The reactions to Israel’s offensive in Gaza are still being played out all over the world. South Asia seems to be particularly prone to lavish expressions of outrage.
Thanks to C. Cantoni, ESW, Fausta, Insubria, JD, Larwyn, VH, and all the other tipsters who sent these in. Headlines and articles are below the fold.
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Congressman’s Mecca Trip Paid by Terrorists?
Rep. Ellison’s pilgrimage funded by Muslim American Society
Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison took a trip to Mecca in December that was funded by a group terrorism experts say is tied to the Muslim Brotherhood, an international Islamist movement.
Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison’s groundbreaking pilgrimage to Mecca last month was paid for by an American Muslim organization that has ties to Islamic radicals and is “the Muslim equivalent of the neo-Nazi party,” his critics say.
Ellison, a Democrat, became the first U.S. congressman ever to make the hajj pilgrimage when he visited Islam’s holy city in December. The trip was funded by the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, a non-profit interfaith group that is one of 55 branches of the MAS nationwide. The pilgrimage was hailed by Muslim activists in the U.S.
“A U.S. congressman going on hajj sends a very positive message to the Muslim world about America and the religious diversity in America,” said Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a Muslim advocacy group.
But Ellison, the only Muslim in Congress, is coming under fire for his ties to MAS, which one terrorism expert called “the Muslim equivalent of the neo-Nazi party.”
“It is the de facto arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in the U.S.,” said Steven Emerson, director of the Investigative Project on Terrorism. “The agenda of the MAS is to … impose Islamic law in the U.S., to undermine U.S. counterterrorism policy.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Minnesota Prepares to Send in the Clown
It sounds like the plot of a 1990s straight-to-video Hollywood flick, but barring any dramatic developments — such as a successful court challenge by Republican opponent Norm Coleman — former “Saturday Night Live” cast member and comedian Al Franken will become the next U.S. Senator from Minnesota, likely on the strength of fraudulent votes.
Franken’s fitness for office has been a matter of debate ever since he announced his candidacy in February 2007. Having made a career of “debunking” provocative statements made by famous conservatives in books like Rush Limbaugh Is a Big, Fat Idiot, The Truth (with Jokes), and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, Franken suddenly found himself on the receiving end of such scrutiny. The picture that emerged was not flattering.
Republicans had a field day with Franken’s colorful past. To cite just one Republican TV ad of many, Franken was criticized for “his history of pornography, degrading women and minorities and his questionable financial transactions.” This was no overstatement. For instance, critics reminded voters that one of Franken’s books included a short story gleefully describing the fictional murder of conservative author Bill Bennett. Another story by Franken, in a 2000 issue of Playboy, was entitled “Porn-O-Rama” and featured his own young son as a character. Former colleagues came forward with recollections of “rape jokes” Franken purportedly made during a 1995 Saturday Night Live staff meeting.
Reinforcing Franken’s vulgar image were videos that cropped on YouTube.com depicting Al Franken losing his temper; pounding desks; performing a spastic, scantily clad imitation of Mick Jagger; blaming Ann Coulter for 9/11; and swearing onstage at a Democratic fundraiser.
[…]
Franken’s long string of exaggerations, distortions, and outright fictions tend to be just that trivial. Some, however, are serious. After months spent dodging questions from critics and opponents about the state of his personal finances, Franken finally admitted in April that he owed approximately $70,000 in unpaid taxes in 17 states. Shortly thereafter, the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Board fined Franken’s corporation $25,000 for failing to pay three years’ worth of workers compensation dues.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Obama’s CIA Pick Reveals Radical Shift in Fighting Terrorism
When the far-left Human Rights Watch applauds the nomination, there is good reason to be gravely concerned about the change that is coming to America. Earlier this week, President-elect Barack Obama picked Leon Panetta, a former California congressman and White House chief of staff under President Clinton, to be the cia’s next director. Those who endorse Panetta’s nomination are praising his sharp intellect, political evenhandedness and exceptional managerial skills. Critics, on the other hand, are howling over Panetta’s near-zero experience in collecting and analyzing intelligence.
The greatest cause for alarm, though, is the weak and naive strategy Barack Obama fully intends to implement in the war against terror.
For all the Bush policies Barack Obama intends to change, the ones he is most eager to rework first are those which arguably resulted in George W. Bush’s greatest achievement as a wartime president — the fact that America has not been hit by a major terrorist attack in more than seven years.
No one predicted that in the wake of 9/11. Yet, thanks in large part to President Bush’s decisions to go on the offensive in the war against terror, to approve controversial interrogation methods and to legislate eavesdropping techniques in order to monitor terrorist communication networks, that is exactly what happened.
But all of that will soon change. What Panetta’s appointment tells us, Charles Krauthammer pointed out Tuesday on Fox News, is that “the Obama agenda will likely be to purge and perhaps even persecute anybody in the cia who had been engaged in those elements which actually saved us over the last seven years.”
[…]
Last year, we noted this shocking contrast by highlighting Obama’s support for the Supreme Court’s decision in Boumediene v. Bush. The court’s decision, Matthew Continetti explained in the Weekly Standard, “ruled that non-citizens captured abroad and held in a military installation overseas…have the same constitutional right as U.S. citizens to challenge their detention in court. … Hence lawyers, judges, and left-wing interest groups will have real influence over the conduct of the war on terror? (emphasis mine throughout).
Obama called the high court’s ruling “an important step toward reestablishing our credibility as a nation.” His political opponent at the time, John McCain, called it “one of the worst decisions in the history of this country.”
Leon Panetta is not just someone the far left pressured Barack Obama into nominating. Obama chose Panetta because their approach to fighting terrorism is identical. In Leon Panetta, the president-elect has found the perfect man to revert the cia back to the pre-9/11 law-enforcement style of fighting terrorists — treating attacks as individual criminal acts, rather than acts of war that all flow from the same source. This signals a dangerous new direction for the United States in the war against terrorism. “If confirmed by the Senate,” the New York Times wrote earlier this week, “Mr. Panetta would take control of the agency most directly responsible for hunting senior leaders of al Qaeda around the world.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
On Obama’s Inauguration, Muslims Say, ‘It’s Our Time’
‘I believe he will help bring about a better understanding Islam is religion of peace’
A magazine that proudly promotes itself as Muslim has announced a special edition for Barack Obama’s inauguration as president, with Editor Nida Kahn claiming, “It’s our time.”
The publication, Elan magazine, also includes endorsements of Obama’s familiarity with Islam from the daughter of Malcolm X and Benjamin F. Chavis Muhammad, the chief of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, as well as others.
The magazine, which calls itself the “guide to global Muslim culture,” is distributed in the U.S., Pakistan, Indonesia, Canada, Qatar, the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates, as well as online.
Its cover story for the edition, “Muslim World Embraces Obama,” “explores the hopes and aspirations of Muslims regarding America’s new president.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Preparing for Obama
Gun Owners of America has been tracking Obama’s anti-gun voting record and preparing its membership for quick and effective response when new anti-gun legislation is introduced. Organization such as GOA and Keep and Bear Arms concentrate on Second Amendment issues. When there is a threat to the constitutional right to own guns, they inform their members and the members of other Freedom21 organizations. Because of their work, hundreds of organizations are now aware of and working to defeat the latest Second Amendment threat.
It’s called the “Ammunition Accountability Act.” It is model legislation designed to force ammunition manufacturers to identify every bullet with a serial number, which is then registered to a purchaser and recorded in a federal database. Theoretically, if a shell casing is found at a crime scene, law enforcement officers could trace the purchaser of the bullet.
In reality, it is another intimidation system, designed to identify, log and track gun/ammunition owners. The model legislation also calls for a five-cent-per-bullet tax to cover the cost of the system. The system would provide the government with the name and location of gun owners and an inventory of the ammunition held. The model legislation would outlaw any and all unregistered ammunition within a year after the legislation is adopted.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Secret Police? Obama Selects Dirty Trickster Panetta to Head the CIA
During Panetta’s days in the Clinton White House and during the Clinton scandals, Human Events said this about Panetta: “The media has lost count of all the shills the Clintons have sent out to do their dirty work with the press and the talk shows, from Leon Panetta and Lanny Davis to David Kendall and Jim Carville. There is no end to the line of opportunists prepared to face the public in defense of a rogue President and a corrupt administration.”
“Recognizing that people are the critical element in transformation initiatives is key to a successful transformation of the intelligence community and related homeland security organizations. However, an agency headed by a politically motivated party hack is a dangerous thing for the American people,” political strategist Mike Baker told NewsWithViews.com.
“[Dick] Morris may be partially right, but I believe Obama’s ultimate goal is to turn the CIA into his personal secret police,” warns Baker.
[…]
Some critics of the CIA claim that over the years it has become more of a liberal-left “think tank” than an intelligence gathering and counter terrorism organization. One official alleges that politics within “The Company” resembles the politics exhibited at American universities, with bureaucrats “living in ivory towers far removed from the real world of espionage, terrorism and the people they’re supposed to be serving.”
[…]
One former CIA intelligence officer, on condition of anonymity told NewsWithViews.com, “Mark my words: Panetta will turn the CIA into Obama’s own secret police. Couple that with Obama’s plans for a ‘civilian security force’ and you have the ingredients for an oppressive, neo-Stalinist society,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The Stimulus: How to Create Jobs Without Them All Going to Skilled Professionals and White Male Construction Workers
Robert Reich is the nation’s 22nd Secretary of Labor and a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. His latest book is “Supercapitalism.” This is his personal journal.
But if there aren’t enough skilled professionals to do the jobs involving new technologies, the stimulus will just increase the wages of the professionals who already have the right skills rather than generate many new jobs in these fields. And if construction jobs go mainly to white males who already dominate the construction trades, many people who need jobs the most — women, minorities, and the poor and long-term unemployed — will be shut out.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
British Energy Prices Rising Four Times Faster Than Other EU Countries
British energy bills are rising at four times the pace of elsewhere in Europe.
UK consumers have suffered the biggest increases of any European Union country over the past year, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said yesterday.
The figures will pile pressure on the UK’s ‘big six’ energy suppliers to cut power and gas bills urgently.
Utility bills rose 16.7 per cent in the year ended November, compared with an average of just 3.8 per cent in the EU. In the euro area, the figure was a mere 0.7 per cent.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Crisis: France; 2008 Commercial Deficit Nears New Record
(ANSAmed) — PARIS, JANUARY 9 — The French commercial balance slightly reduced its deficit in November from October but will close the year with a record deficit. According to data announced today by customs, the commercial deficit was 6.2 billion in November after a record deficit in October which reached 7.03 billion euro. The 12 month deficit was recorded at 57.4 billion euro. For 2008, it will surpass 60 billion euro while the government was initially expecting a 49.8 billion euro ‘hole’, which would have already been a record. Imports declined in November (37.4 billion compared to 39 billion in October) as well as exports (31.2 billion compared to 31.9 billion). (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza Splits the Netherlands Down the Middle
A nationwide poll has shown that the Dutch are divided over the Gaza conflict. Pollster Maurice de Hond says on his website that 33 percent hold Hamas accountable for the escalation of the conflict, 24 percent blame Israel, and 36 percent say both are equally responsible.
When compared to the political background that the respondents supplied, Israel is mostly blamed by supporters of leftist parties such as the Socialist Party and Green Left. The blame is put on Hamas by supporters of centre-right and populist rightwing parties, including the governing Christian Democrats and Christian Union.
The poll also asked whether Israel’s action is proportional to the Hamas rocket attacks. According to 45 percent of respondents, Israel’s attempt to end Hamas’ attacks, though understandable and justified, is disproportionate. Just over a quarter say the action is fully justified, and one-fifth say Israel brought the rocket attacks on itself.
Dutch response
The Dutch cabinet’s position is that there is no need for sanctions against Israel over its military action in the Gaza Strip. This view is supported by 48 percent and considered too mild by 44 percent.
On Friday the lower house of the Dutch parliament is holding an extra session to discuss the situation in Gaza and the reaction of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende’s coalition cabinet to it. A number of leftwing parties want to question Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen on his position, which some say is too strongly in favour of Israel. Many MPs agree that the cabinet should condemn the level of violence.
Protest demonstrations
Supporters of Israel are demonstrating on Friday outside parliament in The Hague. They say they want to show that there is support for Israel’s right to defend its territory and its citizens against attacks.
Six people were arrested on Thursday evening during a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the centre of Utrecht, one of the Netherlands’ major cities. They were apprehended for threatening behaviour and for refusing to follow police orders.
Utrecht police said about 300 people, mainly youths of Moroccan origin, assembled near the city’s main shopping centre. The shops were open late, and the streets were busy. The protesters carried flags, made a lot of noise and chanted anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic slogans. Police described the atmosphere as tense.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Huge Areas of Britain Have Become Foreign Colonies. That Could be Tomorrow’s Ireland, Too
People in Britain and Ireland have taken a secret, Self-Denying Ordinance not to discuss immigration or race in any meaningful way
What most struck me while watching BBC television news reports of the Christmas sales in the West End of London, was firstly obvious, and secondly, it was something that no-one with the BBC would ever have remarked on.. It was this. The shoppers — and there were thousands of them — were overwhelmingly of Asian or African origin. In the vast throngs of faces, there was barely a Caucasian face to be seen; and when there was, of course, that was no guarantee that it was British. […]
The immigration policies of recent British governments — though “non-policies” would be a more accurate description of that mixture of cowardice, political timidity, abject conformism and flatulent piety that has underlain the British approach to this matter — have now inverted the pyramid. Huge areas of Britain have become foreign colonies, which demographically and culturally dominate the native populations. This is not the much-cherished melting-pot of liberal ideologists: it is more like the race movements into Australia and the Americas from Europe, with the Aboriginals nearly as helpless as the wretched natives of those former colonies.
This time, it’s a voluntary helplessness. People in Britain (and now Ireland) apparently have taken a secret, Self-Denying Ordinance not to discuss immigration or race in any meaningful way. The silence surrounding one most obvious transformation, that of Britain’s Premier League, is one symptom of this. Perhaps a majority of players in any good English team will be of at least part-African origin. This is surely worth commenting on, for many reasons, not the least of them being the rapid disappearance of role models for white working-class boys; but around this issue, there is nothing but a prickly silence. So that when Michel Platini wondered about the relationship between: (a) some hypothetical Liverpool team of the future consisting entirely of Africans, and managed by a Brazilian, and (b) the traditional Merseyside community, he was roundly denounced by the soccer correspondent of ‘The Daily Telegraph’ — no less — for his implicit racism.
So is it better to say absolutely nothing when rapid racial changes occur in a society, in the hope that harmony will result? For maybe, simple discretion is better than noisy dissension, and a dutiful and prudent media silence on this topic actually furthers the process of peaceful assimilation.. Well, firstly, that begs the question about whether a peaceful assimilation is either possible, or is even being sought, by many of the immigrants to Britain. And secondly, what damage is meanwhile being done to the credibility of the media? If journalists can tacitly agree to stay mute in the face of such clearly visible phenomena, who can then believe them on other, less obvious issues?
Is this of any interest to Ireland? Well, yes, not least because what happens in Britain today is what will usually happen in Ireland tomorrow; and of course, the two islands share a common-travel area, in which lawful residence in one jurisdiction conveys an equal right to dwell in the other..
Now, I have long since lost any belief in the courage of the Irish media to tackle the issue of immigration, other than by showing cheery pictures of Nigerian children in hurling helmets (usually captioned, “The New Irish”), and by intoning the usual ritualistic pieties from within the comfort zone of the left-liberal consensus created by our journalism schools.
Listen: it is easier and cheaper to get from London to Dublin than to get to Liverpool or Newcastle. The shots on the BBC news from Boxing Day 2008 are just possibly merely a foretaste of RTE News on St Stephen’s Day in 2018. So when the change comes, it’ll be so fast, that you won’t even know that it’s happening: and then, it becomes then an irreversible fact. Just don’t say no-one warned you: because, I did.
– Kevin Myers
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Italy Criticizes Call for Jewish Boycott Over Gaza
Italian politicians from right and left joined Jewish groups Friday in condemning a trade union’s call to boycott Jewish-owned shops in Rome in protest at the Israeli bombing offensive in the Gaza Strip.
While the union denied accusations of anti-Semitism, Rome’s right-wing mayor Gianni Alemanno visited the city’s ancient Jewish quarter known as the Ghetto and said the “criminal” proposal echoed the race laws under fascism in the 1930s.
“I am an Italian citizen and it infuriates me that people don’t differentiate between the mentality and opinions of an Italian from what is happening in Israel,” Jewish Italian shopkeeper Giuseppe Livoli told La Repubblica newspaper.
Israel’s offensive against Hamas guerrillas has lasted two weeks and the U.N. Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire. Hamas officials say the Palestinian death toll is now 783 people, more than a third of them children.
Israel says its aim is to put a stop to years of rocket fire by Hamas on Israeli towns that have killed 22 people since 2000.
Italian newspapers reproduced handbills they said were dished out Thursday by the small Flaica-Cub Union, linked to the retail and food sectors. The flyers urged a boycott of “shops in central Rome linked to the Israelite community.”
But the union’s provincial president Giancarlo Desiderati said on its website Friday that “we never singled out Rome’s Jewish community … We condemn any form of anti-Semitism.”
“What we propose with our initiative is a definitive boycott of Israel because whoever uses military force against unarmed civilians, whether they are Palestinian or Israeli, commits a crime against human life,” said Desiderati.
The head of Rome’s Jewish community, Riccardo Pacifici, said he would be suing the union under Italian anti-racism laws.
Rome’s Ghetto is home to what may be the oldest surviving Jewish diaspora in the world, dating from the 2nd century BC. Singled out by race laws under dictator Benito Mussolini in the 1930s and ‘40s, thousands died in Nazi concentration camps.
Italy’s main trade unions denounced the boycott proposal as “shameful” and suggested that Rome shopkeepers throw the Flaica handbills — which they said listed streets dominated by Jewish shops under the slogan “sales dirtied by blood” — in the trash.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Italy: Foreign Minister Attacks Hamas, Dismisses Calls for Negotiations
Rome, 9 Jan. (AKI) — Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini on Friday called the Islamist Hamas movement “a problem” and said the government would not enter into negotiations with it. “We cannot negotiate with Hamas,” said Frattini during an interview aired on Italian television.
Frattini also said that the movement was to blame for the current Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip that has claimed the lives of 770 Palestinians and 14 Israelis in the past two weeks.
“Hamas unfortunately uses human shields and uses children and civilians for cover,” Frattini said.
Nevertheless, the foreign minister, who belongs to the conservative People of Freedom Party of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, said Italy would send a humanitarian convoy to Gaza as part of an aid package.
In the medium term, Frattini said that a special session of the Group of Eight or G8 countries would be dedicated to conflicts in the region. The special session would also include what he called “moderate Muslim” countries, such as Egypt and Turkey.
The G8 group of countries includes: Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom.
Israel continued its air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday despite the approval of a United Nations Security Council resolution that calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Now Even Police Can’t Object to Gipsy Camp in Picturesque Village… Because It’s Racist
Police have been told they cannot object to a planned gipsy camp in a picturesque village — because to do so would be ‘racist’.
Council chiefs have ruled that the local force’s professional opinion ‘breaches the Race Relations Act’.
The decision meant that councillors considering the planning application were not told how officers had been called to another local camp 109 times in just two years.
[…]
The police’s hard-hitting letter detailed their dealings with three other gipsy sites in the county.
Over a two-year period to January 2008, officers visited the three sites a total of 210 times. One site was visited 109 times.
The police were called out to deal with reports of fights, arson, assaults, stolen vehicles, violent disorder, anti-social behaviour, theft, child abduction and use of weapons.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Ofsted Said 15,000 Useless Teachers Worked in Our Schools. Nine Years on, How Many Have Been Fired? Just 10
Only ten teachers have been struck off for incompetence in almost a decade despite a Government crackdown on poor practice, it emerged yesterday.
This means only two teachers have been barred for every 100,000 working in the state system since the General Teaching Council was set up in 2001 to protect children from under-performing staff.
The watchdog admitted yesterday the system for passing on concerns about weak teachers was ‘virtually non- existent’ in many areas.
Councils are legally required to pass details of incompetent teachers to the watchdog but two-thirds have not made one referral in seven-and-a-half years.
‘The issue for us is whether all children can be assured that the teacher in front of them is competent,’ said chief executive Keith Bartley.
The revelation that only ten out of 500,000 teachers in the system have been removed makes a mockery of Labour pledges to root out the incompetent.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
UK: Squatters Evicted From £6.25m House Find a New Home… a Mayfair Mansion Worth £22.5m
They had already taken over a £6.25million mansion — and it seems its charms gave one group of squatters a taste for the high life.
After being evicted from the plush Mayfair property, they wasted no time in finding an even more salubrious pad, worth £22.5million, round the corner.
The squatters, a collective of well-spoken twenty-somethings who call themselves the Temporary School of Thought, moved into their new home at the end of November.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Václav Klaus: Treaty of Lisbon: a Tutorial for Beginners
Every single day, I am being surprised how many people ask me what that Treaty of Lisbon is. And how many of them admit that they couldn’t say even a few simple words about it to their kids or grandparents. And all of them add: why don’t you explain it to us in simple terms? The treaty is not simple but I will try to do it, anyway…
| — Hat tip: ESW | [Return to headlines] |
Vatican Alarmed by Muslims Burning Israeli Flags Outside Cathedrals
The Vatican has expressed alarm over the burning of Israeli flags by Muslims protesting against Israeli actions in Gaza during Muslim prayers staged outside Italian cathedrals
Richard Owen in Rome
The Vatican has expressed alarm over the burning of Israeli flags by Muslims protesting against Israeli actions in Gaza during Muslim prayers staged outside Italian cathedrals.
Cardinal Renato Martino, head of the Vatican Council for Justice and Peace, said he was not disturbed “by prayer as such.” If Muslims wished to come to St Peter’s to pray, he would not object, the cardinal said. “Prayer always does good”.
However prayers held recently outside the Duomo in Milan and the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, with thousands of prostrate Muslims facing Mecca, had been accompanied by flag burning which was not only anti Israeli but anti Semitic, with protesters carrying banners depicting the Star of David alongside the Nazi swastika. “What matters is the spirit in which one prays — and prayer excludes hate” Cardinal Martino said.
Bishop Ernesto Vecchi, vicar general of the Bologna diocese, said the Muslim prayers were “not just prayers but a challenge, not so much to the basilica itself as to our democratic system and culture”. Bishop Vecchi suggested the staging of mass prayers outside Christian churches in Italy was a deliberate move “on orders from afar” as part of a strategy of “Islamisation” of Europe.
Monsignor Luigi Manganini, archpriest of Milan cathedral, said he could imagine the Islamic reaction if Christians prayed en masse outside a mosque. Giovanni Maria Vian, editor of L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, said he shared such concerns. “Religions must not be twisted to serve violent ends” he said. “Problems are not solved by war and hate”.
Father Antonio Sciortino, editor of the liberal Catholic weekly Famiglia Cristiana, told Corriere della Sera that prayers for peace were welcome, “but what matters in prayer is the intention.” The prayer services had been exploited by an “extremist fringe”, he said. Abu Imad, the imam of the main Milan mosque, said the demonstration had ended up on the cathedral square “by chance” at the hour of prayer, “so we prayed. There was no provocation or insult intended.”
He said that as for the flag burning, “You have to understand the deep anger and sadness of Muslims over what is happening in Gaza”. However Mario Borghezio, a Euro MP for the anti immigrant Northern League, which is part of the ruling centre Right coalition led by Silvio Berlusconi, said “The fact that Muslim extremists transformed the cathedral square in Milan into an outdoor mosque constitutes an incredible provocation. The prayer to Allah recited by thousands of fanatical Muslims is an act of intimidation, a slap in the face for the city of Milan, which must remain Christian”.
Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St Peters Square to mark Epiphany today, Pope Benedict XVI said he was following the news of the armed clashes in Gaza with growing worry, repeating his warning that hate and rejection of dialogue only lead to war. He encouraged “the efforts of those who are seeking to help the Israelis and the Palestinians to agree to sit down around a table and talk”, adding “God supports the undertaking of these courageous builders of peace”.
He also appealed to armed groups in the Congo to release children captured for use as soldiers. “I appeal to the authors of these inhuman brutalities to return these young people to their families and give them back a future of security and development which is their right,” Benedict said.
The feast of Epiphany, which in the Western Christian calendar marks the visit of the Magi to the infant Jesus, in Italy is also dedicated to children, who receive gifts and sweets from a witch named “Befana”, a corruption of Epiphany.The Pope’s remarks were preceded by an historical pageant in Via della Conciliazione, the avenue leading to St Peter’s Square, staged by groups from Assisi in Umbria and featuring the “Three Kings” or Magi on horseback as well as women dressed as the Befana.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Foibe: Slovenia Attacks Italy, Memory Gap on Fascism
(ANSAmed) — LJUBLJANA, JANUARY 8 — The president of Slovenia, the pro-European Danilo Turk, today attacked Italy on the delicate issue of the foibe (narrow mountain gorges where many dead people were thrown into during anti-Fascist uprisings in the area), accusing Italian politicians of “ethical deficit” on the memory of fascism and pronouncing a “clear no”, at least for now, against a historic reconciliation meeting between the presidents of Italy, Croatia and Slovenia. According to Turk, quoted today by the Ljubljana daily Delo, Italy has an “ethical deficit” on the crimes of fascism. ‘Crimes it hasn’t fully matured the “necessary catharsis” for, indispensable — according to the Slovenian leader — to see the violence against Italians in Istria, Fiume and Trieste by the communist regime of Tito in the right perspective. Hence the conviction that the 3-party summit for reconciliation, proposed already under President Ciampi, “is not useful at this moment”. Turk said that the historic reconciliation can only be part of “an ethical dimension”. A dimension which, in his opinion, asks for “a clearer confrontation with the crimes of fascism” by Italy, “the first totalitarianism in this part of Europe and an enormous source of evil” suffered “by a large part of the Slovenian population, as well as many Italians”. Turk, who said he agrees with the opinion recently expressed on the matter by the writer Boris Pahor from Trieste and Italian military prosecutor Antonino Intellisano, underlined that from a Slovenian (and Croatian) viewpoint the “many fascist crimes (against the Slavic population) which have remained unpunished during Italian occupation” should not be forgotten. And he accused “some high exponents in Italian politics” of trying to “put the fascists and those who fought them on the same level”. The president of Slovenia added that, in a political sense, there is already “a high level of reconciliation” between Rome and Ljubljana, since “Italy and Slovenia are EU members, which represents the most important reconciliation and the biggest success in Europés history”. He pointed out that “there is no historic heritage between Croatia and Slovenia that requires further gestures” of peacemaking. A glimmer of hope to the suggestion of a reconciliation summit appeared in the past days in an interview with ‘Piccolo’ by the president of Croatia, Stipe Mesic, who in 2007 played a leading role in a similar attack on Italy — in particular against statements attributed to President Napolitano — on the issue of the foibe. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Serbia: 2,500 State Companies Sold During Six Years
(ANSAmed) — BELGRADE, JANUARY 9 — The six-year privatization process, during which 2,500 companies have been sold for a total of 4 billion euro, according to the exports, was slow and inefficient, reports VIP Daily News Report. The experts claimed that Serbia has not had benefit from the privatization, because the Privatization Agency (AP) controlled itself as well as due to the fact that the money gained from the sales has been already spent. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Slovenia: More Banka Koper Stocks Sold to Intesa Sanpaolo
(ANSAmed) — ROME, JANUARY 8 — The Slovenian firms Istrabenz, Luka Koper (Porto di Capodistria) and Intereuropa have sold their 5% share in Banka Koper to the company’s majority shareholder — the Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo — thereby definitively leaving the ownership structure of the bank, as reported by the Italian Foreign Trade (ICE) office in Ljubljana. The contract for the sale of the stocks was signed on December 18 2008, for a price of 515 euro each. Each of the outgoing Slovenian firms received 4.56 million euro for the sale of the shares. The stock acquisition has increased Intesa Sanpaolòs share from 92.23% to 97.23%. The remaining shareholders include the Slovenian firms Elektro Primorska and Kraski Vodovod Sezana, with shares of a much smaller entity. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: Izmir Becomes Member of the European Cities Union
(ANSAmed) — ANKARA, JANUARY 8 — Continuing to promote Izmir in the international arena, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality made the city a member of the European Cities Union, or Eurocities, after becoming a member of the Union of Mediterranean Cities and Healthy Cities in 2008, Hurriyet Daily reported. Eurocities, which was established in 1986 to build a Europe fit for the future, has 130 members from 30 European countries. Eurocities is developing programs to ensure a better urban life for people living in member cities. Eurocities is bringing in the new year with an immediate start to a two-year work program focusing on three core themes: innovation and quality of life, partnership and participation, diversity and cohesion. Based on these, Eurocities will develop its policies, networking, visibility activities and projects. The Brussels-based Eurocities is also organizing platforms for culture, economy and social politics to create solutions to major problems cities face. Izmir Metropolitan Mayor, Aziz Kocaoglu, said they were working hard to promote Izmir in the international area. “We are focused on how we can attract more investment and tourism to our city. We expect to collect the fruits of our labor soon”. “We are working to become one of the most important centers in our geography. With the plans, projects and investment we have made, we are meeting the needs of our citizens, and attracting more investment and tourism to the city. The point we have reached is very pleasing for us” Kocaoglu said. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
But Many Arabs Are Rooting Against Hamas
The most significant images of the war underway yesterday are seen on the border between Gaza and Egypt with all the Arabesque plotting that the Middle East is able of composing. The Egyptian soldiers watch the border with grasped rifles from Rafiah along Tzir Philadephi; from the hours of the late morning unwinds the siege of the Palestinians who want to pass there beyond the border while the soldiers from the other part have ordered to hinder any fundamentalist tide of penetrating into the country of Mubarak, the moderate. Further along, there is the paradoxical scene of trucks full of humanitarian aid and ambulances, which the Palestinians won’t let pass as they yell at the Egyptians: “Let us enter alive instead of dealing with the dead”.
Around five in the afternoon, while the sun sets on the Mediterranean Sea, F16s enter the scene fast and in four minutes destroy 40 tunnels under the border. It seems that they are the most important among the 600 dug for transporting inside Gaza goods of all kinds from Egypt, those that have filled Gaza with missiles. But yesterday the missiles, against all forecasts, did not rain from Gaza and the population of the south of Israel has passed a relatively tranquil day: sign that the targets hit by the IAF have been chosen with a clear intelligence operation and that the structures of Hamas find it hard to recover from an operation compared here in Israel to that of 1967, which hit Egyptian Mig-21s to the ground.
The Israeli military maintains that it has hit 50 percent of Hamas’s war resources, missiles, stored dynamite, etc. And Hamas prefers now to play the role of the victim, continues to point out, at least for a bit, that Israel continues to react in a “disproportionate” manner. But it is the Arab world, first and foremost, to be contradictory in front of Hamas’s victimization, and overall Egypt and the same Palestinian brothers guided by Abu Mazen: he has said from Cairo that he warned Hamas that its actions would bring an attack by Israel. Well, he has to take some of the responsibility, thus adding accusations for the dozens of Fatah militiamen who are Hamas’s prisoners who were killed in the prisons bombed by the Israeli: the massacre could have been avoided if they had been liberated beforehand. Also, the Egyptians have moved with ambiguity between demonstrations of solidarity with the Palestinians and disapproval towards Hamas’s incomprehensible politics, which has brought its population to the present situation. From Sana in Yemen, to many cities and Middle Eastern villages, including those of the West Bank and East Jerusalem itself, to Tehran, where Khamenei has asked all Muslims to fight for Gaza “in all ways possible,” to Beirut where the protests called by Hezbollah yell slogans in which Mubarak’s name rhymes with Ehud Barak, to Amman where the Muslim Brothers have paraded with angry slogans, to Damascus where Mashaal calls for a military Intifada of the entire Arab world, has shown the usual anti-Israel rage, but this time it has also sparked anti-Egyptian and anti Fatah sentiments. Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, has spoken with the same old tones of hatred, urging his men to be ready to defend themselves. But, cunningly, without inviting them to attack the Zionist monster.
It is the first time that moderates find themselves crushed in their reality, that they cannot wave the same flag of hatred against Israel. Hamas has immobilized them. And it is logical given the vertical rise of Islamic extremism in the Middle East. We have already written of a secret “moderate” Arab request to Israel of putting an end to it with Hamas, which is seen as Iran’s incendiary emissary, determined to destroy all equilibrium in the Middle East. Egypt, that has long attempted a truce between Fatah and Hamas, was furious beyond measure after that Hamas deserted the meeting of November in Cairo, surely by Iran’s request. In the meantime, Hamas searches for new shores: from Gaza City, Ismail Haniyeh has incessantly made many calls to Hamas’s leadership in Damascus, as well as to the King of Bahrain and to the rulers of Qatar. But Hamas can remain greatly harmed by the rupture with Egypt: there are in the works important economic agreements that seem very far from the snarling current reality. For sure now, after the facts of Gaza, the entire Arab world must come to terms with the new demonstrations of Israeli military deterrence, which after its war with Hezbollah in 2006 and because of the strategy of waiting chosen by the Israeli leadership, seemed to have greatly diminished. Now all neighbors, including Iran, know that the Israeli military is that of a time when it decides that — as Tzipi Livni said — “enough is enough.”
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza: Barak ‘War Criminal’, Maariv Editor Outraged
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, JANAURY 9 — In his newspaper, the editor of Maariv Ofer Nimrodi rarely expresses himself. But today he signed outraged contribution after having read in the newspaper yesterday that one of the people interviewed called Defence Minister Ehud Barak “a war criminal”. “We have crossed a red line”, exclaimed Nimrodi, outraged also by an article written by columnist Yehonatan Gefen, according to which, the Israeli army has committed “war crimes according to every possible criteria” in Gaza. Maariv reminded, since its founding it has been “a patriotic newspaper, even if it has not abstained from making criticisms when necessary”. “Maariv does not intend to censure or obstruct criticism”, wrote Nimrodi, “but in my opinion, you cannot accept the insulting of the army and its commanders while they are in combat… They do everything possible to not strike innocent people. But the cruel enemy uses children, women, and innocent people as human shields to save their own skin”. Nimrodi concluded expressing his apologies to Barak and the Israeli soldiers. (ANSAmed)
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza: Shin Bet Says Hamas Surprised by Harsh Blow
(ANSAmed) — TEL AVIV, JANUARY 9 — Hamas was caught by surprise by Operation dubbed ‘Cast Lead’, which got underway on December 27 with air strikes and started its second phase on January 3 when ground forces entered Gaza. This is the position taken by Shin Bet, Israeli domestic secret services, in a document released last night. According to Shin Bet, Hamas had not adequately gauged the extent to which Israel was to react to its continued rocket-launching against Negev, and has therefore received a “harsh blow”. In any case, continued the text, “for the time being Hamas maintains its capabilities as a semi-military terrorist organisation. The command of the movement’s military apparatus, which started acting in secrecy when the operation got underway, continues to maintain a reasonable level of control over its forces and conducts hostilities from fortified bunkers and tunnels located in various zones of Gaza.” The rocket-launching potential of Hamas has been hit but not neutralized. Hamas has set aside underground areas for launching which have not yet been put out of use. Since the beginning of hostilities, Hamas has launched over 450 rockets against Israel, ten percent of which with a range of over 40 kilometres. “Hamas,” noted Shin Bet, “is willing to fight for how long it takes, to the last drop of blood is split of the Palestinian population.” In Gaza, Shin Bet has noticed negative feelings towards Hamas’ political leadership, which remains in safe areas while civilians are the ones to get hit. Hamas is trying to hide its losses of militants and at the same time “persecute its political rivals” in al-Fatah. So far, Israel has suffered 11 deaths. Four were hit by rockets on Israeli soil and the other seven in the Gaza Strip, three of whom yesterday. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
GSS Links Hamas, Hizbullah to Iran
A General Security Services (GSS) report links a four-fold connection among Iran, Hamas, Hizbullah, and Israeli Arabs.
In their 2008 report, the GSS (popularly known as the ‘Shabak’) signifies the involvement of Iran and the Hizbullah in encouraging terror against Israel. “Iran acted jointly with Hamas, with its government in the Gaza Strip, and similarly with terror activists belonging to Palestinian organizations.
This is either by means of financing terrorism bodies, or within the operational area of supplying means of fighting and by operational military training, which typically was transmitted live. Within this connection, this year stood the interface with Syria, which allowed the passage of training candidates and exercises in Iran in its area.”
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
High-Profile Doc in Gaza Called ‘Apologist for Hamas’
Physician belongs to Norwegian Maoist ‘Red’ party, says 9/11 terrorists justified
A high-profile Norwegian doctor who has said the September 11 terrorists were justified in their attack is now treating patients in Gaza and is being accused of presenting “hard-core propaganda” to TV interviewers in his telling of the conflict between Hamas and Israel.
Dr. Mads Gilbert has become an unofficial advocate of the Palestinian cause, his critics say.
International media reports, including those from the BBC, CBS, CNN and FOX?s sister station Sky News, present Gilbert as an ordinary doctor.
But a look at his record shows that Gilbert, 61, is a political activist and member of the Norwegian Maoist “Red” party, and he has been involved in solidarity work for the Palestinians since the 1970s. He has criticized the international aid organization Doctors Without Borders for refusing to take sides in conflicts.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
IDF Likely to Expand Gaza Op Before Cease-Fire is Imposed
The IDF will likely expand its operations in the Gaza Strip in the coming days in an effort to press Egypt to declare its readiness to stop the weapons smuggling from the Sinai Peninsula into Gaza, defense officials said Saturday.
The IDF is currently operating in the northern Gaza Strip but on Saturday, the air force dropped leaflets throughout Gaza warning residents of an impending expansion of the operation.
One possibility is that the IDF will move deeper into Gaza City. Another possibility is that the IDF will push into southern Gaza.
“The IDF will escalate the operation in the Gaza Strip,” the leaflets read in Arabic. “The IDF is not working against the people of Gaza but against Hamas and the terrorists only. Stay safe by following our orders.”
The leaflets urged Gazans not to help Hamas, and to stay away from its members.
As Operation Cast Lead entered its third week, senior military sources expressed concern that if the political echelon did not immediately decide on its future direction, IDF soldiers would become static targets and lose the initiative to Hamas.
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Israel Protests Firing of Katyusha Rockets From Lebanon
The Israel Foreign Ministry today instructed its Ambassador to the United Nations, Gabriela Shalev, to submit a letter to the UN Secretary General and the President of the Security Council in the wake of the firing of rockets from Lebanon this morning.
Ambassador Shalev noted in the letter that the firing of rockets constitutes a gross violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701 and confirms Israel’s contentions regarding the availability and use of weapons in southern Lebanon
Israel must protect its citizens from the growing threat of rockets being fired by terrorist groups supported by Iran and the extremist axis, and the shooting this morning reinforces Israel’s demands to establish effective mechanisms to prevent arms smuggling into Lebanon. The prevention of arms smuggling — in Lebanon as in Gaza — is a vital element in achieving regional stability, as expressed among others in Resolution 1701.
Israel views the Lebanese government as responsible for maintaining quiet in southern Lebanon and from it, as well as for preventing the smuggling of weapons into its territory.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Mortar Shell Fire From Near a UNRWA School Caused the Accidental Deaths of Dozens of Civilians
Rocket and mortar shell fire from within densely built-up civilian areas is the usual operational pattern of Hamas and the other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip. Terrorist operatives situate themselves in close proximity to residential dwelling to camouflage their rocket squads and protect them from IDF preventive actions. The strategy is a war crime .
On January 6, 40 civilian in a UNRWA school in Jabaliya were accidentally killed by IDF fire. A preliminary investigation of the IDF forces operating in the area showed that mortar shells were apparently fired at the soldiers from within the school building . The IDF responded with mortar shell fire. Among those killed were Imad Abu Iskar and Hassan Abu Iskar , both well-known Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades operatives (IDF Spokesman, January 6, 2009).
Two Palestinians who live near the school said that a group of armed men fired mortar shells from a street close to the school, afterwards fleeing the scene and mingling with the crowd on the street. Only later did the IDF respond with fire. The two refused to be identified out of fear for their lives (AP, January 6, 2009).
Mortar Shell Fire at IDF Forces from the Jabaliya Refugee Camp
A video made by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades broadcast on Hamas’s Al-Aqsa TV on January 6, 2009. It shows a squad of 2-3 rocket launching terrorists dressed in civilian clothing firing 120mm mortar shells [according to our information, made in Iran]. According to the sound track, the squad is operating in the Jabaliya refugee camp [the same day the incident occurred at the UNRWA school]. The squad was photographed firing mortar shells from the middle of a main street and near residential buildings. The narrator says that they are firing at the [Israeli] enemy attacking Jabal al-Kashif (an area to the north of and dominating the Jabaliya refugee camp).
Hamas Forces Civilians to Stay at Home
Sources in the Gaza Strip reported that despite IDF warnings to the civilian population, Hamas operatives force the Palestinians living in the northern Gaza Strip to say at home and prevent them from escaping south, away from the fighting. Moreover, Hamas operatives also tried to collect the warning notices dropped by the Israeli Air Force to prevent the Palestinians from leaving their homes (See Appendix B for an example of the flyers). Hamas’s assumption is that civilian presence will limit IDF activity. At the same time, civilian residences serve the terrorist operatives as shelters and weapons storehouses.
Terrorists Fight in Civilian Clothing
Hamas and other terrorist organization operatives customarily wear civilian clothing during battle to be able to blend into the civilian population and make it difficult for the IDF to operate, despite the high price to the civilians. Evidence can be found in the video of Hamas operatives firing from the Jabaliya refugee camp on January 6.
Mortar shell launching operatives in civilian clothing firing at IDF forces from close proximity to residential buildings in the Jabaliya refugee camp (Al-Aqsa TV, January 6, 2009). The activity of terrorists wearing civilian clothing endangers the population.
The above was verified by Islam Shawan , Hamas administration spokesman, who said that Hamas police in the Gaza Strip were on high alert to protect the “internal front” from the IDF. He said the police in the field wore civilian clothing to make it impossible for the IDF forces to identify them (Radio Sawt al-Aqsa, January 5, 2009).
Storing Weapons in Civilian Residences
Civilian residences serve as storehouses for weapons. During IDF attacks secondary explosions were readily discernible in many locations, the result of weapons and ammunition stored there. Thus the terrorist organizations expose the civilian population to danger, despite the efforts made by the IDF to prevent civilian casualties.
To deal with Hamas’s strategy of using civilians as human shields, during Operation Cast Lead the IDF sent a series of announcements and warnings to the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip. They were meant to limit civilian casualties in so far as possible and avoid harming those not involved in terrorism and fighting. The announcements informed the Gazans of attacks the IDF intended to carry out and instructed them to evacuate areas where there were terrorist operatives or facilities belonging to the terrorist infrastructure.
The IDF used various methods to make sure the warnings reached the civilians, and Gazans were instructed to obey IDF warnings and to avoid friction with the terrorist organizations in the following ways:
• Almost a million flyers were dropped from airplanes in a series of overflights in various regions of the Gaza Strip.
• Over 150,000 attempts were made to warn civilians by telephone (tens of thousands of Gazans responded).
• Local Hamas and other terrorist organization radio and television stations were entered and used to transmit announcements.
Translation of flyer
To the residents of the Gaza Strip:
The IDF is going to operate against the movements and organizations which carry out terrorist attacks against the residents of the State of Israel.
The IDF will strike and destroy any structure or site where ammunition and weapons are located.
As of this announcement, the life of anyone whose house contains ammunition and weapons is in danger and he is to leave to protect his own life and those of his family. You have been warned!
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Old Lessons Israel Hasn’t Learned
Yet, for all of her gestures of peace, conciliation and compromise, the Jewish people in Israel are rewarded with almost incessant rocket and mortar attacks. No other civilized nation on earth would tolerate for one week what Israel has tolerated for eight years since Hamas began to dominate Gaza — over 10,000 rocket attacks against innocent men, women, children and elderly Israeli citizens while the world watches almost in total indifference or gleeful joy regarding the plight of the Jews.
Yet, I hear the words of Santayana ringing in my ears: If we don’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it.
[…]
Returning to my subject of Israel and the conflict with Hamas and Gaza in the south and Hezbollah and Lebanon in the north, here is the conclusion of the matter:
* Israel must annex Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem and all of Israel. This isn’t “occupied territory,” but land given to the Jews by God, paid for by Jewish martyrs going back to antiquity;
* Israel must then reoccupy Lebanon and drive Hezbollah into Syria to have a buffer against these renewed terrorist attacks from her northern flank.
Of course, this will take much time and effort by Israel. In the meantime, liberals here in America, corrupt, anti-Semitic bureaucrats of the United Nations and the Muslim nation states all clamor to draft a suitable cease-fire treaty for Gaza. Politics aside, in my view there will never be an adequate and enduring cease-fire treaty for Israel until Israel withdraws its membership from the anti-Semitic United Nations so that they won’t feel obligated to obey any more of their illogical mandates.
Yes, since my unequivocal stand with Israel, I have received a lot of hate mail from Jews, Muslims and gentiles alike all over the world. Nevertheless, this is a small price to pay for the courageous Jews that fall prey to the merciless attacks from Hamas, Fatah and all of the other Palestinian terrorist groups, and yes, with a tinge of irony, Jews who are victims of the secular, socialist policies of their elected Israeli leaders.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Poll: 76% Oppose Truce Without Shalit
War and Peace Index shows Jewish public supports Gaza operation, objects to ending it if kidnapped soldier is not released as part of agreement, even if rocket fire stops. Arab public conveys opposite views
A majority of the Jewish public in Israel opposes a ceasefire in Gaza without kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit’s release, according to the monthly War and Peace Index poll conducted about a week and a half after the start of Operation Cast Lead.
Beyond the decisive support for the Israel Defense Forces’ operation, the public also backs the raid’s continuation even if Hamas holds fire under certain conditions. The respondents were asked, “If a ceasefire agreement with Hamas could be reached, but without including Gilad Shalit’s release, do you believe Israel should or should not sign such an agreement?” About 76.5% gave a negative answer, while only 17.5% responded positively.
Asked whether Israel should or should not halt its military activity in the Strip if Hamas is ready to stop firing on southern communities in exchange for the opening of the crossings, 80% responded negatively. In other words, the majority of the public believes Israel should not halt its operation even if Hamas accepts such an offer.
Before the recent days — which saw additional IDF casualties, and many casualties among the Palestinian and UN workers — the operation was supported by a sweeping majority of the Jewish public: 94% of the Jewish public said they support or very much support the operation, 92% said they believe it benefits Israel in terms of security, and a clear but smaller majority believes the operation helps Israel diplomatically as well.
About 92% of the population justifies the Air Force strikes in Gaza despite the damage caused to infrastructure and the civilian population’s suffering. The decision to send in ground forces was also widely supported, with 70% saying this was a necessary move.
Barak leads trust index
Asked whether the operation must be continued, a vast majority of the public shares the same opinion, with 90% of respondents saying the operation should be continued until Israel reaches all of its goals.
This support was accompanied by the estimate of 70% of the public that the chances of the operation achieving all of its goals are high or quite high, and that the government has a clear plan of action as to ways to continue the operation (75%).
In light of the wide support, it’s not surprising that the leaders linked to the operation receives relatively high trust scores, although there are differenced between the different officials.
IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi leads the trust scale with 85%. This is likely because the IDF is considered “above” the political arena.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. Seeks Ship to Move Arms to Israel
[Comment from VH: Reuters claim they picked up this rumor from “tender documents” they have seen. Might it be a hoax or a rumor with other intentions? If it were to be true, I’d applaud it!]
By Stefano Ambrogi
LONDON (Reuters) — The U.S. is seeking to hire a merchant ship to deliver hundreds of tons of arms to Israel from Greece later this month, tender documents seen by Reuters show.
The U.S. Navy’s Military Sealift Command (MSC) said the ship was to carry 325 standard 20-foot containers of what is listed as “ammunition” on two separate journeys from the Greek port of Astakos to the Israeli port of Ashdod in mid-to-late January.
A “hazardous material” designation on the manifest mentions explosive substances and detonators, but no other details were given.
“Shipping 3,000-odd tons of ammunition in one go is a lot,” one broker said, on condition of anonymity. “This (kind of request) is pretty rare and we haven’t seen much of it quoted in the market over the years,” he added.
The U.S. Defense Department, contacted by Reuters on Friday in Washington, had no immediate comment.
The MSC transports amour and military supplies for the U.S. armed forces aboard its own fleet, but regularly hires merchant ships if logistics so require.
The request for the ship was made on December 31, with the first leg of the charter to arrive no later than January 25 and the second at the end of the month.
The tender for the vessel follows the hiring of a commercial ship to carry a much larger consignment of ordnance in December from the United States to Israel ahead of air strikes in the Gaza Strip.
A German shipping firm which won that tender confirmed the order when contacted by Reuters but declined to comment further.
CHARTERS “RARE”
Shipping brokers in London who have specialized in moving arms for the British and U.S. military in the past said such ship charters to Israel were rare.
Israel is one of America’s closest allies and both nations regularly sell arms to each other.
A senior military analyst in London who declined to be named said that, because of the timing, the shipments could be “irregular” and linked to the Gaza offensive.
The ship hired by the MSC in December was for a much larger cargo of arms, tender documents showed.
That stipulated a ship to be chartered for 42 days capable of carrying 989 standard 20-foot containers from Sunny Point, North Carolina to Ashdod.
The tender document said the vessel had to be capable of “carrying 5.8 million pounds (2.6 million kg) of net explosive weight,” which specialist brokers said was a very large quantity.
The ship was requested early last month to load on December 15.
In September, the U.S. Congress approved the sale of 1,000 bunker-buster missiles to Israel. The GPS-guided GBU-39 is said to be one of the most accurate bombs in the world.
The Jerusalem Post, citing defense officials, reported last week that a first shipment of the missiles had arrived in early December and they were used in penetrating Hamas’s underground rocket launcher sites.
(Reporting by Stefano Ambrogi; editing by Michael Roddy)
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
U.S. in Massive Arms Resupply to Israel Days Before Obama Inauguration
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz is reporting that the U.S. has arranged for a charter ship “to carry 325 standard 20-foot containers of what is listed as ‘ammunition’ on two separate journeys from the Greek port of Astakos to the Israeli port of Ashdod in mid-to-late January.” The type and nature of the shipment is described as “pretty rare.”
“A senior military analyst in London who declined to be named said that, because of the timing, the shipments could be ‘irregular’ and linked to the Gaza offensive.”
| — Hat tip: Larwyn | [Return to headlines] |
Apologetic Turks Heading for Jail?
A group of Turkish authors who initiated an online apology for the WWI killings of Armenians may get jail sentences for ‘insulting the Turkish people’.
A Turkish prosecutor has opened an investigation into a group of intellectuals that created a web-page apologising for the massacre of Armenians in Turkey that started in 1915. The state prosecutor of Ankara is checking whether the apology violates Article 301 of the Turkish penal code, which calls ‘insulting Turkish people’ a criminal deed and carries a jail sentence for those convicted.
The group of suspects set up a web-page which included an apology for the ‘catastrope’ in the Ottoman Empire (present day Turkey) that took the lives of 1.5 million Armenians. Writers, academics, and other intellectuals posted a petition at www.ozurdiliyoruz.com (We Are Sorry) and offered a personal apology to Armenians, and also called on the Turkish government to acknowledge the fact of the massacre. The term ‘genocide’ was not used though.
The mass murder is recognised as genocide by Russia and 21 other countries, but in Turkey the topic is taboo. The authorities strongly oppose the use of the term ‘genocide’ and say the figures are greatly exaggerated, with only thousands murdered. Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties to this day, though in 2008 they started talks on normalising relations. According to Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, the petition may be instrumental in undermining efforts to improve relations between the two countries.
Article 301 of penal code was amended last year following pressure from the EU, an organisation that Turkey would like to join in the future. Now the Justice Minister has to approve any court case. Europe is also demanding that Turkey expands its political freedoms, freedom of speech and improves minority rights to meet EU standards for membership.
Turkey has a record of prosecuting journalists, academics and authors for using the word ‘genocide’ when talking about the events that took place in 1915-1917. Among those who have faced such charges is Nobel Prize-winner writer Orhan Pamuk, when he stood accused of ‘insulting Turkey’s national character’. On that occasion, however, the Justice Ministry threw out the prosecution’s case following an international outcry.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Gaza: Qatar, Initiative to Judge Israeli War Crimes
(ANSAmed) — DOHA, JANUARY 9 — At the beginning of February during a conference in Doha, an “international group” will be formed to examine cases of “war crimes” against the Palestinians and to bring the Israelis that are responsible to trial in front of the International Penal Court. The Arab Organisation for Democracy has promoted the initiative according to the President of the Human Rights National Commission (Hnrc) of Qatar, Mohsen Marzuk. The group will include 100 NGOs and international jurists: “soon we will define the legal responsibilities and we will identify the war crimes”, said Marzuk, “and then we will prosecute Israeli war criminals”. With a permanent office and three ‘antennas’ and different countries, the members of the group will put together a file of possible war crime cases, explained the secretary general of the Hrnc. “In case of verifiable episodes”, he added, “we could go to the International Penal Court or other European Courts”. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Iran Firms Told: Cut Ties to “Zionist”-Held Firms
Iran’s industries minister told Iranian firms on Monday to suspend commercial links with international companies which might have “Zionist” shareholders, Iran’s ISNA news agency reported.
Iran does not recognise Israel and Iranian firms and individuals are banned from dealings with Israel or Israelis, often referred to as the “Zionist regime” and “Zionists” respectively. Monday’s order suggested the government was going beyond the usual scope of Israeli companies and focusing on other international firms with Israel-linked investors, but did not name any particular firm.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Qatar: Qaradawi Blames Jews for Corruption
Doha, 9 Jan. (AKI) — Prominent Egyptian cleric Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi has blamed the Jews for bringing ‘corruption to the world’. “I tell the Jews that God will not praise he who oppresses. You have brought corruption to the world at least twice during your history,” said Qaradawi during Friday prayers at the Ibn al-Khattab mosque in the Qatari capital Doha, quoted by Arab TV station Al-Jazeera.
“For days we have been seeing the martyrs in Gaza with our own eyes and nobody is doing anything,” he said. “The people are calling out for something to be done, but no-one is responding to them.”
“From here, from this pulpit, I send a message to the Jewish aggressors and to the West who supports Israel, in particular to the United States, that the promised day is approaching.”
Qaradawi, who heads the Union of Islamic Scholars, is one of the ideologues of the banned Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood .
When Israel began its military offensive in the Gaza Strip two weeks ago, he described the Israeli attacks as a ‘genocide’.
More than 770 Palestinians have been killed and over 3,000 have been injured since Israel began intense air and later ground attacks in Operation Cast Lead in Gaza on 27 December.
Israeli casualties rose to 14 after three Israeli soldiers were killed on Thursday. Nine of the Israelis killed were soldiers.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Syrians Whine About Israeli Wine
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is involved in yet another scrape in the Middle East. On Friday Syria filed a protest to the UN regarding Israel’s giving out wine from the contested Golan Heights as New Year gifts to UN staff.
Syria insists that UN delegates should be instructed to refuse these gifts. Israel has confirmed it sent out the wine but has another view: “The Golan Heights is an integral part of the state of Israel and the wine produced in that region is some of the best in the country. As such, we were pleased to share it with our colleagues,” said Israeli UN mission spokeswoman Mirit Cohen.
Israel captured the territory in 1967 during the Six Day War and annexed it in 1981 in a move rejected by the United Nations. The territory’s status is a key issue in Israeli-Syrian relations. In his letters to the UN leadership Syrian Ambassador Bashar Jaafari denounced Israel’s ‘provocative and irresponsible behaviour’.
“I would appreciate it if you would request all United Nations staff to refrain from accepting these Israeli gifts produced illegally in occupied Syrian territory,” he said.
There has been no reaction to Jaafari’s letter yet.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Thousands of Iranians Want to be Martyrs for Palestine
Iranian hard-line volunteers have been banned from going to Israel to carry out suicide missions. The country’s leader Ayatollah Khamenei issued the edict after thousands of students signed up to sacrifice their lives for the Palestinians.
The would-be martyrs gathered in front of the Egyptian Consulate in Tehran to protest against what’s taking place in Gaza. Their slogans criticise what they see as the indifference of the Islamic and Arab world to what’s going on there and urge the end of violence against the Palestinian people.
Many protesters call Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide. “We are a group of students. We came to the Egyptian Consulate to demand that they open border crossings for the wounded and allow humanitarian aid to come in. We cannot abandon the Palestinian people during this genocide,” one says.
The Iranian people have threatened to declare jihad. Many are prepared to die for their Islamic neighbours.
Shortly after Israel started attacking Gaza, Iran’s supreme leader issued a religious decree saying anyone killed while defending Palestinians would be considered a martyr. Since then student groups claim more than 70,000 people have joined up as volunteer suicide bombers.
However, on Thursday, Ayatollah Khamenei banned volunteers from leaving the country to take military action against Israel. Nevertheless, the leader says Iran won’t spare any efforts to assist Hamas in other ways. He’s also concerned that some Arab countries have not done enough to assist the Palestinians.
“The governments of Muslim countries situated around that region (Gaza) are making a mistake by not offering any help. The deeper the nail of Israel is hammered in, and the stronger the dominance of arrogance becomes, the misery, weakness and abjectness of these states will increase. Why aren’t they conscious?” Ayatollah Khamenei wonders.
With Iran firmly backing Hamas in Gaza, Iranians are unlikely to stop their protests until Israel ceases its aggression or the Arab world responds..
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey: 4 Officers Jailed in Coup Plot
The state-run news agency says a court has charged four army officers with membership in a terrorist organization and ordered them jailed pending the outcome of their trial.
The four were among some 40 people detained this week as part of a widening investigation into an alleged ultranationalist plot to overthrow the Islamic-rooted government later this year..
The Anatolia news agency says the four charged on Saturday include two colonels and two lieutenants. The other suspects were still being interrogated. Eighty-six people already are on trial for their alleged involvement in the plot.
On Friday, police discovered hand grenades, plastic explosive, shoulder-fired rockets and ammunition buried close to a road near Ankara.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Turkey Angered by Gaza War
One of the loudest reactions to Israel’s war in Gaza recently has come from Turkey. Usually one of Israel’s closest allies, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been very vocal in his criticism of Israel, and popular demonstrations have made it clear whose side the people are on.
Turkish newspaper Vatan reported that the only other Middle Eastern leaders to criticize Israel in the way that Turkey has are Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Libya’s Muammar Gadhafi. For example, at a campaign rally, Erdogan said that Israel was “perpetrating inhuman actions which would bring it to self-destruction. Allah will sooner or later punish those who transgress the rights of innocents.”
In Ankara, authorities called off a basketball game between a Turkish and Israeli team. Three thousand Turkish protesters filled the stadium, waving Palestinian flags and shouting “Allah Akbar.” They even burned an Israeli flag in front of the arena.
“This is the first time that the public reaction has been so widespread.. It’s very intensive this time,” says Sami Kohen, a columnist with the daily Milliyet. “There haven’t been such widespread and spontaneous anti-Israel sentiments before. It’s not just the Islamic circles. It’s also the secularists and the nationalists. The protests have been representative of the whole of Turkish society. I don’t remember seeing such a public reaction on any other issue before.”
Most analysts believe that Israel and Turkey will get over this spat and move on. But it does show a deep-seated anti-Israeli feeling inside the country. This dislike of Israel will play a big role in Turkey’s future. For more information, see our article “Why Turkey Matters.” •
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Indonesia: Protesters Seal Off Synagogue Amid Pro-Palestinian Protests
Jakarta, 9 Jan. (AKI/Jakarta Post) — As Israel’s two-week offensive in Gaza continues, massive anti-Israel and anti-US rallies have been taking place across Indonesia. Muslim protesters also sealed off a Jewish synagogue in Surabaya, East Java and have threatened to boycott American products in the province.
On Thursday, a crowd of 500 protesters gathered outside the US Consulate in Jakarta to express their solidarity for the Palestinian people and condemn the Israeli attacks, which have killed an estimated 770 Palestinians, including many children. Fourteen Israelis have died since Israel began its offensive to end Hamas rocket attacks against it from Gaza.
Brandishing anti-Israel and anti-US banners through the main streets in front of the governor’s office and crowded shopping centres, protesters in Surabaya moved on the nearby synagogue.
They held a forum there that later ended with the burning of Israeli and American flags and the sealing off of the synagogue.
Rally coordinator Abdusshomad Buchori said the group would organise a massive movement against US citizens, Jews and American products such as Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald’s fast food outlets in the city until the attacks in Gaza were halted.
“If Israel doesn’t stop its attacks on the Palestinian people immediately, we will conduct raids on sympathisers, supporters and Israeli agents in the province,” he said.
The rally continued peacefully as more than 300 riot police were deployed to the area.
Following the synagogue closure, the demonstrators then moved on KFC and McDonald’s outlets at the nearby Plaza Surabaya, calling for a boycott of the American products.
The demonstrators also demanded the government intensify diplomatic efforts with the UN and the international community to “stop the bloodshed” and get humanitarian relief to the Palestinian people.
The United Nations Security Council late on Thursday passed a resolution calling for an immediate and durable ceasefire in Gaza followed by a complete withdrawal of Israel forces from the aid-dependent territory.
The United States abstained from the 14-0 vote, weakening its impact of the resolution.
| — Hat tip: C. Cantoni | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia: Catholic Paper That Used Allah Can Print
Malaysia will allow the Malay edition of a Catholic newspaper to resume publication, lifting a ban imposed for its use of the word “Allah,” an official said Thursday (8 Jan) — a move likely aimed at assuaging the anger of minorities in this Muslim-majority country.
The Herald, the country’s main Roman Catholic newspaper, will not be allowed to use “Allah” as a translation for “God,” however, said Che Din Yusoh, a senior official with the ministry’s publications control unit. “If they stop printing the word ‘Allah,’ they can publish anytime,” Che Din told The Associated Press. “You can use another word. It’s permissible for us,” he said, adding that the decision would be conveyed to the Herald by Friday (9 Jan).
The Home Ministry had ordered the Herald last week to stop printing its Malay edition for violating a 2007 ban on the use of the word “Allah,” except to refer to the Muslim God. The government says using the word could confuse Muslims, even though the newspaper is read almost exclusively by Christians. […]
The Herald has challenged the ban on “Allah” in court, saying that the translation has been used for centuries and that the Arabic word is a common reference to God that predates Islam. It says the ban is unconstitutional and threatens the religious freedom of the minorities. […] A court decision is not likely anytime soon.
The Herald has long been at odds with the government, which has accused it of overstepping its boundaries by commenting on politics and other sensitive issues.
Ethnic Chinese, Indians and other minorities, who are mainly Christians, Buddhists and Hindus, have been angered by sporadic demolition of Hindu temples, court rulings about the right to leave Islam and other religious disputes.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia: Coca-Cola: Boycott Will Hurt Economy
Coca-Cola spoke out Friday against a boycott of its drinks and other US goods called by Malaysian Muslim groups over the Gaza offensive, saying it would only hurt the local economy and citizens. “As everybody else, we are deeply touched by the human side of the situation in the Middle East,” Kadri Taib, Coca-Cola Malaysia public affairs and communications director, said in a statement.
“Given the local nature of our business, we believe that calls for boycotts of our products are not the appropriate way to further any causes, as they primarily hurt the local economy, local businesses and local citizens.” It said the beverage company employs some 1,700 Malaysians, 60 percent of whom are Malay Muslims, who dominate the multicultural nation’s population.
A boycott of US-made goods and firms including Coca-Cola and Starbucks has been called by Muslim groups who are planning a protest Friday at the National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur.
The boycott, aimed at US support of Israel which has mounted the offensive in Gaza, is spearheaded by the Malaysian Islamic Consumers Association as well as the Muslim Restaurant Operators Association which has removed Coca-Cola from the menu at thousands of eateries.
“We hope Muslim consumers will fully take part so it will send a clear signal to Israel and its allies not to continue to torture Muslims,” the Consumers Association said in a statement.
Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad has also called for a global boycott of US dollar and US products in protest over Washington’s support of Israel.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Malaysia Calls for International Sanctions on Israel
Malaysia’s leader on Thursday (8 Jan) called for sanctions on Israel for conducting lethal military strikes on Gaza, saying the international community has a “moral duty” to save the Palestinian people.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in a speech to Malaysian and foreign diplomats that international sanctions have been applied for various breaches of the code of international conduct, and should be expanded to include violation of moral standards.
“On the issue of morality, Israel has to be sanctioned,” Abdullah later told reporters. He denounced as “absolutely immoral” Israel’s” excessive deployment of military power” in its air and ground offensive on Gaza since 27 Dec that has left at least 688 Palestinians dead.
More than 3,000 people have been injured and some 5,000 people have fled the border area in the operation aimed at snuffing out Hamas militants who have been firing rockets at Israel. Ten Israelis have been killed in the Hamas attacks.
Muslim-majority Malaysia is a staunch critic of Israel.
Abdullah did not elaborate on whether the sanctions should be economic or military, saying it is up to the United Nations to decide. Still, the proposal is unlikely to see the light of day as any sanctions must be approved by the U.N.. Security Council where the U.S., Israel’s main ally, has veto power.
The Security Council has so far failed to agree on action to end the escalating crisis in Gaza, but Egypt plans to host separate talks with Israel and Hamas on a cease-fire proposal. Abdullah said any cease-fire effort must include Israel withdrawing from Gaza.
But in a moderate success for Malaysian diplomacy, the president of the U.N. General Assembly has agreed to its proposal to hold an emergency special session on the humanitarian situation in Gaza later Thursday. However, any resolution adopted by the 192-member world body would not be legally binding. (By VIJAY JOSHI/ AP)
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Australia: Peta’s Latest Idiotic Demand — Fish Are ‘Sea Kittens’
RADICAL international animal rights group PETA has launched its most bizarre campaign yet, demanding fish be renamed “sea kittens”. PETA — People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals — believes calling fish sea kittens will make sea food less appealing.
It wants to change the image of fish as slimy and slithery creatures by claiming they are similar to cuter, more popular animals. “Would people think twice about ordering fish sticks if they were called sea kitten sticks?” PETA asked on its website.
See the bizarre idea here
PETA, about to launch a dedicated Australian arm, is known for headline-seeking controversial campaigns, including supermodel-fronted anti-fur protests. The group is the driving force behind several major overseas clothing, retail and textile companies abandoning Australian wool because of concerns about the mulesing of sheep.
| — Hat tip: VH | [Return to headlines] |
Six Pirates Drown Leaving Freed Supertanker
Nairobi — Six Somalian pirates drowned on leaving freed Saudi-owned supertanker Sirius Star nearly two months after it was captured off the east African coast, their leader said on Saturday.
“Six of our boys perished at the sea while coming from the released Saudi supertanker” Mohamed Said said by telephone from Harardhere, 300 kilometres (200 miles) north of Mogadishu.
Their boat had capsized after freeing the vessel and its crew, he said. Four other pirates had also gone missing after the kidnapping ended, he added.
“The small boat that was carrying those killed and eight who survived was overloaded and at high speed as we are told by the survivors; they were afraid of a chase from outsiders (foreign navies of the Combined Maritime Forces) who invaded Somalia waters,” he said.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Return of the Noose
St Kitts has just hanged its first man for a decade and believes it is the only way to beat violent crime
…Meanwhile, on many smaller islands to which the violence is spreading like a fast-growing tumour, the clamour to bring back the noose grows louder by the day.
In St Vincent, for example, people are demanding the swift execution of Shorn Samuel, 35.
He was sentenced to hang a few weeks ago for lassoing a young woman as she waited at a bus stop, and beheading her with a cutlass, simply because she rejected his advances.
They are equally eager to string up Patrick Lovelace who was convicted of the abduction of 11-year-old Lokeisha Nanton.
He raped the little girl, then hanged her from a mango tree. (His conviction was overturned on a technicality, and his retrial begins on Tuesday).
‘There is an overwhelming call here for capital punishment to be resumed,’ St Vincent journalist Kirby Jackson says.
‘There’s a sense of frustration that we are bound by the Privy Council, which is seen as part of an outdated culture.
‘Some people don’t like hanging because of its historic connotations. They refer back to the Fifties and Sixties in the southern USA, when a lot of black people were wrongly hanged. But as a society we have moved on. We know what is right or wrong in the Caribbean and we are capable of deciding that for ourselves.’
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
The World of the FARC (Part I: Europe)
SEMANA/judicialThe computer of “Raúl Reyes” played an important role in 2008. SEMANA investigated what has happened with it and has uncovered new revelations and the surprising effects it has had in nearly 30 countries where the guerrillas have a presence. In this first part, the magazine reveals how the rebel group operates in various European countries.
During the Second World War, when the Allies found the so-called Enigma machine, which was the key apparatus for secret communications for the Germans, the balance tipped in their favor. Today, nine months following the find of the computer of “Raúl Reyes,” a similar comparison could be made about the importance of this apparatus for the Colombian government in its war against the FARC. Inside the computer were guerrilla secrets spanning four decades.
SEMANA tracked what has happened with these revelations and found a lot of information that until now had not been publicly revealed. In the last few months, Colombian authorities have dedicated themselves to untangle the impressive web of support networks that the FARC has created in more than 30 countries. With time, and after the Interpol certification, the authenticity of the information from the computer has been confirmed. Until now, although there have been controversies about the interpretation of some of the found messages, no data from the computer has been contradicted.
In most of the countries, thanks to the information from the computer, judicial investigations have begun and in Spain, Canada and Costa Rica this information has been key in several arrests. The following are some of the places where the FARC has extended its tentacles, according to the computer of “Reyes.”…
| — Hat tip: Fausta | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: Maroni, 2009 to Mark End to Emergency
(ANSAmed) — LAMPEDUSA (AGRIGENTO), JANUARY 9 — “I hope that 2009 will mark the end to the emergency situation of large-scale landings of illegal immigrants on the shores of Lampedusa, as 2008 saw a record high number of arrivals,” said Interior Minister Roberto Maroni in Lampedusa, where he met with local authorities. By January, said Maroni, “an agreement will came into force with Libya which calls for the patrol of the North African country’s coastline. In this way the landings will come to an end before the tourist season, and Lampedusa will once again be known as one of the most beautiful islands in the Mediterranean and not as the entryway for illegal immigrants to Europe.” (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: Spain, Boat Rescued and Rerouted to Morocco
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, JANUARY 9 — A raft with 50 illegal immigrants was intercepted at around midnight yesterday by the Spanish medical ship Esperanza del Mar at about 400 miles south of the Canary Islands, reported sources from the Navy Rescue Services. The raft, spotted by a Brazilian merchant ship which crossed paths with it in the area, was reported to the Spanish rescue ship, which is in charge of assisting Spanish sailors in the waters off the West African coast. Since the 50 people on the boat were in good condition, according to the sources, they were not taken onboard Esperanza del Mar but instead handed over to a Moroccan motorized patrol boat, which took them to the Moroccan port Dekla. The 50 immigrants are all reportedly from Guinea Bissau. According to official statistics, in 2008 African migrants numbered 47 who died in the attempt to reach the Canary Islands on rafts or cockleshells. However, the figure does not include corpses thrown into the sea or victims of shipwrecks in sea crossings. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: G8 Ministers to Discuss Issue in Lampedusa
(ANSAmed) — LAMPEDUSA, JANUARY 9 — A meeting of G8 Interior and Justice ministers will take place in May on the island of Lampedusa, the tiny island off Sicily where thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa arrive each year, Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said today. An average of 15,000 would-be immigrants land each year on Lampedusa, where the vast majority of boats crossing from Africa are intercepted. The island is closer to the coast of Tunisia than to the Italian mainland. “This will give others an idea of the problems we face with the emergency of illegal immigration,” he said. “Europe is too weak and (member) states are left to deal with the problem on their own,” said Maroni. The minister announced he would hold talks with colleagues from Malta, Cyprus and Greece next Tuesday to discuss the problem. At least 2,000 people die every year as they attempt to cross the Mediterranean, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said in a recent report. This year Italy holds the one-year rotating presidency of the G8, whose members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Immigration: Spain, Govt Yes to Violence Against Women Plan
(ANSAmed) — MADRID, JANUARY 9 — As announced in recent months, the Spanish Government has approved its plan for the prevention of violence against women in the immigrant population, which includes a series of measures to raise awareness among foreign women of their rights and of the help options available if they report their aggressor. The programme, explained today by Vice-Premier Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega at the end of the Council of Ministers session, will last four years, until 2012, and will consist of information campaigns in seven languages, training of personnel specialising in help for women victims of domestic violence, and a series of measures to create the conditions for a nationwide prevention. The high dependence of women on their aggressor, the lack of social and family support networks often prevent victims from reporting violence. The new law for foreigners, being examined in Parliament, will also include the possibility for victims of violence to obtain temporary residency. Around half of the 74 women murdered by their husband or partner in 2008 in Spain were foreign, according to figures published today by the Reina Sofia Centre for the Study of Violence. The number of victims of violence rose by 7.2% between 2004, the year in which the Integral Law on violence against women was passed, and 2008. (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
UK: The Great White Backlash
Working class turns on Labour over immigration and housing
[JD: Note the slant of the article; painting those against unchecked immigration as right wing racists.]
Labour’s Hazel Blears has finally admitted the white working class feels betrayed and abandoned as immigration surges. The Mail went to her own constituency — and found a seething anger that should worry us all…
[…]
Chris, however, was lucky. In October last year he won a bid for a flat in Spruce Court, a block five minutes’ walk from the housing office. Now he says the ceiling is leaking and he would love to find somewhere else. ‘I keep bidding, but I don’t have much hope.
‘In my block, there are lots of foreigners. They use the phone box in the lobby to call their families with phone cards given to them by the council, and speak in languages I can’t understand.’
Drift to the Right
Not long after, a young Polish girl emerges from Salford Home Search office. She is clearly pleased, and is clutching a piece of lined paper with writing in green ink on it. It gives the address of a council house which she has just been allocated.
Anna Tronia is 25, has a young baby, and has lived in Britain since her country joined the EU four years ago, allowing her to live here.
But should she really be given a council house? ‘I had nowhere, and so I told them that,’ she says, excitedly. ‘I have a baby, and I think that helped, too. I don’t work any more now that I am a mother. I am very pleased about what has happened to me in Salford,’ she says, before walking off down the street towards a group of her friends.
A few minutes later, I meet Abdul Aljenid, a handsome 30-year-old from the Sudan. He came to Britain on a three-year visa to study English in 2005.
He says he goes to Salford College for six hours a week and works on a construction site on the city’s quayside overlooking the Manchester Ship Canal. He is helping to build the new northern headquarters of the BBC.
‘The work is hard, I admit. But I like it in England. I live with my friend over there,’ he points to another block near the precinct.
‘My friend is also from the Sudan and has a council flat already,’ adds Abdul. ‘I want one, too, of my own.’
He isn’t the only one. I hear very similar stories from other students in Salford. They come from Angola, from Somalia, and Ukraine — countries with no discernible link to Britain. Yet all confidently expect to get a council house.
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Culture: Campbell’s Soup Pledges More ‘Gay’ Ads
‘2 mommies’ spread only 1st in marketing agenda
Despite being pressured by traditional family advocates to stop, Campbell’s Soup Company, maker of Swanson’s brand broth, has vowed to continue spending its advertising dollars in pro-homosexual publications.
As WND reported earlier, the American Family Association objected to a Swanson’s broth magazine ad that depicts a lesbian couple and their son. The ad was placed in the December 2008 and January 2009 issues of The Advocate, a magazine that touts itself with the line, “For 40 years, setting the standard in LGBT journalism.”
Campbell’s Soup, however, has brushed off the AFA’s complaint.
MediaDailyNews quoted a company spokesperson explaining, “Inclusion and diversity play an important role in our business, and that fact is reflected in our marketing plan.”
According to a Campbell’s representative, “Our plans for the Swanson brand include additional placements in The Advocate.”
The AFA, however, objects to the ad, particularly the frame that depicts the lesbian couple and their son with the words, “This holiday season, serve a special meal no matter the size and structure of your family.”
“Not only did the ads cost Campbell’s a chunk of money,” writes AFA Chairman Donald Wildmon in an email alert, “but they also sent a message that homosexual parents constitute a family and are worthy of support.”
Wildmon is seeking people who will contact the soup company and ask Campbell’s to “stop supporting the gay agenda.”
| — Hat tip: JD | [Return to headlines] |
Religion: Catholics-Jews: CEI, Overcome Old Prejudices
(ANSAmed) — ROME, JANUARY 8 — Jewish-Christian dialogue has made “important steps forward” in the last 50 years, and “we need to confirm the necessity of not turning back, while recognising our differences” said the CEI (Italian Episcopal Conference) in a ‘reflection’ published on the website of the Office for Ecumenism and inter-faith dialogue, a few days ahead of the Day of Judaism planned for January 17. The date has been the occasion for a rift in recent months between Jews and Catholics: the Jewish Italian Rabbinical Assembly decided not to participate in the Day as a sign of protest against the reintroduction of Pope Pius V’s pre-reconciliation missal, with the Good Friday prayer for the conversion of the Jews. “Today, Jewish Christian dialogue has not stopped. There is no need to find a motive for suspicion or for interrupting the process of moving closer and mutual understanding out of single episodes or moments of difficulty”, says the CEI document. “We need gestures which show how much our relationship has changed, gestures of reconciliation which show clearly that Christians and Jews are different, but that they can look at each other with respect, trust and esteem.” CEI then stressed the necessity for the remembrance of the Shoah, “an imperative of conscience in a world which is prone to accepting the logic of war.” (ANSAmed).
| — Hat tip: Insubria | [Return to headlines] |
Huge Areas of Britain Have Become Foreign Colonies. That Could be Tomorrow’s Ireland, Too
Kevin Myers is a very good columnist for the Irish Independent.
His freedom to write this article was entirely contingent on his being found innocent by the Press Council after an inquiry into whether he had proven himself to be a “racist” by penning a controversial article on the (real) roots of African poverty some months ago.
Here is the original article in contention:
Africa is giving nothing to anyone — apart from AIDS
Vatican Alarmed by Muslims Burning Israeli Flags Outside Cathedrals
It damn well better be. Once the Jews are wiped out the Catholics will be next. If this world’s Christian population has any brains they will form an alliance with every other non-Muslim faith in order to combat Islam’s spread.
Mortar Shell Fire From Near a UNRWA School Caused the Accidental Deaths of Dozens of Civilians
Where, oh where to begin with this noxious little item?
Hamas Forces Civilians to Stay at Home
Terrorists Fight in Civilian Clothing
Storing Weapons in Civilian Residences
Quite clearly, not enough Muslims have died at the hands of their terrorist masters. Obviously, many, many more need to die for them to get their minds right.
Gaza is a microcosm of what must be made to happen on a macro scale. Namely, Muslims must be made to associate terrorist activity in their midst with immediately ensuing DEATH.
Once this vital connection has been made, perhaps then they will begin killing the terrorists themselves. So goes it with the Islamic world at large. Muslims must be taught that jihadism is their very worst and most lethal enemy.
The price tag for terrorism is nowhere near steep enough. Were it, we would already be seeing Muslims killing their jihadi scum. While the West could be doing far more in terms of going after Islamic leadership by itself, this in no way exculpates Muslims of their obligation to eliminate terrorism.
Sickest of all is how inaction, on both sides, only ups the butcher’s bill when it will finally come due. In light of how inadequately armed Islam is, in comparison to the nuclear West, the Muslim death toll will most likely be astronomical. They have only themselves to blame.
islam o’ phobe, have you seen this article by James Shikwati?
“For God’s Sake, Please Stop the Aid“
Qatar: Qaradawi Blames Jews for Corruption
Ah, yes. Good old Yusef “Beat-Your-Wife-Lightly” Qaradawi. This is the same maggot whose scholarly decree sanctified bomb vest attacks as haram. Notice how little Muslim outcry there was about bomb vest attacks just so long as only Jews were being slaughtered?
Well, the glove is on the other foot and now Muslims are screaming bloody murder (is there anything else they ever scream?), about bomb vest attacks in Pakistan.
Bearing all of that in mind, I’d say that Qaradawi’s attempt to blame Jews for corruption carries all the weight of a whore complaining how a customer gave her the clap.
More than 770 Palestinians have been killed and over 3,000 have been injured since Israel began intense air and later ground attacks in Operation Cast Lead in Gaza on 27 December.
Israeli casualties rose to 14 after three Israeli soldiers were killed on Thursday. Nine of the Israelis killed were soldiers.
As always, the Palestinians never purchase a clue from the typically disproportionate death toll. In this case it stands at 55:1. You would think that they might begin to understand that the ratio signifies just how ineffectual they are. More importantly, the ratio also demonstrates that the number will have to be many times higher, if not orders of magnitude larger, before Muslims will even take a hint. This is why I continue to predict that Massively Disproportionate Retaliation will probably prove necessary due to Islamic intransigence. Muslims just can’t seem to get their fill of death.
Australia: Peta’s Latest Idiotic Demand — Fish Are ‘Sea Kittens’
RADICAL international animal rights group PETA has launched its most bizarre campaign yet, demanding fish be renamed “sea kittens”. PETA — People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals — believes calling fish sea kittens will make sea food less appealing.
Priceless. Effing priceless. Newspeak revisionism brought to bear in another Liberal attempt at imposing its pseudo-morality on our world. As if kittens could ever live underwater. Why not call them fluffy little sea bunnies or sea puppies? Why can’t they just STFU?
What now, will all dolphins be demonized with accusations of murdering poor defenseless little sea kittens? Will the Humane Society be called in if you dare to eat fish sticks? Will the Catholic Church be made complicit in slaughtering innocent harmless sea kittens because of its tradition of fish on Fridays? I think we can all see where this one is leading. After all, let’s face it:
If we’re not supposed to eat animals, why are they made out of meat?