Posted on 03/03/2008 10:30:39 AM PST by Bahbah
Back to Jordan again.
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Mar 8, 2008 17:39 | Updated Mar 8, 2008 17:43
Jordan stops public mourning of gunman
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Jordanian security forces have prevented relatives of Ala Abu Dhaim, the man who carried out the terrorist attack in Jerusalem last Thursday, from publicly mourning him.
The relatives, who live near Amman, tried Friday to erect a large tent to receive mourners, but were ordered by Jordanian security officers to dismantle it immediately.
The officers handed the relatives an order signed by the governor of Amman banning them from erecting the tent or publicly mourning Abu Dhaim.
They were also instructed to remove Hamas and Hizbullah flags that were hanging on rooftops and electricity poles.
Muhammed Abu Dhaim, the terrorist’s uncle, said he decided to open a mourning tent as soon as he heard that his nephew had been killed in the attack.
“We were hoping that people would come to congratulate us on the martyrdom of my nephew,” he said. “This is a heroic operation that must be celebrated by everyone here.”
The uncle said that after he dismantled the tent he decided to receive mourners in the yard of his home in the Sweileh suburb of Amma, but was once again threatened by the Jordanian authorities.
“Jordanian security agents and policemen cordoned off the area and prevented people from coming to my house,” he complained.
“The Jordanian authorities’ decision is unjustified and doesn’t make sense. My nephew carried out a heroic operation against an extremist Zionist college that calls for killing Palestinians.”
Another family member living in Jordan said it was ironic that the Jordanians had banned the public mourning while Israel was allowing Abu Dhaib’s family in Jerusalem to receive mourners and hoist Hizbullah and Hamas flags.
“We saw on TV that the family in Jerusalem was holding a public event,” he said. “We didn’t see the Israeli police prevent people from arriving at the family house there.”
A source in the Jordanian Ministry of Interior said the decision to ban the public mourning in Amman was taken for “security considerations.” The source said Jordan would not permit any group or individual to harm its national security by holding events that publicly support violence against civilians.
The source pointed out that in the past the Jordanian authorities prevented the family of slain arch-terrorist Abu Musab Zarqawi from holding a similar event in the town of Zarqa.
Jordan was one of the few Arab countries to condemn the shooting spree at the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Earlier this month, the Kuwaiti authorities banned Palestinians and Lebanese from publicly mourning slain Hizbullah military commander Imad Mughniyeh. The Kuwaitis even deported some Palestinians and Lebanese who hailed Mughniyeh as a “martyr” and called for avenging his death.
Ironic is one word one could use.
Here is an interesting tidbit - another one for the “I wish I were a fly on the wall” file.
This was filed less than 10 min ago.
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Iran, Gulf foreign ministers meet in Damascus
Published:
03.08.08, 23:53 / Israel News
The foreign ministers of Iran, Oman, Qatar and Syria held an unannounced meeting in the Syrian capital on Saturday ahead of an Arab summit clouded by a crisis in Lebanon.
The four met at a restaurant near the city’s international airport, witnesses said. The Iranian and Qatari ministers left Damascus immediately afterwards. (AP)
ok - I’ll try this again but with link - and I add folks to the “To:” line - sheesh.
Here is an interesting tidbit - another one for the “I wish I were a fly on the wall” file.
This was filed less than 10 min ago.
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Iran, Gulf foreign ministers meet in Damascus
Published:
03.08.08, 23:53 / Israel News
The foreign ministers of Iran, Oman, Qatar and Syria held an unannounced meeting in the Syrian capital on Saturday ahead of an Arab summit clouded by a crisis in Lebanon.
The four met at a restaurant near the city’s international airport, witnesses said. The Iranian and Qatari ministers left Damascus immediately afterwards. (AP)
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3516563,00.html
Whoa...
and
hhmmmm...
That arouses one’s curiosity for sure.
Last update - 02:37 09/03/2008
Jewish Agency to start anti-terror drive after yeshiva shooting
By Anshel Pfeffer and Haaretz Service
Tags: Jewish Agency, Abraham Foxman
The Jewish Agency will start a drive this week to raise support for Israel and its fight against terror among Jewish communities around the world, following the attack on Mercaz Harav yeshiva last Thursday.
Hundreds of JA and World Zionist Organization envoys will receive kits with photographs of the attack and information material to hold memorial events and rallies.
The campaign is also aimed to counter pro-Palestinian campaigns following the IDF’s operation in the Gaza Strip, which killed 120 Palestinians.
The Anti-Defamation League on Friday denounced as “shocking” the United Nations Security Council’s abstention from condemning Thursday’s terror attack at a Jerusalem yeshiva.
“It is shocking that the Security Council could not bring itself to condemn this heinous terrorist attack on Israeli teenagers at a Jerusalem yeshiva,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, in a statement the American Jewish organization released Friday.
The U.S. has said that Libya - currently chairing the Security Council - blocked the United Nations from condemning the killing as a “terrorist attack”, calling instead for “balanced action.”
Foxman stressed that, “While it is heartening that many nations expressed support and sympathy with Israel in the aftermath of this horrific attack, formal action by the Security Council would send a powerful message that the Palestinian cause is not served by wanton acts of violence and terrorism, and that such attacks against civilians run counter to the interests of peace.”
The American-Jewish leader added: “Where are all the calls for UN resolutions condemning the murderous acts of terrorism against civilians? Why should those who seek to thwart the cause of peace not be condemned?
Last update - 02:25 09/03/2008
Saudi’s top cleric warns against giving to al-Qaida linked charities
By The Associated Press
Tags: Saudi Arabia, Terrorism
Saudi Arabia’s top religious authority warned Saudis against giving money to charities and organizations financing evil groups, a top local daily reported Saturday.
The warning by Grand Mufti Sheik Abdul-Aziz Abdullah al-Sheikh comes just days after police found an audio from al-Qaida No.2 Ayman al-Zawahri, exhorting his followers to collect money for needy families in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“It is bad to give funds to just anyone who asks, and to parties with shabby reputations or unknown backing,” the mufti said in a statement published in the daily al-Okaz, which is deemed close to the government. “It’s even worse to give it to an organization that’s known for its evil and for hurting Islam and its followers,” he added in an apparent reference to al-Qaida, which has carried out attacks on foreigners in Saudi Arabia.
Though the Saudi government has waged a crackdown on the group since 2003, individual citizens are widely believed to support the terror network and allied organizations through private donations to Islamic charities.
Many reports carry evidence that private Saudi money has been funneled into known Islamic terrorist groups, prompting pressures on the Saudi government to monitor the traffic of charitable funds.
Some U.S. lawmakers had also insisted that oil money from the royal family itself has been diverted into numerous nonprofit organizations supporting terrorist activity.
The Interior Ministry found al-Zawahri’s message on the memory card of a mobile phone of one of 28 militants whose arrest was announced March 3 for allegedly being tasked with rebuilding al-Qaida’s network in Saudi Arabia.
The Ministry on Saturday asked Saudis to report if they have received audio messages over their mobile phones purported to be from al-Zawahri.
In a statement, the ministry gave the citizens have a week’s deadline,
starting Sunday, to step forward, report such messages and clarify their
stance. Otherwise, it said, procedures will be taken against any suspect who fail to report the occurrence. No details were provided.
In October, the government-appointed mufti asked wealthy people to exercise vigilance on where they donate their money. He also warned young religious zealots against becoming tools in the hands of foreign groups which play with their feelings in the name of holy war
Mar 9, 2008 0:22 | Updated Mar 9, 2008 1:45
‘Al-Jazeera is a mouthpiece for Hamas’
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Several Fatah officials in the West Bank have called on the Palestinian Authority to boycott Al-Jazeera under the pretext that the TV network is serving as a mouthpiece for Hamas.
The officials also accused Al-Jazeera of incitement against their party and the PA leadership in Ramallah.
Dozens of Fatah operatives have also signed a petition urging the PA to ban Al-Jazeera from operating in the West Bank.
Fatah claimed that Al-Jazeera has been openly inciting against its representatives for the past few years. It said the incitement reached its peak last June when the station appeared to support Hamas’s violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.
Over the weekend there were renewed calls in Fatah to boycott Al-Jazeera in protest against its coverage of the last IDF operation in the Gaza Strip.
The Foreign Ministry last week began refusing requests for its representatives to appear on the station because of what it deemed as heavily biased coverae of the situation in the Gaza Strip.
According to Fatah officials, the station appeared to endorse Hamas’s charges that PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his West Bank government were behind the Israeli operation, A senior Fatah official in Ramallah claimed that Al-Jazeera was a “Hamas TV.”
The official told The Jerusalem Post that Al-Jazeera was not only supporting Hamas, but other Islamist groups such as al-Qaida and the Muslim Brotherhood.
“We should have thrown them out a long time ago,” he said. “This station is very dangerous because it supports terrorism and seeks to undermine moderate Arabs and Muslims.”
Najat Abu Baker, a Fatah legislator, said she had launched an initiative in the West Bank designed to organize a general boycott of Al-Jazeera.
She accused Al-Jazeera of playing a major role in escalating tensions between Hamas and Fatah.
I am tired of this. Someone with a public megaphone needs to speak the truth. The UN is an anti-semitic organization (and a criminal one as well. If we support it, then that is what we are supporting.
It is a dining society for third worlders.
I don’t quite know what to think about that.
I am beginning to wonder what the Cole is out there for, intimidate Israel or Syria.
Disgusting, but good. I want in-your-face, undeniable anti-semitism from the UN. I want Israel to no longer be able to deny that the UN is a corrupt, hatemongering club for failed nations to air their grievances against their betters. I want us to leave the UN. If we leave, that will be the end of the charade that the UN has any authority. The UN will be severely undermined & others will follow us out eventually.
I didn't reply to your comment about the Cole on the other thread because I didn't want to give the wrong impression that I dislike Americans or have something against America. But I do have a feeling that the Cole is there to stop Israel from defending itself "too much"...
I want the US to join in that realization. The fact that neither country has yet done so when the facts are as plain as the nose on our faces causes me to despair.
I'm not so sure, but I am willing to wait and see.
Good morning All.
There is still so little coming out of Israel.
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Fatah Leader, School Books Supports Terrorism Against US in Iraq
by Ezra HaLevi
(IsraelNN.com) A leader of Mahmoud Abbas’s US-backed Fatah party has come out in support of the terrorist war being fought against US and British forces in Iraq. PA text books for school children also push attacks on American and British forces
Mahmoud Ismail, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, expressed his support for the war on the US during an interview on official Palestinian Authority (PA) TV, which is under the control of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The clip was recorded and translated by Palestinian Media Watch, which monitors incitement on PA television.
Ismail further defined the US -Britain alliance fighting in Iraq as the Arab Nation’s “enemies, the imperialists,” and justified the “right to struggle and to resistance [euphemism for terror -PMW] in all possible ways in all the occupied lands.” Those occupied lands, he said, include “Palestine” and Iraq.
PMW translated Ismail’s complete statements, made on PA television on February 26, 2008:
“I want to cite the actions and future actions of President [Abbas], from the starting point that the Palestine cause is the essential and central cause of the Arab Nation. It’s not surprising that [to] certain journalists of the current despicable American era, our [Arab nationalist] language of the 50s and 60s is outdated, when we talk about the nature of the struggle between the Arab Nation and its enemies: the Imperialists and Zionists, who attack and occupy our territories inside Palestine and outside, in Iraq, in the remains of South Lebanon and the Golan.
“We [however,] take pride in this [Arab nationalist] language because we are the authentic Arabs who believe in our Arabism, our faith, our cause, our Nation, in our right to struggle and to resistance [euphemism for terror] in all possible ways in all the occupied lands, in Palestine, Lebanon the Golan and Iraq...”
PA Text Books Call For Fighting Americans and British in Iraq
“Palestinian support for those fighting American and British soldiers in Iraq is mainstream Palestinian ideology,” Palestinian Media Watch Director Itamar Marcus says. One example given is a recently published PA textbook for schoolchildren, Contemporary Problems (grade 12, p. 92), in which fighting between the Islamic-Arab world and the West is described as a “Clash of Civilizations.” The book frequently expains that the clash is led by the United States and Iraq, PMW reports.
Fighting against American and British soldiers in Iraq is “brave resistance to liberate Iraq” from “occupation” according to the Grade 12 textboom “History of the Arabs and the World in the 20th Century.” (p. 147)
“Islam is said to promote Human Rights (Contemporary Problems, pp. 95-96), while the US and the West are described as ‘the colonialist states, [who] are taking advantage of it [human rights]’ and ‘interfering in the matters of other states, as is happening in Afghanistan, Iraq, Darfur...’ (ibid, p. 101) America is guilty of ‘violations of international humanitarian law in Iraq and Afghanistan...’ (ibid, p. 108)
According to PMW, the PA schoolbooks were published with foreign money, primarily from Belgium.
The following is a translated passage from the new 12th grade Palestinian history book:
“The President of the United States, George Bush Jr [sic], gave the Iraqi president in 2003 an ultimatum of 48 hours to leave Iraq, or face a war to disarm him. The Arab League rejected this ultimatum. The U.S. and Britain [forces]... stormed Iraqi cities with the participation of military forces from different countries and Baghdad fell. The Iraqis did not surrender to this occupation but succeeded in organizing themselves, and a brave resistance to liberate Iraq began.” [History of the Arabs and the World in the 20th Century, grade 12, p. 147, published 2006]
Netanyahu: Israeli Arabs Must Decide Where They Stand
(IsraelNN.com) Likud chairman and Knesset Opposition Leader Binyamin Netanyahu declared Sunday that Israeli Arabs must decide where they stand on the issue of terrorism against Israeli citizens.
In an interview broadcast on Voice of Israel government radio, Netanyahu said Israeli Arab politicians and public leaders must “pick which side they’re on.” His comments came after an Israeli Arab resident of eastern Jerusalem slaughtered eight students and wounded 11 others in a terrorist attack on a Jerusalem yeshiva last Thursday. The terrorist, who was himself killed in his attack, was a citizen and held an Israeli ID card.
“The State of Israel cannot afford an enemy from within,” said Netanyahu. “I demand any citizen, Jewish or Arab, to show loyalty to the soldiers, citizens and casualties of the country. It is a basic requirement that we must demand now, before it is too late.”
Olmert: J’lem attack targeted religious Zionism’s flagship
Prime minister says despite political differences, he has deep appreciation for Mercaz Harav yeshiva and its legacy
Roni Sofer
Published: 03.09.08, 10:24 / Israel News
Thursday’s murderous terror attack, which claimed the lives of eight yeshiva students in Jerusalem, stood at the heart of Sunday’s cabinet meeting.
“This was a carefully-orchestrated terror attack,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at the opening of the meeting. “It was designed to target a special place in Jerusalem and the flagship of the religious Zionist movement.”
Mercaz Harav yeshiva, stated Olmert, has produced “the finest soldiers for many generations; people who have realized the Zionist faith. This yeshiva – which was founded by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook – has educated and nurtured tradition and legacy, as part of Israel’s resilience.”
What the heck?
I saw this on the FR main page and had to have a look at the source - if this is what Condi wants, no wonder Mooshie rejected it.
It like the UN asking us to let it come in and participate in out gov... wait a minuet ooppss
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US yearns for Pak capitulation
By Shireen M Mazari
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has given them bases and logistic support as well as intelligence sharing but what the US is now demanding from Islamabad has shocked the Defence and Foreign Ministries and the initial reaction has been a rejection of what are highly intrusive demands for the US military and auxiliary personnel in Pakistan.
This scribe has learnt of the latest set of 11 demands the US has put to the Government of Pakistan through the Ministry of Defence. As one goes down the list of the demands, they become increasingly untenable.
The first demand is for granting of a status that is accorded to the technical and administrative staff of the US embassy. The second demand is that these personnel be allowed to enter and exit Pakistan on mere National Identification (for example a driving licence) that is without any visas.
Next, the US is demanding that Pakistan accept the legality of all US licences, which would include arms licences. This is followed by the demand that all these personnel be allowed to carry arms and wear uniforms as they wish, across the whole of Pakistan.
Then comes a demand that directly undermines our sovereignty – that the US criminal jurisdiction be applicable in Pakistan to US nationals. In other words, these personnel would not be subject to Pakistani law.
In territories of US allies like Japan, this condition exists in areas where there are US bases and has become a source of major resentment in Japan, especially because there are frequent cases of US soldiers raping Japanese women and getting away with it. In the context of Pakistan, the demand to make the US personnel above the Pakistani law would not be limited to any one part of the country! So the Pakistani citizens will become fair game for US military personnel as well as other auxiliary staff like military contractors.
The next demand is for exemption from all taxes, including indirect taxes like excise duty, etc. The seventh demand is for inspection-free import and export of all goods and materials. So we would not know what they are bringing in or taking out of our country – including Gandhara art as well as sensitive materials.
At number eight is the demand for free movement of vehicles, vessels including aircraft, without landing or parking fees! Then, at number nine, there is a specific demand that selected US contractors should also be exempted from tax payments.
At number ten there is the demand for free of cost use of US telecommunication systems and using all necessary radio spectrum. The final demand is the most dangerous and is linked to the demand for non-applicability of Pakistani law for US personnel. Demand number eleven is for a waiver of all claims to damage to loss or destruction of others’ property, or death to personnel or armed forces or civilians. The US has tried to be smart by not using the word “other” for death but, given the context, clearly it implies that US personnel can maim and kill Pakistanis and destroy our infrastructure and weaponry with impunity.
Effectively, if accepted, these demands would give the US personnel complete freedom to do as they please in Pakistan – in fact, they would take control of events in areas of their interest.
It is no wonder then that Pakistan’s Defence Ministry, the Foreign Office and the Law Ministry have reacted with complete rejection. But, as one official source feared, “This is just the opening salvo of demands and the US can be expected to bargain in order to seek the most critical of these demands.”
As he put it, “Any hesitation or weakness that the US senses on part of Pakistan will put us on a fatal slippery slope to total submission. This would result in increasing instability in the country.”
So, for those who feel there is bonhomie and complete understanding between the Pakistan military and the US military, and the trouble only exists at the political level, it is time to do a serious rethink. The first step in dealing rationally with our indigenous terrorist problem holistically and credibly is to create space between ourselves and the US. As the US adage goes: “There is no free lunch”. For Pakistan lunching with the US has become unacceptably costly. When US embassy in Islamabad was approached for reaction to this report, Elizabeth Colton, US Embassy Spokesperson, said, “We will not dignify this attack with a comment.”
Good morning.
This thread is not about hating anyone and I did not view it as such.
Your comment does not sound like that at all but rather good healthy skepticism, you and Ike will get along fine :)
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