UK: Israeli offensive appropriate

Israel's response to the recent Kassam rocket attacks on Sderot has been measured and appropriate, Kim Howells, Britain's Minister of State for the Middle East, told The Jerusalem Post, disregarding Palestinian appeals for the world to rein in the IDF.

Howells, on a three-day visit to the region, hinted in an interview Wednesday night that financial aid to the Palestinian Authority might be withheld if the PA did not seriously begin tackling the terrorism in its midst.

"The Palestinians are receiving more aid per capita than any other people on the face of the earth, and we want to see some proper response," Howells said, hinting at a decrease of economic aid if the Palestinians don't fight terror.

"I thought the retaliation this week was proportionate," said Howells about the IDF operations. "The [Palestinian] attack was a very serious one, it could have killed a lot of people. It's a miracle really there weren't more casualties."

"I think there is no excuse now," he added. "Gaza is now in the hands of the Palestinian Authority, and there are no Israeli troops there. One hopes that where tough decisions have to be made, Abu Mazen [PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas] and the PA will make them."
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 10:48 pm 0 comments

An Anglican church leader in Baghdad has warned that Iraqi Christians could be adversely affected by a Church of England bishops' report criticizing the Iraq war and suggesting that Christians apologize to Muslims.

Christians in Iraq -- like those in the Palestinian self-rule areas and other parts of the Arab world -- face growing pressures, both because of a perceived association with the West and because Islamic fundamentalists regard them as "infidels."

The Church of England is England's officially established church as well as the "mother" body of the world's Anglicans and Episcopalians.

In their report, released on Monday, the bishops criticized what they called a "long litany of errors" in the West's handling of Iraq, called the war "gravely mistaken" and said that as the British government was unlikely to apologize, church leaders should offer a "public act of institutional repentance" at a meeting with senior Muslims.

The bishops' document, which has been given coverage in Middle East media outlets, also calls Western democracy "deeply flawed," complains about the "major influence of the 'Christian Right' on present United States policy."

Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, a controversial Egyptian Islamic scholar who has called Palestinian suicide bombings justifiable, welcomed the bishops' stance.

Now comprising an estimated three percent of the 25-million population, Iraq's Christian community traces its origins back to the 1st century AD.

The Barnabas Fund, a charity working to help Christian minorities in Muslim nations, says an orchestrated bombing of churches in Iraq in mid-2004 was seen by local believers as calculated to speed up an exodus of Christians already underway.

The recently drafted Iraqi constitution brought new fears for Christians, worried about an article stating that "no law can be passed that contradicts the undisputed rules of Islam."
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 11:55 am 3 comments

(click here for the full slideshow)

(click the picture for video proof that "palestinian" Arabs teach their children to grow up to be killers, IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE SO CALLED "OCCUPATION"- More videos here)

Permanent Link posted by J @ 6:58 pm 6 comments

Abbas urges Arabs not to normalize Israel ties yet

CAIRO -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Arab countries to refrain from establishing relations with Israel until it pulls out from territory captured in 1967.

Speaking at a news conference Wednesday at the seat of the Arab League in Cairo, Abbas said, "Arab countries are sovereign states and act in a sovereign ways, but there are Arab agreements to which all Arab countries are committed."

An Arab peace initiative launched at an Arab summit in Beirut in 2002 linked normalizing Arab relations with Israel to the latter's withdrawal from Arab territories captured in the 1967 war and the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

Earlier this month, Bahrain said that an Israeli trade office will be opened in Manama as the United Arab Emirates canceled legislation banning the entry of Israeli goods.

Israel has diplomatic relations with Egypt, Jordan and Mauritania and opened interest sections in Qatar, Oman, Tunisia and Morocco.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 11:57 pm 1 comments

After 35-years, an end to the bloodshed? Are we really being asked to believe that the provisional IRA has destroyed all its arms in a move that consolidates its announcement in July that its campaign to end British rule in Northern Ireland was over?

“The people of Northern Ireland watched a programme which illustrates more than ever the duplicity and dishonesty of the two governments and the IRA,” said Mr Paisley, yesterday.

The British government want out of Ireland. It has always been a thorn in their side, and the latest backdoor dealing, allowing the Northern Bank robbery, and now this whitewash of an alleged arms decommissioning, is all part of a far more sophisticated campaign, one that the DUP could ever hope of dreaming up.

At face value, it seems a mutually profitable deal for the British government and the IRA, with the DUP having been engineered into appearing as party-spoilers following their statement that they will keep Sinn Fein in quarantine for two years before it even considers power sharing with the Republicans.

That Loyalist paramilitaries would even consider giving up their arms following such a cobbled together, non-transparent Republican decommissioning process, is out of the question.

Perhaps the IRA leadership has put ‘some’ arms beyond use – in Northern Ireland – rest assured that the bulk of the weaponry are now in the hands of fringe groups or over the boarder.

So, where, right-minded people may ask, is the evidence of this arms and explosives destruction? Handcuffed by the IRA’s “confidentiality” rules we simply have the word of John De Chastelain and two clergymen. There are no photographs, not one frame of video film; no handout lists of armaments, no physical record of how this arsenal was destroyed nor where. We are not even allowed mere sight of a single destroyed revolver or rifle.

Finally realising that they will never win by the use of the gun, the IRA have gained the upper hand in Northern Ireland without another shot being fired. They have stolen the march on the DUP and UUP and now they will move south.

The UUP have hit the nail on the head, stating: “It is imperative that the movement’s criminal empire be dismantled as well.”

Well, with the best intentions, the UPP can dream on. Using its vast wealth, much of it stolen and obtained through graft, corruption and Mafia activity, the IRA are encouraging IOUs, buying their way into Dublin and the south’s political machine like winners at Monopoly.

A thinking terrorist is a highly dangerous terrorist, and the IRA are past masters at playing the game. They have bought the British government who has sold out the DUP and UUP. With their target, now a weakened Southern Ireland, and lining their pockets with Dublin political elite, there will now be a period of relative stability in NI.

The IRA and the British government have, in the short term, achieved some peace in the province. The fact that there will be no executive power sharing for several years, if at all, means not a jot.

Then the IRA will return to NI, and that will mean Armageddon.

It is the biggest political ‘Bargain Basement Sale’ in history.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 2:18 pm 0 comments

To most Americans, Jewish music means klezmer or Fiddler on the Roof, but two Valley school chums and their Hasidic beatboxing protégé are changing that.

"There's always been Jewish music. It's just most of it hasn't been very good," says Matisyahu, the self-proclaimed "Hasidic Reggae Superstar," who performs tonight at the Marquee Theatre.

"It was not so much an idea as an instinctive outcome of my lifestyle. I was always making music, singing about things that interested me. And as I became religious, that's what I started singing about," says Matisyahu (pronounced Mah-tis-yah-who).

His current single, King Without a Crown, is garnering heavy airplay at alternative radio stations across the country, including the Valley's KEDJ (103.9 FM). But Hasidic reggae was a tough sell in the music industry.

"We've always been aware of the novelty factor - talking about a 6-foot tall Hasidic Jew in a black suit with a big beard, singing reggae, rapping and beatboxing," Bisman says. "But as soon as people hear the music and see him, they get it."

Now he divides his time between performing and studying the Torah. He does not see a conflict between his spiritual studies and his music.

"The first rabbi said that music, song, it is the pen of the soul," Matisyahu says.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 3:57 pm 0 comments

Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal has purchased 5.46 percent of the Fox corporation, according to Gulf Daily News, raising concern that the conservative Fox News may soften its anti-terror stance due to the views of the new shareholder.

Al-Waleed, the nephew of the late Saudi King Fahd, was in the news when he visited the World Trade Center's remains just after the September 11th attacks and offered then-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani a $10 million check for relief efforts. Al-Waleed then released a statement blaming US foreign policy and support for Israel for the attacks.

Giuliani returned the prince's check with a statement that, "There is no moral equivalent for this attack. The people who did it lost any right to ask for justification when they slaughtered . . . innocent people ... Not only are those statements wrong, they're part of the problem."
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 9:19 pm 0 comments

Senior Islamic Jihad terrorist Sheikh Mohammed Khalil was reportedly killed in an Air Force missile strike in the Gaza Strip Sunday evening.

Palestinian sources said two people were killed in the attack and four others were wounded after a missile was fired at a vehicle traveling in Gaza.

Atef Qatrous, 22, said he was leaving work when he saw a missile hit the car. One of those inside was decapitated and another was badly wounded, he said.

The army confirmed it had launched an airstrike.

Sheikh Khalil was responsible, among other attacks, for the murder of the Hatuel family in Gaza several years ago, an attack that shocked Israelis and left a pregnant woman and her four daughters dead.

Khalil is also responsible for the terror attack that killed five IDF soldiers on May 2004, at the Israeli-Egyptian border.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 8:12 pm 0 comments

"What Lola wants, Lola gets" goes the old torch song; in recent years "What Allah wants, Allah gets" is more to the point over here. Faith schools, hijab in state schools, forced marriage, honor killings, polygamy, female genital mutilation performed in upmarket London clinics; not for nothing do the French sneer at us as "Londonistan."

And now what the self-appointed leaders of the Muslim community i.e. the mouthiest, pushiest of the bunch want is, apparently, an end to U.K. Holocaust Memorial Day.

This day was first marked on January 27, 2001, by our prime minister and great war leader Tony Blair, who spoke thus: "As Holocaust survivors age and become fewer in number, it becomes our duty to take up the mantle and tell each generation what happened, and what might happen again." Any sentient human being with an IQ of more than 2, you might think, could not reasonably disagree with this singularly moderate statement. (Except, perhaps, the premier's wife, Cherie Booth, who once said that she understood why Palestinian cretins felt it entirely necessary to murder innocent Israelis in order to have an orgy in heaven with 72 virgins.) That reminds me of my favorite joke of the moment, as told by the British Muslim female comedian, Sharia Mirza: "Did you hear about the Muslim virgin desperate to lose it? It wasn't really the sex she was interested in; she just didn't want to fuck a suicide bomber when she died."

Well, just when you believed this might be one declaration that human beings of all creeds and colors and belief systems might agree on, enter the mullahs. But the cream of the joke is, this time it isn't even the mullahs who have begged to differ though given the chance they probably would, with something along the lines of their attitude to the Twin Tower murderers "The Nazis were brave warriors fighting for the liberation of their brothers from the parasite Israel. Oh, hang about, it didn't exist then! Oh well, you know them Jews, anyway!" No, the main man behind the objections to Holocaust Day is the "ultra-moderate" Sir Iqbal Sacranie, Knight of the British Realm, member of the Muslim Council of Great Britain and chief adviser to Mr Blair on all things Islamic.

Sacranie and his cronies say they want to see Holocaust Day replaced with "Genocide Day," on which we would commemorate the deaths of all peoples in all conflicts, but what they are really up to is an elaborate and rather sickeningly mealy-mouthed form of Holocaust denial which they are betting we won't recognize as what it is, due to the fact that they are darker in hue than the average Nazi.

Their insistence on equating the deaths of Muslims in territorial conflicts [including, and especially, Palestinians at the hands of Israelis -- ii editor], which might easily be resolved through negotiation, with that of Jews in the Holocaust the racial identity of the victims being the very cause of the slaughter reveals a mentality which is either sub-cretinous or really quite evil. Which is worst, I wonder? Grossly offensive though these latest Anglo-Islamic antics are, I can't help thinking this is yet another own-goal. The alliance between Islam and Nazism is a real, long and filthy one, and more fool the Muslims for once more drawing attention to it.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 4:04 pm 0 comments

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered security forces Sunday to use any means necessary to put an end to barrage of Qassam rockets fired at the Sderot and western Negev communities over the weekend.

Operation “First Rain,” which is not limited in time, was launched early Sunday with the bombardment of several targets in Gaza and with a wave of arrests of no less than 207 wanted Palestinians in the West Bank, most of them senior Hamas political officials.

In a cabinet meeting held just hours before the Likud Central Committee meeting that may decide the prime minister’s political future, he said, “I have instructed (the security forces) that there is no limit on the means at their disposal to hurt the terrorists, their equipment and hiding places."

The prime minister reiterated that, “all means may be used and, apart from our general policy not to hurt civilians, everything must be done to stop this severe phenomenon. This cannot continue.”
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 1:57 pm 0 comments

The IDF has confirmed to The Jerusalem Post that it was responsible for the air strike that killed four Hamas operatives in the Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City in the Gaza Strip Saturday, just before four p.m. Israel time.

The attack was the third air strike since Israel stepped up its operations against Hamas and Islamic Jihad cells which were responsible for the barrage of 29 Kassam rockets on western Negev communities over the weekend.

The operatives were killed when the two cars in which they were traveling exploded.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 6:06 pm 0 comments

A pickup truck carrying masked militants blew up at a Hamas rally on Friday, killing at least 19 Palestinians and wounding 80, The PA Interior Ministry confirmed.

Witnesses said the truck carried homemade weapons, and Palestinian security officials said the blast apparently was caused by the mishandling of weapons. Hamas blamed Israel, saying Israeli aircraft flew overhead during the rally. Israel denied it was involved.

The witness said he saw five dead children nearby. Dozens of children were wounded in the blast. The Hamas military wing, Izzedine al Qassam, is popular with youngsters. When the pickup with the gunmen arrived at the rally, many children crowded around the vehicle.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 10:25 pm 2 comments

[Maybe the stamps will display popular Arafish quotes, just to show what a man of peace he really was, such as - "Peace for us means the destruction of Israel. We are preparing for an all-out war, a war which will last for generations." - Yasser Arafish, or maybe this one - "We plan to eliminate the state of Israel and establish a purely Palestinian state. We will make life unbearable for Jews by psychological warfare and population explosion. … We Palestinians will take over everything, including all of Jerusalem. We will not bend or fail until the blood of every last Jew from the youngest child to the oldest elder is spilt to redeem our land!" - Yasser Arafish] [Link...]

[The spoof, or is it ;) ] - [sorry, no link]

Permanent Link posted by J @ 7:44 pm 1 comments

A British Muslim convert has been sentenced to 15 years in jail after being found guilty of two charges of having articles for use in terrorism. Andrew Rowe, 34, was convicted of having instructions on firing a mortar and a terrorism code.

The jury could not reach a verdict on a third charge relating to possession of socks bearing traces of explosives, but prosecutors are not seeking a retrial.

Rowe, from Maida Vale, west London, had denied all the charges.

A pair of socks were found in his luggage that were rolled into a ball with a cord attached.

Rowe said he used it for martial arts kicks and that traces of explosives were from when he used the socks as gloves to unload ammunition, after carrying out humanitarian work in Bosnia in 1995.

But the prosecution claimed it could have been used for cleaning a mortar.

Hand-written instructions on how to fire a mortar and the secret code were found at addresses in London and Birmingham linked to Rowe.

The code substituted names of mobile phones for words including money, trouble-police, weapon, airport and army base, prosecutor Mark Ellison said.

There were also codes for explosive materials, making it a "shopping list for terrorism", Mr Ellison said.

He also said Rowe had travelled extensively after converting to Islam, including to places of conflict, and had had four passports in seven years.

Rowe told the court he had converted to Islam at the age of 19 in a bid to alter his lifestyle after taking and selling drugs.

The jury had earlier been told they could return a majority verdict.

Jurors had been deliberating for a day and were told verdicts on which at least 10 agreed would now be accepted.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 4:18 pm 0 comments

WASHINGTON - Emboldened by Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and part of the West Bank, Hamas yesterday announced its plan to turn a synagogue in Netzarim into a museum that would display weapons employed by the terrorist group's members against Israeli civilians.

Secretary of State Rice suggested in an interview published this week in Time magazine that the Palestinian Authority focus on disarming Fatah-based militias for now and suggested that Hamas be dealt with later.

"I understand that there are complications with Hamas and there are questions about how capable they would be of actually insisting on disarmament of Hamas," Ms. Rice said.

Mr. Bush has not specified whether Hamas must disarm. Speaking to the Jewish Republican Coalition yesterday, he said that the Palestinian Authority was unifying its security services.

"The policy of this government is to streamline the security forces so there's only one authority with security forces, and that's the authority that campaigned based upon a peace platform," Mr. Bush said. "The policy of this government is to help entrepreneurship flourish, to help small businesses start. The Arab world needs to help right now. They need to step in and help the peaceful democratic forces within the Palestinian - within Gaza, to thwart those whose stated objective is the destruction of Israel."
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 3:21 pm 1 comments

ON THE DAY of Simon Wiesenthal’s death, Sir Iqbal Sacranie, the Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain, could be found in The Guardian proposing the abolition of Holocaust Memorial Day because it is offensive to Muslims. Sacranie and his allies propose Genocide Day, a holiday devoted to recognising, among other genocides, the “mass murder of Muslims in Palestine”.

The double bigotry reflected in this proposal should be evident to all people of good will. First, I can understand why commemoration of the Holocaust should be offensive to those Muslims and others who supported Nazi victory over Britain and Nazi genocide against the Jews and others.

And there were many such Muslims, led by the leader then of the Palestinian people Haj Amin al-Husseini, who urged Hitler to extend the final solution beyond Europe’s borders to Jewish refugees who had reached Palestine.

Secondly, there has been no genocide against the Palestinian people. When Palestinian bombers target Israeli civilians, Israel refrains from targeting Palestinian civilians in turn. Many Palestinian civilians have died during the many Arab-Israeli wars and intifadas of the past several decades. But that number is dwarfed by the number of Palestinians and Arabs killed by Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Iran during the same period.

During its occupation Israel provided social security, built and supported schools, and maintained vehicle, water and electrical infrastructures for residents of the West Bank and Gaza. The Egyptian and Jordanian occupations that preceded Israel were far less benign, but of course no one accused those Arab countries of genocide.

This is not to justify Israel’s occupation. Even though it was the Arab offensive in 1967 that created the Israeli occupation, when the Six-day War ended I argued in favour of Muslim self-determination and partition of Israel and Palestine. Opposition, though, should be grounded in facts and tempered by fair-mindedness.

The Israeli occupation is not a genocide, and those who would conflate the two are more interested in demonising the Jewish state than in achieving Palestinian statehood and a just peace, based on compromise, between the two nations.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 2:21 am 0 comments

What is even more revealing is that in tables on p 220, the Occupied Palestinian Territories are in the medium cluster with an HDI of 0.729 – a better standard of living than the Arab states overall which have an HDI of 0.679. On the Human Poverty Index, the territories are ranked seventh on a list of 103 developing countries, with other Arab countries ranked below them. Saudi Arabia is ranked 32; Syria is 29; Iran is 36; Egypt is 55; liberated South Africa (all those who accuse Israel of ‘apartheid’, please note) is 56.

Now what is the one factor which the Palestinians have that other Arab states do not have, the factor which lifts their living standards above even those Arab states which have massive oil wealth? It is their close economic relationship with Israel, both in terms of the jobs that Israel provides for them and the massive amounts of aid that Israel pours in to the territories. And what has been the Palestinians’ response to this country which is so crucial to their living standards? Why, to murder its citizens in great numbers and try to destroy it altogether. And what has been the outcome of that genocidal campaign against Israel, apart from murdering large numbers of Israelis? Why, to put Palestinian development into reverse.

Is this the biggest self-inflicted wound in history?
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 12:38 pm 0 comments

In the shadow of threats against retired Israeli generals over war crimes, organizers of one of the world's largest international arms fairs in London tossed out an Israeli company for offering stun guns, leg irons and other "weapons of torture."

The firm, TAR Ideal Concepts, was forced to leave Britain while customs officials considered what action to take against them. The company was in town for the efence Systems and Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition, held last week.

"It turned out that we are great criminals because in our catalogue we were offering leg cuffs and stun guns and batons," said company head Tomer Avnon. "And don't forget we were among booths offering everything from sniper rifles to silencers, cluster bombs and all sorts of nasty stuff. It's the height of hypocrisy," Avnon told The Jerusalem Post in a telephone interview.

"It's beyond ridiculous, particularly since we had received permission from the organizers who approved all of our brochures."

He was convinced that the singling out of Israeli firms came from the same anti-Israeli motivations that led to the harassment of retired IDF officers.

"It is as if we are harming human rights. I wouldn't be surprised if it all originated from the same source," Avnon said.

The irony of the whole ordeal, Avnon said, was that there had been enormous interest in his non-lethal weapons.

Officials from DSEI could not be reached for comment.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 3:18 pm 1 comments

[The three women were found guilty of converting Muslim children to Christianity after holding a "Happy Week" in their homes in early May - picture from ChristianToday.com]

Three Christian women charged with violating Indonesia’s 2002 Child Protection Act by converting Muslim children to Christianity were found guilty Thursday of all charges.

The trial took place in an Indonesian court with anti-Christian radicals, according to International Christian Concern.

Jeff Hammond of Bless Indonesia Today told Assist News Service that Dr Rebecca Laonita, Ratna Mala Bangun and Ety Pangesti were found “guilty of all charges” and sentenced to three years in jail after running a “Happy Week” (or “Happy Sunday”) programme in their homes in early May.

Mr Hammond said that the women were found guilty despite the fact that the children had attended the event with parental permission and that none of the children had actually converted from Islam to Christianity.

He also said that the sentence was possibly better than it could have been, as witnesses and judges were “constantly under the threats of violence from hundreds of Islamic radicals, who threatened to kill the three ladies, witnesses, pastors, missionaries – and even the judges – if the women were acquitted”.

Mr Hammond also reported to ANS that anti-Christian radicals had showed up to the trial in nine trucks and that they “brought a coffin to bury the accused if they were found not guilty.” He said that the radicals continued to make threats before the session had actually begun and cheered when the verdict was read.

Mr Hammond urged people to “pray for these three beautiful, gentle women, who were just trying to help save the children of prostitutes from going down the same pathway”.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 5:34 pm 2 comments

Simon Weisenthal (1908-2005) [picture taken from Jpost.com]

Simon Wiesenthal, the Holocaust survivor who helped track down numerous Nazi war criminals following World War II and spent the later decades of his life fighting anti-Semitism and prejudice against all people, died Tuesday at the age of 96.

Wiesenthal passed away in his sleep at his home in Vienna, Austria, according to Rabbi Marvin Hier, the dean and founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles.

Rabbi Hier told The Jerusalem Post that Wiesenthal's family, who live in Israel, were en route to Vienna to retrieve his body. He will be buried in Israel, and a memorial at the center will be held at a later date, Hier said.

Hier believes the contribution of Simon Wiesenthal to history is best described as keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive during the crucial years.

"One must understand that before writers like Wiesel or directors like Spielberg created movies and books, the Holocaust was on the way to being forgotten. But when Simon went after Nazis, it made news."

"He kept the memory alive when no one had time to hunt Nazis. In the 1950s, the US was busy with the Cold War, while Israel had its own troubles with the Arabs," he added.

Hier explained, "He just took the job. It was a job no one else wanted. He was the only full-time Nazi hunter. A day after World War II ended, Wiesenthal handed over a crumbling list of Nazis to US Army intelligence. He also cooperated with Israeli authorities, especially the Mossad."

"Simon did not want to be a Nazi hunter, he was an architect by profession. However, the Holocaust forced him into action; 89 members of his family were murdered by the Nazis. He couldn't forget, he believed someone had to go after the criminals," said Hier.

According to Rabbi Hier, "For years, he was all by himself. He was even forced to close the center several times in the past because he didn't have money. In the mid 50s he even received a tip that Adolf Eichmann was in Argentina but was unable to afford the trip at the time."

Hier said that until the age of 92-93, Wiesenthal came into the office every day. "In the last couple of years his health deteriorated, but his mind remained clear," he said.

Wiensenthal was perhaps best known for his role in tracking down Eichmann. He often was accused of exaggerating his role in Eichmann's capture. He did not claim sole responsibility, but said he knew by 1954 where Eichmann was.

Eichmann's capture "was a teamwork of many who did not know each other," Wiesenthal told AP in 1972. "I do not know if and to what extent reports I sent to Israel were used."

Aside from Eichmann, among the 1,100 Nazi war criminals Wiesenthal helped bring to justice, were the commanders of Treblinka and Sobibor, and also the Nazi who arrested Anne Frank, Karl Silberbauer.

On behalf of the government, Deputy Minister of Social and Diaspora Affairs in charge of Anti-Semitism, Rabbi Michael Melchior, issued the following statement: "The Israeli government mourns the passing of a great man. One of the greatest figures in the Jewish world has passed away. Simon Wiesenthal was a man who emerged from the infernal concentration camps with the purpose of pursuing justice.

According to Melchior, "Wiesenthal, more than anyone else in the world, represented the belief that anti-Semitism and crimes against humanity are not mitigated with passing time, nor are they ever forgiven."

Yad Vashem also responded to Wiesenthal's passing: "Yad Vashem has learned with sadness of the passing of Simon Wiesenthal, in Vienna. Wiesenthal dedicated his life to bringing Nazi criminals to justice and to ensuring that the memory of the Holocaust will never fade."

"The symbol of Nazi-Hunting, Wiesenthal began his mission immediately after the war ended, and did not rest until his final days. Through his tireless efforts, many Nazi war criminals were prevented from escaping their due punishment, compelled instead to face the force of international law. He was unique in an environment that did not do enough to bring the guilty to justice."

"In his determination to expose the crimes of Nazis, Wiesenthal was the world's conscience, determined to document the full extent of Nazi war crimes, and hold those responsible accountable for their actions. Yad Vashem mourns this tremendous loss to the Jewish and international community."

"In the mid-1950's, Wiesenthal gave Yad Vashem hundreds of files and material from his the Jewish Historical Documentation Center in Linz, Austria, which he closed. In 1960 he gave Yad Vashem a written testimony, and in 1986 he gave Yad Vashem audio testimony," the statement concluded.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 1:48 pm 3 comments

The Palestinian Authority admitted on Sunday that children were being used in the smuggling business along the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

According to the sources, PA policemen deployed along the border in the past 48 hours have arrested a number of children who were carrying drugs in schoolbags. "The children were unaware of what they were carrying, but they gave the security forces important details about those responsible," the sources added.

Col. Mahdi Zanoun, head of the PA's anti-drug police unit in Rafah, said his men have seized more than one ton of drugs, as well as alcohol, that were smuggled from Egypt over the past few days. He said more than 70 Palestinian and Egyptian suspects have been arrested in connection with the smuggling of drugs.

Meanwhile, thousands of Hamas gunmen, in one of the organization's largest shows of strength, marched through Gaza City on Sunday in what was regarded as a direct challenge to Abbas's efforts to restore law and order. The gunmen carried assault rifles, rockets and anti-tank missiles as they marched in the streets.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 2:42 am 1 comments

The Judeo-Christian world's holiest site, Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, will forever remain under Islam's dominion, vowed a venerated Muslim Israeli Arab Friday.

Speaking to some 70,000 supporters in the northern Israel town of Umm el-Fahm, Islamic Movement leader Sheikh Raad Salah urged all Muslims to converge on the Temple Mount to defend it against “Jewish aggression.”

The sea of Israeli citizens appeared united in their hatred of their state, chanting in unison their intention and desire to oppose any Israeli activity at the site.

Salah told the chanting crowd that Israel was laying siege to the Al Aqsa Mosque that occupies the holy site by installing a new security system to ensure Muslims could no longer hurl stones from the top onto Jewish worshipers at the Western Wall below.

Salah also claimed the Jews were at this moment building a subterranean city under the mount.

“We will make every effort to protect the mosque, and we hereby announce the operation of dozens of buses that will bring thousands of people to al-Aqsa every day so they may defend it,” Ynet quoted Salah as saying.

“We will redeem the mosque with blood and fire,” he declared, to roaring cheers from the mob.

Salah's tirade comes close on the heels of a pledge last week by Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar to continue the group's terrorist war against the Jews until “the flag of Islam is raised over Jerusalem.”

Islam views as an affront renewed Jewish control over the holy city, after the followers of Mohammed conquered and subjugated Jerusalem more than 1,500 years earlier.

Muslims fear the Jews will one day rebuild their temple to the God of Israel, in accordance with biblical prophecies. With that in mind, today's adherents to Islam have broken with their own tradition and with history in claiming the Jews have no connection to the Temple Mount.

The prophets foretell that once the temple is rebuilt, the Messiah will descend and establish his throne on that holy hill. The Muslims have sealed off the Mount's eastern gate (also known as the Golden Gate) in an apparent attempt to deny him entry.
Link...

So just to clear things up, members of the ROP are angry that they can't hurl stones and rocks at Jews who are praying at Judaism's holiest site (now where's that Islamic tolerance i've heard so much about?) and they are also claiming that the "jooos" are building a magical subeterranean city under the mount (yes yes, read the article, I didn't make that up). Now that's why I call a crazy mullah!(no, not this crazy mullah)
Just to add, I also hope that this preacher will be arrested and chucked in jail, just as the police in Israel would do with any Jewish citizen who incited violence or threatened to attack Muslim "holy" sites. Or would that be too much to expect from the 'give land for peace' Israeli leadership?

Permanent Link posted by J @ 12:43 am 1 comments

1. They think that we should apologise to Muslims for removing a tyranical dictator who oppressed muslims and stopped them studying their own religion.
2. They think that we should apoligise to Muslims for removing a genocidal maniac who gassed, tortured and executed Muslims.
3. And they think that we should apologise for removing a "man" that invaded two of his neigbouring countries, populated by his so called Muslim brethren, resulting in close to a million deaths.

What I recommend is that these bishops hop on a plane to Iraq, go into a town which is inhabited by victims of the satanic Ba'athist regime and see what their reaction is to the apologies for removing Saddam.

The Church of England should arrange a meeting with Muslim leaders to say sorry for the Iraq war, a group of senior bishops suggests today.

In the absence of a Government apology, a "truth and reconciliation commission" involving religious leaders could be formed to apologise for the West's "errors", the bishops say in a new report.
Link...

The only error, was not finishing this tyrant off back in '91.

Permanent Link posted by J @ 10:12 pm 2 comments

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - A woman accused of making anti-Semitic remarks was emoved Sunday from the executive committee of New York's small but politically influential Independence Party.

Lenora Fulani's comments had drawn criticism not only from fellow Independence Party members, but also from powerful Democrats such as Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and from Republicans including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Fulani has been accused of saying Jews "function as mass murderers of people of color'' and "had to sell their souls'' to acquire Israel.

Fulani and five of her supporters were purged from the Ross Perot-inspired party's 25-member executive committee after more than three hours of often heated debate.
Link...

She remains a leader of the Manhattan wing of the Independence Party.

Permanent Link posted by J @ 7:47 pm 0 comments

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel said it was "inconceivable" for Hamas to be allowed to take part in January's Palestinian elections as it acknowledged that the radical Islamist movement could emerge victorious.

Despite accusations from the Palestinian Authority that Israel was trying to wreck the democratic process, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom argued on Sunday that Hamas must not be allowed to stand as it was committed to the destruction of the Jewish state.

"It is inconceivable that a movement such as Hamas, which has a very good chance of doing well or even winning, can participate in elections while calling for the destruction of the state of Israel," said Shalom.

Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres, seen as the leading dove in the cabinet, also voiced fears of a victory for Hamas.

"In such a situation, the major threat is that the Palestinians will lose or endanger the massive financial aid they have been offered," he said.

"I don't think the world will support any Palestinian institution that supports terror."

Shalom said the 1993 Oslo autonomy accords between Israel and the Palestinians "lay down in black-and-white that any organisation which calls for the destruction of Israel cannot participate in elections."

Hamas, behind the majority of attacks against Israel during the five-year uprising, is on the crest of a wave following Israel's pullout from Gaza, with polls showing most Palestinians credit it rather than Fatah for the withdrawal.

The departure of Israeli troops has led to scenes of chaos on the border between southern Gaza and Egypt in the past week, with thousands of people crossing illegally through holes knocked out by smugglers and armed factions.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 8:59 pm 4 comments

ICE creams are being withdrawn from Burger King — because a design on the lid looks like the word Allah.

The fast food chain has had dozens of complaints about the coloured symbol - meant to be a spinning whirl - on its range of BK Cones.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 8:38 pm 1 comments

Hamburgers and coke, yes you already knew
But do you also know the cause of the general decay?
Short-sighted thinking, loud talking
Sticking to one-liners forever
Down with America! Down with the jerks from America
Down with America! [...]

Down with American colonialism
Down with that ugly, biting English
All the Anglo-Saxon pretence, arrogance
Yes, a hot pick up their ass
And that is that [...]

I am from the Belgian, the European panel
And I ask you: “Clear my channel! Clear my channel!”
Megalomaniac unicellular idiots
Kiss my ass, yes, kiss my balls

Incitement to hatred against people based on (i.a.) nationality is a crime in Belgium. In practice however, this law is only enforced when Arab, muslim or African minorities are criticized. Hate speech against the Americans or the British remains unsanctioned, as was recently shown when the leftist newspaper De Morgen published an article that complained about the British, "with their unique mixture of wantonness and arrogance, their pathetic addiction to drink, their bad taste, and actually just their ugliness and thickheaded presence".
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 5:54 pm 0 comments

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran willing to provide other Islamic nations with nuclear technology. Iran has said it is determined to pursue its nuclear program to process uranium and produce energy, despite European attempts to limit it. The United States accuses Tehran of secretly seeking to develop nuclear weapons; meanwhile, diplomats and government officials in Europe say a U.S.-European drive to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council is encountering fierce opposition

Among those leaning against the idea of immediate referral in favor of a several-weeks-long deadline is IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei, said several officials and diplomats. One of them said ElBaradei "moved over to the camp" of countries opposed to referral in recent weeks as that group of countries has grown.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 2:42 pm 1 comments

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- A university student from Egypt was ordered held without bond after prosecutors said they found a pilot's uniform, chart of Memphis International Airport and a DVD titled "How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act" in his apartment.

The FBI is investigating whether Mahmoud Maawad, 29, had any connection to terrorists. He is awaiting trial on charges of wire fraud and fraudulent use of a Social Security number.

Maawad, who is in the United States illegally, told the judge during a hearing Thursday that he is studying science and economics at the University of Memphis.

U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Thomas Anderson ruled that Maawad be held without bond.

"It is hard for the court to understand why he has a large concentration of those (aviation) items, and nothing else to indicate Mr. Maawad plans to stay in the community," Anderson said.

Maawad had ordered $3,000 in aviation materials, including DVDs titled "Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings," "Airplane Talk," "Mental Math for Pilots" and "Mastering GPS Flying," FBI agent Thad Gulczynski testified.

The company reported Maawad to authorities when he didn't pay for $2,500 of merchandise it had delivered, Gulczynski said.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 6:55 pm 0 comments

ROMA, September 7, 2005 – With harsh and unexpected words, the Custodian of the Holy Land, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, has called everyone's attention back to the increasing violence and humiliation that the Christians of Cisjordan suffer at the hands of Muslims.

He made the remarks to the Jerusalem correspondent of the "Corriere della Sera," Lorenzo Cremonesi, in a conversation that took place on September 4:

"What do you mean by difficulties between Israel and the Vatican? We Christians in the Holy Land have other problems. Almost every day – I repeat, almost every day – our communities are harassed by the Islamic extremists in these regions. And if it's not the members of Hamas or Islamic Jihad, there are clashes with the 'rubber wall' of the Palestinian Authority, which does little or nothing to punish those responsible. On occasion, we have even discovered among our attackers the police agents of Mahmoud Abbas or the militants of Fatah, his political party, who are supposed to be defending us.".....
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 1:17 am 4 comments

KATIF, Gaza Strip - Gunmen have set up checkpoints in Gaza's evacuated Jewish settlements for a second day Thursday, doing the job of Palestinian security officials who have been unable to rein in the chaos since Israel's withdrawal.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 6:39 pm 0 comments

The British Prime Minister has called for world leaders to unite in the campaign against terrorism.

The British leader said: "Terrorism will not be defeated until our determination is as complete as theirs.

"Until our defence of freedom as absolute as their fanaticism, until our passion for democracy is as passionate as theirs for tyranny."

His resolution requiring action not only against people who practice terror, but those who encourage and support it was adopted unanimously.

President Bush urged compassion for the needy and pressed the global community to "put the terrorists on notice".

"The terrorists must know that wherever they go they cannot escape justice," he said.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 10:46 pm 0 comments

Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Doron Almog was the O.C. (Operating Commander) of the IDF Southern Command when he retired in 2003. He boarded a plane for Britain this past Sunday, to raise money for a charitable cause. En route, Almog (pictured) was informed by Israel's Ambassador to Britain, Tzvi Hefetz, that the charges had been filed, and that Almog could expect to be arrested upon landing.

Gen. Almog decided not to alight from the plane, and remained aboard until it turned around and landed again in Israel.

An Israeli-citizen lawyer living in Britain, Daniel Machover, filed the charges - together with the Israeli left-wing organization "Yesh Gvul." The indictment states that Gen. Almog perpetrated war crimes against Palestinian Authority Arabs during the course of his army career. Machover is known to be a long-time vocal critic of Israel's policy against Palestinian terrorism.

Justice Minister Tzippy Livni said yesterday that it is an "unacceptable" situation whereby "Israeli soldiers cannot set foot on British soil." She said that Israel would provide legal aide for anyone persecuted in this manner, and that she intends to pursue a solution for this problem with the European countries.

Atty. Machover is a spokesman and founder-member of Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights, a group of British lawyers that has written reports against the Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The organization also that provides assistance to PA lawyers and organizations in legal matters against Israel.

Atty. Machover says he plans to sue Ambassador Hefetz for warning Gen. Almog in advance, and for boarding the plane to discuss the matter with Almog. The lawyer also intends to file additional charges against other senior IDF generals, including Chief of Staff Halutz and former Chief of Staff Yaalon, and have them categorized as war criminals.

Yesh Gvul (There is a Limit) is an Israeli organization that supports Israeli soldiers who refuse to serve in the areas of Judea and Samaria. Its support of the British indictment against IDF officers has angered even left-wing MK Yigal Yasinov of the Shinui Party.

"There is a limit to the chutzpah of traitors as well," Yasinov said today. "I expect the members of Yesh Gvul to give up their Israeli citizenship, assume PA citizenship, and to live on the order side of the border." He said he plans to ask the Attorney General and Justice Minister to declare Yesh Gvul a terror-sponsoring organization, outlaw it, and open investigations against its members.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 1:54 am 0 comments

International Media Justifies Synagogue Burnings

Knight-Ridder News agency, a major news source for American dailies, reported, " 'I want to destroy everything here as they did the Al Aqsa mosque,' said Mahmoud Malahi, who told a reporter he had lost a leg to an Israeli tank when he was 15. 'I want to destroy everything here. It's a symbol of occupation. Destroying it is a symbol of Islam.'"

The news agency did not tell its readers that the Al-Aqsa mosque still stands on the Jewish Temple Mount and enjoys the same protected status as Christian and Jewish places of worship. Israel opened the Christian and Jewish holy places after it survived combined Arab attacks in the 1967 Six-Day War, and Jordanian armies fled the eastern part of the city and the rest of Judea and Samaria.

Reporters for British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), reporting on the Arab mobs that overwhelmed the Gush Katif ruins, told viewers that Israel "stole" the Gaza region. "Palestinians came streaming to the settlements that caused them so much pain, to sightsee and to loot. Israel stole thirty-eight years from them. Today, many were ready to take back anything they could," BBC reported.

The United Nations 1947 armistice agreement provides for preserving holy places in Jerusalem. The armistice was intended to establish Israeli and Jordanian states, but Jordan and other Arab nations immediately tried to destroy Israel in what became Israel's War of Independence.

The U.N. document states, "Holy Places and religious buildings or sites shall be preserved. No act shall be permitted which may in any way impair their sacred character.... Similarly, freedom of worship shall be guaranteed in conformity with existing rights, subject to the maintenance of public order and decorum."

After the War of Independence was concluded in 1949 and Jordan took over Jerusalem's Old City and the eastern part of the capital, Christians and Jews were denied access to holy places until Israel recovered the land in the Six-Day War, in 1967.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 7:22 pm 3 comments

Tony Blair decided to wage war on Iraq after coming under the influence of a "sinister" group of Jews and Freemasons, a Muslim barrister who advises the Prime Minister has claimed.

Ahmad Thomson, from the Association of Muslim Lawyers, said Mr Blair was the latest in a long line of politicians to have been influenced by the group which saw the attack on Saddam Hussein as a way to control the Middle East.

A Government spokesman confirmed last night that ministers and officials consulted Mr Thomson on issues concerning Muslims but refused to be drawn on his views. "We talk to a lot of people, including many whose views we do not necessarily agree with," she said.

Mr Thomson wrote a book in 1994 in which he said Freemasons and Jews controlled the governments of Europe and America and described the claim that six million Jews died in the Holocaust as a "big lie".

He also wrote that the Jews have no right to live in "the Holy Land" because they are not a pure race and therefore not the true biblical Israelites and that Saddam was used as an excuse for US troops - "including thousands of Jews" - to occupy Saudi Arabia.

A Government source said: "It is by talking to people with varying views that we find out what the range of opinions is. It doesn't mean we agree with what they are saying."
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 8:22 pm 1 comments

ADVISERS appointed by Tony Blair after the London bombings are proposing to scrap the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Day because it is regarded as offensive to Muslims.

The draft proposals have been prepared by committees appointed by Blair to tackle extremism. He has promised to respond to the plans, but the threat to the Holocaust Day has provoked a fierce backlash from the Jewish community.

Holocaust Day was established by Blair in 2001 after a sustained campaign by Jewish leaders to create a lasting memorial to the 6m victims of Hitler. It is marked each year on January 27.

The Queen is patron of the charity that organises the event and the Home Office pays £500,000 a year to fund it. The committees argue that the special status of Holocaust Memorial Day fuels extremists’ sense of alienation because it “excludes” Muslims.

The recommendation, drawn up by four committees including those dealing with imams and mosques, and Islamaphobia and policing, has the backing of Sir Iqbal Sacranie, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain. A Home Office spokesman said it would consider the proposals for a separate Genocide Day for all faiths but emphasised that it regarded the Holocaust as a “defining tragedy in European history”.

Mike Whine, a director of the British Board of Deputies, said: “Of course we will oppose this move. The whole point is to remember the darkest day of modern history.”

Louise Ellman, Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside and a Holocaust Memorial trustee, said: “These Muslim groups should stop trying to evade the enormity of the Holocaust.”

The seven committees finalise their recommendations today at St George’s House, Windsor, and will submit them to Blair and Charles Clarke, the home secretary, on September 22.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 1:20 am 0 comments

JERUSALEM [MENL] -- Israel has warned its nationals to leave Egypt immediately. Israeli officials said the threat of an Al Qaida-aligned insurgency strike in Egypt has become extremely high. They said Al Qaida could strike Israeli or Western tourists in wake of Egypt's presidential elections, in which incumbent President Hosni Mubarak was expected to win easily.

The National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Headquarters has issued a warning for Israelis to avoid travel to Egypt. The council cited Egypt as having the most solid threat of a major strike.

"Egypt, very high concrete threat," the council said in a report on Wednesday. "Avoid visiting and leave country immediately."
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 9:56 pm 0 comments

Israel is demanding that Ukraine bar the parliamentary candidacy of Prof. Georgy Tchokin, president of Ukraine's largest private university and considered the country's most influential disseminator of anti-Semitic propaganda.

Israel Ambassador to Ukraine Naomi Ben-Ami and senior Foreign Ministry officials have made it clear to colleagues at the Ukrainian foreign ministry and presidential bureau that if they do not take harsh measures against Tchokin, it will cloud Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko's planned official visit to Israel in two months.

Yushchenko, who is interested in promoting Ukraine's relations with the United States and other Western countries, ascribes great importance to the visit. Israel's protests against anti-Semitism in Ukraine took on new force after last week's attack by skinheads on two yeshiva students in Kiev. One of the victims was flown to Israel this week and remains unconscious.

Tchokin, 51, is the founder and president of the Inter-regional Academy of Personal Management, which has 30,000 students at dozens of branches throughout Ukraine and an international branch aimed at attracting foreign enrollment. The university grants degrees in law, economics, business, accounting, political science and "practical medicine and psychology."

The university used to be a state institution, affiliated with famous Ukrainian politicians such as former president Leonid Kravchuk and past foreign ministers. It was privatized several years ago and funded by tuition and donations, but the public still views it as a state institution, since it provides professional training for senior civil servants.

Tchokin has served as president for three years, during which time he has turned the university into the largest purveyor of anti-Semitic material in Ukraine. An examination by the Ukrainian security service and national security council found that a substantial portion of the university's funds comes from Arab organizations and countries like Saudi Arabia.

The university hosted a conference in July entitled, "Dialog between civilizations: Zionism is the greatest threat to modern civilization." The conference was attended by diplomatic representatives from Arab countries and Iran, as well as many from other countries. One guest of honor and speaker at the conference was David Duke, the American anti-Semite and racist who was an instrumentalmember of the Ku Klux Klan. Levko Lukianenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament from the ruling party of former prime minister Yulia Timoshenko, also attended the conference.

Despite protests by Israel and Jewish organizations overseas, including in the United States and Western Europe, supporters of Yushchenko's new regime say Tchokin and his university should not be taken seriously, and any action taken against it would merely bolster its prestige.
Link...

Permanent Link posted by J @ 7:17 pm 3 comments