EXCLUSIVE - With Muslim Brotherhood crushed, Egypt sets sights on Hamas

(Reuters) - After crushing the Muslim Brotherhood at home, Egypt's military rulers plan to undermine the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which runs the neighbouring Gaza Strip, senior Egyptian security officials told Reuters.

The aim, which the officials say could take years to pull off, includes working with Hamas's political rivals Fatah and supporting popular anti-Hamas activities in Gaza, four security and diplomatic officials said.

Since it seized power in Egypt last summer, Egypt's military has squeezed Gaza's economy by destroying most of the 1,200 tunnels used to smuggle food, cars and weapons to the coastal enclave, which is under an Israeli blockade.

Now Cairo is becoming even more ambitious in its drive to eradicate what it says are militant organisations that threaten its national security.

Intelligence operatives, with help from Hamas's political rivals and activists, plan to undermine the credibility of Hamas, which seized control of Gaza in 2007 after a brief civil war against the Fatah movement led by Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

According to the Egyptian officials, Hamas will face growing resistance by activists who will launch protests similar to those in Egypt that have led to the downfall of two presidents since the Arab Spring in 2011. Cairo plans to support such protests in an effort to cripple Hamas.

"Gaza is next," said one senior security official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "We cannot get liberated from the terrorism of the Brotherhood in Egypt without ending it in Gaza, which lies on our borders."

Asked why Egyptian intelligence is not going after Hamas now, another senior security official said: "Their day will come."

Egypt accuses Hamas of backing al Qaeda-linked militant groups which have stepped up attacks against security forces in Egypt's Sinai peninsula over the past few months. The attacks have spread to Cairo and other cities.

Both the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas deny accusations of terrorism, and the Brotherhood says it is committed to peaceful activism. The group was ousted from power in Egypt after the military threw its weight behind street protests last summer.

Freely-elected president Mohamed Mursi is now on trial on charges of inciting the murder of protesters during his presidency. Egypt's military-backed government has cracked down hard on the Brotherhood, arresting almost its entire leadership and thousands of its backers as well as formally declaring it a terrorist organisation.

But the situation is very different in Gaza, where Hamas, an offshoot of the Brotherhood, is heavily armed, has years of experience fighting Israel, and moves swiftly to squash dissent.

A Hamas official said the comments made to Reuters by Egyptian officials showed Cairo was inciting violence and trying to provoke chaos.

"We reaffirm that Hamas did not and never would intervene in the internal Egyptian affairs," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters. "No one should ever dream to weaken Hamas.

"A LOT OF ANGER"

So far, contacts between Egypt and Fatah have been limited to discussing ways to help Fatah undermine Hamas, said the officials. They declined to name Palestinians involved in those discussions or give details of how many meetings have been held.

Hamas keeps Fatah party officials under very close watch in Gaza. A senior Fatah official in the occupied West Bank, where the party is far more powerful, denied any plot to oust Hamas.

"There is a lot of anger in Gaza. People are suffering, but protest is not easy. We cannot hope that Hamas will vanish tomorrow," he said.

Hamas has an estimated 20,000 fighters, with another 20,000 in its police and security forces. Despite growing economic hardship in Gaza, the group can still draw on significant support from among the territory's 1.8 million people.

But Egyptian officials hope to exploit tensions with rival militant groups, even if there are no signs of major splits yet.

"We know that Hamas is powerful and armed but we also know that there are other armed groups in Gaza that are not on good terms with Hamas and they could be used to face Hamas," another Egyptian security source said.

"All people want is to eat, drink and have a decent living, and if a government, armed or not, fails to provide that, then the people will rise against it in the end," the source said.

"THE FIRST SPARK"

In early January, Cairo publicly hosted the first conference of a new anti-Hamas youth group called Tamarud, or rebel, the same name used by the Egyptian youth movement that led last year's protests against Mursi.

Members of the Palestinian Tamarud stood with the Palestinian flag wrapped around their necks to highlight what they called Hamas's crimes against activists in Gaza.

The event was attended by representatives from Egyptian liberal parties and Fatah.

"We support the movement and any peaceful movement against the cruelty of the Islamist group that is part of the terrorist Muslim Brotherhood organisation," said Ayman al-Raqb, a Fatah official in Cairo in his speech at the conference.

The activists showed video clips of masked gunmen chasing and dragging away protesters, and posted banners showing activists who they said had been tortured by Hamas for their opposition.

The Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights last year accused Hamas of orchestrating a fierce crackdown against activists suspected of trying to organise a Tamarud-like protest in November. It said some of those detained were tortured and the mooted rally never materialised.

Hamas has accused Tamarud members of being Israeli agents, but has denied allegations of torture.

Activists in Cairo have called for protests in Gaza on March 21.

Egyptian officials hope that future Hamas crackdowns may turn the tide against the movement's leadership.

"Surely, the world will not stand still and allow Hamas to kill Palestinians. Someone will interfere," said the Egyptian security official. "But so far we are only working on firing the first spark."

But officials also concede that the plan is likely to take years.

"The aid Egypt will mainly provide to the anti-Hamas groups will be logistical not financial. Tamaruds don't cost much," one Egyptian security official said.

TUNNELS

The plan to undermine Hamas reflects renewed confidence among Egypt's security forces after being sidelined following the fall of long-time president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Senior security officials are now determined to eliminate their Islamist foes for good - inside and outside Egypt.

They were angry when Mursi became the first Egyptian president to meet Hamas leaders in the presidential palace. Mursi also sent his prime minister to Gaza on the second day of an Israeli offensive on the enclave in November 2012.

Many Egyptians believe the Brotherhood intended to give part of the Sinai to Hamas. The Brotherhood has consistently denied the allegation.

Mursi's administration did acknowledge the problem posed by the tunnels under the border between Egypt and Gaza. His national security adviser last year said the government was flooding a number of tunnels he described as illegal.

But the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza was kept open for much of Mursi's rule, allowing vital food and goods to flow into Gaza.

After Mursi's overthrow, the army took over command of the Sinai and started destroying hundreds of tunnels. No Hamas official has been allowed to travel into Egypt since then.

Last month, Egypt's public prosecutor accused Hamas of conspiring with Mursi and Iran to stage terrorist attacks in Egypt.

"We know Hamas is the Brotherhood and the Brotherhood (members) are terrorists and no country could develop with terrorists in or around it," the security official said.

Gaza prime minister and Hamas deputy leader Ismail Haniyeh has said repeatedly since July that his group is focused exclusively on confronting arch-foe Israel and has no armed presence in Egypt.

"We do not intervene in Egyptian internal affairs," he told supporters last month. "Egypt cannot do without us and we cannot do without Egypt. This historical, geographic and security link can never be severed."

However, an Egyptian security official, who declined to be named, dismissed his words. "They (Hamas leaders) can say what they want on their role in Sinai. We don't base our judgment on them, but on intelligence and information."

(Additional reporting by Crispian Balmer and Nidal Al Mughrabi; Editing by Michael Georgy and Simon Robinson)

Poster's Note: Egypt, don't stop, it's about time to destroy HamAss, and to wipe this terrorist organization OFF the global map!

Hijacking the Holy Land - FULL MOVIE

'Hijacking the Holy Land' is a feature documentary that takes you behind the headlines and past the media bias against Israel.
Aiming to expose the truth behind the Middle East peace crisis, this documentary examines Palestinian government, educational and religious bodies that many claim promote hatred against Israel even as they talk of peace to the media.

This translates in to blatant bad faith, as they have been negotiating with Israel while operating a total war against the democratic state. The declarations made to the press are yet another entirely fraudulent aspect of this campaign that aims at nothing short of destroying Israel as an opening round of the efforts to reestablish the global caliphate both as revenge for the loss of the Ottoman Empire and due to religious compulsion of Islam to spread their beliefs by force when they have enough military power to do so. The prescient stage is known as "hudna" or strategic cessation of violence to allow building up resources for the soonest possible offensive phase. In fact one of the last caliphs, Mehmed V Reshad, declared a Jihad against the British and French at the outset of WWI as they joined the Germans.

Although hundreds of hours of history are required to debunk the lies and myths that have covered the facts in Israel funded by trillions of dollars of oil-wealth, you have to start somewhere. Using a timeline, the best starting point is probably this film here, which seems timely in view of the Palestinian Authority's effort to continue this moral equivalence that implies building settlements on public land at strategic points for security is to Israelis what suicide bombers are to Palestinian Islamic imperialists.

What does that mean? It means in rough terms that suicide bombers are not ideal, but after all, the Israelis are building on public land that the Palestinians simply assume is theirs even before establishing any of the de facto requirements of a state. It would be like a parent getting accused of stealing from a college fund of a child that has not yet been conceived.

The Iron Dome Mentality

Instead of fighting terror through offensives, State of Israel increasingly fortifying itself
by: Hagai Segal

History has a thin sense of humor. Last Thursday, where the Iron Dome system passed its first test, was also the day where a Kornet anti-tank rocket hit a civilian bus around here for the first time. Seemingly, it was a random coincidence of two combat-related events, yet it provided us with some food for thought: By the time we solved one fortification problem, assuming we indeed resolved it, a new fortification problem emerged.

Will we now start to fortify every school bus near Gaza? The Kornet’s range is some five kilometers, so this is not a problem that can be resolved by slightly modifying bus routes near the border. If another missile or two hit a school bus, heaven forbid, parents in the western Negev may raise a hue and cry similar in scope to the one that demanded the Iron Dome until authorities caved in.

The authorities always cave in. Only a month ago, the State objected to the deployment of an Iron Dome battery near Beersheba, and now officials are already preparing to position a battery in every municipal region south of Palmahim. It’s hard to see the State rejecting a firm parental demand for the fortification of school buses against missiles.

In this case there is even no need to develop a new system; we have one ready: Windbreaker. RAFAEL engineers developed it in order to protect tanks, and there is no problem to modify it for civilian protection purposes. It will cost us a fortune, about NIS 1 million per Windbreaker (roughly $300,000), yet the Iron Dome case proves that money is no object under such circumstances.

A solution for every citizen

If the residents yell loud enough and our political leadership in any case prefers to fortify instead of taking over Gaza, the Treasury eventually signs the check. Hence, soon we shall be reaching the day where the State equips every southern bus with the Windbreaker system, just as in the past it fortified Judea and Samaria buses against stones and later against gunfire.

The terrorists will then convene an emergency session with all their engineers and come up with a more advanced system to kill Jews. Next, RAFAEL’s engineers will again be urged to develop a winning Israeli response to the advanced Palestinian tactic, and so on and so forth.

The State, which once upon a time promised a solution for every settler, will one day have to fortify every citizen. Perhaps they will implant some kind of genius chip into our ears that will warn us of approaching stabbing attacks and explosive devices. It will cost us a fortune, but we are willing to do anything here to fight Hamas.

In the past, we argued that the best defense is offence. Today, we put our trust in Iron Domes. Indeed, while the enemy charges, the people of Israel go into the trenches.

Iron Dome in action

Ynet News

Gaza Conflict Moves to Virtual World

A shadow war between pro-Israeli and pro-Hamas forces is taking place on the Internet — and it is getting fierce.

If you're one of millions of Americans who use social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter or participate in virtual worlds like "Second Life," don't be surprised if you get sucked into a war thousands of miles away in Gaza.

Support groups have sprouted up on Facebook, drawing in thousands of members on both sides of the conflict. Protests erupted in "Second Life"'s virtual Israel, where demonstrators showed up to voice support for Hamas and the Palestinians.

People are using Twitter updates to tell the world what they're witnessing on the ground or how they feel about the news. And videos of the carnage in Gaza have been posted on YouTube, including some from the Israeli government.

On Facebook, the pro-Hamas group "Stop Genocide in Palestine" has more than 117,500 members. On the other side, "I Support the Israel Defense Forces in Preventing Terror Attacks from Gaza" has more than 65,000 members.

Some Facebook users have changed their profile pictures to Israeli or Palestinian flags, bloody images of war or other partisan graphics to get their messages across.

Facebook users can use applications to set messages in their status bars expressing affiliation with one side or the other. An application called "Qassam Count" enables users to voice their support for Israel by automatically updating their status bar when rockets are fired from Gaza into the Jewish state.

Joel Leyden, an American working in Israel, said he founded the "Support the Israel Defense Forces in Preventing Terror Attacks from Gaza" group to give members a place to voice their opinions and grievances about the conflict.

"Facebook, as we all know, was created by a university student for university students, and it's turned into the number one watering hole for the international community," Leyden said. "That can't be better illustrated than how it's being used today with the war here that we have with Hamas."

Thousands of messages have been posted to the group. Moderators watch over the conversation in Israel, Europe and North America.

Leyden said he's received dozens of death threats since he started the group.

"I've served in [the Israeli army] in combat and in the spokesperson's office and with the border police," he said. "I've never felt more in a dangerous environment than I do here. Everyone is trying to make as much noise as they can to break through."

Messages like "death to the Jews" and "we can't wait to murder you" have been posted to the group, he said, but since positing pro-peace messages to the site in Arabic, Leyden said things have toned down considerably.

None of the pro-Palestinian groups on Facebook responded to a request for comment.

The operators of Facebook, meanwhile, are taking pains to ensure that the online war doesn't get out of hand.

Facebook takes its "Terms of Use" policy seriously and removes groups that violate that policy from the Web site, spokeswoman Elizabeth Linder told FOXNews.com in an e-mail.

"We are sensitive to and subsequently take down Groups that threaten violence towards people. We also remove groups that express hatred towards individuals and groups that are sponsored by recognized terrorist organizations," Linder wrote.

Facebook on Thursday removed a Web site called "Hitler Took the Right Decision With Jewish People," saying the group violated its policies.

"We want Facebook to be a place where people can openly discuss issues and express their views," Linder wrote. "As such, we do not aim to control the discourse on Facebook.

"Rather, we take swift action to remove content that violates our policies. Our goal is to strike a very delicate balance between giving Facebook users the freedom to express their opinions and beliefs, while also ensuring that individuals and groups of people do not feel threatened or endangered."

In the virtual world "Second Life," SL Israel saw protests from virtual pro-Palestinian activists when the violence in Gaza flared up.

"Lots of people yelling," the founder of SL Israel, who goes by Beth Odets in the game, told Second Life blogger Wagner James Au. "They were going on and on with slurring obscenities about murderous Israeli forces, etc."

Odets began ejecting the most offensive protesters from the area, she told Au.

"I had to be careful not to boot people who didn't actually do anything wrong," she said.

She temporarily had to close SL Israel to outsiders to quell the protests, but protesters kept coming. Eventually, however, people came who wanted to talk.

Twitter user Ahuvah Berger, who lives in Israel, said she has been using the network to update her contacts about terrorism for years.

"I believe it is very important to help get our side of the story using a medium in which I already have a large audience who 'know' me," she wrote in an e-mail to FOXNews.com.

"As we know Israel is not good at PR, and as the perceived aggressor it needs to show the world why it does and continues to do what it feels necessary to protect its citizens," she wrote.

"I have encountered a lot of nasty Twitter users who believe in their own propaganda and when confronted with facts, not only facts emerging from Israel, they resort to calling me a Nazi and a perpetrator of a Palestinian holocaust."

Ron Kutas of Stand With Us, a pro-Israel group, said taking the war onto the Internet has its problems.

"It's opening up the door to anybody who wants to say anything," Kutas said. "It's very hard for people to distinguish between emotional commentary about the conflict and factual journalism about the conflict ... you have an open forum and people who are not educated about the conflict are being told misinformation all the time."

Kutas said he uses Qassam Count to spark discussion with friends who oppose Israel's actions in Gaza.

"People who I'm friends with who have opinions that are not the same as mine, we have dialogues about real issues and real facts. When that happens it's a great thing," he said.

Asked if any of his friends had chosen not to associate with him on Facebook because of his pro-Israel activism, Kutas replied, "I don't know of anything of that sort, but I should look into that."





Fox News

IDF & Shin Bet Confirm Involvement in Gaza Car Blast

Hamas says Army of Islam commander killed in airstrike near police headquarters, but eyewitnesses say explosion occurred inside vehicle.

IDF strike: The IDF and Shin Bet confirmed on Wednesday that they were responsible for the Gaza operation in which Army of Islam commander Muhammad Jamal al-Namnam was killed.

Earlier on Wednesday, a car exploded near a Hamas police station in Gaza City. The al-Arabiya network reported that one person was killed in the blast and another three were injured.

The man killed in the explosion was a senior field commander in the Army of Islam, one of the organizations affiliated with al-Qaeda in the Strip.

According to a source in one of the Gaza organizations, the man was killed in a new Hyundai car which recently arrived in the Strip from Israel as part of the easing of the blockade.

Israel has allowed dozens of vehicles to enter Gaza.

The source told Ynet that the Hamas interior ministry had recently called on Palestinian buying the new cars to have them checked thoroughly, "for fear that Israel has planted listening devices or even booby-trapped them."

Palestinian sources said the explosion rocked the Ansar area, where many of the security headquarters are located, sending up a plume of thick black smoke. Emergency teams and Hamas security forces rushed to the scene.

Eyewitnesses said the car was travelling on the road parallel to the police headquarters when the explosion occurred. Despite the claims of an airstrike, other residents said the explosion occurred inside the vehicle.

Adham Abu Selmia, a spokesman for the Strip's medical services, told Hamas journal al-Risala that the man killed in the incident was Muhammad Jamal al-Namnam, 27, a resident of the al-Shati refugee camo.

The man was said to be a senior commander in the extreme Army of Islam organization, whose members have clashed with Hamas forces. He was previously involved in terror attacks on Israeli targets, and recently conspired with Hamas members to carry out terror attacks through Sinai, against American and Israeli targets.





Ynet news

'Death to Israel' Chanted at Gaza Rally

Thousands take to streets in support of Islamic Jihad, leader backs 'wiping Israel out of existence'.

Tens of thousands of supporters of Islamic Jihad rallied in the streets of Gaza on Friday, chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel".

Young men and boys wearing white T-shirts with a slogan in the shape of a rifle bore portraits of militants killed in combat, under the black flags of Islamic Jihad.


"Israel will not bring peace to the region, it will only bring war and destruction and therefore, the slogan of all should be that Israel must be wiped out of existence," said Ramadan Shallah, the group's exiled chief in Damascus

Shallah, who is on a United States wanted list, sent a recorded message marking the anniversary of the assassination of the group's leader Fathi Shiqaqi in Malta in 1995, by presumed Israeli secret agents.

Senior leaders of Hamas joined the open-air gathering, the largest for years in honor of Islamic Jihad with up to 100,000 attending according to its organizers.

Hamas allowed the group to use city terrain it usually reserves exclusively for its own rallies, and Hamas forces provided security for the parade by its smaller rival.

Islamic Jihad officials said Friday's turnout was a "referendum by the Palestinian people rejecting peace-making with Israel".

"The choice of negotiation has reached deadlock, and we are wondering why is there such an insistence by the Palestinian Authority on negotiation with the enemy," said Shallah.

He urged an end to peace talks and fresh efforts to heal the rift between Fatah and the Islamist militants. Raising hopes that the three-year-old split may be coming to an end, Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya said it was time for unity in the face of Israel.

"There is only the choice of Jihad and nothing else ... There is no more room to make bets, on the Americans or anyone else," said Hayya.

President Abbas, however, has ruled out violence and said he will pursue diplomatic alternatives should the peace talks with Netanyahu collapse definitively.

Organizers: 100,000 in attendance

by Reuters

Israel & Apartheid

Isn't Israel's treatment of the Arabs just as bad as South Africa's Apartheid?

Today, within Israel, Jews are a majority, but the Arab minority are full citizens with voting rights and representation in the government. Under apartheid black South Africans could not vote and were not citizens of the country in which they are the overwhelming majority of the population.

The situation of Palestinians in the territories - won by Israel in a defensive war forced upon it by its neighbors - is different. The security requirements of the nation, and a violent insurrection in the territories, have forced Israel to impose restrictions on Arab residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip that are not necessary inside Israel's pre-1967 borders. The Palestinians in the territories, typically, dispute Israel's right to exist whereas blacks did not seek the destruction of South Africa, only the apartheid regime.

If Israel were to give Palestinians full citizenship, it would mean the territories had been annexed. No Israeli government has been prepared to take that step.

Meanwhile, Palestinians from the territories are allowed to work in Israel and receive similar pay and benefits to their Jewish counterparts. They are allowed to attend schools and universities. Palestinians have been given opportunities to run many of their own affairs. None of this was true for South African blacks.

- from Israel Is Not An Apartheid State, JSource -

Yet Zionism itself, and not only the current policies of the Israeli government, is constantly accused of being equivalent to apartheid simply because it represents a national emancipation movement which differs from others in being Jewish.

- Jacques Givet, "The Anti-Zionist Complex" -

Does Israel force Arabs into laborious work, menial labor?

"We do not want to create a situation like that which exists in South Africa, where the whites are the owners and rulers, and the blacks are the workers. If we do not do all kinds of work, easy and hard, skilled and unskilled, if we become merely landlords, then this will not be our homeland"

- David Ben-Gurion in conversation with Musa Alami, 1934
from Shabtai Teveth, Ben-Gurion and the Palestinian Arabs: From Peace to War, London: Oxford University Press, 1985, p. 140

Is there racist Apartheid in the Middle East?

Another myth about Islam is that it promoted equality. In reality Islam permitted the ultimate inequality--slavery. As Muir says of Mohammed: "He rivetted the fetter." "There is no obligation whatever on a Moslem to release his slaves.' Mohammed himself had slaves--17 men and 11 women. One of the early Caliphs, Omar "insisted on a medieval Apartheid with the Arabs as master race."

In subsequent years the Arabs had one of the worst records as slavers, and this has continued right up till the later years of the 20th century and may still be going on. Some of the worst feudal regimes in history were based on Islam as is the present regime in Saudi Arabia.

- from THE DEAD HAND OF ISLAM, by Colin Maine

In fact, in an Islamic country, an infidel is a necessary evil, who is just about tolerated. The dignity of man signified by human rights, and promoted by bloody revolutions over a period of centuries, is a piece of sheer nonsense in Islam. It is because a non-Muslim in an Islamic state is required to pay jaziya, which in the Koranic language is a Humiliation Tax. In fact, the life of an unbeliever is a series of humiliations in a Muslim country. He has to wear distinctive clothes and mark his house to express the unbelief of its dwellers. Muslims are forbidden to associate with him and attend his matrimonial or funeral ceremonies. He must not ride horses or bear arms. Since it is the Islamic way of life, which requires an unbeliever to yield way to the Muslim when they happen to be walking on the same path, it can be safely called the forerunner of the South African apartheid.

- from ISLAM and Human Rights, by Anwar Shaikh -

Is Mandela a hero of the Free World?

"Mandela's Mideast Muddle"
by Patrick Goodenough

More than a year ago, on August 19 1996, South African President Nelson Mandela was due to arrive on a long-awaited visit to Israel. The trip was postponed because -- we were told -- Mandela's health at the time was poor.

Since then, however, Mandela has travelled to most corners of the globe, addressing international gatherings and conducting full state visits from Britain to Indonesia. This week he visited Israel's neighbour, Egypt, before heading for a highly controversial visit to Libya. It's hard to believe any longer that Mandela is not staying away for political reasons.

His reaction to US opposition to the visit, and those of his somnolent Foreign Minister, Alfred Nzo, suggest that these two old men are woefully out of touch with late 20th century reality. Mandela accused Washington of arrogance for dictating "where we should go or who our friends should be" Nzo called for an end to UN sanctions against Libya.

On October 21, the Johannesburg MAIL & GUARDIAN newspaper published letters on its Internet edition from Libyan exiles, deploring Mandela's decision to visit. One wrote: "I simply cannot believe that it is too much to ask of you what you have asked the world to do in the recent past: boycott tyranny and oppression".

Another called the visit "an insult to Libyan martyrs who have been hanged publicly by [Muammar] Gaddafi and left to rot in public squares for days; to the families of Libyans whose bodies were dug up by his thugs and thrown to the sea for opposing him during their life; and to the thousands of Libyans who are still in the jails of this tyrant, subjected to torture on a daily basis for asking nothing more than what you and the people of South Africa have asked for: to breathe free in our own land".

The reaction of these dissidents -- shock at Mandela's apparent blindness to the irony of his stance -- is not new. Many South Africans with a deep love both for our country and for this one share their concerns.

To many of us who grew up in the shadow of apartheid, Mandela in his prison cell were a constant reminder of a future, better South Africa which we, too, could work towards. But our joy at the transition when it occurred was tempered by profound misgivings about the close relations between the ANC and the likes of Libya, Iran and the PLO.

We hoped the ANC's ties with such dubious allies of the exiled organisation would diminish once Mandela assumed power, but that did not happen. His loyalty to old friends appears to have blinded him to a cold assessment of the damage done to his reputation by images of him embracing Yasser Arafat and Gaddafi.

Pretoria's shifting policy on the Middle East is cause for deep misgiving. A case in point was last year's agreement to store Iranian oil, flying in the face of American appeals for sanctions against Tehran. (The deal was since aborted, reportedly for reasons unrelated to US pressure).

Even more disturbing was the admission by former Energy Affairs Minister, Pik Botha, that nuclear cooperation between the two countries was on the agenda during his visit to Tehran early last year. Botha told the writer he had "met with representatives of Iran's nuclear research industry" whom he said were "engaged in research and the peaceful application of nuclear power"

Yet Iran's attempts to buy nuclear know-how from China, North Korea and former Soviet republics have triggered alarms among intelligence services around the world. In the light of this, Botha's insistence in response to my queries that "under no circumstances will South Africa become involved in any form of cooperation in violation of its obligations and responsibilities in terms of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty"sounded naive at best -- if not downright untrue.

If Mandela is unaware of the involvement in terrorism of Tripoli and Tehran, he is clearly not being properly advised by Nzo (who was himself warmly received in Tehran in October 1994).

When it comes to Arafat, one wonders what Mandela sees to talk about with a man not just with a history of personal responsibility for terrorism, but who even now oversees a security force which kidnaps, tortures and kills opponents in the areas under his authority. At a time when South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission is hearing gruesome evidence of "dirty tricks"activities carried out by operatives of the apartheid state, doesn't it strike Mandela as ironic that his government's foreign policy transforms the perpetrators of similar crimes into diplomatic and trading partners?

Should he ever decide indeed to visit Israel, Mandela will have to bear in mind that, by legitimising the tyrants in Tripoli, Gaza and Tehran, he has relinquished any right to advise Israelis on matters which could affect the very survival of the Jewish state.

Did Israel have a special relationship with the Apartheid regime?







Peace Faq

Hamas Uses Children For Digging Tunnels

Arabic documentation!!!

An Israeli asks: Did we with greater compassion for their children, more than that of their parents?







Hamas Uses Small Children Digging Smuggling Tunnels


Most of the houses of Hamas, with the way underground to escape, and with weapons, and not to believe. See, private house

Everyone Hamas

Gaza Rockets Suffering Quality Control Problems

The GANSO website that I mentioned earlier has bi-weekly reports of various dangerous things that happened in Gaza.

One interesting thing that they mention in these reports are the number of rockets and mortars that either explode prematurely or that fall short in Gaza.

According to their figures, over the past month, Gaza terror groups fired 19 rockets (that these NGO's call "homemade") and 14 mortars towards Israel. Out of those, 8 rockets and 8 mortars fell short or exploded prematurely.

That's a 42% failure rate for rockets, and 57% failure rate for mortars.

No wonder Hamas and their NGO partners want to import more raw materials into Gaza. The quality of weapon components they are getting from the tunnels is abysmal!

"Hush! You're putting yourself at risk."

AND,

NGO's admit how they help Hamas

GANSO is the Gaza NGO Safety Office, run by CARE International, to help NGOs in Gaza stay safe.

Their website describes incidents that jeopardize the safety of internationals in Gaza, both from IDF incursions and from militant actions (like mortars or rockets that fall short.)

Last February, there was an (apparently Islamist) attack on a Red Cross convoy in Gaza, and GANSO wrote a special report about the ramifications.

This report describes, incidentally, how much the NGOs in Gaza help Hamas, and it makes clear that this is considered a desirable political goal.

Here's how NGOs in Gaza think - in their own words:

The presence of the international community in the Gaza Strip is vital to the stability of the de-facto government; over 60% of the Gazan population is food insecure, according to UN sources, and unemployment surpasses 50%; thus, a majority of the population is either partially or entirely dependent on humanitarian aid. The assistance provided by the international community, particularly by UNRWA and WFP. eases the burden on the de-facto government of managing the needs of its impoverished and dispossessed population, enabling the de-facto government to achieve a modicum of legitimacy. Thus, even the partial reduction or suspension of humanitarian aid activities in the Gaza Strip as a consequence of a disintegrating internal security environment would have devastating consequences for both the population and the de-facto government's legitimacy.

The presence of the international community in the Gaza Strip is also a major political benefit to the de-facto government. The willingness of international governmental and non-governmental organizations to send diplomatic delegations and expatriate staff into the Gaza Strip demonstrates a level of trust in the security infrastructure of the de-facto authority.

Moreover, the presence of expatriate staff in Gaza implies that expatriates do not feel threatened by the de-facto government itself a boon to the credibility of the Hamas movement in the international arena, in which the movement has for years been labeled as a terrorist organizationh by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the European Union.

The skepticism of regarding Hamas as a terror organization is evident in this report, as well as the pride in how NGOs prop up Hamas as a political force.

In other words, NGOs in Gaza are acting at odds with EU and US policies by knowingly and eagerly propping up Hamas' Islamist rule in Gaza.



Elder Of Ziyon

Turkish 'Peace Activists' Visit Jihad Gunmen

On backdrop of strained relations between Israel and Turkey, Islamic Jihad website displays photos of recent flotilla's Turkish passengers visiting Gaza and trying on organization's uniform. 'All Turkish people pray for your victory,' one of guests says.

The Viva Palestina 5 ship carrying "peace activists," which docked at the al-Arish port recently, brought along not only humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, but also enthusiastic Turks who took advantage of the opportunity to visit local Islamic Jihad members.

In pictures obtained by Ynet, the Turks are seen holding weapons and rocket launchers. While their prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to blast Israel and demand an apology for "state terrorism," two of the guests put on the uniform of the al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad's military wing.

The pictures from the Turkish delegation's visit were put on the al-Quds Brigades website as part of the coverage of their visit. The guests' face was blurred, but shortly afterwards the photos were removed from the site, most likely for fear that the Turks would be hurt.

During their visit to Gaza, the Turkish delegation members visited several Islamic Jihad posts. One of the guests was quoted as telling the group's gunmen that they are "a source of pride for all decent people in the Arab and Muslim world." He defined them as "the forefront of the struggle against the Zionists."

The Turkish guests praised the Palestinian activists, saying, "I am proud to be here with you, who have sacrificed so much for the sake of the Muslim nation. All of the Turkish people, as well as the Arabs and all Muslims, pray for your victory, support you and strengthen you."

Meanwhile Monday, the Turkel Committee appointed to probe the deadly Navy raid on the Turkish-owned Marmara ship in late May, heard the testimonies of two Israeli Arabs who were onboard the vessel during the incident.

One of the them, Hamed Abu Dabous of Rahat was asked by the committee members about a televised speech in which one of the flotilla's leaders called for violent resistance and said that if Israel Defense Forces soldiers tried to take over the boat, "we'll thrown them into the sea."

Abu Dabous responded that he was not "a television fan", adding that he knew nothing of that speech. He claimed that he was a law abiding citizen and was unaware of the prohibition to enter the Strip.

"If what you wanted would have happened, you would have reached Gaza. So your intention was indeed to break the law," one of the committee members told him.

Turkish activist holds weapon alongside Jihad gunmen

Ynet News

Fischer in Hamas' Service

Time has come to put end to Bank of Israel fund transfers to Gaza Strip murderers

by Orna Shimoni

Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, who was honored as the world's best bank governor, is the main party who exerts pressure in favor of fund transfers to Hamas. He is the one who saved the terror group from collapsing, continues to rehabilitate it, and also prevents the collapse of Gaza Strip banks.

The dollars transferred to Gaza by Fischer are used to murder us. With our own hands, we facilitate the killing of our sons, through the ceaseless transfer of cash to the Hamas state.

Ever since the organization took over Gaza in 2007, billions of dollars have been transferred to the Strip. About 80% of this cash is handed over to the terror group's leadership in order to finance its arms smuggling operations. These funds, some of which are transferred to Gaza legally, via bank transfers, enable the Hamas government to pay its monthly salaries.

After all, training and educating martyrs, running Qassam production lines, or testing long-range weapons isn't cheap. Who knows what else is being hidden in Gaza's weapons warehouses. Yet the State of Israel, under Fischer's pressure, continues to let the money which finances this system pour into Gaza uninterruptedly.

We keep on hearing the regular excuses: After all, this isn't our money, we must hand it over, and so on. Yet the most prevalent excuse is also the most dangerous one: Stopping fund-transfers to Gaza is illegal.

Is Gaza a friendly country?
Stanley Fischer, the world's best bank governor, I have some questions for you: Is it legal to bomb Gaza-region communities for 11 years now? Is it legal to sow fear among Sderot's residents and fire Qassams at children playing in their backyard? Is it legal to ignore the fact that UNWRA funds handed over by Israel are used by Hamas and its killers? Is it legal to send our sons to fight an enemy whose weapons we supplied? Does the law really require Israel to transfer funds to Gaza?

Israel has already designated Gaza as a hostile terror entity, so why do we keep working vis-à-vis Gaza's banking system? Is Gaza a friendly country? Fischer already announced, back in 2006, that he will only hand over funds to Gaza as long as Hamas adheres to understandings with Israel. So why does he keep on pouring money into the Strip, despite rockets being fired at Israel all the time?

I cannot understand the silence of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who approves fund-transfers to Gaza; I also cannot understand the silence of Foreign Ministry officials, and the silence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. When asked about the Gilad Shalit swap, I say that we already have a readily available weapon against Hamas: Terminating its cash supply.

So I'm urging the world's best bank governor: Stop the fund-transfers to Hamas. Yours and Israel's economy would not be boosted via the blood of our sons.

Fischer helping Hamas?

Ynet News

Getting the Story Wrong

Western media paint distorted picture of Mideast realities irrelevant to real conflict

by Anav Silverman

It becomes more apparent that with each passing year, the Arab-Israeli conflict seems to get a new facelift in the media headlines. Many notable news sources seek to demonize Israel in the most "objective" manner possible, concentrating always on angles irrelevant to the real conflict.

Subsequently, when foreign journalists come to Israel with their notebooks, pens and preconceived notions, there is very little chance that their audience back home will have the opportunity to understand the conflict in an unbiased way. So much misinformation and shoddy reporting place Israel and her citizens in a very vulnerable position.

On the day that the settlement freeze expired, CNN featured the following headline in big bold lettering on its news site: “Palestinians: We fear Violent Israeli Settlers.” The article focused on one Palestinian family, using them as the only example to support the story’s sensational title. What the article did not point out was that that for many Palestinians, settlement construction is a major part of their livelihood and that many are currently out of work due to the freeze.

Even more sadly, stories highlighting friendly relations that do exist between Israeli settlers and Palestinians rarely appear in western media networks. The first West Bank team in Israel’s amateur American football league, which includes Israeli settlers and Palestinians, has largely been ignored by most mainstream news outlets including CNN.

This sort of misrepresentation of the conflict is further strengthened with such articles, as “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace” published in Times on September 2. The author, Karl Vicks, writes that “The truth is that Israelis are no longer preoccupied (with peace,)” rather they are busy “making money and enjoying the rays of late summer,” Vicks asserts. Photos of Israelis smoking hookah on the Ashdod beach appear alongside the article.

Vicks bases his argument primarily on two Israeli real-estate agents, Eli and Heli from Ashdod, whose viewpoints he uses to represent the opinions of close to six million other Israeli Jews.

But media networks aren’t the only ones assigning wrongful and misdirected blame as to who is at fault for Mideast tensions; government officials are also echoing their sentiments. Former US President Bill Clinton recently seized the opportunity to also assign blame on Israelis, but to a more specific sector-- the Russian immigrant population in Israel. Clinton recently told US press that Israeli Russians “are the hardest-core people against the division of the land,” and “present a staggering problem” to peace.

In truth, the staggering problems facing the Middle East peace process have nothing to do with Israeli Russians, nor with the settler community.

Threats are very real
The obstacles have all to do with the rising nuclear power of Iran and the Republic’s fervent financial and military support for terrorist organizations in Gaza and Lebanon as well as in other areas across the world.

Without the financial support of Iran, Hamas’ network could not exist and keep Gaza under its hold. With a $540 million budget for 2010, of which Iran provides the largest share, Hamas’ connection with Ahmadinejad’s government is rooted not only in money but in guns as well.

On the military front, Iran provides Hamas fighters with top military training and instruction from the commanders of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC.) The Islamic Republic also engages in delivering weapons in single components to the Sinai, paying the Sinai Bedouins for transferring the weapons through the Gaza tunnels.

The results of the Iran-Hamas connection were revealed this past summer when Egyptian police took control of nine weapons caches across hideouts in the Sinai Peninsula. The weapons caches, which were hidden in Rafah City and the port city of al-Arish, were about to be smuggled into the Gaza Strip.

Nearly 200 anti-aircraft missiles, 90 artillery shells, 200 bullets of varying sizes and anti-tank landmines, machine guns and ammunitions were among the weapons found according to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency. Egyptian security forces also seized 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of TNT explosives. The large number of missiles indicates that Palestinian terror groups in Gaza may possess a higher number of projectiles than originally assumed.

Both Iran and Syria continue to be the chief sources for weapons bound for the Gaza Strip, as Hamas builds a stockpile of rockets targeting close to one million Israelis in range.

But readers of the Newsweek article (June 1), “Gaza is about Butter, Not Guns,” by Dan Ephron, would have gained a completely different understanding of this situation. Ephron highlights what he believes to be the economic benefits that Israel elicits from the blockade, while completely downplaying any security threats that Gaza terror groups pose to Israelis.

And the threats are very real. This past September alone, the number of Gaza rocket attacks on southern Israel sharply increased, with close to 20 Qassams and mortar shells fired at residential areas in the western Negev and Ashkelon. One rocket struck between two day-care centers on a southern Israeli kibbutz in the morning of September 12, right before children were scheduled to arrive. No one was injured although one nursery sustained damages.

As articles blaming Israel for failed Mideast peace continue to stream into the headlines, it is clear that Mideastern reality will continue to play out as usual - with Iran as an increasingly mobilizing force. With statements like that of Ahmed Jaabari, the leader of Hamas’ military wing, who threatened a wave of violence intended to derail the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks just two weeks ago, Israelis have no choice but to prepare themselves for war. For Israel, terror and war are always a few steps behind peace, whether mainstream media chooses to document this angle or not.



Anav Silverman, a native of Maine, writes from Jerusalem, Israel where she is an educator at Hebrew University's Secondary School of Education. She also works as an international correspondent at Sderot Media Center.

Ynet News

The Israeli Occupation and the Settlements

by Ted Belman

The pro-Palestinian propaganda machine has succeeded in stigmatizing the Israeli occupation and the settlements. Time and again we hear about the "brutal occupation" and the "illegal settlements".

We rarely hear the truth in opposition to these lies.

Occupation

Israel is accused of occupying the West Bank and Gaza. In fact these territories are described as "The occupied Palestinian territories." Not only are they not occupied in a legal sense, but also they are not "Palestinian" lands in a sovereign sense..

The Fourth Geneva Convention (FGC) is a treaty between signatory states that are called High Contracting Parties (HCP). It regulates the obligations of one HCP who occupies the land of another HCP.

It defines the terms "Occupying Power" and "Occupied State".

Thus this convention does not apply to the territories because they were not the land of any HCP. They have never been the land of an HCP. Prior to 1967, Jordon was in occupation of these territories, just as Israel is currently in occupation. Jordanian sovereignty over these lands was never recognized and ultimately Jordan relinquished any claims she claimed to have over these lands. The FGC was never applied when Jordan occupied the land and it shouldn't be applied now that Israel does.

Yet the International Court of Justice, when it gave an advisory opinion on the Israeli security fence, "identified Jordan as the occupied power of the West Bank".

According to David Matas, an international lawyer of considerable repute, in his well argued book Aftershock, "The judgment moves on from this legal reasoning to labeling the West Bank as Palestinian occupied territory. But this labelling is based on the ethnic composition of the West Bank, not on its legal status." [..] "This assertion by the ICJ that the West Bank is occupied territory is a contortion the Court imposed on the law to get to its desired results of slapping the label "occupier" on Israel." "[This] shows that the primary concern of the court was to connect to pro-Palestinian rhetoric".

As a result the Palestinians consider themselves the "occupied power".

Matas notes "That the Geneva Conventions on the Laws of War do not recognize the legal possibility of the occupation of a people, only the occupation of the territory of a state." A Protocol to these conventions does recognize such a possibility but Israel is not a signatory to it and is thus not bound by it.

It must be clearly understood that Israel's occupation is not illegal and the UN has never claimed it to be. In fact Resolution 242 permits Israel to remain in occupation until they have an agreement on "secure and recognized borders".

The Palestinians have no greater claim to a state than any minority group in any other state that wants a state of their own. The Basques and the Kurds come to mind. No one is demanding that they be given statehood.

When Israel's counsel acknowledged to Israel's High Court when it was deliberating on the fence, that Israel held the land in "belligerent occupation", he did so to enable the Court to use the law of occupation in its deliberations. It was not an admission that the lands were Palestinian land or that the FGC applied.

Matas also takes issue with Dore Gold and others for calling the land "disputed land", because others argue all of Israel is disputed land.

UNSC Res 242 sanctioned Israel's right to remain in occupation until such time as the parties reached an agreement on secure and recognized borders.

This resolution makes no mention of the FGC.

Israel has accepted the PA as the negotiating party. Nevertheless she knows the PA is currently an illegitimate government, having overstayed its mandate, and speaks for no one much less Hamas.

Settlements

The anti-Zionists argue the settlements are illegal and rely solely on the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention which provides that the Occupying power is prohibited from transferring civilian populations to occupied territories. They say that the prohibition against transfer includes a prohibition against encouragement to settle. The matter has never been put to a court for interpretation or determination. But the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) advises "that this provision was intended to prevent a practice adopted during the Second World War in which certain powers transferred portions of their populations to occupied territories for political and racial reasons or in order, as they claimed to colonize those territories."

Nazi Germany enforced two kinds of transfers but in both cases they were forced transfers. The victims were the persons being forced.

Transferring populations is not a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions. However a Protocol to the GC makes it so but Israel is not a party to the protocol and is not bound by it.

The anti-Zionists reject the notion that the proscription is against only forced transfers and argue that the FGC proscribes inducement to move as well. But how can there be a crime of inducement when the person committing the act, the settler, has done nothing wrong.

How can you be guilty of a crime by inducing someone to do something which is not a crime? Furthermore, this inducement would be a War Crime on an equal footing with Genocide. The equation is ludicrous. And if the settlers settle on their own volition and not due to inducements, what then? Also it is impossible to prosecute an occupying power. So what individuals would be held responsible?

Even if someone in Israel was convicted of offering inducements to settle, the settlers would not be affected and could remain in the settlements if they wished.

Matas opines, "The interpretation defies the ordinary understanding of criminal responsibility where the person committing the act is the primary wrongdoer and the person inducing the act is only an accessory."

Matas concludes. "There is all the difference in the world between forcible transfer, the offence of the Geneva Convention, and voluntary settlement, even where the settlement is encouraged" (by are merely providing inducements).[..] "Transfer is something that is done to people. Settlement is something people do."

The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court made it an offence to "directly or indirectly" transfer populations.

The ICRC has attempted to interpret "indirect transfers" as "inducements" thereby making them a crime. But the GC certainly does not and that currently is the prevailing opinion.

But that didn't prevent the ICJ, in its advisory opinion above noted, from finding that the settlements violated international law. No reasons were given and no authority cited. But elsewhere it expressed the opinion that the combination of the settlements and the fence amounted to de facto annexation. It ignored the fact that Israel took the position that the fence was not intended to be the border but was merely a security measure. While actual annexation may be a violation of the FGC, the settlements and the fence certainly were not.an annexation or a violation of the FGC.

What a legal stretch!

And what about the settlements on the west side of the fence? Are they an annexation too?

Thus the ICJ did not conclude that someone in Israel was guilty of inducing settlements or in any other way of transferring populations...

Matas expands on his dim view of the advisory opinion. He considers it an attempt to discredit Israel. In the end it discredited the ICJ. He prays that the ICC will be more judicious.

The ICJ, after all, is an organ of the UN who requested it to provide the opinion. Similarly the UN requested Goldstone to investigate Cast Lead and produce a report. This report, like the advisory opinion, was just what the UN "ordered".

But keep in mind that the opinion of the ICJ was just that, an opinion, and is not legally binding on anyone.

The US has traditionally, with the Carter administration being the only exception, refrained from describing the settlements as illegal and instead called them obstacles to peace. In September 2009, Obama went before the United Nations and declared "America does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements."

This is closer to Carter's position but falls short of declaring them illegal. Nevertheless, it prompted John Bolton to say "This is the most radical anti-Israel speech I can recall any president making."

All this ignores the fact that the Palestine Mandate encouraged close settlement of the land by Jews. This right has never been rescinded and the UN has no right to rescind it. . So Jews from anywhere have the right to settle on the West Bank and the PA and the UN has no right to say otherwise.

To demand that the future Palestinian state be Judenrein, free of Jews, is reprehensible and discriminatory.

The West should not condone it, but it does.




Ted Belman is a retired lawyer and the editor of Israpundit. He made aliya last year from Toronto and currently lives in Jerusalem

Think Israel

3 Jihad Members Killed in Gaza Strike

Palestinian sources say Israel Air Force strike in central Gaza leaves three al-Quds Brigades operatives dead. IDF confirms attack, says cell was preparing to fire at Israel

Gaza sources reported Monday that three Palestinians were killed in an IDF strike on a militant cell.

According to the sources, the cell, which was spotted moving at the Noserat refugee camp in central Gaza, suffered a direct hit.

The three have been identified as Muhammad Abu Id, Awani Abdel-Khadi and Ala Abu Zbeida – all confirmed members of the Islamic Jihad's al-Quds Brigades.

The sources added that shortly after the first strike, the IDF struck central Gaza a second time. No injuries were reported.

The IDF Spokesman's Unit confirmed the strike, saying that "the Israel Air Force, in a joint military-Shin Bet operation, attacked a terror cell preparing to fire at Israel."

Several rockets have been fired at Israel over the past week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Gaza vicinity communities last week and warned the Gaza groups against any escalation.

"Our first commitment is to security, and I suggest Hamas and the other organization not test us on that."

Ynet News

Army Chief: More Flotilla Casualties Possible

Preparing for another clash? Resistance to IDF forces on board upcoming flotillas may result in casualties, Chief of Staff Ashkenazi tells Knesset committee; Gaza-bound vessels 'a challenge for the IDF and for Israel,' he says.

More deadly clashes to follow? Resistance on board future Gaza-bound flotillas may lead to more casualties, IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi warned Tuesday in an appearance before the Knesset's Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee.

The army chief presented his assessment to committee members amid reports that another Gaza-bound ship is about to head out of Libya as part of a major flotilla to depart from Europe.

"This is a challenge for the IDF and for Israel," he said. "If we see such large ships and if we see force used, we do not dismiss the possibility of casualties," he said.

Libyan ship to head to Gaza
Ashkenazi revealed that IDF officials are aware of four flotillas being planned at this time, including one from Lebanon that he said is encountering difficulties. One more flotilla is expected to head out of Syria, and yet another one from Yemen.

However, the most distributing flotilla is one comprising dozens of ships expected to head out of Europe, he said. The vessels will be carrying passengers from various countries, including the United States.

Earlier Tuesday, a Libyan website reported that a Libyan ship is expected to leave the country and join the European flotilla en route to Gaza, with many North African parliament members on board.

"Diplomatic work is being undertaken by the Foreign Ministry in order to curb the flotillas before they depart," the army chief said. "This is better for Israel, as not to repeat the images of the Turkish flotilla."

'Too many probes'
Ashkenazi also slammed the many commissions of inquiries into the Turkish flotilla. He said that he would like to see IDF soldiers "daring and taking risks," rather than heading into probes.

"I'm not objecting to debriefings, yet we have five inquiries," he said. "A negative pattern had been created whereby every time our troops return, a commission of inquiry awaits them at the docks or at the border crossings."

"In this profession, which is about managing risks, I would like to see people daring and taking risks," he said.

The Netanyahu display in the Great Flotilla preparation

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'Great flotilla' Group Mounts Anti-Israeli Campaign

Ynet News

'Great flotilla' Group Mounts Anti-Israeli Campaign

Organizers of next Gaza aid sail mount display featuring Israeli premier clutching bloody knife, skeleton of Israeli soldier with Palestinian children coming out of its mouth in efforts to rally support for journey. Foreign Ministry: Campaign heinous

While Israel is studying the UN Human Rights Council report probing the events of May's Gaza-bound aid sail, the organizers are preparing for their next sail, by by launching an anti-Israel street and media campaign. .

The future flotilla is expected to reach the area in early October, carrying hundreds of anti-Israeli activist from Europe. Organizers launched the media campaign in London, last week.

The 4,000-mile journey, which is currently still land-bound, will arrive in Syria next week. Participants will then set sail to Egypt's al-Arish port and from there to Rafah crossing.

For now, the participants' campaign have taken them to Torino, Italy, where they staged a support rally dubbed "Viva Palestine – from Italy to Gaza" and have embarked on a mission to raise funds and supporters, using displays depicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holding a bloody butcher knife and a second display feature the skeleton head of an Israeli soldier, with Palestinian children coming out of its mouth.

Displays including skulls embedded with the Star of David and Palestinian flags are expected to be shown throughout the journey.

Organizers claim the flotilla will include 12 vessels carrying 5,000 activists, but Israel says only a few hundreds are expected to actually arrive.

Foreign Ministry Communications Director Yossi Levy said Friday that "the media ruckus the sail activists are trying to rile up is the opening shot in a heinous campaign which in unjustifiable and means only to damage Israel's international image and standing.

"Just as the Marmara terror ship was not carrying so much as one ounce of humanitarian aid for Gazans... this sail and others like it aim to breach a hypothetical blockade and ease 'mass hunger' which is nothing more than the figment of an anti-Israeli campaign."

Gaza, he concluded, "Longs not for the end of an Israeli occupation, but for the end of Hamas occupation, which has plunged it into great darkness."

The Netanyahu display in the Great Flotilla preparation

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Army Chief: More Flotilla Casualties Possible

Ynet News

Fighting Hamas With Cars

Avi Trengo explains how quiet weekend in south is linked to Gaza car imports

In recent weeks, a somewhat different aspect of the war against Hamas in Gaza had been revealed to us – the economic aspect. Simultaneously, we saw oscillating rocket attacks, which came to a complete halt in recent days, granting us a peaceful Yom Kippur. What’s the connection between all of this? The surprising answer: Cars.

In June, upon the lifting of the Gaza siege in the wake of the Marmara fiasco, Israel opened Gaza to Israeli exports. After all, Gazans are excellent customers: They pay in advance using all the aid money poured into the Strip by the world.

Every grain of rice, egg, apple, or veal transferred to the Strip from Israel sees someone gaining a commission. The world clears its conscience via donations, so that there’s no shortage of money in Gaza. In fact, the Strip is a “world champion” in per capita donation receipts, by far outpacing states like Congo, Malawi, Pakistan, and Haiti.

Upon the official declaration of the lifting of what was known as “the Israeli siege,” Israeli sales to Gaza grew tenfold. If up until a year ago, about 40-60 trucks entered Gaza every week with fruit and vegetables, by early August of this year the number rose to 563 trucks of fresh food.

Meanwhile, Israel announced that it will allow new cars into Gaza, for the first time since Hamas took over the Strip. Of course, that announcement was not directly conveyed to Hamas authorities – the official Israel prefers to pretend that Ramallah’s Palestinian Authority still rules the Strip.

Everyone, all across the military and economic establishment, plays along with this pretension, highlighted by the shekels used by Hamas to pay Gaza salaries – shekels transferred to Gaza by the Bank of Israel and seemingly handed over only to authorized banks. Similarly, messages about car imports are also conveyed via a game of pretend: Only to representatives of the official Palestinian Authority. Yet this time we were in for a surprise.

An old trick
Maher Abu-Aluf, the PA official in charge of coordination with Gaza, quickly approved the move. However, the transportation ministry’s director general on behalf of Hamas in Gaza, Hassan Ukasha, announced that he will not allow the vehicles to enter the Strip.

Ukasha explained his decision to the stunned Gaza press as follows: The Palestinian Authority has a financial interest in bringing vehicles into Gaza. Israel imposes high taxes on each vehicle (a 50% sales tax and a 14% value added tax) – these funds are directly transferred from Israel’s Treasury to the PA’s accounts in Israeli banks. The PA doesn’t have to make any effort to collect the money from the importers – Israel does everything.

Ukasha made it clear that he does not wish to undermine importers and impose more taxes on vehicles entering Gaza. Hence, he proposed a simple solution: Let’s establish a joint committee with the PA that would discuss the distribution of funds received from Israel.

Officials in Salam Fayyad’s government realized that they’re about to lose millions and rushed to convey a message to Ukasha suggesting that he shut up: There is no reason for Israel to be aware of the nature of financial ties between Hamastan and the PA, to the tune of billions of shekels annually.

Ukasha got the hint, and proposed a joint committee about a wholly different issue. Within less than a week, a committee was set up, seemingly for the sole purpose of discussing “a shared transportation vision for Palestine and connecting Gaza to the West Bank.”

And so, with discussions about vision not arousing suspicion of money transfers to Hamas, the committee completed its work. Officially, the PA informed Israel about a week ago that it managed to convince Hamas authorities to lift their objection to the entry of vehicles into Gaza. Meanwhile, Hamas announced that it is no longer interested in vehicle tax revenues, as long as the Fayyad government earmarks more funds to Gaza municipalities.

Everyone was pleased and the convey was ready to depart, in line with an Israeli agreement to bring 60 cars into Gaza every week – yet at the same time, the rocket fired directed at southern Israeli communities intensified. And then, some Israeli security official recalled an old trick that used to work before Operation Cast Lead. They used to call it, with a wink, “sealing off the crossings.” Today we can no longer use this tactic, yet it doesn’t mean we should grant rewards to Hamas in the form of cars and customs revenues.

And so, unexpectedly, Israel stopped the transfer of cars and spare parts to Gaza. Hamas again quickly got the message, and we therefore enjoyed a quiet weekend.

The question is whether the security establishment finally got the hint about its ability to undermine Hamas’ thriving businesses, thereby securing quiet for southern Israel residents without being accused of war crimes. As it turns out, vehicles are a weapon too.

Ynet News

Letting the IDF Win

Decline of Palestinian suicide terror shows there is military solution to terrorism

By Yoaz Hendel

On September 28, 2000, then-Opposition Leader Ariel Sharon visited Temple Mount. This seemingly insignificant event was enough for our partner Arafat to officially bid the Oslo peace dove farewell.

Exactly 10 years ago, the al-Aqsa Intifada erupted in full force. The IDF responded in line with orders, the area was on fire, and at Ehud Barak’s prime minister’s office officials attempted to cling to diplomacy in every possible way.

IDF officials referred to the violence as a “limited conflict” (a controversial name for an asymmetric war pitting a large, powerful army against a weaker actor, such as a terror or guerilla organization.) Indeed, the term proved to be accurate: The political leadership limited the army’s response.

It took some time to understand that this was war; Barak failed to understand it even at the end of his term in office. His replacement, Sharon – who usually acts quickly – regained his focused in an incredibly slow manner. The IDF, which was supposed to provide security, operated in line with the old insights and voluntarily limitations, as not to undermine the chances of renewing the peace, heaven forbid.

Yet the people on the street, who had no access to the “big picture” and the “overall considerations,” understood reality without getting lost in terminology; the kind of wisdom of people who find themselves fearing every trip out of the house, riding on buses, or going out to a restaurant or to the mall.

Meanwhile, “intellectual circles” in Israel engaged in an incisive debate on whether putting an end to the IDF’s restraint would solve the problem. Can the IDF cope with the suicide terror? Is a military capable of coping with a terror group that has no frontlines or home front and that does not adhere to ethics and the rules of war?

Results speak for themselves
On one end of the debate we had people who demanded that we fight with full force – the most prominent among them were members of the Yesha Council, who coined the slogan “Let the IDF win.” On the other end we had the Oslo fans, who had trouble reconciling themselves to the fact that their great spiritual leader, the peace process, passed away.

As love of peace wasn’t a logical enough argument for limiting the IDF, negotiation-at-any-price fans resorted to military arguments. We are facing a war that cannot be won, one commentator explained. The IDF knows there is no military solution to terror, wrote another. There is no military solution, said Amram Mitzna in response to the Yesha Council’s slogan. Many others argued that the only way to resolve the problem is an all-out negotiation session.

Yet Arafat, who was not overly impressed by the pursuit of peace, escalated the acts of terror. At the end of the “terrible March” of 2002, after the outcome of the terror attack at the Park Hotel became known, the politicians decided to let the IDF win.

The limits on invasion into Palestinian Authority territory were lifted. IDF units entered Area A and the PA’s terror strongholds. The army was allowed to carry out arrests deep in enemy territory and resort to assassinations of terror leaders. Thousands of operational spoons emptied the terror barrel.

We can see the results in the numbers: In 2002, at the height of the terror wave, when it was declared that terror cannot be defeated, 232 civilians died here, most of them in the 53 suicide bombings carried out across the nation. In 2007 and 2008 we only saw two suicide bombings, one in each year. In the past two years, no suicide bombers exploded here.

Victory is an elusive term in the world of small wars. Victory is always temporary and not guaranteed to last. Yet if you ask me, the fact that I walk around with my children in Jerusalem’s Mahne Yehuda Market without fear, 10 years later, means that we won.




Ynet News