Kawther hatten... ihr Lebensabschnittsgefährte Löwstedt veranstaltet in Wien.

"Israel has not made a strategic decision to make peace with the Palestinians," Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti said in an interview with the Saudi paper Al Wattan on Sunday. "What is demanded of Israel now is that it announce clearly that it is ready to end the occupation, retreat from occupied territories, remove settlements and checkpoints, stop seizing land, release prisoners, stop the siege of the Gaza Strip and stop killing and destroying activities," he added.

Charles A. Landsmann im Tagesspiegel: Eltern, Lehrer und Professoren, Schüler und Studenten wissen um die bildungspolitische Misere in Israel seit Jahren. Jetzt haben es endlich auch die Politiker gemerkt, die das Bildungsbudget bisher in jedem Jahr drei bis vier Mal gekürzt haben. Erstmals seit Jitzhak Rabins Zeiten erhöhten sie nun für 2008 die Ausgaben des Erziehungsministeriums. Wohl zu spät, denn das Pisa-Unterschichtenland Israel sinkt nicht nur im internationalen Vergleich immer weiter ab, sondern taumelt von einem Lehrerstreik zum zweiten: Seit nun schon zwei Monaten streiken die Dozenten der sieben israelischen Universitäten, fast so lange wie zuvor die Studienräte der Gymnasien und Mittelschulen, und ein Streikende ist nicht abzusehen. Vor allem, weil nicht oder kaum verhandelt wird. Einmal sahen sich die Kontrahenten neun Tage lang nicht. Noch immer halten die Dozenten an ihrer ursprünglichen Forderung von 30 Prozent Lohnerhöhung fest, während die Regierung sieben Prozent anbietet. Bis zu 2650 Euro zahlen Israels Universitätsstudenten im Moment also an Studiengebühren – für nichts. Sie zahlen dafür, dass sie zu Hause bleiben müssen. [Leider zu kurz.]