Nov 16

AFP - The reputed head of one of Israel's most notorious crime families was killed on Monday when his car blew up in Tel Aviv, sparking fears of an all-out underworld war, police said.

Yaakov Alperon was killed while driving his car in the centre of the coastal city after attending court with his son Dror who was charged with blackmail and extortion.

"This was an extremely serious incident whose consequences are clear to us," Ilan Franco, head of the police Tel Aviv district, told reporters at the site.

Donald Macintyre | Gaza | November 15

Independent - Donald Macintyre reveals the contents of an explosive report by the Red Cross on a humanitarian tragedy

The Israeli blockade of Gaza has led to a steady rise in chronic malnutrition among the 1.5 million people living in the strip, according to a leaked report from the Red Cross.

It chronicles the "devastating" effect of the siege that Israel imposed after Hamas seized control in June 2007 and notes that the dramatic fall in living standards has triggered a shift in diet that will damage the long-term health of those living in Gaza and has led to alarming deficiencies in iron, vitamin A and vitamin D.

Ilene R. Prusher | Jerusalam | Nov 13

CSM - By defeating the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party, Nir Barkat will bring secular politics. But he will likely take a hard line with Palestinians.

A secular Israeli entrepreneur has won the race to serve as mayor of the holy city, wresting control from ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties and emphasizing the growing divide between Israel's secular and religious culture.

Nir Barkat, a high-tech investor, scooped up 52 percent of the vote during municipal elections, the results of which were announced early Wednesday.

Mr. Barkat's supporters heralded his victory as an important move toward returning Jerusalem to a place of diversity and tolerance. But the incoming mayor's hard-line stance against making any concessions to Palestinians about the status of East Jerusalem has many wondering what his ascent will mean for the Middle East peace process, expected to regain momentum early next year.

Isabel Kershner | Jerusalem | November 12

NYT - A secular, hawkish entrepreneur on Tuesday defeated an ultra-Orthodox, equally hawkish member of Parliament in a hotly contested race for mayor of Jerusalem, according to results announced early Wednesday.

As usual, the election was largely boycotted by Palestinians, who comprise a third of the city’s population.

I may be disgusted and tired of the current paradigm in Washington and the nation, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to throw in the towel and accept the fact that my government is following the only path available. In fact, nothing could be farther from the truth. The American government is hell-bent on its own world agenda and feels that there is nothing in this world that can stop them from realizing its goals. They are pursuing world hegemony at the expense of all other nations and their own people. “Peace in our time” is an illusion, for the government seeks no peace, only more power that is bought at the end of a gun.

November 11, 2008

RE-BRANDING OPPRESSION

John Chuckman

There has been an ad on television recently, one featuring a young couple walking or drifting into a place of enchantment, a warm and colourful fantasy world, a kind of biblical Disneyland. Every step of their brief journey is met by people smiling warmly, moving slowly, even bowing, greeting them at each turn with Shalom!

It is interesting that all the faces in the ad are the same kind of faces we might see in New York or London, except that here they are all bathed in glowing antique light. We see no harsh fundamentalist types cutting down someone else’s olive groves and cursing anyone, even other Jews, as interlopers. We certainly see no arrogant settlers, strutting around with machine guns, sneering at the camera.

Oh yes, change is coming to the Middle East. Israel's friends will see to that. Will they? Livni tells Biden to stay tough on Iran.

Matthew Fisher | Jerusalem | November 11

Ottawa Citizen - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert came under fire in the Knesset yesterday for saying that in return for peace with the Palestinians, Israel must return some parts of Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights, which were captured by Israeli forces during the 1967 Six Day War.

"We were wrong; we did not see the big picture," Mr. Olmert said of the challenges that have arisen for Israel since more than 400,000 Jews moved into these areas, usually with government financial and political backing, over the past 40 years.

"We thought we could succeed in having a country which was Jewish, democratic, decent, violence-free, one which welcomed and embraced its neighbours within the borders of our sovereignty. It will not work. It is already not working. It claimed a price from us which we do not have the moral strength to bear -- and it will claim even heavier costs -- which will unravel the fragile bonds which still preserve the social solidarity of Israeli society ...

Linda Gradstein | Jerusalem | Nov 10

WaPo - When Jerusalemites go to the polls Tuesday to elect a new mayor, they will choose among a man on trial in France for arms trafficking and money laundering, a self-made millionaire who wants to build thousands of Jewish homes in the heart of an Arab neighborhood, and an ultra-Orthodox rabbi who won't put his picture on his campaign posters.

Nov 10

BBC - Israeli police have had to restore order at one of Christianity's holiest sites after a mass brawl broke out between monks in Jerusalem's Old City.

Fighting erupted between Greek Orthodox and Armenian monks at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional site of Christ's crucifixion.

Two monks from each side were detained as dozens of worshippers traded kicks and punches at the shrine, said police. video at linkl

Nidal al-Mughrabi | Nov 5

The Independent - Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip fired more than 35 rockets towards Israel today, the army and the Islamist group said, hours after the Israeli army killed six militants in the coastal territory.

An Israeli police spokesman said the rockets landed in southern Israel, causing no damage or injuries.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attacks, the first such announcement by the Islamist group since an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Israel went into effect on June 19.

Palestinian officials said they had been informed by Israel that all commercial border crossings with the Gaza Strip would remain closed on Wednesday in response to the rocket attacks.

Ashraf Khalil & Paul Richter | Washington/Jerusalem | Nov 2

LA Times - Officials say other nations quietly want Israel to act unilaterally against Tehran's nuclear ambitions. But an effective strike would be difficult and could stir up a wider conflict.

With international efforts to increase sanctions against Iran at a standstill, many Israelis believe their nation alone stands in the way of Tehran eventually building nuclear weapons.

But officials and analysts in Jerusalem also acknowledge that a unilateral attack is fraught with danger and might fail to cripple Iran's bomb-making abilities. Much of the international community quietly wants Israel to launch a strike, the officials say, but only if it succeeds.

Donald Macintyre | Jerusalem | Nov 1

The Independent - Benjamin Netanyahu, a front-runner for the Israeli premiership, has been severely criticised by a former Speaker of the Knesset and head of the Jewish Agency for comparing the threat posed by Iran to that of pre-war Nazi Germany.

Mr Netanyahu, whose Likud Party is running neck and neck in the polls with Kadima, led by Tzipi Livni, has gone further than his rivals in implying he might authorise a unilateral attack on Iranian nuclear installations.

Avraham Burg, whose new book The Holocaust Is Over: We Must Rise From Its Ashes is out in Britain this weekend, says in an interview with The Independent Magazine that the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is “no doubt a problem”. Mr Burg adds: “He is an issue in the Western world and for Israel’s sense of confidence in particular.” But he continues: “What is [Mr Netanyahu’s] soundbite? ‘It is [19]38 all over again. Do me a favour. Did we have such a powerful state in ’38? Did we have this onmipotent army in ’38? Did we have the most important superpowers siding with us in ’38? Did we have the Catholic church taking a |different attitude in ’38? It’s not ’38, however you look at it. And even Ahmadinejad, when you compare him with Hitler, you diminish Hitler.”

Mr Burg’s book, in part a plea to fellow Israelis more than 60 years after the Holocaust to stop seeing themselves as “a nation of victims”...

Ethan Bronner | Khirbet Qeiyafa, Israel | Oct 30

IHT - Overlooking the verdant Valley of Elah, where the Bible says David toppled Goliath, archaeologists are unearthing a 3,000-year-old fortified city that could reshape views of the period when David ruled over the Israelites. Five lines on pottery uncovered here appear to be the oldest Hebrew text ever found and are likely to have a major impact on knowledge about the history of literacy and alphabet development.

The five-acre site, with its fortifications, dwellings and multi-chambered entry gate, will also be a weapon in the contentious and often politicized debate over whether David and his capital, Jerusalem, were an important kingdom or a minor tribe, an issue that divides not only scholars but those seeking to support or delegitimize Zionism.

Only a tiny portion of the site has been excavated, and none of the findings have yet been published or fully scrutinized. But the dig, led by Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, is already causing a stir among his colleagues as well as excitement from those who seek to use the Bible as a guide to history and confirmation of their faith.

"This is a new type of site that suddenly opens a window on an area where we have had almost nothing and requires us to rethink what was going on at that period," said Aren Maeir, professor of archaeology at Bar-Ilan University and the director of a major Philistine dig not far from here. "This is not a run-of-the-mill find."

Well, Livni has failed to form a government, and President Peres has called for elections. There's still technically a chance that another bloc of parties could form a majority coalition government, but in the absence of that unlikely possibility we're looking at elections in February or March. Originally elections were not set to take place until 2010.

Gut instinct would tell me that Livni and Kadima are entering the election campaign in a bad position. With Olmert's scandals, a stalled peace process, and Livni's failure to put together a coalition, Kadima might appear to be stumbling. Also I've been hearing for months either that Likud outperforms Kadima in polls, or that the two parties are tied. But maybe my instincts are wrong: new polls show Livni beating Netanyahu.

Tzipi Livni failed to form a coalition government - reported to President Shimon Perez - Ehud Olmert will carry on as lame duck PM - snap elections scheduled for February '09 - Likud expected to go strong at polls - What progress is a peace-committed President Obama going to make with Benjamin Netanyahu as his counterpart in Israel?

The Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni, today abandoned her efforts to form a government, putting Israel on course for early elections and dashing any remaining hopes of a peace deal with Palestinians before the end of the year. Livni had been trying to secure a governing coalition since September when she was elected head of the ruling Kadima party to replace the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, who resigned his leadership this year amid a fraud investigation. But partners in the current coalition, which took power in May 2006, used the changing of the guard to press new demands. In a statement today, Livni said she was willing to make concessions but had to draw the line at "impossible" demands.

A couple of weeks ago I posted about young Americans abroad. One commenter said that some young Americans abroad "do get it," and followed it up by posting this link. I have no interest in denying the importance of the Holocaust. It was a hugely significant event that has shaped American foreign policy in many good ways but it has also warped it in ways that are hard to underestimate. (And I'll get to that in a moment.) But excuse me if I say I disagree. Visiting and understanding the past in Europe are important. Understanding the roots of the genocide committed against the Jews is important. But there is so much, much more to being a global citizen than visiting Europe and the sites of its darkest moments.

More after the jump

Rory McCarthy | Jerusalem | Oct 24

The Guardian - Israel moved closer to an early general election today when a key ultra-Orthodox party refused to join a new coalition government that the prime minister designate, Tzipi Livni, has spent weeks trying to put together.

The decision by Shas, a rightwing party that represents religious Jews from non-European backgrounds, means Livni faces the prospect of either forming a slim, weak coalition or failing outright, which would mean an election early next year. Livni said a decision would be reached by Sunday.

The negotiations were difficult from the start. Shas, as expected, made two key demands: a substantial increase in child allowances, which would benefit its supporters who tend to have larger, poorer families, and a promise that in any peace negotiations with the Palestinians the Israeli government would not agree to divide Jerusalem. Shas had reportedly asked for a 1bon shekels (£160m) in child allowances. Livni offered less money but proposed extending the jurisdiction of rabbinical courts in the hope of winning the party's favour.

Toni O'Loughlin | Jerusalem | Oct 20

The Guardian - Israeli leaders are considering reviving a 2002 peace plan that offered the Jewish nation a comprehensive end to its conflict with the Arab world, Israel's defence minister, Ehud Barak, said yesterday.

Talks with the Palestinians and Syrians have yielded little in almost a year so it may be time to consider the Saudi plan which offers Israel normal relations with all 22 Arab countries in exchange for a Palestinian state, Barak said. "We have a mutual interest with moderate Arab elements on the issues of Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas," Barak told Israeli radio.

He added that he had discussed the plan with Israel's prime minister elect, Tzipi Livni, who has also indicated a willingness to resuscitate the plan.

As Israel takes a step toward political cohesion, rivalry and violence continue in the occupied territories.

Foreign Minister and potential future Israeli Prime Minister Tzipi Livni has secured an agreement from the Labor Party to participate in a coalition government. Livni hopes to lock down the coalition before October 27, but she needs around 11 more seats - which means she must turn to the orthodox Shas Party, which has 12. Al Jazeera (see link above), the New York Times and the BBC all seem to think that Livni has a serious shot at holding off elections (in which Netanyahu would likely win, says the BBC), but the end of the month is approaching quickly.

Acre | October 11

Reuters - Rioters in northern Israel torched two houses and badly damaged several others in the third night of tensions between Jewish and Arab residents of Acre, officials said Saturday.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said Arab residents were evacuated before their homes were set alight and that nobody was injured. He said police remained on very high alert.

Sami Hawary, an Israeli-Arab resident of Acre who heads a group which works for cooperation between Arabs and Jews, said that during the early hours of Saturday angry Jewish residents set fire to two houses and damaged eight others.

"There were scores of angry Jewish residents, mainly younger people who set fire to the homes, the tension is very high here, things are on a knife-edge," Hawary told Reuters.

Jerusalem | Oct 5

NYT - In Israel's ultra-Orthodox Jewish community, where the rule of law sometimes takes a back seat to the rule of God, zealots are on a campaign to stamp out behavior they consider unchaste. They hurl stones at women for such ''sins'' as wearing a red blouse, and attack stores selling devices that can access the Internet.

In recent weeks, self-styled ''modesty patrols'' have been accused of breaking into the apartment of a Jerusalem woman and beating her for allegedly consorting with men. They have torched a store that sells MP4 players, fearing devout Jews would use them to download pornography.

''These breaches of purity and modesty endanger our community,'' said 38-year-old Elchanan Blau, defending the bearded, black-robed zealots. ''If it takes fire to get them to stop, then so be it.''

This is just sooo..Iranian ;)

Ashraf Khalil | Jerusalem | Oct 2

LA Times - Israel wants to buy 25 fighter jets equipped with the latest military technology from the United States with an option to purchase an additional 50 in a deal worth more than $15 billion, officials said.

The sale of the F-35, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, would be the first to a country outside of the U.S. and eight partner nations collaborating on the airplane, officials said. The other countries developing the plane are Britain, Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Turkey, Norway and Denmark.

The fighter jet is not yet in service and remains under development, with Lockheed Martin Corp. as the lead contractor. Plans call for the military to start flying the plane in 2010.

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which is responsible for foreign sales of military hardware, supports the transaction.

"It is vital to the U.S. national interest to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability," the agency said in a statement.

Ian Black | Oct 2

The Guardian - Middle Eastern countries should set up a new regional organisation that includes all Arab states as well as Israel, Iran and Turkey, pro-western Bahrain urged yesterday.

The call - which is likely to provoke controversy - came from Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, the Gulf state's foreign minister. "Why don't we all sit together even if we have differences and even if we don't recognise each other?" he told the London-based daily al-Hayat. "Why not become one organisation?

"Aren't we all members of a global organisation called the United Nations? Why not [come together] on a regional basis? This is the only way to solve our problems. There's no other way to solve them, now or in 200 years."

Asked if that should include Israel, he replied: "With Israel, Turkey, Iran and Arab countries. Let them all sit together in one group."

Joseph Nasr | Haifa | Oct 1

Reuters - For 15 years Israeli Saleh Abbasi has traded books between the Jewish state and its Arab neighbours, fostering a rare cultural link.

But in August Israeli authorities suddenly refused to renew his trading licence because he was trading with "enemy" states Lebanon and Syria, frustrating both Abbasi's business and the Arab and Israeli readers he has helped interest in each other's literary traditions.

"How can the People of the Book be against books?" Abbasi asked, evoking the Jewish Bible as the first monotheistic holy text. "Books are a bridge to peace between cultures."

An Israeli Trade Ministry spokeswoman declined to explain the timing of the ban. But she cited a recent legal opinion that forbade importing goods from four countries Israel views as enemies -- Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.