Source: AP
H/T: Weasel Zippers
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Friday, January 2, 2009
Victor Davis Hanson: The Gaza Rules
January 01, 2009
The Israelis just struck back hard at Hamas in Gaza. In response, the United Nations, the European Union and the Arab world (at least publicly) expressed their anger at the killing of over 300 Palestinians, most of whom were terrorists and Hamas officials.
For several prior weeks, Hamas terrorists had been daily launching rockets into Israeli towns that border Gaza. The recent volleys of missiles had insidiously become more frequent -- up to 80 a day -- and the payloads larger. Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists were reportedly supplying their own training and expertise.
These terrorists point to the Lebanon war of 2006 as the proper template for provoking an Israeli counter-response that will bog down the Israeli Defense Forces in the streets of urban Gaza and ensure that Palestinian civilians are harmed on global television.
First is the now-familiar Middle East doctrine of proportionality. Legitimate military action is strangely defined by the relative strength of the combatants. World opinion more vehemently condemns Israel's countermeasures, apparently because its rockets are far more accurate and deadly than previous Hamas barrages that are poorly targeted and thus not so lethal.
If America had accepted such rules in, say, World War II, then by late 1944 we, not the Axis, would have been the culpable party, since by then once-aggressive German, Italian and Japanese forces were increasingly on the defensive and far less lethal than the Allies.
Killing Palestinian civilians is incidental to Israeli military operations and proves counterproductive to its objectives. Blowing up Israeli non-combatants is the aim of Hamas' barrages: the more children, aged and women who die, the more it expects political concessions from Tel Aviv.
By this logic, the 1999 American bombing of Belgrade -- aimed at stopping the genocide of Slobodan Milosevic -- was, because of collateral damage, the moral equivalent of the carefully planned Serbian massacres of Muslim civilians at Srebrenica in 1995.
Third, culpability is irrelevant. The "truce" between Israel and Hamas was broken once Hamas got its hands on new stockpiles of longer-range mobile rockets -- weapons that are intended to go over Israel's border walls.
Yet, according to the Gaza rules, both sides always deserve equal blame. Indeed, this weird war mimics the politically correct, zero-tolerance policies of our public schools, where both the bully and his victim are suspended once physical violence occurs.
According to such morally equivalent reasoning, World War II was only a tragedy, not a result of German aggression. Once the dead mounted up, it mattered little what were the catalysts of the outbreak of fighting.
Fourth, with instantaneous streaming video from the impact sites in Gaza, context becomes meaningless. Our attention is glued to the violence of the last hour, not that of the last month that incited the war.
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 to great expectations that the Palestinians there would combine their new autonomy, some existing infrastructure left behind by the Israelis, Middle East oil money and American pressure for free and open elections to craft a peaceful, prosperous democracy.
The world hoped that Gaza might thrive first, and then later adjudicate its ongoing disputes with Israel through diplomacy. Instead, the withdrawal was seen not as a welcome Israeli concession, but as a sign of newfound Jewish weakness -- and that the intifada tactics that had liberated Gaza could be amplified into a new war to end the Zionist entity itself.
Fifth and finally, victimization is crucial. Hamas daily sends barrages into Israel, as its hooded thugs thump their chests and brag of their radical Islamic militancy. But when the payback comes, suddenly warriors are transmogrified into weeping victims, posing teary-eyed for the news camera as they deplore "genocide" and "the Palestinian Holocaust." At least the Japanese militarists did not cry out to the League of Nations for help once mean Marines landed on Iwo Jima.
By now, these Gaza asymmetrical rules are old hat. We know why they persist -- worldwide fear of Islamic terrorism, easy anti-Westernism, the old anti-Semitism, and global strategic calculations about Middle East oil -- but it still doesn't make them right.
Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and author, most recently, of "A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War."
The Israelis just struck back hard at Hamas in Gaza. In response, the United Nations, the European Union and the Arab world (at least publicly) expressed their anger at the killing of over 300 Palestinians, most of whom were terrorists and Hamas officials.
For several prior weeks, Hamas terrorists had been daily launching rockets into Israeli towns that border Gaza. The recent volleys of missiles had insidiously become more frequent -- up to 80 a day -- and the payloads larger. Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists were reportedly supplying their own training and expertise.
These terrorists point to the Lebanon war of 2006 as the proper template for provoking an Israeli counter-response that will bog down the Israeli Defense Forces in the streets of urban Gaza and ensure that Palestinian civilians are harmed on global television.
First is the now-familiar Middle East doctrine of proportionality. Legitimate military action is strangely defined by the relative strength of the combatants. World opinion more vehemently condemns Israel's countermeasures, apparently because its rockets are far more accurate and deadly than previous Hamas barrages that are poorly targeted and thus not so lethal.
If America had accepted such rules in, say, World War II, then by late 1944 we, not the Axis, would have been the culpable party, since by then once-aggressive German, Italian and Japanese forces were increasingly on the defensive and far less lethal than the Allies.
Killing Palestinian civilians is incidental to Israeli military operations and proves counterproductive to its objectives. Blowing up Israeli non-combatants is the aim of Hamas' barrages: the more children, aged and women who die, the more it expects political concessions from Tel Aviv.
By this logic, the 1999 American bombing of Belgrade -- aimed at stopping the genocide of Slobodan Milosevic -- was, because of collateral damage, the moral equivalent of the carefully planned Serbian massacres of Muslim civilians at Srebrenica in 1995.
Third, culpability is irrelevant. The "truce" between Israel and Hamas was broken once Hamas got its hands on new stockpiles of longer-range mobile rockets -- weapons that are intended to go over Israel's border walls.
Yet, according to the Gaza rules, both sides always deserve equal blame. Indeed, this weird war mimics the politically correct, zero-tolerance policies of our public schools, where both the bully and his victim are suspended once physical violence occurs.
According to such morally equivalent reasoning, World War II was only a tragedy, not a result of German aggression. Once the dead mounted up, it mattered little what were the catalysts of the outbreak of fighting.
Fourth, with instantaneous streaming video from the impact sites in Gaza, context becomes meaningless. Our attention is glued to the violence of the last hour, not that of the last month that incited the war.
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 to great expectations that the Palestinians there would combine their new autonomy, some existing infrastructure left behind by the Israelis, Middle East oil money and American pressure for free and open elections to craft a peaceful, prosperous democracy.
The world hoped that Gaza might thrive first, and then later adjudicate its ongoing disputes with Israel through diplomacy. Instead, the withdrawal was seen not as a welcome Israeli concession, but as a sign of newfound Jewish weakness -- and that the intifada tactics that had liberated Gaza could be amplified into a new war to end the Zionist entity itself.
Fifth and finally, victimization is crucial. Hamas daily sends barrages into Israel, as its hooded thugs thump their chests and brag of their radical Islamic militancy. But when the payback comes, suddenly warriors are transmogrified into weeping victims, posing teary-eyed for the news camera as they deplore "genocide" and "the Palestinian Holocaust." At least the Japanese militarists did not cry out to the League of Nations for help once mean Marines landed on Iwo Jima.
By now, these Gaza asymmetrical rules are old hat. We know why they persist -- worldwide fear of Islamic terrorism, easy anti-Westernism, the old anti-Semitism, and global strategic calculations about Middle East oil -- but it still doesn't make them right.
Victor Davis Hanson is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and author, most recently, of "A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War."
Source: RealClearPolitics
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Hezbollah studying whether to join Hamas fight. Seeking ways to complicate Israelis' military campaign.
January 01, 2009 | By Aaron Klein
The Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist organization is studying whether to join Israel's conflict with Hamas by launching an attack from the Jewish state's northern border, according to an Egyptian intelligence official speaking to WND.
The official said for the moment Hezbollah is confident Hamas can face Israel independently, believing Hamas' continued rocket fire from the Gaza Strip amid Israel's intensive air raids against the terror group's Gaza infrastructure is working to maintain Hamas' deterrent posture. Hamas' rockets have been fired deeper and deeper into Israeli territory.
But Hezbollah is watching events closely and is concerned about a possible large-scale Israeli ground invasion, the Egyptian intelligence official said. He said Egyptian embassies in Beirut and Damascus have collected information indicating Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, is studying whether to join the conflict.
He said the probability is low Hezbollah would directly engage Israel, but is considering allowing Palestinian groups in South Lebanon to launch Katyusha rockets into Israel, in hopes of complicating the Israel Defense Forces focus on Gaza.
According to Lebanese newspaper reports, the Israel Air Force has been buzzing South Lebanon with war planes, signaling for Hezbollah to stay out of the conflict. Hezbollah leaders for their part have restrained their direct involvement in the conflict to making heated pronouncements and organizing mass rallies decrying the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza.
Just before Israel launched its initial air raids in Gaza last Saturday, there were reports Palestinian groups in Lebanon were stopped from launching rockets into Israel.
Hamas has taken a major beating from Israel's repeated air strikes, but the group's so-called Executive Force, a Hezbollah-like guerilla force, is said to still be intact and is preparing for a possible Israeli ground offensive. In a major blow to Hamas, an IDF strike on a home in the Gaza Strip today killed senior Hamas leader, Nizar Rayyan, who is ranked among Hamas' top five decision-makers as the liaison between the group's military and political wing. Israeli defense officials say the they expect Hamas to attempt retaliation.
The Lebanese Hezbollah terrorist organization is studying whether to join Israel's conflict with Hamas by launching an attack from the Jewish state's northern border, according to an Egyptian intelligence official speaking to WND.
The official said for the moment Hezbollah is confident Hamas can face Israel independently, believing Hamas' continued rocket fire from the Gaza Strip amid Israel's intensive air raids against the terror group's Gaza infrastructure is working to maintain Hamas' deterrent posture. Hamas' rockets have been fired deeper and deeper into Israeli territory.
But Hezbollah is watching events closely and is concerned about a possible large-scale Israeli ground invasion, the Egyptian intelligence official said. He said Egyptian embassies in Beirut and Damascus have collected information indicating Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, is studying whether to join the conflict.
He said the probability is low Hezbollah would directly engage Israel, but is considering allowing Palestinian groups in South Lebanon to launch Katyusha rockets into Israel, in hopes of complicating the Israel Defense Forces focus on Gaza.
According to Lebanese newspaper reports, the Israel Air Force has been buzzing South Lebanon with war planes, signaling for Hezbollah to stay out of the conflict. Hezbollah leaders for their part have restrained their direct involvement in the conflict to making heated pronouncements and organizing mass rallies decrying the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza.
Just before Israel launched its initial air raids in Gaza last Saturday, there were reports Palestinian groups in Lebanon were stopped from launching rockets into Israel.
Hamas has taken a major beating from Israel's repeated air strikes, but the group's so-called Executive Force, a Hezbollah-like guerilla force, is said to still be intact and is preparing for a possible Israeli ground offensive. In a major blow to Hamas, an IDF strike on a home in the Gaza Strip today killed senior Hamas leader, Nizar Rayyan, who is ranked among Hamas' top five decision-makers as the liaison between the group's military and political wing. Israeli defense officials say the they expect Hamas to attempt retaliation.
Source: WorldNetDaily
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Thursday, January 1, 2009
Good for the Goose, Good for the Gander!
I read a newspaper article from Australia today that got me thinking about women's rights and what is socially acceptable in society.
First of all. I believe that forcing a woman to wear a Hajib --->
is a gross insult to women. It is demeaning, misogynistic, and a huge road block to the emancipation of the ladies.
Equality for women is the first, and some would say the most important step in bringing Islam out of the twelfth century and into the twenty first!
By the same token we do have to respect religious and cultural characteristics amongst various groups, and this means a certain amount of sensitivity and discretion from the more liberal and progressive cultures.
While on the one hand we want to free Muslim and Asian women from the cultural shackles they are bound with, we should also be aware of offending the sensibilities of various groups with an attitude that is too free and open.
In Australia, Conservative MP Fred Nile says he wants topless bathing banned in NSW to protect Sydney’s Muslim and Asian communities.
The Reverend Nile has rejected allegations that prudishness is behind a bill he has prepared to ban nudity, including topless sunbathing, on the state’s most popular beaches.
Australia’s reputation as a conservative but culturally inclusive society was at risk of erosion by more liberal overseas visitors, he said:
But Mr Nile said he believed most politicians would come around once all the issues were considered.
Your humble scribe;
Allan W Janssen
Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know!) and is available as an E-Book H E R E ! and as a paperback H E R E !
Visit the blog "Perspective" at http://allans-perspective.blogspot.com
First of all. I believe that forcing a woman to wear a Hajib ---> is a gross insult to women. It is demeaning, misogynistic, and a huge road block to the emancipation of the ladies.
Equality for women is the first, and some would say the most important step in bringing Islam out of the twelfth century and into the twenty first!
By the same token we do have to respect religious and cultural characteristics amongst various groups, and this means a certain amount of sensitivity and discretion from the more liberal and progressive cultures.
While on the one hand we want to free Muslim and Asian women from the cultural shackles they are bound with, we should also be aware of offending the sensibilities of various groups with an attitude that is too free and open.
In Australia, Conservative MP Fred Nile says he wants topless bathing banned in NSW to protect Sydney’s Muslim and Asian communities.
The Reverend Nile has rejected allegations that prudishness is behind a bill he has prepared to ban nudity, including topless sunbathing, on the state’s most popular beaches.
Australia’s reputation as a conservative but culturally inclusive society was at risk of erosion by more liberal overseas visitors, he said:
“Our beaches should be a place where no one is offended, whether it’s their religious or cultural views,” he said.The practice was at risk of raising the ire of Muslim men in particular, Mr Nile said.
“If they’ve come from a Middle Eastern or Asian country where women never go topless - in fact they usually wear a lot of clothing - I think it’s important to respect all the different cultures that make up Australia.”
“I don’t want to have any provocations or disturbances on our public beaches,” he said.Acting Premier Carmel Tebbutt and the NSW Opposition Leader, Barry O’Farrell, have both said that topless bathing is an issue for local councils, not state governments.
But Mr Nile said he believed most politicians would come around once all the issues were considered.
“I think if you survey Australian women you’ll find a lot of women would be uncomfortable if it became the custom [to be] topless at the beach,” he said.That's what it all boils down to kids, a little bit of sensibility and sensitivity.
“Australia’s always been a conservative country as far as beachwear goes.
“Once being topless is accepted as lawful the next question will be why can’t women go totally nude on a public beach and I don’t think Australians want to go down that pathway.”
Your humble scribe;
Allan W Janssen
Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know!) and is available as an E-Book H E R E ! and as a paperback H E R E !
Visit the blog "Perspective" at http://allans-perspective.blogspot.com
Islamist Masquerading as Human Rights Leader
By Joe Kaufman
Ahmed Bedier, the former Executive Director of the Tampa office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Tampa), is now the President of the Tampa/Hillsborough County Human Rights Council (THHRC), a group that the local Tampa government has involvement with. Given Bedier’s lengthy extremist past, isn’t this a conflict of interest for the city?
Bedier first arrived on the scene with CAIR, a group with deep ties to Hamas, in February of 2003. February 2003 was also the month that federal authorities took Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operative and co-founder of CAIR’s parent organization, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), Sami Al-Arian, into custody. It seems that this was no mere coincidence, for all throughout Al-Arian’s ordeal, Bedier was his unofficial spokesperson in the media. Anytime anything regarding Al-Arian came up, it was Bedier who was there to discuss the matter. Al-Arian was part of Tampa, and CAIR had its guy in Tampa to defend him.
Bedier was with CAIR for over five years, ending his association last May. During that time, CAIR was named in two federal trials brought by the U.S. Justice Department, one as a co-conspirator and the other as a supporter of terrorists. As well, in that time, three of CAIR’s former representatives were convicted of terror-related crimes. One, Randall Todd “Ismail” Royer, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for plotting to go overseas to join Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani group responsible for the recent attacks on Mumbai, India. Read more ...
Ahmed Bedier, the former Executive Director of the Tampa office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Tampa), is now the President of the Tampa/Hillsborough County Human Rights Council (THHRC), a group that the local Tampa government has involvement with. Given Bedier’s lengthy extremist past, isn’t this a conflict of interest for the city?
Bedier first arrived on the scene with CAIR, a group with deep ties to Hamas, in February of 2003. February 2003 was also the month that federal authorities took Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operative and co-founder of CAIR’s parent organization, the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP), Sami Al-Arian, into custody. It seems that this was no mere coincidence, for all throughout Al-Arian’s ordeal, Bedier was his unofficial spokesperson in the media. Anytime anything regarding Al-Arian came up, it was Bedier who was there to discuss the matter. Al-Arian was part of Tampa, and CAIR had its guy in Tampa to defend him.
Bedier was with CAIR for over five years, ending his association last May. During that time, CAIR was named in two federal trials brought by the U.S. Justice Department, one as a co-conspirator and the other as a supporter of terrorists. As well, in that time, three of CAIR’s former representatives were convicted of terror-related crimes. One, Randall Todd “Ismail” Royer, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for plotting to go overseas to join Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani group responsible for the recent attacks on Mumbai, India. Read more ...
Source: FrontPage Magazine
Latest recipient of the Distinguished Islamofascist Award
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Islamic Group Flouts Tax-Exempt Status to Support Obama. The Islamic Circle of North America's website is pushing for Obama's reelection in 2012.
By Joe Kaufman
Towards the end of 2007, a website was created by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) that was used to help propagate the group’s extremist activity within the United States.
Recently, it was being used entirely as a political site advocating for the 2012 reelection of President-elect Barack Obama, a blatant violation of ICNA’s status as a tax-exempt organization.
ICNA, an American Islamic establishment tied to the extremist Muslim Brotherhood overseas, has various chapters around the country, one of which is located in Atlanta, Georgia (ICNA-Atlanta). Also known as the ICNA-Southeast division or ICNA-SE, the organization utilizes a number of websites to spread its radical message.
In March 2000, icnase.org was launched. On its homepage was an appeal from then-ICNA national president Mohammad Yunus to ICNA’s followers to give “spiritual and material support for our brothers and sisters being oppressed by Russian forces.” Under the appeal was a link to qoqaz.net (Jihad in Chechnya), a website that was raising funds and recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda. Soon the ICNA-SE homepage would include links to the official websites of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Taliban. Read more ...
Towards the end of 2007, a website was created by the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) that was used to help propagate the group’s extremist activity within the United States.
Recently, it was being used entirely as a political site advocating for the 2012 reelection of President-elect Barack Obama, a blatant violation of ICNA’s status as a tax-exempt organization.
ICNA, an American Islamic establishment tied to the extremist Muslim Brotherhood overseas, has various chapters around the country, one of which is located in Atlanta, Georgia (ICNA-Atlanta). Also known as the ICNA-Southeast division or ICNA-SE, the organization utilizes a number of websites to spread its radical message.
In March 2000, icnase.org was launched. On its homepage was an appeal from then-ICNA national president Mohammad Yunus to ICNA’s followers to give “spiritual and material support for our brothers and sisters being oppressed by Russian forces.” Under the appeal was a link to qoqaz.net (Jihad in Chechnya), a website that was raising funds and recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda. Soon the ICNA-SE homepage would include links to the official websites of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Taliban. Read more ...
Source: Pajamas Media
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Man of the Year: Geert Wilders. The Dutch politician has been a courageous foe of Islamic extremism.
It’s a safe bet that Geert Wilders won’t be Time magazine’s Man of the Year any time soon. If anything, the unusually coiffed Dutch MP is a favorite hate figure of the Western media, which has spent years vilifying him as a “reactionary,” a “particularly dangerous type of demagogue,” a “racist” and an “Islamophobe.” Wilders would almost certainly plead guilty to the last charge, and with ample reason. His tireless campaign to sound the alarm about the growing threat of Islamic radicalism in the West has turned him into a target of Islamic jihadists and the object of untold assassination plots. A 2006 death threat, one of hundreds he’s received, declared that his “infidel blood will flow freely on cursed Dutch streets.” Al-Qaeda has specifically singled him out for slaughter.
Against this menacing background, it would have been no failing in his character if Wilders had decided that the price of speaking out about Islamic fundamentalism was too high; others in his prominent position would have reached just that conclusion. Instead, Wilders has persevered. Braving daily death threats and sacrificing the security that his critics take for granted, he has opted for the often-thankless task of saving Western civilization from its Islamist discontents – beginning with the valuable reminder that the demands of Islamic zealots are not only not congruent with Western values but are, in fact, in direct conflict with them. For his impressive personal courage, his steadfast political commitment, and his refreshing disdain for the suffocating pieties of political correctness, Geert Wilders is Front Page Magazine’s Man of the Year in 2008. Read more ...
Against this menacing background, it would have been no failing in his character if Wilders had decided that the price of speaking out about Islamic fundamentalism was too high; others in his prominent position would have reached just that conclusion. Instead, Wilders has persevered. Braving daily death threats and sacrificing the security that his critics take for granted, he has opted for the often-thankless task of saving Western civilization from its Islamist discontents – beginning with the valuable reminder that the demands of Islamic zealots are not only not congruent with Western values but are, in fact, in direct conflict with them. For his impressive personal courage, his steadfast political commitment, and his refreshing disdain for the suffocating pieties of political correctness, Geert Wilders is Front Page Magazine’s Man of the Year in 2008. Read more ...
Source: FrontPage Magazine
Latest recipient of The MASH Award
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Is Israel Using 'Disproportionate Force'?
By Dore Gold
Israeli population centers in southern Israel have been the target of over 4,000 rockets, as well as thousands of mortar shells, fired by Hamas and other organizations since 2001. Rocket attacks increased by 500 percent after Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip in August 2005. During an informal six-month lull, some 215 rockets were launched at Israel.
The charge that Israel uses disproportionate force keeps resurfacing whenever it has to defend its citizens from non-state terrorist organizations and the rocket attacks they perpetrate. From a purely legal perspective, Israel's current military actions in Gaza are on solid ground. According to international law, Israel is not required to calibrate its use of force precisely according to the size and range of the weaponry used against it. Read more ...
Israeli population centers in southern Israel have been the target of over 4,000 rockets, as well as thousands of mortar shells, fired by Hamas and other organizations since 2001. Rocket attacks increased by 500 percent after Israel withdrew completely from the Gaza Strip in August 2005. During an informal six-month lull, some 215 rockets were launched at Israel.
The charge that Israel uses disproportionate force keeps resurfacing whenever it has to defend its citizens from non-state terrorist organizations and the rocket attacks they perpetrate. From a purely legal perspective, Israel's current military actions in Gaza are on solid ground. According to international law, Israel is not required to calibrate its use of force precisely according to the size and range of the weaponry used against it. Read more ...
Source: Jewish World Review
H/T: Gramfan
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Britain ready to take Guantanamo Bay detainees
January 01, 2009
BRITAIN is preparing to receive foreign terror suspects from Guantanamo Bay so that Barack Obama can shut it down.
Government sources say that Britain now supports moves to rehouse the detainees, despite previous refusals to help George W. Bush.
A Downing Street official said that a process to deal with the detainees was being put in place and that decisions "would be for the Home Secretary to decide on a case-by-case basis".
The preparations come just days after Kevin Rudd left open the possibility of Australia taking former inmates in response to a report in The Australian detailing the US State Department's efforts to have countries help it clear out the prison.
The issue is the subject of intense negotiations within Whitehall. The Foreign Office appears much keener on the idea than other departments, which will have to deal with the suspects' immigration status and whether they will need special housing and cash benefits. Having foreign terror suspects with no links to the UK housed here inevitably will provoke controversy.
"Of course the Foreign Office wants to do it, they want to get off to a good start with Obama," said a Whitehall source. "This is the sort of thing that will require a Cabinet-level decision."
Britain accepts that the prison should be closed, according to a diplomatic source, and that the US is going to need help to close it. The Government is supporting a call from Portugal for EU members to resettle detainees.
The letter from the Foreign Minister Luis Amado to his EU counterparts follows weeks of internal EU discussions. Germany has said that it is considering taking in detainees. Mr Amado plans to raise the issue at a meeting of EU foreign ministers this month. It is also on the agenda at an EU General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting.
Late last year the Bush Administration sent a number of European allies, including Britain, a list of detainees, cleared for release by the US military, who face persecution in their home countries. The US State Department cabled about 100 countries for help in closing the jail.
The entreaties were met largely with refusals, but there is a desire to help Mr Obama, who has vowed to begin moves to close the prison as soon as he takes office this month.
The President-elect has not made any formal request for help, but there have been talks between the US State Department and his transition team and he has made clear that he will exert pressure on Europe to take prisoners no longer deemed a threat.
The US military says that of the 248 prisoners still in Guantanamo Bay, "approximately 60" have been cleared for release. One move being discussed in Washington is for the US to take in 17 Chinese Uighurs, who cannot return to China, as an opening gesture.
Mr Obama's plan is for the most dangerous detainees - between 30 and 80 men - to be taken to the US for formal trials. This presents problems, however, as evidence against inmates such as Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of the September 11 attacks, was obtained through duress.
BRITAIN is preparing to receive foreign terror suspects from Guantanamo Bay so that Barack Obama can shut it down.
Government sources say that Britain now supports moves to rehouse the detainees, despite previous refusals to help George W. Bush.
A Downing Street official said that a process to deal with the detainees was being put in place and that decisions "would be for the Home Secretary to decide on a case-by-case basis".
The preparations come just days after Kevin Rudd left open the possibility of Australia taking former inmates in response to a report in The Australian detailing the US State Department's efforts to have countries help it clear out the prison.
The issue is the subject of intense negotiations within Whitehall. The Foreign Office appears much keener on the idea than other departments, which will have to deal with the suspects' immigration status and whether they will need special housing and cash benefits. Having foreign terror suspects with no links to the UK housed here inevitably will provoke controversy.
"Of course the Foreign Office wants to do it, they want to get off to a good start with Obama," said a Whitehall source. "This is the sort of thing that will require a Cabinet-level decision."
Britain accepts that the prison should be closed, according to a diplomatic source, and that the US is going to need help to close it. The Government is supporting a call from Portugal for EU members to resettle detainees.
The letter from the Foreign Minister Luis Amado to his EU counterparts follows weeks of internal EU discussions. Germany has said that it is considering taking in detainees. Mr Amado plans to raise the issue at a meeting of EU foreign ministers this month. It is also on the agenda at an EU General Affairs and External Relations Council meeting.
Late last year the Bush Administration sent a number of European allies, including Britain, a list of detainees, cleared for release by the US military, who face persecution in their home countries. The US State Department cabled about 100 countries for help in closing the jail.
The entreaties were met largely with refusals, but there is a desire to help Mr Obama, who has vowed to begin moves to close the prison as soon as he takes office this month.
The President-elect has not made any formal request for help, but there have been talks between the US State Department and his transition team and he has made clear that he will exert pressure on Europe to take prisoners no longer deemed a threat.
The US military says that of the 248 prisoners still in Guantanamo Bay, "approximately 60" have been cleared for release. One move being discussed in Washington is for the US to take in 17 Chinese Uighurs, who cannot return to China, as an opening gesture.
Mr Obama's plan is for the most dangerous detainees - between 30 and 80 men - to be taken to the US for formal trials. This presents problems, however, as evidence against inmates such as Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, the self-confessed mastermind of the September 11 attacks, was obtained through duress.
Source: The Australian From Times Online
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IDF: Hamas to Blame for Poor Medical Care
By Maayana Miskin
As operation “Cast Lead” continues, Hamas leaders have complained of substandard medical care in Gaza hospitals, blaming Israel for an alleged shortage of supplies and saying patients have been turned away because hospitals are too full.
On Wednesday, IDF officials involved in dealing with humanitarian cases in Gaza rejected the accusations and said Hamas is responsible for any substandard care given to patients in Gaza. The terror group has withheld supplies from hospitals and refused to transfer the wounded to Israel, they said.
An unprecedented amount of medical aid has been sent to Gaza in recent days, IDF officials said Wednesday, rejecting Hamas' claims of shortages in hospitals. Several trucks filled with medicine, equipment, donated blood and other supplies have entered Gaza via Israeli crossings since Saturday. In addition, several ambulances donated by Turkey, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority and others were brought to Gaza this week.
"The Gaza hospitals have not collapsed, the international organizations there have not reported a collapse and even say the medical equipment that was brought in has improved the hospitals' efficiency,” a spokesman said. Gaza has plenty of food as well, he said, despite Hamas' claims to the contrary.
IDF officials suggested that Hamas was deliberately manufacturing shortages for its own political purposes. Earlier this year the group was accused of deliberately withholding fuel from Gaza civilians in order to provoke anger against Israel.
Israel Treats Gaza Children.
While fighting continues, Israel has been treating some of Gaza's casualties in Israeli hospitals. On Wednesday, two young children were transferred from Gaza. One was taken to Schneider medical center in Petach Tikva and the other was taken to Tel HaShomer.
The first child, a seven-year-old boy, is in critical condition after suffering a head injury. The second, an eight-year-old boy, suffered serious wounds to his chest and head, apparently from an explosion caused by a misfiring rocket.
Hamas Uninterested in Treatment for Civilians
At least six other Gaza Arabs recently suffered critical head wounds, according to local doctors. However, according to IDF officials involved in bringing the wounded to Israeli hospitals, Hamas has made it difficult to transfer the patients.
Hamas officials in Gaza have complicated the bureaucratic process of sending patients to Israel and are adding more forms to be filled and approved before the wounded are transferred. Hamas officials say hundreds have been wounded and complain that hospitals are overcrowded, with doctors unable to treat many of the injured.
As operation “Cast Lead” continues, Hamas leaders have complained of substandard medical care in Gaza hospitals, blaming Israel for an alleged shortage of supplies and saying patients have been turned away because hospitals are too full.
On Wednesday, IDF officials involved in dealing with humanitarian cases in Gaza rejected the accusations and said Hamas is responsible for any substandard care given to patients in Gaza. The terror group has withheld supplies from hospitals and refused to transfer the wounded to Israel, they said.
An unprecedented amount of medical aid has been sent to Gaza in recent days, IDF officials said Wednesday, rejecting Hamas' claims of shortages in hospitals. Several trucks filled with medicine, equipment, donated blood and other supplies have entered Gaza via Israeli crossings since Saturday. In addition, several ambulances donated by Turkey, the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority and others were brought to Gaza this week.
"The Gaza hospitals have not collapsed, the international organizations there have not reported a collapse and even say the medical equipment that was brought in has improved the hospitals' efficiency,” a spokesman said. Gaza has plenty of food as well, he said, despite Hamas' claims to the contrary.
IDF officials suggested that Hamas was deliberately manufacturing shortages for its own political purposes. Earlier this year the group was accused of deliberately withholding fuel from Gaza civilians in order to provoke anger against Israel.
Israel Treats Gaza Children.
While fighting continues, Israel has been treating some of Gaza's casualties in Israeli hospitals. On Wednesday, two young children were transferred from Gaza. One was taken to Schneider medical center in Petach Tikva and the other was taken to Tel HaShomer.
The first child, a seven-year-old boy, is in critical condition after suffering a head injury. The second, an eight-year-old boy, suffered serious wounds to his chest and head, apparently from an explosion caused by a misfiring rocket.
Hamas Uninterested in Treatment for Civilians
At least six other Gaza Arabs recently suffered critical head wounds, according to local doctors. However, according to IDF officials involved in bringing the wounded to Israeli hospitals, Hamas has made it difficult to transfer the patients.
Hamas officials in Gaza have complicated the bureaucratic process of sending patients to Israel and are adding more forms to be filled and approved before the wounded are transferred. Hamas officials say hundreds have been wounded and complain that hospitals are overcrowded, with doctors unable to treat many of the injured.
Source: Israel National News
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Molotov cocktail thrown at North Side temple
December 29, 2008
A Molotov cocktail thrown early today against the wall of one of Chicago's oldest synagogues caused minimal physical damage but worried local Jewish officials, who said the incident could be a response to the latest fighting in the Middle East.
"I can't help but think there's a relationship," said Roger Rudich, president of Temple Sholom of Chicago, 3480 N. Lake Shore Drive.
No one was hurt in the arson that police are investigating as a hate crime. Bomb and arson detectives were at the scene Monday afternoon and the investigation was ongoing, said Chicago police officer Daniel O'Brien.
O'Brien said the fire "extinguished itself, nothing ever caught fire." No suspect was in custody as of Monday afternoon, he said.
"The offender drove off and made a derogatory statement" to a witness, and police were working to obtain and review surveillance equipment in the area, said O'Brien.
Rudich said the incident was not "terribly expensive or damaging," but "it's just so unsettling."
Rudich said the temple is always reviewing its security precautions and in light of this incident, "we'll look at everything again."
Local Jewish community officials said they were not aware of any recent incidents of violence in area temples but wondered if the incident was connected to a rise in problems in the Middle East.
Jay Tcath, senior vice president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, said it was not clear if the arson had a global cause.
"Though no suspects have been apprehended and it's premature to unequivocally connect what is happening with this incident, it's hard to avoid the likely connection," he said.
Lonnie Nasatir, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, said the arson is cause for vigilance.
"We are hoping that it's just one incident and that there are not further copycat incidents," Nasatir said. "We don't know if it has any correlation with what is happening in Gaza. In the last year there have been other anti-Semitic acts that weren't attributed to anything except ant-Semitism."
Jeremy Gorner and Bonnie Miller Rubin contributed to this report.
A Molotov cocktail thrown early today against the wall of one of Chicago's oldest synagogues caused minimal physical damage but worried local Jewish officials, who said the incident could be a response to the latest fighting in the Middle East.
"I can't help but think there's a relationship," said Roger Rudich, president of Temple Sholom of Chicago, 3480 N. Lake Shore Drive.
No one was hurt in the arson that police are investigating as a hate crime. Bomb and arson detectives were at the scene Monday afternoon and the investigation was ongoing, said Chicago police officer Daniel O'Brien.
O'Brien said the fire "extinguished itself, nothing ever caught fire." No suspect was in custody as of Monday afternoon, he said.
"The offender drove off and made a derogatory statement" to a witness, and police were working to obtain and review surveillance equipment in the area, said O'Brien.
Rudich said the incident was not "terribly expensive or damaging," but "it's just so unsettling."
Rudich said the temple is always reviewing its security precautions and in light of this incident, "we'll look at everything again."
Local Jewish community officials said they were not aware of any recent incidents of violence in area temples but wondered if the incident was connected to a rise in problems in the Middle East.
Jay Tcath, senior vice president of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, said it was not clear if the arson had a global cause.
"Though no suspects have been apprehended and it's premature to unequivocally connect what is happening with this incident, it's hard to avoid the likely connection," he said.
Lonnie Nasatir, regional director for the Anti-Defamation League, said the arson is cause for vigilance.
"We are hoping that it's just one incident and that there are not further copycat incidents," Nasatir said. "We don't know if it has any correlation with what is happening in Gaza. In the last year there have been other anti-Semitic acts that weren't attributed to anything except ant-Semitism."
Jeremy Gorner and Bonnie Miller Rubin contributed to this report.
Source: Chicago Tribune
H/T: Women Against Sharia
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Australia gives extra $5m in Gaza aid
January 01, 2009
AUSTRALIA has pledged an extra $5 million in aid for the people of the Gaza Strip, with the Federal Government saying it is deeply saddened by the loss of life there.
About 400 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip in recent days, following the breakdown of a ceasefire arrangement.
Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said today that Australia strongly supported calls for an immediate halt to the violence.
"The Australian Government also urges Israel, Hamas and other militant groups to make every effort to avoid causing further suffering to innocent civilians," she said.
Ms Gillard said the Government would give an extra $5 million worth of aid and stood ready to give more.
The assistance would help ensure Palestinians had adequate access to much needed basic goods, such as food and medical supplies, she said.
The aid will be delivered through multilateral agencies such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is strongly advising Australians not to travel to the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.
AUSTRALIA has pledged an extra $5 million in aid for the people of the Gaza Strip, with the Federal Government saying it is deeply saddened by the loss of life there.
About 400 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip in recent days, following the breakdown of a ceasefire arrangement.
Acting Prime Minister Julia Gillard said today that Australia strongly supported calls for an immediate halt to the violence.
"The Australian Government also urges Israel, Hamas and other militant groups to make every effort to avoid causing further suffering to innocent civilians," she said.
Ms Gillard said the Government would give an extra $5 million worth of aid and stood ready to give more.
The assistance would help ensure Palestinians had adequate access to much needed basic goods, such as food and medical supplies, she said.
The aid will be delivered through multilateral agencies such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is strongly advising Australians not to travel to the Gaza Strip or the West Bank.
Source: The Australian
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