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August 16, 2011
In-Depth Issues:
Iran Snipers in Syria as Part of Crackdown - Rob Crilly (Telegraph-UK)
Iranian snipers have been deployed in Syria as part of an increasingly brutal crackdown on protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, according to a former member of the regime's secret police.
The officer, who crossed into Turkey last week, said during the past two months he was aware of Iranian troops alongside his team as they fired on protesters in Damascus.
Sinai's Above-Ground Underground - Abigail Hausloher (TIME)
The mass uprising that unseated Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak made waves in Sinai as well.
On Jan. 28, Bedouins clashed with police in towns across Sinai. That night, the police withdrew from their posts and never came back.
For years the Bedouin communities of Sinai have relied heavily on smuggling as a means of survival in a territory with few other economic options.
People, diesel, iron rebar, cement, and Libyan cars remain top trafficking commodities. Palestinians - still weighed down by strict border entry regulations into Egypt - move freely through the tunnels between Egypt and Gaza.
In Egyptian Rafah, on Gaza's border, Kias, Toyotas, and luxury cars - many with their Libyan license plates still attached - await their underground passage into Gaza.
See also Smuggling in North Sinai Surges as the Police Vanish - David D. Kirkpatrick (New York Times)
The smuggling business has grown so exponentially in Sinai that Hamas recently limited car imports through the smuggling tunnels to 30 a week.
Until Hamas began to slow the flow last month, as many as 250 cars a week went through the tunnels, smugglers said.
Man Sentenced in Iran Missile Plot (UPI)
Davoud Baniameri, 38, an Iranian national who pleaded guilty to attempting to export missile components and radio test sets to Iran, was sentenced in Chicago to 51 months in prison.
Widow Takes on BBC over Israel "Bias" - Jonathan Wynne-Jones (Telegraph-UK)
For six years, Steven Sugar pursued a one-man legal battle against the BBC in an attempt to force it to disclose an internal assessment of its coverage of the Middle East conflict which he believed would reveal bias against Israel.
Mr. Sugar won an appeal for a full court hearing but died of cancer in January at the age of 61. Now, his widow, Fiona Paveley, has taken up the fight to reveal the contents of the 20,000-word document and the case is to be heard at the Supreme Court.
The BBC has spent more than £270,000 on legal fees to prevent the public from seeing the report.
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- Syria Orders Thousands into Stadium in Latakia Crackdown - Borzou Daragahi and Roula Hajjar
Syrian security forces in Latakia herded thousands of people into a stadium including Palestinians from a refugee camp, activists said Monday. "They were told they should leave their homes and go to stadiums because the armed forces were going to flatten the area," said an activist. (Los Angeles Times)
See also Palestinians Flee Syrian Assault - Joshua Mitnick and Nour Malas (Wall Street Journal)
See also Syrian Tanks Shell Latakia as Death Toll Reaches 31 - Khaled Yacoub Oweis
Syrian forces shelled Sunni Muslim districts in Latakia Monday on the third day of a military assault, residents said. Latakia has a large Alawite population, partly because Assad and his father before him encouraged Alawites to move from their nearby mountain region by offering them cheap land and jobs in the public sector and security apparatus. Bashar al-Assad's late uncle Jamil controlled Latakia port and a new generation of family members and their friends has taken over. (Reuters) - Egypt Deploys Soldiers to North Sinai - David D. Kirkpatrick and Heba Afify
Egyptian soldiers sent to crack down on lawlessness in Sinai killed a man in a gunfight on Monday and captured a dozen others in a series of early morning raids, security officials said. In the six months since the Egyptian revolution, the Egyptian police have all but vanished from the region, leaving local Bedouin tribes to provide the only law and order. Egyptian security officials said some of those arrested were prison inmates who escaped during the revolution. Other escaped inmates are believed to have slipped into Gaza through smugglers' tunnels. (New York Times) - Palestinian Authority Has Cash Crunch Amid Statehood Drive - Maher Abukhater
After earning international praise over the last two years for its financial reforms, the Palestinian Authority is facing its worst cash crunch in years. Palestinian banks, which lent the authority about $200 million to cover shortfalls, have stopped making new loans. Aid from Arab nations was above $500 million in both 2008 and 2009, but dropped to half that level in 2010. So far this year, it has dropped to about $79 million.
Polls show that Palestinians are now more concerned about jobs and the economy than they are about peace talks with Israel. The cash crunch is a reminder of the PA's heavy reliance on foreign aid, which accounts for about half of its more than $2 billion annual budget. (Los Angeles Times)
- Netanyahu Gives U.S. Lawmakers Questions for Abbas - Tovah Lazaroff
Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke with 27 visiting Republican congressmen on Monday and suggested they ask Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas two questions when they meet him later this week. "Ask him, 'why don't you come and negotiate with Israel.'...I am willing to immediately start direct negotiations with him without preconditions. I am willing to invite him to my house in Jerusalem and I am willing to go to Ramallah." "Ask Abu Mazen [Abbas] why he refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the Jewish state. I have recognized a Palestinian state, he [Abbas] should be able to recognize a Jewish state."
Netanyahu also spoke about the importance of a U.S. veto against the anticipated Palestinian bid for unilateral statehood at the UN Security Council in September. He said a UN vote in favor of Palestinian statehood would harden the Palestinian position for years and make it extremely difficult to negotiate a peace agreement. Netanyahu also thanked the congressmen for U.S. support for the Iron Dome missile defense system which thwarts Palestinian missiles launched from Gaza. (Jerusalem Post) - Palestinians in Gaza Fire Rockets at Beersheba
The Israel Air Force launched five airstrikes early Tuesday at targets in Gaza in response to rocket fire which struck near the Israeli city of Beersheba. Hamas sources said three gunmen involved in firing rockets at Israel were hit. Another air strike targeted a squad of terrorists planning to carry out mortar attacks on Israel moments before their attack. (Ha'aretz)
- Hello World: Israel Is Out-Classing You in Civil Disobedience - Roi Carthy
Social protests in Israel began 4 weeks ago with a national outcry over the rising price of basics such as cottage cheese. They then snowballed into a full-blown national movement after a then unknown young woman pitched a tent in Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard in protest of high apartment rental costs. It's been four weeks and zero acts of the barbaric, non-discriminatory violence we've seen across the Middle East, and even in the UK. No shots fired. No stores looted. While in neighboring countries regimes are slaughtering the opposition, in Israel we have complete free speech to criticize our politicians and leaders.
The backbone of the movement has unquestionably been Facebook, via pages, and events, and of course Twitter. I wonder how many future civil disobedience movements will be modeled upon Israel, where technology and love trumped violence. (TechCrunch-Washington Post) - Boycotting Jewish-Owned Business Not the Way to Make the Point - Editorial
How a picket outside a popular Melbourne chocolate shop would bring the State of Israel to its knees was always something of a puzzle. But the split between pro-Palestinian supporters over protests against the Max Brenner chain demonstrates the protest is not only futile but counter-productive. The BDS movement has every right to express its point of view, but for any student of 20th-century history there is something deeply offensive about targeting a Jewish-owned business. Australians are overwhelmingly uncomfortable about such tactics, whatever their views about a Palestinian state.
The BDS movement has surely lost its bearings when it likens this ridiculous protest to the actions of those who supported anti-apartheid boycotts against South Africa. (The Australian)
See also Pro-Palestinian Leader Condemns Violence at Brenner Boycott - Chip Le Grand
The Reverend Jim Barr, president of the newly formed Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, has described the actions of anti-Max Brenner protesters who prevented shoppers from entering the chocolate store as indefensible and stupid. (The Australian) - Questioning the Legality of Proposed Palestinian Statehood
The charters of both wings of the Palestinians - Fatah (PA) and Hamas - call for the elimination of Israel. Ethnic cleansing is specifically forbidden by the UN, but the Palestinians openly demand a Jew-free state. Palestinian incitement to hatred and violence against Israel and Jews continues in violation of UN decrees.
The PA is bound by the 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo accords agreements to solve outstanding issues with Israel through direct negotiations, rather than through a unilateral declaration of independence. (CAMERA)
- In the spring of last year, the Obama administration picked a fight with Israel over the routine approval of some housing starts in the Ramat Shlomo district of Jerusalem because it coincided with a visit to the country by Vice President Joe Biden. Last week the Israeli government gave final approval for the construction of the same apartment buildings in the city.
- While no American government has ever recognized Israeli sovereignty over any part of the ancient capital, it is equally true that never before had an American president made an issue of the building of homes in the existing Jewish neighborhoods begun in the immediate aftermath of the reunification of the city in 1967.
- It was Obama's personal condemnation of the creation of new apartments in these existing Jewish parts of the city that has made their future a matter of dispute and encouraged Palestinians to hold onto false hopes that one day the Jewish residents of these homes will be forcibly evicted. The decision to raise the stakes on Jerusalem has forced the Palestinian leadership to ramp up their already unrealistic demands on the issue and therefore made peace an even more remote possibility.
- Referring to housing starts in Jerusalem as obstacles to peace is absolutely false. Because everyone knows that neither Ramat Shlomo nor any other of the existing Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem will ever be given up, it doesn't matter how many homes are built there.
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1. Samaria Residents to Protesters: Come Live Out Here!
by Gil Ronen
The grassroots Samaria (Shomron) Residents' Council handed out flyers Tuesday at the tent protest sites in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Modi'in, offering an assortment of homes that are waiting to be bought up in Samaria.
"Residences in Tel Aviv and the center of Israel have become unattainable," the flyer states. But in Samaria, "a variety of religious and secular communities will be glad to absorb you and offer you a true living experience that includes everything you can only dream about: good education for the children, breathtaking scenery, a close knit value-oriented community and most of all – a sense of national mission. All this at a reasonable price."
The flyer details several specific offers for houses that are for sale: a 104 square meter home in Avnei Hefetz, a short ride from the coastal city of Netanya, for 740,000 shekels or a similar sized home in Shavei Shomron for 550,000 shekels.
Council chairman Benny Katzover stated, "We, in Samaria, believe that the community settlements are the best solution that offers a quality of life with which city folk are unfamiliar. I truly believe that if they overcome imaginary obstacles they will benefit greatly from this."
Comment on this story
by Gil Ronen
The grassroots Samaria (Shomron) Residents' Council handed out flyers Tuesday at the tent protest sites in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Modi'in, offering an assortment of homes that are waiting to be bought up in Samaria.
"Residences in Tel Aviv and the center of Israel have become unattainable," the flyer states. But in Samaria, "a variety of religious and secular communities will be glad to absorb you and offer you a true living experience that includes everything you can only dream about: good education for the children, breathtaking scenery, a close knit value-oriented community and most of all – a sense of national mission. All this at a reasonable price."
The flyer details several specific offers for houses that are for sale: a 104 square meter home in Avnei Hefetz, a short ride from the coastal city of Netanya, for 740,000 shekels or a similar sized home in Shavei Shomron for 550,000 shekels.
Council chairman Benny Katzover stated, "We, in Samaria, believe that the community settlements are the best solution that offers a quality of life with which city folk are unfamiliar. I truly believe that if they overcome imaginary obstacles they will benefit greatly from this."
Comment on this story
2. Hamas Douses Arab Spring, Arrests Leader Calling for Freedom
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Hamas terrorists have arrested Gaza youth leader Abu Yazan, who has been using Facebook and other social media to call for political freedom.
He is one of the founders of the Gaza Youth Break Out group and was arrested Sunday after he returned from a speaking tour in France.
Yazan has been quoted as saying, "You used to look around to see if someone is listening, so we used to stay silent, not even think.”
His group earlier this year published a manifesto that condemned Hamas, Fatah and other Arab political factions, as well as those in Israel. It called for freedom and “a normal life.”
Yazan has been missing since he was questioned twice by Hamas, which confiscated his laptop and mobile phone before allowing him to fly to France. He was arrested when he went to Gaza security headquarters to retrieve them, a youth group official told the French news service AFP.
Gaza Youth Break Out sent a Twitter message Sunday, “#Gybo member, human rights activist, and blogger, Abu Yazan, arrested by the authorities in #Gaza.”
He has been denied a lawyer and family visits, and a youth colleague, Abu Ghassan, told the news agency, "They knew him very well and …it was an easy excuse for them to say he was involved in foreign interference or something. He was beaten up for a day or two and then released. We know nothing of his whereabouts.”
Hamas and Fatah have come under increasing world criticism for executions and torture. Human rights groups, which previously have singled out Israel for military retaliation to terrorist attacks, have accused the rival Palestinian Authority factions of suppressing opposition rallies.
The youth group has used social media to call for unity among warring Arab factions, and Yazan has led anti-Israeli demonstrations in northern Gaza.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Hamas terrorists have arrested Gaza youth leader Abu Yazan, who has been using Facebook and other social media to call for political freedom.
He is one of the founders of the Gaza Youth Break Out group and was arrested Sunday after he returned from a speaking tour in France.
Yazan has been quoted as saying, "You used to look around to see if someone is listening, so we used to stay silent, not even think.”
His group earlier this year published a manifesto that condemned Hamas, Fatah and other Arab political factions, as well as those in Israel. It called for freedom and “a normal life.”
Yazan has been missing since he was questioned twice by Hamas, which confiscated his laptop and mobile phone before allowing him to fly to France. He was arrested when he went to Gaza security headquarters to retrieve them, a youth group official told the French news service AFP.
Gaza Youth Break Out sent a Twitter message Sunday, “#Gybo member, human rights activist, and blogger, Abu Yazan, arrested by the authorities in #Gaza.”
He has been denied a lawyer and family visits, and a youth colleague, Abu Ghassan, told the news agency, "They knew him very well and …it was an easy excuse for them to say he was involved in foreign interference or something. He was beaten up for a day or two and then released. We know nothing of his whereabouts.”
Hamas and Fatah have come under increasing world criticism for executions and torture. Human rights groups, which previously have singled out Israel for military retaliation to terrorist attacks, have accused the rival Palestinian Authority factions of suppressing opposition rallies.
The youth group has used social media to call for unity among warring Arab factions, and Yazan has led anti-Israeli demonstrations in northern Gaza.
Comment on this story
3. IDF Retaliates for Grad Attack, Strikes in Gaza
by Elad Benari
Aircraft belonging to the Israeli Air Force attacked overnight Monday four terror targets in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Office said in a statement that the aircraft scored direct hits and all planes returned safely to their bases.
The attack came in retaliation to the firing of two Grad missiles from the Gaza Strip on Monday evening.
The missiles exploded in an open area in the vicinity of Be’er Sheva. A siren was heard in the city and in other surrounding communities such as Lehavim, Meitar, and Omer. Local residents reported hearing two explosions. There were no reports of physical injuries or damage.
The IDF Spokesperson added that IDF forces identified a squad of terrorists as they were preparing to fire mortars into Israeli territory. The IAF managed to foil the attack, firing at the squad and directly hitting its members.
“The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers and will continue to act firmly and strongly against anyone who uses terrorism against Israel,” the IDF statement said. “The Hamas terrorist organization is the body responsible for these attacks.”
Over the past several weeks, there has been a “cat-and-mouse game” in which terrorists fire rockets or missiles at Israeli territory (such as the Grad attack on Kiryat Gat two weeks ago), and the IDF responds by firing at terror targets in Gaza.
Medical sources in Gaza claimed that one person was killed and four others were wounded in Monday night's IDF attacks. The claims were made in a conversation with the Reuters news agency following the attacks.
Comment on this story
by Elad Benari
Aircraft belonging to the Israeli Air Force attacked overnight Monday four terror targets in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Office said in a statement that the aircraft scored direct hits and all planes returned safely to their bases.
The attack came in retaliation to the firing of two Grad missiles from the Gaza Strip on Monday evening.
The missiles exploded in an open area in the vicinity of Be’er Sheva. A siren was heard in the city and in other surrounding communities such as Lehavim, Meitar, and Omer. Local residents reported hearing two explosions. There were no reports of physical injuries or damage.
The IDF Spokesperson added that IDF forces identified a squad of terrorists as they were preparing to fire mortars into Israeli territory. The IAF managed to foil the attack, firing at the squad and directly hitting its members.
“The IDF will not tolerate any attempt to harm Israeli citizens and IDF soldiers and will continue to act firmly and strongly against anyone who uses terrorism against Israel,” the IDF statement said. “The Hamas terrorist organization is the body responsible for these attacks.”
Over the past several weeks, there has been a “cat-and-mouse game” in which terrorists fire rockets or missiles at Israeli territory (such as the Grad attack on Kiryat Gat two weeks ago), and the IDF responds by firing at terror targets in Gaza.
Medical sources in Gaza claimed that one person was killed and four others were wounded in Monday night's IDF attacks. The claims were made in a conversation with the Reuters news agency following the attacks.
Comment on this story
4. IDF to Give Up Land for Housing?
by Gil Ronen
The Knesset's State Control Committee is holding a debate Tuesday morning on land that is under IDF control, which can be freed for housing.
The committee will discuss a State Comptroller report that say dozens of IDF installations and training areas, totaling over 50,000 dunams, are located in proximity to urban centers. These include installations that the IDF intends to vacate for that reason– such as Sde Dov in Tel Aviv, Tel HaShomer Base near the large hospital of that name, Tzrifin near the city of Rishon Letzion, Glilot near Herzliya, the maintenance base at Tira and Machaneh 80 in Pardes Hanna.
The IDF also holds dozens of abandoned bases on a total area of over 38,000 dunams. The Comptroller report explained that despite having received special payments to enable it to transfer this land back into the hands of the Israel Lands Authority, the IDF has been dragging its feet nonetheless.
MK Ronny Bar-On (Kadima), who heads the Control Committee, noted that "these are lands that are partially available for construction, which can solve some of the housing problems in central Israel and the periphery, and it is only because of mismanagement that they were not marketed years ago."
Comment on this story
by Gil Ronen
The Knesset's State Control Committee is holding a debate Tuesday morning on land that is under IDF control, which can be freed for housing.
The committee will discuss a State Comptroller report that say dozens of IDF installations and training areas, totaling over 50,000 dunams, are located in proximity to urban centers. These include installations that the IDF intends to vacate for that reason– such as Sde Dov in Tel Aviv, Tel HaShomer Base near the large hospital of that name, Tzrifin near the city of Rishon Letzion, Glilot near Herzliya, the maintenance base at Tira and Machaneh 80 in Pardes Hanna.
The IDF also holds dozens of abandoned bases on a total area of over 38,000 dunams. The Comptroller report explained that despite having received special payments to enable it to transfer this land back into the hands of the Israel Lands Authority, the IDF has been dragging its feet nonetheless.
MK Ronny Bar-On (Kadima), who heads the Control Committee, noted that "these are lands that are partially available for construction, which can solve some of the housing problems in central Israel and the periphery, and it is only because of mismanagement that they were not marketed years ago."
Comment on this story
5. Barak Half-Confirms Shalit Talks
Defense Minister Ehud Barak confirmed Tuesday that there is "a kernel of facts behind rumors about negotiations on the subject of Gilad Shalit."
"There were two real talks with the relevant elements in the last five years," he added, "but they did not succeed."
"We need to maintain self control," he added. "We all want his release; we should stop making the distinction, as if there are people who want to see Gilad Shalit back home, and those who do not."
According to Al Hayat, a London-based Arabic newspaper, Israeli emissary, David Meidan, and Hamas terror chief Ahmed Jaabari are conducting indirect negotiations in Cairo. Hamas and Israeli delegations were to sit in separate rooms, with an Egyptian team mediating.
Hamas has held IDF soldier Gilad Shalit since he was abducted in 2006 and demands the release of 1,000 terrorists being held in Israeli jails.
Comment on this story
Defense Minister Ehud Barak confirmed Tuesday that there is "a kernel of facts behind rumors about negotiations on the subject of Gilad Shalit."
"There were two real talks with the relevant elements in the last five years," he added, "but they did not succeed."
"We need to maintain self control," he added. "We all want his release; we should stop making the distinction, as if there are people who want to see Gilad Shalit back home, and those who do not."
According to Al Hayat, a London-based Arabic newspaper, Israeli emissary, David Meidan, and Hamas terror chief Ahmed Jaabari are conducting indirect negotiations in Cairo. Hamas and Israeli delegations were to sit in separate rooms, with an Egyptian team mediating.
Hamas has held IDF soldier Gilad Shalit since he was abducted in 2006 and demands the release of 1,000 terrorists being held in Israeli jails.
Comment on this story
6. 3 Years After the War, Chill Persists Between Russia and Georgia
by Amiel Ungar
Relations between Russia and Georgia have remained chilly and strained three years after the five-day war over South Ossetia.
The bitterness between the two countries is somewhat of a surprise in view of the fact that back in days of the USSR, the Georgians were considered a loyal nation trusted with the self-administration of their republic. This went back historically to the time that the Christian Georgians viewed the Russians as a bulwark against the Ottoman Empire and the Muslim nations in the Caucasus.
When Mikhail Gorbachev attempted his liberalization, one symbolic step was to appoint Eduards Shevarnadze as Soviet Foreign Minister ,in an attempt to show that non-Russian nationalities could achieve a place of prominence in the regime.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, Georgia declared its independence. Shevarnadze himself served as a Georgian leader till he was ousted in the Rose Revolution that brought in Mikhail Saakashviili.
Shevarnadze is urging his country to patch up differences with Russia in the belief that Georgia cannot do without Russia, but he does not foresee an improvement in the near future. Ironically, Shevarnadze places his hopes on the return of Vladimir Putin to the presidency of Russia, since the current president Dmitry Medvedev has refused to negotiate with Saakashvili.
Considering that Putin once threatened publically to hang Saakashvili from organs in the lower part of his body and reputedly announced his intentions to make the two breakaway Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia the equivalent of Turkish Northern Cyprus, it is hard to fathom the basis for Shevarnadze's optimism.
In the meantime he is right about the attitude of Dmitry Medvedev, who spoke of Saakshvili's "inflamed brain" that led him to start the war in 2008. Since he contends that the Georgian leader should be placed before an international tribunal, he will not negotiate with him.
Dmitry Medvedev has struck a belligerent tone on the anniversary of the war and has decorated some of the soldiers who participated in it. The Russians accused the Georgians of genocide against the South Ossetians as the impetus prompting Russian intervention. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov referred to the Georgian president as a pathological case who was badly brought up.
The liberal Moscow Times reacted to Medvedev's posturing by printing a cartoon displaying the Russian president in full dress uniform mounted on a wooden rocking horse.
It also balanced the picture by recounting the Russian provocations that preceded the war. Russia had set up military bases in the breakaway provinces and had staged bomb and missile attacks on the Georgian town of Gori. Russia had banned Georgian wine and mineral water, prohibited flights between the two countries and deported Georgian citizens.
Saakashvili responded sarcastically to the interview in which Medvedev attacked him. "A few days ago I saw on TV the President of a country which is a hundred-fold larger than [Georgia]," he said and "sympathized" with Dmitry Medvedev's "limited powers" ( intimating that Medvedev was merely a puppet of Vladimir Putin), while asking why the leader of such a huge country would be so preoccupied with the President of Georgia...
Comment on this story
by Amiel Ungar
Relations between Russia and Georgia have remained chilly and strained three years after the five-day war over South Ossetia.
The bitterness between the two countries is somewhat of a surprise in view of the fact that back in days of the USSR, the Georgians were considered a loyal nation trusted with the self-administration of their republic. This went back historically to the time that the Christian Georgians viewed the Russians as a bulwark against the Ottoman Empire and the Muslim nations in the Caucasus.
When Mikhail Gorbachev attempted his liberalization, one symbolic step was to appoint Eduards Shevarnadze as Soviet Foreign Minister ,in an attempt to show that non-Russian nationalities could achieve a place of prominence in the regime.
When the Soviet Union collapsed, Georgia declared its independence. Shevarnadze himself served as a Georgian leader till he was ousted in the Rose Revolution that brought in Mikhail Saakashviili.
Shevarnadze is urging his country to patch up differences with Russia in the belief that Georgia cannot do without Russia, but he does not foresee an improvement in the near future. Ironically, Shevarnadze places his hopes on the return of Vladimir Putin to the presidency of Russia, since the current president Dmitry Medvedev has refused to negotiate with Saakashvili.
Considering that Putin once threatened publically to hang Saakashvili from organs in the lower part of his body and reputedly announced his intentions to make the two breakaway Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia the equivalent of Turkish Northern Cyprus, it is hard to fathom the basis for Shevarnadze's optimism.
In the meantime he is right about the attitude of Dmitry Medvedev, who spoke of Saakshvili's "inflamed brain" that led him to start the war in 2008. Since he contends that the Georgian leader should be placed before an international tribunal, he will not negotiate with him.
Dmitry Medvedev has struck a belligerent tone on the anniversary of the war and has decorated some of the soldiers who participated in it. The Russians accused the Georgians of genocide against the South Ossetians as the impetus prompting Russian intervention. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov referred to the Georgian president as a pathological case who was badly brought up.
The liberal Moscow Times reacted to Medvedev's posturing by printing a cartoon displaying the Russian president in full dress uniform mounted on a wooden rocking horse.
It also balanced the picture by recounting the Russian provocations that preceded the war. Russia had set up military bases in the breakaway provinces and had staged bomb and missile attacks on the Georgian town of Gori. Russia had banned Georgian wine and mineral water, prohibited flights between the two countries and deported Georgian citizens.
Saakashvili responded sarcastically to the interview in which Medvedev attacked him. "A few days ago I saw on TV the President of a country which is a hundred-fold larger than [Georgia]," he said and "sympathized" with Dmitry Medvedev's "limited powers" ( intimating that Medvedev was merely a puppet of Vladimir Putin), while asking why the leader of such a huge country would be so preoccupied with the President of Georgia...
Comment on this story
7. Hareidi IAF Soldiers Celebrate Tu B'Av
by Elad Benari
A unique way to celebrate Tu B’Av was held on Sunday for soldiers and officers in the IDF’s Shachar Kachol (Blue Dawn) program and their wives. Tu B'Av is a Jewish semi-holiday celebrating marriage and nuptials, described in the Mishna as the time when marriages were arranged at the town of Shiloh by having young women come there to dance in the vineyards wearing borrowed white finery so no one could tell their socio-economic status while their intended chose which one he wished to meet for matrimonial purposes.
Judaism is based on the family unit as a building block for the ideal, productive and giving society that the Torah's commandments advocate and in fact, the first commandment, given to all mankind, is to raise a family. A couple are expected to respect each other and their children to honor and obey them.
Shachar Kachol is a program which integrates hareidi-religious soldiers into the Israeli Air Force and has been operating for the past 4 years. So far, about 600 soldiers have participated in the program and have enlisted in various positions in the Air Force, with some even serving as officers.
Since most of the men in the program are married, Tu B'Av could be celebrated in a way that combined the values of marriage and IDF service. it was decided to hold a special dinner in honor of Tu B’Av and thank the soldiers’ wives for their support of their husbands and explain to them the role their husbands play in the army.
The event was attended by the Head of Human Resources at the IAF, Brigadier General Ilan Boger and the IAF rabbi, Lt.-Colonel Rabbi Moshe Ravad.
Also in attendance was Rabbi Simcha Cohen, who gave a lecture on relationships, family and education of children in hareidi-religious society.
Comment on this story
by Elad Benari
A unique way to celebrate Tu B’Av was held on Sunday for soldiers and officers in the IDF’s Shachar Kachol (Blue Dawn) program and their wives. Tu B'Av is a Jewish semi-holiday celebrating marriage and nuptials, described in the Mishna as the time when marriages were arranged at the town of Shiloh by having young women come there to dance in the vineyards wearing borrowed white finery so no one could tell their socio-economic status while their intended chose which one he wished to meet for matrimonial purposes.
Judaism is based on the family unit as a building block for the ideal, productive and giving society that the Torah's commandments advocate and in fact, the first commandment, given to all mankind, is to raise a family. A couple are expected to respect each other and their children to honor and obey them.
Shachar Kachol is a program which integrates hareidi-religious soldiers into the Israeli Air Force and has been operating for the past 4 years. So far, about 600 soldiers have participated in the program and have enlisted in various positions in the Air Force, with some even serving as officers.
Since most of the men in the program are married, Tu B'Av could be celebrated in a way that combined the values of marriage and IDF service. it was decided to hold a special dinner in honor of Tu B’Av and thank the soldiers’ wives for their support of their husbands and explain to them the role their husbands play in the army.
The event was attended by the Head of Human Resources at the IAF, Brigadier General Ilan Boger and the IAF rabbi, Lt.-Colonel Rabbi Moshe Ravad.
Also in attendance was Rabbi Simcha Cohen, who gave a lecture on relationships, family and education of children in hareidi-religious society.
Comment on this story
8. Swedish Restaurant Serves Up Swastika
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A Swedish fast-food restaurant dished out a made in China swastika tattoo in a meal for an eight-year-old, his parents said.
The restaurant in the northern city of Urnea distributed different tattoos in meals for customers, according to a Swedish news agency quoted by UPI.
"We couldn't believe our eyes," said Malin Hagglund, Eddie's mother. "I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Eddie is a huge fan of tattoos, but we thought this was a very strange tattoo for a child and that it was wrong of the shop to buy in this product."
The restaurant apologized for the incident and said that it had ordered tattoos from China, which apparently included one – or perhaps more – with a swastika.
In other swastika incidents, Virginia police said vandals painted a red swastika on tree.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A Swedish fast-food restaurant dished out a made in China swastika tattoo in a meal for an eight-year-old, his parents said.
The restaurant in the northern city of Urnea distributed different tattoos in meals for customers, according to a Swedish news agency quoted by UPI.
"We couldn't believe our eyes," said Malin Hagglund, Eddie's mother. "I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Eddie is a huge fan of tattoos, but we thought this was a very strange tattoo for a child and that it was wrong of the shop to buy in this product."
The restaurant apologized for the incident and said that it had ordered tattoos from China, which apparently included one – or perhaps more – with a swastika.
In other swastika incidents, Virginia police said vandals painted a red swastika on tree.
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Bulletin électronique Mondialisation.ca
URL de cet article: http://www.mondialisation.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=26036
DERNIÈRE HEURE :
L’OTAN et la Turquie appuient les rebelles armés en Syrie.
Recrutement de mujahideen.
par Michel Chossudovsky
|
|
Le 16 aout 2011
| |
 Les médias occidentaux ont contribué activement à dissimuler la nature de l’interférence étrangère en Syrie, incluant le soutien extérieur aux insurgés armés. Ils ont décrit en chœur les récents événements en Syrie comme un « mouvement de protestation pacifique » contre le gouvernement de Bachar al Assad.
Des
développements récents en Syrie indiquent qu’il s’agit d’une
insurrection armée à part entière, intégrée par des mujahideen,
islamistes («Freedom Fighters »), appuyés, entraînés et équipés par
l’OTAN et le haut commandement de la Turquie. Selon des sources du
renseignement israélien :
Entre-temps, le
quartier général de l’OTAN à Bruxelles et le haut commandement turc
dressent des plans pour leur première étape militaire en Syrie, laquelle
consiste à munir les rebelles d’armes pour combattre les chars d’assaut
et les hélicoptères constituant le fer de lance du régime Assad pour réprimer la dissidence. Afin
de repousser les forces armées gouvernementales, les stratèges de
l’OTAN pensent davantage à répandre de grandes quantités d’antichars, de
roquettes antiaériennes, de mortiers et de mitrailleuses lourdes dans
les centres où ont lieu les contestations, au lieu de répéter le modèle libyen de frappes aériennes. (DEBKAfile, NATO to give rebels anti-tank weapons, 14 août 2011. C’est l’auteur qui souligne.)
La
livraison des armes doit être effectuée par « voie terrestre, à savoir
par la Turquie et sous la protection de l’armée Turque […] Autrement,
les armes seraient transportées
par camion jusqu’en Syrie sous la garde de l’armée turque et transférées
aux chefs des rebelles lors d’une rencontre prévue. (Ibid. C’est l’auteur qui souligne.)
L’OTAN
et le haut commandement turc envisagent également le développement d’un
djihad impliquant le recrutement de milliers de mujahideen (« Freedom
Fighters », ce qui évoque l’enrôlement de moudjahidines pour mener le
djihad (guerre sainte) de la CIA à l’âge d’or de la guerre
soviéto-afghane :
Selon nos sources, Bruxelles et Ankara discutent également d’une campagne
pour enrôler des milliers de volontaires musulmans dans les pays du
Moyen-Orient et le monde musulman afin de combattre auprès de rebelles
syriens. L’armée turque logerait ces volontaires, les entraînerait et
assurerait leur passage en Syrie. (Ibid. C’est l’auteur qui souligne.)
Ces
divers développements indiquent une implication potentielle de troupes
turques en Syrie, ce qui pourrait mener à une confrontation militaire
élargie entre la Turquie et la Syrie ainsi qu'à une intervention
militaire « humanitaire » sans réserve de l’OTAN, dont la mise en oeuvre
serait coordonnée avec l'insurrection.
Un reportage détaillé sur l’évolution de la situation en Syrie sera publiée sous peu par Mondialisation.ca.
Article original en anglais publié le 15 août 2011 : BREAKING NEWS: NATO and Turkey Support Armed Rebels in Syria. Campaign to Recruit Muslim "Freedom Fighters" Traduction : Julie Lévesque pour Mondialisation.ca | |
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Lucky You
Heather Boushey explains how unemployment insurance benefits help economic recovery and individuals and their families.More: Animation: How Unemployment Insurance Helps Families and the Economy
From the Cartoonist Group.View more cartoons in the archive.
If Michele and Marcus
Bachmann's hilarious corn dog photos reminded us of anything, it's that
you can make all kinds of bad choices at the state fair. Sure, we all
think, "It's just once a year, it's ok if I eat 18 pounds of fried
dough," but it's gotten out of control. It seems there's nothing our
state fair food purveyors won't fry.
So, in an attempt to curb this deep fried onslaught, here are 10 things we think everyone should stop frying right now. If you disagree or have others, let us know.
So, in an attempt to curb this deep fried onslaught, here are 10 things we think everyone should stop frying right now. If you disagree or have others, let us know.
