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1. Calling on Labor to Return to Rabin Legacy
by Hillel Fendel
As Tuesday's annual commemorations of the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin passes relatively quietly, a nationalist group says the Left has abandoned Rabin's legacy.
Memorial ceremonies for Rabin are held throughout the week of the 12th day of the month of Heshvan, the Hebrew anniversary of the date of his shooting on Nov. 4, 1995. He was shot to death following a Saturday night pro-Oslo rally in Tel Aviv, in the midst of a sharp national debate over the Oslo process; convicted assassin Yigal Amir is serving a life sentence for the crime. Teachers, rabbis, politicians and other leaders on both sides of the debate blanketly condemned the murder, but this did not prevent years of anti-nationalist hostility on the part of those who blamed the nationalist camp collectively for what the killing.
The Propellors
Rabin's contributions to the hostile atmosphere reigning at the time between the left-wing and nationalist camps are often overlooked. At one point, he said publicly and exasperatedly that the Golan Heights residents who objected to his withdrawal plan "could continue to turn like a propeller." In response to the fury that erupted at the remarks, then-MK Chaim Ramon "explained" that Rabin was not referring to all the Golan residents, "but only to those who had deviated from the public norm and joined up with the ultra-right settlers."
'I'm not PM of 2 Percent'
Several months before he was killed, Rabin said in the Knesset, "I am Prime Minister of 98 percent of the nation, and not of 2 percent." This was in the wake of a terrorist bus bombing in Tel Aviv that killed five Israelis.
Grassroots Call to Return to True Rabin Legacy
The grassroots nationalist organization Mattot Arim, based in Rehovot, issued a call to the Labor Party to cease abandoning the "Rabin legacy." The call aroused interest, in that Labor has always been in the forefront of the calls to eternalize what it calls the "Rabin legacy."
Mattot Arim spokesperson Susie Dym said that Labor's positions contrast with those of Rabin "because it supports the establishment of a Palestinian state, to which Rabin was opposed."
In an interview with Time magazine shortly after the signing of the Oslo Accords, Rabin was asked about the apparent softening of Labor's opposition to a Palestinian state. He responded unequivocally, "No. I am against this. I oppose the creation of an independent Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan…"
Oslo Accords Not Irreversible
Rabin also took a more hawkish approach to the Palestinian Authority than does the Labor Party today. In March 1994, Rabin said on national television, "The Palestinian police will fight against Hamas and use the guns [provided by Israel] against Hamas, without [having to worry about] B'Tselem or the Supreme Court or [the left-wing] Mothers Against Silence. They will not even dream of using the guns against us, because they well know that if they do, immediately at that minute the Oslo Agreement will be null and void, and the IDF will return to the places we gave them."
Labor's Slide Proportionate to its Support of PA State
The Mattot Arim letter to Labor reads: "As proud and loyal Israelis, we wish to remind you on this sad day that until 1992, you adhered to the legacy of the late Yitzchak Rabin, and included in your platform opposition to a Palestinian state. But since 1992, you have abandoned this path, following blindly the dizzy idea of a Palestinian state – and therefore it is only natural that the public has abandoned you and you have deteriorated more and more."
A graph attached to the letter shows how the party has reached a low of 13 MKs in the current Knesset, from a high of over 40 in the 1980's. when the party still opposed a Palestinian state.
Labor MK Einat Wilf, too, says that the party's steep slide is attributable to its relationship with Rabin, but gives the opposite explanation. She said that the party identifies too strongly with the image of Yitzchak Rabin and of his shot-down dream, and not enough with successful "do-ers" such as the first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion. Wilf called for the removal of the over-sized portrait of Rabin that has dominated the party's Knesset room since shortly after his death.
The Mattot Arim letter concludes: "We call upon you to sober up, to return to the Rabin legacy, and for each of you to say these words that are so important to the security of Israel and Israeli citizens, 'I oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state."
2. Call to Destroy Israel by Any Means – in Washington, DC
by Maayana Miskin
American professor Kaukab Siddique recently called for Israel to be destroyed by any means necessary, and issued a warning to Jews as well. Siddique spoke over Labor Day weekend at an anti-Israel rally in Washington D.C., but received little notice at the time.
"We must stand united to defeat, to destroy, to dismantle Israel--if possible by peaceful means," Siddique said. His comments were captured on film by the Investigative Project on Terrorism that publicized them recently..
"Perhaps, like Saladin, we will give them enough food and water to travel back to the lands from where they came to occupy other people,” Siddique continued. He called on Muslims to “unite and rise up against this hydra-headed monster which calls itself Zionism."
He made it clear that he was talking about the entire state of Israel, and not only the regions such as Judea and Samaria that are the subject of negotiation. “Settlements are only the tentacles of the devil that resides in Tel Aviv,” he stated.
Siddique addressed Jews as well. “For the Jews, I would say see what could happen to you if the Muslims wake up," he warned.
Siddique is a professor of English at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He was not the only extremist at the Washington rally; other protesters carried Hizbullah flags.
He defended his remarks under questioning from America's CBN news, saying that his references to “the Jews” were directed at Israeli leaders and their supporters, “not to the Jewish race as a whole.”
According to CBN Siddique has made past statements against “the Jews,” including accusations that Jews have taken over America. He has also denied that the Holocaust took place, and has spoken in defense of convicted terrorists, including one who was behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
His employer, Lincoln University, has received significant state funding over the past decade. University administrators responded to Siddique's most recent rant by defending his right to free speech. The university does not support his views, but cannot control what he says outside the classroom, they said.
3. Police Expel Couple and Baby, Wreck Home in Middle of the Night
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Police woke up a young couple and their baby in the middle of the night early Wednesday morning and ordered them out of their Gush Etzion home, which was then demolished.
The couple and their neighbors immediately rebuilt it.
Yaakov and Sarah Levin said the police also brought along Arab workers who removed the family’s possessions before the destruction at their Mitzpeh Erez home, adjacent to Bat Ayin in western Gush Etzion.
Using material from a nearby container, the couple and neighbors rebuilt the home.
Area residents told Israel National News, "Arabs build thousands of homes illegally throughout Judea and Samaria, while Jews are expelled and home-building is frozen. We will continue to build everywhere in Israel.”
4. European Court Ruling 'Saved' Israeli's Life
by Hillel Fendel
An Israeli army veteran officer imprisoned in Russia and facing possible extradition to Colombia, where his life would be endangered, has won a critical legal battle in the European Court for Human Rights.
The court rejected an appeal by Russia of its earlier ruling forbidding Russia from extraditing Klein, 67, a former IDF paratroopers officer. While Colombia expressed anger at the earlier ruling, leading figures in both Israel and Europe believe that the ruling has likely saved his life, for two reasons: The broad extent of vilification to which he has been subject in Colombia, and the inferior level of civil rights in Colombia’s prison system.
Russia must still confirm that it will abide by the ruling and allow Klein to return home to Israel, but this appears to be a foregone conclusion, and is expected to occur within a week or two. His lawyer Mordechai Tzivin of Tel Aviv, an international-affairs lawyer specializing in representing Israelis incarcerated abroad and who is representing Klein at no charge, said in a statement to Israel National News: "Based on my long professional experience with the Russian legal system, I am sure the Russians will abide by the ruling. Russia respects international agreements and makes sure to honor human rights, including those of prisoners, whose rights in Russia are better than those in the West and the United States. The Russian soul is not just a theme in Russian literature; it really is expressed in their attitude towards civil rights."
It has also been said that had Russia not intended to adhere to the ruling, it could have extradited Klein two years ago.
Why the Appeal?
In light of the above, Tzivin felt the need to explain why Russia appealed the original ban on extraditing Klein: "Russia wanted to make certain that the ruling does not contradict earlier rulings and that this was not a revolutionary decision, since this was the first time that a case involving Colombia had been adjudicated in the European court."
Tzivin had criticism of Israeli elements, whom he did not name, who "did not make sufficient efforts to mention points in his [client's] favor and help him." On the other hand, former IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Amnon Lipkin-Shachak told Israel National News in the past, "Everything possible must be done to try to prevent this extradition. His incarceration in Colombia is life-threatening. [He] has many merits in terms of his service in the IDF, where he was in the elite Sayeret Haruv unit in the Jordan Valley during the famous period of the mirdafim, attempts to catch constant Palestinian terrorist infiltrators from Jordan in the late 1960's, though this case goes well beyond this: Any citizen facing the dangers he now faces deserves all the help we can give him."
Klein was tried in absentia in Colombia on charges of training anti-government guerilla groups involved in terrorist activities in the 1980’s, and was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. Following the issuing of an Interpol international warrant, he was arrested in Moscow in August 2007, and has been incarcerated there ever since.
Attorney Tzivin said the Colombian ruling "was made illegally and in Klein's absence... The Strasbourg ruling, which is based on reports we submitted from the UN, Amnesty and the European Union, accepts all our claims that Klein can expect torture and dangers to his life in Colombia, both because of the poor civil rights record there and because of his specific situation."
5. Israel-Greece Ties Warm as Relations with Turkey Chill
by Maayana Miskin
As Israel's ties to Turkey remain distant, ties with Greece are growing warmer. Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas was in Israel this Monday to meet with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and sign an aviation treaty.
In July, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced that Israel and Greece would undergo “a major upgrade of relations.” He spoke as Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou visited Israel in the first visit by a sitting Greek prime minister in decades.
Both Israel and Greece have denied a connection between Israel's strained ties with once-friendly Turkey and its newfound friendship with Greece. Droutsas stated that there was no competition between Greek's ties to Israel and its relationship to Turkey. “Each of these relationships has its own dynamic,” he said. Greece and Turkey fought over control of Cyprus and an uneasy truce exists between the two since 1974 with relations sometimes warming and sometimes at crisis level.
As the two signed the aviation agreement, Lieberman expressed hope that stronger ties between the two countries would be helpful “not only for this country, but the whole region.” During his term in office to date Lieberman has sought to forge new ties, reaching out to South America, southwest Asia, and other parts of the globe sometimes overlooked by Israel's diplomats.
Israel's ties with Turkey began deteriorating when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan took office. Erdogan harshly condemned Israeli counterterror operations in Gaza, and allowed Turkish media to broadcast video clips with an extreme anti-Israel message.
In May, the Turkish government encouraged members of the terrorist group IHH to set sail for Gaza in defiance of Israel's naval ban on Hamas, along with many other foreign activists. IHH members attacked IDF commandos who took control of their ship off the coast of Gaza, leading to a battle in which nine Turkish citizens were killed. Following the clash, Turkey's leaders froze ties with Israel.
Israeli tourism to Turkey, previously the most popular site for vacations and backpacking for Israelis of all ages and economic levels because of its proximity, has dropped by an estimated 90 percent. Tourism industry workers say that many Israelis are now traveling to Greece instead.
6. Popular Soup Boycotted Due to Halal Line of Products
by Elad Benari
The latest outrage in North America is related to none other than one of the most famous canned soups.
Internet blogs have been calling for a boycott of Campbell Soup products after its Canadian subsidiary introduced a line of soups certified as halal, meaning they're prepared according to Islamic dietary laws.
The halal soups were introduced by Campbell Co. of Canada in a few Canadian markets in January. They are designated with a special label, are available only in Canada, and the company has no plans to offer a similar line in the United States, according to company spokesman John Faulkner.
Earlier this month, blogger Pamela Geller, who runs the popular Atlas Shrugs blog, began calling for a boycott after getting wind of the halal soups. She was soon joined by other bloggers calling for a boycott of one of the most famous canned soups in America.
Speaking to the Washington Post, Geller explained that she has no objection to the halal certification, but rather objects Campbell's decision to have its Canadian products certified by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), an organization which has been accused in 2007 and 2008 of being linked with the Hamas terrorist organization. Prosecutors wrote that ISNA possessed “a wide array of testimonial and documentary evidence expressly linking” it with Hamas and other radical groups.
“No one is suggesting they not have halal food,” said Geller. “I'm not against halal food any more than I'm against kosher food. My issue is who's doing the certifying.”
ISNA was also included on a list of conspirators in a Dallas court case against the Holy Land Foundation for allegedly channeling charity funds to Hamas. In 2008, the jury decided that five officials of the Holy Land Foundation were guilty of financing Hamas. ISNA denied any connections to the Foundation. There have also been allegations that ISNA has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamentalist political movement founded in Egypt in the 1920s which is strongly linked to Hamas, but is not on the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations
Meanwhile, the Campbell Soup boycott has spread its wings and has even appeared on Facebook. A Facebook page opened for the purpose of promoting the boycott urges consumers to “Boycott Campbell Soup for their certification of their products as halal and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The page has attracted nearly 3,500 supporters in only two weeks, many of whom have posted anti-Muslim comments ranging from aggressive to merely hostile. Despite this, Faulkner said Campbell hasn't noticed any effect on its sales.
Campbell's soups are not kosher,.The only soup that was certified kosher, the vegetarian vegetable soup, lost its Orthodox Union kosher stamp in 2006 and was then certified kosher by the less known half-moon K, Kosher Overseers of America.
Recently, three Canadian residents were arrested as part of an alleged hometown plot. One of the detainees is Khuram Sher, who appeared on “Canadian Idol”, Canada’s version of the popular television program “American Idol”, in 2008. The suspects are charged in connection with a plot to make and detonate improvised explosive devices as well as financing terror groups operating in Afghanistan.
7. OECD Conference Opens in Jerusalem despite PA Call for Ban
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Most nations in the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) are ignoring a call by the Palestinian Authority to boycott a major bi-annual tourism conference that opens in Jerusalem Wednesday.
At least 24 of the 33 OECD nations are attending, while Turkey, Belgium, Iceland, New Zealand, Sweden, Ireland and South Africa, are boycotting the conference following PA claims that doing so would damage its claims over northern, eastern and southern areas of the city that were restored to Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov said that 28 countries, including non-member countries, will attend. He added that no official tours will be led in those areas, although the delegates are welcome to tour on their own. The Western Wall and the Temple Mount, located in the Old City that was under Jordanian occupation from 1948-1967,are among the most popular sites for tourism to Israel. According to the ground rules set by the OECD and Israel, they will be out of bounds for official tours by the delegates.
The OECD accepted Israel as a member earlier this year, and the choice of Jerusalem as a venue for the convention was a feather in the cap for Israel.
However, Misezhnikov raised the ire of the Palestinian Authority when he stated that the meeting "will be a declaration of intent and a seal of approval on the fact that we have a state whose recognized capital is Jerusalem." The Arab League sent out a letter calling on OECD members to boycott the event.
The OECD demanded clarification from Israel that there were no political implications in holding the conference in Jerusalem. PA negotiator Saeb Erekat tried to convince OECD countries that their attending the conference would be a de facto recognition of Israeli jurisdiction over the united capital.
Minister Misezhnikov insisted he was misquoted and issued a statement that "the existence of this summit in Israel is a very good example of how the members of the OECD value Israel as a very strong state economically and in tourism."
The tourism conference will be held at the Jerusalem International Convention Center (Binyanei Ha'Uma) and will focus on Industry and Policy Approaches to Foster Green Growth in Tourism.
Misezhnikov opened the conference Wednesday morning, telling delegates that “this is an exceptional occasion for the State of Israel as we are today inaugurating the first historic OECD event taking place in Israel."
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