Archive for October 21, 2012

After slain Lebanese official’s funeral, protesters try to storm PM’s office

Lebanon opposition leader Saad Hariri urges his supporters to pull back as heavy gunfire erupts in Beirut, with security forces using tear gas & firing into the air.

 

Heavy gunfire erupted in central Beirut on Sunday after protesters tried to storm the offices of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, demanding that he quit over the assassination of a top intelligence official.

Lebanese protestes wave Syrian revolutionary flags, national flags and Islamic flags

Lebanese protestes wave Syrian revolutionary flags, national flags and Islamic flags as they gather in Martyrs’ Square at funeral for the country’s intelligence chief, Brig. Gen. Wissam Hassan. – Photo by AP

Witnesses said at least two people had fainted, apparently as a result of tear gas fired by security forces after protesters breached an outer barrier around the prime minister’s offices. Continue Reading »

European Parliament to Vote on Israeli Medical Imports

European Parliament is to vote on whether to allow Israeli medical imports, or continue to support the Palestine Solidarity Campaign lobby & to boycott.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

Europeans are to vote this week on whether to allow Israeli medical imports, or continue to support the Palestine Solidarity Campaign lobby.

The vote by the European Parliament in Strasbourg is on the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance  (ACAA) of industrial products between Israel and the EU. If approved, Israel will export to Europe thousands of euros’ worth of life-saving medications at a much lower price, due to the ability of generic pharmaceutical firm Teva to produce them. Continue Reading »

Fatah wins West Bank elections, but not by a landslide

Palestinians in the West Bank vote for mayors & local councils for 1st time since 2006

Just under 55% voted & renegades won more council seats than those officially endorsed by Fatah.

By The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

 

Palestinians voted for local councils in dozens of towns in the West Bank on Saturday, but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement did not get the sweeping endorsement they hoped for — even though archrival Hamas boycotted the vote.

Maysoun Qawasmi, a candidate in the Palestinian municipal elections and leading the women-only list, casts her ballot in Hebron on Saturday.

Continue Reading »

The Sunday Times: Dagan faces threat from Iranian assassination squad

The Sunday Times: Mossad has sent enough agents to Minsk “not only to defend the hospital but the entire city.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Former Mossad chief and Yesh Sikuy director Meir Dagan is facing the threat of assassination by an Iranian hit squad as he recovers from a liver transplant in Belarus, The Sunday Times reported.

Meir Dagan with PM Binyamin Netanyahu. - Photo: REUTERS

Meir Dagan with PM Binyamin Netanyahu. – Photo: REUTERS

After Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko revealed last week that Meir Dagan was recovering in a hospital in Minsk, Israeli officials immediately increased his protection, The Times reported. It added that sources indicated Iran, or its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, would try to kill him.

Continue Reading »

‘We were tasered’ say Estelle activist

Pro-Palestinian activist accused IDF soldiers of using stun guns as they seized Gaza-bound vessel

Roee Idan

 

Activists who were detained aboard the Estelle, a Gaza-bound ship that was seized but the Israel Navy on Saturday, accused the soldiers of using taser guns to overpower them, Ynet learned Sunday.

Pro-Palestinian Israeli activist Yonatan Shapira, who was detained by the military, told his mother, Dr. Zvia Shapira, that soldiers used stun guns to subdue the activists.

The IDF said Saturday that the vessel was seized without the use of force.

Shapira called his mother from the Ashdod Police station, where he and Israeli activists Elik Yehezkel and Reut Mor were taken after they were detained. Continue Reading »

IDF Reports: No Humanitarian Aid on Estelle Ship

The IDF has confirmed that the boat which sought to break Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza had no humanitarian aid on board.

By Elad Benari

 

The IDF has confirmed that there was no humanitarian aid whatsoever on the Estelle, the boat which sought to break Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza.

The Estelle

The Estelle – IDF Spokesman

Earlier on Saturday, Israeli troops boarded the boat, which was carrying 17 passengers, among them five parliamentarians from Europe and a former Canadian lawmaker. The IDF said the boarding was carried out only after “numerous calls to the passengers onboard” which went unanswered. Continue Reading »

Massive natn’l exercise to simulate 7,000 deaths in devastating ‘earthquake’

“Turning Point 6” set to begin Sunday nation-wide, will last for 4 days & drill emergency teams, schools & citizens on how to act during a devastating earthquake

According to scenario, 170,000 people will become homeless.

By Lilach Shoval

 

The ground will “shake” this coming Sunday morning, at least in theory: The Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces Homefront Command are making the final preparations for a massive country-wide drill simulating a large-scale, devastating earthquake.

The training exercise, titled Turning Point 6, is scheduled to conclude on Thursday.

Soldiers from the IDF Homefront Command training for the “earthquake” they will face during Turning Point 6 next week.

Continue Reading »

Israelis & Lebanese irked by ‘Homeland’

U.S. TV series about Arab terrorists, American turncoats inadvertently becomes tale of 2 cities: Beirutis are angry over misleading depiction of their city as swarming with terrorists; Israelis are peeved that Tel Aviv & Haifa appear to be Middle Eastern after all

Associated Press

 

Militants carrying assault weapons clear the area around a street, shouting in Arabic for people to get out of the way. A jeep pulls up: The world’s No. 1 jihadi has arrived for a meeting with top Hezbollah commanders. On rooftops, US snipers crouch unseen, the kingpin in their crosshairs at last.

The scene, from a recent episode of the hit US Showtime series “Homeland,” is supposed to be Beirut. Continue Reading »

Gaza-bound ship ‘Estelle’ boarded by Israeli Navy

Israel’s Navy seizes ship carrying 30 pro-Palestinian activists, from breaking blockade of Gaza.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

The Israeli navy boarded the Gaza-bound “Estelle” ship seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza, an army spokesperson confirmed at 11:40 am on Saturday.

Navy boards Gaza bound ship – Photo: IDF

The army said the soldiers seized control of the ship, which is carrying pro-Palestinian activists, in accordance with the government’s decision and international law, diplomatic efforts to prevent the vessel from reaching Gaza’s shore had failed.

“When the passengers made it clear that they would not cooperate or accept the invitation to sail to southern port of Ashdod, it was decided to seize the vessel and rerouted to the Ashdod,” the army said in a statement. Continue Reading »

Beirut Terrorist Blast Kills Top Lebanese Security Officer

General Wissam al-Hassan, the intelligence chief of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces, among dead in blast in Beirut.

By Elad Benari, Canada

 

A top security official linked to the anti-Damascus camp in Lebanon was among those killed in a powerful car bomb in Beirut on Friday, officials told AFP.

General Wissam al-Hassan – AFP/File

The rush-hour bombing in the predominantly Christian district of Ashrafieh killed at least two other people and wounded 96, Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil told reporters at the scene.

A government official said the intelligence chief of Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces, General Wissam al-Hassan, was among the dead in one of the highest-profile killings since the 2005 murder of former premier Rafiq Hariri. Continue Reading »

Jimmy Carter to visit Egypt & Israel

The Elders, a group of past heads of state that advocates for peace announced their visit Thursday.

 

Former United States President Jimmy Carter will travel to Egypt and Israel next week, where he will advocate for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. – Photo by Reuters

A group of past heads of state that advocates for peace called The Elders announced the visit Thursday.

Its news release says Carter will be joined by former Norway prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland and ex-president of Ireland Mary Robinson. The three belong to The Elders. Continue Reading »

Donated Qatari Fuel to Enter Gaza

PA official: Israel allowing donated fuel by Qatar to be pumped into Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing.

By Elad Benari

 

Despite ongoing rocket attacks by Gaza-based terrorists at southern Israel, Israel will allow fuel donated by Qatar to be pumped into Gaza via an Israeli crossing starting on Sunday.

The information was disclosed by a Palestinian Authority official who spoke to the Bethlehem-based Ma’an news agency on Thursday.

Delivery of Qatari fuel began in July, Ma’an reported, but was cut off after a border attack on Egyptian officers on August 5.

The official, Nazmi Muhanna, told the news agency that fuel supplies will resume Sunday after delivery from Egypt and through the Israeli Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. Continue Reading »

An Arab Maverick Who’s Pro-Israel

Bucking convention from his village of Arara, Yousef Juhja sent three sons to join the IDF—and one paid the ultimate price.

Yousef Juhja’s cell phone number ends, coincidentally, with the digits 1948. It’s the year of his birth and that of the Jewish state—and for most of Juhja’s fellow Israeli Arabs, the year of the Nakba, the catastrophe of national dispossession and the dispersion of their Palestinian kin.

Standing by the Memorial: Yousef’s son Sa’id fell in the line of duty, blown up by explosives packed in a tunnel dug by Palestinian terrorists under a sentry box in Rafiah, Gaza in December, 2004. - Photo & caption: Lydia Aisenberg

Standing by the Memorial: Yousef’s son Sa’id fell in the line of duty, blown up by explosives packed in a tunnel dug by Palestinian terrorists under a sentry box in Rafiah, Gaza in December, 2004.

Continue Reading »

Cypriot agents foiled a terrorist attack against Israeli tourists

Cypriot media says agents discovered 100 grams of explosives at Limassol port targeting cruise ships carrying Israeli tourists.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

The Cypriot secret service foiled a terrorist attack against Israeli interests at the seaport of the country’s capital city Limassol, Cypriot daily Alithia reported on Thursday.

Cyprus port of Limmasol - Photo: Reuters

Cyprus port of Limmasol – Photo: Reuters

Cypriot agents discovered 100 grams of explosives they say was meant to target cruise ships carrying Israeli tourists in Cyprus and in other countries.

The IDF had no comment on the report.

Last month, Israel asked security forces around the world, including in Cyprus and Greece, to increase protection for Israeli tourists ahead of the High Holy Days.

Continue Reading »

IDF generals argue over Israeli-Canadian ‘deserter’

While soldiers watching, Chief military prosecutor Efroni tells army’s Personnel Directorate head Barbivai her decision to release ‘draft-dodger’ half way before the end of sentence sends ‘wrong message’

By Yoav Zitun

 

A heated argument erupted on Wednesday between IDF Military Advocate General Brigadier General Danny Efroni and IDF Personnel Directorate chief Maj. Gen. Orna Barbivai over the latter’s decision to grant clemency to Yana Gorelik, the 30-year old Canadian-Israeli who was imprisoned for allegedly dodging the IDF draft.

Yana Gorelik Photo: Moti Kimhi

Yana Gorelik – Photo: Moti Kimhi

The argument took place following the traditional basketball game between IDF generals and former Maccabi Tel Aviv players during Combat Fitness Day at the Wingate Institute. Continue Reading »