From a report in Jerusalem Post, by ASSOCIATED PRESS
May. 30, 2005 1:21 Updated May. 30, 2005 9:46
The Israel air force fired missiles at the Jabaliya refugee camp early Monday, where terrorists were preparing a mortar attack, Israeli military officials said, seriously wounding two Palestinians.
...Islamic Jihad issued a statement saying that a few minutes before the Israeli air strike, its cells launched three rockets from northern Gaza at an Israeli village just outside the territory. The Islamic Jihad said its cell was the target of the Israeli attack.
....the military notes that mortar and rocket attacks have been increasing in Gaza in recent days, and Israel charges that the Palestinian Authority is not doing enough to stop the militants.
According to Israeli figures, more than 60 mortars and 10 homemade Kassam rockets have been fired in Gaza in the last two weeks.
A second blast heard later in the Jebaliya camp, where about 100,000 Palestinians live in poverty, turned out to be an accidental explosion of a gas canister.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Telstra could boost imports from Israel
From the Jerusalem Post May. 30, 2005 7:14 by YIGAL GRAYEFF
Australian telecommunications operator Telstra could increase its annual spending on Israeli hi-tech products to $90 million-$100m. a year, Ted Pretty, the group managing director of technology, innovation and products, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
Pretty...has been in Israel since Tuesday as part of an Australian trade delegation...
The companies from which Telstra buys products include billing software provider Amdocs and communications software maker Comverse Technology. In addition to deepening existing relationships, Pretty is also looking to create new ones.
One company that could benefit is Ra'anana-based IXI Mobile...He also praised Check Point Software Technologies Ltd...
In addition to buying products from Israeli companies, Telstra is helping them to sell themselves and to adapt their products to the needs of their clients. Telstra sits on the customer and user group forums of Amdocs, Click Software and others, and Pretty will write a report for Israeli companies suggesting what they should focus on when making their presentations.
Despite being impressed by the technology in Israel, Pretty said Telstra had no plans for major investments in the country. "We are not a direct seed investor. Our core business is running networks and you can get distracted by technical developments," he said.
Australian telecommunications operator Telstra could increase its annual spending on Israeli hi-tech products to $90 million-$100m. a year, Ted Pretty, the group managing director of technology, innovation and products, told The Jerusalem Post on Sunday.
Pretty...has been in Israel since Tuesday as part of an Australian trade delegation...
The companies from which Telstra buys products include billing software provider Amdocs and communications software maker Comverse Technology. In addition to deepening existing relationships, Pretty is also looking to create new ones.
One company that could benefit is Ra'anana-based IXI Mobile...He also praised Check Point Software Technologies Ltd...
In addition to buying products from Israeli companies, Telstra is helping them to sell themselves and to adapt their products to the needs of their clients. Telstra sits on the customer and user group forums of Amdocs, Click Software and others, and Pretty will write a report for Israeli companies suggesting what they should focus on when making their presentations.
Despite being impressed by the technology in Israel, Pretty said Telstra had no plans for major investments in the country. "We are not a direct seed investor. Our core business is running networks and you can get distracted by technical developments," he said.
Monday, May 30, 2005
Relay Race...
(from the Gamla website
Oleg's cartoon, first published in January, doesn't look like such a joke now....
The Hazards of Making "The Case for Israel"
Noam Chomsky - literary "McCarthyist" and Israel basher
Many thanks to several JIW readers who alerted us to this one....
On Gamla (http://gamla.org.il/english/article/2005/may/g5.htm), May 26, 2005, Alan Dershowitz, author of "The Case for Israel," makes a case against Noam Chomsky and co-horts who have engaged in "literary McCarthyism" for decades. The following is extracted from the detailed and well-referenced article.
...A systematic effort to discredit the book, and me, has been undertaken by a well-organized group of Israel bashers led by Noam Chomsky, Norman Finkelstein, and Alexander Cockburn. ...They had a model for their attack going back 20 years.
The mode of attack is consistent. Chomsky selects the target and directs Finkelstein to probe the writings in minute detail and conclude that the writer didn’t actually write the work, that it is plagiarized, that it is a hoax and a fraud. Cockburn publicizes these "findings," and then a cadre of fellow travelers bombard the Internet with so many attacks on the target that these attacks jump to the top of Google....when the pattern is examined ...the entire enterprise becomes clear for what it is: ... a form of literary McCarthyism.
Noam Chomsky('s)...record—includ(es) supporting, praising, and working with neo-Nazi Holocaust deniers...(including) Robert Faurisson, who called the Holocaust a "hoax," denied the existence of Hitler’s gas chambers, claimed that the diary of Anne Frank was a "forgery," and described the Jewish claims for Holocaust reparations as a "fraud."
...Ever since his close association with neo-Nazi Holocaust deniers compromised his credibility on "matters pertaining to Jews," Chomsky has tended to leave it to surrogates to continue his campaign of vilification against the Jewish community.
His primary surrogate is Norman Finkelstein....one of his "very close friends"[....a man who boasts of "publicly honoring" and showing "solidarity with Hezbollah...." Finkelstein has ...asserted that Israel’s human rights record is "interchangeable with Iraq’s" when it was ruled by Saddam Hussein..." He has said that most alleged Holocaust survivors—including Elie Wiesel—have fabricated their past, are "bogus," and that those seeking reparations are "cheats" and "greedy." ...He is a popular speaker among German neo-Nazis...Finkelstein has reportedly praised the Holocaust-denying Irving as "a good historian"[15] and as having "made an indispensable" contribution to our knowledge of World War II."[16] .....His books do not sell in America, but they are best-sellers among the growing number of neo-Nazis in Germany.
The third member of this smear team is Alexander Cockburn...(who) is virulently anti-Israel. In 1984 he was fired from the Village Voice for hiding a $10,000 "grant" he received from an anti-Israel organization.[20] ...Columnist Jon Margolis, after exposing several false charges made by Cockburn, asserted that "Cockburn has been abusing reality for decades" and that "as an accuser, Joe McCarthy was more responsible."[22]
The story of this unholy alliance among Chomsky, Finkelstein, and Cockburn begins nearly 20 years ago with the publication of a book entitled From Time Immemorial, by ...Joan Peters. The book...was largely a demographic study of the population of the area that eventually became Israel. Peters’ conclusion was that the Arab political claim that the Palestinians who left or were expelled from Israel during the war of Independence (1947-1948) had lived in the area from time immemorial was exaggerated.
When Noam Chomsky learned of the Peters book, he became outraged because its thesis undercut his ideological opposition to Israel. ...Chomsky telephoned Finkelstein, then a graduate student already notorious for the virulence of his anti-Zionism, and directed him to expose Peters’ book as "a fraud." ...Finkelstein...responded: "Well, you know, I’m a person of the left, and when you get a call from Professor Chomsky, his wish is your command."[29]
...The third member of this nasty attack team, Alexander Cockburn, made similar claims. Cockburn wrote articles publicizing Finkelstein’s unfair attack against Peters. He characterized her conclusions as "fraudulent," "mad,"[33] and immoral.
The Chomsky-Finkelstein-Cockburn mode of ad hominem attack proved particularly successful against Peters because the words "hoax," "fraud," "fake," and "plagiarism" are so dramatic and unforgettable....
To date, Finkelstein has targeted at least the following writers who support Israel and seek justice for Holocaust survivors: Elie Wiesel, Stuart Eizenstat, Martin Gilbert, Daniel Goldhagen, Burt Neuborne, Yehuda Bauer, Gerald Feldman, Richard Overy, Abba Eban – calling these distinguished Jews "hucksters," "hoaxters," "thieves," "extortionists," and worse. The pattern of attack is always similar.
Thus, it was only natural that the anti-Israel triumvirate would target me in a similar manner after the publication of "The Case for Israel". ..(they) employed exactly the same words they had employed so successfully against Peters (and others) ...The only new element in this tired tactic is the creative use of the Internet.
The members of the McCarthyite triumvirate are invited to campuses far more frequently than centrist, moderate pro-Israel speakers. There is something very wrong with this picture, but now that the pattern of literary McCarthyism has been exposed, perhaps the picture will change.
For the full article, with references. . . link to the Gamla site
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Mideast fantasies
Extracts from Jerusalem Post
May. 23, 2005 20:14 Updated May. 23, 2005 20:37
By BARRY RUBIN
The Middle East poses the biggest threat to world peace and stability. One element that makes matters worse is the inability of so many politicians, diplomats, academics and journalists to understand the region...
Ideology
....In my view, the Middle East today is simply repeating patterns seen elsewhere in the world. For centuries, Europe was beset by wars in which one ideology or leader thought it possible to gain power over the whole continent. For hundreds of years there were bloody ethnic and religious conflicts. Pragmatism was rejected, superstition overwhelmed science, and so on. Better types of thinking won out only after the high costs of reactionary notions were proven time after time. The same was true with the historical experience regarding the impossibility that the total victory of any state, ideology or ethnic group would lead to peace.
Propoganda as Truth
A second element here is a tendency to acceptance of regional ideology as truth...that if an Arab dictatorship, terrorist group, extremist movement or ideologically committed Arab intellectuals say something, it is either the truth or reflects their real beliefs. And if public opinion polls in the Arab world or Iran show the effects of decades of propaganda, this, too, reflects the masses' real sentiments.
Wishful Thinking
Finally, the culture-denying mind-set includes a strong streak of utopian and wishful thinking.
...people want peace or democracy, or prosperity or international fraternity ...The desirable is not necessarily possible. Underestimating difficulties is a way of ensuring failure. What is needed instead is the most objective analysis ...Goals or preferences ....should not be allowed to make us misread reality. What is especially dangerous here is that once people get starry-eyed .... evidence to the contrary is rejected.
The unsurprising outcome of these three fundamental mistakes can go beyond appeasement of the villain to reversing the roles of hero and villain entirely.
For example:
May. 23, 2005 20:14 Updated May. 23, 2005 20:37
By BARRY RUBIN
The Middle East poses the biggest threat to world peace and stability. One element that makes matters worse is the inability of so many politicians, diplomats, academics and journalists to understand the region...
Ideology
....In my view, the Middle East today is simply repeating patterns seen elsewhere in the world. For centuries, Europe was beset by wars in which one ideology or leader thought it possible to gain power over the whole continent. For hundreds of years there were bloody ethnic and religious conflicts. Pragmatism was rejected, superstition overwhelmed science, and so on. Better types of thinking won out only after the high costs of reactionary notions were proven time after time. The same was true with the historical experience regarding the impossibility that the total victory of any state, ideology or ethnic group would lead to peace.
Propoganda as Truth
A second element here is a tendency to acceptance of regional ideology as truth...that if an Arab dictatorship, terrorist group, extremist movement or ideologically committed Arab intellectuals say something, it is either the truth or reflects their real beliefs. And if public opinion polls in the Arab world or Iran show the effects of decades of propaganda, this, too, reflects the masses' real sentiments.
Wishful Thinking
Finally, the culture-denying mind-set includes a strong streak of utopian and wishful thinking.
...people want peace or democracy, or prosperity or international fraternity ...The desirable is not necessarily possible. Underestimating difficulties is a way of ensuring failure. What is needed instead is the most objective analysis ...Goals or preferences ....should not be allowed to make us misread reality. What is especially dangerous here is that once people get starry-eyed .... evidence to the contrary is rejected.
The unsurprising outcome of these three fundamental mistakes can go beyond appeasement of the villain to reversing the roles of hero and villain entirely.
For example:
- believing the Palestinian movement is moderate, pragmatic and ready to make peace....ignoring the movement's daily rhetoric, failure to keep commitments and continued incitement...
- considering Iran to be a responsible regime...Despite its overall record and consistent breaking of commitments on nuclear matters...
- thinking that radical Islamist movements do not really mean what they say about revolutionizing their own societies and destroying the West, and proposing they be given rewards to induce moderation....
- assuming that ideological dictatorships, those who benefit from serving them, and those shaped by decades of their propaganda speak freely and honestly...
These are the real difficulties .... Unless they are confronted and addressed, the common pattern of recent years, in which misunderstandings produce disasters and crises, will continue.
The writer is editor of the journals Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) and Turkish Studies
Friday, May 27, 2005
Wanted and Imprisoned Terrorists to Run in PA Elections
Extracted from Arutz Sheva - Israel National News
17:14 May 26, '05 / 17 Iyar 5765
Several alarming candidates, including Marwan Barghouti and a terror chief known as 'Hitler,' have announced their candidacy for the upcoming PA elections.
Many terrorists currently serving time in Israeli prisons will be permitted by the Palestinian Authority to run in its upcoming parliamentary elections...(including)...convicted Fatah terrorist Marwan Barghouti...(and) wanted Al-Aqsa Brigade chief Jamal Abu Roub, who goes by the nickname "Hitler". Roub said, "I got this name because of my personality. I am a guy that has a strong personality and uses violence, if needed, to respond."
The London-based Al Quds al-Arabi newspaper reports that Abu Mazen has persuaded the Hamas terror group to agree to a postponement of the PA elections, originally scheduled for mid-July. Hamas had previously demanded that the elections be held on time. However, Hamas spokesman Mohammed Ghazal said the terror group has been promised that an amendment to the electoral system will be made that would favor the election of its members.
17:14 May 26, '05 / 17 Iyar 5765
Several alarming candidates, including Marwan Barghouti and a terror chief known as 'Hitler,' have announced their candidacy for the upcoming PA elections.
Many terrorists currently serving time in Israeli prisons will be permitted by the Palestinian Authority to run in its upcoming parliamentary elections...(including)...convicted Fatah terrorist Marwan Barghouti...(and) wanted Al-Aqsa Brigade chief Jamal Abu Roub, who goes by the nickname "Hitler". Roub said, "I got this name because of my personality. I am a guy that has a strong personality and uses violence, if needed, to respond."
The London-based Al Quds al-Arabi newspaper reports that Abu Mazen has persuaded the Hamas terror group to agree to a postponement of the PA elections, originally scheduled for mid-July. Hamas had previously demanded that the elections be held on time. However, Hamas spokesman Mohammed Ghazal said the terror group has been promised that an amendment to the electoral system will be made that would favor the election of its members.
Jewish leaders back Sharon
Extract from Ynetnews ...
Prime minister addresses 1,200 Jewish group leaders in New York; says a million Jews must be brought to Israel in next 15 years; earlier, Sharon's speech disrupted by anti-disengagement protesters.
By Yitzhak Benhorin and Efrat Weiss
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon delivered a speech before about 1,200 American Jewish leaders in New York's Baruch College, receiving a strong show of support over the upcoming pullout plan.
Those in attendance included major donors and Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox leaders, who praised Sharon and stressed their support for his policies.
The six speakers who addressed the audience before the prime minister were senior Jewish education figures, who said the American Jewish community stands united behind the Israeli government.
In his speech, Sharon addressed the disengagement plan, spoke of the danger of assimilation, and stressed the need to bring another million Jews to Israel in the next 15 years. The future of the Jewish people also depends on Israel’s character as a Jewish, democratic state, the prime minister said, and added this was the spirit behind the disengagement plan.
The upcoming Gaza Strip and northern West Bank pullout would boost Israel’s security and serve as an opportunity to initiate talks with the Palestinians, he said. The withdrawal would also serve to ensure a Jewish majority in Israel and allow Israelis to keep important Jews sites forever, he said.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was met Sunday evening with curses from anti-disengagement protesters, many of them of Lubavitch Hasidim, while speaking to New York Jewish leaders in Baruch College. ...part of the audience stood up, cursed the prime minister and chanted anti-disengagement slogans.
Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe, a member of Land of Israel Forum maintaining contact with Chabad Hasidim in New York, told Ynet, “Every Jew can help in the struggle against the uprooting and expulsion plan.”
Prime minister addresses 1,200 Jewish group leaders in New York; says a million Jews must be brought to Israel in next 15 years; earlier, Sharon's speech disrupted by anti-disengagement protesters.
By Yitzhak Benhorin and Efrat Weiss
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon delivered a speech before about 1,200 American Jewish leaders in New York's Baruch College, receiving a strong show of support over the upcoming pullout plan.
Those in attendance included major donors and Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox leaders, who praised Sharon and stressed their support for his policies.
The six speakers who addressed the audience before the prime minister were senior Jewish education figures, who said the American Jewish community stands united behind the Israeli government.
In his speech, Sharon addressed the disengagement plan, spoke of the danger of assimilation, and stressed the need to bring another million Jews to Israel in the next 15 years. The future of the Jewish people also depends on Israel’s character as a Jewish, democratic state, the prime minister said, and added this was the spirit behind the disengagement plan.
The upcoming Gaza Strip and northern West Bank pullout would boost Israel’s security and serve as an opportunity to initiate talks with the Palestinians, he said. The withdrawal would also serve to ensure a Jewish majority in Israel and allow Israelis to keep important Jews sites forever, he said.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was met Sunday evening with curses from anti-disengagement protesters, many of them of Lubavitch Hasidim, while speaking to New York Jewish leaders in Baruch College. ...part of the audience stood up, cursed the prime minister and chanted anti-disengagement slogans.
Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpe, a member of Land of Israel Forum maintaining contact with Chabad Hasidim in New York, told Ynet, “Every Jew can help in the struggle against the uprooting and expulsion plan.”
Brit boycott lifted
Some good news today!...From Ynetnews News
By Diana Bahur-Nir and Wire Services
The British Association of University Teachers (AUT) has decided Thursday to lift the academic boycott imposed on Bar-Ilan and Haifa Universities about a month ago.
In a meeting called in the wake of an international campaign orchestrated by the Israeli universities and the Foreign Ministry, lecturer representatives were asked to vote on whether to continue the boycott. A group representative announced the decision to end the ban was taken by a "very large majority.
The decision to boycott the two universities was lauded by Palestinian Authority figures, who expressed their hope to see more international groups to exert pressure on Israel. Meanwhile, senior Jewish figures in London slammed the decision as irresponsible and dangerous.
Israel’s Ambassador to London Tzvi Hefetz told Ynet in response to the decision “We are very pleased with the result...“Ironically, the fact that the boycott was imposed and lifted within a month and stirred public outcry has strengthened our position” he said.
By Diana Bahur-Nir and Wire Services
The British Association of University Teachers (AUT) has decided Thursday to lift the academic boycott imposed on Bar-Ilan and Haifa Universities about a month ago.
In a meeting called in the wake of an international campaign orchestrated by the Israeli universities and the Foreign Ministry, lecturer representatives were asked to vote on whether to continue the boycott. A group representative announced the decision to end the ban was taken by a "very large majority.
The decision to boycott the two universities was lauded by Palestinian Authority figures, who expressed their hope to see more international groups to exert pressure on Israel. Meanwhile, senior Jewish figures in London slammed the decision as irresponsible and dangerous.
Israel’s Ambassador to London Tzvi Hefetz told Ynet in response to the decision “We are very pleased with the result...“Ironically, the fact that the boycott was imposed and lifted within a month and stirred public outcry has strengthened our position” he said.
Thursday, May 26, 2005
Palestinian union wants academic fired
From Aljazeera.Net
By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank
Monday 23 May 2005, 22:26 Makka Time, 19:26 GMT
A Palestinian teachers union has called for the dismissal of Al-Quds University President Sari Nussaiba for 'normalising ties with Israel' and 'serving Israeli propaganda interests'.
A statement by the Palestinian Union of University Teachers and Employees (PUUTE), published on the front page of the Ram Allah-based daily Al-Ayyam, on Monday accused Nussaiba of 'normalising relations with the Sharon government' despite the Israeli prime minister's policy of 'bullying the Palestinians and stealing their land'.
"We call on all concerned parties within the Palestinian Authority, including President Mahmoud Abbas and the Higher Education Council, to take the necessary measures to put an end to this behaviour..."
...The statement also accused Nussaiba of acting against a recent decision by Britain's Association of University Teachers to boycott Israel's Haifa and Bar Ilan universities.
...Nussaiba was accused of giving attention to Israeli needs while ignoring Palestinian rights.
By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank
Monday 23 May 2005, 22:26 Makka Time, 19:26 GMT
A Palestinian teachers union has called for the dismissal of Al-Quds University President Sari Nussaiba for 'normalising ties with Israel' and 'serving Israeli propaganda interests'.
A statement by the Palestinian Union of University Teachers and Employees (PUUTE), published on the front page of the Ram Allah-based daily Al-Ayyam, on Monday accused Nussaiba of 'normalising relations with the Sharon government' despite the Israeli prime minister's policy of 'bullying the Palestinians and stealing their land'.
"We call on all concerned parties within the Palestinian Authority, including President Mahmoud Abbas and the Higher Education Council, to take the necessary measures to put an end to this behaviour..."
...The statement also accused Nussaiba of acting against a recent decision by Britain's Association of University Teachers to boycott Israel's Haifa and Bar Ilan universities.
...Nussaiba was accused of giving attention to Israeli needs while ignoring Palestinian rights.
Jordan to remove limits on Palestinians entering
From Jerusalem Post
By JPOST.COM STAFF
The Jordanian government will remove on Wednesday all limitations regarding Palestinians entering its borders, which have been in place since the beginning of the Intifada... for the last five years, Israel Radio reported.
By JPOST.COM STAFF
The Jordanian government will remove on Wednesday all limitations regarding Palestinians entering its borders, which have been in place since the beginning of the Intifada... for the last five years, Israel Radio reported.
UK Academic Union to reconsider boycott
From Jerusalem Post
By MATI WAGNER AND JPOST STAFF
British Lecturers will hold another vote Thursday on its decision to boycott Haifa and Bar-Ilan universities. Britain's 40,000-member Association of University Teachers voted last month to boycott the academic institutions for actions that it said undermined Palestinian rights and academic freedom.
"More than a thousand professors from all over the world have expressed strong opposition to the boycott," Bar- Ilan President Prof. Moshe Kaveh said on Monday. "Nobel laureates, professors who are leaders in their fields, non-Jews, all have shown their support."
The University of Haifa was boycotted for purportedly restricting the academic freedom of Ilan Pappe, a senior lecturer in the department of political science. However...Pappe admits AUT's claims against Haifa are baseless and that the boycott's real aim is to stop Israeli 'occupation.'
By MATI WAGNER AND JPOST STAFF
British Lecturers will hold another vote Thursday on its decision to boycott Haifa and Bar-Ilan universities. Britain's 40,000-member Association of University Teachers voted last month to boycott the academic institutions for actions that it said undermined Palestinian rights and academic freedom.
"More than a thousand professors from all over the world have expressed strong opposition to the boycott," Bar- Ilan President Prof. Moshe Kaveh said on Monday. "Nobel laureates, professors who are leaders in their fields, non-Jews, all have shown their support."
The University of Haifa was boycotted for purportedly restricting the academic freedom of Ilan Pappe, a senior lecturer in the department of political science. However...Pappe admits AUT's claims against Haifa are baseless and that the boycott's real aim is to stop Israeli 'occupation.'
Israel builds ties with Hamas city leaders
Extract from an Exclusive in the Jerusalem Post
By MATTHEW GUTMAN
Interaction between Israel's Civil Administration in the West Bank and elected Hamas municipal leaders is gathering pace, even as Israel formally insists that it has banned all contacts with the terrorist group and is urging the international community to do the same.
The Jerusalem Post has been told of several cases of close cooperation between the Civil Administration and Hamas officials in resolving specific disputes and problems in the last few weeks. Both .... say that far broader liaison is inevitable, especially as newly elected Hamas-run councils set about providing basic services to their constituencies.
Specifically, the Post has learned of negotiations between the Civil Administration and a Hamas-affiliated council member at Silat al-Dhaher, near Nablus, that led to the IDF lifting a closure order it had imposed on the village after several rock-throwing incidents. In another instance of interaction, the newly-elected mayor of Jayyus, in the Kalkilya area, negotiated with a local IDF officer for improved procedures at an access gate in the security fence.
... an Israeli military source told the Post that Israel was increasingly reconciled to such interaction: "[The contacts] are both good for us and good for them," he said. Hamas's West Bank leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef hesitantly agreed. "Nothing will stop us from carrying out our civilian projects," he said... even if we have to deal with the occupier [Israel]," he said in an interview from his Ramallah home Wednesday.
This attitude contrasts sharply with the position taken by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman Asi Shariv, who told the Post that "the prime minister's position is that there should be no relations with Hamas whatsoever. Hamas is Israel's enemy" he said flatly, adding that "if any contacts are happening now, they should be stopped."
For elected Hamas officials, the practicalities of local government have spurred a professed pragmatism in dealings with the Jewish state.Kalkilya council member Sabri, who said he had not yet had any contact with the Civil Administration, said he wanted to open a new page in attitudes towards Israel, and added that he had even purchased a Hebrew primer. Although he worked in Israel in 1991-92, he said his Hebrew was now "rusty."
"I am not ashamed to say that I am religious," protests Sabri, "but we are not Hamas. We do not support military operations inside Israel [terrorist attacks]."
"The people elected us because they want better streets, water, electricity, work, schools and hospitals," said Sabri. "We cannot tell them, 'We want to destroy Israel.' They are not interested in this. My job is to give him [the voter] those things that he needs." And for that, Sabri added, "we know we need to talk to the Israelis. We are open to that."
Hamas swept the 15-seat Kalkilya council...(which) is the largest West Bank city to participate in the last two rounds of municipal elections. In the May 5 round, Hamas won about a third of the 84 contested municipalities – all of which had been previously run by officials from Fatah, the largest Palestinian faction. But election observers said last week that Hamas's dominance of the larger Palestinian towns indicated that it may have garnered more overall votes than Fatah.
By MATTHEW GUTMAN
Interaction between Israel's Civil Administration in the West Bank and elected Hamas municipal leaders is gathering pace, even as Israel formally insists that it has banned all contacts with the terrorist group and is urging the international community to do the same.
The Jerusalem Post has been told of several cases of close cooperation between the Civil Administration and Hamas officials in resolving specific disputes and problems in the last few weeks. Both .... say that far broader liaison is inevitable, especially as newly elected Hamas-run councils set about providing basic services to their constituencies.
Specifically, the Post has learned of negotiations between the Civil Administration and a Hamas-affiliated council member at Silat al-Dhaher, near Nablus, that led to the IDF lifting a closure order it had imposed on the village after several rock-throwing incidents. In another instance of interaction, the newly-elected mayor of Jayyus, in the Kalkilya area, negotiated with a local IDF officer for improved procedures at an access gate in the security fence.
... an Israeli military source told the Post that Israel was increasingly reconciled to such interaction: "[The contacts] are both good for us and good for them," he said. Hamas's West Bank leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef hesitantly agreed. "Nothing will stop us from carrying out our civilian projects," he said... even if we have to deal with the occupier [Israel]," he said in an interview from his Ramallah home Wednesday.
This attitude contrasts sharply with the position taken by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman Asi Shariv, who told the Post that "the prime minister's position is that there should be no relations with Hamas whatsoever. Hamas is Israel's enemy" he said flatly, adding that "if any contacts are happening now, they should be stopped."
For elected Hamas officials, the practicalities of local government have spurred a professed pragmatism in dealings with the Jewish state.Kalkilya council member Sabri, who said he had not yet had any contact with the Civil Administration, said he wanted to open a new page in attitudes towards Israel, and added that he had even purchased a Hebrew primer. Although he worked in Israel in 1991-92, he said his Hebrew was now "rusty."
"I am not ashamed to say that I am religious," protests Sabri, "but we are not Hamas. We do not support military operations inside Israel [terrorist attacks]."
"The people elected us because they want better streets, water, electricity, work, schools and hospitals," said Sabri. "We cannot tell them, 'We want to destroy Israel.' They are not interested in this. My job is to give him [the voter] those things that he needs." And for that, Sabri added, "we know we need to talk to the Israelis. We are open to that."
Hamas swept the 15-seat Kalkilya council...(which) is the largest West Bank city to participate in the last two rounds of municipal elections. In the May 5 round, Hamas won about a third of the 84 contested municipalities – all of which had been previously run by officials from Fatah, the largest Palestinian faction. But election observers said last week that Hamas's dominance of the larger Palestinian towns indicated that it may have garnered more overall votes than Fatah.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Sharon sets Israeli terms before Abbas visits U.S.
From Top News Article Reuters.com:
Mon May 23, 2005 02:07 PM ET
By Jeffrey Heller
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday coupled a long-standing vow to hold on to three West Bank settlement blocs forever with a signal that other parts of the occupied area could be traded for peace.
I would say that, for instance, we will take Maale Adumim and we will take Gush Etzion and we will take Ariel ... they are going to stay in the hands of Israel forever and ever...As about other places, all that, I think will be the final phase of the permanent agreement negotiation and talks," he said, hinting about a willingness to discuss land-for-peace under a U.S.-backed "road map."
But ...Sharon said there could be no talks on a final peace deal until anti-Israeli militants were disarmed."
Mon May 23, 2005 02:07 PM ET
By Jeffrey Heller
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday coupled a long-standing vow to hold on to three West Bank settlement blocs forever with a signal that other parts of the occupied area could be traded for peace.
I would say that, for instance, we will take Maale Adumim and we will take Gush Etzion and we will take Ariel ... they are going to stay in the hands of Israel forever and ever...As about other places, all that, I think will be the final phase of the permanent agreement negotiation and talks," he said, hinting about a willingness to discuss land-for-peace under a U.S.-backed "road map."
But ...Sharon said there could be no talks on a final peace deal until anti-Israeli militants were disarmed."
PA hate speech and Mideast peace
Extract from The Washington Times: Editorials/OP-ED - May 23, 2005:
When President Bush meets Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, Mr. Bush will need to emphasize to the Palestinian leader that his continued failure to act decisively against anti-Semitic incitement could have catastrophic consequences. Mr. Abbas needs to put an end ...(to) the obscenity which continues to be broadcast on PA Television, such as a May 13 sermon likening Jews to AIDS and calling for 'the extermination of every single Jew.' "
...in Germany, advocates of Nazism and wearers of Nazi regalia in public have been subject to legal sanction,...In the Palestinian Authority, by contrast, it appears that people who advocate the modern-day equivalent of the Final Solution get a check from their elected government and are given the opportunity to appear on Palestinian public television.
Today, no Palestinian talks seriously...about banning the kind of raw anti-Semitic hate speech that is routinely heard from the likes of Hamas — which is right now, the second most powerful political party in the West Bank and Gaza, right behind Mr. Abbas' Fatah.
But Mr. Abbas needs to understand ...the longer he delays attacking this political cancer, the longer it will continue to spread.
Ibrahim Mudeiris, the preacher who delivered the May 13 speech ... is a paid employee of the Palestinian Authority.
For a video of parts of the sermon follow this link to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) web site.
For a summary of the speech see Hitler would be proud of him
This speech is hardly a lone exception. The organizations MEMRI (www.memri.org) and Palestine Media Watch (www.pmw.org) document on their Web sites that this has been going one for years; the PMW site, in particular, shows that this problem has continued to fester since early February, when Mr. Abbas agreed to a cease-fire with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
After receiving a firestorm of criticism in recent days, PA officials denounced the incitement and announced some firings and staff shakeups in the PA media bureaucracy. That's not enough. This kind of hatred is the antithesis of what President Bush is attempting to achieve....to create peace; but the kind of incendiary propaganda being broadcast by the PA media is creating a new generation of suicide bombers and jihadists. (See the Teach Kids Peace website)
Mr. Bush needs to let Mr. Abbas know in no uncertain terms that he won't be getting a free pass on hate speech.
When President Bush meets Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday, Mr. Bush will need to emphasize to the Palestinian leader that his continued failure to act decisively against anti-Semitic incitement could have catastrophic consequences. Mr. Abbas needs to put an end ...(to) the obscenity which continues to be broadcast on PA Television, such as a May 13 sermon likening Jews to AIDS and calling for 'the extermination of every single Jew.' "
...in Germany, advocates of Nazism and wearers of Nazi regalia in public have been subject to legal sanction,...In the Palestinian Authority, by contrast, it appears that people who advocate the modern-day equivalent of the Final Solution get a check from their elected government and are given the opportunity to appear on Palestinian public television.
Today, no Palestinian talks seriously...about banning the kind of raw anti-Semitic hate speech that is routinely heard from the likes of Hamas — which is right now, the second most powerful political party in the West Bank and Gaza, right behind Mr. Abbas' Fatah.
But Mr. Abbas needs to understand ...the longer he delays attacking this political cancer, the longer it will continue to spread.
Ibrahim Mudeiris, the preacher who delivered the May 13 speech ... is a paid employee of the Palestinian Authority.
For a video of parts of the sermon follow this link to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) web site.
For a summary of the speech see Hitler would be proud of him
This speech is hardly a lone exception. The organizations MEMRI (www.memri.org) and Palestine Media Watch (www.pmw.org) document on their Web sites that this has been going one for years; the PMW site, in particular, shows that this problem has continued to fester since early February, when Mr. Abbas agreed to a cease-fire with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
After receiving a firestorm of criticism in recent days, PA officials denounced the incitement and announced some firings and staff shakeups in the PA media bureaucracy. That's not enough. This kind of hatred is the antithesis of what President Bush is attempting to achieve....to create peace; but the kind of incendiary propaganda being broadcast by the PA media is creating a new generation of suicide bombers and jihadists. (See the Teach Kids Peace website)
Mr. Bush needs to let Mr. Abbas know in no uncertain terms that he won't be getting a free pass on hate speech.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)