 |
||
 |
        |
 |
|
||
| MP3 Radio | Website News Briefs: | |||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
1. Arabs Murder American Woman; Manhunt for Killers
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Police early Sunday morning found the body of Christine Logan, who held
an American passport, 16 hours after two Arabs stabbed her and wounded a
friend. Police have clamped a gag order on the murder, which
authorities now believe was a terrorist attack. Earlier, they were
equally suspicious that the attack was criminal, although they still
have not ruled the possibility.
Logan and British immigrant Kaye Susan Wilson, a tour guide, hiked in a
dry river bed near Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem, after Wilson had
completed a tour with a group. Although Wilson's and Logan's names do
not sound Jewish, their religion is not known. Wilson rents a home at
the religious-secular Givat Ze'ev community, located west of Jerusalem
on Highway 443. Logan's residence is not known at this time.
Wilson may have saved her own life by pretending she was dead until the
attackers left the scene after stabbing her in her back and stomach.
She told police that two Arabs had bound her hands and that after they
left, she reached a nearby parking lot, where passersby called for an
ambulance and police.
Wilson
was rushed to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital in Jerusalem, where she was
treated for serious wounds and is in the ICU, but.her life is not in
danger.
A paramedic (pictured) rescued the dog of one the two victims of the Arab attack.
In a separate incident, police arrested an Arab who recently was freed
from prison and tried to stab a woman near the entrance to Hadassah
Mount Scopus hospital. Authorities said the man pulled out a knife and
chased his intended victim, who ran towards security guards at the
hospital entrance while police were alerted and arrived at the scene to
arrest him.
The terrorist said he was trying to erase suspicions raised by friends
who suspected he cooperates with Israel to help fight terror.
Elsewhere, the IDF denied any knowledge of the drowning of a Gaza
fisherman whom Hamas authorities said was fired on by the Israeli navy.
Foreign news services routinely report Arab claims of Israeli
incursions that the IDF says never happened. The French news service
AFP quoted a Gaza hospital spokesman that the navy opened fire on
fishing boats, one of which supposedly overturned, resulting in the
drowning of an Arab teenager.
Military spokesmen previously have told Israel National News that many
reported incidents are fabricated, and they said they knew nothing about
navy firing on Arab fishermen on Saturday.
2. Air Force Foils Rocket Attacks on Israel; 5 Terrorists Killed
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Israeli aircraft foiled an attempted missile attack on southern Israel
Saturday night by bombing a rocket-launching cell. Gaza sources said
five terrorists were killed.
The cell included members of the Islamic Jihad and Popular Resistance
Committees terrorist groups. Israel has said it holds Hamas responsible
for all attacks on Israel.
Witnesses reported that Israeli unmanned aircraft for several days had
been hovering over central Gaza, where the cell prepared to launch a
number of rockets Saturday night. Most of the terrorists were residents
of a central Gaza village under the auspices of the United Nations
Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)..
The Air Force "targeted and identified hitting a squad of terror
operatives who were preparing to launch rockets towards Israeli
territory,” IDF spokesmen said.
More than 200 missiles, rockets and mortars have been fired from Gaza this year, despite a declared ceasefire by Hamas.
3. PA Continues to Prepare for Unilateral Declaration of State
by Chana Ya'ar
The Palestinian Authority is continuing its drive to unilaterally
declare independent statehood next year, with or without a negotiated
settlement with Israel.
PA spokesman Nabil Shaath continued to lay the public relations
groundwork Saturday by telling reporters the peace process with Israel
is in a “deep coma” and that U.S. proposals for negotiations are
“totally useless.”
While PA officials are talking up the “uselessness” of final status
negotiations, others are working on building up diplomatic ties with
South America. A third group is working on a resolution for the United
Nations Security Council.
Fayyad: Plan for August 2011 Independence on Course
Meanwhile, PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad remains steady at the helm,
telling listeners in an interview broadcast Saturday on Israel’s Channel
2 television “we should not be discouraged because we have failed so
many times before.”
Fayyad vowed in a speech delivered in Ramallah more than a year ago
that he would unilaterally declare the PA to be an independent sovereign
entity in August 2011 if no final status agreement was reached with
Israel by that time.
On Saturday, however, Fayyad phrased the plan a little differently: “We
are looking for a State of Palestine, not a unilateral declaration of
statehood.” The PA prime minister set concrete plans in motion for such a
state more than a year ago, with the approval of the United States.
Since that time, however, PA officials went further, having taken the
initiative and asked most Asian and Latin American nations to recognize
the entity as an independent, sovereign state. Moreover, the PA has also
formally requested for the first time that European countries recognize
a Palestinian state, should one be declared – even in the absence of a
final status agreement with the State of Israel.
The Fayyad government last week officially contacted Britain, France,
Sweden and Denmark with a request to formally recognize a State of
Palestine along Israel’s 1949 Armistice borders.
PA and Arab Nations Working on UN Resolution
U.N. representatives of Arab states and the PA have been busy in New
York drafting a resolution to be submitted to the U. N. Security Council
that would force Israel to halt Jewish construction in Judea, Samaria
and parts of Jerusalem demanded by the PA for its hoped-for country. The
resolution may include a call for a boycott of Israeli businesses based
in Judea and Samaria, according to media reports.
Members of the Arab bloc in the United Nations reportedly have been
meeting in New York since Thursday to work on the resolution. They
allegedly expect to have a draft ready to present to the Security
Council by the end of this week.
More than a week ago, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas warned that he was preparing to formally ask
the United Nations to recognize the PA as a sovereign independent state
called "Palestine." Although Arab League members and notably Egyptian
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit advised him to wait, it is still not
clear whether Abbas has decided to follow their advice.
Although in agreement with PA officials that the U.S.-Israel-PA "peace
process" is essentially dead, Arab League members nevertheless
recommended the United States come up with firm recommendations for a negotiated final status agreement.
Bolivia Recognizes ‘State of Palestine’
Bolivia has joined three other South American nations by declaring its
recognition of the Palestinian Authority as a new Arab country.
The official notification came in a speech delivered Friday by Bolivian
President Evo Morales to the Mercosur Summit, attended by a number of
South American heads of state. “Bolivia recognizes Palestine as an
independent state along 1967 borders, together with Brazil and Argentina,” announced Morales to a standing ovation by the audience.
The term “1967 border” refers to Israel’s border prior to the 1967 Six
Day War, in which lands occupied by Jordan were restored to the Jewish
State.
Thus far, Argentina,
Bolivia, Brazil, Cuba and Venezuela have formally recognized the PA as a
sovereign entity, with Uruguay promising to do so in 2011. PA Chairman
Mahmoud Abbas told reporters that he expects Ecuador to follow with a
similar announcement shortly.
Just three days earlier, Norway had upgraded the status of the PA
mission in Oslo from a “general delegation” to a “diplomatic mission.”
In addition, the head of the PA mission in the country was granted
diplomatic immunity.
This follows a similar decision by France in July 2010, when the PA
delegation to Paris was raised from that status of “delegation” to a
“diplomatic mission” led by an ambassador.
US Congress Rejects Unilateral Moves
The U.S. House of Representatives, meanwhile, unanimously approved on
Thursday a resolution opposing the unilateral declaration of a new PA
country.
The resolution called on the Obama administration to “deny recognition
to any unilaterally declared Palestinian state and veto any resolution
by the United Nations Security Council to establish or recognize a
Palestinian state outside of an agreement negotiated by the two
parties.”
It also warned PA leaders to “cease all efforts at circumventing the
negotiation process, including efforts to gain recognition of a
Palestinian state from other nations, within the United Nations, and in
other international forums prior to achievement of a final agreement
between Israel and the Palestinians.”
The resolution also called on foreign governments “not to extend such recognition.”
PA Anger at American Reaction
Former PA head negotiator Saeb Erekat responded with anger to the
reaction by the U.S. Congress to the Palestinian Authority’s attempts to
sidestep the negotiation process, telling an Arab newspaper “we have
passed on messages to certain parties that have influence and relations
with Israel, informing them that the U.S. Congress should not involve
itself in Middle Eastern affairs if it doesn’t have anything positive to
say.”
Erekat, who currently represents the Palestine Liberation Organization
to the United States told the London-based Arabic-language newspaper
A-sharq Al-Awsat, “we asked the Americans about what harm there is in
countries recognizing the Palestinian state along the 1967 borders, as
the Americans themselves are calling for this.
“We also informed them that the Palestinian efforts would continue in
this direction… in the sense that we will not stop appealing to
countries around the world to recognize the Palestinian state. This is
our right and the right of this state.”
4. John Bolton Eyes White House in 2012
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
John Bolton, the former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations who has advised Israel to strike Iran before it is too late, says he may run for president in 2012.
He told Politco.com Saturday, "As I survey the situation, I think the
Republican field is wide open. I don't think the party's anywhere close
to a decision. And stranger things have happened. For example,
inexperienced senators from Illinois have gotten presidential
nominations," referring to U.S. President Barack Obama, who served only
three years in the Senate before being elected president in 2008.
Bolton, who recently was interviewed by Israel National Radio,
has often stated that sanctions against Iran are useless and that the
only way to stop it from becoming a nuclear threat is to stage a
military strike.
Sarah Palin, Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are leading candidates for
the Republican nomination, but none of them can match Bolton’s foreign
policy experience.
Palin’s popularity is increasingly considered to be restricted to a
strong minority, and she frequently has shown that she is not acquainted
with foreign affairs. She recently mistakenly referred to North Korea
as American’s ally. Palin is expected to visit Israel early next year
and has thoroughly backed Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria.
Huckabee is solidly pro-Israel and recently spoke at the annual Beit El fundraising dinner in New York.
“I think national security is central to America's safety and
well-being, and I don't think this president understands that,” Bolton
told Politico.
"Let's face it, Obama gives a good speech," he said. "He will have been
commander-in-chief, in name at least, for four years. He'll be able to
do a good imitation of a commander-in-chief. If the Republican nominee
isn't able to show his inadequacies, we'll be in real trouble."
“The case for Bolton is a straightforward one,” according to Politico.
“He would be the national security candidate. As he sees it, there
wouldn’t be any meaningful competition for that designation. Republican
primary voters would cotton to his confrontational style and his ability
to target what conservatives see as a major vulnerability for President
Barack Obama.”
Bolton admitted that Americans are more concerned with domestic issues
rather than foreign policy but commented, "That is something that should
and can be altered as people see the nature of the threats around the
world that we face. Nearly all the experts I've talked to have told me
that candidates, in the early days, need a discriminator — something
that distinguishes them from the rest of the candidates. I'm just not
Generic Governor A or Generic Governor B."
The former ambassador is known for bold statements, such as suggesting
that the United States should stop funding the United Nations. In
another remark, he referred to bloated U.N. bureaucracy by saying, “It
would not make a bit of difference" if the United Nations got rid of 10
stories from its building.
Bolton is a popular commentator on Fox News, regarded as a conservative media outlet.
5. It's All Israel's Fault: PA Blames Israel for Need to Seek Aid
by Maayana Miskin
The Palestinian Authority blames Israel for the need for another
international donor conference scheduled for April 2011 and announced
this week by Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere.
Stoere expressed hope that in 2011, the PA will have succeeded in
creating a new Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. “We should all
cling to the vision of 2011 being the year when we can see a new state
on the world stage: the Palestinian state,” he said.
In order for the PA to create a state, “institutions need to be solid,
governance needs to be transparent, security, schools, all these
elements need to come in place,” Stoere said, speaking after a meeting
with PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who is second in command to
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
While Stoere spoke of the need for transparency, Fayyad blamed Israel
for the PA's need for foreign aid. “Due to Israeli restrictions on our
national sovereignty, the economy has not been able to operate up to its
potential,” he said. The PA argues that Israeli security measures,
which include inspection of imports to Judea and Samaria and checkpoints
between PA-controlled territories and Israeli cities, are the main
obstacle to a flourishing PA economy.
Israel has been widely credited for the improvement of the PA economy
through easing security checks despite continuing terrorist attacks and
working closely with Ramallah on joint projects.
Fayyad credited the PA for reducing its need for aid and did not
mention Israeli initiatives to increase employment among PA Arabs. The
PA is hoping to boycott Israeli employers in Judea and Samaria, but has
not yet been able to find alternative workplaces for the tens of
thousands of workers who would be forced to quit their jobs.
The international community has provided much of the funding for the PA
and for Hamas-run Gaza. The PA received nearly $1.2 billion in
international aid in 2010; in addition, the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency (UNRWA) provides food aid and free primary education for
many PA Arabs.Some of the money is used for honoring terrorists.
Fayyad said in September that he hopes the PA will no longer need foreign aid by 2013, but then corrected himself to say that the PA would still need aid for development.
Abbas admitted this month that the PA is spending most of its money
in Hamas-run Gaza, where it continues to pay 77,000 Fatah loyalists who
are mostly unemployed under the new regime. Months earlier, a PA
official had revealed that much of America's aid to Gaza ends up benefiting Hamas.
A PA expert who spoke at the United Nation's Seminar of Assistance to
the Palestinian People in 2010 lamented that the large sums of foreign
aid given to the PA had no impact on the PA economy. She cited the large PA public payroll and PA spending on its armed “police” forces as contributing factors.
6. Russian Gas Firm Trying to Invest in Israel and Iran
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The Russian Gazprom firm, which said last month it wants to invest in Israeli gas fields, is defying sanctions and working with Iran, according to the semi-official Iranian Fars News Agency.
The news agency quoted Gazprom Neft director Alexander Dyukov as saying
the Russian firm plans to carry on working with the Iranian government.
"The company continues holding negotiations over two Iranian oil
fields, but so far, the parties have not reached any agreements," he
added.
Last month, Gazprom Neft and the National Iranian Oil Company signed a
memorandum of understanding to jointly develop oil fields and to study
the development of two other Iranian oilfields.
The United Nations has placed sanctions against Iran in an effort to
force it to comply with U.N. demands for inspections of its nuclear
projects.
Gazprom also is eyeing Israel,
as reported last month. Its deputy chief executive Alexander Medvedev
told reporters, "We are carefully looking at this opportunity. We are a
world energy company and we are going in the direction where economic
opportunities can be seen.
He said Gazprom may purchase a 50 percent stake in a partner for
exploration licenses of Israel's Mediterranean coast off the port city
of Ashdod.
Further north, a consortium of Israel and American firms are drilling
for gas and oil in the mammoth Leviathan fields off the Haifa coast.
Since the discovery earlier this year, Lebanon and Hizbullah have
claimed the fields are in Lebanese territory.
7. Ariel Mayor Threatens to Sue over ’De Facto Building Freeze’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Ariel
Mayor Ron Nachman has threatened to sue Defense Minister Ehud Barak for
intentionally implementing a de facto building freeze in opposition to
government policy.
"Barak is directing government policy independently and is
intentionally blocking building plans in Judea and Samaria with a clear
message to the Civil Lands Authority not to permit any plans without his
personal approval," Nachman charged. "The Prime Minister and the
government have not approved the execution of another building freeze
and have given no instructions concerning a new freeze. Barak has placed
Ariel under a freeze.”
Nachman said that “force is the only language Barak understands" and
that if he continues to block new building, he will file a citizen’s
suit against the Defense Minister.
The Cabinet last month rejected a renewal of the expired 10-month
building freeze, demanded by the Palestinian Authority and the Obama
administration to pave the way for renewed discussions on the
establishment the Palestinian Authority as a new Arab country within
Israel’s current borders.
Last year, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Cabinet approved
an unprecedented 10-month building freeze to satisfy PA Chairman Mahmoud
Abbas’s condition for the resumption of talks. But Abbas subsequently
backed away, claiming that the freeze was not extensive enough.
In early September, four weeks before the freeze expired, U.S.
President Barack Obama managed to bring Prime Minister Netanyahu and
Abbas together in Washington for discussions, but they focused primarily
on procedural issues, such as the proposed renewal of a freeze. Three
weeks later, Abbas abandoned the effort altogether when the 10-month
moratorium expired on September 26.
8. Brinksmanship in the Ivory Coast
by Amiel Ungar
Tension has escalated in the Ivory Coast as President Lauren Gbagbo,
who claims to have been re-elected president of the country despite his
defeat in the November 28 elections to Alassane Ouattara (Gbagbo
succeeded in having the Constiutional Council staffed by his cronies
declare him the victor), has called for the departure of the UN peace
keeping forces in the country. The mandate for these forces expires on
December 20, 2010. These forces were originally stationed to stop the
civil war that has been raging intermittently since 2002, install a
coalition government and pave the way for democratic elections. They are
currently protecting Ouattara who has set up his rival presidency in
the Golf Hotel at Abidjan the capital.
Gbagbo who had attacked a French peace keeping force in 2004 because he
resented their neutrality, repeated the tactic by having his supporters
attack the UN base without inflicting any casualties.He charges the
international forces with aiding the rebels. UN Secretary General Ban
Ki-moon has rejected a call for UN troops to leave because he denies
Gbagbo's authority to issue such a request as did his former Prime
Minister Guillaume Soro, a supporter of Ouattara and a leader of the
anti-Gbagbo forces in the civil war. "This decision cannot be
(implemented) as Mr. Gbagbo is no longer president," said Soro. "We find
this approach by a defeated president president grotesque and
ridiculous."
While Gbagbo knows he is on flimsy grounds his call for the departure
of the UN forces is a reasonable tactical measure from his perspective.
Intervention in what is considered a civil war has always proven
problematic under international law. By attacking the UN forces he is
also relying on the UN forces history of timidity in such situations and
the hope that it may sufficiently rattle the nations who are furnishing
components to the UN force to withdraw the troops. As the UN Security
Council must approve the extension of the UN peace keeping force Gbagbo
perhaps is counting on China to throw a monkey wrench into the process.
China has provided diplomatic cover to odious regimes on the African
continent, most notably Sudan, that can furnish China with access to
needed commodities.
Otherwise the international pressure against Gbagbo is ramping up. The
European Union says it has agreed on targeted sanctions against Gbagbo
and his allies notably a visa ban and an assets freeze. This will hurt,
since Ivorian leaders have usually mixed the business of state with
personal pleasure in accumulating vacation places in Europe, notably in
France and Switzerland.
The U.S. State Department has joined the threat to impose targeted
sanctions against President Gbagbo, his immediate family and circle of
his relatives if he continued "to claim illegitimate power"
Despite Gbagbo's attempt to play the victim of western intervention he
finds himself isolated in Africa as well. He has been told to leave by
the Economic Community of West African States that has suspended the
Ivory Coast, as has the African Union. While African leaders have
occasionally shielded dictatorial leaders such as Zimbabwe's Robert
Mugabe, this was usually due to nostalgia for their part in the
anti-colonial struggle. Outarra, an economist who served in the IMF and
in African organizations, commands more sympathy.
France, the former colonial power, had initially attempted to remain in
the background, but President Nicolas Sarkozy became more assertive at
the close of last week. Not only did France favor an asset freeze and a
visa ban, Sarkozy also threatened Gbagbo with arraignment before the
International Criminal Court. Sarkozy said Gbagbo was responsible for
turning one of Africa's most stable nations into one where innocent
people are shot in the streets by the president's supporters. He noted
there are international courts to deal with such crimes.
Sarkozy was essentially telling Gbagbo that it's your choice. Go
quietly into the sunset and enjoy your stash and retirement or face the
loss of assets and perhaps a prison cell. Now we will have to wait to
see if Gbagbo blinks or risks reigniting a civil war.
More Website News:
 |
A Unique Shabbat – Food and Songs at Ben Gurion Airport  |
|
Firefighter Is Carmel Disaster’s 44th Victim |
|
Mother of Missing IDF Soldier Zachary Baumel Sues UK Gov't |
|
Helen Thomas Leads 2010 List of ‘Top 10 Anti-Semitic Slurs’ |
|
WikiLeaks: Arabs Boycotted Spielberg for Helping Israel |
