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BREAKING NEWS: AUGUST 2005

Ariel Sharon's decision to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and a piece of the northern West Bank is heating Israeli emotions, testing Palestinian discipline and beckoning American diplomacy.

The Israeli army boots and the reserve duty papers of Jewish settler Amir, no last name given, hang as a sign of disapproval against the army, over the front door of his empty house, as he prepares to leave his home in the northern Gaza Strip settlement of Nissanit, Saturday.

JERUSALEM- Once again an Arab-Israeli border is about to change, in a watershed event that is reshuffling Mideast peace prospects in unpredictable ways. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's decision to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and a piece of the northern West Bank is heating Israeli emotions, testing Palestinian discipline and beckoning American diplomacy, with high stakes for U.S. President George W. Bush's grand Middle East design. For Gaza's Jewish settlers, the pullback will begin with soldiers knocking on their doors Monday, ordering them to get out in 48 hours. The entire operation is likely to take a month, but where it will really end, nobody knows. It could be the prelude to renewed violence, an Israeli move to tighten its grip on the West Bank, or the beginning of a new peace effort leading to Palestinian statehood. In recent days, the potential for violence seems to have diminished a little. The settlers who were planning mass resistance now appear more subdued. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have agreed to increase security co-operation, and the Palestinian Authority says it will deploy a 5,000-strong force to stop the militants of Hamas and Islamic Jihad from making Israel look as though it's retreating under fire. But in the longer term, most agree, Gaza's isolation and poverty must be eased if the sandy 40-kilometre-long strip of land is to stop being a breeding ground for militants. Still, just days before the start of the withdrawal, the two sides had yet to agree on arrangements for an airport, seaport, border crossings and arrangements for Palestinians travelling between Gaza and the West Bank, 40 kilometres to the east across Israel. That leads some Palestinians to wonder whether Israel's 38-year occupation of Gaza is really ending. "If Sharon is going to close off the borders, lock off the Gaza Strip and throw away the keys, then really what he is doing is feeding into the hands of Hamas," said Diana Buttu, legal adviser to the Palestinian Authority. Israel says its pullout represents an end to its occupation of Gaza, and that it will consider the area to be foreign territory in which Israel has no jurisdiction. Palestinians contend that won't be true until Israel relinquishes control of Gaza's sea and air space and allows the free movement of goods and people. The uncertainty reflects the unsteady nature of borders in this region. Israel's first frontiers, when it became a state in 1948, were just armistice lines. These expanded dramatically in the 1967 war when it captured the West Bank from Jordan, the Golan Heights from Syria and Gaza and the Sinai peninsula from Egypt. Fifteen years later Israel shrank again when it handed the Sinai back to Egypt.

Now comes the evacuation of 8,500 Jewish settlers from Gaza and 500 from the northern West Bank, marking the first time Israel is abandoning land the Palestinians want for a future state. Whether this can lead to new peacemaking depends on Palestinians' ability to rein in militants, Israeli willingness to negotiate a solution rather than impose an agenda, and, say analysts, the U.S. administration's willingness to plunge deep into the mediating effort. Sharon's "disengagement" plan - announced more than a year ago during the height of the Palestinian uprising - was devised as a unilateral action to break away from what most Israelis came to see as a political, military and demographic burden. Gaza is a war-shattered, fenced-in coastal enclave whose 1.4 million inhabitants are not free to come and go. One demographic expert said that by placing Gazans outside its boundaries, Israel has bought itself another 20 years of a solid Jewish majority inside the lands it controls. With Yasser Arafat's death last November, and the rise of a new Palestinian leadership widely perceived as more pragmatic, renewed negotiations after the pullout suddenly looked plausible. But Palestinians see many reasons to doubt Israel's sincerity: recent cabinet approval of a security barrier in Jerusalem that slices through Arab neighbourhoods, plans for thousands of new homes in the West Bank's largest settlement, statements by Sharon that leaving Gaza strengthens Israel's hold on West Bank settlements. Sharon, a former general nicknamed the "bulldozer," is the father of Israel's settlement movement, and few Palestinians think he has suddenly become a dove. But on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tried to allay Palestinian fears, saying the pullout "is in no way an attempt to trade off Gaza for the West Bank." He called it "a dramatic and fundamental move" that should lead to new peace talks and urged Palestinians to "rise to this opportunity" by fighting terrorism. But U.S. help is needed too, many on both sides say. To get the peace process moving again after five years of Israeli-Palestinian violence, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made three trips to Israel and the Palestinian territories this year alone, but that's still not enough, said Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. Mideast negotiator. He suggests a Palestinian-Israeli summit in Washington, saying: "It can't be the secretary every now and then. There's got to be a co-ordinated, integrated strategy blessed by the president." A Palestinian-Israeli deal would do much to calm this volatile region, in a year when Egypt has suffered two spectacular terror attacks on Sinai holiday resorts, Lebanon is in flux following the end of its occupation by Syria, war rages on in Iraq, oil prices soar and Iran alarms the world with its nuclear ambitions. But critics say the Arab-Israeli conflict has taken a back seat to the Iraq war. American inaction, wrote Palestinian cabinet minister Hind Khoury in an editorial this week, "reduces U.S. credibility and alienates potential friends, undermining efforts to defeat terrorism and to build Middle East democracy."

Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants hold their own training sessions in Gaza, with masked gunmen chanting, "Death to the Jews."

Most of Gaza's settlers appear resigned to their fate after months of loud protests. It's not clear what took away their steam: perhaps TV images of an inflamed settler throwing a rock at an unconscious Palestinian, or the absent-without-leave soldier who opened fire in a bus heading to an Israeli Arab town, killing four Arabs before being lynched by a mob. The settlers, who see the withdrawal as a betrayal of God's biblical promise to the Jews, have turned even closer to religion in recent days. Posters are everywhere declaring there's no one left to rely on but God. The settlers' protest rallies still draw tens of thousands, but in many of the 21 Gaza settlements, the end feels near. Grocery stores are empty, restaurants are closing and settlers have begun packing. Israel is deploying a force of more than 50,000, with four officers to carry away each resisting settler. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas have struck an encouraging note by agreeing to work together to distribute the abandoned Israeli assets. But the militants turned down a demand to forgo military-style victory celebrations. And as Palestinian officials drew up plans for housing and parks in evacuated territory, Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants hold their own training sessions in Gaza, with masked gunmen chanting, "Death to the Jews." Even before withdrawal, Israeli towns were close enough to Gaza to come under regular rocket fire, and many fear that unless the Palestinian government stands tough, the militants will move their launchers even closer once the Israelis are gone. The Israeli concern about Gaza becoming "Hamas-stan" is heightened by the group's strong showing in recent municipal elections - a success likely to be repeated in a parliamentary vote set for January. The group is touting the Israeli departure as a victory for its bombs and rocket attacks. But Miller, the former U.S. negotiator, said Hamas knows ordinary Gazans are looking for positive change out of the withdrawal, and he expects it to hold its fire as the Israelis leave. Palestinian leaders, he said, are "smart enough to know that if they don't make this work then there's going to be very little expected from the Israelis in the months and years to come with respect to further withdrawals from the West Bank." By Steven Gukin.

Police prepare for riots after 4 Israeli Arabs gunned down by Jewish soldier

SHFARAM, Israel- Thousands of police fanned out across northern Israel and Jerusalem on Friday to prevent possible rioting as a grieving and angry Arab community prepared to bury four Israeli Arabs gunned down by a Jewish soldier opposed to Israel's impending pullout from the Gaza Strip. The soldier, 19-year-old Eden Natan-Zada, boarded a bus in this Arab town Thursday and opened fire, killing the driver and three passengers, and wounding 13. A mob of enraged residents beat him to death after the shooting, and prevented police from removing his body from the bus for hours. For months, Israeli security has been warning that as the mid-August pullout from Gaza and four small northern West Bank settlements nears, desperate extremists might try to sabotage it by attacking Arabs and diverting forces. Natan-Zada's father said he deserted his army unit in protest after he was ordered to help prepare for the pullout and moved to Tapuah, an extremist West Bank settlement. The funerals for the four dead - including two sisters in their 20s - are to be held later Friday. Natan-Zada is also to be buried Friday, in a military funeral without honours. The Haaretz newspaper cited witnesses as saying Natan-Zada boarded the bus bound for Shfaram, a city of 35,000 Muslims, Christians and Druze, in the northern city of Haifa. He wore the skullcap, beard and sidelocks of an ultra-Orthodox Jew, and an orange ribbon symbolizing opposition to the withdrawal was attached to a pocket, the newspaper said. When the bus entered a Shfaram neighbourhood, Natan-Zada opened fire on the driver, killing him instantly, witnesses said. The bus rolled on for 20 metres, until it hit a parked car and ground to a halt, Haaretz said. Natan-Zada continued shooting inside the bus, which was carrying about 20 passengers, emptying an entire magazine. When he tried loading a new magazine, one of the passengers jumped him. Ahkim Janhwi told Israel Radio he wrestled the attacker to the ground and disarmed him - only to be attacked by a confused crowd who thought he was the gunman. When the gunfire erupted, "I immediately lay down between the seats," Janhwi said. "I thought about everybody who is important to me and who I'm important to, and I thought I was a goner. I closed my eyes and heard his footsteps getting closer to me. "There was a woman sitting nearby who began screaming and begged him not to do anything to her, and at that moment I jumped on him and grabbed his gun," Janhwi said. "He shot about three bullets, and I pulled him back. We rolled back to the back of the bus and I held him down. Then I called on people through the window to help me." People who boarded the bus beat Natan-Zada to death, media said. Television stations reported Thursday that he was attacked with iron bars and stones. For hours, until the crowd was subdued, the gunman's body lay on the floor of the bus, his head covered with a black plastic bag. His shirtless upper torso was heavily bruised and bloodied.

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

The windows of the bus were shattered by bullets and by rocks the mob threw at the gunman. Blood stained bus seats, and rocks covered the vehicle's floor. Lighted candles marked the site of the attack on Friday morning. Police were looking for the people who killed the soldier, Army Radio said. Police commissioner Moshe Karadi said forces had been diverted to deal with an anti-pullout demonstration in Israel's south, leaving the north - where most of Israel's Arab population lives - short-handed. He cautioned that the attack could trigger additional violence. In Jerusalem, ahead of Muslim Sabbath prayers on Friday, police raised their alert to the highest level and assigned SWAT teams and cavalry to the area, in anticipation of possible rioting in the Old City. Military chief Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said he was "definitely worried that people on the fringes are going too far." "There is no doubt that the unfolding reality, the comments, and the internal debates causes fringe elements to migrate even more toward the fringes," Halutz told Israel Radio. Israeli Arabs were planning a commercial strike, demonstrations and a memorial gathering in Shrafam on Friday. In Nazareth, the largest Arab city in northern Israel, shops were shuttered Friday morning. Three juveniles from Tapuah, aged 15 to 17, were arrested in connection with the deadly attack, Channel 2 TV reported. The three teenagers are suspected of hosting Natan-Zada, knowing of his intentions, and withholding evidence, the report said. Tapuah is dominated by followers of U.S.-born Rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocated expelling Arabs from Israel and the West Bank. Kahane was assassinated in New York in 1990. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon issued a statement condemning the attack as "a despicable act by a bloodthirsty terrorist." He called for calm. Yitzhak Natan-Zada, 49, the soldier's father, said Thursday that he had asked the army to find his son, who fled from his unit after refusing to participate in the Gaza pullout. Natan-Zada said he was concerned his son's weapons would fall into the hands of fanatics in Tapuah. "I wasn't afraid that he would do something. I was afraid of the others," Natan-Zada told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. He said he had no indication his son would carry out such an act. "I spoke to him two days ago and he was a happy and good-hearted boy and he told me he would find the time to return the weapon," Natan-Zada said. It was the bloodiest such incident in Israel since 1990, when an Israeli opened fire at a bus stop where Palestinians gathered for job placements, killing seven. In 1994, Baruch Goldstein, an American-born Jewish settler, entered a holy site in the West Bank city of Hebron and opened fire on Muslim worshippers, killing 29 - the bloodiest attack by a Jewish extremist against Palestinians. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called on Israel to prevent Jewish settlers from carrying weapons, "because they (the settlers) are dangerous to the security and peace between the two people." Many Jewish settlers have army-issue guns to protect them from Palestinians. Israeli Arabs make up about 20 per cent of Israel's population of 6.9 million. Though they are full citizens, they have suffered from discrimination by Jewish-dominated governments. Many of their towns and villages lack basic infrastructure, and Arab localities usually top of Israel's unemployment lists. Bu Chritine Steven.

 

BREAKING NEWS: JULY 2005

Intelligence Corps Chooses the University of Haifa

The University of Haifa won a nationwide tender to educate elite members of the Israel Defense Force's Intelligence Corps.  The program, which leads to a B.A. degree, is the first of its kind in Israel. Called the Havatzlot (Lilies) program, the special three-year course of  study joins the B.A. program for Israeli Navy officers officially launched  last week at the Mt. Carmel institution and its veteran M.A. program for  senior IDF officers. "The University of Haifa has a long history of cooperation with the security  forces," said University president Prof. Aaron Ben-Ze'ev in formally announcing the new program.  "It is reflected in special curricula, in absorbing students, and in research institutes that have been set up in this discipline." The University of Haifa, he continued, "attributes great importance to this cooperation and is proud to integrate this prestigious program." The Havatzlot program, the Intelligence Corps' flagship program, is one of the most prestigious that the IDF offers.  Its purpose is to train a very high quality group of intelligence research officers who will constitute the spearhead of this corps. The program will involve a double major, one in Middle East History, in the course of which students will receive broad basic knowledge of Middle East subjects, Arabic, political science, and international relations.  The students' second major will be a choice of economics, computer sciences, mathematics, or philosophy. They will also receive some military and  intelligence courses. The academic studies parallel the three years of compulsory service  incumbent on all post-high school inductees into the IDF.  They will undergo basic training and some other military training during the summer semester breaks. During their studies, the soldiers will live in the University dorms on  campus. After gaining a degree and their officer rank, the soldiers will  serve a further six years as research officers. The first class of the Havatzlot program, which begins this summer, has 25 soldier students, men and women.  They were selected from a pool of some 4,000 applicants.  Havatzlot will be conducted in cooperation with Intelligence Corps officers and a senior academic advisor, Prof. Joseph Nevo of the Dept. of Middle East History, will supervise the program academically.- A. M. Goldstein, Editor, Focus University of Haifa.  IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis.


Public outcry in Nablus against use of teenagers for terrorist missions

Special Information Bulletin Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S) .As a result of recent events at the Hawara checkpoint, Palestinians in Nablus have condemned using of teenagers to carry out terrorist missions. The parents and friends of one of the teenagers expressed their anger at Fatah / Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades while the organization's activists in Nablus deny responsibility for the events and were quick to blame Israel . The Palestinian Authority - even now, under the chairmanship of Abu Mazen - has so far not taken effective steps to stop teenagers from being dispatched on terrorist missions. (Update of  The Israeli army foils another attempt to disrupt the current lull in the fighting www.intelligence.org.il/eng/c_t/ct_may_a.htm ) On two occasions recently, Israeli army (IDF) soldiers at the Hawara checkpoint near Nablus caught teenage boys with hidden weapons . In the first incident, which took place on May 22, 2005, a 15-year old boy was caught with two pipe charges attached to his belt. In the second, which
occurred two days later, a 14-year old boy was caught trying to smuggle two explosive charges through the checkpoint. Both incidents were severely condemned by terrorist organization activists in Nablus and by Nablus residents. At the same time they attempted to lay the blame on Israel for sending the boys out. Conspicuously, most of the accusations came from senior operatives belonging to Fatah / Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades , the organization whose Nablus members were behind many instances of dispatching teenagers on terrorist missions. MSNBC's correspondent Martin Fletcher interviewed the parents of Muhammad [Mustafa al-Nadi], the 15-year old boy stopped by IDF soldiers at the Hawara checkpoint. His parents expressed their great anger at Fatah / Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades , calling its operatives criminals and saying that Allah would punish them ( MSNBC , May 27, 2005). The correspondent spoke with the boy and read him a letter from his mother asking him to confess and to give Israel all the information in his possession about the men who had sent him. Afterwards the boy admitted that after Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades had approached him five times he finally agreed to cooperate with them. The correspondent also visited Muhammad's school and interviewed his classmates, who expressed great anger at Fatah / Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades , because, they said, "we [now] have quiet and there [was] no reason to send Muhammad out and to ruin everything." The following is a selection of reactions posted on the Palestine Net Internet site on May 26 and 28, 2005). ' Alaa' Sanakreh, a senior Fatah / Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades member in  Nablus denied any connection and responsibility for the two boys who were  stopped at Hawara, or the young man who was stopped on May 27 at Beit Eba at the western exit from Nablus. 1 He claimed that Israeli Intelligence was involved in sending the boys because it wanted to interfere with the Palestinian struggle. He added that the men who tempted the boys were known to Fatah and that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades would follow and kill them.

Muhammad Ghazal, a senior of Hamas' activist said that children were not to be involved in such actions because it was children who would build the future. He claimed that Israel was responsible for the "urge" prompting some children to take part in that sort of action. Nasser Juma'ah, a senior member of Fatah / Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Nablus claimed that Israel was trying to tarnish the image of the "resistance." "The natural place" for children, he stated, was school. Faadi Qafisha, a senior member of Fatah / Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Nablus claimed that his organization never used children. He stated that Fatah / Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades sent only post-adolescents on military missions and only after they had been investigated. Nasser al-Khatib (Abu 'Aziz), a senior member of Fatah / Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in Nablus claimed that his organization had begun an investigation of the incidents with children because they were a very serious matter. He promised to deliver "crushing blows" to whoever was behind the actions, Israeli or Palestinian. (In an interview with an MSNBC reporter, Nasser Abu 'Aziz stated that he would never send a teenager to his death and raised the possibility that Israel had sent him.) 2. Ramadam 'Adassi , a senior member of Fatah / Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades in the Askar refugee camp near Nablus 3 denied sending children on that kind of mission and claimed that Israel was lying. He also claimed that "the actions of individuals." Ghassan al-Shaka'a, former mayor of Nablus and a member of the PLO's
executive committee called for those who sent children to the checkpoints to be brought to trial. He called upon parents to take care of their children and noted that "it wasn't a struggle for independence." The mother of the boy stopped at the Hawara checkpoint who had explosives in his possession said, "Allah will not forgive the one who deceived my son." The boy's father asked, "Why don't they send my brother, my mother or my neighbor instead of my son? Why did they do it? What sin did my poor son commit to make them deceive him?"

In a survey conducted in the streets of Nablus by Palestine Net, residents of the city agreed that to involve children in that sort of action was despicable. They said that Allah was not pleased those who make children party to such things and that the people who had sent the boys were suspect. Llip-service paid to the media, especially when it comes from senior Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades activists in Nablus , who are prominently involved in dispatching teenagers on terrorist missions. Despite their condemnation, the terrorist organizations continue using the boys , while the PA takes no effective steps to stop them. 1-The young man in question was Saer Samih Nimr Abu-Asab, a 20-year old resident of Qalqilya, who was arrested at the Beit Eba checkpoint. A bag containing an explosive belt, pipe charges and batteries (not connected) was found in his possession. 2 -Nasser al-Khatib (Abu 'Aziz) also stated that Fatah / Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades activists in the Balata refugee camp were exempt from the lull in the fighting because of Israeli killings ( Palestine Net , April 22, 2005).3 Muhammad Mustafa al-Nadi, the 15-year old boy arrested at the Hawara checkpoint lives in the Askar refugee camp.  IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis. Website: www.imra.org.il


Senior Islamic Jihad operative in the Jenin area killed in attempted arrest during a joint IDF and ISA activity

Provided by IDF Spokesperson's Office.Today, June 7th, 2005, Maruh Kamil, one of the most senior Islamic Jihad operatives in the Jenin area, was killed in a joint IDF and ISA operation after he opened fire and threw a hand grenade at the IDF force that came to arrest him. An IDF officer was lightly wounded when the operatives opened fire at the force. An M-16 assault rifle, a handgun and a hand grenade were found next to the body of Kamil. The IDF force arrived this morning at the house in Kabatiya, where Kamil and other Islamic Jihad terrorists were hiding. The terrorists opened fire at the force from several areas of the house simultaneously, wounding an IDF officer. The force returned fire at the gunmen. After several minutes, two wanted men came out of the house and turned themselves in to the force. The IDF force called upon an additional wanted Palestinian inside the house to surrender, but instead he continued to fire at the force; the force returned fire. In order to stop the firing and arrest the man, part of the house was demolished. During a search of the house, the IDF force found the body of wanted senior Islamic Jihad terrorist Haled Taufik Kamil, a member of the Islamic Jihad network in the Jenin area; he was found with an M-16 assault rifle and a hand grenade.  Maruh Hamed Tufik Kamil, 27, a resident of Kabatiya, was recruited to the Islamic Jihad terrorist network in Jenin in May 2003, and was planning to carry out a suicide terror attack in the heart of Israel. The suicide terror attack was thwarted following specific intelligence information. Kamil, who knew he was wanted by Israeli security forces for his involvement in terrorism, decided to turn himself in to Palestinian Authority security forces, and was imprisoned in the Palestinian Authority prison in Jericho.  Kamil was imprisoned in the Jericho prison facility for several months, there he developed contacts with other Islamic Jihad terrorists from various networks throughout the West Bank who were imprisoned with him. In May, 2004 Kamil escaped from the Palestinian Authority prison in Jericho and returned to his village, Kabatiya.  The contacts Kamil made during the period of his imprisonment in the Palestinian Authority prison in Jericho helped him after his escape to solidify his status as a leading figure in the terrorist organization. After a short period of time he became involved in the Islamic Jihad's activities in the northern West Bank and Jenin, after being trained personally by senior wanted Islamic Jihad members in Jenin.  During this period Kamil was involved in strengthening the Islamic Jihad network in the northern West Bank and in Jenin, recruiting members, and planning and attempting to carry out various terror attacks against Israeli targets.

Over the course of the past year Kamil was promoted within the Islamic Jihad terror organization, maintained direct contact with the Islamic Jihad headquarters abroad and was responsible for distributing funds and weaponry to Islamic Jihad terrorists in the northern West Bank and Jenin. He was personally responsible for directing Islamic Jihad terror attacks carried against Israeli targets. After the declaration of the current period of calm, Kamil continued his activities and personally carried out a shooting attack in April 2005 in the Jenin area, during which an IDF soldier was wounded. The Islamic Jihad terror organization works relentlessly to carry out terror attacks against Israeli targets, despite the Sharm El Sheikh agreements. Special to the World Jewish News Agency by IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis

THEY WILL SEEK THE DEATH PENALTY FOR SADDAM HUSSEIN

From Peggy North, World Jewish News Agency's foreign correspondent in London.

An official Iraqi spokesman in Baghdad said that the 12 charges of crimes against humanity "were brought and filed against the former president of Iraq in complete confidence". The criminal charges were fully documented and there was no point "wasting time" dealing with all 500 charges itemized by the United States government. Would this interpretation create an atmosphere of legal confusion in the mind of Iraqi judges? Time will tell. Many Iraqi judges turned down their appointment as  panel judges in the  trial of Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi official  told  today, the World Jewish News Agency, that the government of Iraq is gearing full speed toward a public trial. He added:  "This should not take more than 2 months". Asking him about the mental condition of Hussein, he replied "Saddam Hussein's morale is very low. Hussein did not like the increasing number of charges brought against him." Iraqi government officials told the Agency that their government is "hundred per cent confident that the 12 charges brought against Saddam Hussein are more than enough to seek the death penalty." Iraqi official spokesman, Leith Koubba said "We are completely confident that the 12 fully documented and researched charges against Hussein are more than sufficient to sentence him to death." Koubba explained to us that the "Iraqi government is determined to go ahead full speed with the preliminary trial."

Attorney Issam Ghazawi, one of the lawyers representing Saddam Hussein expressed to us  his disdain for Leith  Koubba's comments. In a public statement given to the Agency, the BBC and CNN, Mr. Koubba stated: "The appropriate channel is for the accusations to come through the court and for the lawyers to receive a copy of the indictment".  In another instance, Mr. Kouba told us that that the Iraqi government is using a character assassination tactic. "Everybody knows that. The psychological condition of President Saddam is not good. Even Judge Raed Juhi, the trial judge admits that. But president Saddam is strong in spirit. He has retained all his mental faculties." Some of the most serious criminal charges brought against the former Iraqi president and dictator are the mass repression of the Shias in 1990 and 1991,  the 1988 chemical attacks on Halabja, the Kurdish village, and of course the invasion of neighboring Kuwait in 1990.

American sub spied on Israel
 News Express by Dr. Aaron Lerner

Israel Television Channel Two military affairs correspondent Ronnie Daniel revealed this evening that the submarine Israel chased from its territorial waters last November was an American spy sub. The vessel was identified by the Israeli Navy 18 kilometers from shore near Haifa, and fled shortly after discovery. IDF commanders admitted it wasn't the first time a Western submarine had been intercepted spying on Israel. Daniel indicated that Israel does not know what the spy sub was focusing on.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis), International Commentator of World Jewish News Agency, Israel.

Settlers given a week to join Nitzanim relocation plan


Justice Minister Tzipi Livni on Wednesday gave settlers a week to sign up for the Nitzanim relocation plan a day after Prime Minister Sharon visited Nitzanim and urged contractors to speed up operations to prepare for the absorption of evacuees of this summer's withdrawal plan, the JERUSALEM POST reported. Roughly only 1/3 of the Gush Katif families in Gaza have signed up for the program. Minimums of another 24 families are needed to sign up, Livni said. The justice minister maintained that the one-week deadline was not an ultimatum but rather a direct call to all the evacuees to join the plan, without using middlemen or settler representatives. Regarding assistance in finding employment for the evacuees, it was decided to establish a project together with the Joint that would be responsible for creating job opportunities for Gush Katif evacuees. As to education-related problems, Education Ministry officials said thousands of places have been created to absorb the evacuated children in new schools in the next school year and this summer.
Jobs have already been found for the 394 teachers of Gush Katif, the officials added.

IDF targets Gaza terrorists

An IDF aircraft fired a missile at two Palestinians who attempted to launch a mortar shell at southern Gaza Strip settlements on Wednesday, critically wounding a Hamas terrorist in the first such attack since Palestinian and Israeli leaders declared a cease-fire in February aimed at ending four years of violence, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. The IDF launched the strike after soldiers spotted Palestinians in the town of Khan Yunis attempting to launch mortar bombs at the nearby settlements of Morag and Neve Dekalim - the latest in a series of increasing attacks by gunmen. The incident marks the first Israeli air strike in Gaza since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas declared a cease-fire in February. Abbas also secured an in formal truce with terrorists in March in an effort to maintain a lull in fighting between Israel and the Palestinians. But armed groups had threatened in recent weeks to resume violence after several IDF shooting incidents that led to some Palestinian deaths. In other news the IDF is demanding with no avail that the Palestinian Authority dispatch their security officers to curb the increased rocket and mortar attacks on both Israeli military and civilian targets during the past few weeks. The army has refrained from using aircraft to target Palestinian terrorists in recent months, but military officials warned the IDF would be forced to act should the PA not take action against mortar launchers. Israel plans to dismantle all 21 Jewish settlements from Gaza this summer as well as four of 120 in the West Bank, while strengthening existing West Bank settlement blocs. Palestinian gunmen in Gaza want to portray any Israeli withdrawal as a victory. Israel has been reluctant to promise any sure coordination on the plan, its first pullout from land Palestinians want for a state, and has resisted calls to resume peace talks until the Palestinians take tougher action against terrorists.
Israel backs Qatar for UN Security Council post

Israel has decided to back the small Gulf nation of Qatar,in its candidacy for a two-year term on the world body after Asian nations endorsed it for the post, HAARETZ reported. After weighing the appeal, Israel has "decided to support Qatar's candidacy for a seat of the non-permanent members of the Security Council", Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Amira Oron said. The 15-member council rules on war and peace, sanctions and peacekeeping operations. There are five permanent members and 10 non-permanent members who sit on the council for two years. Oron said it was the first time Israel had supported an Arab state with which it lacks full diplomatic relations for one of the non-permanent seats. Israel hopes Qatar will reciprocate by upgrading their low-level ties, an official said. Israel has a commercial attaché posted in the Gulf state. Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom has said he wants to achieve full ties with 10 Arab countries.


 U.S. group slams 'anti-Semitic' PA site

The Anti-Defamation League demanded on Wednesday that Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas remove a link on a Palestinian government Web site to an anti-Semitic forgery that details a false Jewish plan to take over the world, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. The "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", written by a German in the 19th century, remains one of the most popular anti-Semitic myths today. The forgery details a false Jewish plot of world domination. Russia's secret police used it to stir up anti-Semitism in the 19th and 20th century and Adolf Hitler used it to garner support during his propaganda war against Jews before he ordered them part of his “Final Solution.” An Arabic translation of “The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion” can be found in a section titled “The History of Zionism” on the Arabic version of the Web site of the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Information. “Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas should immediately have this document stricken from the Web site for which he is ultimately responsible and devote space to explaining the origins of this dastardly and dangerous piece,” the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement. A Palestinian official told the Reuters news agency said he was looking into the complaint. Israel has long accused the Palestinian Authority of not doing enough to stop anti-Jewish incitement in Palestinian media, which is one of the conditions that must be filled under a U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan.

Gaza Settlers Force PMO Director-General to Cancel Visit

Gaza residents forced Prime Minister's Office Director-General Ilan Cohen to cancel his visit to the Gush Katif settlement bloc this morning during which he was slated to meet with settlers’ leaders and view factories and the industrial infrastructure in the areas to be evacuated, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. As Cohen approached the entrance to Kfar Darom, residents blocked the gates leading into the settlement, forcing him to give up on his visit.  Today was the last day of a seven-day period for settlers to sign up for the Nitzanim relocation plan. Pushing to get more settlers to accept the proposal, Cohen was hoping to convince them that the government was serious about its offer to relocate them en masse. According to Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, 426 families have applied so far to move to the area. Minister of Justice Tzipi Livni said last week that if there were not enough families joining the project by today, the plan would be cancelled. So far only 99 families have submitted compensation claims to the Disengagement Authority - 69 of whom, northern Samaria residents. Some 1,500 families live in Gaza and another 200 in northern Samaria.

PA, Hamas at Odds over Date of Parliamentary Elections

The Palestinian Authority and Hamas are in conflict over the possible rescheduling of the Palestinian parliamentary elections set for July 17, HA’ARETZ reported. A five-hour meeting between Egyptian mediators and Hamas leaders in Gaza ended early today with no progress toward resolving the crisis. Hamas has threatened to resume attacks on Israelis as a result of the dispute. Deputy PA Prime Minister Nabil Sha'ath said today that the Palestinians could not organize a parliamentary election by mid-July, pointing to an election commission statement Monday that it could not be ready because of a row between Fatah lawmakers and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas over electoral law reforms.
In other news, Palestinian terrorists and Palestinian Authority police engaged in a gun battle in Jenin Tuesday. One bystander was lightly wounded. The incident started when the terrorists refused to hand over the stolen car they were driving. The PA has started to confiscate stolen vehicles, but has been reluctant to confiscate weapons, as Abbas promised during his election campaign.

Abbas to Meet Bush in Washington


Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, who arrived in Washington today, will meet with U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday, YNEY reported. It is the first visit to the White House by a Palestinian leader in more than five years. The United States and Israel shunned Yasser Arafat, who last visited the United States in 1999, after the start of Palestinian violence in September 2000. Abbas is expected to ask Bush to press Israel to implement the U.S.-backed “road map” peace plan and halt all settlement construction in the West Bank. Prior to his visit, Abbas announced that Palestinian regional elections, scheduled for July 17, would be postponed to November - a move that could enflame tensions between his Fatah faction and the terrorist group Hamas.
 

 

 

 
 
 
 

 


French Culture Minister calls upon members of the European Union to join France in banning Al-Manar broadcasts

Special Information Bulletin Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S) When will the European Union join France and cease broadcasting Al-Manar? "Now.Al-Manar reaches you.all over the world" (from the lead-in to Al-Manar's broadcasts, June 10, 2004) Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, the French Culture Minister, called upon other  European Union countries to join France in banning the broadcasts of  Al-Manar , Hezbollah's satellite TV station. Al-Manar broadcasts around the  globe from Lebanon . A meeting of European Union culture ministers was held in Brussels on May  23-24, 2005, at which de Vabres asked other EU countries to follow the lead  of France, which ceased broadcasting Al-Manar on December 13, 2004, after a  Conseil d'Etat (France's highest administrative court) ruling. 1- The reason given was Al-Manar's repeated violations of treaties banning the  broadcasting of anti-Semitic programs and failure to comply with requests to  stop distributing anti-Semitic pronouncements . De Vabres strongly suggested  enacting new European legislation relating to television. 2-In response to the discussions held by the ministers, de Vabres noted that he was pleased because it was the first time the issue had been raised in such a forum. It was his opinion that the discussion was a milestone in European measures taken to prevent inciting broadcasts. He proposed that the EU use its own methods to prevent other satellite companies from broadcasting Al-Manar to the rest of Europe . When asked if he was optimistic about getting Al-Manar banned in other EU countries, he said that no country had opposed the French proposal. However, the official version of the decision, made public after the discussions, mentioned only a general call to EU countries to join the initiative to fight anti-Semitism and racism . 3-It should be remembered that so far, with the exception of Holland, other European countries have not followed France's lead in banning Al-Manar, which is broadcast by the satellite company Eutelsat . 4 In addition, Al-Manar broadcasts via other companies, particularly in the southern European countries. 5 The discussion held by the culture ministers may lead to Al-Manar's being banned in additional countries.

Appendix: The following satellite companies have ceased broadcasting Al-Manar: 6 Eutelsat : A French owned company; stopped broadcasting Al-Manar to Europe in December 2004. Intelsat : A company registered in Barbados ; stopped broadcasting Al-Manar to North America in December 2004. New Skies Satellite : A Dutch company; stopped broadcasting Al-Manar to the European Union in March 2005. TARBS : An Australian company; stopped broadcasting Al-Manar to Southeast Asia and Australia in November 2003. Satellite companies which still enable their European subscribers to receive Al-Manar: Arabsat : A Saudi Arabian company; broadcasts mainly to southern Europe . Nilesat : An Egyptian company; broadcasts mainly to southern Europe


1-In accordance with the court ruling, France removed Al-Manar from the Arabic package broadcast by Eutelstat. The reason given was that the station broadcast programs which violated the French law against incitement, thereby endangering public order. 2 -From the Beirut Daily Star , May 25, 2005; and the CRIF (the Conseil Representatif des Institutions Juives de France) , May 25, 2005, the organization of the French Jewish community. 3-In the original, "Initiatives en matiere de lutte contre l'antisémitisme et le racisme." 4-On May 17, 2005, Holland joined France and banned Al-Manar from being broadcast. 5- Using two Arab satellite companies, Arabsat and Nilesat. 6-Data from the Coalition Against Terrorist Media ( www.stopterroristmedia.org ). IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
 

Islamic Jihad tries to attack W. Bank settlements with rockets
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent 
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/584296.html

Islamic Jihad fired about five rockets at the settlements of Ganim and Kadim from Jenin in recent weeks, as part of continuing Palestinian efforts to bring to the West Bank the rocket fire that has threatened Israeli towns and settlements in and around the Gaza Strip. The rockets exploded in the air shortly after being launched. The Israel Defense Forces voiced concerns that the fire would increase after the area is evacuated under the disengagement plan. Channel 2 reported on Friday that the rockets, which were fired on several different occasions, were aimed at Ganim and Kadim, east of Jenin. They did not land near the settlements however, apparently as a result of technical failures. It is not clear whether these were Qassam rockets like those used by the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip. In the last four years Palestinians in the West Bank have been attempting to manufacture or smuggle in Qassam rockets and mortar shells. On several occasions Israel captured rockets in various stages of  development, built with knowhow from the Gaza Strip and terror groups'  headquarters in Syria. The Shin Bet has thwarted two attempts by the Hamas  and Jihad to manufacture Qassam rockets in the Jenin area. The IDF is presently engaged in detaining members of Islamic Jihad. This group also planned the suicide attack in Tel Aviv's Stage nightclub in February, in which five people were killed, and the failed attempt to send
two suicide bombers to the Ramot neighborhood in Jerusalem.

Some 60 of the group's activists were arrested in the past month, but IDF sources say group leadership is still active. The sources say that the network's members in Jenin receive some $250,000 a month for their activities. The money arrives from Damascus, apparently via banks in Europe. The Jihad is preparing for the day after the IDF's withdrawal from northern  Samaria and the evacuation of the area's four settlements - Ganim, Kadim,  Sa-Nur and Homesh. At the same time the organization is continuing with its  attacks on Israeli targets and no longer sees itself committed to the cease-fire declared in the Cairo talks with the Palestinian Authority more than three months ago. The Jihad's long-term efforts include operating local networks in the south of the West Bank, which receive orders from the Jenin headquarters. It has also improved its capabilities in building bombs. Outgoing chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon warned last week in an interview with  Haaretz of the possibility of rocket and mortar fire from the West Bank  after the disengagement, voicing the fear that Afula and Kfar Sava could face security risks similar to those of Sderot. IDF forces captured six Palestinians in the area of Tul Karm, Bethlehem and Hebron over the weekend. Three of the detainees are suspected of activity  for Islamic Jihad.
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
1,000 Gaza Families Ready to Leave

About 1,000 Gush Katif families have signaled their readiness to leave Gaza and accept a Government-organized mass relocation package, YNET reported. The announcement comes days after a series of protests by right-wingers opposed to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan. The Gush Katif families, Gaza’s largest settlement bloc, plan to submit a letter to the High Court of Justice stating that while they oppose the withdrawal, they would like the court to press the Government to move their whole community into Israel to ensure that they remain united.  “If, God forbid, the uprooting occurs, it is our interest to have the whole bloc moved together,” they wrote in the letter. “We shall not rest nor stay silent until a solution is found for everyone. We are interested in unity.” “We understand Nitzanim is the most appropriate area to copy the bloc into,” they wrote. “We are asking you to act so that as long as the solution is in Nitzanim, the community can be established there."

To Assist During Disengagement, 8,000 Reservists to Be Called Up

 The Israel Defense Forces plans to call up close to 8,000 reservists for the implementation of the disengagement plan, from mid-August until approximately mid-September, HA’ARETZ reported. But only a small number of officers and reservists will take an active part in the actual pullout. This number is significantly lower than the estimates mentioned over the past few months. By comparison, it amounts to merely one quarter of the number of reservists called up during Operation Defensive Shield in the West Bank in April 2002. Fewer soldiers than expected will be needed because the period of disengagement has been shortened significantly, from eight weeks to four.

PA Would Destroy Gaza Homes After Pullout, if Israel Did Not
The Palestinian Authority plans to demolish settler houses in Gaza and replace them with high-rise apartment blocks to ease crowding if Israel leaves the homes intact after it withdraws in the summer, HA’ARETZ reported. "If Israel does not destroy settlers' homes, we will destroy them," Palestinian Housing and Public Works Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh told Reuters. He said most Palestinian cabinet members favored the demolition. Shtayyeh said the main reason was to make efficient use of scarce land in Gaza, one of the most densely populated territories on earth. Israel is still debating whether to destroy the houses when it evacuates 8,500 settlers from the Gaza Strip in three months' time. The Israel Defense Forces is against demolishing the homes, warning that it could take months and would put soldiers in danger. Washington has also urged Israel not to destroy the homes.

British Association Cancels Decision to Boycott Israeli Universities
British Lecturers overturned their decision to boycott Haifa and Bar-Ilan universities in a vote today, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Britain's 40,000-member Association of University Teachers voted last month to boycott the academic institutions for what it alleged were actions that undermined Palestinian rights and academic freedom. Upon exiting the meeting, Scott Styles, an AUT member from the Aberdeen local branch, remarked: "It was a passionate but measured debate." He said that in the first AUT meeting, when it was chosen to pass the boycott motion, there had been no proper debate, which had upset many members. Luciana Berger, a spokesperson for the Union of Jewish Students, was elated at the outcome. "This is fantastic news," she said, pleased with the "good results today." Berger categorized the results as just. "The feeling here is not one of being triumphant, but that the right decision was made. I'm disappointed we even had to be here in the first place," she said.

 Hezbollah: 12,000 Rockets Ready to Strike Israel
Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah said his Lebanese Shiite group had over 12,000 rockets and Katuyshas capable of hitting northern Israel, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. Speaking in southern Lebanon on the fifth anniversary of Israel's withdrawal, Nasrallah said that Hezbolllah would fight anyone who tried to take away its weapons. He added that the organization did not want to drag the region into a war, but that any thought of disarming its members would be met with resistance. A United Nations Security Council resolution adopted in September demands that Syrian forces withdraw from Lebanon and that all militias in the country be disarmed.
 

High Alert at All Israeli Missions Worldwide Following Tashkent Embassy Incident

Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom instructed all Israeli diplomatic missions worldwide to go on a high terror alert after a man wearing mock explosives attached to his body tried to approach the Israeli embassy in the Uzbek capital Tashkent today, YNET reported. The man was killed by embassy security officers after he refused to obey requests to halt, and continued approaching the mission’s building after being fired in the legs. The man’s identity is still unconfirmed; it is unclear why he was heading to the embassy, or why he was wearing a fake explosive. Last July three people were killed in explosions - one near the Israeli embassy - in Tashkent. One of the victims was a bodyguard for an Israeli diplomat, Tzvi Cohen. At the time, two Islamic organizations took responsibility for the triple attacks.

 FM Shalom: Iran May Have Nuclear Know-How in Less than Nine Months

Iran may develop the know-how to make nuclear weapons in six to nine months, Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom said today, HA’ARETZ reported. He called on the United Nations to impose sanctions on Iran. "Iran poses an existential threat, and that's why I think that the entire world understands that it's impossible to give such an extremist regime the possibility of having a nuclear bomb that can essentially threaten the integrity of the world," Shalom said today.  The day before, Shalom warned that Tehran was close to knowing how to make nuclear weapons. "Iran's announcement of their decision to renew uranium enrichment is, of course, a very dangerous announcement that must be viewed with appropriate concern," he told foreign diplomats at a reception at the President's Residence on Thursday. "Unfortunately, we see that indeed Iran will do everything to reach nuclear capability. The question is not whether Iran will have a nuclear bomb in 2009 or 2011. The question is when will they have sufficient knowledge [to build one], and we think that this possibility even exists in another six to nine months."
 

French Cabinet Minister of Culture Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres asked his European colleagues to ban the Lebanese anti-Semitic satellite television channel Al Manar from the European Union.

In France, CRIF successfully petitioned the authorities who after a protracted legal battle outlawed the broadcast of Al Manar over Europe from a satellite belonging to a French-law company. Al Manar is operated by the Lebanese Hezbollah, an organization supporting terrorist actions against Jews and Israel. At a meeting in Brussels (Belgium) of the Culture Ministers of the European Union, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres said, "(he was) glad the European Council discussed the issue for the very first time. We passed a milestone today, there is now a political mobilization of the 25 (member states of the EU) so that TV channels broadcasting racist talk (…) would not be allowed on the territory of Europe." The French Cabinet Minister added, "The Union should adopt measures to prevent such TV stations from circumventing the decisions of one European state and try to get a go ahead from another state of the Union in order to go on broadcasting their programs". Mr. Donnedieu de Vabres said the next step should be a new paragraph in the existing European regulation regarding television. He said he was convinced that the EU would "soon" outlaw Al Manar.

Other News in Brief

* The Israel Defense Forces central command recommended to Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz the transfer of the West Bank town of Jenin to the Palestinian Authority before the implementation of the disengagement plan in northern Samaria, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. Senior IDF officers told the defense minister that Palestinian terror organizations were likely to take control of the area if Jenin was not transferred beforehand. Mofaz said that at this stage, there were no plans for the handover of Jenin to the PA since the latter was not fulfilling its obligations in the towns already in its control.

* "Orange Cell" university students agreed today to a request made by President Moshe Katsav to end their hunger strike launched in protest over the disengagement plan, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. For 12 days, about 50 students from across Israel did not eat, and only consumed water and juice. The students said that the democratic system in Israel failed in its handling of the painful issue.

* Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev qualified the newly published annual Amnesty International report on human rights violations, which accuses Israel Defense Forces soldiers of war crimes, as biased, HA’ARETZ reported. "This accusation of Israeli soldiers in the West Bank being involved in war crimes, that is something we reject," Regev said. "It would appear to be a very one-sided comment." Meanwhile, Yahad (Meretz) lawmaker Zahava Gal-On called today for an urgent Knesset debate following the publication of the document.

* Haifa District Court Judge Micha Lindenstrauss was elected by the Knesset as the next state comptroller this morning, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Lindenstrauss was the only candidate for the 7-year post after all of his potential rivals conditioned their application for the job on running for it without facing competition.