| January 11, 2009
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Why are the nations in an uproar...? |
Zechariah 12:2-3
"Behold, I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that causes reeling to all the peoples around; and when the siege is against Jerusalem, it will also be against Judah. "It will come about in that day that I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples; all who lift it will be severely injured. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.
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Jeremiah 23:3
"Then I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and bring them back to their pasture, and they will be fruitful and multiply.
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Psalms 2:2
Why are the nations in an uproar
And the peoples devising a vain thing?
The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against the LORD and against His Anointed, ...
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| Shalom in Christ Jesus, |
I am sure all of you are well aware of the events taking place inside the Arab/Palestinian occupied Gaza Strip. Yes, that is indeed what it is, not the other way around, as most of the God hating, Christ hating and Jew hating world would have you believe. Here is an excellent video that shows the truth of this situation. This is a bit of a smorgasbord of news items concerning Israel, much having to do with the current situation in Gaza, but other items that concern worldwide anti-Semitism, the ongoing land issues and even some very interesting "good" news features. We start out with a first hand account of Moriel's pastor and missionary on the ground in Israel, Ronnie Cohen. May the Lord bless you and keep you, and do please be alert! Scott Brisk |
From Moriel's man on the scene in Israel, Ronnie Cohen:
Code Red! Code Red!
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Moriel Ministries - January
6, 2009
I think we've finally
reached the crossroad. Do we just sit down and take it as one of the norms of
life like a road accident or neighborhood fire? - Because that's how the world sees it. So what if a couple of
rockets fly into southern Israel every once in a while from Hamas controlled
Gaza, they hardly hit anything and, in the rare occasion they do, there's
really not much damage and only a few people will get hurt and if they're
lucky...get killed. This is what's been going on sporadically for eight years and
nearly daily for the last three. Now remember, Israel pulled out and dismantled
all settlements in the Gaza Strip area in 2005. Gaza is not "occupied" anymore.
What is their problem? Israel has been turning its cheek for too long. How long
would any normal country put up with this?
Three years ago the
fanatical Islamic group Hamas took control over Gaza from the Palestinian
Authority, has been backed by every radical Moslem regime in the world from
Iran to Hezbollah and, since the Egyptians closed the border crossing from
southern Gaza into Egypt, Hamas has dug a network of tunnels into Egypt and has
been smuggling weapons, explosives and rockets into Gaza. Now that's another
story altogether. Egypt is a sovereign nation, where in the world does Hamas
get weapons from? The Egyptians are not selling them (or are they) Just where
do they come from? Is there a "Guns R Us" in the Sinai?
Two weeks ago, the Israeli
Government has been giving out numerous warnings not just to Hamas in Gaza but
also to the European Community, the United States, and yes, the Arab world,
that Israel was about to retaliate. Even a live interview was held by PM Olmert
on an Arab network warning Hamas that there will be a lot of blood and
destruction in Gaza if the rockets don't cease. Hamas basically said "Bring it
on". So, that's what the Israelis did. I had a feeling something would happen
soon when my daughter's leave was cut short by a phone call. She serves in the
Air force as part of the ground crew for F16 fighter planes. What a job for a
19-year-old girl. The Israel Air Force went in swift and hard. With pinpoint
accuracy, they hit many Hamas related targets trying to keep in mind and avoid
civilian casualties. Unfortunately, Hamas knows that Israelis avoid civilian
areas and intentionally place their weapons in densely populated areas or
basements of schools, Mosques and even hospitals.
The air and ground attack is
still going. Hundreds of armed Hamas terrorists have been killed and, at least
100 captured. Munitions storage areas have been destroyed, smuggling tunnels
bombed but, of course, all the film footage coming out of Gaza is of woman and
children casualties. The world is upside-down in demanding that Israel stop the
"atrocities" and "genocide". They tend to forget that the purpose of Hamas
rocket attacks into Israeli towns and cities is to intentionally kill as many
innocent Jews as possible.
Bradley Burston, a writer
for Haaretz newspaper in Israel has written an analogy, an analogy that's
probably been going through many people's minds. This is basically, what he's
written:
A fanatical religious party
wins an election in a county of northern Mexico fights a civil war against the
Federal government and takes control of the area.
They now demand the return
of all occupied territory taken by the United States - California, New Mexico,
Arizona, Texas, and Colorado.
They fire homemade rockets
and more sophisticated rockets smuggled in from Iran and China into U.S. major
cities of the southwest putting 1/7th of the population of the entire United
States in danger. All schools are forced to shut down and when people hear
"Code Red" on the radio and town loudspeakers they have 15 seconds to find
shelter. This goes on several times a day shutting down businesses, ruining the
economy and basically living in fear.
This has now become reality
in southern Israel. Now you tell me...what nation would put up with this?
OH NO!! CODE RED! CODE
RED! You now have 15 seconds to run for
shelter!
Have a nice day,
Ronnie
Cohen
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Live Teaching Engagements
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| Follow King David's Advice on Gaza |
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Gil Ronen - January 2, 2009Rabbi Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, the number four man on the National Union's Knesset list, thinks the leaders of Israel should follow King David's advice from the Eighteenth Psalm regarding Gaza: "I will chase my enemies and catch up to them and I shall not return until I annihilate them." "This should be the slogan of every leader and IDF commander," he said. "The enemy must know that whoever raises his hand against Israel, we will teach him a lesson and annihilate him as well as all his helpers and supporters, and only thus will we take out their will to fire missiles at us." ... Read Full ReportAlso:
'Political suicide' for Israel to ignore Hamas attacks
ONE NEWS NOW [American Family News Network] - By Chad Groening - January 6, 2009
A former Palestinian terrorist who became a Christian says it would have been political suicide for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government not to strike back at Hamas terrorists who continue to launch deadly rocket attacks against Israeli civilians.
Recently a former U.S. intelligence official reported that Hamas is now using Iranian-built Katyusha and Grad rockets that have dramatically extended the terrorists' reach. Indeed Hamas rockets have struck the southern cities of Beersheba and Ashdod, close to Tel Aviv.
Walid Shoebat is a former member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and author of the new book God's War on Terror. He says the Olmert government has had no choice but to deal with the terrorist attacks.
"We have an election coming soon, and it's political suicide for Israel, especially for the government, not to do anything about it," he explains. "[T]hese rockets are intended to clear civilian populations -- and as soon as these populations are dismantled and the communities are dismantled, you know Hamas declares victory."
Read Full Report |
IDF Opens YouTube Channel
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ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Maayana Miskin - December 30, 2008
The IDF Spokesman's Unit joined the popular YouTube video sharing website this week, opening a channel to let viewers see footage from the "Cast Lead" operation in Gaza. The footage showed humanitarian aid entering Gaza via Israeli crossings and Israeli strikes on Hamas targets.
Supporters of Hamas-led Gaza quickly began reporting the IDF videos in an attempt to get them removed from the website. Some of the most popular videos were taken down, but not before being viewed by thousands.
One of the videos that was removed by the YouTube management showed terrorists loading Grad missiles into a truck near a residential area. The terrorists were then taken out in an IAF strike. The video was picked up by the LiveLeak website.
IDF spokesmen altered the IDF channel homepage to say, "We are saddened that YouTube has taken down some of our exclusive footage showing the IDF's operational success in operation Cast Lead against Hamas extremists in the Gaza Strip. As the State of Israel again faces those who would see it destroyed, it is imperative that we in the IDF show the world the inhumanity directed against us and our efforts to stop it. It is also worth noting that one of the videos removed had the highest number of hits (over 10,000) at the time of its removal." ...
Read Full Report
IDFnadesk at Youtube
Also: Fun Videos
How would you like it? Qassams in the world Video
Merry Christmas Rocket Attacks from Israel
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Israel shakes up information war
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WORLDNETDAILY By Andrea Shea King - January 5, 2009
Israel is shaking up the information war, signaling the end of legacy media's influence. The big Internet story this week is Israel's magnificent end run around the mainstream media. The IDF's new weapons of war: YouTube and Twitter. According to the head of the IDF's press team: "The blogosphere and new media are another war zone, we have to be relevant there."
Here the Israeli Consulate is texting battle updates in 140 characters or less:
"We hav 2 prtct R ctzens 2, only way fwd through neogtiations, & left Gaza in 05. y Hamas launch missiles not peace?, 'we're not at war with the PAL people. We're at war with a group declared by the EU& US a terrorist org.'"
Charlie Edwards at Global Dashboard writes the YouTube channel was created with the aim of distributing footage of precision airstrikes.
"Interestingly YouTube took down some of the 'exclusive footage' showing the IDF's operational success in operation Cast Lead against Hamas extremists in the Gaza Strip, but appears to have returned some of the footage due to popular demand. Elsewhere the Israeli consulate in New York hosted a press conference on Twitter in order to answer the public's questions regarding the situation in Gaza." ...
Read Full Report
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| Son of Hamas Leader Gives Glimpse Into Terror Organization |
FOX NEWS [News Corporation/Murdoch] - January 3, 2009
As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other world leaders try to broker a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, one former member of the militant Islamic organization said there will never be lasting peace between the two groups.
"There is no chance. Is there any chance for fire to co-exist with the water?" said Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of one of the group's founding members.
Yousef added: "It's not about Israel, it's not about Hamas: it's about both ideologies."
Yousef, son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, one of the most influential leaders of the militant group, said the organization betrays the Palestinian cause and tortures its own members.
Hamas, formed in the late 1980's as an outgrowth of the Palestinian branch of the radical Muslim Brotherhood, is considered a terror organization by the U.S. government. Hamas seized power in the Gaza strip in 2007 in a violent coup against the more moderate Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas.
Yousef said he was indoctrinated at an early age to use violence to challenge Israeli control in the region. As a teenager he moved up within the organization and became the leader of the radical Islamic Youth Movement that fought Israeli tanks and troops in the streets, celebrated suicide bombings and recruited young men to the cause.
Yousef, 30, said he realized the true nature of Hamas and radical Islam during a stint in an Israeli prison. He renounced his Muslim faith, left his family behind in Ramallah and converted to Christianity.
"Islam is not the word of God," said Yousef. "If you want to be offended it's your problem. But you know something? Go study. Think for a second that I might be right. So wake up, look at your path, see where you're going. Are you really going to heaven with 72 virgins after you kill yourself and kill another 20 people?"
Yousef has sought asylum in the United States and now attends an evangelical Christian church in San Diego, Calif.
"The Hamas leadership, including my father, they're responsible; they're responsible for all the violence that happened from the organization. I know they describe it as reaction to Israeli aggression, but still, they are part of it and they had to make decisions in those operations against Israel (for) which there was the killing of many civilians." ...
See Video: Escape from Hamas
Read Full Report
Also:
Son of Hamas Leader Turns Back on Islam and Embraces Christianity
FOX NEWS [News Corporation/Murdoch] - By Jonathan Hunt - August 12, 2008
Mosab Hassan Yousef is an extraordinary young man with an extraordinary story. He was born the son of one of the most influential leaders of the militant Hamas organization in the West Bank and grew up in a strict Islamic family.
Now, at 30 years old, he attends an evangelical Christian church, Barabbas Road in San Diego, Calif. He renounced his Muslim faith, left his family behind in Ramallah and is seeking asylum in the United States.
The story of how his life unfolded is truly amazing, whether you agree or disagree with his views. Below is a transcript on an exclusive FOX News interview with Hassan as he tells firsthand how a West Bank Muslim became a West Coast Christian.
See Full Interview Here
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| Gaza Arab Girl Blames Hamas For Family Members' Death |
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Baruch Gordon - December 30, 2008
A young Arab girl whose family members were killed Sunday in Gaza says in a TV interview, "I say Hamas is the cause of all wars."
In a Dec. 29 Al-Aqsa TV interview, the girl told of how she woke in the morning and part of her room had collapsed:
"We were sleeping 7 girls in the room. We were asleep and didn't know what was happening. In the morning all the bricks were on top of my head, and the heads of all my sisters. My 4 year old sister next to me was dead."
"In the other room were my mother, my father, my younger brother and another sister, who is 13 days old. I say, Hamas is the cause, in the first place, of all wars."
[Al-Aqsa TV (Hamas) Dec. 29, 2008]
Al-Aqsa TV is controlled by the Hamas terrorist organization. The interview was translated into English by Palestinian Media Watch.
Original Report
See Video
Also:
Palestinian girl loses sister, blames Hamas
WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - December 29, 2008
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| I will bless those who bless... |
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Europe backs IDF incursion
REUTERS [Thomson-Reuters] - January 3, 2009
European Union president, the Czech Republic, said on Saturday an Israeli ground incursion in Gaza was "defensive, not offensive" action.
"At the moment, from the perspective of the last days, we understand this step as a defensive, not offensive, action," Czech EU presidency spokesman Jiri Potuznik said.
Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg is leading an EU delegation to the region on Sunday, and Potuznik said the presidency will wait to see the results of that visit.
However, France condemned Israel's move to send ground forces into Gaza. ...
Read Full Report
Rice: Civilian casualties hard for IDF to avoid
ASSOCIATED PRESS - January 9, 2009
The United States on Friday expressed concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, but officials blamed Hamas for Palestinian suffering and said it was difficult for the Israeli military to avoid civilian casualties.
Officials said they were continuing to press Israel to take measures to prevent harming civilians and defended the decision to abstain in Thursday's UN Security Council vote on a resolution calling for an immediate but lasting cease-fire. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had helped negotiate the resolution. ...
Read Full Report
Bush: Hamas attacks are acts of terror
ASSOCIATED PRESS - January 3, 2009
WASHINGTON -- US President George W. Bush on Friday branded the Hamas rocket attacks on Israel an "act of terror" and outlined his own condition for a cease-fire in Gaza, saying no peace deal would be acceptable without monitoring to halt the flow of smuggled weapons to terrorist groups. ...
Bush offered no criticism of Israel, depicting the country's air assaults as a response to the attacks on its people. The White House will not comment on whether it views the Israeli response as proportionate or not to the scope of rockets attacks on Israel.
"This recent outburst of violence was instigated by Hamas - a Palestinian terrorist group supported by Iran and Syria that calls for Israel's destruction," Bush said. ...
Read Full Report
U.S. blocks U.N. statement on Gaza
ASSOCIATED PRESS - January 3, 2009
UNITED NATIONS - The United States late Saturday blocked approval of a U.N. Security Council statement calling for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel and expressing concern at the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas.
U.S. deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said the United States saw no prospect of Hamas abiding by last week's council call for an immediate end to the violence. Therefore, he said, a new statement at this time "would not be adhered to and would have no underpinning for success, would not do credit to the council." ...
Read Full Report
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| I will curse those who curse... |
Buchanan Accuses Israel of 'Blitzkrieg,' Creating 'Concentration Camp'
NEWSBUSTERS.org [Media Research Center] - By Mark Finkelstein - January 8, 2009
I like Pat Buchanan. I do. He's wise, funny and charming. But every so often . . .
Like tonight. If Buchanan wants to criticize Israel's conduct of the current war, and its treatment of the Palestinians, so be it. But in doing so, is it really necessary to employ terms associated with the Nazis? Appearing on "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue," Buchanan accused Israel of carrying out a "blitzkrieg" against Gaza and turning it into a "concentration camp."
View video here.
Read Full Report
Ontario union calls for ban on Israeli professorsNATIONAL POST [Asper-CanWest Global] - By Vanessa Kortekaas - January 5, 2009Ontario's largest university workers' union is proposing a ban on Israeli academics teaching in the province's universities, in a move that echoes previous attempts to boycott goods and services from the Jewish state. The resolution, proposed by CUPE's Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee, is in protest against a Dec. 29 bombing that damaged the Islamic University in Gaza. "In response to an appeal from the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, we are ready to say Israeli academics should not be on our campuses unless they explicitly condemn the university bombing and the assault on Gaza in general," said Sid Ryan, president of CUPE Ontario. ... Read Full ReportReport: Islamist site compiling list of U.K. Jews to target over Gaza opHAARETZ [Schocken/DuMont Schauberg] - By Haaretz Service - January 7, 2009An Islamic extremist Web site is believed to be drawing up a list of prominent British Jews to target over Israel's offensive against Hamas in Gaza, The Sun reported on Wednesday. According to the British newspaper, Amy Winehouse record producer Mark Ronson and Foreign Secretary David Miliband were among names discussed on the online forum Ummah. The report came as a British Jewish watchdog group, the Community Security Trust, said there has been a rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Britain since the upsurge of hostilities in Gaza. The British daily quoted the Ummah site as saying, "Saladin1970" asks for help compiling "a list of those who support Israel." "Abuislam" asks: "Have we got a list of top Jews we can target? Can someone post names and addresses?" ... Read Full Report Original Report |
| The Strike: Followers of Islam will sacrifice their own mothers and children |
Study: Hamas Uses Israel's Warnings to Prepare Human Shields
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Gil Ronen - January 7, 2009
Israel's notifications to civilians in Gaza to leave populated locations before they are bombed are cynically used by Hamas for organizing human shields, a new study says.
The study by the Terror and Intelligence Information Center shows that when the IDF warns Arab civilians of an impending attack in their neighborhood, Hamas uses the information in order to organize the civilians into human shields in the hope of protecting the targets from the IDF's wrath. ...
Read Full Report
IDF: Whole Hamas battalions wiped out
YEDIOTH AHRONOTH [Yedioth Ahronoth Group - Private] - By Hanan Greenberg - January 9, 2009
Is Hamas falling apart? A senior IDF officer estimated Saturday that roughly 300 Hamas men have been killed since the army launched its ground incursion in the Gaza Strip. The military official said IDF troops were able to wipe out whole battalions belonging to the Gaza terror group.
"Hundreds of people were killed in the various combat sectors," the officer said. "Some Hamas companies and battalions were simply wiped out. We also see cases of desertions and unauthorized leaves, while some terror activists are scared to undertake moves that would jeopardize them vis-�-vis IDF troops." ...
The IDF official said that Hamas fighters had no qualms about exploiting civilians in the war. ...
Read Full Report
IDF discovers Hamas booby-trap map
YEDIOTH AHRONOTH [Yedioth Ahronoth Group - Private] - By Hanan Greenberg - January 8, 2009
A map depicting Hamas' best-laid plans on how to hurt IDF soldiers in Gaza was discovered by paratroopers in al-Atatra neighborhood Thursday. The map was translated on the scene and helped the troops in subsequent operations.
Chief IDF Intelligence Officer Brigadier-General Yuval Halamish explained that Hamas had divided the neighborhood into a number of areas distinguished by landmarks such as mosques, gas stations, and fuel depots. ...
"Hamas makes cynical use of civilian homes, the entrances of which were booby-trapped in order to hurt IDF soldiers." Explosive devices were also planted near gas stations despite the immediate danger to civilians, Halamish added. He said the layout had been thoroughly planned in preparation for a ground operation. ...
Read Full Report
IDF Strikes Include Terror Mosque, Hamas Homes
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Hillel Fendel - January 2, 2009
Among the more than 20 Gaza targets bombed by the IDF over the course of Thursday night - the sixth night of the current anti-Hamas Cast Lead military offensive - was a mosque doubling as a Katyusha and Kassam rocket storehouse.
The Hulfaa mosque in the northern Gaza rocket-launching center of Jabalya, four kilometers north of Gaza City, was used to store a large number of Grad-type Katyusha missiles, Kassam rockets and other weaponry and ammunition - as evidenced by the long series of secondary explosions and fire that followed the attack.
Fifth Terror Mosque
This was at least the fifth mosque attacked by Israel during the course of the current offensive, signifying that Israel is no longer playing by the "protecting religious sites" rules that Hamas constantly violates.
Israel Air Force planes, guided by Shabak (General Security Service) intelligence, pinpointed the target with perfect accuracy. The mosque also served as a rocket launching site, a Hamas terrorist meeting place, a staging ground for terror attacks and a communications center, according to the IDF. ...
Read Full Report
Hamas Terrorists Use Hospitals as Base, Rebuild Tunnels
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu - December 31, 2008
Hamas is rebuilding bombed smuggling tunnels, and its terrorists are using hospitals as command posts, Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) chief Yuval Diskin told the Security Cabinet Wednesday morning. One objective is to transfer Hamas officials and senior terrorists to Egypt through the tunnels. ...
Diskin told the Cabinet that although Hamas has been dealt an extremely heavy blow by Israeli aerial bombings of terrorist targets, it is exploiting the deterioration in Gaza to attack Israel.
"A number of Hamas operatives hide in hospitals, several of them walking around in doctors' and nurses' uniforms," he revealed. ...
Read Full Report
Bodies of Hamas leader's children paraded as group promises 'painful' revenge for their deaths
LONDON DAILY MAIL [Associated Newspapers/DMGT] - January 3, 2009
The bodies of a senior Hamas leader's small children were today ghoulishly paraded through the streets of Gaza as the group pledged to avenge their deaths.
Nizar Rayan, his four wives and 10 of his children were all killed by in an Israeli air strike on his home after he ignored warnings they should go into hiding.
In grisly scenes, mourners held up the bloodied bodies of the children to the cameras in a clear attempt to blacken Israel's name and highlight its brutality. ...
Read Full Report
A year's intel gathering yields 'alpha hits'
THE JERUSALEM POST [Mirkaei Tikshoret/CanWest] - By Yaakov Katz - December 28, 2008
A year of information-gathering by Military Intelligence and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) paved the way Saturday for Operation Cast Lead. ...
Their locations were discovered in an intensive intelligence operation. The goal: to strike at Hamas's ability to fire rockets into Israel. ...
The IDF released a list of some of the targets hit: the Hamas headquarters and training camp in Tel Zatar; the "Palestinian Prisoner Tower" in Gaza City that was turned into a Hamas operations center and armory; the Hamas police academy, which was bombed during a graduation ceremony, killing 70-80 people; training camps in southern and central Gaza; the former office of Yasser Arafat in Gaza City that is now used by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh; and the Izzadin Kassam Brigades headquarters in the northern Gaza Strip. ...
Read Full Report
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| INCOMING! Never Ending Missile and Mortar Attacks on Israel |
Missile and Mortar Attacks on Israel Pass 10,000 Mark
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu - December 16, 2008
Gaza terrorists escalated attacks on the western Negev Tuesday, pushing to 10,046 the number of mortar and rocket attacks the past eight years. The IDF spotted and hit one rocket-launching cell. ...
The Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the latest barrage, which it said was a response to the IDF's eliminating one of its leaders near Jenin, in Samaria, early Tuesday morning. ...
More than 225 attacks were registered in the past six weeks, and the Sderot Media Center reported that 7,000 mortars and rockets have been fired since Israel executed the "Disengagement" program in the summer of 2005. The government expelled more than 7,000 Jewish residents of Gush Katif and northern Gaza, withdrew all military personnel and surrendered control of the Philadelphi Route, which includes the Rafiah area used to smuggle explosives and weapons into Gaza. ...
Read Full Report
Be'er Sheva Rocket Path: China-Iran-Egypt-Gaza
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - January 1, 2009
The Grad Katyusha rockets that hit Be'er Sheva Wednesday began their journey from ammunition factories in China, defense ministry officials said. The rockets are similar to Russian models used by Hizbullah in the Second Lebanon War two years ago.
They arrived in Egypt from Iran or from Hizbullah forces. Yemen and Sudan and then were smuggled into Gaza when Hamas terrorists blew up the Rafiah border barrier last January, according to the Post. The rockets were filled with metal balls that reached more than 300 feet after impact.
Original Report
Psalms 130 Said 16,000 Times for Rocket Victims
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu - December 29, 2008
... While Israelis run for shelters, SMS subscribers are given a choice of options: Recite Psalms Chapter 130; give charity, call the United Nations and/or leading American politicians, or "pause for a moment and pray for the people of Sderot." ...
Read Full Report
Sign up to receive rocket alerts here |
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Media parrot Hamas on casualty numbers
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Gaza terrorists have long history of inflating total killed, wounded
WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - December 27, 2008
JAFFA, Israel - The U.S. and international news media have largely accepted as fact Hamas-provided casualty counts following a series of Israeli surgical strikes today in the Gaza Strip, despite Hamas' and the Palestinian Authority's long and sordid histories of greatly inflating casualty figures.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, told WND, "The Hamas government in Gaza has instituted a Taliban-like regime and has systematically destroyed independent civil society, which makes it pretty difficult for there to be independent verification of these numbers."
Regev continued, "One must keep in mind Hamas has a major propaganda interest in highlighting civilian casualties while at the same time minimizing the number of Hamas combatants killed."
Still, the news media today reported as fact that at least 205 people had been killed in the Israeli strikes, which targeted dozens of Hamas buildings in a purported Israeli bid to clamp down on repeated rocket attacks launched from Gaza and aimed at nearby Jewish cities.
Most news reports failed to mention the casualty numbers were provided by Hamas, which claimed only 3 of the casualties were actual Hamas military leaders.
"Israeli air strikes killed more than 200 people in Gaza," reported a widely-circulated Reuters article.
"Egypt condemned as 'murder' Israel's Saturday air raids on Gaza that killed at least 205 Palestinians," reported the AFP. Similar statements were parroted in over 4,500 English language reports today.
With somber music playing in the background, both CNN and the BBC have been airing continuous loops of what the networks claimed were Palestinian civilian casualties being rushed into a local hospital. Both networks aired the same footage, provided to them by Al Jazeera, which is openly sided with Hamas.
"Does hitting so-called Hamas institutions mean over 200 civilians killed?" Regev was twice asked today by a BBC anchor during an interview.
CNN interviewed a man identified as a Gaza-based doctor who claimed two-thirds of the "over 200 casualties" were women and children. The network also featured - without challenge - a man identified as a Gaza-based human rights activist, who accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians and perpetuating a "massacre" in Gaza.
Neither CNN nor the BBC have thus far featured any footage today of the southern Israeli towns that have been battered by Palestinian rocket fire in recent days, killing one Israeli. ...
Hamas and the PA have been caught many times inflating casualty counts. In June, 2006, Hamas claimed the Israel Defense Forces killed over 20 sunbathers on a Gaza beach, but it was later determined seven were killed, and the cause of the explosion was not the IDF but a Hamas explosives booby trap intended for Israeli naval forces.
Following a 2002 Israeli antiterror raid in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, Hamas and the PA claimed hundreds of Palestinian civilians were murdered. Chief PA negotiator Saeb Erekat claimed on CNN that "more than 500 people" were killed. He repeated the charge on CNN a day later, adding that 300 Palestinians were being buried in mass graves.
It was later determined 54 Palestinians were killed, mostly terrorists, while the IDF lost 23 troops it engaged in house-to-house combat - instead of massive air raids - in order to limit civilian casualties.
Israel claimed Hamas routinely labels as civilians its gunmen killed in Israeli anti-terror attacks. ...
Read Full Report
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| News media falsely portraying Gaza attack |
Claiming Israeli strike on weapons lab targeted 'woman's wing'
WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - December 29, 2008
JERUSALEM - The U.S. and international news media are falsely portraying an Israeli air strike against a Hamas-run university in the Gaza Strip, claiming a "woman's wing" was targeted, when, according to the Israeli military, the target was a weapons lab at the school's chemistry department.
Known senior Palestinian terrorists in Gaza, speaking on the record, previously explained to WND how the Islamic University's chemistry department was used to manufacture explosives for use against Israel.
Palestinian raids of the targeted building previously yielded illicit Hamas rockets.
In a series of air Israeli raids yesterday, one precision strike hit a building of Gaza's Islamic University.
A widely circulated Associated Press report claimed, "One strike destroyed a five-story building in the women's wing at Islamic University, one of the most prominent Hamas symbols in Gaza." The report did not cite the source of the information.
CNN also reported a "women's wing" was targeted, as did London's Independent newspaper and China's Xinhua news agency.
The BBC Online described the building as a "science center" and painted the university as "a center of support for the Islamist militant group that controls the narrow coastal strip."
Reuters claimed the university was a "significant Hamas cultural symbol."
Avital Lebovich, a spokeswoman for the Israel Defense Forces, told WND Israel only targeted one chemical laboratory at Islamic University, which she said was used for the manufacture of Hamas explosives.
"This is the first university in world that gives out bachelor's degrees in rocket manufacture," she said.
Lebovich affirmed the targeted building did not house any women's wing.
Islamic University was founded by Hamas spiritual leader Ahmed Yassin, who was assassinated by Israel in 2004. Previous Israeli raids of the main university campus in Gaza yielded mass quantities of weaponry and Hamas incitement material.
Officials from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party claimed in February 2007 they captured seven Iranian military trainers - including a general of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards - inside Gaza City's Islamic University, which they said was being utilized as a Hamas military training ground.
The Fatah officials said at the time they also found about 1,000 Qassam rockets and equipment to manufacture the rockets inside the university. They previously suspected kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was being held for a time on the university grounds.
In a 2007 interview, Muhammad Abel-Al, a leader and spokesman of the Popular Resistance Committees, a Hamas-affilated terror group, told WND Islamic University is "extremely important" for recruitment of militants. ...
Read Full Report |
| PA leader Abbas 'begged' Israel to hit Hamas |
To world, however, Abbas condemns Gaza strikes as 'barbaric,' 'unnecessary'
WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - December 27, 2008
JAFFA, Israel - Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his office today slammed as "barbaric" and "unnecessary" Israel's air strikes in Gaza, but according to top diplomatic sources in Jerusalem, Abbas for months now has been petitioning Israel to launch a massive military raid against his Hamas rivals in Gaza.
The sources, speaking to WND on condition of anonymity, said Abbas and his top representatives have waged a quiet campaign for months asking the Israeli government to target Hamas in Gaza just before his term in office is scheduled to expire on Jan. 9.
Hamas leaders have repeatedly warned they will not recognize Abbas after the 9th, and that they will launch a major campaign to delegitimize the PA president and install their own figures to lead the Palestinian government.
Abbas hopes a large-scale Israeli military campaign in Gaza would distract Hamas from attempting to undermine his rule, the diplomatic sources told WND.
"It's an open secret among the diplomatic and military brass," one Israeli diplomatic source said. "The campaign from Abbas for us to attack Hamas in Gaza has been intensive."
The source insisted, however, that today's airstrikes were not aimed at helping Abbas, and that Israel hoped to quickly conclude a cease-fire agreement with Hamas whereby Israeli military operations would be suspended. ...
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Also:
Did Reuters Break Censorship Rules
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - January 5, 2009
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Monday afternoon for a one-day visit with top government officials as part of French and European efforts to bring a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Reuters broke military censorship rules by reporting on movements of ground troops into Gaza prematurely, the terror victims' organization Almagor has charged. It pointed out that the news organization is partly owned by Arab investors in the United Arab Emirates.
Reuters also was charged with violations of ethics in the Second Lebanon War.
Original Report
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| Divisions Deep at Arab League Meeting |
NEW YORK TIMES [NYTimes Group/Sulzberger] - By Steven Erlanger - December 31, 2008
CAIRO - Arab countries appeared deeply divided on Wednesday over how to respond to the latest escalation in fighting between Israel and Hamas, with sharply differing comments from foreign ministers at the opening of an emergency Arab League meeting here.
Moderate Arab states generally allied to the United States blamed Palestinian disunity for the crisis and more radical states, some of whom did not attend, urged collective action to defend the Palestinians against Israel.
In the most striking comments, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, criticized the Palestinians for their inability to remain united behind President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah - an implicit condemnation of Hamas, which took over Gaza entirely in 2007 in a brief but violent civil war with Fatah. Normally, during periods of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, Arab leaders only condemn Israel.
"This terrible massacre would not have happened if the Palestinian people were united behind one leadership, speaking in one voice," Prince Saud said at the league meeting's opening. "We are telling our Palestinian brothers that your Arab nation cannot extend a real helping hand if you don't extend your own hands to each other with love," he said.
The secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, also expressed frustration with Arab and Palestinian divisions, saying their weakness has "led to this disregard of the Arabs" internationally. "We are all in one boat, riddled with holes, and only our cohesion can save us," he said.
Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, has made similar criticisms, and he has essentially told Arab nations that want Egypt to come to the defense of Hamas - and Iran - to mind their own business. Hamas is a branch of Egypt's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, and Mr. Mubarak has to walk a fine line between supporting the Palestinians and not coming to the aid of Hamas, which gets significant aid from Tehran.
The state-controlled Egyptian media have blamed Hamas for refusing to renew a six-month cease-fire with Israel and being the main cause of the current violence, for which it also condemns Israel. Egypt has made regular efforts to pull the Palestinian factions into unity talks and to be an intermediary between Israel and Hamas.
Countries like Egypt and Jordan, which maintain close but complicated ties with the United States and have recognized Israel, have come under fierce criticism by the leaders of Syria, Libya and the Hezbollah movement in Lebanon for not doing enough to help the Gazans. There have been some street protests, including one today in Cairo, in an area where demonstrations are tolerated, but which produced some fighting between Islamist protestors and riot police.
Some protesters held up copies of the Koran and shouted: "On Gaza we will march, martyrs by the millions, we are all Hamas." Others chanted: "Rule by the Koran."
The Arab League is trying to put together an initiative to help end the fighting in Gaza and restore the cease-fire, and Egypt has asked the aid of Turkey, which has close ties to Israel.
The Arab League foreign ministers discussed the plan, which calls for an immediate, unconditional halt to the fighting, followed by a long-term truce between Hamas and Israel, and international monitors to guarantee the truce and the opening of border crossings into Gaza, which Israel has kept largely sealed since 2007.
Original Report |
| A Rare Saudi Voice: Arabs Waste Time Trying to Destroy Israel |
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu - December 8, 2008
A Saudi Arabia columnist, in a rare expression of a pro-Israel view, wrote in the London-based Arabic-language daily newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat that Arabs have wasted time and money trying to destroy the Jewish State.
Mash'al Al-Sudairi's column, translated by The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), stated that although the "Jewish 'occupation of a part of Palestine constitutes great oppression,'" the Arabs have a history of self-inflicted blows" resulting from opposition to the re-establishment of the Jewish State of Israel.
"When, in the early 1930s, we were offered 80 percent of Palestine, while the Jews were offered 20 percent, we rejected the offer. In the late 1940s, we were offered 49 percent of Palestine, and the Jews 51 percent, and we rejected that [offer]," al-Sudairi wrote.
He criticized the Arab world for exhausting all of its resources over the issue of "Palestine" and wasting money and time. I am positive, [and am willing] to bet and even to swear by Allah, that if only 10 percent of the money that the Arab countries invested in arming their forces during the futile fighting [with Israel] had been invested in what was left of Palestine and its people, the West Bank and Gaza would now be enjoying a living standard higher than that of Singapore," he added.
Sudairi also commented on Iran's occupation of three Persian Gulf islands. "With all the turmoil over the Palestinian issue, we have completely forgotten that other Arab countries have been robbed of parts of their territories, in broad daylight, and we never uttered a word of protest," the Saudi columnist noted.
Original Report |
| Middle East fight could draw in Iran |
Observers worry about consequences of escalation
WORLDNETDAILY - December 31, 2008
The outbreak of violence in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas has observers concerned that it will incite Hezbollah in Lebanon to action against Israel and prompt Iran to react, thereby giving Israel a basis to attack Iran's nuclear sites, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
Indeed, Hezbollah has mobilized its forces to be on alert in the event of Israeli incursions into Lebanon.
In southern Lebanon, Hezbollah has amassed some 40,000 Iranian-supplied missiles for possible use against Israel. Security analysts say Hezbollah may be holding them in reserve to retaliate if Israel were to attack Tehran.
Security experts believe, however, that while the Shiite Hezbollah supports the Sunni Hamas in its fight against Israel, Hezbollah won't enter the conflict on the side of Hamas unless Israel attacks Lebanon. ...
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| Protester Calls for Jews to 'Go Back to the Oven' at Anti-Israel Demonstration |
FOX NEWS [News Corporation/Murdoch] - By Joseph Abrams - January 7, 2009
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. -- Like many other protests of Israel's campaign in Gaza, this one ended badly - police had to cool an ugly fight between supporters of Israel and Gaza, breaking up the warring sides as their screaming and chanting threatened to turn into something worse. But some protesters at this rally in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., took their rhetoric a step further, calling for the extermination of Israel - and of Jews. Separated by battle lines and a stream of rush-hour traffic outside a federal courthouse last week, at least 200 pro-Palestinian demonstrators faced off against a smaller crowd of Israel supporters. Most of the chants were run-of-the-mill; men and women waving Palestinian flags called Israel's invasion of Gaza a "crime," while the pro-Israel group carried signs calling the Hamas-run territory a "terror state." But as the protest continued and crowds grew, one woman in a hijab began to shout curses and slurs that shocked Jewish activists in the city, which has a sizable Jewish population. "Go back to the oven," she shouted, calling for the counter-protesters to die in the manner that the Nazis used to exterminate Jews during the Holocaust. "You need a big oven, that's what you need," she yelled. ... Read Full Report |
| Floridastan: Islamic Anti Jew, Pro-Hamas Rally - The Hatred Of The Good |
ATLAS SHRUGS - Blog by Pamela Geller - December 31, 2008
It was pandemonium. Muslims dress in full jihad garb juiced with .... hate.It looked like Halloween in Gaza. Throngs of young Muslims drunk with ..... hate. It was madness in America. You had to see it to believe it (watch video for the feel)
Across the street was an anemic counter protest. Where were the Jewish kids? NOWHERE. Jewish leadership and the diaspora have failed miserably in the education of our youth. The entire Muslim rally was young, wild -- frenetic. Itchy fingers on hair triggers. ...
"Israel is a terrorist state!" Screaming, yelling, very ugly .... police were not prepared. At one point the Muslims broke out crossed the street and confronted the 18 Jewish and Israel lovers across the street (watch the video, I caught part of it). ...
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Also:
Arab American Rallies: 'A Martyr is Beloved'
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Hana Levi Julian - December 31, 2008Anti-Israel rallies are heating up in the United States, particularly in locations with a high concentration of Arab Americans. MichiganIn the southeastern Michigan city of Dearborn, considered the centerpiece of the Arab American community, nearly 1,000 protestors massed in the center of town Monday night. Some 300,000 U.S. citizens of Arab ancestry live in the region. Waving flags and carrying signs depicting casualties in Gaza, marchers braved wintry temperatures and chanted. "Gaza, Gaza, don't cry, Palestine will never die," and "Israel is a terrorist state." Other marchers shouted in Arabic, "G-d is Great," and "A martyr is beloved of G-d," slogans that are also common to the extremist Islamic Movement in Israel. ... FloridaA Tampa highway was lined with anti-Gaza War demonstrators on Tuesday, waving Palestinian Authority and U.S. flags and shouting slogans into megaphones, according to the Tampa Tribune. ... New YorkAnti-Israel demonstrators also massed outside the Israeli Consulate in New York City, waving PA flags and chanting "Free Palestine!" ... CaliforniaPro and anti-war demonstrators rallied on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles on Tuesday evening as well. ... Washington, D.C.Thousands of demonstrators also gathered Tuesday outside the State Department, waving PA flags, wearing black-and-white checkered keffiyas (Arab head scarves) and chanting "Stop the Killing, Stop the War, Stop the Genocide of Palestinians." ... Read Full Report |
| Terror in France: Flaming Vehicle Rammed into Synagogue |
 ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz - January 6, 2009
Terrorists crashed two vehicles, one loaded with firebombs, into the facade of a synagogue in southwestern France on Monday night. No injuries were reported; however, the attack is the second serious terrorist attack on Jewish targets in Europe in less than a week. ...
The Toulouse car and firebomb assault was the second terrorist attack on European Jews in less than a week. On Wednesday of last week an unknown number of terrorists opened fire on a group of Israelis at a mall in Odense, Denmark. Two people were injured in the shooting. The perpetrators escaped in a black car, which was later found abandoned at a nearby college. Police later succeeded in tracking down one suspect in the shooting, identified as an Arab living in Denmark.
In addition to the foregoing, the British Jewish community's Communal Security Trust (CST) released for publication on Tuesday information about an act of anti-Semitic vandalism against a London synagogue. ...
In another arson attempt, a firebomb was thrown at a synagogue in Brussels, Belgium, on Monday. The building was somewhat damaged.
Aside from these apparently "lone-wolf" attacks - perpetrated by individuals acting on their own or in ad-hoc cells - against Jewish targets around the world, Hamas, Hizbullah and Al-Qaeda have been promoting worldwide "sympathetic attacks" in response to the Israeli Gaza campaign. ITRR has cited intercepted communications from the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) and from al-Qaeda in Islamic North Africa calling for Muslims to attack Jews worldwide.
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| A Horror and a Proverb |
Anti-Semitic threats up in Germany, Switzerland
THE JERUSALEM POST [Mirkaei Tikshoret/CanWest] - By Benjamin Weinthal, Post Correspondent In Berlin - January 7, 2009
Jewish communities in Germany and Switzerland are facing a growing number of threats and anti-Semitic incitement since the outbreak of the IDF operation in Gaza.
The President of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Charlotte Knobloch, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday in an exclusive interview that there had been an increased number of threats directed at the community. ...
A copy of the letter to German Interior Minister Wolfgang Sch�uble, which the Post obtained, states that the center "is gravely concerned at the increasingly threatening situation for Jewish communities," and "the banners and invective of demonstrators are degenerating to calls for violence against German Jewish citizens."
Samuels wrote that "such incitement 'to murder Jewish children worldwide' from Hamas senior officials" must be condemned by German Muslim leaders. Samuels called on the Interior Ministry to redouble its efforts to provide security for Jews. ...
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Hatred of Jews Flooding Internet after Madoff Scandal
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Gil Ronen - December 21, 2008The arrest of a Jewish businessman on suspicion of perpetrating fraud on Wall Street on a massive scale has caused "an outpouring of anti-Semitic comments on mainstream and extremist websites," according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the leading anti-Semitism watchdog group in the U.S. ... The Jewish businessman's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme defrauded private investors, banks and philanthropic foundations, including a number of Jewish-related charities, of some 50 billion dollars. "Site users have posted comments ranging from deeply offensive stereotypical statements about Jews and money -- with some suggesting that only Jews could perpetrate a fraud on such a scale -- to conspiracy theories about Jews stealing money to benefit Israel," the ADL said in a statement. ... Read Full Report
Canada defends Saudi policy of shunning tourists who visited Israel
THE JERUSALEM POST [Mirkaei Tikshoret/CanWest] - By Michael Freund - December 7, 2008The Canadian government has come to the defense of Saudi Arabia, telling The Jerusalem Post that the desert kingdom's policy of barring entry to Canadian citizens whose passports bear an Israeli visa or border stamp is "accepted practice." According to the Web site of Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, "Canadians have been denied entry into Saudi Arabia because their passports bore: a) an Israeli visa; b) an Israeli border stamp; or c) an Egyptian or Jordanian border stamp issued by an office bordering Israel (such a stamp would indicate the traveller entered from Israel)." ... Read Full ReportAustralian Anti-Semitism Doubles
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - December 7, 2008In a report submitted to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry last week, it was noted that anti-Semitic acts in Australia doubled this past year as compared with the previous eighteen years. In the 12 months previous to October Australian Jews suffered 652 anti-Semitic instances. Researcher Jeremy Jones noted in his report a Muslim source for some of the anti-Semitism. He said that there is a "negative impact of material from a variety of oversees sources which has as its thesis an eternal enmity of Muslims towards Jews." Original Report
European Anti-Semitism on the Rise
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz - November 4, 2008According to a 2008 survey released this past week by the Pew Research Center, as part of its Global Attitudes Project, hatred of Jews and general xenophobia are on the rise in Europe. Pew also noted a strong correlation between anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism. Spain displayed both the highest level and the most pronounced increase in anti-Semitism, doubling since 2005 to 46 percent of adults surveyed. Among European states, Britain had the lowest level of anti-Jewish sentiment, with fewer than 10 percent of those polled expressing negative views of Jews. Thirty six (36) percent of Poles and 34 percent of Russians expressed anti-Jewish sentiments, both figures representing increases since 2005. ... Read Full Report
Norway Funding PA Hate Media
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Maayana Miskin - October 31, 2008Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has issued a report on the state of the Palestinian Authority (PA) media in the wake of the Annapolis conference, which was held in late 2007. The report focuses on Norway's funding of the PA in light of recent statements made by Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store. Gahr Store defended Norway's decision to fund the PA directly, including PA media, saying TV programs glorifying terrorists are not common and assuring reporters that "Fatah and the PA are prepared to find a peaceful solution to the conflict with Israel." ... Read Full Report
Missouri students face punishment for `Hit a Jew Day'
ASSOCIATED PRESS - By Jim Salter - October 24, 2008ST. LOUIS - At least four students from a suburban St. Louis middle school face punishment for allegedly hitting Jewish classmates during what they called "Hit a Jew Day." ... It began with an unofficial "Spirit Week" among sixth-graders that started harmlessly enough with a "Hug a Friend Day." Then there was "High Five Day." Soon, though, the days moved from friendly to silly. Next there was "Hit a Tall Person Day" and, finally, "Hit a Jew Day." ... Read Full Report
Ukrainian Jews Attacked; Israel Increases Flights to Ukraine
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Hana Levi Julian - August 3, 2008... Less than a month ago, Ukrainian politician Oleg Tyagnybok reportedly called for "a purge of Jews." A former member of the "Our Ukraine" party, he called in his speech for "merciless action" against Jews and Russians, who he said had "seized power" in Ukraine, according to the S. Louis Jewish Light. ... Read Full Report
Baghdad Jews Have Become a Fearful Few
NEW YORK TIMES [NYTimes Group/Sulzberger] - By Stephen Farrell - June 1, 2008BAGHDAD - ... The community of Jews in Baghdad is now all but vanished in a land where their heritage recedes back to Abraham of Ur, to Jonah's prophesying to Nineveh, and to Nebuchadnezzar's sending Jews into exile here more than 2,500 years ago. Just over half a century ago, Iraq's Jews numbered more than 130,000. But now, in the city that was once the community's heart, they cannot muster even a minyan, the 10 Jewish men required to perform some of the most important rituals of their faith. They are scared even to publicize their exact number, which was recently estimated at seven by the Jewish Agency for Israel, and at eight by one Christian cleric. That is not enough to read the Torah in public, if there were anywhere in public they would dare to read it, and too few to recite a proper Kaddish for the dead. ... Read Full ReportBritain is a hotbed of anti-Israeli sentiment
LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH [Barclay] - By Ron Prosor - June 10, 2008
... Israel faces an intensified campaign of delegitimisation, demonisation and double standards. Britain has become a hotbed for radical anti-Israeli views and a haven for disingenuous calls for a "one-state solution", a euphemistic name for a movement advocating Israel's destruction. Those who propagate this notion distort Israel's past while categorically denying Israel's right to exist as a liberal Jewish-democratic state. No other country in the world is constantly forced to justify its own existence. At the end of last month, members of the University and College Union (UCU) passed a motion that in effect called for a boycott of the Israeli academia. ... Read Full Report |
| Modern Miracle of Oil: $147 a Barrel in summer, $39 on Chanukah |
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu - December 23, 2008
Chanukah marks the ancient miracle of a day's supply of pure olive oil burning for eight days in the Holy Temple. This year, another miracle is oil-rich Arab nations in panic over the plunge in crude oil prices from $147 in the summer to less than $40 on Chanukah.
The Festival of Lights will also be remembered for the victory of a small band of Jews over Greek rulers who tried to destroy Judaism. However, the current generation also will remember, for at least a few days, the plunge in the price of crude oil that virtually no one predicted would be so swift and so far.
Similar to the effect of the 1973-74 Arab oil embargo that forced up the price of crude by nearly 500 percent to $40 a barrel, this year's spike ended up harming Arabs nations as much as anyone else.
The worldwide recession, which was sparked by extended credit in the United States but was exacerbated by inflationary prices that fueled the demand for more credit, has pushed oil-rich Arab nations into a frenzy over expected debts.
Analysts also have estimated that the plunge might succeed where the western world has failed in its attempt to stop Iran form becoming a nuclear power.
Asked about the prospects of Middle East peace amid increasingly violent and unstable Arab states and continuing struggles with Israel, Likud Knesset candidate Dan Meridor told Newsweek, "Chanukah is, among other things, a holiday of miracles. If oil prices stay low, this may open opportunities for tough sanctions to work."
He added, "When the Iranians were getting $140 a barrel, with a budget based on maybe $60 to $70 a barrel, they had a surplus they could pour into the economy to offset the impact of international sanctions ... But if sanctions become really serious, and at [the] same time oil prices remain at current levels, I think there is chance of getting the Iranian leadership to rethink their strategy."
The collapse of the crude oil market "is putting Iran under the kind of pressure that Tehran has not endured for several years," Newsweek noted. Its reporter Michael Hirsh wrote that the drop in the price of crude may even add enough pressure on Iran to abandon its nuclear program and help voters to defeat Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in next June's elections.
Iran's oil, which is of lower quality than other oil producers, fetches less than $35 a barrel on today's market. The country's inflation rate is 30 percent, and the government, burdened by outlays for the nuclear development program and other weapons systems, is looking at a $50 billion deficit.
The mood of the public is angry and several reports from Iran indicate that the regime is becoming more oppressive against protestors. Nevertheless, newspaper headlines last week bannered, "What has the government done with $200 billion in oil revenues?"
Saudi Arabia, whose oil sheikhs have been wading in opulence from billions of dollars of excess money, is worried about facing its first budget deficit in six years. Deficits also are expected in Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
Despite dizzying inflation in grain prices, partly fed by the rapid rise in the price of crude oil, "the real damage, of course, has been done to those oil exporters that thought high prices were here to stay," wrote former United Press International (UPI) editor Martin Walker.
"Russia, whose state budget was predicated on oil at $90 a barrel, has lost about 30 percent of its financial reserves as the trade balance worsened and the ruble began its sharp decline," he reported.
"The real estate bubble in Dubai has deflated, and, battered by the double effect of falling oil prices and OPEC's announced production cuts, the economies of the Gulf States are faltering.
Original Report |
| Judea and Samaria Population Growing at High Rate |
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Yehudah Lev Kay - December 15, 2008
A new study by the University Center in Ariel concluded that the population in Judea and Samaria is growing at a rate three times higher than that in the rest of Israel. The study also found that residents of Judea and Samaria do better on matriculation exams, work more, feel better and profess to enjoy life more as well.
The study appears in the 2007 statistical journal put out by the University Center. Professors Dan Suan and Dr. Vered Ne'eman-Haviv led a team of researchers in compiling twelve chapters of information on all details of life in Judea and Samaria.
The study found that while in 1995 the population of Judea and Samaria stood at 130,000, as of 2007 it had jumped to 270,000 - in other words the population grew by 107%. In contrast the population of Israel grew by only 29% in the same period of time. Even more impressive is that in the three years between 2005 and 2007 the growth rate was 5% a year, three times higher than the rate in the rest of Israel of 1.7%.
The main factor in the growth came from natural increase. The birth rate in Judea and Samaria stands at 35 births per 1,000 persons whereas the average in the rest of Israel stands at only 20 births per 1,000 individuals. The second factor in growth came from positive migration (persons migrating in minus persons migrating out). In fact, Judea and Samaria had the highest rate of positive migration in all of Israel. The third factor in growth came from immigrants to Israel, who came mainly from the US, Britain, and France. - - - -
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| Israel's Population Up 1.8% |
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Hillel Fendel - December 30, 2008
As the year 2008 draws to a close, the Central Bureau of Statistics reports that Israel's population has once again grown by 1.8%.
The number of people in Israel is up to 7,373,000 - 129,500 more than a year ago. 157,000 babies were born over the year and 16,500 will have made Aliyah [immigrated to Israel] by Dec. 31.
For the sixth year in a row, Israel's population grew by 1.8%. Some 75.5% of the total population is Jewish, compared with 79.2% ten years ago. Just over 20% is Arab. ...
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Also:Increase in Aliyah from English-Speaking Countries in 2008ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz - December 22, 2008In a year-end report on aliyah (immigration to Israel) for 2008, the Jewish Agency reported an increase in immigration from English-speaking countries, even though there was a 16 percent drop in aliyah overall. A major factor in the decrease, the Agency said, was the change in government policy regarding the Falash Mura community in Ethiopia. By the last day of 2008, the Jewish Agency will have facilitated the the immigration of 16,500 people. As in years past, the largest bloc of immigrants, representing 35 percent of the total, came from Russia, Ukraine and other countries that were part of the former Soviet Union. Another 20 percent of the olim (people who make aliyah) came from Western Europe, followed by 19 percent from North America and 13 percent from Africa. The largest increase in the number of olim from any one country was 350 immigrants from South Africa in 2008, compared with 178 the year before. In fact, increases were recorded in the numbers of olim from all the English-speaking countries ... Read Full Report |
| Immigration Rises as Economy Drops and Rockets Fall |
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Avraham Zuroff - December 31, 2008
The Jewish Agency reports that 16,500 people immigrated to Israel in 2008, icluding 3,150 from North America, and 500 immigrants arrived in the final week of the year despite rocket attacks in the south and a weak economy.
The number of new immigrants from North America increased slightly this year from 3,074 in 2007 to 3,150. of these, 2,750 were from the United States, and the rest from Canada.
The number of immigrants to Israel from South Africa nearly doubled compared with last year, to 370, and a second special flight from South Africa arrived in Israel on Wednesday with 80 new immigrants. South African Jews have expressed increased interest in aliyah (Jewish immigration to Israel), in part a result of growing political instability and rising levels of violence and crime in the country. ...
Total immigration of 19,700 olim dropped from last year, mainly due to the slowing in the immigration of Falashmura from Ethiopia and a decrease in the number of immigrants from France.
Aliyah Department Director Eli Cohen estimates that immigration will increase next year, particularly from the West, where the economic crisis will spur potential immigrants to move to Israel in the coming year. ...
Original Report |
| 30,000 Immigrants Predicted for 2009 Thanks To Global Crisis |
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Malkah Fleisher - December 15, 2008
In light of a continuing international economic downturn, particularly in the United States, Jews around the world are starting to look to Israel as a haven from the financial storm.
Israel's Ministry of Absorption and the Jewish Agency for Israel expect more than 30,000 immigrants and returning Israelis to make Israel their home in 2009. The prediction is double the number estimated by the Ministry of Absorption at the end of October.
According to Ministry of Absorption director-general Erez Halfon, and Jewish Agency director of the Aliyah department Eli Cohen, the Israeli government has witnessed a surge in inquiries from Jews and Israelis interested in immigrating or returning home. ...
The Jewish Agency is also expecting a significant increase in immigration from Ukraine, Argentina, and South Africa, which have also been hit hard by the economic crisis. Approximately 9,000 Israelis have pledged to return to Israel in 2009 from these countries, marking a 50 percent increase in returning Israelis. ...
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| U.S. to 'guarantee' Palestinian state |
WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - September 11, 2008
JERUSALEM - The U.S. is planning to issue a letter guaranteeing the country will back agreements reached during current Israeli-Palestinian negotiations aimed at creating a Palestinian state before President Bush leaves office in January, WND has learned.
The move is intended to ensure any agreements reached by the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority, and spelled out in a joint document, will be recognized by the next U.S. administration and binding for Israel and the PA. ...
In response to the report, the State Department issued a statement claiming the U.S. government has not taken a position on the borders of a future Palestinian state and denying Jerusalem is being discussed.
But Israeli and Palestinian sources intimately familiar with the current talks tell WND Jerusalem is being negotiated, with Palestinian officials claiming the talks are in advance stages. ...
One U.S. plan for Jerusalem obtained by WND was divided into timed phases and, among other things, called for Israel eventually to consider forfeiting parts of the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site. ...
According to the first stage of the U.S. proposal, Israel initially would give the PA some municipal and security sovereignty over key Arab neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem. ...
After five years, if both sides keep specific commitments called for in a larger principal agreement, according to the U.S. plan, the PA would be given full sovereignty over agreed-upon eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods and discussions would be held regarding an arrangement for the Temple Mount. The plan doesn't specify which parts of the Temple Mount could be forfeited to the Palestinians or whether an international force may be involved. ...
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Also:
Obama Tells Abbas: I Support Dividing Jerusalem
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Hana Levi Julian - November 4, 2008
Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama privately expressed his support for a new Arab state within Israel's current borders, including eastern Jerusalem, during his meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah this summer. ...
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Admission: Jerusalem 'could become Palestinian capital'
WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - September 3, 2008
JERUSALEM - Some neighborhoods in Jerusalem could become the capital of a future Palestinian state as part of an agreement with the Palestinian Authority, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview today with Al Jazeeera.
"We can find a formula under which certain neighborhoods, heavily-populated Arab neighborhoods, could become, in a peace agreement, part of the Palestinian capital that, of course, will include also the neighboring villages around Jerusalem," Barak said when asked whether he envisioned the future division of Jerusalem. ...
Read Full Report |
| Syria demands entire Golan Heights to start talks |
WORLDNETDAILY - By Aaron Klein - December 22, 2008
TEL AVIV, Israel - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's attempts to negotiate with Syria collapsed today when Israel received a private message from Damascus that the Jewish state must first agree to relinquish the entire strategic Golan Heights as a starting point to commence talks, according to informed diplomatic sources speaking to WND.
Olmert is in Turkey today for a meeting with the country's prime minister, Tayyip Erdogan, to discuss Israel's indirect negotiations with Syria aimed at an Israeli retreat from part or most of the Golan. The mountainous territory looking down on Israeli population centers twice was used by Damascus to mount ground invasions into the Jewish state.
Olmert said last week it's possible to negotiate a peace treaty between Israel and Syria, adding that such talks would require "tough sacrifices" - alluding to some sort of Israeli retreat from the Golan.
According to the informed diplomatic sources speaking to WND, Turkey passed a Syrian message to Olmert today requiring Israel to first pledge a complete retreat from the Golan Heights as a starting point for Israel-Syrian talks. Olmert refused to do so, the sources said. ...
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Also:
Olmert Plans Golan Giveaway in Talks with Syria
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Hana Levi Julian - November 2, 2008
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is willing to sweeten the deal with Syria in exchange for direct talks with Damascus.
According to a diplomatic source in Jerusalem quoted late Saturday night by the Hebrew-language Ha'aretz, Olmert is considering negotiations over the borders of the Golan Heights in exchange for face-to-face talks with Syrian officials. ...
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Bush to Assad: Sever Ties with Iran and Take the Golan Heights
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Hana Levi Julian - October 17, 2008
U.S. President George W. Bush offered Syrian President Bashar Assad a secret deal to pull Israel out of the Golan Heights in exchange for Damascus breaking off ties with Tehran, according to a report published Friday in the Kuwaiti newspaper al-Jarida.
A Palestinian Authority (PA) source quoted in the report said Bush reportedly proposed "a quick and satisfactory solution" to Syria's dispute with Israel over the Golan Heights. The "solution" was to be finalized "within several weeks, before the U.S. presidential elections, in order to push the Middle East peace process, an achievement the president will be able to proudly present before leaving the White House in January," according to Cairo-based journalist Abdel-Wahab Al-Nasser. ...
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Olmert: Willingness to surrender over 98.1 percent of Judea and Samaria to Arab control
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu - September 15, 2008
... According to Channel Two, Olmert has now expressed willingness to surrender over 98.1 percent of Judea and Samaria to Arab control, even more than the 94-96 percent he had previously offered. On top of other land concessions, Abbas has asked Olmert for the large Jerusalem suburb of Ma'aleh Adumim which is located on the edge of the Judean desert and is home to approximately 36,000 Jews, as well as Givat Ze'ev, named after Zionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky, located north of Jerusalem and home to approximately 11,000 Jews, including Karlin-Stoliner Rebbe Boruch Yaakov Meir Shochet. Abbas still wants to discuss the possibility of commandeering the large Jerusalem neighborhoods of Gilo and French Hill. ...
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Olmert Offered Land Inside pre-1967 Borders to Abbas
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel - September 28, 2008
Olmert offered Abbas Israeli land inside the pre-1967 borders, including areas near Gaza and Beit She'an, as well as the Jordan Valley, in exchange for certain Jewish areas in Judea and Samaria.
In a last-minute attempt to forge an agreement with the Palestinian Authority before he must leave office, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered to give away Israeli land inside the pre-1967 borders, including areas near Gaza and Beit She'an, as well as the Jordan Valley. At his last meeting with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), Olmert nearly signed a final agreement in which whole blocks of Jewish settlements inside the pre-1967 borders would be surrendered to the Arabs in exchange for Jewish areas in Judea and Samaria, IDF Army Radio reported. ...
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| News Analysis: Expert Says Israel is Under 'Media Occupation' |
ARUTZ SHEVA (Israeli National News) - By Gil Ronen - September 22, 2008
Noted Middle East expert and commentator Dr. Guy Bechor accuses Israel's media of turning itself into an "occupying force" within Israel and behaving like an unelected, yet all-powerful, political machine.
In an article entitled "Down with the Occupation" that appears on his Hebrew-language website, Dr. Bechor - one of Israel's top experts on Middle Eastern affairs and a popular lecturer and interviewee - identifies a process that he says began after 2000.
"With the collapse of the Left in Israel's political system... and the tremendous disappointment from the 'peace process'," he says, "a strange process began gathering force in Israel's media, which was, to begin with, a closed club numbering about 20 movers and shakers. Strange as it may sound, this media, which is supposed to cover events and report them, took a step forward and took upon itself to represent the Left which had collapsed in the Israeli populace. It became a political party."
Media crossed the lines
"No one gave [the media] this mandate," writes Bechor - who was himself a journalist for Army Radio and other news organizations. "No Divine order was given here, and in this act, it did not represent any democratic process, because at its core, the media in Israel is not elected and does not change. It is made up of several 'gurus' who carry on for decades, without any real change in its personal makeup."
The media in Israel, he emphasizes, "has turned into an active political force that serves as a substitute for the political parties of the past. The more the Left in Israel shrank in size, the greater its influence became in the media, although [this influence] was always hidden and camouflaged."
"Thus the Israeli media crossed the lines, and moved away from its western counterparts. Thus it also betrayed the Israeli public, which expected, and expects to this day, that it will cover events."
Anti-sephardic but Arab-idolizing
Bechor claims that young journalists who do not toe the leftist line know that they will not be promoted. While they do not tout themselves as leftists, he says, "their entire essence is just that. The disparagement of patriotism and of the military, the dislike of the government... the self-praise as a 'peace' camp, the revulsion from Middle Eastern Judaism combined with an idolization of the Arabs, and the deep-seated grudge against the Right, against Netanyahu (the Waldemort of Israeli politics) and capitalism."
Even the state-run media - Channel 1 TV, Voice of Israel Radio, IDF Radio and Educational TV - has come under the control of "the party," Bechor notes, as have Channel 10, Ha'aretz and recently Ma'ariv. "As the Israeli government is weakened and scorned, and talented people stay away from it, a vacuum is formed, into which this party media enters with great force," he says.
The media crowned Livni
The political media served as investigator and judge in the latest war in Lebanon, Bechor states, and now it has decided who will be Israel's prime minister, too, while cancelling democracy, in effect. The media, he says, strengthened Tzipi Livni, "hoisted her up with false polls, and cheered when she appeared to win. It is true that some feeble protests were heard here and there in view of the unbelievable scandals in the latest elections, but the caravan moved on, needless to say. It is easy to surmise how the same media party would have reacted if [Transport Minister Shaul] Mofaz had beat his rival by one percentage point. Indeed, the media is manipulating politicians instead of being manipulated by them."
Politicians terrified
The change in Israel's media over the last three decades is one that induces despair, Dr. Bechor says. "The politicians are terrified of this process, which they view with fear, because these same 'commentators' and 'journalists' are stronger and more stable then they are. The politicians depend on them and so they are afraid to talk." Bechor even adds that certain prominent female television reporters, whom he does not name, supplement their incomes by holding news panels on Sabbaths, which the politicians know they must participate in, or else.
"Because we are not a healthy society, this process proceeds smoothly," Bechor sums up. "The more powerful it becomes, the more the undemocratic disease spreads. It is time to say 'no more.'" He recommends abstaining from Israel's Hebrew language mainstream press and says that alternative media channels hold the hope for a better future.
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