(Thanks to Sandi for alerting us to this) from Herald Sun: by Mark Buttler and Paul Anderson
10sep05 ...
A NEO-Nazi axe murderer who boasted of waging a bloody race war on Melbourne streets will be free within weeks.
Dane Sweetman, who bashed Asians and gays, and firebombed synagogues, was granted parole after a hearing in June. It was his first bid for parole and will save him from another five years in jail. Sweetman, 36, will be released from Fulham Prison, Gippsland, on October 3.
...He has been behind bars since 1990 when he killed Adelaide man David Noble with an axe at a party to celebrate Adolf Hitler's birthday. A year later, on the day he was sentenced in the Supreme Court, he sparked a security furore by plunging a home-made knife into the dock.
Sweetman also has convictions for a sex offence, attempted murder, malicious wounding, possessing a pistol, intentionally causing serious injury and assault with a weapon.
...A source said Sweetman started his jail term as an uncooperative, violent and foul-mouthed prisoner, but had kept out of trouble in recent years. Another source said Sweetman still believed in the neo-Nazi movement.
The source said Sweetman was a feared individual who, he hoped, would walk from prison a changed man, but had a reputation of contempt for authority. "He has shown contempt for the system. I would not like to be his parole officer," the source said. "I have heard Sweetman is still very feared within the prison system, and still holds true to neo-Nazi views."
The source said Sweetman was known to harbour a hatred of police. Sweetman became a neo-Nazi while in prison in the years before the Noble murder. He and fellow extremists in Pentridge Prison formed a group called The Guard. Internet references suggest that he may have supporters in the community.
...Sweetman's hate-filled jail diaries said he wanted to kill drug users, doctors, teachers, police, priests, pornographers and homosexuals. He boasted that the day after his 1989 release, he firebombed a synagogue. ....
Saturday, September 10, 2005
Opinion - Muslims exploit Israel
from Ynetnews - Opinion - Muslims exploit Israel: Guy Bechor . . .
Arab, Muslim countries use Israel to boost ties with America
For about two days, the Israeli press celebrated the fruit of peace in the wake of the disengagement, until it turned out it was all wishful thinking.
Diplomatic ties with Pakistan have not been initiated, Jordan's King Abdullah did not arrive in Israel, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak dismissed reports in Israel regarding his willingness to visit the country.
Meanwhile, relations with Morocco, Tunisia or Persian Gulf states have not been upgraded. As usual in Israel, there are many indications of oil – but no oil.
For a long time now, Arab and Islamic countries exploited Israel to facilitate better relations with the United States. There is nothing new about that. This is how late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat acted. He merely wanted peace with the United States, and the bridge to get there was Israel.
This is what other leaders in the region are doing as they keep their focus on Washington, as Pakistan’s president did this time around. They have no genuine interest in Israel, its economy, or its people. Yet in the past, Arab and Islamic leaders had to pay for this cynical use of Israel with an official visit here or even the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel.
Today, there is no need for that any more: A photo opportunity with Israeli leaders will suffice.
Israel, excited about gaining legitimacy in the Arab world, makes do with a meeting in a third country between foreign ministers. By doing so, it exempts Arab countries from paying for taking advantage of the Jewish state, to those countries’ great joy.
This is how Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf gained Israeli legitimacy, which will allow him next week to deliver a speech before the influential World Jewish Congress in Washington, without paying Israel a thing in return.
Israel must exact a price
As public opinion in the Arab and Islamic world is so hostile to Israel, no Arab leader would dare jeopardize his stability and travel to Israel itself, or establish formal diplomatic ties with it.
The Israeli reader has no idea regarding the extent of the hatred to Israel on the Arab street, and how deeply the Palestinian were able to taint that public opinion during five years of intifada.
When will an Arab leader arrive in Israel or strike a peace deal with it? Only when all hope is lost and this is the only possibility left to ensure the leader’s survival. A quick review reveals that all the Arab leaders who struck a peace agreement with us did so for lack of other choice.
Sadat, who in January 1977 was on the brink of economic extinction; Lebanon’s Bashir Gemayel, who had no other friend left in the world; Yasser Arafat, who in 1991 was doomed for international oblivion; Jordan’s King Hussein, who was horrified to discover Israel finalized the Oslo Accord with Arafat. In those cases, Israel provided legitimacy.
Israel must abandon the perception prevalent in the 1990s, which maintained that we must beg every Arab dictator to meet with us, and realize that Pakistan is not doing Israel a favor with a photo opportunity. Indeed, we need to exact a price.
Israel must demand an immediate payment for every such meeting, in the form of full diplomatic relations or another political reward.
Israel always volunteers to first be concerned about the others, without understanding that in the Middle East the opposite rule applies, as the well-known Arab proverb says: He who does not respect himself is not respected by others.
Guy Bechor is an occasional Yedioth Ahronoth commentator on Arab affairs
Arab, Muslim countries use Israel to boost ties with America
For about two days, the Israeli press celebrated the fruit of peace in the wake of the disengagement, until it turned out it was all wishful thinking.
Diplomatic ties with Pakistan have not been initiated, Jordan's King Abdullah did not arrive in Israel, and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak dismissed reports in Israel regarding his willingness to visit the country.
Meanwhile, relations with Morocco, Tunisia or Persian Gulf states have not been upgraded. As usual in Israel, there are many indications of oil – but no oil.
For a long time now, Arab and Islamic countries exploited Israel to facilitate better relations with the United States. There is nothing new about that. This is how late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat acted. He merely wanted peace with the United States, and the bridge to get there was Israel.
This is what other leaders in the region are doing as they keep their focus on Washington, as Pakistan’s president did this time around. They have no genuine interest in Israel, its economy, or its people. Yet in the past, Arab and Islamic leaders had to pay for this cynical use of Israel with an official visit here or even the establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel.
Today, there is no need for that any more: A photo opportunity with Israeli leaders will suffice.
Israel, excited about gaining legitimacy in the Arab world, makes do with a meeting in a third country between foreign ministers. By doing so, it exempts Arab countries from paying for taking advantage of the Jewish state, to those countries’ great joy.
This is how Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf gained Israeli legitimacy, which will allow him next week to deliver a speech before the influential World Jewish Congress in Washington, without paying Israel a thing in return.
Israel must exact a price
As public opinion in the Arab and Islamic world is so hostile to Israel, no Arab leader would dare jeopardize his stability and travel to Israel itself, or establish formal diplomatic ties with it.
The Israeli reader has no idea regarding the extent of the hatred to Israel on the Arab street, and how deeply the Palestinian were able to taint that public opinion during five years of intifada.
When will an Arab leader arrive in Israel or strike a peace deal with it? Only when all hope is lost and this is the only possibility left to ensure the leader’s survival. A quick review reveals that all the Arab leaders who struck a peace agreement with us did so for lack of other choice.
Sadat, who in January 1977 was on the brink of economic extinction; Lebanon’s Bashir Gemayel, who had no other friend left in the world; Yasser Arafat, who in 1991 was doomed for international oblivion; Jordan’s King Hussein, who was horrified to discover Israel finalized the Oslo Accord with Arafat. In those cases, Israel provided legitimacy.
Israel must abandon the perception prevalent in the 1990s, which maintained that we must beg every Arab dictator to meet with us, and realize that Pakistan is not doing Israel a favor with a photo opportunity. Indeed, we need to exact a price.
Israel must demand an immediate payment for every such meeting, in the form of full diplomatic relations or another political reward.
Israel always volunteers to first be concerned about the others, without understanding that in the Middle East the opposite rule applies, as the well-known Arab proverb says: He who does not respect himself is not respected by others.
Guy Bechor is an occasional Yedioth Ahronoth commentator on Arab affairs
Friday, September 09, 2005
Western official wouldn't give Israel "free hand" in Gaza
From Jerusalem Post, Sep. 8, 2005 2:39 Updated Sep. 8, 2005 6:47 By HERB KEINON. . .
Israel is mistaken in believing that, by withdrawing from Gaza, the international community will tolerate all types of military retaliation against rocket fire originating from Gaza, a senior western diplomatic official said Wednesday.
The diplomat's comments came on the day that Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom warned visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos to expect a harsh response if Israel was attacked from Gaza following the complete IDF withdrawal. Also yesterday, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz hinted during an appearance at the Knesset's Defense and Foreign Relations Committee that Israel would react to Kassams by firing back mortars of its own.
The senior diplomat said that the international reaction to IDF actions in Gaza would most likely depend on the extent of the military action and the number of innocent people killed. . . .In addition, the official said, Israel could not claim to have ended its occupation of Gaza while it still retained control over Gaza's airspace.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said that Israel was preparing itself, both militarily and diplomatically, for the eventuality that there would still be violence from Gaza once the IDF withdrew. "As of next Thursday night, the Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip will be history, and if the Palestinian response to the Israel redeployment out of Gaza is not peace-making, but terrorism, I think everyone in the international community will understand that the Palestinians will have missed a unique historic opportunity," he said. "We have heard this from both the Europeans and the US." . . .Regev said that the events Tuesday night and Wednesday – from the Kassam attacks in the Negev to the Palestinian storming of Neveh Dekalim and the murder of Moussa Arafat – showed that there was "reason to be concerned." "
. . .The official said that a discussion of possible ways to strengthen PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas would be one of the focuses of next week's meeting of the Quartet in New York. . . .the international community did not accept Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's interpretation that the first stage of the road map was sequential, with the Palestinians obligated to dismantle terrorism before Israel had to freeze all settlement construction and remove the unauthorized settlements. . . .the Europeans believed that the steps must be taken in parallel. This position was also endorsed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a recent press briefing.
The official said that although Europe realized that Sharon had said repeatedly there would be no negotiations until the Palestinians dismantled the terrorist infrastructure, they also believed that Sharon had shown a willingness to change his mind as circumstances had changed.
Israel is mistaken in believing that, by withdrawing from Gaza, the international community will tolerate all types of military retaliation against rocket fire originating from Gaza, a senior western diplomatic official said Wednesday.
The diplomat's comments came on the day that Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom warned visiting Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos to expect a harsh response if Israel was attacked from Gaza following the complete IDF withdrawal. Also yesterday, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz hinted during an appearance at the Knesset's Defense and Foreign Relations Committee that Israel would react to Kassams by firing back mortars of its own.
The senior diplomat said that the international reaction to IDF actions in Gaza would most likely depend on the extent of the military action and the number of innocent people killed. . . .In addition, the official said, Israel could not claim to have ended its occupation of Gaza while it still retained control over Gaza's airspace.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said that Israel was preparing itself, both militarily and diplomatically, for the eventuality that there would still be violence from Gaza once the IDF withdrew. "As of next Thursday night, the Israeli presence in the Gaza Strip will be history, and if the Palestinian response to the Israel redeployment out of Gaza is not peace-making, but terrorism, I think everyone in the international community will understand that the Palestinians will have missed a unique historic opportunity," he said. "We have heard this from both the Europeans and the US." . . .Regev said that the events Tuesday night and Wednesday – from the Kassam attacks in the Negev to the Palestinian storming of Neveh Dekalim and the murder of Moussa Arafat – showed that there was "reason to be concerned." "
. . .The official said that a discussion of possible ways to strengthen PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas would be one of the focuses of next week's meeting of the Quartet in New York. . . .the international community did not accept Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's interpretation that the first stage of the road map was sequential, with the Palestinians obligated to dismantle terrorism before Israel had to freeze all settlement construction and remove the unauthorized settlements. . . .the Europeans believed that the steps must be taken in parallel. This position was also endorsed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a recent press briefing.
The official said that although Europe realized that Sharon had said repeatedly there would be no negotiations until the Palestinians dismantled the terrorist infrastructure, they also believed that Sharon had shown a willingness to change his mind as circumstances had changed.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
PA gets $50m from US, then calls for terror against US soldiers
From Palestinian Media Watch, 6/9/2005, By Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook ...
Palestinian Authority hatred of the United States is so deeply ingrained in its ideology that it continues to openly promote vicious anti-American hatred - even right after signing a deal to receive $50 million in direct aid from the US.
Radio and television sermons by senior PA religious officials in the past week have presented the US as foremost among the "heretical" countries, and as an enemy trying to dismantle the Islamic world.
In the presence of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, one religious leader called for Iraqis to intensify terrorist uprisings against American soldiers.
...The PA has received considerable worldwide criticism for the hatred and calls for violence in its official sermons. In recent months, it has been reported that the texts of these sermons are now presented to PA officials for approval before the public broadcasts.
Extracts form the sermons...
"... the heretical countries - first and foremost, the USA - have succeeded greatly in tearing our Islamic world apart by disintegrating and splitting up more than one Islamic state, intending to weaken it, disperse [its citizens] and plunder its resources… there's no choice but to fight it.
"As regards Iraq, there is much to say about it. The USA has composed a draft of the Iraqi Constitution in a way that it will serve US interests and enhance the disintegration of Iraq's unity. The new constitution includes federal solutions, which are dividing Iraq into small countries… the seeds of a future civil war… The USA is planning to rule Saudi Arabia and disintegrate it, too...for how long shall the submission and surrender to the plans of the enemies of the [Islamic] nation?"[Yusuf Abu Sneina, Voice of Palestine, September 2, 2005. For another example of an officially endorsed Palestinian Authority sermon delivered by Abu Sneina, click here]
Yusuf Jum'a Salamah, PA Minister of the Waqf and Religious Affairs, in the presence of Mahmoud Abbas and other senior PA officials:
"We say to the dear, heroic Iraqi nation, turn this incident [the accidental death of 1,000 Iraqis] into an opportunity for resisting [term regularly used by PA to describe terrorist attacks] the [American] occupation, for uniting families, for unifying the forces and for opposition to the policy of dismantling Iraq and dividing it geographically."[Yusuf Jum'a Salamah, Official Friday sermon, PA TV, September 2, 2005]
Palestinian Authority hatred of the United States is so deeply ingrained in its ideology that it continues to openly promote vicious anti-American hatred - even right after signing a deal to receive $50 million in direct aid from the US.
Radio and television sermons by senior PA religious officials in the past week have presented the US as foremost among the "heretical" countries, and as an enemy trying to dismantle the Islamic world.
In the presence of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, one religious leader called for Iraqis to intensify terrorist uprisings against American soldiers.
...The PA has received considerable worldwide criticism for the hatred and calls for violence in its official sermons. In recent months, it has been reported that the texts of these sermons are now presented to PA officials for approval before the public broadcasts.
Extracts form the sermons...
"... the heretical countries - first and foremost, the USA - have succeeded greatly in tearing our Islamic world apart by disintegrating and splitting up more than one Islamic state, intending to weaken it, disperse [its citizens] and plunder its resources… there's no choice but to fight it.
"As regards Iraq, there is much to say about it. The USA has composed a draft of the Iraqi Constitution in a way that it will serve US interests and enhance the disintegration of Iraq's unity. The new constitution includes federal solutions, which are dividing Iraq into small countries… the seeds of a future civil war… The USA is planning to rule Saudi Arabia and disintegrate it, too...for how long shall the submission and surrender to the plans of the enemies of the [Islamic] nation?"[Yusuf Abu Sneina, Voice of Palestine, September 2, 2005. For another example of an officially endorsed Palestinian Authority sermon delivered by Abu Sneina, click here]
Yusuf Jum'a Salamah, PA Minister of the Waqf and Religious Affairs, in the presence of Mahmoud Abbas and other senior PA officials:
"We say to the dear, heroic Iraqi nation, turn this incident [the accidental death of 1,000 Iraqis] into an opportunity for resisting [term regularly used by PA to describe terrorist attacks] the [American] occupation, for uniting families, for unifying the forces and for opposition to the policy of dismantling Iraq and dividing it geographically."[Yusuf Jum'a Salamah, Official Friday sermon, PA TV, September 2, 2005]
Wagner was a founding father of the Holocaust
Last week we posted an article about Wagner.
Many of our readers missed the point.
It's not "simply" that Hitler loved Wagner and his music was played at Nazi rallies and accompanied our relatives on their death marches. Wagner and his "Bayreuth Circle" were the "intellectual" and "spiritual" fathers of genocidal Nazism. Hitler and the whole regime were inspired by Wagnerian thought and music. Hitler said that that "there is only one legitimate predecessor to national socialism: Wagner".
There have been truckloads of detailed analysis of Wagner's music, writings and "philosophy". Much of it is just an apologia for his unadulterated hatred. Forget the analysis and bullshit - go straight to the source. Read this full text of Judaism in Music, by Richard Wagner, translated into English by William Ashton Ellis. It's 13 pages of archaic prose, but check out for yourself the unabating page after page of derision, hatred and scorn for all Jews!
Here is Wagner's conclusion to the article, verbatim...
To become Man at once with us, however, means firstly for the Jew as much as ceasing to be Jew. ... redemption can not be reached in ease and cold, indifferent complacence, but costs — as cost it must for us — sweat, anguish, want, and all the dregs of suffering and sorrow. Without once looking back, take ye your part in this regenerative work of deliverance through self-annulment; then are we one and un-dissevered! But bethink ye, that one only thing can redeem you from the burden of your curse: the redemption of Ahasuerus — Going under!
Ahasuerus is "the Wandering Jew", a legendary Jewish shoemaker, who taunted Jesus on the way to crucifixion, and was told by him "thou shalt go on forever till I return" or "I shall stand and rest, but thou shalt go on until the last day." The shoemaker was thus punished by being forced to wander the earth until the second coming of Jesus.
Others connect it to the Matthew 16:28: "Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
The anti-Semitic subtext of these ancient legends is that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish diaspora was in retribution for Jewish responsibility for the Crucifixion.
The point here is that Wagner's conclusion in the article offers all Jews the "redemption" of the Wandering Jew, i.e. DEATH. (Here we are 150 years later and the anti-Semites are still offering us the same redemption in the form of national suicide - indefensible borders, "right of return" etc etc.)
Just remember that next time you listen to Wagner's wailing voilins and pompous scores (if you must). Personally I'll have no bar of it. I'd rather see him consigned to history's dustbin, where he belongs.
Many of our readers missed the point.
It's not "simply" that Hitler loved Wagner and his music was played at Nazi rallies and accompanied our relatives on their death marches. Wagner and his "Bayreuth Circle" were the "intellectual" and "spiritual" fathers of genocidal Nazism. Hitler and the whole regime were inspired by Wagnerian thought and music. Hitler said that that "there is only one legitimate predecessor to national socialism: Wagner".
There have been truckloads of detailed analysis of Wagner's music, writings and "philosophy". Much of it is just an apologia for his unadulterated hatred. Forget the analysis and bullshit - go straight to the source. Read this full text of Judaism in Music, by Richard Wagner, translated into English by William Ashton Ellis. It's 13 pages of archaic prose, but check out for yourself the unabating page after page of derision, hatred and scorn for all Jews!
Here is Wagner's conclusion to the article, verbatim...
To become Man at once with us, however, means firstly for the Jew as much as ceasing to be Jew. ... redemption can not be reached in ease and cold, indifferent complacence, but costs — as cost it must for us — sweat, anguish, want, and all the dregs of suffering and sorrow. Without once looking back, take ye your part in this regenerative work of deliverance through self-annulment; then are we one and un-dissevered! But bethink ye, that one only thing can redeem you from the burden of your curse: the redemption of Ahasuerus — Going under!
Ahasuerus is "the Wandering Jew", a legendary Jewish shoemaker, who taunted Jesus on the way to crucifixion, and was told by him "thou shalt go on forever till I return" or "I shall stand and rest, but thou shalt go on until the last day." The shoemaker was thus punished by being forced to wander the earth until the second coming of Jesus.
Others connect it to the Matthew 16:28: "Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."
The anti-Semitic subtext of these ancient legends is that the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish diaspora was in retribution for Jewish responsibility for the Crucifixion.
The point here is that Wagner's conclusion in the article offers all Jews the "redemption" of the Wandering Jew, i.e. DEATH. (Here we are 150 years later and the anti-Semites are still offering us the same redemption in the form of national suicide - indefensible borders, "right of return" etc etc.)
Just remember that next time you listen to Wagner's wailing voilins and pompous scores (if you must). Personally I'll have no bar of it. I'd rather see him consigned to history's dustbin, where he belongs.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Hamas reveals "secret" command setup
From Internet Haganah::Haganah b' Internet: 4 Sept 2005 ...
...Hamas has revealed the names of the leading members of its secretive military wing for the first time, in a new challenge to the Palestinian Authority which is under growing pressure from the international community to disarm terrorist groups after Israel's Gaza pullout.
Hamas and the government of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas are also locked in intense competition over who will be credited with the pullout, to be completed within two weeks. Hamas insists its suicide bombings and shootings have driven Israel out, while Abbas says his policy of negotiations has led to the withdrawal.
The military wing of Hamas, Izzedine al Qassam, on Saturday posted the names of its seven commanders on its web site, along with brief biographies and in some cases photos....
Go to the full article for details including informatiion about the web site and others in Malaysia.
...Hamas has revealed the names of the leading members of its secretive military wing for the first time, in a new challenge to the Palestinian Authority which is under growing pressure from the international community to disarm terrorist groups after Israel's Gaza pullout.
Hamas and the government of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas are also locked in intense competition over who will be credited with the pullout, to be completed within two weeks. Hamas insists its suicide bombings and shootings have driven Israel out, while Abbas says his policy of negotiations has led to the withdrawal.
The military wing of Hamas, Izzedine al Qassam, on Saturday posted the names of its seven commanders on its web site, along with brief biographies and in some cases photos....
Go to the full article for details including informatiion about the web site and others in Malaysia.
Abbas Encourages Students to be Martyrs
From Arutz Sheva - Israel National News: 18:42 Sep 04, '05 / 30 Av 5765 By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu ...
Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) spoke to Gaza students and praised martyrs, including suicide terrorists, who die 'according to a national order.'
'They receive their reward in the Garden Of Eden,' Abbas told the students returning to school. He reminded them that martyrs and suicide terrorists 'brought about the withdrawal from Gaza.' His comments came only three months after he told the American ABC television network that suicide bombings are a matter of the past.
The PA chairman, who is trying to gain popularity from Hamas terrorist supporters, also told the Jerusalem Arab Al-Quds newspaper that Israel still is occupying Gaza.
...He reiterated the possibility of forming a coalition with Hamas after the planned PA legislative elections in January, despite dissatisfaction within the American government, which has added Hamas to the list of terrorist organizations forbidden to receive assistance from the United States. A PA coalition government including Hamas would bring into question whether the PA could continue to receive American aid.
Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) spoke to Gaza students and praised martyrs, including suicide terrorists, who die 'according to a national order.'
'They receive their reward in the Garden Of Eden,' Abbas told the students returning to school. He reminded them that martyrs and suicide terrorists 'brought about the withdrawal from Gaza.' His comments came only three months after he told the American ABC television network that suicide bombings are a matter of the past.
The PA chairman, who is trying to gain popularity from Hamas terrorist supporters, also told the Jerusalem Arab Al-Quds newspaper that Israel still is occupying Gaza.
...He reiterated the possibility of forming a coalition with Hamas after the planned PA legislative elections in January, despite dissatisfaction within the American government, which has added Hamas to the list of terrorist organizations forbidden to receive assistance from the United States. A PA coalition government including Hamas would bring into question whether the PA could continue to receive American aid.
The Kiwi that roared
From Jerusalem Post Sep. 5, 2005 21:52 Updated Sep. 5, 2005 23:24 By AVI HOFFMAN ...
New Zealand is a ...an idyllic, civilized spot. Apart from rugby, mutton and butter, it's off the map as far as world news is concerned.
Last year it decided to flex its diplomatic muscles and create a major diplomatic incident out of a fraudulent attempt to obtain one New Zealand passport.
...Wellington related to the episode as a major espionage case, and slapped sanctions on Jerusalem.
New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark, a card-carrying Israel-basher of the Ken Livingstone mold, played tough and declared: "New Zealand condemns without reservation these actions by agencies of the Israeli government."
This was a win-win situation for Clark. Israel is a soft target. New Zealand suffered neither domestic nor international fallout, nor material losses as a result of freezing relations with Israel. Diplomatic observers noted that it suited the socialist ideology of her administration to shift New Zealand's foreign policy further away from that of neighboring Australia.
Domestically she gained political points. Lauding Clark's stand, the New Zealand Herald headlined its editorial "Israel given a message to remember."
...Only after Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom issued an abject apology in June, promising that "similar acts" would not recur, was Clark somewhat mollified. Last week, Wellington finally condescended to accept the credentials of Israel's new ambassador, Naftali Tamir.
...The Kelman-Cara case was not the first attempt by supposed foreign agents to obtain New Zealand passports.
In 1991, a Soviet citizen, Anvar Kadyrov, was caught fraudulently attempting to obtain one. Under suspicion that he was a member of a Soviet intelligence service, Kadyrov was deported. He was not tried, nor were diplomatic relations with the USSR (which collapsed in August that year) broken off.
New Zealand's reaction to the Rainbow Warrior affair throws some light on just how disproportionate was Clark's response to the Kelman-Cara passport case. The Rainbow Warrior was a Greenpeace ship protesting against French nuclear testing in the south Pacific. It was sabotaged and sunk in New Zealand's Matauri Bay just over 20 years ago by French intelligence operatives. A Greenpeace photographer, Fernando Pereira, was killed.
A more blatant infringement of New Zealand sovereignty could hardly be imagined, but Wellington's reaction to France's provocation was described by Greenpeace as "spineless." Only two of the six bombers were found and arrested. A year later, in a political deal, France agreed to pay compensation of $6.5 million to New Zealand and apologize. In return the convicted bombers were transferred to a French military base.
Because of intense French pressure, aimed at crippling New Zealand exports, Wellington dropped attempts to seek the extradition of more of the bombers.
The writer is a former managing editor of The Jerusalem Post.
New Zealand is a ...an idyllic, civilized spot. Apart from rugby, mutton and butter, it's off the map as far as world news is concerned.
Last year it decided to flex its diplomatic muscles and create a major diplomatic incident out of a fraudulent attempt to obtain one New Zealand passport.
...Wellington related to the episode as a major espionage case, and slapped sanctions on Jerusalem.
New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark, a card-carrying Israel-basher of the Ken Livingstone mold, played tough and declared: "New Zealand condemns without reservation these actions by agencies of the Israeli government."
This was a win-win situation for Clark. Israel is a soft target. New Zealand suffered neither domestic nor international fallout, nor material losses as a result of freezing relations with Israel. Diplomatic observers noted that it suited the socialist ideology of her administration to shift New Zealand's foreign policy further away from that of neighboring Australia.
Domestically she gained political points. Lauding Clark's stand, the New Zealand Herald headlined its editorial "Israel given a message to remember."
...Only after Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom issued an abject apology in June, promising that "similar acts" would not recur, was Clark somewhat mollified. Last week, Wellington finally condescended to accept the credentials of Israel's new ambassador, Naftali Tamir.
...The Kelman-Cara case was not the first attempt by supposed foreign agents to obtain New Zealand passports.
In 1991, a Soviet citizen, Anvar Kadyrov, was caught fraudulently attempting to obtain one. Under suspicion that he was a member of a Soviet intelligence service, Kadyrov was deported. He was not tried, nor were diplomatic relations with the USSR (which collapsed in August that year) broken off.
New Zealand's reaction to the Rainbow Warrior affair throws some light on just how disproportionate was Clark's response to the Kelman-Cara passport case. The Rainbow Warrior was a Greenpeace ship protesting against French nuclear testing in the south Pacific. It was sabotaged and sunk in New Zealand's Matauri Bay just over 20 years ago by French intelligence operatives. A Greenpeace photographer, Fernando Pereira, was killed.
A more blatant infringement of New Zealand sovereignty could hardly be imagined, but Wellington's reaction to France's provocation was described by Greenpeace as "spineless." Only two of the six bombers were found and arrested. A year later, in a political deal, France agreed to pay compensation of $6.5 million to New Zealand and apologize. In return the convicted bombers were transferred to a French military base.
Because of intense French pressure, aimed at crippling New Zealand exports, Wellington dropped attempts to seek the extradition of more of the bombers.
The writer is a former managing editor of The Jerusalem Post.
Staff Seargent Ran Handifer killed in tank accident
Staff Seargent Ran Handifer
From Jerusalem Post Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World
Tank commander Staff Sergeant Ran Handifer, 22, of Tel Aviv was killed when the Merkava Mark-4 tank they were driving overturned during a training exercise in Nebi Mussa east of Jerusalem on Monday morning. The other three soldiers in the tank also suffered injuries and were evacuated by helicopter to the Hadassah Hospital in Ein Kerem.
Handifer will be buried Tuesday at 4:00 p.m. in the Holon military cemetery.
Col. Yigal Slovik will head the investigating team to determine what caused the tank to overturn. OC Central Command Maj. Gen Yair Naveh ordered a temporary suspension of the division's training exercises. The armored carrier was part of the Steel Footprints (Akevot Barzel) division.
There have been a few incidents over the past few years of soldiers killed in similar accidents....
Monday, September 05, 2005
1000 Christian Asian Leaders Gather for Pro-Israel Summit
From Arutz Sheva - Israel National News: 14:26 Aug 19, '05 / 14 Av 5765 By Baruch Gordon ...
Over a thousand Christian political, religious and business leaders from ten Asian nations gathered in Seoul, South Korea for the second Jerusalem Summit Asia on August 10-11.
The city of Seoul and local organizations jointly sponsored the event in cooperation with the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus.
Speaking of relations between Israel and Asia, MK (National Union party) Dr. Yuri Shtern, Chairman of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus said at the summit, "Asia is Christianity's sleeping giant. The importance of an alliance between Asian Christians and the people of Israel cannot be overstated."
...The participants in the summit made the following joint declaration:
We have convened this conference to reaffirm the Christian position that the Holy Land and its eternal capital, Jerusalem are the inheritance of the Jewish people forever.
We request that the implementation of the resolutions below be placed on the Christian agenda around the world.
Toward this end, the Jerusalem Summit proclaims:
- We commit to petitioning our respective governments to move their embassies to Jerusalem.
- We commit to petitioning our respective governments to stop supporting biased UN resolutions that are anti-Israel.
- We commit to petitioning our respective governments to cease funding the Palestinian Authority or to place effective restrictions on such funding to prevent its use for terror.
U.S. Court Freezes all PA and PLO Assets
From Arutz Sheva - Israel National News: 18:06 Sep 04, '05 / 30 Av 5765 By Hillel Fendel ...
Nineteen months after a U.S. Federal Court awarded $116 million to the parents and children of a victim of Arab terrorism, the same court has frozen all PA assets in the U.S. - $3.5 billion worth.
In January 2004, the Rhode Island Federal Court ruled that Hamas and the Palestinian Authority must pay $116 million to the parents and children of Yaron and Efrat Ungar. Yaron, an American citizen, and his wife Efrat were murdered in an Arab terrorist drive-by shooting in 1996, near the city of Beit Shemesh. The couple's two sons, who were 1 and 2 years old at the time, have grown up with Efrat's grandparents, Rabbi Uri and Yehudit Dasberg of Alon Shvut.
... repeated attempts by the Dasbergs' lawyer, Atty. David Strachman, to effect the payment were thwarted. ...the freeze-order ...is a major thing, something on State Department level, because all U.S. banks are now forbidden from honoring even a small check written by the PLO.
...Mrs. Dasberg is not optimistic that the PA will pay the money in the very near future. "...They will fight it, and try to take it to the Supreme Court... On the other hand, Bush wants to be known as a great fighter against terrorism, so he will have a hard time if his government retracts a decision against a terrorist organization. So we will see." ...
Nineteen months after a U.S. Federal Court awarded $116 million to the parents and children of a victim of Arab terrorism, the same court has frozen all PA assets in the U.S. - $3.5 billion worth.
In January 2004, the Rhode Island Federal Court ruled that Hamas and the Palestinian Authority must pay $116 million to the parents and children of Yaron and Efrat Ungar. Yaron, an American citizen, and his wife Efrat were murdered in an Arab terrorist drive-by shooting in 1996, near the city of Beit Shemesh. The couple's two sons, who were 1 and 2 years old at the time, have grown up with Efrat's grandparents, Rabbi Uri and Yehudit Dasberg of Alon Shvut.
... repeated attempts by the Dasbergs' lawyer, Atty. David Strachman, to effect the payment were thwarted. ...the freeze-order ...is a major thing, something on State Department level, because all U.S. banks are now forbidden from honoring even a small check written by the PLO.
...Mrs. Dasberg is not optimistic that the PA will pay the money in the very near future. "...They will fight it, and try to take it to the Supreme Court... On the other hand, Bush wants to be known as a great fighter against terrorism, so he will have a hard time if his government retracts a decision against a terrorist organization. So we will see." ...
PA lawmaker guilty of terror charges
From Jerusalem Post Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World: "Sep. 4, 2005 19:45 Updated Sep. 4, 2005 22:50 By ASSOCIATED PRESS ...
An Israeli military court on Sunday convicted a Palestinian lawmaker of being a member of a terror group and helping to fund terror attacks, including at least one failed suicide bombing, the IDF said. Husam Khader, the 43-year-old lawmaker, reached a plea bargain agreement with prosecutors and confessed to the charges, the IDF said. Khader has been a lawmaker since 1996.
...Khader's group sent two suicide bombers to a West Bank settlement in January 2003, but the attack was foiled by security forces...Khader will be sentenced on October 23.
A longtime member of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah movement, Khader is a leader of the Fatah youth group and was arrested several times during the first intifada in the 1980s for participating in the movement's activities. He was convicted only once and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Khader was also one of several hundred Palestinians deported by Israel in 1988 for his uprising activities. Khader returned to the West Bank in 1994.
An Israeli military court on Sunday convicted a Palestinian lawmaker of being a member of a terror group and helping to fund terror attacks, including at least one failed suicide bombing, the IDF said. Husam Khader, the 43-year-old lawmaker, reached a plea bargain agreement with prosecutors and confessed to the charges, the IDF said. Khader has been a lawmaker since 1996.
...Khader's group sent two suicide bombers to a West Bank settlement in January 2003, but the attack was foiled by security forces...Khader will be sentenced on October 23.
A longtime member of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah movement, Khader is a leader of the Fatah youth group and was arrested several times during the first intifada in the 1980s for participating in the movement's activities. He was convicted only once and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Khader was also one of several hundred Palestinians deported by Israel in 1988 for his uprising activities. Khader returned to the West Bank in 1994.
Muslims ransack Christian village
From Jerusalem Post Breaking News from Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World: Sep. 5, 2005 4:39 Updated Sep. 5, 2005 6:55 By KHALED ABU TOAMEH....
TAIBA
Efforts were under way on Sunday to calm the situation in this Christian village east of Ramallah after an attack by hundreds of Muslim men from nearby villages left many houses and vehicles torched.
...The attack on the village of 1,500 was triggered by the murder of a Muslim woman from the nearby village of Deir Jarir earlier this week. The 30-year-old woman, according to PA security sources, was apparently murdered by members of her family for having had a romance with a Christian man from Taiba. "When her family discovered that she had been involved in a forbidden relationship with a Christian, they apparently forced her to drink poison," said one source. "Then they buried her without reporting her death to the relevant authorities."
..."More than 500 Muslim men, chanting Allahu akbar [God is great], attacked us at night," said a Taiba resident. "They poured kerosene on many buildings and set them on fire. Many of the attackers broke into houses and stole furniture, jewelry and electrical appliances." ..."It was like a war, they arrived in groups, and many of them were holding clubs," said another resident....
TAIBA
Efforts were under way on Sunday to calm the situation in this Christian village east of Ramallah after an attack by hundreds of Muslim men from nearby villages left many houses and vehicles torched.
...The attack on the village of 1,500 was triggered by the murder of a Muslim woman from the nearby village of Deir Jarir earlier this week. The 30-year-old woman, according to PA security sources, was apparently murdered by members of her family for having had a romance with a Christian man from Taiba. "When her family discovered that she had been involved in a forbidden relationship with a Christian, they apparently forced her to drink poison," said one source. "Then they buried her without reporting her death to the relevant authorities."
..."More than 500 Muslim men, chanting Allahu akbar [God is great], attacked us at night," said a Taiba resident. "They poured kerosene on many buildings and set them on fire. Many of the attackers broke into houses and stole furniture, jewelry and electrical appliances." ..."It was like a war, they arrived in groups, and many of them were holding clubs," said another resident....
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