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Saturday, September 30, 2006
09-29-06 - Two Palestinian teenagers killed in Gaza They had been walking close to the entrance to the town of Beit Hanun when they were struck with a missile fired from an Israeli drone, witnesses said.
09-29-06 - Jewish group snatches girl in W.Bank raid The members of Yad L'achim, an organization that describes its aim as rescuing "Jewish souls," snatched the girl during a night-time raid on a house in Tulkarm, in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv said
09-29-06 - On six year anniversary of initifada, prospects look bleak for Palestinians
09-29-06 - Israel Will Not Return Money Seized in Raids on Money Changing Shops Last Week The Israeli court ruled Friday that Israeli authorities could keep the six million NIS (1,388,888.90USD) they seized from money changing stores in the West Bank cities of Nablus, Ramallah, Jenin and Tulkarem on September 20th, 2006. State-sanctioned bank robbery, another way for the state of Israel to keep Palestinians impoverished.
09-29-06 - Hamas rally draws tens of thousands Tens of thousands of supporters of Islamic militant group Hamas held a peaceful rally in Gaza on Friday to denounce the state of Israel and declare that they would never recognize its right to exist.
09-29-06 - Troops shot and injured a resident in Hebron, took one resident prisoner in Al Fawwar
09-29-06 - UN: Israel used precision bomb to hit UN officers While there was speculation Israel may have been targeting Hizbollah positions near the Khiam post, Holl Lute said there was no Hizbollah firing coming from near the outpost.
An Irish army officer in south Lebanon warned Israeli forces six times that its strikes threatened the lives of the four observers, Ireland's Foreign Ministry said.
09-29-06 - Israel seals Palestinian territories for Yom Kippur "The total closure on the Palestinian territories will come into effect on Friday after the Muslim prayers and will last until Monday evening at the end of Yom Kippur," a defence ministry spokeswoman said.
09-29-06 - Israel destroys home of Hamas militant
09-29-06 - Marwahin, 15 July 2006: The anatomy of a massacre The Israelis had been firing at all vehicles on the roads of southern Lebanon for three days - they hit dozens of civilian cars as well as ambulances and never once explained their actions except to claim that they were shooting at "terrorists".
09-29-06 - GOP Slanders Dems With 'Anti-Israel' Ads President Bush, former House speaker Newt Gingrich and many other Republicans have certainly been reliable friends of Israel. But they have been no better friends than the great majority of Democratic leaders - including former president Bill Clinton, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi - all of whom are unwavering supporters of the Jewish state. The real issue here is the fact that both parties put the interests of Israel over the interests of the American people.
09-29-06 - Building Nowhereland As described by Israel's Defense Ministry, the fence is purely a security measure intended to protect Israelis from Palestinian terrorists. Instead of running along the Green Line, the Israel-West Bank border, the route has been drawn to place major "settlement blocs" on the Israeli side -- supposedly only to defend them as well. Stealing your neighbor's land to build settlements and walls will not get you peace. 'Piece' maybe, but not peace.
09-29-06 - Democrats hit back after ads claim GOP is for Israel supporters "There is a longstanding tradition of bipartisan support by both Democrats and Republicans for Israel, which we cherish and for which we are grateful," said David Siegel, the embassy spokesman. "The special relationship between Israel and the United States is deep and profound, based on shared values which transcend party lines in both countries." Which is why there is a need for AIPAC, among other powerful pro-Israel lobbies?....
09-29-06 - Abramoff, Rove discussed Israel One confirmed contact, however, was when Abramoff secured hard-to-get tickets for Rove to a college basketball game. At the game, Abramoff, who is Jewish, discussed Israel with Rove, according to an e-mail account by Abramoff.
09-29-06 - Palestinian act fails in Congress Democrats in Congress and Jewish community leaders told JTA that pro-Israel lobbyists launched a lobbying effort Monday to pass the act, which would prohibit direct funding to the Palestinian Authority until it renounces terrorism.
09-29-06 - Jewish state presses bid to dictate UNIFIL's rules of engagement Occupiers want peacekeepers to disarm hizbullah fighters
09-29-06 - Rattling the Cage: The big con about Iran It means being prepared for a much bigger war than the US has been fighting in Iraq for the last 3-1/2 years, and counting. America won't do it. No way on earth. With the US so hopelessly out of its depth in Iraq, the American people will as soon let Bush start a war in Iran as they'd let him bring back the draft, which would be necessary to fight such a war. So forget it. America might be up for a quick little in-and-out operation, something like it did in Granada or Panama, but that's not a military option with the likes of Iran.
And what is Israel going to do?
09-29-06 - 'Israel Lobby' Caused War in Iraq, September 11 Attacks, Professor Says Later, in response to a question from the audience, Mr. Mearsheimer claimed that the "animus to the United States" of Qaeda terrorist mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed "stemmed from U.S. foreign policy toward Israel." In fact, Us Policy on Israel Key Motive for Effort, according to the findings of the 911 Commission. Americans are not to know this though.
09-29-06 - One killed in Israeli car blast Police said it appeared to be the work of criminals rather than terrorists, adding that the bomb had been placed to target the driver rather than inflict wider casualties.
09-29-06 - U.N.-Israel encounter highlights discord Alexander Ivanko, spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping force, said French peacekeepers "observed an Israeli violation of the Blue Line" ? the U.N.-demarcated line between Lebanon and Israel......Tobacco farmer Moussa Obeid had similar concerns.
"It is not clear yet what these U.N. troops will do to protect us from the Israelis," he said, pointing to the Israeli position. "This is occupation. Look how close they are to us."
09-29-06 - Theater Listings 'MY NAME IS RACHEL CORRIE' Previews start on Thursday. Opens on Oct. 15. Finally, the solo play based on the writings of the young pro-Palestinian American activist opens in New York. Megan Dodds stars (1:30). Minetta Lane Theater, 18 Minetta Lane, Greenwich Village
09-29-06 - Complaint: East Jerusalem traffic blocked on Yom Kippur In a letter written to the Jerusalem Police commander, the Ir Amim organization complained that street closures within East Jerusalem during Yom Kippur cause unnecessary hardships for the Arab residents of the city.
09-29-06 - Hamas makes the best of things Qalqiliya, is in a much tougher position than Beita. It used to flourish as a way station on the once-invisible border between the West Bank and Israel but has fallen into a dead zone with the construction of Israel's "separation barrier". The wall or fence surrounds it entirely, leaving only one permanently open road in and out, and carving the town off from 83% of its municipal territory-mostly farmland, to which its owners have only restricted access.
09-29-06 - Military Intelligence: Syrian Front Now Cause for Concern Each week, members of the Israeli Defense Ministry flip a coin to determine which nation is the biggest threat and thus will be the next target of US condemnation: "Iran, Syria. Iran, Syria. Syria it is!"
09-29-06 - Israel Sends in the Clowns - Debating the Lobby in Manhattan Indyk and Ross showed up in fighting trim, and Slaughter threw them a slow soft one in her first question: Was the Mearsheimer-Walt paper anti-Semitic? Well, more or less, yes, was the predictable answer from Israel's defense bench.
This proves one of the points of the study in the first place.
09-29-06 - Prisoners in Negev Prison Suffer Food Poisoning; Treatment Needed
09-29-06 - Children face perils of bomblets in Lebanon
09-29-06 - U.N. says Israel blocked investigators A U.N. official said Israel never sufficiently explained why it kept bombing the base. "We do not have a satisfactory answer as to why those attempts failed," said the official, who spoke anonymously because the report was confidential. "The Israelis are fully aware of our position on this incident
09-29-06 - German navy will help Lebanese army: Merkel
09-29-06 - Beaten for Walking Children to School The injuries of two aid workers are nothing compared to the Palestinians' plight
09-29-06 - HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE FOR THE PEOPLE OF PALESTINE
09-29-06 - The suspected murderers of a senior intelligence chief in Gaza may be handed over Friday
09-29-06 - Irish embassy rejects call by academics for a boycott of Israel institutions Last week the Irish Times published a letter in which 61 academics, including Prof. James Bowen, chair of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, called for a moratorium on European Union grants and contracts to Israeli academic institutions "until Israel abides by UN resolutions and ends the occupation of Palestinian territories."
09-29-06 - IPI Concerned by Lack of Investigation into Attack on Journalist in Bethlehem in Mid-August.
09-29-06 - Lebanon's children: the true victims of the civilized world's disregard during Israel's attacks
09-29-06 - Israeli Forces Invade Bethlehem and Neighboring Villages and Take One Prisoner For the fourth time in two weeks, five groups of military patrols invaded Bethlehem and the surrounding areas Thursday night, according to Palestinian security sources and eyewitnesses.
09-29-06 - Israel backs off plan to kill Nasrallah Israel has quietly backed off its plan to assassinate Hezbollah's leader because of the international condemnation that his killing would create, the Israeli daily Maariv reported Friday. To get around that, they'll Hariri-ize him.
09-29-06 - Lisbon says EU will continue to back Palestinian Authority
09-29-06 - Olive Harvest Campaign 2006 Gets Underway! On Tuesday 26th September 2006, the elderly farmer, his wife, five of his daughters and nieces, and four international observers picked olives from trees adjacent to the Apartheid settler bypass road. These trees had not been picked by their rightful Palestinian owners for more than 10 years due to colonist theft and constant threats
09-29-06 - USAID: American Food Aid to Palestinian People Expands "With this $24.6 million grant, the US government has now funded 35 percent of the World Food Program's (WFP) two-year appeal for the Palestinian people," USAID said in a press release.
09-29-06 - Palestinians demand help with tuition fees
09-29-06 - Swiss team tours country to assess needs Switzerland has pledged an additional $4.5 million to assist the Palestinian people living in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip
09-29-06 - Army invades village of Bil'in, disrupting peaceful anti-Wall march Each Friday for the last two years, Bil'in residents have gathered with Israelis and internationals to protest the illegal construction of the Apartheid Wall, which is robbing the villagers of their land and livelihood.
09-29-06 - Feature: Surveillance tightened around east J'lem
09-29-06 - Syria threat over Golan puts Israel on war alert Israeli reports have revealed that the threat level had been raised after intelligence assessments that Damascus is "seriously examining" military action. Riighht. With US forces across the border in Iraq, Syria isn't going to commit national suicide by striking Israel. Chicken Little's at it again.
09-29-06 - Army invades Nablus and its refugee camp
09-29-06 - The Great Debate at Cooper Union Last Night Rashid Khalidi was the emotional life of the debate. He spoke of the lobby in more sweeping terms than Mearsheimer; he conveyed in a way no one else was able the ways in which the pro-Palestinian view is suppressed in the American scene
09-29-06 - Bush issues Yom Kippur greetings In holiday greetings, President Bush said Jewish observance of Yom Kippur makes the world a more peaceful place.
09-29-06 - Sadat's widow says Israeli-Palestinian peace would curb terror Madame Jehan Sadat says the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians is the core of the war on terror. She says the U-S should convince Israel to pull out of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and get the two sides together to make peace.
09-29-06 - Ramadan Giving Opportunities Through GlobalGiving Launched in 2002 by two former World Bank executives, GlobalGiving is a new way to give, offering a transparent way for people to support causes overseas and in the U.S.
09-29-06 - Out of the Mouths of Aides With Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice traveling to the region next week, Mr. Bush should give her an explicit mandate to press Israel, and not just the Palestinians, for real compromises
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Friday, September 29, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Palestinian act fails in Congress
A last-ditch effort to pass the Palestinian Anti-Terrorism Act failed.
Democrats in Congress and Jewish community leaders told JTA that pro-Israel lobbyists launched a lobbying effort Monday to pass the act, which would prohibit direct funding to the Palestinian Authority until it renounces terrorism.
Negotiations to resolve differences between versions of the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate stalled passage this summer.
This week’s effort focused on getting Republican leaders to include the Senate version — considered more moderate because it grants the president greater flexibility in applying the sanctions — in an omnibus bill before Congress adjourns this weekend. Sources said the effort was shot down by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who called Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), chairman of the Senate’s Rules Committee, and told him the White House opposed it.
Rice reportedly did not want her hands tied before she launches a peace-making tour in the Middle East next week. The act is not likely to come up again until well into 2007.
Bush issues Yom Kippur greetings
In holiday greetings, President Bush said Jewish observance of Yom Kippur makes the world a more peaceful place.
“Yom Kippur is a solemn time to express thanksgiving that the Almighty remembers the names of all His children,” said a White House statement issued in the name of the president and First Lady. “During this blessed Day of Atonement, Jewish people gather in synagogues, consider their deeds and actions and celebrate as the sound of the Shofar proclaims the forgiveness and mercy shown by the Creator of life. As the High Holy Days come to an end, the Jewish people in America and around the world remind us of the gift of religious freedom and the blessings of God’s steadfast love. On Yom Kippur and throughout the year, your deep commitment to faith helps make the world a more hopeful and peaceful place.”
Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, whose wife and children are Jewish, also issued greetings for the holy day. “My family and I ask all to join with the Jewish people to use this time as the beginning of a new era of peace and security,” he said in a message.
Dems: Iran sanctions act diluted
Democrats complained that the White House significantly watered down the Iran sanctions act passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.
The Iran Freedom Support Act passed in a voice vote this week, but Democrats in Congress told JTA that it was presented to them as a fait accompli and that they felt they had no choice but to pass it because the previous act lapses Friday. As of Friday evening, the act was stuck in the Senate, where the Democratic leadership was still debating whether to support it.
The latest version was negotiated this week by the White House, Senate Republicans and House Republicans, and removes key passages from a version the House passed overwhelmingly earlier this year. According to a comparison document circulated by Democrats, the new version removes sanctions on offshore subsidiaries of U.S. companies that deal with Iran.
Abramoff, Rove discussed Israel
A disgraced lobbyist said he discussed Israel with President Bush’s top adviser, newly released e-mails show.
A congressional report released Thursday showed that Jack Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to bribing senior members of Congress, listed 485 contacts between his office and the White House, including 10 contacts with Karl Rove, Bush’s top political adviser. The White House, which previously said it had very limited contact with Abramoff, responded by suggesting he lied about the extent of his contacts.
One confirmed contact, however, was when Abramoff secured hard-to-get tickets for Rove to a college basketball game. At the game, Abramoff, who is Jewish, discussed Israel with Rove, according to an e-mail account by Abramoff.
http://www.jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 10:39 PM Permanent Link
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09-28-06 - Middle East summit 'within days'
09-28-06 - Palestinian policemen protest in Gaza, demand wages
09-28-06 - OPT: Palestinian agricultural losses top US $1 billion "The closure coincided with the export season of strawberries, flowers, tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers. So I had to sell them in the local markets before the produce rots," he said. "Even when the crossings are open, the Israelis enforce complex search procedures that lead to the expiry of import and export goods, especially dairy products, fruits, and vegetables."
09-28-06 - Resident dies of wounds sustained during internal clashes last week one resident died of wounds sustained on September 22 during clashes between members of the Executive Committee and fighters of the Al Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fateh.
09-28-06 - Israeli cluster bomb kills 1 child, wounds 3 near Marjayoun The four children were playing in a field in the region of Marjayoun when a bomblet exploded, killing one and wounding the others, the source told AFP
09-28-06 - Hamas ministers may step down to secure power deal
09-28-06 - Gaza: assistance for displaced Bedouin families Most of the families are from Shoka, in the south-eastern part of the Gaza Strip, the scene of repeated military incursions and extensive damage since the end of June.
09-28-06 - Palestinian civil servants get 340-dollar advance The head of the office of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said the advances had been transferred by the Palestinian Authority presidency thanks to aid money from Arab and Muslim countries.
09-28-06 - UN, Israeli tanks in brief face-off in south Lebanon Standing some 50 meters from each other, the tanks were locked in a 20-minute face-off, the first between the Israeli army and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has been boosted to oversee the current truce.
The French tanks then withdrew from the area, as observers of the UN Truce Supervision Organisation deployed in the area. Israeli soldiers confiscated the identity cards of photographers at the scene, claiming they may give pictures of the Israeli military to militants of the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah.
Is it only a matter of time before Israeli forces fire on UN forces (again)?
09-28-06 - Beirut may file UN complaint over Israel's failure to withdraw And for the last two days, Israeli forces have been erecting checkpoints in a village in southern Lebanon to search vehicles and check passengers' identities according to Lebanese sources. "The Israeli troops are erecting checkpoints, stopping people as well as Lebanese and foreign journalists," said the Lebanese senior military official. "This is not acceptable, these are part of provocations and pressures by the Israelis to negotiate security measures and rules of engagement," he said.
09-28-06 - Why Hamas Resists Recognizing Israel Many intelligence professionals eschew torture because they know that it tends to yield the answers that the suspect thinks his interrogators want to hear - not necessarily the truth. In some respects, there may be a similar effect in trying to throttle the Palestinians into submission.
09-28-06 - Lugar says vote on nomination unlikely before Senate recess Chafee wants the administration to restrain Israel from expanding settlements in Palestinian areas on the West Bank. Bolton, as U.S. ambassador, has taken a strong and visible role in across-the-board support for Israel.
09-28-06 - Festival tribute to Palestinians
09-28-06 - House approves Iran sanctions The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which led lobbying for the act, praised its passage. A lot of Israel-friendly goings on on Capitol Hill today. See my post from the 09-26 news batch about Israel's newest wishlist. Mission accomplished (for now)!
09-28-06 - House passes homeland security cooperation The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which lobbied for the bill, said its passage would allow the United States "to leverage the anti-terrorism expertise of our leading allies in the global war against terror. It provides a framework for expanded homeland security collaboration and creates increased opportunities for the United States and Israel to work together to address the common terrorist threat."
09-28-06 - U.S. to press UNIFIL on 'robust' mandate U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed unhappiness with reports that the expanded U.N. force in Lebanon is reluctant to set up roadblocks and check vehicles to keep Hezbollah, the terrorist group that launched this summer?s war with Israel, from rearming.
09-28-06 - House approves funds for missile interceptor Such appropriations, considered defense investments, are separate from the $2.8 billion Israel gets annually in U.S. assistance
09-28-06 - Israeli PM leaves it understood he met Saudis
09-28-06 - New IDF film unit to combat bad press
09-28-06 - Israelis boost Britain Almost two in three Israelis consider British Prime Minister Tony Blair a "true friend of Israel," the poll found.
09-28-06 - 2000: 'Provocative' mosque visit sparks riots
09-28-06 - Rice to visit Israelis, Palestinians with little sign of breakthrough
09-28-06 - Lebanese border village eagerly awaits Israeli pullout Three weeks ago, the young woman came home, with her three daughters, her disabled husband and her parents-in-law to find their house bombarded and vandalized, and her tobacco fields nearly all dried to the roots
09-28-06 - Israel explains trepidation over Lebanon On Thursday, an Israeli armored vehicle and two jeeps crossed the border and tried to penetrate into Lebanese territory when U.N. French peacekeepers blocked their path, said an Associated Press photographer who witnessed the incident. The Israelis retreated after a brief standoff, but the incident highlights the lingering tensions along the border. Ahh. So that's why the Israeli army confiscated the identity cards of those photographers, per an earlier article.
09-28-06 - U.N. shifts from aid work to rebuilding in Lebanon The United Nations declared an end on Thursday to the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon caused by the Israeli-Hizbollah war and said it planned to shift its resources to rebuilding the war-shattered area.
09-28-06 - Olmert won't free Palestinians ahead of soldier's release
09-28-06 - Five-star hotels offer window on West Bank's woes
09-28-06 - Syria defies U.S. threat, still backs Hamas, Hizbollah "If the U.S. administration is serious about combating terrorism then it should play a constructive role in pushing forward the peace process on the basis of U.N. resolutions 242 and 338," The UN resolutions, passed decades ago, emphasize the inadmissibility of acquiring territory through war, call on Israel to withdraw from Arab land it has occupied since 1967 and call for negotiations to reach a "just and durable peace" in the Middle East
09-28-06 - Israel does not expect another imminent fight with Hezbollah: Olmert For the price of ceasing its vicious onslaught against the Lebanese people as a whole, Israel is betting on the UN to do their work (neutralizing Hezbollah) for them.
09-28-06 - Israel's citrus industry blossoms again Israel has razed hundreds of groves in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians grow most of their citrus fruit, in raids against militants who the army said used the vegetation for cover. Palestinians and human rights groups have condemned the uprootings.
Such Israeli incursions have prevented farmers from reaching their groves, leaving the fruit to rot. The farmers have been largely unable to export fruit because of Israel's frequent closures of its border with Gaza.
09-28-06 - Israel rights group publishes death toll Israeli forces have killed 3,733 Palestinians, including 767 minors, in the West Bank and Gaza while Palestinians have killed 1,011 Israelis during six years of conflict, a leading Israeli human rights group said Thursday.
09-28-06 - Border police nab 823 illegal Palestinian workers
09-28-06 - PLO liaison says key to peace is in fixing Palestinians' plight
09-28-06 - U.N. rights boss Arbour to go to Israel, territories
09-28-06 - Palestinian terr.: Depression increasing due to conflict and poverty
09-28-06 - Peres supports West Bank construction Peres spoke against restrictions imposed on settlers in the region, saying they should not be prevented from building their homes, YNetNews.com reported Thursday.
09-28-06 - Israeli birthright insensitive to Palestinians in exile my grandmother?s brothers and sisters, born and raised in the Palestinian village Berwe who had cultivated its soil with their own hands, are prohibited by the Israeli state from returning to their land
09-28-06 - House suspends Israeli contract tainted by Abramoff The U.S. Congress suspended a contract with an Israeli wireless firm because of its ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
House finally got one right.
09-28-06 - Grandpa & the Jews This article is quite transparent in its attempt to use the Holocaust, among other things, to persuade readers to back Israel.
09-28-06 - Church coalition presses Bush on peace It called on Bush to press Israel to end West Bank settlement and resume tax payments to the Palestinian Authority, suspended after the Hamas terrorist group took power.
09-28-06 - Australian journalist's new book takes heat for posing "My Israel Question"
09-28-06 - The return of Palestinian refugees is an existential necessity for Israeli Jews
09-28-06 - NatWest loses first round in court case over charity linked to Hamas NatWest has lost the first battle in a court case brought by families of victims of suicide bombings in Israel seeking damages in the US courts after allegations that the British bank knowingly provided services to a charity linked to Hamas.
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Thursday, September 28, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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House approves Iran sanctions
The U.S. House of Representatives approved new sanctions against Iran.
The Iran Freedom Support Act, approved in a voice vote Thursday, would extend existing sanctions, scheduled to lapse Friday, and expand them to include overseas companies that deal with Iran.
The Senate is due to consider the act, sponsored by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), before Congress breaks Friday for midterm elections.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which led lobbying for the act, praised its passage.
“The passage of IFSA is an important step in further isolating the radical regime in Tehran, and represents a unified American commitment from both the administration and Congress toward ensuring that Iran does not obtain the world’s most dangerous weapons,” AIPAC said in a statement.
Congress releases $25 million for homeland security
The U.S. Congress released $25 million in homeland security funds to protect nonprofits.
The money, from the 2006 budget, had been held up because of ambiguities in earlier legislative language, but negotiators on the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives conference committee agreed this week to release the money.
Most of the $25 million allocated in 2005 went to Jewish organizations for improving security.
The United Jewish Communities federation umbrella group, which together with the Orthodox Union had lobbied for the funds’ release, welcomed the decision.
“The conference committee has taken critical steps to alleviate a particularly troublesome predicament given the elevated threats against Jewish community organizations as demonstrated by the July attack on the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle,” said William Daroff, director of the UJC’s Washington office.
The conference committee has not completed negotiations, but insiders told JTA that no funds were likely to be allocated for 2007.
The UJC and the Orthodox Union had lobbied for another $25 million in next year’s budget
House passes homeland security cooperation
The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation that would formalize homeland security cooperation with Israel and four other allies.
The bill, passed Tuesday night, establishes an office in the Homeland Security Department that would foster legal and research cooperation with Israel, Britain, Australia, Singapore and Canada.
The office will be funded at $25 million a year for three years.
The Promoting Antiterrorism Capabilities Through International Cooperation Act now goes to the U.S. Senate.
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which lobbied for the bill, said its passage would allow the United States “to leverage the anti-terrorism expertise of our leading allies in the global war against terror.
It provides a framework for expanded homeland security collaboration and creates increased opportunities for the United States and Israel to work together to address the common terrorist threat.”
Church coalition presses Bush on peace
A coalition of major mainstream churches urged President Bush to make peacekeeping in the Middle East “an urgent priority.”
“Your determined direction would make possible important interim steps that could stem the humanitarian crisis among Palestinians and lay the groundwork for a diplomatic process,” said the letter sent Wednesday from Churches for Middle East Peace, a coalition of mainstream Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, Quaker and Roman Catholic organizations.
It called on Bush to press Israel to end West Bank settlement and resume tax payments to the Palestinian Authority, suspended after the Hamas terrorist group took power.
It also urged him to press the Palestinians to release a captive Israeli soldier, recognize Israel and renounce terrorism.
U.S. to press UNIFIL on ‘robust’ mandate
The United States will press the multinational security force in Lebanon to pursue a robust mandate.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed unhappiness with reports that the expanded U.N. force in Lebanon is reluctant to set up roadblocks and check vehicles to keep Hezbollah, the terrorist group that launched this summer’s war with Israel, from rearming.
The U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the conflict expanded the force and charged it with helping to keep the South weapons-free.
“They’ve certainly got the authority to do whatever they need to do to do their job,” Rice said this week in a meeting with New York Times editors and reporters.
“There probably ought to be a conversation with UNIFIL about how it sees its responsibilities, because the language says that anything and anyone which keeps them from fulfilling their responsibilities is to be challenged on that and they even have the right to use force if they need to, if somebody tries to forcibly keep them from doing what they need to do. That mandate was written in a very robust fashion.”
House approves funds for missile interceptor
The U.S. House of Representatives approved funds for joint U.S.-Israeli development of an interceptor for short-range missiles.
The mandate is part of the $136 million appropriated this week for the Arrow program, the successful U.S.-Israeli interceptor of long-range missiles.
The Arrow appropriation, part of the wider defense appropriations bill passed Tuesday by the House and expected to gain Senate approval by Thursday, was $58 million more than the $78 million requested by the Bush administration.
The inclusion of a program for short-range missiles arose from Israel’s difficulties this summer in intercepting missiles fired by Hezbollah terrorists from Lebanon.
Other U.S.-Israeli projects in the appropriations included combat aircraft navigation systems and helmets that help pilots aim, as well as unmanned aerial drones, all currently used by U.S. forces in Iraq.
Such appropriations, considered defense investments, are separate from the $2.8 billion Israel gets annually in U.S. assistance
Israelis boost Britain
Britain topped a list of European nations that Israelis consider friendly.
According to a survey commissioned by the British Embassy in Tel Aviv and released Wednesday, a quarter of Israelis named Britain first when asked which European country is most pro-Israel, while 32 percent of respondents characterized Britain as generally “friendly” to Israel.
Almost two in three Israelis consider British Prime Minister Tony Blair a “true friend of Israel,” the poll found.
Blair weathered intense criticism at home for his refusal to call for an immediate cease-fire during Israel’s war with Hezbollah this summer. He has vowed to devote the rest of his time in office to bringing Middle East peace and defeating Islamic terrorism.
House suspends Israeli contract tainted by Abramoff
The U.S. Congress suspended a contract with an Israeli wireless firm because of its ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
In 2002, Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Administration Committee, awarded the contract to install antennas in office buildings to Foxcom Wireless.
He is set to plead guilty to awarding the contract at Abramoff’s behest and in exchange for bribes.
The committee, which handles logistics on Capitol Hill, is reviewing the contract, the Washington Post reported Thursday. Abramoff has also pleaded guilty.
http://www.jta.org/
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09-27-06 - Gaza Strip to remain without full electrical power for a year Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem has accused the Israel Defense Forces of war crimes for bombing the plant, which has left many areas of the Gaza Strip without full electricitical power the last three months.
09-27-06 - Israel to release Palestinian deputy PM Mr Shaer, a graduate of Manchester university, is considered a pragmatist within Hamas. He supports moderating the group's position on Israel and the use of force to conform more closely to world opinion.
09-27-06 - Israeli Air Force shells a house in Rafah In a pre-dawn shelling on Thursday, Israeli forces air struck a Palestinian house in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, shortly after troops phoned the inhabitants and ordered them to leave. Two missiles were fired at the house and flattened it.
09-27-06 - Act of Vengeance: Israel's Bombing of the Gaza Power Plant and its Effects
09-27-06 - Lebanon accuses Israel of stealing border river waters Mohammad Ghamlush, the engineer heading the Wazzani river pumping systems, told AFP the Israeli army sabotaged the water pumps on the river last week and installed a pipe to pump hundreds of cubic meters to Israel....In a region where water is scarce, the issue may have dramatic consequences. and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has opened an investigation.
09-27-06 - Caritas report from Gaza - three months without electricity Cutting off electricity affects every sector in Gaza. It is a problem that touches every Gazan. Water is not clean because filters and water pumps are not working. Hospitals do not have secure power sources and this affects medical treatment. This issue touches all aspects of life
09-27-06 - UN agency pleads for end to Gaza, West Bank blockades Meanwhile, the response from Washington - *crickets chirping*
09-27-06 - Jewish settler jailed for life for killing Palestinians An Israeli court has sentenced a Jewish settler to four life sentences for killing four Palestinians in the West Bank last year as Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, a judicial source said.
09-27-06 - Israeli settlers in southern West Bank bulldoze Palestinian land Today settlers bulldozed major tracts of Palestinian land to the north for settlement expansion under heavy guard of Israeli soldiers.
09-27-06 - Palestinian militants attack Israeli army patrols in Nablus The group said in a leaflet sent to reporters that its militants opened fire at an Israeli army patrol near al-Ein refugee camp in the outskirts of the town of Nablus but it didn't elaborate whether the raid caused any casualties.
09-27-06 - Unilateral withdrawal is Israel's best option Strange argument made there.
09-27-06 - Hezbollah construction wing leaves gov?t in the dust
09-27-06 - IDF: Troops can shoot Lebanese stone-throwers if lives threatened Cabinet ministers at Wednesday's weekly meeting were outraged over a protest Friday in which several dozen yellow-clad Hezbollah supporters on the Lebanese side of the border threw stones at soldiers on the Israeli side of the border. Some of the ministers criticized the army for not responding to the violent protest.
09-27-06 - Israeli Arabs claim bias in postwar aid when the building contractor and his lawyer realized that businessmen in neighboring Jewish towns near Lebanon were eligible for about 60 percent more government compensation, they decided to file a petition with Israel's Supreme Court charging anti-Arab bias. The court will hear the case of Fassuta and three other Arab border villages next month.
09-27-06 - Seeing the forest for the trees Palestinians had been faced with the exact same general stalemate that characterizes the situation today long before the January 2006 elections. The only difference between then and now is that people could eat better then and fewer of them had been killed.
09-27-06 - Straw: U.K. should push U.S. to help achieve Israeli-Palestinian deal
09-27-06 - Hi-tech firm boycotts Israel over 'war crimes'
09-27-06 - Iran seen borrowing nuclear strategy from Israel In developing its nuclear program Iran is using strategies that allowed its enemy Israel to assemble the Middle East's only atomic arsenal without admitting it had one, according to a leading expert on the Israeli program.
09-27-06 - Israeli ministers call for tougher action in Gaza
09-27-06 - Children's Bodies Found Months After Attack
09-27-06 - Siniora: IDF presence in Lebanon 'mother of all ills'
09-27-06 - Modern art comes to the West Bank "Because restriction of movement makes it impossible for Palestinians to view international art we wanted to bring it to them,"
09-27-06 - UK company supplying arms to Israel blockaded
09-27-06 - Israel's visa changes force people out of West Bank and Gaza SAM BAHOUR: I can give you two very prime examples. One is the largest investment company in Palestine, their CEO was denied entry twice in July. This is probably a $1 billion company that has thousands of people working for them. Another example is the CEO of the Proctor & Gamble and Philip Morris distributor here. He was also denied entry twice last month.
09-27-06 - Israeli says Egypt turning blind eye at Gaza border
09-27-06 - Conflicted Gazans send mixed messages "The problem is the Palestinians are confused," says Abdel Majed Sweilem, a political science professor at Al Quds University. "On the one hand, they want compromise and a political solution. On the other hand, they haven't seen any results from 10 years of negotiations."
09-27-06 - Palestinians Want Talks, Two-State Solution
09-27-06 - Army invades Khan Younis, south Gaza and takes prisoner 20 residents
09-27-06 - WASHINGTON OUT OF TOUCH WITH ANGER OF ARAB WORLD, SYRIAN MINISTER TELLS UN He asserted that the people of the region are angered by the denial of their sovereign national rights. Summing up the collective sentiment, he said: "We want an end to the Israeli occupation of our lands in Palestine, Lebanon and the Golan. We want to recover all our usurped rights. We want the flow of American weapons to Israel, which are sowing death and destruction, to stop. We refuse hegemony over our resources and interference in our affairs."
09-27-06 - Musharraf: Recognizing Israel now would be suicidal
09-27-06 - Calls rise for ban on cluster bombs "The Israeli Defense Forces have some explaining to do about the military necessity of firing so many cluster munitions into populated areas with the cease-fire in sight," said Mark Hiznay, a senior researcher with Human Rights Watch.
09-27-06 - Anti-boycott language in Oman agreement President Bush signed a free trade agreement with Oman that includes language barring boycotts of Israel.
09-27-06 - House resolution calls for Lebanon force The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging Lebanon to allow international troops along its border with Syria Why is this a matter for American legislators?
09-27-06 - Spain proposes peace conference Spain proposed reprising its 1991 conference for Israeli-Arab peace.
09-27-06 - Peres: Assad Sr. missed chance on Golan Vice premier says if Bashar Assad's father, former Syrian president Hafez Assad, came to Camp David, ?I can promise you the Golan Heights would have been in Syrian hands for years now?
09-27-06 - Secret meeting between Israeli-Omani FMs
09-27-06 - Israel Navy eyeing new US warship The Israel Navy inched a step closer to receiving a next-generation coastguard vessel over the weekend when Lockheed Martin launched the USS Freedom, which is slated to join the US Navy, at the Marinette Marine Shipyard in Wisconsin.
09-27-06 - I Wonder Why That Is ?
09-27-06 - See, There Is No Israel Lobby
09-27-06 - Analysis: Clinton eyes roots of terrorism He pledged to dedicate his remaining days in office to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the wider issue of the Occupied Territories, "because peace in the Middle East is a defeat for terrorism."
09-27-06 - Kids get Sandler gifts Foreign Ministry staff on Wednesday handed out some of the 400 Playstation consoles and games donated by Sandler at northern border towns that came under Hezbollah rocket attack during Israel?s recent Lebanon war.
09-27-06 - Ex-Comverse CEO Kobi Alexander arrested in Namibia after international manhunt The United States will seek his extradition to face multiple criminal charges stemming from an alleged stock options backdating and slush fund scheme, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement. Comverse - the company involved in the Israeli spy ring in the US (video link).
09-27-06 - Israelis Split on Negotiations with Palestinians
09-27-06 - Court delays hearings because of Yom Kippur The Supreme Court will postpone its "First Monday in October" hearings because of Yom Kippur.
09-27-06 - Saudis Plan Border Fence With Iraq The pro-Israeli crowd is all up in arms over the Saudi fence proposal. The point they continue to have trouble with is this: there's nothing wrong with building a fence provided you build it on your own land. Israel built its fence or wall such that it confiscates large swaths of Palestinian land. This is a violation of international law. Our government is poised to build a fence along the border with Mexico. Do you think that we will steal large swaths of Mexican land in the process? Doubtful. That's the difference between America and Israel (one of many).
09-27-06 - Researcher: Temple treasure is in West Bank
09-27-06 - Christians: We'll fight for Israel Millions of Evangelical Christians around the world support and constantly pray for the State of Israel , representatives at a meeting of the Knesset's Christian Allies Caucus said Wednesday.
posted by Somebody @ 1:05 AM Permanent Link
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Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Spain proposes peace conference
Spain proposed reprising its 1991 conference for Israeli-Arab peace.
The Madrid summit brought together Israeli, Jordanian, Syrian, Lebanese and Egyptian leaders under U.S. and Soviet auspices.
“Perhaps it would be timely for all the interested parties to meet again, at the same level as in 1991, to reaffirm their commitment to a comprehensive solution and to the basic principles on which that should be based,” Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said Wednesday in an article published in the Al-Hayat newspaper.
The Madrid conference led to Israel’s 1994 peace accord with Jordan and short-lived negotiations with Syria. Moratinos said Israel’s recent war with Hezbollah demonstrated the importance of peace talks.
“At this stage, the important thing is not to invent new solutions but to have the courage, the historic generosity and the political will to apply the formulas that were examined to a large extent in the course of previous negotiations,” he wrote. Israel has generally opposed these types of conferences, saying the U.S.-backed “road map” is the framework for peace negotiations.
Anti-boycott language in Oman agreement
President Bush signed a free trade agreement with Oman that includes language barring boycotts of Israel.
The U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement, signed by Bush on Tuesday, is the latest such agreement that mandates an end to participation in primary, secondary or tertiary boycotts against Israel, a measure promoted by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and embraced by the Bush administration.
Oman already maintains trade relations with Israel.
Court delays hearings because of Yom Kippur
The Supreme Court will postpone its “First Monday in October” hearings because of Yom Kippur.
Seven justices will convene Monday for routine business, such as admitting new lawyers to the Supreme Court bar and announcing which cases the court has accepted for argument, but hearings launching the formal court year will not start until Tuesday out of respect for Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer, who are Jewish and observe the holy day.
This is only the second time the court has postponed “First Monday” arguments for Yom Kippur; the first was in 2003.
House resolution calls for Lebanon force
The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a resolution urging Lebanon to allow international troops along its border with Syria.
The nonbinding resolution, which passed 411-5 on Tuesday evening, urges Lebanon’s government “to request without delay a robust international force deployment on the Lebanese border with Syria, so as to prevent the resupply of weapons to Hezbollah.”
Lebanon has been reluctant to ask international troops to patrol its border, fearing Syrian reprisals.
Kids get Sandler gifts
Hundreds of children in Israeli conflict zones received video games donated by Hollywood actor Adam Sandler.
Foreign Ministry staff on Wednesday handed out some of the 400 Playstation consoles and games donated by Sandler at northern border towns that came under Hezbollah rocket attack during Israel’s recent Lebanon war.
Children in Sderot, a southern town frequently targeted by Palestinian rocket crews in the Gaza Strip, are also to receive the gifts.
A Foreign Ministry statement said Sandler, a Jewish man who lives in Los Angeles, had been moved to “bring happiness to the hearts” of Israeli children forced to take to shelters during the rocket salvoes.
http://www.jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 11:01 PM Permanent Link
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09-26-06 - Israeli air strike kills Gaza teen: medics An Israeli warplane bombed and destroyed a home in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, killing a teenage girl in a neighboring building and wounding 10 other people, Palestinian medics said....10 other people were wounded by the blast, most of them women and children who suffered broken bones, bruises and shrapnel wounds.
09-26-06 - U.N. envoy says Gaza a prison for Palestinians The South African lawyer, who has been a special U.N. investigator since 2001, repeated earlier accusations that Israel is breaking international humanitarian law with security measures which amount to "collective punishment."
09-26-06 - UN says Gaza crisis 'intolerable' "Israel violates international law as expounded by the Security Council and the International Court of Justice and goes unpunished," he said. "But the Palestinian people are punished for having democratically elected a regime unacceptable to Israel, the US and the EU.
If any nation should be sanctioned, it should be Israel. And again.
09-26-06 - Palestine food distribution campaign Your immediate donation will make this humanitarian project possible.
09-26-06 - Unexploded bomblets hinder S. Lebanon recovery: U.N. Up to a million unexploded cluster bomblets from Israel's war with Hizbollah are now the biggest threat to civilians in south Lebanon, where they litter streets, homes and orchards, U.N. agencies said on Tuesday....Clarke said Israel had also yet to provide detailed information on the amounts of cluster bombs fired or the coordinates of the strikes, which would help munitions clearance teams identify the main areas on which to focus their efforts. Again, this is likely due to the fact that the maps would show mainly civilian areas.
09-26-06 - Golan heights an 'integral part" of Israel: PM Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has called the occupied Golan Heights an integral part of Israel and said he would never hand it back to Syria. The Golan Heights - one of the territories unlawfully seized and 'settled' by Israel.
09-26-06 - Israel's lethal bomblets keep 200,000 Lebanese away from homes
09-26-06 - Child injured by Israeli military in a Jenin refugee camp
09-26-06 - Three Palestinians injured as Israeli Forces Attack Muslim Worshippers Outside Al-Khader Mosque
09-26-06 - PM: Bush won't allow nuclear Iran ** Olmert's assessment is at odds with those inside the intelligence community who argue that the US president is too over-extended in Iraq and Afghanistan, and too politically weak at home, to take military action against Teheran.
09-26-06 - Israeli warplane strikes on southern Gaza house Israel has been destroyed Palestinian houses and constructions in the Gaza Strip and the Israelis claimed that Palestinian militants are using these houses to store weapons used in attacking Israel. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza estimated that more than 45 houses had been destroyed over the past three months in the Gaza Strip
09-26-06 - School Grants For Palestinian Refugee Children A United Nations relief agency has distributed 100 shekels (about $25) apiece to Palestinian refugee children to cover the costs of school bags, uniforms and shoes in the Gaza Strip, infusing noticeable economic activity into a region that has reached an unprecedented level of unemployment following the suspension of much foreign aid.
09-26-06 - Relentless raids leave Gaza reeling "We sit here - between the earth and the sky - and we survive just on what the Red Cross brings us," Subhiya Mouamr said. "They destroyed everything."
09-26-06 - Saudis deny secret Israel contact Israeli media said Saudi and Israeli had discussed the Saudi peace initiative and Iran's nuclear programme. That's all Saudi royalty needs is to admit they met with the Israeli government. Not going to happen.
09-26-06 - IDF withdrawal from stalled until UNIFIL role spelled out In the IDF the view is that after the withdrawal is completed, if Israeli soldiers along the border fence feel threatened and the peacekeeping forces do not deal with the situation, the soldiers will be entitled to defend themselves. However, the UN view of the role of UNIFIL is that of a police force, which will only fire if it is fired upon, in an act of self-defense.
09-26-06 - From March, 2003 : Israel/Palestinian Territories In the Line of Fire Shyouki and his colleagues had just finished covering a march by Jewish settlers who had been forced to return home by Israeli soldiers. The cameramen were standing around, making plans to leave, when soldiers arrived and started shooting at them. Shyouki was hit by rubber bullets. In graphic footage, we see Shyouki lying on the ground, bleeding, as he is shot a second time. Finally, his colleagues drag him to safety and rush him to the hospital.
09-26-06 - Olmert says Israel will not accept a nuclear Iran "Israel can't accept the possibility of Iranians having nuclear weapons and we will act together with the international forces, starting with the Americans, in order to prevent it," Olmert told The Jerusalem Post daily in an interview. "starting with the Americans, in order to prevent it," We've got our hands full already, thanks to the neocons/AIPACers.
09-26-06 - In pictures Gaza's fishermen struggling to make a living at sea
09-26-06 - Beckett defends Lebanon policy "She skidded over troubled waters. She implied that we did all we could to obtain a ceasefire over Lebanon. This was not true,"
09-26-06 - Hebron Update: 9-15 September 2006 When Gibb telephoned late in the evening, the two had just
gotten home, after three hours at the police station. They told Gibb that a
settler woman had attacked and kicked the international, and then filed a
complaint that the international had scratched her. Apparently the settler has
done this before, so the police did not take it seriously.
09-26-06 - Israel to allow electricity import from Jordan to Jericho If the project materializes, this would be the first time that a Palestinian Authority town receives its power supply from a foreign country.
09-26-06 - Israeli to address Congress Some of the issues expected to be raised are Iran's support for Hezbollah, the militia's status and influence in Lebanon following the 34-day war with Israel, its widely viewed Al-Manar television station and its activities in Africa, Asia, South America and the United States. Congress will receive Israel's newest wish list.
09-26-06 - Court rejects Bedouin villages' request for clean water connection Even so, Judge Ron Shapira stated in his decision that behind the appeal lies a larger issue of the regularization of "Bedouin settlements," and added that a public interest exists "not to encourage additional illegal settlement." This is not the case with those OTHER illegal settlements - those populated with Israeli Jews in the West Bank and Jerusalem. We never hear of any lawsuits on their behalf that seek access to water. Why is that?
09-26-06 - Lebanon: We need missiles against IAF aircraft Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr says his country's army will respond if Israel violates ceasefire after IDF's withdrawal. Murr meets with his Belgian counterpart, asks to equip Lebanese army with antiaircraft missiles in order to hit Israeli aircraft Even before the July 12th abduction of Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah, Israel was routinely and provocatively violating Lebanese air space (as well as Syria's on occasion).
09-26-06 - From Sept. 2005: Israel: Iran may be 6 months from bomb know-how ** Iran may be as little as six months away from completing the know-how to build a nuclear bomb, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said on Monday.
09-26-06 - Consult America before Iran war ** Early this year, Israel was warning that if Iran was not stopped by March 2006, it would be too late. Iran by then would have acquired the knowledge and experience needed to build nuclear weapons. The neoconservatives, too, have been demanding "Action this day!" and were stunned by Bush's statement at the United Nations that America does not oppose Iran's acquisition of peaceful nuclear power.
Check this news batch for a similar flashback to last year.
09-26-06 - UNRWA and Ministry of Health signs hospitalization agreement An agreement was concluded this morning at the Ministry of Health in Amman between the Ministry and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), whereby the ministry administers the Agency's hospitalization reimbursement scheme.
09-26-06 - Hamas-led gov't not to recognize Israel, nor meet int'l demands: FM Zahar argued that the nine previous Palestinian governments had abided by the international demands but failed to serve people or satisfy their minimum political and economical demands.
09-26-06 - Monetary Authority to sue Israeli forces for bank robberies
09-26-06 - The fourth day of Ramadan arrives with Promises of payments for Palestinian employees Palestinian Minister of Planning, Samir Abu Aisha, stated on Tuesday that Palestinian civil servants, earning NIS 1800 a month or less , are to receive one month's salary in the few coming days.
09-26-06 - Female Soldier Wounded In Palestinian Rocket Attack
09-26-06 - Israel's West Bank Wall forces thousands of Palestinians out of their homes - report "Given Israel's unwillingness to reverse the disastrous effects of building the wall, the international community must finally act, and it should recognise the problem of internal displacement in the Palestinian territories. This would be an important step towards providing better assistance and protection to the displaced", said Karine Mac Allister of BADIL, one of the authors of the report.
09-26-06 - Israeli extremists make life harder for Palestinian moderates The Israeli premier and others still believe the myth that they can pound the Palestinians into submission through the use of strong-arm tactics. But this strategy, which has been practiced
09-26-06 - IDF: Sorties will continue over Lebanon
09-26-06 - Washington out of touch with anger of Arab world, Syrian minister tells UN
09-26-06 - Russia Selling Iran Missiles to Protect Bushehr Nuclear Reactor ? Source Russian diplomatic and industry sources said Moscow has been negotiating to sell Iran a range of anti-aircraft systems to protect Bushehr from Israeli or U.S. air strikes.
09-26-06 - Egypt Demands Hamas Free Israeli Soldier
09-26-06 - Groups use High Holidays to elicit support for Israel See related article from this news batch regarding Israeli bonds.
09-26-06 - Israel will soon welcome from India descendants of a ?lost? Jewish tribe To date, many of the some 1,000 members of the community ? who arrived in the country as tourists and later converted to Judaism and became citizens ? live in West Bank settlements Yes, the darker-skinned new recruits get sent to the front lines as cannon fodder. And Israel gets to boost its numbers for that pesky little 'demographic' issue to boot.
09-26-06 - Illinois buys $10 million in Israel Bonds The Illinois state treasurer, Judy Baar Topinka, announced Monday that it would be part of the state?s $25 million in foreign investment for 2006. More money for Israel.
09-26-06 - Hizbullah moving rockets to Palestinian camps Hizbullah has been transporting rockets and heavy weaponry to Palestinian camps in south Lebanon just a few miles from the Israeli border, according to Lebanese officials. Another article by World Net Daily's Aaron Klein. The 'facts' therein should be taken with a grain of salt.
09-26-06 - Israel Intended to Assassinate Nasrallah After Ceasefire
09-26-06 - Participants call for just solution to Mideast conflicts
09-26-06 - Concert for Palestine Appeal to Bono I wonder what Bono's response was given that this plea is two years old. What exactly is Bono's stance on Palestine? He is awfully silent on this issue. The Irish are well aware of the plight of the Palestinians.
09-26-06 - Oslo envoy causes flap According to local media reports, Norwegian authorities recently foiled a plot by Islamist terrorists to attack the Israeli Embassy and behead Shomrat.
09-26-06 - Israeli flag removed from mural in England An Israeli flag was removed from a community-designed mural in the English city of Cambridge after repeated graffiti attacks.
09-26-06 - Professor sues York U for $10M Accused university of pro-Israel bias in flyer, says university tried to muzzle him
09-26-06 - 12 Israeli firms exporting to Saudi Arabia
09-26-06 - Fatter fish break West Bank barriers
posted by Somebody @ 1:41 PM Permanent Link
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Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Israeli to address Congress
An Israeli expert on Hezbollah is slated to address the U.S. Congress this week.
Eitan Azani, senior researcher at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, is scheduled to appear Thursday before representatives from the House’s Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Nonproliferation Committee on International Relations.
According to the center, Azani’s address, tentatively titled “Hezbollah’s Global Reach,” aims to lay out the Lebanese militia’s capabilities and strategies.
Some of the issues expected to be raised are Iran’s support for Hezbollah, the militia’s status and influence in Lebanon following the 34-day war with Israel, its widely viewed Al-Manar television station and its activities in Africa, Asia, South America and the United States.
Israeli flag removed from mural in England
An Israeli flag was removed from a community-designed mural in the English city of Cambridge after repeated graffiti attacks.
The mural, which was completed only a month ago, was designed with local input and featured flags of many countries to reflect their multicultural neighborhood.
Illinois buys $10 million in Israel Bonds
Illinois purchased $10 million in Israel Bonds.
The Illinois state treasurer, Judy Baar Topinka, announced Monday that it would be part of the state’s $25 million in foreign investment for 2006.
The state’s legislature recently passed a law making it legal for the state to invest in foreign bonds.
Oslo envoy causes flap
Israel’s ambassador to Oslo was reprimanded for criticizing the Norwegian royal family.
Miryam Shomrat told a Norwegian television interviewer earlier this week that she was disappointed in the failure of King Harald V and his family to voice sympathy toward local Jews following a recent shooting attack on an Oslo synagogue.
“Forgive me for saying it so openly, but I do think it is a very important gesture that should have been made,” she said.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere called the comments “unsuitable,” and added: “She should know that it is the government that expresses the view of the Norwegian authorities.”
A leader of Norway’s small Jewish community, Anne Sender, also took offense at Shomrat’s comments.
“We would never have dreamed of taking a stand against the royal family,” Sender told the Aftenposten newspaper.
According to local media reports, Norwegian authorities recently foiled a plot by Islamist terrorists to attack the Israeli Embassy and behead Shomrat.
http://www.jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 11:14 PM Permanent Link
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09-25-06 - West Bank stone throwers shot The youths, all aged about 15, were hit by bullets in the village of Al-Khader. The sources said one was seriously wounded, while the other two were reported to have light injuries.
09-25-06 - OPT: YMCA continues its services despite extremely critical situation in Gaza
09-25-06 - Hamas MPs refused release on bail The decision reverses an earlier ruling ordering the release of the legislators on bail until they faced trial.
09-25-06 - Abbas postpones meeting with Haneya
09-25-06 - Israel detains 800 Palestinians after soldier kidnapped in Gaza The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture said the agricultural losses caused by the Israeli military operation were estimated at 26 million U.S. dollars
09-25-06 - Abbas not authorized to dismiss parliament: Hamas
09-25-06 - Unpaid for months, civil servants pile up bank debt of more than three times their monthly wage
09-25-06 - Jihad claims responsibility for launching rockets at Israel The military wing of the Islamic Jihad (Holy War) claimed responsibility on Monday for firing two rockets at the southern Israeli city of Sderot in the wee hours of the day.
09-25-06 - EU starts paying allowances to Palestinian Employees The European commission has started social allowance payments to the Palestinian people, an EU source said on Monday. In a statement on Monday the commission said 40,000 of the neediest Palestinian families would be receiving EU funds.
09-25-06 - Army shoots at three Palestinian workers near Bethlehem and takes one of them prisoner Israeli soldiers stationed around the illegal settlement of Har-Homa, which separates the West Bank city of Bethlehem from Jerusalem, opened fire at three Palestinian workers on Monday afternoon and took one of them prisoner after chasing the three for some time.
09-25-06 - Israel lifts closure on West Bank, Gaza after Jewish New Year holiday
09-25-06 - Israeli Government dismisses direct hit on press vehicle because only Palestinian reporters injured The Israeli missile strike on the Reuters vehicle has deterred reporters from entering the Gaza Strip to cover the conflict, which many reporters who have reported from Gaza say will give the world a one-sided view of the conflict by not showing the Palestinian side. Some have even gone so far as to say that is Israel's objective in its ongoing attacks on journalists.
09-25-06 - Address Palestinian issue to fix Iraq: Musharraf Nahh. That'd be too easy.
09-25-06 - Israel Police admitted into Interpol Israel?s representative, Major-General Yohanan Danino, head of the Israel Police's investigations and intelligence, surveyed Israel?s police operations at the assembly, saying that 70 percent of Israel's international operations occur in Europe, and not in Asia.
09-25-06 - Israeli PM met top Saudi figure Saudi Arabia and Israel have a common interest: the containment of Iran which is a threat to both nations.
09-25-06 - Bush seeks private US aid for Lebanon Why private?
09-25-06 - Israel shrugs off Syrian overtures An official from the Israeli prime minister's office reiterated Israel's existing position, saying that 'conditions have not yet ripened' for negotiations with Syria, the Ha'aretz Daily reported. He meant to say : "We have yet to get the US to slap Syria around a little bit. THEN the conditions would be ripe!"
09-25-06 - Israel Deploys Nuclear Weapons against Iran "Israeli policy is likely to change, in order to demonstrate that the country has continued strategic superiority,"..."There must be a deterrent policy that will leave no room for misunderstandings," he added. "Thus, for example, we would make it clear that the identification of any missile launched from Iran in a westerly direction means, as far as we are concerned, the launch of an Iranian nuclear missile at us."
In other words, if Ahmadinejad sneezes, there's a good chance he'll get a nuke up his arse?
09-25-06 - Hamas and Hizbullah would ruin Arab peace plan, says Peres It was the first warning from Israel that the Arab attempts to restart peace talks to establish a Palestinian state would fail.
09-25-06 - Remarks by President Bush After Meeting With Business Leaders on Lebanon Private Sector Initiative And our dream is one day for there to be a Palestinian democracy living side by side in peace with Israel. There already is a Palestinian democracy, genius. The Palestinians have been holding elections for at least a decade when they democratically elected Yasir Arafat. A woman ran against him in that election and got 10 percent of the vote!
09-25-06 - LEBANON: Children play to tackle war trauma
09-25-06 - U.N. troops wary of attack in Lebanon And just who is most likely to attack UN troops in Lebanon, mm?
09-25-06 - McGreevey's Israeli 'lover' denounces book The truly strange part is how and why McGreevey's Israeli lover found himself the director of Homeland Security for New Jersey.
09-25-06 - U.S. Double standards: Israeli-Americans rewarded, Palestinian-Americans punished
09-25-06 - Israel pullout from Lebanon on track for this week: UN Israeli troops are still occupying 10 areas of south Lebanon from which the last soldiers are due to withdraw by the end of this week -- seven days later than first planned -- a senior UN official said.
09-25-06 - Analysis: Hint of a UK Mideast policy "Where does the man who, barring earthquakes, will be the prime minister of Britain a year from now, stand on Israel? How much will be missing of our staunch ally Tony?"
To begin with, there are a number of reasons to be optimistic about Brown's Zionism. His father, John, was a minister of the Church of Scotland, known for being very pro-Jewish and pro-Israel, who often visited Israel. Brown said in his speech that his parents were "my inspiration. The reason I am in politics. And all I believe and all I try to do come from the values I learned from them."
09-25-06 - Israel rejects prisoner swap offer
09-25-06 - Irish lecturers call on EU to boycott Israeli universities Irish academics have called on the European Union in an open letter to impose a moratorium financial support to Israeli academic institutions until Israel ends the occupation in the Palestinian territories.
09-25-06 - Poll: Europeans view extremism as cause of Middle East tension A new poll has found that public opinion in the major European countries is prepared to view the conflict between extremists and moderates as the cause of tension and wars in the Middle East, instead of seeing Israel's policy as the cause of problems in the region.
09-25-06 - A voice in the desert? Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams travelled to the Middle East a few weeks ago in the role of peace-maker - UTV's Fearghal McKinney, who followed him there with the Insight current affairs team, asks: was anybody listening?
09-25-06 - Bil'in Announces Plans to Build Hotel on Israeli Occupied Village Land
09-25-06 - Howard: I've always admired Israel's fortitude Australian Prime Minister John Howard has been longstanding friend of Jewish community and supporter of State of Israel. On eve of Rosh Hashana, he grants AJN exclusive interview
09-25-06 - Israeli intellectuals petition for contacts with Syria, Hamas Dozens of Israeli university lecturers, writers and reserve officers have signed a petition calling on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to open contacts with Syria and the Palestinians, including Hamas.
09-25-06 - Israeli Soldiers Occupy and Harass in Hebron
09-25-06 - Presbyterians talked to Ahmadinejad
Earlier this year, the U.S. Presbyterian Church replaced a 2004 call for divestment from Israel with a policy of peaceful investment in Israel, the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The Israeli lobby has clearly worked on the Presbytarians.
09-25-06 - Israel PM questioned over Jerusalem property deal State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss has been looking into how the premier -- a former mayor of Jerusalem -- could have benefited from a massive discount price on a luxury apartment he and his wife Aliza bought in the city.
09-25-06 - Israeli-Palestinian conflict heart of Mideast turmoil by a Brit who knows the real history of the region (unlike most Americans thanks to our media).
posted by Somebody @ 9:39 AM Permanent Link
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Monday, September 25, 2006
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Presbyterians talked to Ahmadinejad
U.S. Presbyterian leaders met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The meeting took place Sept. 20 in New York.
The leaders of one of the leading U.S. Protestant denominations said they wanted to tell Ahmadinejad of their support for Israel and their opposition to his denial of the Holocaust, Religious News Service reported.
Although the Iranian leader did not agree with everything that was said at the meeting, he “seemed open to hearing what we had to say,” said Sara Lisherness, associate director of the Presbyterian Peacemaking Program.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Presbyterian Church replaced a 2004 call for divestment from Israel with a policy of peaceful investment in Israel, the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
McGreevey’s Israeli ‘lover’ denounces book
An Israeli who was James McGreevey’s declared love interest attacked the former New Jersey governor’s memoir.
McGreevey, who stepped down in 2004 after declaring he was gay, published a memoir this month titled “The Confession.”
In it, he details an affair he said he had with Golan Cipel, an Israeli whose appointment to serve as homeland security adviser in New Jersey raised eyebrows.
But Cipel, who says he is straight and suffered sexual harassment by McGreevey, issued a statement attacking the book as a “pack of lies.” Cipel said: “I strongly hope that the gay community rejects this obvious and shameless ploy from a man who has engaged in acts of deception, sexual violence and intimidation.”
http://www.jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 10:25 PM Permanent Link
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09-24-06 - As month-long Muslim holiday begins, many Palestinians unable to purchase Ramadan foods, lanterns Umm Saber, 58, a widow living with her son's family, said she was hungry most of the time. "I don't know what I'll be breaking my fast on," she said, "but I will eat something. Even if it's just a spoonful of yogurt. God always finds a way."
09-24-06 - Abbas resumes coalition talks with Hamas The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, will travel to Gaza this week to tell Hamas that it must recognise Israel or leave government and face new elections.
09-24-06 - Ramadan begins in Gaza
09-24-06 - Poll shows Palestinian employees face deep crisis The poll showed 73 percent of 165,000 government employees could no longer make ends meet. Some 40 percent of government workers said they would look for jobs outside government while 22 percent wanted to emigrate.
09-24-06 - Israeli forces injure six Palestinians in northern West Bank invasions Sunday
09-24-06 - Palestinian militants threat to target any government that recognizes Israel Four minor Palestinian militant groups threatened on Sunday to target any upcoming Palestinian government that recognizes Israel.
09-24-06 - Palestinian official condemns Israel's settlements expansion in W. Bank
09-24-06 - After the war, Hizbullah reevaluates the deployment of up to 15,000 foreign troops and another 15,000 Lebanese soldiers into south Lebanon, as well as tightened restrictions at Lebanon's sea and land entry points, suggests that Hizbullah will be unable to revive its well-entrenched military presence along the border with Israel, casting into doubt a future role for its vaunted military wing.....One example, apparently under serious consideration by Hizbullah, is how to retaliate against Israel's violations of Lebanese airspace. UNIFIL has recorded more than three dozen violations by Israeli aircraft since the cease-fire came into effect. "We have reported them to the UN Security Council. What more can we do? Shoot them down?" says UNIFIL spokesman Alex Ivanko.
09-24-06 - Md. State Police Stop Suspicious Vehicle; No Charges Maryland State Police say they released a 24-year-old Israeli man without charges Friday night after questioning him about photographing the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore.
09-24-06 - Thousands hear call to disband Hezbollah Mr Geagea, who served 11 years in prison for crimes he committed as a leader of the LF militia in Lebanon's civil war, has called for Hezbollah to disarm.
09-24-06 - Analysts Say US Image Slipped in Lebanon After Israel-Hezbollah War Jawad Boulos is a Christian member of the Lebanese parliament. He says, before the conflict, many Lebanese looked up to the United States as the defender of freedom and the protector of human rights. But, he says, Washington?s decision to deliver an existing order of sophisticated bombs to Israel during the war tarnished that image. America's foreign policy can best be summed up by the following two words: "Israel first!"
09-24-06 - Israel is accused of racism over its war-loss payouts "We were in the line of fire but we don't receive the same compensation as our Jewish neighbours,"
09-24-06 - Egypt slams West for blocking resolution on Israeli nuclear arms In a news release on Saturday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit slammed what he described as double standards and discriminatory policies on the part of Western countries.
09-24-06 - Failure of resolving Palestinian issue aggravates anger among Arabs: Egypt's FM Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said Sunday that failure to resolve the Palestinian issue was fuelling the feelings of anger and frustration in the Arab region, the official MENA news agency reported.
09-24-06 - Hamas MP says prisoners' document not recognize Israel
09-24-06 - Starting with the individual Afterwards we decided to go to court and sue the Israeli army for damages. On Sept. 21, 2006, a three-judge Israeli court headed by Aharon Farkahash rejected our appeal despite the damning evidence on tape and lack of claim by the Israeli army that nothing wrong had been done before or during the Israeli army?s incursion.
09-24-06 - War Turns the Tide For Israeli Settlers During a memorial service this month for a soldier killed in Lebanon, Eitam, a former general who commanded a brigade in Gaza, told the gathering that "we will have to expel a large majority of the Arabs of Judea and Samaria," using Israeli terminology for the West Bank.
09-24-06 - Lebanon's Nasrallah emerges as idol post war
09-24-06 - War saddles Palestinians with even more burdens "Whatever affects the Lebanese affects the Palestinians, given that they are residing in this country," she adds. "But the Palestinians also lack coping mechanisms. Any emergency affects them even more than other groups, as the Palestinians in Lebanon are vulnerable by definition."
09-24-06 - TIPH Sponsors Old City of Hebron during Ramadan Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) said Saturday said is sponsoring the old city of Hebron during the Holy month of Ramadan.
09-24-06 - Malta to provide Palestine with financial support Malta is joining other member states of the European Union (EU) in responding to an appeal for urgent funds by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to EU Member States.
09-24-06 - Palestinian prime minister sees hope of unity deal
09-24-06 - US diplomacy struggles through a tough week at the UN A final statement from the Quartet significantly softened the language regarding conditions an Abbas-Hamas government would have to meet to gain international acceptance. While Rice had insisted the government formally commit itself to the conditions -- recognition of Israel's right to exist, rejection of violence and acceptance of past peace agreements -- the statement said only that the new government would have to "reflect" the three principles.
09-24-06 - U.S. to blame for attack on its embassy - Syria's Assad "This seems to have been the background of the attack, a reaction to America's policy in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan," Assad was quoted by Der Spiegel weekly as saying.
09-24-06 - Lebanese army beefs up border posts ahead of Israel pullout
09-24-06 - Assad says US foreign policy breeds terrorism
09-24-06 - Palestinians want Marwan Barghouti released as part of deal to release captured Israeli soldier
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