Commitment to Arab Boycott of Israel, Conference Stresses (nothing new here!!!)

Why the Arabs hate Israel is a complex question, but one that needs to be explored. I have come to certain conclusions, and the primary one is that the Arabs hate Israel for one reason more than any other: pride. You see, Israel is a sore in the Arab's side. It is the West in the mideast. By the 20th century, the once glorious Arab nations were under the thumb of European imperialism. Britain and France ruled them, dominated them, and shamed them with their military and economic superiority. Unlike India, the Arab nations did not "win" their independence (by passive resistance and nonviolence, might I add). They remain shamed. But unlike Africa, they were not powerless, they had the lifeblood of modern industry - oil. Lawrence of Arabia was European. Israel, however, is a constant reminder of the West's dominance over the Arab states. Israel is a tiny country, a country of JEWS, no less (not exactly known for their fighting prowess), that consistently defeated much larger Arab forces - of multiple nations, not 1-on-1. Israel has a modern economy, unlike the rest of the mideast. It developed the Nuclear bomb. It survived without their oil. It survived with a democracy, as opposed to a paternalistic dictatorship. Israel is a leader in science and technology. It made the desert bloom. It survived all the ways (economic, political pressure through Europe, terrorism) that the Arab nations tried to destroy it with. And that is a reminder to the Arab people of what they HAVE NOT done. It is a constant reminder of their failures. And that is why there can be no real peace until the Arab nations are themselves reformed into modern democracies. Because until they have pride in themselves, the only source of their pride will be the hope that Israel will eventually be destroyed. Renaud Sarda bellow is the article... Commitment to Arab Boycott of Israel, Conference Stresses Oct 28, 2010

Damascus, (SANA) – Participants at the 85th Conference of the Liaison Officers of the Arab and Regional Offices on the Boycott of Israel stressed on Thursday their commitment to the principles and rules of Arab boycott of Israel and exert economic pressure on it to abide by the international legitimacy resolutions. They called for challenging the Israeli attempts to infiltrate the Arab markets for the protection of the Arab nation interests, supporting the Palestinians in Jerusalem and the occupied Arab territories and for pressuring Israel to withdraw from all the occupied Arab territories. The conference condemned Israel's new racist procedures and laws such as the amendment of the so-called loyalty oath which targets Palestinians in the territories occupied in 1948 and threatens their presence. The participants reiterated that just and comprehensive peace can only be achieved when there is a full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories to the line of June 4, 1967 including the Syrian Golan in addition to establishing an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. They called on the international community to end the Israeli siege imposed on Gaza and stop the Palestinian suffering.

Palestine: Le plan B de Mahmoud Abbas

Mahmoud Abbas.  

REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman

Confronté à l'échec quasiment inéluctable de la tentative de relance du processus de paix, le président de l'Autorité palestinienne a ébauché un scénario alternatif, assorti de diverses variantes. En voici la teneur.

 

Sauf miracle de dernière minute, le processus de paix de Washington devrait entrer dans les annales du conflit israélo-palestinien comme le plus bref que la région ait jamais connu. Ouvert le 2 septembre dernier sur le tapis de la Maison Blanche, ce nouveau "round" de négociations s'est fracassé un mois plus tard sur le refus d'Israël de prolonger le gel de la colonisation, décrété pour une durée de dix mois en novembre 2009. Ni les reports successifs de la date-butoir, ni l'agacement croissant de ses partenaires européens, ni même l'alléchant "package" de contreparties concocté par l'administration américaine ne semblent avoir fissuré la carapace du Premier ministre israélien Benyamin Netanyahou. Dans l'hypothèse hautement probable où celui-ci ignorerait l'ultime échéance, fixée par la Ligue arabe au 8 novembre, la direction palestinienne a élaboré une série d'alternatives au processus moribond. "Cela fait 19 ans que nous négocions avec les Israéliens pendant qu'ils accaparent notre terre et notre eau, dit Mohamed Shtayyeh, haut dirigeant du Fatah et confident du président Mahmoud Abbas. Ce système ne mène nulle part, il ne peut plus durer."  

Le plan B des Palestiniens est une stratégie à options multiples. La première vise à convaincre les Etats-Unis de reconnaître un Etat de Palestine, incluant Jérusalem-Est, la Cisjordanie et la bande de Gaza. En cas d'échec, le deuxième scénario consiste à demander cette reconnaissance au Conseil de sécurité des Nations unies. Les responsables palestiniens postulent qu'Israël aurait beaucoup plus de mal à maintenir l'occupation d'un véritable Etat que celle de simples "territoires", comme c'est le cas actuellement. Ils tablent sur le fait qu'une fois la Palestine membre à part entière de l'Onu, le Conseil de sécurité pourrait voter des résolutions coercitives à l'encontre d'Israël, ce qui n'a jamais été le cas jusque là.  

"On ne sait pas jusqu'où les Etats-Unis sont prêts à nous suivre, concède Mohamed Shtayyeh. Mais les pays européens ne devraient pas s'opposer à nous, au contraire". Ce dimanche, le quotidien libéral israélien Haaretz rapportait une conversation téléphonique houleuse survenue une dizaine de jours plus tôt entre Benyamin Netanyahou et Nicolas Sarkozy, "furieux" que le dirigeant israélien ait annulé à la dernière minute sa participation à une conférence prévue à Paris, avec Mahmoud Abbas. Si Washington usait de son veto onusien, le président palestinien pourrait abattre une troisième carte : exiger que les Territoires occupés soient placés sous tutelle internationale et qu'une force d'interposition soit déployée sur le terrain. En cas d'échec, une ultime option, à très hauts risques, consisterait à remettre les clés du régime palestinien au gouvernement israélien, à charge pour lui de subvenir aux besoins de la population locale.  

Sans surprise, le cabinet israélien a rejeté ce plan, évoquant des représailles en cas de "mesures unilatérales." "Les Nations unies n'ont pas le pouvoir de créer un Etat, fait remarquer Ygal Palmor, porte-parole du ministère des Affaires étrangères. Et de toute façon, la Ligne verte (qui sépare Israël de la Cisjordanie) n'est pas une démarcation officielle. Les Palestiniens obtiendront au mieux une déclaration de soutien. Ils marqueront quelques points sur la scène diplomatique. Mais cela ne fera pas bouger les colons et ne changera rien sur le terrain." Les dirigeants palestiniens font le pari inverse. A 75 ans, après six années à la tête d'un régime qui n'a pas plus de pouvoir qu'une préfecture, Mahmoud Abbas n'a plus grand-chose à perdre.  

Israeli legislators call on Obama to release Jewish spy

Members of the Israeli Knesset parliament are calling on U.S. President Barack Obama to pardon American-born spy Jonathan Pollard, having been jailed in a maximum security facility since 1985.

Dozens of parliamentarians from across the political spectrum on Sunday signed a letter asking Obama to release Pollard, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for handing classified documents to the Israeli intelligence while working as an analyst for the U.S. Navy.

Legislator Uri Ariel of the National Union party, who heads the "Free Pollard" lobby, initiated the letter to Obama, according to local daily Ma'ariv. He was joined by a group of activists and the Israeli Association of Social and Humanities Academics.

"A rare window of opportunity (to release Pollard) has recently opened in both Israel and the United States," Ariel said Sunday evening, "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will leave for the United States next week and we are doing everything possible to make sure he doesn't miss that opportunity."

Pollard is a former civilian intelligence analyst who worked for the U.S. Naval Investigative Service (NIS) division. The security clearance he was granted enabled him access to highly classified information. In 1984, he met a member of the Israeli intelligence and began passing him sensitive materials which included, among other things, a manual that detailed America's global electronic surveillance network.

Israel officially denied any connection to Pollard immediately following his capture in 1985, a policy it maintained until 1998. Some Israeli politicians have since lobbied for his release, including Netanyahu, who visited him in prison in 2002.

Several high-profile U.S. officials, including legislators, a former CIA director and former chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, in recent years pleaded various U.S. administrations to grant Pollard clemency.

The letter signed Sunday by Israeli legislators follows an op- ed published last Thursday in the Los Angeles Times by Lawrence Korb, a former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration, who wrote that Pollard's punishment "doesn't fit the crime."

"Pollard has already served far too long for the crime for which he was convicted, and by now, whatever facts he might know would have little effect on national security," Korb wrote.

In their letter to Obama, the Israeli parliamentarians note that Israel has already taken responsibility for Pollard's actions and apologized.

"Even senior officials in your administration, including your deputy, Joe Biden, and your advisor, Dennis Ross, have supported the claim that Pollard must be freed after serving more than ample prison time for the offense he committed," the letter reads.

Esther Pollard, wife of the convicted spy, said on Sunday her husband's health is fast deteriorating behind bars.

Regarding Netanyahu's scheduled meeting with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden next week, she said she hoped the Israeli premier would pass on the request to "do the right thing and put an end to a 25-year nightmare."

Jewish graves in France vandalised

By Jennifer Lipman, November 1, 2010

Vandals have desecrated nearly 50 graves in a Jewish cemetery in France.

A passer-by noticed the damage to the Bar-le-Duc cemetery in northeastern France and alerted the police.

In total, 49 graves were found to have been knocked over or broken.

The attack was described as antisemitic by The National Bureau of Vigilance Against Antisemitism.

They said investigators should “take into consideration the racist character of the degradations in this old Jewish cemetery.”

Meridor cancels Bicom appearance over arrest fears

By Marcus Dysch, November 1, 2010

Dan Meridor

EXCLUSIVE: Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor has cancelled an appearance at a London fundraising dinner over fears he could be arrested under universal jurisdiction legislation.

It is believed the Israeli Justice Ministry warned Mr Meridor that a warrant for his arrest may be issued if he entered Britain.

He was due to speak at the Bicom dinner tonight. He was a replacement for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who cancelled last week due to the delicate state of the peace negotiations.

Mr Meridor's office refused to comment, but sources in the Prime Minister's office confirmed that he had cancelled his visit at the last moment.

Arguments over alterations to the universal jurisdiction legislation have continued since the government came to power in May.

Justice Minister Ken Clarke announced in July that the coalition would table a legislative amendment which would ensure the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) would need to give consent for an arrest warrant to be issued in response to a private prosecution for war crimes.

The government has repeatedly said it would act as soon as parliamentary time allows to implement the changes, but predicted it may take until the end of November or December.

Bicom chief executive Lorna Fitzsimons said: “Israeli law officers did not think they should take the risk [of allowing him to come].

"Foreign Secretary William Hague intervened and the British government tried to make it work. They are committed to changing the law and it cannot come soon enough.”

Liberté de la presse en Turquie : viré pour avoir critiquer le gouvernement

Le chroniqueur en chef du quotidien Hürriyet a (été) démissionné samedi de son poste au journal, suite à une critique acerbe publié contre le gouvernement, dans une de ses dernière chronique.

“Deux mots que j’ai changé à la fin de mon article du28 octobre, sans imaginer qu’ils pourraient créer une telle violence à mon encontre… J’ai simplement dit la vérité telle qu’elle est. Mais il y en a qui ne veulent pas comprendre” explique Eksi, la victime.

Dans sa colonne, qui est également le Président du Conseil de la Presse, écrivait sur un projet de loi qui éliminerait l’autorité des conseils de protection pour les “ites protégés.” L’article traite par exemple de la production d’énergie hydroélectrique sur plusieurs rivières de Turquie. Eksi y critique le gouvernement qui veut pouvoir saccager l’environnement en ayant le mains libres.

Le chroniqueur terminait ainsi son article par : «Vous voyez les« mérites »de cette mentalité qui vend même sa propre mère.”

A peine paru, des dizaines de militants islamistes de l’AKP sont allés manifestés devant le bâtiment du hournal Hurryiet à Istanbul. Le député de l’AKP, Hüseyin Çelik a lui aussi condamné le chroniqueur : “nous condamnons les paroles inquiétantes et criminelles d’Eksi”.

Le ministre de l’Energie, Taner Yildiz a pour sa part réclamer la démission du journaliste. Il a même affirmé vouloir intenté un procès contre le journaliste. Veysel Eroglu, ministre de l’Environnement, a également demandé à es avocats de prendre toutes les mesures nécessaires pour faire cesser la calomnie.

Après un projet de loi pour interdire les BlackBerry, après avoir proposer de censurer Facebook, voilà la Turquie qui entre dans une nouvelle ère ; celle de la censure des journalistes qui déranges…

Anger as Germany cuts funding to Orthodox Jews

The German government has ignited a row with the country's Orthodox Jews after it stopped funding the training of Orthodox rabbis.

 

Published: 7:00AM GMT 01 Nov 2010

There are now some 120,000 Jews living in Germany, and many are Orthodox Photo: REUTERS

The authorities have been subsidising the training of rabbis for several years, but the interior ministry recently announced that it would only fund Liberal rabbis from now on.

Thomas de Maziere, the interior minister, blamed "the budget situation" for the decision, the Times reports.

However, the move has upset the Jewish community.

Jewish officials have claimed that the government made the decision because it no longer wanted to deal with Orthodox Jews.

"They like Liberal Jews because they are seen as easygoing, not reminding them all the time about anti-Semitism and the Shoah [Holocaust]," Stephan Kramer, the secretary-general of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, told the paper.

Since the Second World War, Germany has been trying to re-establish a Jewish presence in the country. There are now some 120,000 Jews living in Germany, and many are Orthodox.

An official at the interior ministry said that the government gives £4.3m each year towards rebuilding Jewish life in Germany and said that the government was not discriminating against any denomination
.