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1. Report: Bibi Plans Judea Building, then Freeze
by Maayana Miskin
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans to approve the construction of hundreds of housing units in Judea and Samaria, a source in the Prime Minister's Office said Friday. Following the approval of the new projects, Netanyahu will consider a complete building freeze on Jewish communities in the area.
Israel has already informed the United States of the intention to allow a final round of building before the freeze, the source reported.
The report follows rumors that Israel and the U.S. are close to reaching an agreement regarding an array of steps to be taken vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority. The goal is to allow for Israel-PA negotiations to resume – something that PA leaders say will only happen if Jews are not allowed to build anywhere east of the 1949 armistice line.
In addition to allowing for hundreds of new apartments, Netanyahu's government will continue to allow the construction of roughly 2,500 housing units in Judea and Samaria's Jewish cities. Construction of the units was approved before the current government took office.
If Netanyahu agrees in the end to a complete building freeze in Israeli-controlled regions of Judea and Samaria, he will be the first prime minister in Israel's history to do so. The PA, backed by the U.S. and the European Union, has demanded that a building freeze include cities such as Maaleh Adumim, Ariel, and Beitar Illit, which most Israelis believe should remain Israeli even if a PA state is created in most of Judea and Samaria.
Under the proposed construction freeze plan, Israel would forbid Jews to build in Judea and Samaria in exchange for gestures from hostile Arab countries. If Arab countries begin normalizing their ties with Israel following a building freeze, the freeze would continue indefinitely.
If the countries refuse to normalize ties even with a building freeze, Israel would allow construction in those areas to resume after several months.
The proposal faces strong opposition from within Netanyahu's Likud party. “Likud MKs are not a rubber stamp for the prime minister,” MK Danny Danon told Kol Yisrael government radio on Friday. “We will back the prime minister only so long as he remains true to the Likud's principles.”
Netanyahu has not yet made a public announcement regarding the possibility of a building freeze. He continues to meet frequently with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell to discuss the issue.
Comment on this story
by Maayana Miskin
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu plans to approve the construction of hundreds of housing units in Judea and Samaria, a source in the Prime Minister's Office said Friday. Following the approval of the new projects, Netanyahu will consider a complete building freeze on Jewish communities in the area.
Israel has already informed the United States of the intention to allow a final round of building before the freeze, the source reported.
The report follows rumors that Israel and the U.S. are close to reaching an agreement regarding an array of steps to be taken vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority. The goal is to allow for Israel-PA negotiations to resume – something that PA leaders say will only happen if Jews are not allowed to build anywhere east of the 1949 armistice line.
In addition to allowing for hundreds of new apartments, Netanyahu's government will continue to allow the construction of roughly 2,500 housing units in Judea and Samaria's Jewish cities. Construction of the units was approved before the current government took office.
If Netanyahu agrees in the end to a complete building freeze in Israeli-controlled regions of Judea and Samaria, he will be the first prime minister in Israel's history to do so. The PA, backed by the U.S. and the European Union, has demanded that a building freeze include cities such as Maaleh Adumim, Ariel, and Beitar Illit, which most Israelis believe should remain Israeli even if a PA state is created in most of Judea and Samaria.
Under the proposed construction freeze plan, Israel would forbid Jews to build in Judea and Samaria in exchange for gestures from hostile Arab countries. If Arab countries begin normalizing their ties with Israel following a building freeze, the freeze would continue indefinitely.
If the countries refuse to normalize ties even with a building freeze, Israel would allow construction in those areas to resume after several months.
The proposal faces strong opposition from within Netanyahu's Likud party. “Likud MKs are not a rubber stamp for the prime minister,” MK Danny Danon told Kol Yisrael government radio on Friday. “We will back the prime minister only so long as he remains true to the Likud's principles.”
Netanyahu has not yet made a public announcement regarding the possibility of a building freeze. He continues to meet frequently with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell to discuss the issue.
Comment on this story
2. Boteach to Gaddafi: 'Kiss Bold Part of New Jersey Anatomy'
by Hana Levi Julian
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach bluntly invited Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to "kiss a part of our bold New Jersey anatomy" earlier this week at a protest against an attempt by the dictator to pitch his tent next to Boteach's house.
The move came as part of Gaddafi's plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly -- he has been searching for a place to pitch his tent, but sources said he was not allowed to drive his stakes into the ground in Central Park, his first choice.
The rabbi, a well-known author, columnist and TV show host on Jewish affairs, led the anti-Gaddafi rally on the front lawn of his own home last Sunday, August 30, which included the state's governor, senate and congressional members, and the city's mayor.
Boteach lives next door to the Libyan Compound in Englewood, New Jersey, which had hoped to play host to Gaddafi and the heated Bedouin tent with which he always travels. Upon learning of the plans and discovering that the Libyan ambassador had ordered the destruction of eight trees and a metal fence separating their properties, Boteach sued for damages and organized the rally in response.
Following is the text of Boteach's remarks:
* * * * * * *
It’s a great pleasure for our family to be hosting you all here to day, from dignitaries like our esteemed governor Jon Corzine and our beloved Senator Frank Lautenberg to our Congressman Steve Rothman, and our tireless mayor, Michael Wildes.
Together with the elected officials I have just mentioned, and most importantly, the grass roots campaign of ordinary Englewood citizens, we have achieved a great victory with the announcement by the Libyans, confirmed by our State Department, that Kaddafi has withdrawn his request to pitch his tent in Englewood. We have made our town a terrorist-free zone. Proverbs 24:17 declares, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles.” Unlike Kaddafi’s welcome of the Lockerbie bomber, we are not here to party. How could we, when even as Kaddafi departs from our midst, his embassy, official Libyan territory, remains as my immediate next door neighbor. How can we rejoice when the 270 innocent people of Pan Am 103, including 180 Americans and 38 residents of New Jersey, remain dead? And how can we rejoice when so many American soldiers remain murdered and maimed by the Libyan 1986 bombing of a Berlin Discothèque?
But it is not only for demonstrations against Middle Eastern dictators that we invite in the community. Our home is open to large numbers of people every Friday night, the Jewish Sabbath. We try and emulate our patriarch Abraham whom the Bible relates pitched a tent for all, welcoming in the hungry and offering rest to the weary. Till today Jews get married under a canopy, a tent with no walls, signifying that the couple should build a home that is closed to none.
But whereas the tent of Abraham welcomes the weary with warm food, Kaddafi’s tent targets the innocent with incendiary bombs. Where the tent of Abraham invites widows and orphans, Kaddafi’s tent creates widows and orphans. And whereas Abraham’s tent was illuminated by the glow of the human heart, Kaddafi’s tent is illuminated by the infernal fireballs of airplanes detonated in the sky. Abraham’s pitched a tent of universal brotherhood while Kaddafi’s is a terror tent of shame.
Some say that Kaddafi has done penitence. Why should we Jews reject him when our High Holy Day period, just a few weeks away, is all about the human ability to turn away from sin? But what kind of penitent sends his private jumbo jet to bring home a cowardly killer of 270 people and then throws a Mardis-Gras-style reception to receive him? Such a man is not a penitent but is a pious fraud, a religious charlatan, and an international menace.
The campaign of our little New Jersey town has provoked a response from Kaddafi’s son in an Op-ed in today’s New York Times. Saif Kaddafi writes, “Contrary to reports in the Western press, there was no “hero’s welcome” for Abdel al-Megrahi when he returned to Libya earlier this month. There was not in fact any official reception for the return of Mr. Megrahi… The strong reactions to these misperceptions must not be allowed to impair the improvements in a mutually beneficial relationship between Libya and the West.”
Not only would the Libyans kill our citizens, they would insult our intelligence.
It is also particularly shameful to now see that the London Times is today reporting that evidence has now emerged that letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the British Justice Minister to Kenny MacAskill, his Scottish Counterpart, to free the Lockerbie bomber. “The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya.” It is surely befitting that MacAskill, who has disgraced himself as well as the Scottish government, resign immediately.
Our ongoing battle to remove the Libyan compound from our community and my personal battle to evict them as my direct next-door neighbor is a David-and-Goliath struggle, a small New Jersey town and a father of nine against an oil rich Middle East dictator who is currently being courted by Western leaders. And yet, even standing outside this Libyan mission we are not afraid. Yes, we are aware that in 1984 female British constable, Yvonne Fletcher, was assassinated with a burst of machine-gun fire from the Libyan Embassy. Still we are courageous because we Americans know that the only thing to ever fear is our own cowardice in the face of tyranny and terror. From the time that Thomas Jefferson, at the risk of his own life as a British subject, classified George III as a tyrant in our Declaration of Independence Americans have never cowered before tin-pot dictators like Kaddafi. Colonel Kaddafi, you are no match for the inheritors of General Washington. To paraphrase William Jennings Bryan’s famous statement, “You shall not crucify mankind on a cross of gold,” Mr. Kaddafi, “You shall not drown the morals of the American people in a barrel of oil.”
We don’t have oil wells in Englewood, only beautiful trees, even as your Embassy cuts them down with impunity in order to give your security personnel a clearer line of site into my residence. We will defeat you because righteousness is on our side. As Martin Luther King said, “The arc of history is long but it bends toward justice.”
To my brothers and sisters in Libya whose per capita annual income is $14,000, I say that we appreciate your suffering. We understand how in Libya you cannot read the truth in a newspaper and cannot choose your own elected officials. We have no gripe with you, only with your leaders who live off the sweat of your backs to enrich themselves and live in extravagant opulence, as the Kaddafi’s home behind me amply demonstrates.
In my country we require sex offenders to register so as not to harm their neighbors. Will my government, then, allow a terror-supporting government to reside next door to me? Will President Obama, the leader of the free world, not lead by denying Kaddafi a visa to the United States? Will my President, a devoted and loving family man, place me in a position where my nine children need to be under the scrutiny of Libyan intelligence?
And what message is our President sending to our brave troops fighting overseas by allowing a man who just last week glorified a heartless killer on to American soil?
Susan Cohen, whose only child, Theodora, aged, 20, died on Pan Am 103, told me, “It hurts so bad to see how Kaddafi has won, how all the Western leaders are now running to kiss a terrorist’s feet.” Well Susan, here in little old Englewood, NJ, we didn’t kiss his feet. Unlike Megrahi, we didn’t even kiss his hands. Rather, we told him to kiss a part of our bold New Jersey anatomy.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is the founder of This World: The Values Network. His upcoming book is ‘The Blessing of Enough.’ www.shmuley.com
Comment on this story
by Hana Levi Julian
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach bluntly invited Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi to "kiss a part of our bold New Jersey anatomy" earlier this week at a protest against an attempt by the dictator to pitch his tent next to Boteach's house.
The move came as part of Gaddafi's plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly -- he has been searching for a place to pitch his tent, but sources said he was not allowed to drive his stakes into the ground in Central Park, his first choice.
The rabbi, a well-known author, columnist and TV show host on Jewish affairs, led the anti-Gaddafi rally on the front lawn of his own home last Sunday, August 30, which included the state's governor, senate and congressional members, and the city's mayor.
Boteach lives next door to the Libyan Compound in Englewood, New Jersey, which had hoped to play host to Gaddafi and the heated Bedouin tent with which he always travels. Upon learning of the plans and discovering that the Libyan ambassador had ordered the destruction of eight trees and a metal fence separating their properties, Boteach sued for damages and organized the rally in response.
Following is the text of Boteach's remarks:
* * * * * * *
It’s a great pleasure for our family to be hosting you all here to day, from dignitaries like our esteemed governor Jon Corzine and our beloved Senator Frank Lautenberg to our Congressman Steve Rothman, and our tireless mayor, Michael Wildes.
Together with the elected officials I have just mentioned, and most importantly, the grass roots campaign of ordinary Englewood citizens, we have achieved a great victory with the announcement by the Libyans, confirmed by our State Department, that Kaddafi has withdrawn his request to pitch his tent in Englewood. We have made our town a terrorist-free zone. Proverbs 24:17 declares, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles.” Unlike Kaddafi’s welcome of the Lockerbie bomber, we are not here to party. How could we, when even as Kaddafi departs from our midst, his embassy, official Libyan territory, remains as my immediate next door neighbor. How can we rejoice when the 270 innocent people of Pan Am 103, including 180 Americans and 38 residents of New Jersey, remain dead? And how can we rejoice when so many American soldiers remain murdered and maimed by the Libyan 1986 bombing of a Berlin Discothèque?
But it is not only for demonstrations against Middle Eastern dictators that we invite in the community. Our home is open to large numbers of people every Friday night, the Jewish Sabbath. We try and emulate our patriarch Abraham whom the Bible relates pitched a tent for all, welcoming in the hungry and offering rest to the weary. Till today Jews get married under a canopy, a tent with no walls, signifying that the couple should build a home that is closed to none.
But whereas the tent of Abraham welcomes the weary with warm food, Kaddafi’s tent targets the innocent with incendiary bombs. Where the tent of Abraham invites widows and orphans, Kaddafi’s tent creates widows and orphans. And whereas Abraham’s tent was illuminated by the glow of the human heart, Kaddafi’s tent is illuminated by the infernal fireballs of airplanes detonated in the sky. Abraham’s pitched a tent of universal brotherhood while Kaddafi’s is a terror tent of shame.
Some say that Kaddafi has done penitence. Why should we Jews reject him when our High Holy Day period, just a few weeks away, is all about the human ability to turn away from sin? But what kind of penitent sends his private jumbo jet to bring home a cowardly killer of 270 people and then throws a Mardis-Gras-style reception to receive him? Such a man is not a penitent but is a pious fraud, a religious charlatan, and an international menace.
The campaign of our little New Jersey town has provoked a response from Kaddafi’s son in an Op-ed in today’s New York Times. Saif Kaddafi writes, “Contrary to reports in the Western press, there was no “hero’s welcome” for Abdel al-Megrahi when he returned to Libya earlier this month. There was not in fact any official reception for the return of Mr. Megrahi… The strong reactions to these misperceptions must not be allowed to impair the improvements in a mutually beneficial relationship between Libya and the West.”
Not only would the Libyans kill our citizens, they would insult our intelligence.
It is also particularly shameful to now see that the London Times is today reporting that evidence has now emerged that letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the British Justice Minister to Kenny MacAskill, his Scottish Counterpart, to free the Lockerbie bomber. “The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya.” It is surely befitting that MacAskill, who has disgraced himself as well as the Scottish government, resign immediately.
Our ongoing battle to remove the Libyan compound from our community and my personal battle to evict them as my direct next-door neighbor is a David-and-Goliath struggle, a small New Jersey town and a father of nine against an oil rich Middle East dictator who is currently being courted by Western leaders. And yet, even standing outside this Libyan mission we are not afraid. Yes, we are aware that in 1984 female British constable, Yvonne Fletcher, was assassinated with a burst of machine-gun fire from the Libyan Embassy. Still we are courageous because we Americans know that the only thing to ever fear is our own cowardice in the face of tyranny and terror. From the time that Thomas Jefferson, at the risk of his own life as a British subject, classified George III as a tyrant in our Declaration of Independence Americans have never cowered before tin-pot dictators like Kaddafi. Colonel Kaddafi, you are no match for the inheritors of General Washington. To paraphrase William Jennings Bryan’s famous statement, “You shall not crucify mankind on a cross of gold,” Mr. Kaddafi, “You shall not drown the morals of the American people in a barrel of oil.”
We don’t have oil wells in Englewood, only beautiful trees, even as your Embassy cuts them down with impunity in order to give your security personnel a clearer line of site into my residence. We will defeat you because righteousness is on our side. As Martin Luther King said, “The arc of history is long but it bends toward justice.”
To my brothers and sisters in Libya whose per capita annual income is $14,000, I say that we appreciate your suffering. We understand how in Libya you cannot read the truth in a newspaper and cannot choose your own elected officials. We have no gripe with you, only with your leaders who live off the sweat of your backs to enrich themselves and live in extravagant opulence, as the Kaddafi’s home behind me amply demonstrates.
In my country we require sex offenders to register so as not to harm their neighbors. Will my government, then, allow a terror-supporting government to reside next door to me? Will President Obama, the leader of the free world, not lead by denying Kaddafi a visa to the United States? Will my President, a devoted and loving family man, place me in a position where my nine children need to be under the scrutiny of Libyan intelligence?
And what message is our President sending to our brave troops fighting overseas by allowing a man who just last week glorified a heartless killer on to American soil?
Susan Cohen, whose only child, Theodora, aged, 20, died on Pan Am 103, told me, “It hurts so bad to see how Kaddafi has won, how all the Western leaders are now running to kiss a terrorist’s feet.” Well Susan, here in little old Englewood, NJ, we didn’t kiss his feet. Unlike Megrahi, we didn’t even kiss his hands. Rather, we told him to kiss a part of our bold New Jersey anatomy.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is the founder of This World: The Values Network. His upcoming book is ‘The Blessing of Enough.’ www.shmuley.com
Comment on this story
3. Arabs Condemn Madonna for Raising Israeli Flag
by David Lev
Arabs are livid at pop singer Madonna for wrapping herself with an Israeli flag at the end of her concert in Tel Aviv Wednesday night.
A Youtube video of the moment, posted by a fan, has engendered what is likely to become a major Internet controversy after the aging star, still one of the top pop singers in the world, closed out her second show Wednesday night by draping herself in an Israeli flag onstage.
Hundreds of talkbacks on the Youtube site consisted of rabid anti-Israel comments, with many of the critics claiming to be from Arab countries or Palestinian Authority controlled areas.
"Why do you not wrap yourself in a Palestinian flag, if you really stand for peace?," wrote one viewer of the video who said she was from Gaza, echoing the often less delicate comments of others who condemned the singer for not only performing in Israel, but also for holding the Jewish State's flag. Madonna also called Israel "the energy center of the world."
To read the rest of this intriguing story, click here!
Comment on this story
by David Lev
Arabs are livid at pop singer Madonna for wrapping herself with an Israeli flag at the end of her concert in Tel Aviv Wednesday night.
A Youtube video of the moment, posted by a fan, has engendered what is likely to become a major Internet controversy after the aging star, still one of the top pop singers in the world, closed out her second show Wednesday night by draping herself in an Israeli flag onstage.
Hundreds of talkbacks on the Youtube site consisted of rabid anti-Israel comments, with many of the critics claiming to be from Arab countries or Palestinian Authority controlled areas.
"Why do you not wrap yourself in a Palestinian flag, if you really stand for peace?," wrote one viewer of the video who said she was from Gaza, echoing the often less delicate comments of others who condemned the singer for not only performing in Israel, but also for holding the Jewish State's flag. Madonna also called Israel "the energy center of the world."
To read the rest of this intriguing story, click here!
Comment on this story
4. Firebombs Thrown at Home of Bedouin Sheikh Shalit Activist
by David Lev
Apparently the attack was carried out by those who are unhappy that I am working on behalf of Shalit's freedom
Two firebombs were thrown this past Sunday at the home of Bedouin Sheikh Salam Hozeil, who has been one of the few voices in the Israeli Arab community expressing sympathy for the plight of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.
For more than a year, Hozeil has single-handedly conducted a public campaign demanding that Hamas terrorists release Shalit and often has been threatened by radicals within his own community. On Sunday, the threats against Hozeil took a new and dangerous turn, with unknown assailants throwing the firebombs at one of the bedrooms of Hozeil's home in the Negev Bedouin city of Rahat, while his family was at home, sleeping.
No one was injured in the attack, but the next day Hozeil took his family to live at the home of relatives, instead of chancing another attack Monday night.
"The room where the firebombs hit was completely destroyed," Hozeil told reporters. "The children were all sleeping. It's a miracle no one was hurt," he said.
Hozeil attributed the attack to a report on Israeli TV last week in which Hozeil was featured as a guest at a rally held on behalf of Shalit at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, on the occasion of the kidnapped soldier's 23rd birthday. "Many people who had not heard of me before saw that story, and apparently the attack was carried out by those who are unhappy that I am working on behalf Shalit, an Israeli Jewish soldier, " he said.
Hozeil has had to fight opposition not only within his community, but even within his family – whom he says has organized petitions against his activities. "Some of my relatives even posted a petition against me on the Internet. There are Palestinians in Rahat, and I am afraid that one of them will get an order from Hamas or Al-Qaida to get rid of me," he said.
Noam Shalit, father of the kidnapped soldier, has asked Israeli activists on behalf of his son to extend to Hozeil all the help he needs, in light of the situation.
The story of Hozeil's involvement in Shalit's cause began over a year ago, when he took part in a rally for Shalit in Jerusalem. "I decided that the story is tragic, and I must take part in the rally to show my solidarity. When I got to the protest tent, I extended my hand to Gilad's father and told him, 'I came to show solidarity with you; your pain is shared by me and by all fathers who go through tragedy.'"
Over the past year, Hozeil's campaign in the Arab sector to free Shalit has included distributing petitions and speaking at rallies. He has been traveling thoughout the country with a traditional Bedouin hospitality tent, which he sets up in central squares and intersections in cities and on highways, where he hosts meetings of Shalit activists and raises consciousness among Israelis on the kidnapped soldier's plight.
Comment on this story
by David Lev
Apparently the attack was carried out by those who are unhappy that I am working on behalf of Shalit's freedom
Two firebombs were thrown this past Sunday at the home of Bedouin Sheikh Salam Hozeil, who has been one of the few voices in the Israeli Arab community expressing sympathy for the plight of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.For more than a year, Hozeil has single-handedly conducted a public campaign demanding that Hamas terrorists release Shalit and often has been threatened by radicals within his own community. On Sunday, the threats against Hozeil took a new and dangerous turn, with unknown assailants throwing the firebombs at one of the bedrooms of Hozeil's home in the Negev Bedouin city of Rahat, while his family was at home, sleeping.
No one was injured in the attack, but the next day Hozeil took his family to live at the home of relatives, instead of chancing another attack Monday night.
"The room where the firebombs hit was completely destroyed," Hozeil told reporters. "The children were all sleeping. It's a miracle no one was hurt," he said.
Hozeil attributed the attack to a report on Israeli TV last week in which Hozeil was featured as a guest at a rally held on behalf of Shalit at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, on the occasion of the kidnapped soldier's 23rd birthday. "Many people who had not heard of me before saw that story, and apparently the attack was carried out by those who are unhappy that I am working on behalf Shalit, an Israeli Jewish soldier, " he said.
Hozeil has had to fight opposition not only within his community, but even within his family – whom he says has organized petitions against his activities. "Some of my relatives even posted a petition against me on the Internet. There are Palestinians in Rahat, and I am afraid that one of them will get an order from Hamas or Al-Qaida to get rid of me," he said.
Noam Shalit, father of the kidnapped soldier, has asked Israeli activists on behalf of his son to extend to Hozeil all the help he needs, in light of the situation.
The story of Hozeil's involvement in Shalit's cause began over a year ago, when he took part in a rally for Shalit in Jerusalem. "I decided that the story is tragic, and I must take part in the rally to show my solidarity. When I got to the protest tent, I extended my hand to Gilad's father and told him, 'I came to show solidarity with you; your pain is shared by me and by all fathers who go through tragedy.'"
Over the past year, Hozeil's campaign in the Arab sector to free Shalit has included distributing petitions and speaking at rallies. He has been traveling thoughout the country with a traditional Bedouin hospitality tent, which he sets up in central squares and intersections in cities and on highways, where he hosts meetings of Shalit activists and raises consciousness among Israelis on the kidnapped soldier's plight.
Comment on this story
5. Pollard's Attorney: Govt. is Hiding Dark Secrets
by Maayana Miskin
Jonathan Pollard's attorney, Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, has slammed Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss's report on Pollard. In a report released Thursday, Lindenstrauss said the United States may not have given Pollard a fair trial, and accused Israeli officials of poor coordination.
The report was “another cover-up of successive Israeli governments' failures regarding Pollard,” said Darshan-Leitner. Pollard has exhausted his legal options in the U.S. and is relying on Israel for help, she said.
Israel's government remains indifferent to his plight, she accused. “No government, at any time, has made any effort to free Pollard during his entire 24-year term in prison,” she said. “The government of Israel is still pretending that Pollard's activities took place in an irregular operation run by Rafi Eitan, and were not coordinated by the highest state officials.”
“There are still dark secrets in the Pollard affair that the government does not want the people to know,” Darshan-Leitner continued. As proof, she pointed to the fact that much of Lindenstrauss's report remains classified. “The Israeli public must demand that the entire report be published,” she declared.
Once the entire report is released, “The public can decide if Israel's governments have attempted to free Pollard, or if every single government has abandoned Pollard to his misery,” she concluded.
Lindenstrauss's report was a response to a 2007 request from the State Control Committee. The committee asked the state comptroller to submit a professional opinion on the government's attempts to free Pollard.
Pollard has served 24 years of a life sentence in prison for passing classified information to Israel. His punishment is uniquely harsh for the crime of passing classified information to an ally. Israel only acknowledged Pollard as an agent working on Israel's behalf in 1998, 13 years after he was jailed.
Lindenstrauss reported that Israeli governments have made efforts to free Pollard. However, he urged the government to do a better job coordinating its efforts, saying Israel “owes Pollard the mitzvah of releasing captives, and it's better late than never.”
Comment on this story
by Maayana Miskin
Jonathan Pollard's attorney, Nitzana Darshan-Leitner, has slammed Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss's report on Pollard. In a report released Thursday, Lindenstrauss said the United States may not have given Pollard a fair trial, and accused Israeli officials of poor coordination.
The report was “another cover-up of successive Israeli governments' failures regarding Pollard,” said Darshan-Leitner. Pollard has exhausted his legal options in the U.S. and is relying on Israel for help, she said.
Israel's government remains indifferent to his plight, she accused. “No government, at any time, has made any effort to free Pollard during his entire 24-year term in prison,” she said. “The government of Israel is still pretending that Pollard's activities took place in an irregular operation run by Rafi Eitan, and were not coordinated by the highest state officials.”
“There are still dark secrets in the Pollard affair that the government does not want the people to know,” Darshan-Leitner continued. As proof, she pointed to the fact that much of Lindenstrauss's report remains classified. “The Israeli public must demand that the entire report be published,” she declared.
Once the entire report is released, “The public can decide if Israel's governments have attempted to free Pollard, or if every single government has abandoned Pollard to his misery,” she concluded.
Lindenstrauss's report was a response to a 2007 request from the State Control Committee. The committee asked the state comptroller to submit a professional opinion on the government's attempts to free Pollard.
Pollard has served 24 years of a life sentence in prison for passing classified information to Israel. His punishment is uniquely harsh for the crime of passing classified information to an ally. Israel only acknowledged Pollard as an agent working on Israel's behalf in 1998, 13 years after he was jailed.
Lindenstrauss reported that Israeli governments have made efforts to free Pollard. However, he urged the government to do a better job coordinating its efforts, saying Israel “owes Pollard the mitzvah of releasing captives, and it's better late than never.”
Comment on this story
6. Norway Boycotts Israeli Security Firm Elbit
by Maayana Miskin
The Norwegian government has decided to divest from the Israeli security company Elbit over the construction of a barrier in Judea and Samaria. Norway's finance minister, Kristin Halvorsen, announced the decision at a news conference on Thursday.
Norway's state pension plan had held roughly $5.4 million in Elbit shares. The pension fund will maintain its investments in dozens of other Israeli firms.
Halvorsen was blunt in her criticism of the barrier, terming it a violation of international law. A council on ethics determined that investing in Elbit was “an unacceptable risk of complicity in serious violations of fundamental ethical norms,” she said.
Norway views the barrier as illegal because many sections are built to the east of the 1949 armistice line, in areas that European Union judges consider to be occupied Arab territory.
Elbit supplies surveillance equipment which is used along the Judea and Samaria barrier.
Norway's pension fund seeks foreign investments for surplus state revenue from the sale of oil and natural gas. The fund is currently worth roughly $395 billion.
In 2004, an ethical committee was established to oversee the fund's investments. The committee has boycotted several United States companies, primarily weapons suppliers, as well as a number of other firms throughout Europe and Asia.
Israel Summons Norwegian Ambassador
Israel responded Thursday afternoon by summoning Norway's ambassador to Israel for a reprimand. Foreign Ministry officials said Israel would consider “steps of protest” over the divestment.
Elbit Closes Major Deal
The announcement came just one day after Elbit won a major contract with the Defense Ministry. Elbit and the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will work together to create an unmanned ground vehicle for IDF use.
Elbit's senior management declined to disclose the project's price tag.
Security Barrier Barely Grows
In 2002, as suicide bombings rocked cities throughout Israel, Israel began construction of a barrier that would separate primarily Arab areas in Judea and Samaria from the majority of Israeli towns. The barrier was planned to be hundreds of kilometers long, and was to include electronic sensors and other advanced surveillance equipment.
The barrier was meant to stop the situation in which suicide bombers could simply walk from Palestinian Authority-controlled Arab towns to major Israeli cities. Instead, PA Arabs must now enter pre-1967 Israel through a series of checkpoints.
The barrier – in some places a fence, in others a concrete wall – has been built largely along the 1949 armistice line. In some places, it swerves to the east to encompass major Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria, such as Ariel and Maaleh Adumim.
The structure has been criticized by PA Arabs, who have accused Israel of attempting to steal land, and by Judea and Samaria Jews, who fear that the barrier signals an intent to withdraw from the majority of Jewish towns located east of the armistice lines. It has been praised by those who credit it with dramatically slowing the pace of terrorist attacks in pre-1967 Israel.
Construction of the barrier has slowed in recent years. In 2006 the barrier was over 50 percent complete; however, since then, much of the new funding for the barrier has been invested in moving select sections to the west by order of the Supreme Court. The project is several years behind schedule, and with the current allocated funding,
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by Maayana Miskin
The Norwegian government has decided to divest from the Israeli security company Elbit over the construction of a barrier in Judea and Samaria. Norway's finance minister, Kristin Halvorsen, announced the decision at a news conference on Thursday.
Norway's state pension plan had held roughly $5.4 million in Elbit shares. The pension fund will maintain its investments in dozens of other Israeli firms.
Halvorsen was blunt in her criticism of the barrier, terming it a violation of international law. A council on ethics determined that investing in Elbit was “an unacceptable risk of complicity in serious violations of fundamental ethical norms,” she said.
Norway views the barrier as illegal because many sections are built to the east of the 1949 armistice line, in areas that European Union judges consider to be occupied Arab territory.
Elbit supplies surveillance equipment which is used along the Judea and Samaria barrier.
Norway's pension fund seeks foreign investments for surplus state revenue from the sale of oil and natural gas. The fund is currently worth roughly $395 billion.
In 2004, an ethical committee was established to oversee the fund's investments. The committee has boycotted several United States companies, primarily weapons suppliers, as well as a number of other firms throughout Europe and Asia.
Israel Summons Norwegian Ambassador
Israel responded Thursday afternoon by summoning Norway's ambassador to Israel for a reprimand. Foreign Ministry officials said Israel would consider “steps of protest” over the divestment.
Elbit Closes Major Deal
The announcement came just one day after Elbit won a major contract with the Defense Ministry. Elbit and the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will work together to create an unmanned ground vehicle for IDF use.
Elbit's senior management declined to disclose the project's price tag.
Security Barrier Barely Grows
In 2002, as suicide bombings rocked cities throughout Israel, Israel began construction of a barrier that would separate primarily Arab areas in Judea and Samaria from the majority of Israeli towns. The barrier was planned to be hundreds of kilometers long, and was to include electronic sensors and other advanced surveillance equipment.
The barrier was meant to stop the situation in which suicide bombers could simply walk from Palestinian Authority-controlled Arab towns to major Israeli cities. Instead, PA Arabs must now enter pre-1967 Israel through a series of checkpoints.
The barrier – in some places a fence, in others a concrete wall – has been built largely along the 1949 armistice line. In some places, it swerves to the east to encompass major Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria, such as Ariel and Maaleh Adumim.
The structure has been criticized by PA Arabs, who have accused Israel of attempting to steal land, and by Judea and Samaria Jews, who fear that the barrier signals an intent to withdraw from the majority of Jewish towns located east of the armistice lines. It has been praised by those who credit it with dramatically slowing the pace of terrorist attacks in pre-1967 Israel.
Construction of the barrier has slowed in recent years. In 2006 the barrier was over 50 percent complete; however, since then, much of the new funding for the barrier has been invested in moving select sections to the west by order of the Supreme Court. The project is several years behind schedule, and with the current allocated funding,
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7. Anti-Semitism Thrives on Dutch Social Media
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Virulent anti-Semitic content thrives on a Dutch social media website used by nearly half of the entire population of Holland, according to a report released Thursday. Yet, many of the online instigators appear to be Dutch-speaking Arabs.
Many of the online instigators appear to be Dutch-speaking Arabs.
The report, produced by investigators from Yad VaShem, the Dutch-language Israel Facts Monitorgroup and the Network on Anti-Semitism based in the Netherlands, was provided to all the political parties in the Netherlands, as well as to members of the Dutch government. As the Internet is becoming an increasingly important and influential facet of Dutch life, the investigators are hoping to provide some insight into how it is used in the Netherlands to propagate anti-Israel rhetoric and anti-Semitic views.
"Anti-Semitism and hatred toward Israel containing anti-Semitic content is a common phenomenon on the Internet in the Netherlands," the report declares. "Remarks which were unthinkable only ten years ago are now common practice and do not seem to raise eyebrows anymore." In fact, after three months of regular monitoring, the investigators concluded, "The climate in which the public debate about Israel and the Middle East conflict is taking place on the Internet is deteriorating."
Titled "Anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity on the Internet in the Netherlands", the report presents examples and trends of anti-Israel blood libels, violent anti-Semitic hate speech and, simultaneously, Holocaust denial, smearing Israelis as Nazis, and calls for returning Jews to the death camps. For the purpose of gauging online Dutch social media, the investigators monitored closed and open groups on the Facebook-like Hyves social networking website, which can claim around nine million members, and the talkback section of de Volkskrant, one of the leading newspapers in Holland.
Open Praise for Suicide Bombings
Among the public groups on Hyves, there are 35 groups that the report defines as either "pro-Palestinian" or "anti-Israel". The majority of these groups, according to the investigators, "are run by young Arab immigrants or descendants of Arab immigrants living in the Netherlands." While the most popular anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian groups have several thousands of members, the largest pro-Israel Hyves forum has 900.
"Posts which call for killing Jews are quite common. Others contain calls to burn Israeli flags. We also noticed public calls for Hitler to 'finish his job' or 'to gas the Jews'," the report explains, adding that the forums also host various libels against Israel and Jews. Perhaps more seriously, a pro-Palestinian group called "The Jihad Fighters" openly praises suicide bombers who target civilians.
A pro-Palestinian group called "The Jihad Fighters" openly praises suicide bombers.
While Hyves user rules forbid racist remarks and abuse can be reported, the report concludes that "the alert system that is supposed to stop racist comments does not stop anti-Semitic remarks and posts, nor does it stop outright hatred towards Israel."
Sophisticated Anti-Semitism
De Volkskrant is a respected left-leaning Dutch newspaper which publishes Israel-related opinion articles online on a fairly regular basis. The report on Netherlands anti-Semitism noted that "an average of 300 [talkbac reactions is normal for these articles, compared with fewer than 100 for other articles." The newspaper's website, visited by more than 200,000 visitors each month, has an opinion section that is fairly "evenhanded", according to the investigators.
While there were no outright calls for death to the Jews or similar talkbacks, the report said, anti-Semitic content was found in eight out of nine online discussions. Unlike Hyve, De Volkskrant was careful to follow up on complaints and often removed openly anti-Semitic or hate content.
As a result, the investigators found, "most anti-Israel activists seemed to be careful not to express straight anti-Semitic remarks. Jargon from the time of Nazi Germany however, was often used, as well as comparisons between Israel's actions and those of Nazi Germany." Other threads in some anti-Israel comments were various permutations of Holocaust denial, and lies about Israeli history or Jewish culture, the report said.
Utrecht Prosecutors Go After Online Muslim Hate
The report on anti-Semitism in Dutch online social media comes on the heels of prosecutors in Utrecht deciding to charge an Arab group for publishing a caricature on its website that insults the memory of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. The caricature, according to the prosecutors, insults Jews as a group and is therefore banned for publication in the country.
The case came to the attention of Dutch prosecutors after Ronny Naftaniel of the Center for Documentation on Israel filed a complaint with police, saying that the picture was discriminatory and racist. The Arab group says it placed the cartoon on its website to show the "hypocrisy" of European officials.
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by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Virulent anti-Semitic content thrives on a Dutch social media website used by nearly half of the entire population of Holland, according to a report released Thursday. Yet, many of the online instigators appear to be Dutch-speaking Arabs. Many of the online instigators appear to be Dutch-speaking Arabs.
The report, produced by investigators from Yad VaShem, the Dutch-language Israel Facts Monitorgroup and the Network on Anti-Semitism based in the Netherlands, was provided to all the political parties in the Netherlands, as well as to members of the Dutch government. As the Internet is becoming an increasingly important and influential facet of Dutch life, the investigators are hoping to provide some insight into how it is used in the Netherlands to propagate anti-Israel rhetoric and anti-Semitic views.
"Anti-Semitism and hatred toward Israel containing anti-Semitic content is a common phenomenon on the Internet in the Netherlands," the report declares. "Remarks which were unthinkable only ten years ago are now common practice and do not seem to raise eyebrows anymore." In fact, after three months of regular monitoring, the investigators concluded, "The climate in which the public debate about Israel and the Middle East conflict is taking place on the Internet is deteriorating."
Titled "Anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activity on the Internet in the Netherlands", the report presents examples and trends of anti-Israel blood libels, violent anti-Semitic hate speech and, simultaneously, Holocaust denial, smearing Israelis as Nazis, and calls for returning Jews to the death camps. For the purpose of gauging online Dutch social media, the investigators monitored closed and open groups on the Facebook-like Hyves social networking website, which can claim around nine million members, and the talkback section of de Volkskrant, one of the leading newspapers in Holland.
Open Praise for Suicide Bombings
Among the public groups on Hyves, there are 35 groups that the report defines as either "pro-Palestinian" or "anti-Israel". The majority of these groups, according to the investigators, "are run by young Arab immigrants or descendants of Arab immigrants living in the Netherlands." While the most popular anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian groups have several thousands of members, the largest pro-Israel Hyves forum has 900.
"Posts which call for killing Jews are quite common. Others contain calls to burn Israeli flags. We also noticed public calls for Hitler to 'finish his job' or 'to gas the Jews'," the report explains, adding that the forums also host various libels against Israel and Jews. Perhaps more seriously, a pro-Palestinian group called "The Jihad Fighters" openly praises suicide bombers who target civilians.
A pro-Palestinian group called "The Jihad Fighters" openly praises suicide bombers.
While Hyves user rules forbid racist remarks and abuse can be reported, the report concludes that "the alert system that is supposed to stop racist comments does not stop anti-Semitic remarks and posts, nor does it stop outright hatred towards Israel."
Sophisticated Anti-Semitism
De Volkskrant is a respected left-leaning Dutch newspaper which publishes Israel-related opinion articles online on a fairly regular basis. The report on Netherlands anti-Semitism noted that "an average of 300 [talkbac reactions is normal for these articles, compared with fewer than 100 for other articles." The newspaper's website, visited by more than 200,000 visitors each month, has an opinion section that is fairly "evenhanded", according to the investigators.
While there were no outright calls for death to the Jews or similar talkbacks, the report said, anti-Semitic content was found in eight out of nine online discussions. Unlike Hyve, De Volkskrant was careful to follow up on complaints and often removed openly anti-Semitic or hate content.
As a result, the investigators found, "most anti-Israel activists seemed to be careful not to express straight anti-Semitic remarks. Jargon from the time of Nazi Germany however, was often used, as well as comparisons between Israel's actions and those of Nazi Germany." Other threads in some anti-Israel comments were various permutations of Holocaust denial, and lies about Israeli history or Jewish culture, the report said.
Utrecht Prosecutors Go After Online Muslim Hate
The report on anti-Semitism in Dutch online social media comes on the heels of prosecutors in Utrecht deciding to charge an Arab group for publishing a caricature on its website that insults the memory of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust. The caricature, according to the prosecutors, insults Jews as a group and is therefore banned for publication in the country.
The case came to the attention of Dutch prosecutors after Ronny Naftaniel of the Center for Documentation on Israel filed a complaint with police, saying that the picture was discriminatory and racist. The Arab group says it placed the cartoon on its website to show the "hypocrisy" of European officials.
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