Jews build 'Museum of Tolerance' on 1,000s of Arab graves
POSTED BY: piratenews
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 20:59
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Israel makes life very hard for Palestinians, says ICRC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8519921.stm
Israeli restrictions make normal life "close to impossible" for many West Bank Palestinians, the International Committee of the Red Cross has said.
Some Palestinians are often unable to reach a hospital or visit relatives, while 50% live in poverty, it said.
They are also frequently harassed by Jewish settlers, the organisation said.
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said the ICRC had ignored statements by the Palestinian Authority that West Bank residents lived a "normal life".
Whilst the economy has shown some signs of growth, the ICRC statement said restrictions linked to Israeli settlements had deprived many Palestinian farmers of their land.
We reiterate our call on Israel to do more to protect Palestinians in the West Bank against settler violence
Beatrice Megevand-Roggo
ICRC
Israeli settlers 'still building'
It said attacks and harassment by settlers prevented many farmers from cultivating their own land, and some 10,000 Palestinian olive trees had been cut down or burned in the past three years.
"The ICRC has repeatedly called for action to be taken to allow Palestinians to live their lives in dignity," said ICRC head of operations in the Middle East, Beatrice Megevand-Roggo.
"We reiterate our call on Israel to do more to protect Palestinians in the West Bank against settler violence, to safeguard their land and crops, to allow families to repair their houses and to assure that all Palestinians can get to hospital or to school without delay."
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the report ignored official PA figures which showed the economic situation had "improved remarkably" over the past year.
He also referred to comments by PA President Mahmoud Abbas to the Washington Post in May 2009, where he said "in the West Bank, we have a good reality, the people are living a normal life".
In November, the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a 10-month cessation of building new settlements in the West Bank, a precondition for peace talks demanded by the Palestinians.
But, according to information released by the Israeli government, around 30 settlements are still being developed in defiance of the order.
US attempts to revive peace talks have stalled over the Jewish settlement issue.
Palestinians say they will not return to peace talks unless Israel stops settlement building in the West Bank.
Israel has a long-standing commitment under an existing peace plan to stop settlement growth.
All settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are considered illegal under international law, although Israel disputes this.
Either you Are with the terrorists, or ... you Are with the terrorists 
Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers.
What you do today, might Burn Your Ass Tomorrow"
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I wonder if they catch any of these folk, if terrorism charges would be laid ?
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/02/201021614324286713.html
'With friends like these ...'
By Ibrahim Hewitt
Allegations that the Israeli secret service, Mossad, was behind the killing of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai are gaining strength.
The accusation originated with Hamas after the 49-year-old was found dead in a hotel in Dubai last month.
Israel, unsurprisingly, has neither confirmed nor denied that Mossad operatives carried out the killing.
The Times newspaper, however, has reported Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister, alluding to "Mossad ... waging a covert war of assassinations across the Middle East, targeting Hamas and Iranian officials".
Foreign passports
Dubai's chief of police has now said that 11 people were involved in the operation and they all used European - including six British - passports to get into and out of the Emirate.
It is known that Mossad uses foreign passports "regularly" because Israeli passports raise "red flags" when its operatives are travelling.
An Israeli passport is still unacceptable in most of the Arab capitals and a visa is unlikely to be granted to holders of Israeli passports seeking to enter Dubai - one exception was for an Israeli tennis player taking part in a Dubai tournament last year.
If Mossad's involvement is proven to be true, it is yet another example of Israel's disregard for the sovereignty of other nations - including supposed "strategic allies" like Britain.
There is no record of US passports ever being used in such operations - Israel tends to spy on its main benefactor instead.
In 1996, when Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas' political bureau, was the target of an assassination attempt in Amman, the Mossad team responsible was captured and they had used genuine Canadian passports to enter Jordan.
'Stategic allies'
What is doubly interesting about that attempt on Meshaal's life is that it took place during Binyamin Netanyahu's first term as Israeli prime minister.
Assassinations tailed off in the intervening years but have now resurfaced as a serious tactic against Israel's opponents, again while Netanyahu is at the helm of Israel's government.
The trail to find those responsible for al-Mabhouh's killing could therefore lead all the way to Netanyahu himself.
If that is the case, then it surely raises questions about Britain's relationship with the country called a "strategic ally" by David Miliband, the UK's foreign secretary, when he raised the possibility of changing Britain's universal jurisdiction obligations to make it possible for Israelis suspected of committing war crimes to enter the UK.
The foreign office says that it is "in contact with the Dubai authorities" about the identity of the six British passport holders.
A former Mossad agent quoted in The Times claims that passports used in such operations include those belonging to real dual nationality holders while others are "acquired".
Passports 'forged'
According to the Daily Telegraph newspaper British government "sources" believe that the passports were forged and were used by "Mossad agents".
In a bizarre twist, reports are coming from the Middle East about Hamas claims that two men belonging to the Palestinian Authority's security agencies have been captured by Jordan and sent to Dubai in connection with this murder.
The PA has made a counter-claim that the two are actually Hamas members.
The world of espionage has always been murky and it may well be that we will never know what really happened in the hotel room where Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was murdered.
However, there surely is sufficient doubt for the British government to review its dealings with the Israeli government, "strategic ally" or not.
With friends like these, who needs enemies?
Either you Are with the terrorists, or ... you Are with the terrorists
Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers.
What you do today, might Burn
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What's it going to take to bring the settlement issue under control?
Looks like they are trying to turn the West Bank into another Gaza. If they can't get what they want they turn into the worst of bullies. Kinda reminds me of another country.
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BTW, I'm not ignoring this topic b/c I don't care or agree. But some things are just too painful and frustrating to dwell on.
***************************************************************
Silence is consent.
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Quote:
Originally posted by rue:
BTW, I'm not ignoring this topic b/c I don't care or agree. But some things are just too painful and frustrating to dwell on.
***************************************************************
Silence is consent.
But would you agree that this is the number one issue challenging world peace ?
Either you Are with the terrorists, or ... you Are with the terrorists
Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers.
What you do today, might Burn Your Ass Tomorrow"
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What SignyM told me many years ago is that people don't fight b/c they are 'different' from each other. They fight for control of real things like land, water, oil, or other natural resources, or control of economic (human) resources. It took a long time for that to filter through, but it's a truism that I've come to accept b/c I've tested it out over the last two decades and always found it to be the case. Even the 'ideal' of 'freedom' is about who has real control in the real world.
Recent studies have shown that even religious terrorists are motivated by real world issues like economic opportunity.
That said, Palestine is probably one of the bigger sparks of dispute, but not the only one.
And ultimately, the driving force of world involvement in the conflict in the MidEast is about control of MidEast oil and MidEast shipping.
What drives me personally up the wall about Palestine, and what makes it so frustrating and painful for me, is the blatant unfairness of it, the hypocrisy of Israel, and the US's blindly insane support of Israel, no matter what. But that's an emotional response caused by personal issues which rage at that sort of thing.
***************************************************************
Silence is consent.
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Well said,
that is why I think this thread, and the Iran thread are so important...
I posted earlier
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2010/02/12/israel-fighting-dele
gitimisation-campaign
Israel fighting 'delegitimisation campaign'
As outrage grows in US campuses over Israeli policies towards Palestinians, Israel seems to be fighting back.
continues
If we debate the facts in our own forums, it limits our leaders ability to make up our minds for us... if the involved partys really want our support, ( or not ) they need to take notice of our collective opinions, and not simply bribe our leaders.
The posts about the Israeli supreme court were particularly of interest...
I only wish the pro Israel lobby was to be heard from ( the rational lobby I mean, Participant left after I pointed out he posted a fake 60 minutes story, and NewOld seems to be the Jewish equivalent of a holocaust denier, and the Palestinians do not exist )
I can understand this being a frustrating and painful subject, I avoided posting alot of pictures because of that...
I'll keep posting on this thread, more because I feel the frustration too, and want to do something... My local MP says he agrees with my position, but his party feels... makes me want to scream.
sigh...
Either you Are with the terrorists, or ... you Are with the terrorists
Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers.
What you do today, might Burn Your Ass Tomorrow"
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I understand the frustration this subject produces. Also, the anger, rage and sense of hopelessness.
I will keep adding to this thread also. Reasoned debate and continuing to look for solutions may be our only hope.
Here is an article about just such a debate and how it changed a few minds.
"That "Special Relationship" is hereby up for discussion. Pass the word."
http://www.paltelegraph.com/opinions/views/4212-questioning-our-specia
l-relationship-with-Israel
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In exploring some of the Israeli High Court rulings I found this. Interesting.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/30/AR2009
073003809.html?sid=ST2009073100107
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8523588.stm
Highlights
The international police agency Interpol - which has issued arrest notices for all 11 suspects although it admitted their true identities were unclear - issues red notices to seek the arrest of wanted persons with a view to extraditing them.
Diplomatic tensions have been building between Britain and Israel after it emerged on Monday that six of the passports used by the 11 suspected assassins were British.
They were clones of passports belonging to men who have dual British and Israeli citizenship.
I think if I could I would do away with Dual Citizenships... just seems like you should pick one or the other
Either you Are with the terrorists, or ... you Are with the terrorists
Life is like a jar of Jalapeño peppers.
What you do today, might Burn Your Ass Tomorrow"
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