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1. Kassam Hits Empty School Building at Sderot
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A Kassam rocket exploded at the Sderot area college Saturday night, causing heavy damage. The building, which houses a school and center for disabled senior citizens, was empty for the weekend, a circumstance that prevented the mass casualties that could have occurred.
The IDF retaliated by striking two smuggling tunnels.
The rocket attack was the second in two days, following Friday’s grad rocket attack on the port city of Ashkelon that sent two people into shock and narrowly missed wounding others.
Saturday night’s Kassam attack from Hamas-controlled Gaza smashed into the roof of one of the buildings in the Sha'ar HaNegev Regional College complex. Foreign media speculated that the real target of the de facto Hamas government in Gaza was the prospect of direct talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel over the proposal for a new Arab state within Israel’s current borders.
Israel’s retaliation Friday night retaliation for the Grad rocket attack on Ashkelon resulted in the death of a Hamas commander, long on Israel’s wanted list as a leader in the manufacture of rockets.
Following a complaint to the United Nations by Israel, the international body issued an unusually harsh statement against the attack. It customarily criticizes Israel for retaliatory attacks. “Indiscriminate rocket fire against civilians is completely unacceptable and constitutes a terrorist attack,” a UN official said in a statement this time.
Hamas denied the attack, saying it was a “fake" and was intended to interfere with the Goldstone Report that accuses Israel of war crimes in Operation Cast Lead against the Hamas terrorist infrastructure last year.
“We doubt Israel's claims that a resistance group from Gaza fired a missile on Ashkelon," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a press release.
IDF spokesmen said, “The IDF remains committed to protecting the citizens of Israel and will continue to act against terrorism. The IDF holds Hamas solely responsible for terrorism emanating from Gaza' They added that approximately 110 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israeli civilians since the beginning of 2010, and more than 400 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel since the end of Operation Cast Lead.
2. Video Footage of Rocket Damage on Sderot Child Rehab Center
by Noam Bedein, Sderot Media Center
The upgraded Kassam rocket on Sderot Saturday night scored a direct hit on the ceiling of a children's hydrotherapy rehabilitation center in the heart of Sderot's Sapir College, bringing to nearly 400 the number aerial attacks launched from Gaza since the ceasefire which halted Israel's Cast Lead counter-terror campaign in Gaza in January 2009.
Email readers: click here to watch the video.
The Saturday night Kassam attack followed the explosion of a Iranian Grad missile that hit the city of Ashkelon Friday morning. Hamas-controlled Gaza has targeted Ashkelon, with a population of 125,000 Israelis, since March 2008.
The child hydrotherapy rehabilitation center at Sderot's Sapir College provides therapy and workshops for special-needs children who live in the Western Negev and is used by children from the entire country.
The facility was totally decimated.
Our crew arrived at the destroyed Children's Center hours after the attack, and heard an IDF Home Front Command officer estimate the carnage from the upgraded Kassam rockets.
While the crew filmed, a child care worker arrived at the destroyed office and was overwhelmed with emotion as the sight of the devastation. She walked through the rubble that had been her office the day before and, looking through the mess, she picked up a photo of her two children that had been hanging on the wall the day before. The child care worker was in a state of shock. On any other day, a catastrophe would have taken place, killing all the children at the center. During weekdays, the Center is packed with hundreds of children and therapists before it closes at 10 p.m..
This missile hit not far from where Sapir student Roni Yechiah was blown to bits on February 27, 2008.
In this present-day surreal situation, it does not matter that a catastrophe was prevented in our region, because as long there are no casualties, it doesn’t stay very long in the headlines and, in the eyes of the media and the public, the attack was of little importance, coming at the height of summer vacation, when the weather report on the expected high temperature in southern Israel takes precedence over the lethal missiles on southern Israel.
If, indeed, there were children at this rehabilitation center during the Kassam strike, the IDF would have no choice but to re-enter Gaza, and we would then witness the release of thousands of upgraded missiles which can reach Tel Aviv.
Israeli intelligence confirms that that the Hamas regime has now assembled an arsenal of over 5,000 missiles with a range of 40 kilometers [25 miles].
Yet, until there is a human catastrophe which would seemingly justify an appropriate military response, Israel continues to supply the Hamas regime in Gaza with thousands of tons of humanitarian aid, as well as the currency it needs to maintain its enterprise.
It is common knowledge that everyday, items such as sugar and fertilizer are used to manufacture fuel for Kassam rockets. Cement intended for civilian reconstruction is instead used to build and reinforce bunkers and tunnels. Metal intended for use as water pipes and streetlight poles ends up in the rocket manufacturing facilities managed by Hamas.
Israel provides Gaza's electricity, water, and sewage, and constructed the power plants in Ashkelon that provide over 70 percent of Gaza's electricity, which has been a favorite target of the terrorist militants in Gaza.
Ignoring these facts about Hamas, the world holds Israel totally responsible for the Gazan population of 1.4 million.
Yet, exactly five years ago, Israel withdrew its key military and civilian presence from Gaza, giving land for the hope of peace – something that no other democracy in modern history has done.
Noam Bedein is a photojournalist, lecturer and founder/director of Sderot Media Center . He has conducted briefings and tours for government officials, diplomats, foreign press, and students from around the world.
3. US and PA Trade Warnings Over Direct Talks
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The Obama administration and the Palestinian Authority are trading warnings over direct talks with Israel for the proposed new Arab country in place of a united Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday morning used the impasse to score diplomatic points and tell Likud ministers that direct talks will begin in two weeks. The PA has not hinted it is ready to sit down with Israel
After U.S. President Barack Obama threatened PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas he would remove American support for a new PA state if Abbas does not agree to sit down with Prime Minister Netanyahu, without pre-conditions, PA officials cautioned the United States. They said that American and Western pressures are undermining the credibility of the PA in the eyes of Arabs.
PA intellectual Hanan Ashrawi told the London-based Al Quds newspaper, “The pressure was tantamount to extortion.” She added that the Obama administration suggested that financial aid to the Arab world may be reduced if Abbas does not drop his condition for direct talks, namely that Israel continue the building freeze on homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria.
With the direct talks having been fruitless and President Obama’s Democratic party headed for heavy losses in the Congressional elections, the American government has shown increasing determination to force direct talks despite saying that the PA and Israel ultimately have the last word.
The State Department has sidestepped direct questions by reporters asking about a letter from Arab officials to the U.S. government in which a request was made for American guarantees for a freeze on Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria and other issues.
U.S. State Department spokesman Phillip Crowley tried to present the letter as a positive development. “I don’t feel comfortable laying out the contents of the letter,” he said. “It was a supportive letter. It was supportive of the role of the United States in this process. And we will be responding to those ideas in the coming days."
Asked if the government can accommodate the contents of the letter, Crowley did not address the question directly and simply stated, "Well, again, we have spent the last few months trying to establish a strong basis for negotiations to proceed…. We want to see them get into direct negotiations as quickly as possible, and we’re – that’s – that will be our focus in the coming days."
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon gave full support for PA demands Friday by supporting not only a renewal of the building freeze but also for extending it to include Jewish housing in areas of Jerusalem claimed by the PA to be the home of its future capital.
The Arab League last week, in a diplomatic move apparently aimed at placating President Obama, ostensibly supported direct talks, but virtually all mainstream media only parenthetically added that it in effect the statement echoed Abbas' position.
Qatar's Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, who chaired the meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo, said, "Of course, there is agreement, but agreement over the principles of what will be discussed and the manner of the direct negotiations."
He also added that it is up to Abbas to decide when to agree to talks.
Meanwhile, Israeli media put forth their own agenda. Yediot Acharonot, the country’s largest paid daily, reported Sunday that President Shimon Peres “is optimistic” that the issue of direct talks will result in the center-left Kadima party's joining the coalition government.
President Peres is scheduled to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt Sunday. After headlining the suggestion of a new coalition government, the newspaper did not back up the report and added in its last sentence, “Sources in Kadima, Livni's party, said the reports of negotiations on the establishment of a unity government are false.”
The Haaretz newspaper, which has campaigned strongly against a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria and united Jerusalem, quoted PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat as saying that the PA offered a proposal to U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell that was more generous than was presented to former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
However, Olmert has said several times that the PA never responded to his peace proposal, complete with maps.
The London Telegraph reported Sunday that “Western officials, as well as a number of independent observers,” believe that Abbas will agree to direct talks without the pre-condition for a building freeze.
There is virtual no support in the Arab world and media for what would appear as “surrender” to President Obama.
The Arab Al-Ahram weekly edition reported Sunday President Obama is “bullying” Abbas. “The PA and Israel have been holding indirect ‘proximity talks for several weeks,” it stated. “However, leaks suggest that very little progress -- if any -- has been made. This fact is frustrating the Palestinians and making them view with suspicion further talks, direct or indirect, in the absence of clear guarantees as to how the ‘endgame' would look like.
“Palestinian sources revealed that Abbas complained to President Obama recently that a growing number of the Palestinian intelligentsia were pressuring him to abandon the two-state strategy because very little land was left for the creation of a viable Palestinian state.”
4. Earthquakes Injure Hundreds in Iran; Nuclear Sites Not Damaged
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Two powerful earthquakes devastated northern and southern areas of Iran late Friday night and Saturday, but the stricken areas did not include the Islamic Republic’s nuclear sites.
At least one person was killed, and 300 others were injured. The first earthquake, measuring 5.7 on the Richter scale, struck shortly before midnight Friday and was followed by 11 aftershocks. An estimated one-third of the buildings in four villages were demolished.
A second quake in the north, measuring 5.8, struck approximately 600 miles south of Tehran damaging hundreds of homes.
The Bushehr nuclear facility, which Iran says will begin operating next month, is located several hundred miles west of Kerman, one of the areas devastated by the earthquakes.
Iran is located on seismic fault lines and experiences at least one light earthquake everyday, while occasionally suffering mass casualty quakes, such as the one that killed an estimated 30,000 people in 2003.
The official Iranian News Agency quoted one Red Crescent official as saying there was a danger of worse earthquakes because one of the two quakes Friday night and Saturday was not followed by aftershocks.
Iran’s nuclear sites are scattered throughout the country, and many of them are built deep underground to make them more difficult targets for an aerial military strike by Israel or the United States.
5. US Support for Israel Near All-Time High
by David Lev
Speaking Saturday night, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that he welcomed the support of the American public, as expressed in a Gallup poll released Friday. The poll showed that US support of Israel is at a near all-time high; 67 percent of Americans held a favorable opinion of Israel, more than for nearly any other country. Support for the PA was at 20 percent, among the lowest.
Sixty three percent favored Israel in the Middle East conflict, while only 15 percent favored the Palestinian Authority. According to the poll, the level of support in the United States for Israel was the highest since 1991's Gulf War, after dozens of Scud missiles fired by Iraq landed on Israeli cities.
Israel desires peace, and at the same time struggles against terror and extremism, just like the US, and this is the basis for the strong ties between the two countries and two peoples.
Commenting on the poll, Netanyahu said that the support it showed for Israeli “reflects the goals shared by the American and Israeli peoples: the achievement of peace and security and a world consisting of free, liberal democracies. Israel desires peace, and at the same time struggles against terror and extremism, just like the US, and this is the basis for the strong ties between the two countries and two peoples.”
While most Americans support Israel, few believe that a resolution of the Middle East conflict is on the horizon. Sixty seven percent of those polled said that peace was not imminent, while 30 percent said they were hopeful it would come “at some point.”
The poll was conducted in February by the Gallup organization in the United States, part of the organization's annual World Affairs survey, which asks Americans' opinion on 20 countries or entities.
6. ADL Opposes 9/11 Mosque at Ground Zero
by Hana Levi Julian
The New York-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has joined a groundswell of opposition to a plan to build a large mosque next to Ground Zero.
The Jewish civil rights group, long committed to religious tolerance, says placing a Muslim cultural and religious center close to the spot where Islamist terrorists murdered some 3,000 people is just plain wrong.
In a statement to the media, the ADL declared over the weekend, “Ultimately, this is not a question of rights, but a question of what is right. In our judgment, building an Islamic Center in the shadow of the World Trade Center will cause some victims more pain – unnecessarily – and that is not right.”
The proposed 13-story, $100 million mosque is to be built just two blocks from the site of the “9/11” attack on New York by the international al-Qaeda terrorist organization, in the heart of the city's financial district.
Massive protests by various opposition groups have given the city pause, despite a decision by a city committee to approve the project. If the plan succeeds, hundreds of Muslims will worship daily at the Park Place site, barely 600 feet from the area where terrorists ignited an inferno that destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center and killed nearly 3,000 people .
Opponents are now setting their sights on the upcoming meeting of the Landmark Preservation Commission, scheduled for Tuesday, when they hope to convince officials to abandon the plan.
The commission, which is the only body that can block construction of the mosque, might decide to do so based on the fact that in order to build the Islamic center, contractors first must destroy the 152-year-old Cordova House warehouse, a venerable city landmark.
7. Peres Calls Britain ‘Pro-Arab, Anti-Israel'
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Britain is in an uproar over comments in a Jewish newspaper by President Shimon Peres, who called British policies “pro-Arab” and “anti-Israel.” His remarks were contained in an interview conducted by Ben Gurion University Professor Benny Morris for Tablet, a year-old New York-based Jewish news website.
President Peres let down his diplomatic guard, perhaps not realizing that the British media would notice the interview, and stated that the growing Muslim population in Britain has contributed to the country’s being Israel’s ”next big problem.”
"There are several million Muslim voters, and for many Members of Parliament, that's the difference between getting elected and not getting elected," he said. "And in England there has always been something deeply pro-Arab—of course, not among all Englishmen—and anti-Israeli, in the establishment.
"They abstained in the 1947 United Nations partition resolution ... They maintained an arms embargo against us in the 1950s ... They always worked against us. They think the Arabs are the underdogs." He added that Germany and France have relatively good relations with Israel.
Britain’s new Conservative party Prime Minister, David Cameron, got off on the wrong foot with Israel last week when he stated that Gaza was a ”prison camp.” President Peres did not refer to his remark.
James Clappison, Conservative Member of Parliament and vice chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel, criticized the President’s statements, saying that "Peres has got this wrong.” While admitting that Israel often is understandably frustrated by some British media, Clappison added, “I don't recognize what he is saying about England."
Criticism also came from the Jewish community in Britain. Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Romain, who also is a writer and broadcaster, said, “I am surprised at Peres. It is a sweeping statement that is far too one-sided. Britain has supported both Israel and Arab causes at different periods over the last 50 years. There are elements of anti-Semitism but it is not endemic to British society.”
Support for President Peres came from the Christian Friends of Israel, whose director Jacob Vince told the London Telegraph that it was "difficult to see how many MPs would not be influenced by the number of Muslim voters in their constituencies. The question is how well they [MPs] understand those with whom they are seeking conciliation."
President Peres has long been on the left side of Israeli politics, but he has been increasingly skeptical of Arab peace proposals since the expulsion of Jews from Gaza communities in 2005. "For eight years they fired and we refrained from retaliating. When they fired at us, the British didn't say a word,” he told Prof. Morris.
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