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1. Shalit Supporters Sail 'True Freedom Flotilla' in NYC
by Maayana Miskin
Hundreds of people set sail in New York City on Thursday in what they dubbed the True Freedom Flotilla. Ten boats sailed past the Statue of Liberty, around Manhattan, and past the United Nations, waving signs calling to free kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
The event was organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Among those in attendance were Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gabriela Shalev, Israeli Consul General in New York Asaf Shariv, and the Reverend Michael Faulkner of the New Horizon Church, a Christian leader who has long been vocal in his support for Israel.
The True Freedom Flotilla aimed to raise awareness of Shalit's plight. Friday marks the fourth anniversary of his kidnapping by Gaza terrorists. In the time that has passed since, Hamas has not allowed international humanitarian groups to visit Shalit even once.
Organizers chose a flotilla protest in reference to the “free Gaza” flotilla movement launched in an attempt to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. “Under the guise of a 'freedom flotilla' in the Middle East, organizations that have ties to terrorist groups have sought to create confrontations with the Israel Defense Forces. The real siege in Gaza is against Gilad Shalit,” said Conference of Presidents Chair Alan Solow and Vice Chair Malcolm Hoenlein.
The Conference of Presidents gave a humanitarian aid package for Shalit containing food, books, and glasses to Red Cross representative Rosemary Mackey. Red Cross officials have made repeated requests to Hamas to be allowed to see Shalit, but have been turned down each time.
Photos courtesy of Michael Priest
2. IAF Hits Gaza Terror Targets after Mortar Barrage
by Maayana Miskin
Israel responded late on Thursday night to a series of terrorist mortar shell and rocket attacks from Gaza that took place earlier in the day. IAF planes hit three terror-related targets in the area.
The targets were a weapons storage facility in northern Gaza and two smuggling tunnels in southern Gaza. Arab sources stated that one person was injured in the strike on the tunnels.
IDF spokespeople confirmed that the operation was a response to Thursday's attacks. “The IDF will not tolerate attempts to harm Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers,” they said.
"The IDF will respond with force and determination to any element using terrorism against the state of Israel. The IDF sees the Hamas terrorist group as bearing sole responsibility for what happens in Gaza,” they continued.
On Thursday, Gaza terrorists fired nine mortar shells and one rocket at Israeli towns in the western Negev. Several of the shells fell short and exploded within Gaza. No injuries were reported in either the Negev or Gaza.
3. US Approves New Iran Sanctions
by Maayana Miskin
The United States Senate has voted 99-0 to approve new, tougher sanctions on Iran. The vote in the House of Representatives was 408-8. Like previous sanctions, the latest move aims to discourage Iran's nuclear program.
The sanctions will penalize companies that sell gasoline to Iran or that do business with the Revolutionary Guard Corp.
US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman said he expects the sanctions to receive final approval within two weeks. The sanctions are the most comprehensive to have been approved to date, he said.
The pro-Israel lobby American Israel Public Affairs committee (AIPAC) praised the sanctions, saying they “provide the best hope that political and economic measures can peaceably persuade Iran to end its illicit nuclear program before it is too late.”
Americans for Peace Now expressed opposition to the sanctions, and cited Israel's changed policy regarding shipments to Gaza. Imposing sanctions “is an approach that only last week Israel abandoned in Gaza, recognizing that squeezing the population of Gaza with a blockade on civilian goods had not only failed to force Hamas out of power, but had enabled Hamas (and the world) to blame Israel for all the misery the people of Gaza were facing,” said APN President Debra Delee.
"It is regrettable that Congress did not draw the obvious lesson from these experiences,” she added.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu recently announced that Israel would allow a greater variety of goods to enter Gaza via crossings in the Negev. Previously, only items on a list of approved goods were allowed into Gaza from Israel, now, all goods are allowed in with the exception of weapons and materials used to manufacture weapons.
Despite his change of policy regarding Gaza, which followed a clash between IDF commandos and Gaza-bound activists and subsequent international condemnation, Netanyahu has expressed strong support of international sanctions on Iran.
4. Jewish Dancers Attacked in Germany
by Maayana Miskin
A Jewish dance group was attacked in Germany last Saturday while performing during a street festival in Hanover. The incident led to discussion this week of the phenomenon of anti-Semitism among immigrant youth.
Members of the Haverim dance group were pelted with stones as they took the stage. One dancer was injured. As youth threw stones, they screamed “Juden Raus” (Jews out).
Six suspects ranging in age from nine to 19 have been identified. Five of the six are Muslim immigrants.
Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said the incident showed the “widespread” hatred of Jews and Israel in Germany's Muslim immigrant community. “It particularly saddens me that those anti-Semitic views can already be seen with such vehemence among children and youths,” she told the Die Welt newspaper.
Another Central Council member, Stephan Kramer, expressed concern, telling the Associated Press, “This latest incident shows something we have not experienced before: A growing radicalization of young Muslims, which affects not only the Jewish community but the entire German community.”
Hanover Mayor Stephan Weil said his city had filed charges against the attackers. They stand accused of incitement to racial hatred and causing bodily harm.
Jewish organizations in Germany said anti-Semitic incidents had been unusually frequent in recent weeks following a clash between IDF commandos and members of a Turkish terrorist group. The clash took place at sea as the Turkish citizens, along with other foreigners, attempted to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza.
Attacks based on anti-Israel hatred were not unheard of prior to the flotilla clash either: In May, attackers set fire to a synagogue in western Germany, leaving a letter that said, “Until you leave Palestinians alone, we won't leave you alone.”
5. Landau: Israel Prepared to Use Force to Protect Gas Find
by Maayana Miskin
Israel is prepared to use force if necessary to protect a gas field off the coast of Haifa, Minister of National Infrastructure Uzi Landau told Bloomberg News on Wednesday.
"We will not hesitate to use our force and strength to protect not only the rule of law but the international maritime law,” Landau said. His statement was a response to a Lebanese attempt to lay claim to the gas find.
Two weeks ago, Lebanon's As-Safir newspaper accused Israel of attempting to steal gas. The gas field off the shore of Haifa was described by the paper as being located “offshore from the coast of Lebanon, between the international border of Palestine and Cyprus.”
The next day, Lebanese Parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri called on his government to lay its own claim to the gas field. “Lebanon must take immediate action to defend its financial, political, economic and sovereign rights,” he said.
A senior Hizbullah leader, Heshem Safieddine, said Hizbullah would not allow Israel to take what he referred to as Lebanese resources.
Lebanon would challenge Israel's claim to the gas field no matter where it was located, Landau said. “Whatever we find, they will have something to say. That's because they're not challenging our findings and so-called occupation of the sea. Our very existence here is a matter of occupation for them.”
The areas in which gas has been found “are within the economic waters of Israel,” he added. Gas was first discovered 50 miles west of Haifa.
Updated projections have shown that the deposit may hold between 690 and 850 billion cubic meters of gas, far more than was initially expected. The finds could supply Israel's gas needs for 20 to 35 years.
The find could turn Israel “from a consumer to a supplier of gas,” Landau said earlier this month when the updated projections were made public. “This is a jump that could mean economic independence for Israel,” he stated.
6. 31 Gush Katif Families to Build New Homes
by Hillel Fendel
Final approval has been received, five years after the Disengagement, for the relocation of 31 Gush Katif families to a seaside kibbutz south of Haifa.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu gave his approval for the plan, which applies to the families from the three northern Gaza communities of Dugit, Nisanit, and – mostly – Elei Sinai. They are being allocated properties in Kibbutz N'vei Yam which were heretofore not approved for construction.
The plan is a win-win situation for the families, the kibbutz, and the State of Israel. The families will finally be able to plan their futures, free of the uncertainty that has plagued them ever since they and nearly 9,000 others were thrown out of their homes in Gush Katif by the Sharon government in 2005. In addition, the members of N'vei Yam will receive 42 properties for their "second generation" members. And the State will bring in some 100 million shekels from the sale of 140 additional lots, at the whopping high price of 750,000 shekels each.
Probably the most famous resident of Elei Sinai is Avi Farhan, who holds the distinction of being the only person who was thrown out of his home twice by the Israeli government. He was first evicted from Yamit, in the Sinai, in 1982, when the city was destroyed by the Begin government after the signing of a peace treaty with Egypt. From there he moved to Elei Sinai – the site of his eviction in 2005.
Ironically, he moved to Elei Sinai in the first place at the behest of Ariel Sharon – who later orchestrated the destruction of that town.
It happened when he set off on a protest march against the withdrawal from Sinai, walking from Yamit to Jerusalem, which was widely publicized by the media. An aide of then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon met Farhan along the way, and said, "Arik [Sharon] says that instead of protesting and starting a refugee camp in Jerusalem, why don't you start a new community in the Erez area, in northern Gaza?"
Based on that conversation, Farhan and friends started Elei Sinai, a non religiouos community, which was later followed by the communities of Dugit and Nisanit.
7. Supreme Court to Hear Second Suit Against Itself
by Maayana Miskin
The Supreme Court is facing a petition against itself for the second time in one week. Residents of Emanuel have filed suit, arguing that the court jailed residents of the city despite lacking the authority to do so.
A similar suit was filed by the Israel Law Center, which filed a writ against the Prison Service and the Israel Police for obeying the Supreme Court's allegedly illegal order. The Supreme Court turned down the suit.
Dozens of parents from Emanuel were jailed last week after refusing to send their daughters to a school in which a chassidic track had been integrated – by court order – with the rest of the school. The parents argued that the integrated track would expose their daughters to influences not suited to their chassidic lifestyle.
The Supreme Court accused the parents of racism against Sephardi Jews, despite the fact that several of the parents were themselves Sephardi, and held them in contempt for failing to uphold the order to integrate. The fathers of girls from the chassidic track were ordered jailed for three weeks, as were several mothers.
According to the prisoners, represented by Attorney Aviad Visoli, the court had no right to send them to jail. “The mass arrest of the plaintiffs, together with the other parents, is grave and unprecedented... As it is now clear that this arrest was illegal, it would be appropriate to act quickly and release the plaintiffs at once. The honorable court is therefore requested to hold an immediate session regarding this plea, and to order that the plaintiffs be released from this obviously illegal detention,” he stated in the petition.
Visoli accused the court of refusing to listen to previous pleas, and holding sessions regarding appeals against the mass detention of parents behind closed doors. During sessions that were made public, the parents and their attorneys were not given time to speak, he said.
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