IAF kills Two - Rivalism kills Two

Bei einem Luftangriff der IAF werden am Nachmittag auf einem Trainingsgelände der Hamas bei Beit Hanoun zwei Milizionäre getötet und einer verletzt. Seit Donnerstag Mittag werden folgende Zwischenfälle registriert: 28 Angriffe durch Mörsergranaten und zwei Angriffe mit Qassam-Raketen auf israelische Militäreinrichtungen um/im Gazastreifen. Fünfzehn Qassam-Raktenabschüsse auf israelische zivile Ziele. Eine kleinere Attacke israelischer Kampfhubschrauber auf eine Strand-Zone, eine Schießerei in Khan Younis. Zwei erschossene Männer, die entweder familiären oder fraktionellen Streitigkeiten zum Opfer fielen werden im Gazastreifen gefunden. Zum zweiten Mal innerhalb 48 Stunden wird die amerikanische Schule in Beit Lahia durch maskierte Unbekannte überfallen und geplündert. Nach Angaben der Hamas-Regierung soll die Ausbezahlung der Dezembergehälter sowohl für zivile Bedienstete der Kommunen, des Gesundheitswesens, der Polizei, das Arbeitslosengeld und natürlich für Hamas-loyale Sicherheitsorgane am Dienstag abgeschlossen sein. In der Westbank werden 16 Hamas-Anhänger durch die Fatah festgesetzt. In Salfit kommt es zu Clan-Rivalitäten in deren Verlauf fünf Personen verletzt und 22 verhaftet werden.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak has decided to cancel planned cuts in the supply of industrial-use diesel fuel to the Gaza Strip, and bring the supply back up from 1.75 million liters per week to 2.2 million liters per week, according to a statement given to the High Court of Justice by the state prosecution. The industrial-use diesel is used to Gaza's power plant. The High Court met Thursday to debate a petition filed by several human rights organizations against the cuts in Israeli-supplied fuel and electricity to the Gaza Strip, in response to the ongoing Qassam rocket fire. [Ich denke da dürfen wir mal die europäischen Finanziers loben.]

Nach einem Bericht der NYT soll Syrien den im September durch einen israelischen Luftangriff zerstörten Gebäudekomplex wieder aufgebaut haben. ++++ Deborah Amos: One place President George Bush is not visiting on his tour of the Middle East is Syria. Relations are icy, with Washington and Damascus at odds over Lebanon, the Arab-Israel conflict, the Iraq war and Iran. But Syria is rapidly improving ties with a key U.S. ally in the region, Turkey. And that is a development that could have substantial repercussions, particularly for Washington.

Nabih Berri on Friday postponed a Parliament session to elect a new president until January 21 - the 12th such delay - in spite of intense international efforts for rival parties to accept an Arab initiative aimed at resolving the long-standing political impasse. A statement issued by Berri's office said that Saturday's scheduled session had been postponed to allow time for Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa's mediation efforts to continue. While Moussa was expected to leave Beirut on Saturday, he said Friday he could extend his visit to Lebanon should the need arise. Moussa continued his rounds of talks Friday and met with Lebanese Forces boss Samir Geagea, former Prime Minister Omar Karami, parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri and Berri. The Arab League chief said the Lebanese problem needs time to resolve, adding that his efforts are geared toward saving Lebanon and reaching a solution that pleases all parties. Im Vorfeld der Ereignisse hatte eine französische Delegation in Damaskus für Verwirrung gesorgt: A French parliamentary delegation visiting Syria said Thursday that cooperation between Damascus and Paris was ongoing, despite both countries having announced they had suspended talks over the situation in Lebanon. "Political and diplomatic relations witness ups and downs, but French-Syrian friendship is historical," Jean Luc Reitzer, a member of the three-man delegation, told reporters in Damascus. [Noch im Dezember hatte Nicolas Sarkozy die diplomatischen Beziehungen abgebrochen.] Für das Scheitern der auf heute angesetzten Wahl werden etwa 27 verschiedenen Gründe angegeben. Da diese alle sehr substanzlos daher kommen das sich der Plan der arabischen Liga am 21. durchsetzen wird.

Shlomo ben Ami, "From father to son, Arab Despotism may have merit": The problem of succession in the secular Arab republics highlights their predicament in the transition to a post-revolutionary phase, for succession in regimes failing to build strong institutions always risks triggering a systemic crisis. While the decision by some to favor dynastic succession may be democratically lacking, it is not entirely devoid of merit. Arguably, it is a choice for economic modernization, for an end to the politics of conflict, and for positive political change down the road. Years of Western-backed repressive authoritarianism nipped in the bud any potential growth of a liberal alternative to incumbent Arab regimes, and turned any abrupt move to free elections into a dangerous exercise in Islamic democracy. A democracy that produces governments led by Hamas, Hizbullah, or the Muslim Brotherhood is inevitably bound to be anti-Western and opposed to a US-inspired "peace process" with Israel.

Zwei unangenehme Details aus der israelischen Geschichte werden ausgekramt: Israeli agents prepared to strike a ship suspected of smuggling missiles from North Korea to Syria in 1991 but cancelled it at the 11th hour under US pressure, a Japanese newspaper reported Wednesday. Undercover agents of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency secretly attached a guidance system for an airstrike on a cargo vessel believed to be carrying 23 short-range Scud missiles to Syria, the Yomiuri Shimbun said. ++++
The Central Intelligence Agency, backed by bodies including the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research and the Defense Intelligence Agency, determined in August 1974 that Israel had nuclear "weapons in being," a "small number" of which it "produced and stockpiled." Israel was also suspected of providing nuclear materials, equipment or technology to Iran, South Africa and other then-friendly countries.

Negotiations over the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit have come to a halt due to a difference of opinion in the Israeli government regarding the criteria for the release of Palestinian prisoners, a senior Hamas official said on Friday. Hamas' deputy political chief, Mousa Abu Marzouk told the Kuwaiti newspaper Al Jareeda that the group would not give up its demands on Israel, which include the release of jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti and PFLP leader Ahmed Sadat. Marzouk's comments came a day after ministers tasked with laying the groundwork for a prisoner exchange to secure the release Shalit met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday, and presented him with the list of Palestinian prisoners who could be released - signaling that negotiations with Hamas may be close to a deal. Political and security officials are cautiously optimistic about a possible deal. The main message is that there is progress, but still no breakthrough.

The chances that an agreement will be reached by Sunday between the Finance Ministry and the Senior Lecturers Union (SLU) to end the strike are slim, an official in the Treasury said on Saturday. "The salary increase that the heads of the universities suggested to the lecturers during the weekend is not acceptable by the government," the official said. Sunday will be a turning point in the university strike which has stretched to more than eighty days.

Noch ein update zum Holocaust-Hoax-post. Gemeint ist natürlich Gottfried Kößler [nicht Cosler] vom Fritz-Bauer-Institut. Bei der Publikation handelt es sich um das Jahrbuch: Das aktuelle Jahrbuch des Fritz Bauer Instituts thematisiert die Frage nach dem Vermächtnis der Zeitzeugen des Holocaust. Wie werden deren lebensgeschichtliche Erfahrungen in die nationalen Gedächtnisräume eingeschrieben? Dieser Frage gehen Autorinnen und Autoren aus Pädagogik, Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaft, Psychologie und weiteren Disziplinen nach. Besondere Beachtung finden dabei die Stellung und die Transformation der Zeugenschaft in der israelischen, polnischen und deutschen Erinnerungskultur. Kritik: Der Schreiberling Ofer Aderet bei der Haaretz hat ersten schlecht abgeschrieben und zweitens die Institute durcheinander gebracht. Zudem sind einige Bereiche tendenziell verfälscht worden.