From JTA, May 31, 2010:
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Up to 14 activists onboard a flotilla of ships bound for Gaza were killed during rioting after Israeli Naval forces boarded the ships to redirect them to an Israeli port.
Israel's Navy intercepted six of the ships early Monday morning as they attempted to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Israel had radioed to the ships numerous times, requesting that they head to the port in Ashdod, where they could unload their aid material to be transferred to Gaza after security inspections, the Israel Defense Forces Spokesman said in a statement.
When Naval Forces boarded the shops, they were attacked with metal clubs and knives, as well as live fire, according to the IDF. "The demonstrators had clearly prepared their weapons in advance for this specific purpose," the statement said, adding that the Navy then used riot dispersal methods, which include live fire.
"The forces operated in adherence with operational commands and took all necessary actions in order to avoid violence, but to no avail," according to the IDF.
In addition to the reported 14 dead protesters, tens of protesters were injured and evacuated to Israeli hospitals. Ten Israeli soldiers were also injured, two in serious condition.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Obama needs to recognize the warning signs before it's too late
From "The West, Islam and Sharia" by By Peter Wehner, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C.:
...Obama is among the most thin-skinned presidents we have had ...The president is constantly complaining about what others are saying about him. He is upset at Fox News, and conservative talk radio, and Republicans, and people carrying unflattering posters of him. He gets upset when his avalanche of faulty facts are challenged...
He gets upset when he is called on his hypocrisy, on everything from breaking his promise not to hire lobbyists in the White House to broadcasting health care meetings on C-SPAN to not curtailing earmarks to failing in his promises of transparency and bipartisanship.
In Obama's eyes, he is always the aggrieved, always the violated, always the victim of some injustice. He is America's virtuous and valorous hero, a man of unusually pure motives and uncommon wisdom, under assault by the forces of darkness.
It is all so darn unfair.
...With Obama there is also the compulsive need to admonish others, to point fingers, to say that the problems he faces are not of his doing.
...The president's instincts are by now obvious to all: deflect blame, point fingers, and lash out at others, most especially his predecessor.
...it's clear he has adopted an image of himself as something rare and remarkable, a historic figure of almost super-human abilities.
"I am absolutely certain that generations from now," Obama said during the summer of his presidential run, "we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth ...We are the ones we have been waiting for..."
...Barack Obama -- a man who was as unprepared to be president as any man in our lifetime -- has over the last 16 months shown that he is overmatched by events. His poll numbers continue to drop, his health care proposal is becoming less rather than more popular, the oil spill in the Gulf is badly eroding his image for leadership and competence, and his party has been battered in election after election since November. We have now reached the point where Democrats are running against Obama and his agenda in order to survive...
...When arrogant men lose control of events it can easily lead to feelings of isolation, to striking out at critics, to bullying opponents, and to straying across lines that should not be crossed.
And so the president needs to surround himself with people who can tamp down on the uglier impulses within his administration, who are willing to tell Obama that the lore created by him, Axelrod, Plouffe, and Gibbs during the campaign has given way to reality, that cockiness is not the same as wisdom, and that spin is no substitute for substantive achievements. And Obama needs someone who has standing in his life to tell him that the presidency is a revered institution that should not be treated as if it were a ward in Chicago.
The ingredients are in place for some serious problems down the road. Those who care for the president need to recognize the warning signs now, sooner rather later, before it becomes too late, for him and for the nation.
...Obama is among the most thin-skinned presidents we have had ...The president is constantly complaining about what others are saying about him. He is upset at Fox News, and conservative talk radio, and Republicans, and people carrying unflattering posters of him. He gets upset when his avalanche of faulty facts are challenged...
He gets upset when he is called on his hypocrisy, on everything from breaking his promise not to hire lobbyists in the White House to broadcasting health care meetings on C-SPAN to not curtailing earmarks to failing in his promises of transparency and bipartisanship.
In Obama's eyes, he is always the aggrieved, always the violated, always the victim of some injustice. He is America's virtuous and valorous hero, a man of unusually pure motives and uncommon wisdom, under assault by the forces of darkness.
It is all so darn unfair.
...With Obama there is also the compulsive need to admonish others, to point fingers, to say that the problems he faces are not of his doing.
...The president's instincts are by now obvious to all: deflect blame, point fingers, and lash out at others, most especially his predecessor.
...it's clear he has adopted an image of himself as something rare and remarkable, a historic figure of almost super-human abilities.
"I am absolutely certain that generations from now," Obama said during the summer of his presidential run, "we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal; this was the moment when we ended a war and secured our nation and restored our image as the last, best hope on earth ...We are the ones we have been waiting for..."
...Barack Obama -- a man who was as unprepared to be president as any man in our lifetime -- has over the last 16 months shown that he is overmatched by events. His poll numbers continue to drop, his health care proposal is becoming less rather than more popular, the oil spill in the Gulf is badly eroding his image for leadership and competence, and his party has been battered in election after election since November. We have now reached the point where Democrats are running against Obama and his agenda in order to survive...
...When arrogant men lose control of events it can easily lead to feelings of isolation, to striking out at critics, to bullying opponents, and to straying across lines that should not be crossed.
And so the president needs to surround himself with people who can tamp down on the uglier impulses within his administration, who are willing to tell Obama that the lore created by him, Axelrod, Plouffe, and Gibbs during the campaign has given way to reality, that cockiness is not the same as wisdom, and that spin is no substitute for substantive achievements. And Obama needs someone who has standing in his life to tell him that the presidency is a revered institution that should not be treated as if it were a ward in Chicago.
The ingredients are in place for some serious problems down the road. Those who care for the president need to recognize the warning signs now, sooner rather later, before it becomes too late, for him and for the nation.
anti-Israel flotilla a hateful fake
From JPost, 28 May 2010, by ZOE FOX:
...Israel advocacy group StandWithUs plans to greet the European convoy with its own demonstration at sea. ...The counter-flotilla ships will be covered in “Free Gaza from Hamas” banners and boat owners will wear bloodstained T-shirts, representing Hamas’s terror record.
...“What the other anti-Israel flotilla is doing is ignoring human rights abuses and focusing on a fake situation,” Michael Dickson, StandWithUs’s Israel director, told The Jerusalem Post Thursday.
Dickson believes the European activists care more about hurting Israel than helping the Palestinians in Gaza. ...Dickson said that the European activists’ aid could have reached Gaza in a day instead of a week if they weren’t interested in making a publicity statement.
“I think that the key thing is that this is not some fair-minded mission coming in that cares for peace. Their flotilla is driven by hate, rather than peace. They don’t really care about the victims who live under Hamas in Gaza and the south of Israel,” he said.
...“If the activists had done their homework instead of believing Hamas propaganda, they would also have found out that their assistance isn’t needed. There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” Dickson said.
...Israel advocacy group StandWithUs plans to greet the European convoy with its own demonstration at sea. ...The counter-flotilla ships will be covered in “Free Gaza from Hamas” banners and boat owners will wear bloodstained T-shirts, representing Hamas’s terror record.
...“What the other anti-Israel flotilla is doing is ignoring human rights abuses and focusing on a fake situation,” Michael Dickson, StandWithUs’s Israel director, told The Jerusalem Post Thursday.
Dickson believes the European activists care more about hurting Israel than helping the Palestinians in Gaza. ...Dickson said that the European activists’ aid could have reached Gaza in a day instead of a week if they weren’t interested in making a publicity statement.
“I think that the key thing is that this is not some fair-minded mission coming in that cares for peace. Their flotilla is driven by hate, rather than peace. They don’t really care about the victims who live under Hamas in Gaza and the south of Israel,” he said.
...“If the activists had done their homework instead of believing Hamas propaganda, they would also have found out that their assistance isn’t needed. There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” Dickson said.
“The Hate Flotilla” Chants anti-Semitic Slogans That Threaten a Genocide of Jews
According to a Foreign Ministry press release on Sunday [may 30], Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon criticized the effort [the aid flotilla], saying anti-Semitic chants voiced by the activists on board earlier in the day showed the “real motivation” for the campaign, which he termed an “armada of hate.”
Participants on the flotilla were recorded shouting “Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad saya’ud,” which means “Jews, remember Khyabar, the army of Mohammed is returning.”
This cry relates to an event in the seventh century when Muslims massacred and expelled Jews from the town of Khaybar, in modern-day Saudi Arabia.
“Israel condemns the anti-Semitic chants that were publicized this morning,” Ayalon said. “This amply demonstrates that many are not against a particular policy of the Israeli government, but have very real and dangerous hatred for Jews and the Jewish State.”
He further noted that “the main organizer of the flotilla is an extremist Islamic organization with ties to Hamas and global Jihad and it is unfortunate that there are those who are duped into thinking that this exercise has anything to do with humanitarianism or human rights.”
...Deputy FM Ayalon referred to the boycott of Israeli products by the Palestinian Authority, and stated that "After Israel declared its acceptance of the two-state solution, froze construction and removed roadblocks, the Palestinians are continuing their incitement against Israel. This is a rejection of mutual trust. It is impossible to talk peace on the one hand, while continuing with incitement on the other.”
Obama administration engaging with Hamas
From JPost, 31/5/10, by KHALED ABU TOAMEH:
A number of Hamas leaders have hinted over the past few days that the US administration has begun talking to the Islamist movement through both official and non-official channels.
...Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum on Sunday called on President Barack Obama to reconsider the entire US policy vis-à-vis the Middle East and to “fulfill his promises to the Palestinians by distancing himself from pro-Zionist policies.” ...Barhoum said that Hamas sees Obama continuing the “destructive doctrine” of his predecessor, George W. Bush, by supporting Israel and its military capabilities. “Obama’s policy is in violation of the famous speech that he delivered in Cairo [in June 2009] and in which he promised the peoples of the Middle East peace, security, freedom and mutual respect,” he added.
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal ...and other top Hamas officials recently met with a number of American delegations that visited Damascus and the Gaza Strip. ...Taher a-Nunu, spokesman for the Hamas government, said that [prime minister] Haniyeh sent a letter to Obama a few months ago calling for an end to Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and Washington’s “double standards” toward the Middle East conflict.
Nunu said that the letter also included a request to Obama to change his policy toward the Palestinians and their rights. He said that Hamas’s decision to initiate contact with Obama came in response to his “positive” statements during his visits to Egypt and Turkey.
A number of Hamas leaders have hinted over the past few days that the US administration has begun talking to the Islamist movement through both official and non-official channels.
...Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum on Sunday called on President Barack Obama to reconsider the entire US policy vis-à-vis the Middle East and to “fulfill his promises to the Palestinians by distancing himself from pro-Zionist policies.” ...Barhoum said that Hamas sees Obama continuing the “destructive doctrine” of his predecessor, George W. Bush, by supporting Israel and its military capabilities. “Obama’s policy is in violation of the famous speech that he delivered in Cairo [in June 2009] and in which he promised the peoples of the Middle East peace, security, freedom and mutual respect,” he added.
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal ...and other top Hamas officials recently met with a number of American delegations that visited Damascus and the Gaza Strip. ...Taher a-Nunu, spokesman for the Hamas government, said that [prime minister] Haniyeh sent a letter to Obama a few months ago calling for an end to Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip and Washington’s “double standards” toward the Middle East conflict.
Nunu said that the letter also included a request to Obama to change his policy toward the Palestinians and their rights. He said that Hamas’s decision to initiate contact with Obama came in response to his “positive” statements during his visits to Egypt and Turkey.
Israel "expendable" or Obama "confused"?
From JPost, 31/5/10, by DAVID BRINN, TORONTO AND HAVIV RETTIG GUR*:
...Over the weekend, Israeli officials were angered and surprised by the Obama administration’s decision to support the vote at the UN by 189 member states of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to single out Israel for its alleged possession of nuclear weapons...
The vote Friday garnered an unusually harsh Israeli retort over the weekend, in which the Prime Minister’s Office said the resolution “ignores the realities of the Middle East” and focuses “on the only country in the world that is actually threatened with annihilation.”
...in Toronto on Sunday, ...told some 7,000 people ...that “the establishment of the State of Israel has given the Jewish people the power to repel the attacks on the Jewish people. ...Israel will never give up the power to defend itself.”
Referring to Iran as the number one threat to Israel, Netanyahu said, “We have to ensure that this regime, the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, does not acquire the weapons of mass death.”
The American vote in support of the resolution on Israel’s nuclear facilities has cast a shadow over the Tuesday meeting in the White House between Netanyahu and Obama. That meeting, which was originally intended to deal with recent advances in the diplomatic process as US-mediated proximity talks with the Palestinian Authority began, will now deal also with the nuclear issue. “This vote left us feeling that the White House is saying that Israel’s needs are expendable in the search for international consensus,” a diplomatic source said on Sunday.
...Netanyahu is expected to use Tuesday’s meeting to ask why the US allowed the resolution to pass ...The answer may reflect a confused American policy...
Obama "confused"
(Photo by: Associated Press)
...Netanyahu used his speech in Toronto to reiterate his long-standing insistence on a demilitarized Palestinian state as a key Israeli demand in peace talks, saying that Israel couldn’t afford a third Iranian presence – in addition to Lebanon and Gaza – overlooking the hills of Tel Aviv.
“We must insure that any future Palestinian state is effectively demilitarized – not just a paper agreement. We’ve had a lot of paper agreements with the international community. We had one in Lebanon – it didn’t work. And we had one in Gaza that didn’t work. Here we must have effective arrangements on the ground, in which Israel and Israel alone can vouch for its security. We’re prepared to make compromises for peace, but I’m not willing to make any compromises on our security,” he said.
Netanyahu also insisted that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.... “Just we as we are asked to recognize a nation state for the Palestinian people, the Palestinians will have to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people,” he said.
*Oded Ben-Josef contributed to this report.
Expelling Israeli diplomat was a confected, self-serving exercise
[file photo]
Australian Foreign Minister, Stephen Smith announced the "confected, hypocritical, self-serving" expulsion on Monday, the first day of parliament's new sitting, the day it was likely to face its heaviest pasting over the resource super-profits tax; just as the earlier outburst of confected anger against Israel coincided with a spike in the pink batts controversy. It is "very low-grade behaviour to ruin a key relationship such as that with Israel for domestic political advantage."
From: The Australian May 29, 2010 by Greg Sheridan, Foreign editor:
...this week... Kevin Rudd's government [expelled] an Israeli diplomat over the Dubai passports affair ...
"It was an over reaction," [Opposition leader Tony] Abbott says.
"Sure Britain has done this but other nations whose passports were misused have not.
"I think we need to understand that Israel lives in a far more dangerous world than the rest of us. Sincere friendship means an honest understanding of the dangers they face.
"I don't condone the misuse of Australian passports. The big difference between Israel and almost every other country is that Israel is under existential threat."
There is now a greater difference between the main parties over Israel than at any time since Gough Whitlam.
The Abbott-led Liberal Party is now much more deeply committed to the Israel relationship than the Rudd-led Labor Party.
Rudd's policy towards Israel mirrors his policy towards an Emissions Trading Scheme - an extravagant and emotional level of promise, followed by a complete failure of delivery, marred by short-term political expediency.
This is a tough judgment, but it is the only one that fits the facts.
The Hamas terrorist leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was assassinated in Dubai earlier this year, almost certainly by Mossad agents. They used Australian, British, French and Irish passports.
First to the morality of the operation. Mabhouh was a leader of Hamas, which is pledged to Israel's violent destruction. He had much innocent blood on his hands. His assassination is morally exactly the same as when an Australian SAS unit targets an al-Qa'ida leader for attack in Afghanistan, as the SAS has often done. It is an even closer parallel to US drones hitting a terrorist in a border area of Pakistan. US President Barack Obama has decided, with Australian support, that merely fleeing the conflict zone of Afghanistan to the haven of Pakistan will not prevent an al-Qa'ida or Taliban terrorist being killed by US forces. So any Canberra moral outrage at the Israeli operation, which Foreign Minister Stephen Smith describes without qualification, or sophistication, as murder, is hypocritical and confected. Objecting to the misuse of Australian passports is entirely reasonable. But the manner in which the Rudd government has effected the expulsion demonstrates cynicism and short-term political opportunism.
When the passport misuse was first revealed in February, the Rudd government made a great song and dance about it. Emotions ran high. The government in effect sooled the Australian media on to savage Israel. It made sure there were cameras outside the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade when the Israeli ambassador, Yuval Rotem, was summoned for a ritual dressing down.
For six weeks, the Israelis were cast into diplomatic outer darkness. There was no dialogue of substance between Canberra and Jerusalem. Then suddenly there was a thaw. As part of its initial response the government sent a delegation of Australian Federal Police to Israel. This was all show - and a pretty poor show given their well-publicised problems with Israeli traffic - as the AFP could tell the government nothing more than it already knew. The Israelis did the operation but there is no proof.
The long delay of three months with nothing happening, and the deliberate resumption of diplomatic dialogue, led the Israelis, and Israel's friends in Australia, to believe the government was going low key. Then, all of a sudden, some internal dynamic changed and a couple of weeks ago, the government sent ASIO director David Irvine to Israel. Irvine is an official of the highest possible quality. But his trip, and the fact that Smith this week publicised it, represents an overt politicisation of ASIO by the government. The Irvine trip, which could produce nothing more than the AFP trip, gave the government cover for the expulsion. The manner and timing of the expulsion reflect very poorly on Rudd.
The government decided to announce the expulsion on Monday, the first day of parliament's new sitting. This was the day it was likely to face its heaviest pasting over the resource super-profits tax, just as the earlier outburst of confected anger against Israel coincided with a spike in the pink batts controversy.
This is a government obsessed with the management of the daily media cycle. The Opposition's foreign affairs spokeswoman, Julie Bishop, instinctively supported Israel but did so incompetently and gave the government more opportunity for confected outrage. But it is very low-grade behaviour to ruin a key relationship such as that with Israel for domestic political advantage.
Smith claimed that he was taking the action to expel an Israeli more in sorrow than in anger.
But Smith made his statement in parliament to get the greatest possible media. Although the government had all the information it needed for any action for months, there was a sense of rush at the last minute. Bishop was rung at 11.30am and abruptly told senior officials were on their way to her office to brief her. The officials were in her office while Smith was making his noon statement. The Israeli embassy was not told of the impending expulsion until 11am.
This is a great contrast to the British behaviour. When the British expulsion was announced, the Israeli diplomat was already back home. If you are doing something to an old friend, more in sorrow than in anger, surely you tell the old friend first.
Similarly, it is a great breach of normal practice for a friendly country to publicise the visit of an agency head, such as Irvine. The fact the government publicised the visit is a politicisation of ASIO. It is the government using a national security smokescreen to cover what is entirely a political decision.
Smith also let it be known that the Israeli to be expelled was the Mossad chief in Canberra. In 2006, under the Howard government, Australia and Israel decided to station senior intelligence people in each others' countries. There was a Mossad officer among the Israeli diplomats in Canberra and an ASIO person in the Australian embassy in Tel Aviv. These are declared positions of friendly agencies. They don't spy on each other, but work together.
Australia and Israel for many years have had close intelligence exchanges. The chiefs of our other intelligence agencies also visit Israel, but quietly, and gain an enormous amount of information and insight from every visit. We also send senior national security personnel from across a number of agencies for short courses.
Smith said intelligence co-operation between Canberra and Jerusalem would now cool for an indefinite period. This will be entirely to our detriment. Despite the recent difficulties, not least its agents being filmed in Dubai, kilo for kilo, the Mossad is without question the best intelligence agency in the world.
Australia has significant interests in Iraq, is acutely concerned with Iran, and will, according to our own Counter-Terrorism White Paper, quite likely be a target of Hezbollah terrorism. On all these subjects no country is better informed than Israel. At this stage, Israel has not asked the ASIO representative to go home. Nor is it clear how long the ban on a Mossad agent coming to Canberra will be enforced. Equally, it is not clear Israel will bother sending a Mossad officer to Australia.
This whole sequence has the hallmarks not of an intelligence operation but a Hawker-Britton operation, the Rudd government using one of the most sensitive relationships Australia has to distract the media from the political agenda.
Julie Bishop's clumsiness helped the government. She was mistaken to stress it's not proven whether the Israelis did the operation and she was mistaken to answer yes to the idea that Australia also forges passports, even though I have reported this on two occasions in The Australian and Smith would not deny it at his press conference.
Some context is important. Australian intelligence agents, but also police and others associated with combating drug smuggling and the like, often travel on false Australian passports, that is, passports that do not carry their true identities. That is almost routine.
Much more rare, but not entirely unheard of, is using the passport of another nation. However, it's easy to construct a scenario where this might happen. Say, hypothetically, Canberra wanted to send an ASIS agent of Pakistani origin to Pakistan for an operation and didn't want any indication of an Australian presence. Such an agent might use a Pakistani passport. It's unlikely Australia would forge the passport itself as this is difficult and resource intensive. Instead it would probably borrow such a passport from the British, known to be master forgers, or the Americans.
The government's outrage against Bishop was entirely confected.
The government also suggested the Israelis had broken a specific agreement with Australia over passports. This is almost certainly untrue. The Israelis don't acknowledge their passport forgeries and to promise not to do it again can only be predicated on them having done it in the first place. No Howard government minister has any recollection of any such agreement.
The Israelis operate in a unique environment. They have to undertake operations in the Middle East. But use of an Israeli passport in most Middle East countries is impossible. So they are forced to use other passports.
Israel is incredibly beleaguered at the moment. It has never been under such sustained political attack. In many parts of the world, anti-Israel sentiment is morphing into traditional anti-Semitism. By making such a cynical and exuberant public relations bonanza out of this episode, the Rudd government is directly licensing the recrudescence of the worst sentiments imaginable. I can't conceive that this would have been Dietrich Bonhoeffer's way.
The government dismayed many of its own supporters, who took its previous rhetoric about friendship with Israel seriously. Michael Danby is the Labor member for the critical Melbourne seat of Melbourne Ports.
He is in no sense a marginal figure in Labor. He is a former secretary of Labor's national security committee, a former Labor whip, and the chairman of the parliamentary foreign affairs sub-committee, that is the most senior parliamentarian, outside the ministry, on foreign affairs.
Yesterday, he said: "The expulsion was the wrong policy response. Even if there was some obscure previous incident, Berlin and Paris are as sophisticated as the mandarins of Canberra and their reaction (no expulsion) demonstrates why we did not have to ape the British Foreign Office. Stephen Smith should have made a recommendation to the NSC having the more worldly overview, that this harsh proscription would feed the international campaign of delegitimation of Israel.
This harsh reaction by Australia comes just at a time when we want the Israelis to be as flexible as possible in the new peace talks with the Arabs. This folly, this over reaction, has unwittingly encouraged bigots elsewhere, who have their secret passions sanctioned. I have suggested a series of steps to the Prime Minister to overcome this successful attempt to blot Labor's copybook just weeks before an election."
That's what the government's friends think of it.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Flotilla Stunt linked with Muslim Brotherhood and global jihadi networks
From TIP, 28/5/10:
A flotilla of pro-Palestinian demonstrators with links to terrorist groups is en route to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israeli government requests to deliver their shipment through legal channels.
...the organizers also declined a request by Noam Shalit, father of captive Israeli solider Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit, to deliver aid, medicine and a letter to his son who was kidnapped by Iran-backed Hamas on June 25, 2007...
...Hamas continues to smuggle weapons into Gaza and uses building supplies delivered there to construct fortified bunkers. Iran trains, arms and funds Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States, Israel, Canada and Australia.
...The flotilla of nine ships sailing to Gaza with the intent of delivering aid to Palestinians in the Hamas-run territory was organized by IHH, a Turkish aid foundation which has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Free Gaza, which describes itself as a human rights group.
The Turkish IHH (Insani Yardim Vakfi - “humanitarian relief fund”), with a demonstrated anti-American orientation, has known links to global jihadi networks, openly supports Iran-backed Hamas and maintains close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood movement, a global umbrella Islamic organization for Hamas as well as mujahideen groups in Afghanistan.
Israeli Government Spokesman Mark Regev released a statement on May 27: “They call themselves human rights activists, but they remain silent when it comes to Hamas' deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians and the brutalities of the Hamas regime in Gaza, which has crushed political opposition, suppressed independent media and has locked up hundreds of political opponents.”
Speaking to a group of foreign ministers from various countries on May 27, Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak emphasized that Hamas has been holding kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for the past four years in Gaza, in violation of international law. "For these reasons Israel must oversee the waters in the area," said Barak.
A flotilla of pro-Palestinian demonstrators with links to terrorist groups is en route to the Gaza Strip in defiance of Israeli government requests to deliver their shipment through legal channels.
...the organizers also declined a request by Noam Shalit, father of captive Israeli solider Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit, to deliver aid, medicine and a letter to his son who was kidnapped by Iran-backed Hamas on June 25, 2007...
...Hamas continues to smuggle weapons into Gaza and uses building supplies delivered there to construct fortified bunkers. Iran trains, arms and funds Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States, Israel, Canada and Australia.
...The flotilla of nine ships sailing to Gaza with the intent of delivering aid to Palestinians in the Hamas-run territory was organized by IHH, a Turkish aid foundation which has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, and Free Gaza, which describes itself as a human rights group.
The Turkish IHH (Insani Yardim Vakfi - “humanitarian relief fund”), with a demonstrated anti-American orientation, has known links to global jihadi networks, openly supports Iran-backed Hamas and maintains close ties with the Muslim Brotherhood movement, a global umbrella Islamic organization for Hamas as well as mujahideen groups in Afghanistan.
Israeli Government Spokesman Mark Regev released a statement on May 27: “They call themselves human rights activists, but they remain silent when it comes to Hamas' deliberate targeting of Israeli civilians and the brutalities of the Hamas regime in Gaza, which has crushed political opposition, suppressed independent media and has locked up hundreds of political opponents.”
Speaking to a group of foreign ministers from various countries on May 27, Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak emphasized that Hamas has been holding kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit for the past four years in Gaza, in violation of international law. "For these reasons Israel must oversee the waters in the area," said Barak.
Gaza Travel Guidebook For Freedom Flotilla Pro-Hamas Cheerleaders
From "Mere Rhetoric" May 26, 2010, by Omri Ceren:
Dear Crazy People,
We’ve been given to understand that you intend to stage another media stunt, wherein you’re again going to float some ...ships ...in the general direction of the Gaza Strip. Your hope is apparently that your cameramen will capture the Israeli reaction and edit it into an overreaction or, failing that, simply reprint your feverish fantasies with slack-jawed credulity. Again.
Our problem isn’t so much that your goal involves obfuscating the millions of tons of food and aid we’ve delivered to Gaza civilians ...what we’re concerned about is that you suck at driving boats. Last time you only had one ship and you still managed to crash it ...This time you’re bringing nine boats. ...Given your obvious intention of creating a spectacle ...it’s pretty much inevitable.
If and when that happens, we’d like you to have at least some sense of how to survive in Gaza City.
So we’ve put together this Gaza Tourism Guide, complete with picture galleries, which we believe to be the most comprehensive ever assembled on the web....
WHERE TO SLEEP
Gaza City’s luxury hotels are located on the Gaza coastline in the posh district of Ramal ...Foreign officials are often found in the area, speaking about Gaza’s unbearable plight at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights during the day, before retiring to the United Nations beach club at night. Top Hamas officials also congregate in the area, and can be easily identified during wartime as the ones hiding in the half-bunker/half-silo basement of the district’s Shifa Hospital. As can be expected the accommodations and eateries in Ramal are superb.
... the Grand Palace Hotel has a direct beach view ...The building’s decadent Crystal Hall makes it a much -desired banquet location for first weddings, second weddings, and martyrdom celebrations....
The Grand Palace’s sprawling facilities also make it a prime location for political and corporate events. When Fatah leader Nabil Shaath returned to the Gaza Strip in 2010, entering the territory for the first time since Hamas had violently seized control in a 2007 campaign that involved shooting out the kneecaps of Fatah-linked civilians, throwing them off roofs, and executing them in the streets – this is where Shaath met with his Hamas counterparts.
If you’re looking for a younger vibe you might want to check out the Marna House. ...the blending of modern luxury with the ethos of anti-Zionist resistance has made it a favorite with college-aged ISM volunteers. Stable Internet means guests can – and do – blog about the savagery of targeted Israeli self-defense operations, tweet about the wonderful bravery of Hamas’s human shields ...it’s no surprise that past guests have set up a Marna House hotel & restaurant Facebook page so they can “share memories” of their bitter twilight struggle against Occupation...
The Al Deira hotel ...boasts 22 spacious rooms and a world-class staff – enough so that some regular Western European diplomats and anti-Israel human rights investigators actually prefer it to the Grand Palace ...a shop in the lobby specializing in Middle Eastern works of fiction, historical biographies, and conspiracy theories demonizing Jews...
WHERE TO SHOP
Gaza’s markets are simply overflowing with goods supplied by hundreds of smuggling tunnels, from food and clothing to widescreen TVs and even live cows. ...Tourists hoping for bargains may nonetheless find themselves disappointed, however. Gaza’s relatively healthy per capita income – higher than India’s as a result of being the world’s largest per-capita aid recipient – keeps demand robust and prices stable.
...Don’t be afraid to ask for tips, either from your hotel clerk or from the attentive Hamas-provided tour guides who will be accompanying you everywhere. If you’re lucky they might be able to track down one of the souvenir Goldstone headscarves, honoring brutal apartheid judge Richard Goldstone. They’ve unfortunately been selling out all over Gaza, so nothing’s certain. Much more common are open air swap meets filled with kids selling automatic weapons.
...If [the hustle and bustle of a market is] not your cup of tea, you can head over to Gaza’s professional and well-stocked supermarkets for the kind of experience that you would find in any American chain.
WHERE TO DINE
All of the major luxury hotels have food facilities, with the seaside terrace restaurant at the Al Diera hotel being a local favorite. It’s known for its view, its mezes (small Mediterranean-style dishes), and its fresh strawberry juice. Gazans will top the juice off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, which is perfect for getting through the hot desert summer days.
If you’re looking to get away from hotels, you can’t do better than Roots. The well-known restaurant, part of the Cactus for Development Group’s family of fine dining restaurants – “new standards in the hospitality business in Palestine!!!” – emphasizes that you should call ahead for reservations. Their full blown interactive menu here.
Visitors are strongly cautioned not to drink tap water while in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians have severely overpumped Gaza’s wells, perhaps irreparably depleting the water table and leaving it open to mass contamination. Ground water is therefore not potable. Stick instead to bottled water, which is regularly supplied by Israel ...
WHERE TO PLAY
Gaza summers revolve around whatever Gaza beaches ...Whether it’s relaxing with friends, exercising with a partner, or watching an AP stringer set up photo shoots in anticipation of captions about beach life being “the only escape available to Gaza children” – there’s always something interesting going on.
The beaches do get crowded, and the new mandatory Hamas dress code makes them somewhat drab, so at some point you may want to join other relatively wealthy foreigners at Gaza’s nearby, full-time luxury spa. There you’ll find a steam room, a sauna, a small gym and a beauty parlor that offers facials and massages.
WHERE TO DRINK
Unfortunately, the Hamas government declared a total ban ...Stores and clubs that fail to adhere to the ban get bombed.
WHERE TO WORSHIP
Unfortunately, non-Muslims will find few options for worship in the Gaza Strip. The synagogues left by withdrawing Israelis were immediately desecrated and destroyed. Most Christian churches were long ago transformed into mosques. Visiters are also advised to avoid gathering in Christian bookstores, which increasingly get bombed, or around actual Christians, who increasingly get killed.
WHERE TO DANCE
Unfortunately, Hamas has banned women from dancing, as well as from wearing all but the most conservative outfits.
WHERE TO LISTEN
Unfortunately, music shops and performances have also been deemed un-Islamic in recent years, to the detriment of music shop owners and performers.
WHERE TO GET ONLINE
Unfortunately, visitors are advised to avoid Internet cafes because they get bombed.
Dear Crazy People,
We’ve been given to understand that you intend to stage another media stunt, wherein you’re again going to float some ...ships ...in the general direction of the Gaza Strip. Your hope is apparently that your cameramen will capture the Israeli reaction and edit it into an overreaction or, failing that, simply reprint your feverish fantasies with slack-jawed credulity. Again.
Our problem isn’t so much that your goal involves obfuscating the millions of tons of food and aid we’ve delivered to Gaza civilians ...what we’re concerned about is that you suck at driving boats. Last time you only had one ship and you still managed to crash it ...This time you’re bringing nine boats. ...Given your obvious intention of creating a spectacle ...it’s pretty much inevitable.
If and when that happens, we’d like you to have at least some sense of how to survive in Gaza City.
So we’ve put together this Gaza Tourism Guide, complete with picture galleries, which we believe to be the most comprehensive ever assembled on the web....
WHERE TO SLEEP
Gaza City’s luxury hotels are located on the Gaza coastline in the posh district of Ramal ...Foreign officials are often found in the area, speaking about Gaza’s unbearable plight at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights during the day, before retiring to the United Nations beach club at night. Top Hamas officials also congregate in the area, and can be easily identified during wartime as the ones hiding in the half-bunker/half-silo basement of the district’s Shifa Hospital. As can be expected the accommodations and eateries in Ramal are superb.
... the Grand Palace Hotel has a direct beach view ...The building’s decadent Crystal Hall makes it a much -desired banquet location for first weddings, second weddings, and martyrdom celebrations....
The Grand Palace’s sprawling facilities also make it a prime location for political and corporate events. When Fatah leader Nabil Shaath returned to the Gaza Strip in 2010, entering the territory for the first time since Hamas had violently seized control in a 2007 campaign that involved shooting out the kneecaps of Fatah-linked civilians, throwing them off roofs, and executing them in the streets – this is where Shaath met with his Hamas counterparts.
If you’re looking for a younger vibe you might want to check out the Marna House. ...the blending of modern luxury with the ethos of anti-Zionist resistance has made it a favorite with college-aged ISM volunteers. Stable Internet means guests can – and do – blog about the savagery of targeted Israeli self-defense operations, tweet about the wonderful bravery of Hamas’s human shields ...it’s no surprise that past guests have set up a Marna House hotel & restaurant Facebook page so they can “share memories” of their bitter twilight struggle against Occupation...
The Al Deira hotel ...boasts 22 spacious rooms and a world-class staff – enough so that some regular Western European diplomats and anti-Israel human rights investigators actually prefer it to the Grand Palace ...a shop in the lobby specializing in Middle Eastern works of fiction, historical biographies, and conspiracy theories demonizing Jews...
WHERE TO SHOP
Gaza’s markets are simply overflowing with goods supplied by hundreds of smuggling tunnels, from food and clothing to widescreen TVs and even live cows. ...Tourists hoping for bargains may nonetheless find themselves disappointed, however. Gaza’s relatively healthy per capita income – higher than India’s as a result of being the world’s largest per-capita aid recipient – keeps demand robust and prices stable.
...Don’t be afraid to ask for tips, either from your hotel clerk or from the attentive Hamas-provided tour guides who will be accompanying you everywhere. If you’re lucky they might be able to track down one of the souvenir Goldstone headscarves, honoring brutal apartheid judge Richard Goldstone. They’ve unfortunately been selling out all over Gaza, so nothing’s certain. Much more common are open air swap meets filled with kids selling automatic weapons.
...If [the hustle and bustle of a market is] not your cup of tea, you can head over to Gaza’s professional and well-stocked supermarkets for the kind of experience that you would find in any American chain.
WHERE TO DINE
All of the major luxury hotels have food facilities, with the seaside terrace restaurant at the Al Diera hotel being a local favorite. It’s known for its view, its mezes (small Mediterranean-style dishes), and its fresh strawberry juice. Gazans will top the juice off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, which is perfect for getting through the hot desert summer days.
If you’re looking to get away from hotels, you can’t do better than Roots. The well-known restaurant, part of the Cactus for Development Group’s family of fine dining restaurants – “new standards in the hospitality business in Palestine!!!” – emphasizes that you should call ahead for reservations. Their full blown interactive menu here.
Visitors are strongly cautioned not to drink tap water while in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians have severely overpumped Gaza’s wells, perhaps irreparably depleting the water table and leaving it open to mass contamination. Ground water is therefore not potable. Stick instead to bottled water, which is regularly supplied by Israel ...
WHERE TO PLAY
Gaza summers revolve around whatever Gaza beaches ...Whether it’s relaxing with friends, exercising with a partner, or watching an AP stringer set up photo shoots in anticipation of captions about beach life being “the only escape available to Gaza children” – there’s always something interesting going on.
The beaches do get crowded, and the new mandatory Hamas dress code makes them somewhat drab, so at some point you may want to join other relatively wealthy foreigners at Gaza’s nearby, full-time luxury spa. There you’ll find a steam room, a sauna, a small gym and a beauty parlor that offers facials and massages.
WHERE TO DRINK
Unfortunately, the Hamas government declared a total ban ...Stores and clubs that fail to adhere to the ban get bombed.
WHERE TO WORSHIP
Unfortunately, non-Muslims will find few options for worship in the Gaza Strip. The synagogues left by withdrawing Israelis were immediately desecrated and destroyed. Most Christian churches were long ago transformed into mosques. Visiters are also advised to avoid gathering in Christian bookstores, which increasingly get bombed, or around actual Christians, who increasingly get killed.
WHERE TO DANCE
Unfortunately, Hamas has banned women from dancing, as well as from wearing all but the most conservative outfits.
WHERE TO LISTEN
Unfortunately, music shops and performances have also been deemed un-Islamic in recent years, to the detriment of music shop owners and performers.
WHERE TO GET ONLINE
Unfortunately, visitors are advised to avoid Internet cafes because they get bombed.
Flotilla Stunt by Hamas Cheerleaders
From Israel MFA, 24 May 2010:
Ships forcing their way into Gaza will do nothing to aid the people there. Existing land crossings are more than capable of meeting their needs.
...In a typical week, 15,000 tons of supplies enter Gaza. Truckloads of meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, milk powder, baby food, wheat and other staples arrive in Gaza on a daily basis. Building materials are also shipped in, when monitored by International organization so as not to be commandeered by Hamas for the fortification of bunkers.
Since the ceasefire in January 2009, well over a million tons of humanitarian supplies entered Gaza from Israel - that is almost a ton of aid for each man, woman and child in the Strip.
...Israel has invited the organizers of the flotilla to use the land crossings, in the same manner as all the reputable international organizations.
However, they are less interested in bringing in aid than in promoting their radical agenda, playing into the hands of Hamas provocations. While they have wrapped themselves in a humanitarian cloak, they are engaging in political propaganda and not in pro-Palestinian aid.
If the organizers were truly interesting in providing humanitarian aid - as opposed to engaging in publicity stunts - they would use the proper channels to ensure delivery of any supplies.
From Israel MFA, 27 May 2010:
Israel invites the international flotilla to unload its cargo in Ashdod port
The Minister of Defense has issued warrants prohibiting the entrance of the vessels to Gaza. Israel has advised the relevant countries [Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Sweden and Ireland – the countries from which the ships participating in the flotilla set sail] of this ban, and requested they prevent the departure of the vessels.
...D-G Gal emphasized that Gaza is under the control of a terrorist organization, which does not prioritize the wellbeing of the citizens of Gaza. This organization, under the patronage of Iran, continues to arm itself with ammunition and rockets, and to perpetuate a situation of armed conflict with Israel, after years of targeting Israeli civilians. Israel has the inherent natural right, therefore, to prevent the unsupervised transfer of supplies to Gaza. The Deputy General added that Israel would not allow the flotilla to reach Gaza.
D-G Gal stressed that Gilad Shalit has been languishing in Gaza for four years, while the Hamas blatantly breaches his elementary rights, and does not even allow the Red Cross to visit him...
Ships forcing their way into Gaza will do nothing to aid the people there. Existing land crossings are more than capable of meeting their needs.
...In a typical week, 15,000 tons of supplies enter Gaza. Truckloads of meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, milk powder, baby food, wheat and other staples arrive in Gaza on a daily basis. Building materials are also shipped in, when monitored by International organization so as not to be commandeered by Hamas for the fortification of bunkers.
Since the ceasefire in January 2009, well over a million tons of humanitarian supplies entered Gaza from Israel - that is almost a ton of aid for each man, woman and child in the Strip.
...Israel has invited the organizers of the flotilla to use the land crossings, in the same manner as all the reputable international organizations.
However, they are less interested in bringing in aid than in promoting their radical agenda, playing into the hands of Hamas provocations. While they have wrapped themselves in a humanitarian cloak, they are engaging in political propaganda and not in pro-Palestinian aid.
If the organizers were truly interesting in providing humanitarian aid - as opposed to engaging in publicity stunts - they would use the proper channels to ensure delivery of any supplies.
From Israel MFA, 27 May 2010:
Israel invites the international flotilla to unload its cargo in Ashdod port
The Minister of Defense has issued warrants prohibiting the entrance of the vessels to Gaza. Israel has advised the relevant countries [Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, Sweden and Ireland – the countries from which the ships participating in the flotilla set sail] of this ban, and requested they prevent the departure of the vessels.
...D-G Gal emphasized that Gaza is under the control of a terrorist organization, which does not prioritize the wellbeing of the citizens of Gaza. This organization, under the patronage of Iran, continues to arm itself with ammunition and rockets, and to perpetuate a situation of armed conflict with Israel, after years of targeting Israeli civilians. Israel has the inherent natural right, therefore, to prevent the unsupervised transfer of supplies to Gaza. The Deputy General added that Israel would not allow the flotilla to reach Gaza.
D-G Gal stressed that Gilad Shalit has been languishing in Gaza for four years, while the Hamas blatantly breaches his elementary rights, and does not even allow the Red Cross to visit him...
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Fruits of Obama's Appeasement
From The Washington Post, Friday, May 21, 2010, by Charles Krauthammer:
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, left, and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, crowing over their nuclear fuel swap deal, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, May 17, 2010, just as pressure mounts for tougher sanctions. (Vahid Salemi/associated Press)
It is perfectly obvious that Iran's latest uranium maneuver, brokered by Brazil and Turkey, is a ruse. Iran retains more than enough enriched uranium to make a bomb. And it continues enriching at an accelerated pace and to a greater purity (20 percent). Which is why the French foreign ministry immediately declared that the trumpeted temporary shipping of some Iranian uranium to Turkey will do nothing to halt Iran's nuclear program.
It will, however, make meaningful sanctions more difficult. America's proposed Security Council resolution is already laughably weak -- no blacklisting of Iran's central bank, no sanctions against Iran's oil and gas industry, no nonconsensual inspections on the high seas. Yet Turkey and Brazil -- both current members of the Security Council -- are so opposed to sanctions that they will not even discuss the resolution. And China will now have a new excuse to weaken it further.
But the deeper meaning of the uranium-export stunt is the brazenness with which Brazil and Turkey gave cover to the mullahs' nuclear ambitions and deliberately undermined U.S. efforts to curb Iran's program.
The real news is ...the president of Brazil, our largest ally in Latin America, and the prime minister of Turkey, for more than half a century the Muslim anchor of NATO, raising hands together with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the most virulently anti-American leader in the world.
That picture -- a defiant, triumphant take-that-Uncle-Sam -- is a crushing verdict on the Obama foreign policy. It demonstrates how rising powers, traditional American allies, having watched this administration in action, have decided that there's no cost in lining up with America's enemies and no profit in lining up with a U.S. president given to apologies and appeasement.
They've watched President Obama's humiliating attempts to appease Iran, as every rejected overture is met with abjectly renewed U.S. negotiating offers. American acquiescence reached such a point that the president was late, hesitant and flaccid in expressing even rhetorical support for democracy demonstrators who were being brutally suppressed and whose call for regime change offered the potential for the most significant U.S. strategic advance in the region in 30 years.
They've watched America acquiesce to Russia's re-exerting sway over Eastern Europe, over Ukraine (pressured by Russia last month into extending for 25 years its lease of the Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol) and over Georgia (Russia's de facto annexation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is no longer an issue under the Obama "reset" policy).
They've watched our appeasement of Syria, Iran's agent in the Arab Levant -- sending our ambassador back to Syria even as it tightens its grip on Lebanon, supplies Hezbollah with Scuds and intensifies its role as the pivot of the Iran-Hezbollah-Hamas alliance. The price for this ostentatious flouting of the United States and its interests? Ever more eager U.S. "engagement."
They've observed the administration's gratuitous slap at Britain over the Falklands, its contemptuous treatment of Israel, its undercutting of the Czech Republic and Poland, and its indifference to Lebanon and Georgia. And in Latin America, they see not just U.S. passivity as Venezuela's Hugo Chávez organizes his anti-American "Bolivarian" coalition while deepening military and commercial ties with Iran and Russia. They saw active U.S. support in Honduras for a pro-Chávez would-be dictator seeking unconstitutional powers in defiance of the democratic institutions of that country.
This is not just an America in decline. This is an America in retreat -- accepting, ratifying and declaring its decline, and inviting rising powers to fill the vacuum.
Nor is this retreat by inadvertence. This is retreat by design and, indeed, on principle. It's the perfect fulfillment of Obama's adopted Third World narrative of American misdeeds, disrespect and domination from which he has come to redeem us and the world. Hence his foundational declaration at the U.N. General Assembly last September that "No one nation can or should try to dominate another nation" (guess who's been the dominant nation for the last two decades?) and his dismissal of any "world order that elevates one nation or group of people over another." (NATO? The West?)
Given Obama's policies and principles, Turkey and Brazil are acting rationally. Why not give cover to Ahmadinejad and his nuclear ambitions? As the United States retreats in the face of Iran, China, Russia and Venezuela, why not hedge your bets? There's nothing to fear from Obama, and everything to gain by ingratiating yourself with America's rising adversaries. After all, they actually believe in helping one's friends and punishing one's enemies.
Rudd crrying favor with Israel's enemies
From a letter to Michael Danby (Australian Federal Member for Melbourne Ports), Tuesday May 25, 2010, by John-Michael Howson OAM:
...I am appalled at the cynical action of the government in expelling an Israeli diplomat,
I know the prime minister has an agenda to get Australia a temporary seat on the Security Council (or maybe get himself elected Secretary-General) and to do so is prepared to jettison our support for Israel to curry favor with its enemies who, in the scheme of things, would also do us harm. However, while a reprimand may have been in order (together with an admission that Australia has agents who also use forged passports) the expelling was an extraordinary action.
...if I knew Israel needed a passport to rid the world of these people I would gladly give them mine.
In recent years I have been stunned and appalled at the vilification of Israel by people who propagandize for Israel's enemies. When I have defended Israel on radio I get calls usually from people, I'm sorry to say, who come from the Left, who take a virulent anti-Israel line and who often tinge their comments with anti-Semitic remarks.
The number of anti-Israel stories broadcast by the ABC which, sometimes, come from the rigorous critics of Israel at the BBC is shocking because, as with so much with our national broadcaster, they have a line and they will bend the rules of debate and discussion to broadcast their agenda.
It saddens me when prominent Jews with a radical agenda also attack Israel. Perhaps, they think that appeasing the enemy will get them a special status. ...It's ironic to be a Christian arguing support for Israel against a radical person with a Jewish background supporting Hezbollah! What strange times we live in...
...I am appalled at the cynical action of the government in expelling an Israeli diplomat,
I know the prime minister has an agenda to get Australia a temporary seat on the Security Council (or maybe get himself elected Secretary-General) and to do so is prepared to jettison our support for Israel to curry favor with its enemies who, in the scheme of things, would also do us harm. However, while a reprimand may have been in order (together with an admission that Australia has agents who also use forged passports) the expelling was an extraordinary action.
...if I knew Israel needed a passport to rid the world of these people I would gladly give them mine.
In recent years I have been stunned and appalled at the vilification of Israel by people who propagandize for Israel's enemies. When I have defended Israel on radio I get calls usually from people, I'm sorry to say, who come from the Left, who take a virulent anti-Israel line and who often tinge their comments with anti-Semitic remarks.
The number of anti-Israel stories broadcast by the ABC which, sometimes, come from the rigorous critics of Israel at the BBC is shocking because, as with so much with our national broadcaster, they have a line and they will bend the rules of debate and discussion to broadcast their agenda.
It saddens me when prominent Jews with a radical agenda also attack Israel. Perhaps, they think that appeasing the enemy will get them a special status. ...It's ironic to be a Christian arguing support for Israel against a radical person with a Jewish background supporting Hezbollah! What strange times we live in...
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Another terrorist donkey martyred
From JPost, 25/5/10:
A small Syrian-backed terrorist group in Gaza said its activists blew up a donkey cart laden with explosives close to the border with Israel on Tuesday, killing the animal but causing no human casualties.
Abu Ghassan, spokesman for the terrorist group, said more than 200 kilograms of dynamite were heaped on the animal-drawn cart. He added that the explosives were detonated 60 meters from the concrete security barrier that separates the territory from Israel.
The donkey was killed in the blast, but there were no reports of human casualties. Israeli troops routinely patrol the border, and impoverished Gazans often gather rubble in the area.
The Israeli military confirmed the blast, but had no further comment. The IDF said Gaza terrorists also fired two mortar shells into Israel on Tuesday, which fell in the Netiv Ha'asara area without causing damage or casualties.
Earlier this week, masked gunmen from an Islamist group torched a UN-run summer camp for children and teens in Gaza.
The head of UNRWA in Gaza, John Ging, said the assailants tied up the guard, burned tents and vandalized bathrooms at the campgrounds. UN officials said the attackers left behind three bullets and a note threatening to kill Ging and others unless the UN cancels its activities for some 250,000 Gaza children.
Two days before the incident, the previously unknown "The Free of the Homeland" group issued a statement criticizing the camp's organizer, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), for "teaching schoolgirls fitness, dancing and immorality."
A small Syrian-backed terrorist group in Gaza said its activists blew up a donkey cart laden with explosives close to the border with Israel on Tuesday, killing the animal but causing no human casualties.
Abu Ghassan, spokesman for the terrorist group, said more than 200 kilograms of dynamite were heaped on the animal-drawn cart. He added that the explosives were detonated 60 meters from the concrete security barrier that separates the territory from Israel.
The donkey was killed in the blast, but there were no reports of human casualties. Israeli troops routinely patrol the border, and impoverished Gazans often gather rubble in the area.
The Israeli military confirmed the blast, but had no further comment. The IDF said Gaza terrorists also fired two mortar shells into Israel on Tuesday, which fell in the Netiv Ha'asara area without causing damage or casualties.
Earlier this week, masked gunmen from an Islamist group torched a UN-run summer camp for children and teens in Gaza.
The head of UNRWA in Gaza, John Ging, said the assailants tied up the guard, burned tents and vandalized bathrooms at the campgrounds. UN officials said the attackers left behind three bullets and a note threatening to kill Ging and others unless the UN cancels its activities for some 250,000 Gaza children.
Two days before the incident, the previously unknown "The Free of the Homeland" group issued a statement criticizing the camp's organizer, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), for "teaching schoolgirls fitness, dancing and immorality."
Monday, May 24, 2010
Australia/Israel ties will remain strong despite hysterical Australian-government overreaction
From an AIJAC press release, May 24, 2010
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council said that the Australia/Israel friendship is deep and broad and will continue to grow despite the Australian government's regrettable decision announced today that an Israeli diplomat be withdrawn.
Dr Colin Rubenstein, AIJAC's Executive Director, said, "While we understand and sympathise with the responsibility of the government to protect the integrity of the Australia passport system, in our view, this response was unhelpful. Australia has already made clear its displeasure over the abuse of Australian passports in the strongest of possible terms [in fact, already too strong - SL], which we believe was adequate to fulfil the government's responsibilities."
Dr. Rubenstein continued, "We would note in this regard that, while Australia followed a British precedent in its over-reaction, no similar step has been taken by Ireland, France or Germany, all of whom also allegedly had forged passports implicated in the killing of senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh."
AIJAC National Chairman Mark Leibler added, "The claims of the Dubai authorities with respect to this case should not be accepted as necessarily unbiased and neutral, given Dubai's apparent past tolerance of Mabhouh's open and dubious activity on behalf of Hamas on Dubai soil. Therefore, irrespective of who was responsible, describing the killing of Mabhouh as 'murder' is questionable and ignores the likelihood that the killing of an active terrorist leader from a violent rejectionist organisation positively saved lives."
"As Foreign Minister Stephen Smith noted, Australia and Israel have a longstanding friendship and common interests, with the threats of a nuclear-armed Iran and anti-Western terrorism just two of the pressing world concerns which both countries will continue to confront together, despite today's decision," Mr Leibler concluded.
I would ask:
The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council said that the Australia/Israel friendship is deep and broad and will continue to grow despite the Australian government's regrettable decision announced today that an Israeli diplomat be withdrawn.
Dr Colin Rubenstein, AIJAC's Executive Director, said, "While we understand and sympathise with the responsibility of the government to protect the integrity of the Australia passport system, in our view, this response was unhelpful. Australia has already made clear its displeasure over the abuse of Australian passports in the strongest of possible terms [in fact, already too strong - SL], which we believe was adequate to fulfil the government's responsibilities."
Dr. Rubenstein continued, "We would note in this regard that, while Australia followed a British precedent in its over-reaction, no similar step has been taken by Ireland, France or Germany, all of whom also allegedly had forged passports implicated in the killing of senior Hamas terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh."
AIJAC National Chairman Mark Leibler added, "The claims of the Dubai authorities with respect to this case should not be accepted as necessarily unbiased and neutral, given Dubai's apparent past tolerance of Mabhouh's open and dubious activity on behalf of Hamas on Dubai soil. Therefore, irrespective of who was responsible, describing the killing of Mabhouh as 'murder' is questionable and ignores the likelihood that the killing of an active terrorist leader from a violent rejectionist organisation positively saved lives."
"As Foreign Minister Stephen Smith noted, Australia and Israel have a longstanding friendship and common interests, with the threats of a nuclear-armed Iran and anti-Western terrorism just two of the pressing world concerns which both countries will continue to confront together, despite today's decision," Mr Leibler concluded.
I would ask:
- if Australia could have prevented the Bali bombing by forging some passports and killing a terrorist, would it have done so?
- what protest has the Australian government made to the Dubai and other governments openly allowing terrorist activity? ...and if that protest is weaker than this action against Israel, why? (Is that the "act of a friend"?)
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