["GET OUT!"] MK Ariel: Arabs should be urged to willingly emigrate from Israel
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- Written by Haaretz Service Haaretz Service
- Published: 28 April 2008 28 April 2008
- Hits: 3976 3976
[It is always shocking to see discussion by Israel's Jewish majority on how to get rid of the "creeping" threat of the Palestinian minority (so called "Israeli Arabs") who are citizens of Israel. So much for Democracy, equality, and separation of church and state.]
MK Uri Ariel on Sunday called on the government to encourage Israeli Arabs to "willingly emigrate" from Israel and from large cities within it, so as to solve the problematic situation of the country's minorities.
The National Union MK made a speech during a first-of-its-kind conference dealing with the issue of Israel's minorities as well as with "the creeping Arab occupation", and said "the issue of Arabs living within the State of Israel should be addressed."
Ariel, who serves as faction chair, welcomed the conference's initiative and said it marked "the beginning of a process in which participants acknowledge the problem, before possible solutions are implemented."
Ariel added that "positive signs can already be seen in the presence of core Jewish groups that stabilize the situation in cities and help prevent the drain of the Jewish community."
He further emphasized that he spoke for himself alone and did not represent his faction, although the issue of voluntary emigration is part of his party's platform.
Gaza`s sewage `tsunami`
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- Written by Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor Jeremy Bowen, BBC Middle East editor
- Published: 27 April 2008 27 April 2008
- Hits: 4081 4081
These articles call attention to another crisis unfolding in Gaza, the massive amount of raw sewage that is contaminating the drinking water and making people sick. The situation is desperately unstable – the sewage treatment facilities are old and in bad repair, and designed to serve a population of less than 400,000 (Gaza now has 1.5 million people). Whatever sewage does not get pumped into the Mediterranean (itself a terrible solution) is held in large, open-air lakes by dykes that have burst in the past and are liable to break again. And they leak: “sewage is literally pouring into the streets," says the head of CARE International, quoted in the second piece below.
Construction of a new plant and repair to the old is hampered by the occupation, and particularly the fuel shortage – materials and contractors simply cannot get through.
The first article, from the BBC, refers to the leaking sewage as a ‘tsumami’. While this analogy highlights the severity of the problem, it is deeply misleading to compare this to a natural disaster: it is a human-made disaster. It is not a tragedy but rather a crime, the predictable and culpable result of intentional policies undertaken by Israel and the international community.
This is expressed quite well in a statement by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, "Gaza is on the threshold of becoming the first territory to be intentionally reduced to a state of abject destitution, with the knowledge, acquiescence and - some would say - encouragement of the international community."
Judith Norman
Jewish Voice for Peace
Hillary "we would be able to totally obliterate them"
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- Written by AUPHR AUPHR
- Published: 26 April 2008 26 April 2008
- Hits: 2807 2807
CHRIS CUOMO: You said if Iran were to strike Israel, there would be 'massive retaliation." Scary words. Does 'massive retaliation" mean you'd go into Iran? You would bomb Iran? Is that what that's supposed to suggest?
CLINTON: Well, the question was, if Iran were to launch a nuclear attack on Israel, what would our response be? And I want the Iranians to know that if I am president, we will attack Iran. And I want them to understand that. Because it does mean that they have to look very carefully at their society. Because whatever stage of development they might be in their nuclear weapons program, in the next 10 years during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them. That's a terrible thing to say, but those people who run Iran need to understand that. Because that, perhaps, will deter them from doing something that would be reckless, foolish, and tragic.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2008/04/iran-considerin.html
MCCAIN: "You know that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran?" the Republican presidential candidate said. Then, he sang. "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran."
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/blogs/politicalticker/2007/04/mccain-sings-bomb-bomb-iran.html
"Every ten years or so, the United States needs to pick up some small crappy little country and throw it against the wall, just to show the world we mean business." - Michael Ledeen
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTFhZGQ4Y2IyZmNlY2QyNDkwZTlkZjFkYjZiNWY0YzU=
Yasser Abd Rabbo Cautions Against “Partition of West Bank”
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- Written by Hussein Ibish, ATFP Hussein Ibish, ATFP
- Published: 25 April 2008 25 April 2008
- Hits: 2970 2970
Yasser Abd Rabbo Cautions Against “Partition of West Bank”
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (April 25, 2008)
Contact: Hussein Ibish
Phone: 2028870177
Washington, DC, April 25 -- In a speech in Washington today, Yasser Abd Rabbo, a PLO Executive Committee Member and Policy Adviser to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas, reiterated the Palestinian commitment to peace with Israel and praised Bush Administration efforts to reach an agreement. He repeatedly cautioned Israel against seeking “the partition of the West Bank,” which he said Palestinians “will never accept.”
Abd Rabbo spoke on April 25 at a briefing in Washington hosted by the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) and the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institute, entitled “Is Peace Possible in 2008? A Palestinian Perspective.”
Abd Rabbo told the audience at the Falk Auditorium that it is “Difficult to judge whether we are heading towards compromise or disaster, at least political disaster. I don’t know and I cannot predict the answer to this question that haunts me and others every day.” He said that when he “compares what is being said at meetings and what is going on on the ground, one feels schizophrenia.” This is because, “What is being said is that we need an agreement this year. This American Administration is doing its best to achieve that. The Israelis officially repeat the same thing. We are warning everybody that if this opportunity is missed, other forces will benefit, not only Israeli and Palestinian extremists, but extremists in the whole region.”
“But,” he added, “what is going on on the ground is completely contrary to this aim. Settlements are accelerating in and around Jerusalem, and in the whole of the West Bank. People ask us, what are you talking about: settlements go up, there are more than 500 checkpoints, here is the wall, and life is not changing.” Abd Rabbo said that, “The only thing that will help us win public opinion to our side is not diplomatic statements but some change in the daily life for Palestinians.” But, he said, “We can see that things are as they were before: for the Israeli government, it is business as usual.”
Abd Rabbo said he was concerned that Israel might seek to use settlement activity to impose a partition of the West Bank on the Palestinians. He said that, “the repeated declarations that we are going to have a contiguous, viable state are undermined by any intention to partition the West Bank. The agreement has to be a partition of historical Palestine based on [UN Security Council Resolutions] 242 and 338, but this expansion shows that Israel instead seeks the partition of the West Bank.” Abd Rabbo expressed concern that Israel was seeking to control Jerusalem, settlement blocks and even the Jordan Valley. He said that Israeli officials tell Palestinians that they want “border changes based on demographic, geographic and security issues, a hint that they want the Jordan Valley.” He said that this could leave Palestinians with a state resembling “a slice of swiss cheese.”
Abd Rabbo insisted that “Palestinian moderates cannot agree to this. This will build a regime in which Palestinians will be enslaved forever and we cannot accept it.” He later added that, “We cannot accept any solution at any price. If the aim is to reach a compromise and settlement based on the borders of 1967, plus or minus a little, then this is something we can do. But if the idea is the partition of the West Bank, that is another thing. We would never solve the issue on that basis.”
Abd Rabbo emphasized that a settlement freeze was vital to immediate progress on peace negotiations. “If we want a new beginning,” he said, “then put the settlements aside as a priority, and let us build on that. Then we can negotiate. We might negotiate the basic elements of an agreement and this, along with a settlement freeze, would be a bridge between this administration and the next for progress.” He praised efforts by the Bush Administration as going beyond mere rhetoric, saying that, “We are not deceived by words, but I do feel there is an encouraging attitude. We have seen this in the past only once or twice before. We have to build on that, and that is what we intend to do.”
He ended his comments by cautioning that time is limited, since “If we do not solve this on the basis of the two-state solution, then we will find no other solution in the foreseeable future.” Abd Rabbo pledged that “We have all missed opportunities in the past, but if this opportunity will be missed, it will not be our mistake. Our choice is quite clear: a state for us along the lines of 1967, that’s it.”
Hamas offers truce in Gaza Strip
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- Written by BBC News BBC News
- Published: 25 April 2008 25 April 2008
- Hits: 3693 3693
Hamas offers truce in Gaza Strip
The Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, has proposed a six-month "period of quiet" in Gaza, which it says could then be extended to the West Bank.
Former Palestinian foreign minister Mahmoud Zahhar said the truce would have to be mutual and include the lifting of an Israeli blockade of Gaza.
But an Israeli government spokesman dismissed the proposal as a ruse to allow Hamas to "re-arm and re-group".
Meanwhile, two Israeli security guards have been shot dead in the West Bank.
The Israeli military said the men were screening workers at the Nitzanei Shalom industrial zone, near the northern town of Tulkarm, when a Palestinian militant approached them, opened fire at close range and then fled.
The industrial zone, which contains five Israeli-owned factories that employ local Palestinians, is located on the Palestinian side of the West Bank barrier.
The Israeli government condemned the shooting as a "clear example of extremism and terrorism by those seeking to foil any prospects for advancing peace".
Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant group said they had carried out the attack jointly. An Islamic Jihad spokesman told the Associated Press the gunman had been lightly wounded.
UN aid deliveries halted
Mr Zahhar, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, announced his group's proposal for a conditional truce at talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman in Cairo. Mr Suleiman has been the main point of contact between Hamas and Israel.
There would be no need for Israel's defensive actions if Hamas would cease and desist from committing terrorist attacks on Israelis
David Baker
Israeli government spokesman
"The truce must be mutual and simultaneous and the blockade must be lifted and the crossing points opened," Mr Zahhar said, adding that this included the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
Rafah has mostly been closed since Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June, though Palestinian militants temporarily breached the crossing earlier this year, allowing hundreds of thousands of Gazans to buy food and other essentials.
Mr Zahhar said the truce "could be expanded to the West Bank and would be set at six months" and that Palestinian factions would be invited to discuss the proposal next week by the Egyptian mediators.
Hamas had previously said that a truce should begin at the same time in both Gaza and the West Bank.
Mr Zahhar added that it was now up to Israel whether or not to approve the ceasefire, saying "the ball is in the Israeli court". If Israel does not comply, "then it will be our right to defend our people in all legitimate ways", he warned.
The Israeli government, however, dismissed the offer.
"Hamas is biding time in order to re-arm and re-group," Israeli government spokesman David Baker told the Reuters news agency.
"There would be no need for Israel's defensive actions if Hamas would cease and desist from committing terrorist attacks on Israelis."
Gaza has been a focus of recent violence, with the Israeli military carrying out raids to target Hamas members, while Hamas has fired rockets at nearby Israeli towns.
Israel has all but sealed off the Gaza Strip since Hamas took control of the area.
On Thursday, the UN said that it had halted humanitarian assistance operations in Gaza because it had run out of fuel for its vehicles.
Israeli sanctions imposed in an attempt to curtail rocket fired by Palestinian group Hamas have caused shortages, but Israel says Hamas is preventing fuel distribution.
More than 80% of Gaza's population relies on aid, with UN food hand-outs going to about 1.1 million people - many them children.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7366166.stm
Published: 2008/04/25 12:06:37 GMT
© BBC MMVIII