Archive for March 11, 2012

| March 11, 2012
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Clinton: Israel has the Right to Defend Itself

EU’s Catherine Ashton urges “all sides” to re-establish calm. PA’s Abbas blames Israel.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday condemned the rocket fire from Gaza onto Israel while meeting with opposition leader Tzipi Livni in New York. Clinton said Israel has the right to defend itself. Livni thanked Clinton, saying “the international community must speaking out clearly, in one voice, against terror against the citizens of Israel’s South.”

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton Reuters

Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, maintained neutrality in her statement Saturday:

“The EU is following with concern the recent escalation of violence in Gaza and in the south of Israel. Continue Reading »

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| March 10, 2012
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Report: Hamas leaders head to Cairo

Arab media outlets say delegation of senior Hamas members arrive in Egypt in order to discuss escalation between Palestinians, Israel

 

Arab media reported Saturday that a delegation of Hamas leaders headed by Mahmoud al-Zahar, have left the Gaza Strip for Cairo in order to discuss the escalation in violence between the Palestinians and Israel, and the energy crisis in the Strip.

According to the reports, the delegation also includes other top Hamas officials.

The latest round of violence, which began on Friday after the assassination of Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) commander Zuhir al-Qaisi, has resulted in the deaths of 15 Palestinian terrorists and more than 100 rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »

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| March 10, 2012
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Palestinians fire 92 rockets at southern Israel

Iron Dome intercepts 25 rockets aimed at city centers; 8 injured, including 1 critically from rocket shrapnel on Friday night in rural region; Safety instructions in place for residents living within 40 km of Gaza.

Car damaged from Gaza rocket on March 10, 2012

Car damaged from Gaza rocket on March 10, 2012 - Photo By IDF Spokesman's Office

 

Palestinian terrorists in Gaza targeted cities, towns, and farming regions in southern Israel with waves of rockets throughout Friday and Saturday, setting off air raid sirens and injuring eight people

Ninety two rockets – Kassams and the longer-range Grads – were fired by midday Saturday at civilian regions. Of those, the Iron Dome anti-rocket system intercepted 25 projectiles heading directly into city centers in Ashdod, Beersheba and Ashkelon.

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| March 10, 2012
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Obama makes the case for an Israeli strike on Iran

 

Obama makes the case for an Israeli strike on Iran

By: Caroline Glick

Obama tough talk.jpg
   In his commentary in Maariv’s Friday news supplement, the paper’s senior diplomatic commentator Ben Caspit laid out a hypothetical lecture that Obama might give Netanyahu when the two leaders meet alone in the Oval Office this afternoon. In Caspit’s scenario, Obama used the one-on-one to set out the law to the Israeli premier. If you bomb Iran’s nuclear installations before the November elections, in my second term Israel will no longer be able to buy spare parts for its weapons systems from the US. So too, Caspit’s Obama said, the US will end its support for Israel at the UN Security Council if Israel dares to take it upon itself to prevent Iran from crossing the nuclear threshold before the US elections.
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| March 10, 2012
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80 rockets fired at Israel since Friday

Palestinians launch rockets, mortar shells at Israel’s south prompting IAF to strike Gaza terror cells, killing 12 Islamic Jihad operatives. Iron Dome intercepts Grads fired at Ashdod, Beersheba

 

Palestinians from northern Gaza fired rockets at Beersheba, Ashdod and Gan Yavne early Saturday morning as the Color Red alert was sounded across Israel‘s southern cities.

Iron Dome Photo: Avi Rokach

Iron Dome - Photo by Avi Rokach

The IDF estimates that over 80 rockets have been fired at Israel since Friday, 65 exploded in the south. A Home Front Command official said: “The Command’s instructions have proven to save lives and they should be followed. Continue Reading »

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| March 10, 2012
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U.S. senator calls for naval blockade of Iran

Chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee says blockade should precede military action, in bid to pressure Iran to cease its drive for nuclear weapons.

An international naval blockade of Iranian oil exports should be considered before any resort to air strikes against the country’s disputed nuclear program, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee said on Friday.

Iran Navy Jan. 3, 2012 (Reuters)

Iranian naval vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, Jan. 3, 2012. - Photo by: Reuters

“That’s, I think, one option that needs to be considered” to boost pressure on Iran to curb its nuclear program in line with UN Security Council resolutions, Democratic Senator Carl Levin said in an interview taped for C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program. Continue Reading »

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| March 10, 2012
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Hamas Beats Reporters in Gaza

Three reporters covering a mass wedding in Gaza City were brutally beaten by Hamas security forces.

Three reporters were attacked by Hamas security forces while covering a mass wedding in Gaza City on Thursday.

Reports identified the three as local Sky News reporter Mohammad al-Mashharawi, BBC reporter Adnan al-Dorosh and Amer Abu Omar, a Gaza-based journalist.

Witnesses told the Bethleham-based Maan News Agency that the the three were severely beaten in a nearby playground.

The Palestine News Network said that al-Mashharawi was detained by Hamas and that his location is currently unknown.

Gaza’s Ministry of Interior issued a statement shortly after the incident condemning the attack. Continue Reading »

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| March 10, 2012
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Gaza militants fire rockets at Israeli south; casualties, damage reported

More than 40 rockets fired into southern Israel; eight people wounded, one seriously; Iron Dome intercepts six rockets fired at Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Be’er Sheva; Israel launches Gaza strikes and kills three Islamic Jihad militants.

 

Rocket barrage from Gaza continues. Over 40 rockets were fired from Gaza to Israel’s southern cities and towns. Eight people were injured, some damage was reported.

Rockets had also fallen in Be’er Sheva, Ashdod, Kiryat Malachi, Netivot, and Ashkelon; these rockets either fell in open area or were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, causing no damage, or casualties.

rocket Casualty - Eli Hershkovitz - 10092012
 Casualty from rocket barrage fired from Gaza being rushed to hospital.
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Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| March 10, 2012
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“You Don’t Use a Neutron Generator to Make Popcorn”

Former Chief of Staff to PM Netanyahu: Iran’s headed for nuclear weapons. Devastating sanctions are needed now.

 

Naftali Bennett, former Chief of Staff for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, responded on Thursday to the reports that Iran had cleaned up the Parchin military site from radioactive traces possibly left by tests of a nuclear-weapon trigger.

Naftali Bennett, former Chief of Staff for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu

Naftali Bennett, former Chief of Staff for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu

Speaking to Fox News, Bennett explained that there is no other explanation for the evidence that was found other than the fact that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon.

“As the UN inspector said, the Iranians are testing a neutron generator,” Bennett said. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News, Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| March 9, 2012
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IDF foils major attack; kills 2 terrorists in Gaza strike

Air strike kills PRC commander Qaisi, who was at final stages of planning large-scale terror attack against Israeli targets, says IDF; Ahmad Hanini, released in Schalit prisoner swap also killed in blast.

Palestinians look at the remains of exploded vehic

Palestinians look at the remains of exploded vehic - Photo By REUTERS

 

The IAF struck a vehicle in Gaza on Friday, killing two senior officials of the Popular Resistance Committee (PRC), in a move to thwart a large-scale terror attack that was in its last stages of preparation, according to the IDF spokesperson.

The IDF confirmed that the two killed in the attack were: commander of the PRC Zuhair Qaisi; and Ahmad Hanini, a senior PRC member freed in the Schalit prisoner swap.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| March 9, 2012
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Judean Desert eagles at risk

Nature and National Parks Service warns Israel’s eagle population in danger of disappearing

 

Israel Nature and National Parks Service has expressed serious concern over the country’s dwindling eagle population, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Disappearing? Photo: Israel Nature and National Parks Service

Disappearing? Photo: Israel Nature and National Parks Service

According to the NNPS, while some 380 eagles roamed Israel’s skies in 1999, in 2010 there were only 70 eagles in northern Israe and 87 in its south, and in 2011 their numbers dropped to an alarming 49 in the south and 63 in the north.

The NNPS noted that some of the eagles were affected by the urban sprawl biting into their natural habitat, others were poached and some were poisoned due to the State’s faulty enforcement of preservations laws, especially in areas where farmers illegally spread poison to ward animals away from crops. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News |
| March 9, 2012
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Israel is only Mideast state safe for Christians, envoy to U.S. says

In Wall Street Journal op-ed, Michael Oren compares what he calls the current repression of Christians in the Muslim world to the expulsion of Jews from Arab states.

 

Israel is the only country in the Middle East that is safe for Christians, Israel’s ambassador to the United States Michael Oren wrote in an op-ed column for the Wall Street Journal on Friday, comparing what he said was the suppression of Christian communities in Arab states to the twentieth-century expulsion of Jews from these nations.

Ambassador Michael Oren

Ambassador Michael Oren - Photo by: Natasha Mozgovaya

In his article, Oren cited the continuing violence against Egypt’s Coptic Christians, the burning of Iraqi churches, a Saudi ban on Christian worship and the desecration of the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank as instances indicating a threat to Christianity in the Muslim world, adding that conversion “to Christianity is a capital offense in Iran, where last month Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani was sentenced to death.” Continue Reading »

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| March 9, 2012
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PA to Israel: Release Prisoners, Then We’ll Talk Peace

Fatah yet again demands that Israel release terrorists as a condition for peace negotiations

The leadership of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement is once again demanding that Israel release terrorist prisoners as a condition for peace talks, it was reported on Thursday.

Abbas opens up Doha conference - Photo by Reuters

According to the report on Kol Yisrael radio, among the prisoners the Fatah is demanding to be released is Ahmed Saadat, who heads the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and who planned the assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi in 2001.

Saadat was sentenced in 2008 to 30 years in prison for heading the PFLP. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| March 9, 2012
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Israeli women join ‘Slutwalk’ protest movement

Movement started in Canada in response to policeman’s comment that to avoid being attacked women shouldn’t dress like sluts.

Slutwalk Toronto

Slutwalk in Toronto - Photo By REUTERS/Mark Blinch

 

Less than a year after a group of Canadian women held the Slutwalk protest in response to a policeman’s comment that if women want to avoid being attacked they should not dress like sluts, Israel is poised to follow suit with its first Mitzad Sharmuta (Slutwalk) next week.

“The problem here is that rape is often seen as being the fault of the woman and during court cases or investigations there is always reference to how many partners she might have had in the past or how she was dressed, but that is just not relevant,” Ya’ara Liebermann-Callif, one of the women involved in organizing next Friday’s Slutwalk in Tel Aviv, told The Jerusalem Post in an interview Thursday.

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| March 9, 2012
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Israeli expert forced to cancel lecture in Jordan

Hundreds of enraged Jordanian students protest Israeli expert’s participation in conference, succeed in canceling his lecture

 

Cold peace: Hundreds of Jordanian students rallied outside Amman’s University of Jordan on Thursday in protest of a scheduled lecture by an Israeli expert at a mental health conference.

Protest in Jordan university

Protest in Jordan university

The protesters demanded that Dr. Gideon Anholt’s lecture be canceled and called on authorities to expel the Israeli ambassador from Jordan and cancel the 1994 peace treaty.

A university official met with the protesters and promised to cancel the Ben-Gurion University lecturer’s appearance so as not to disrupt the conference. Protesters bragged they succeeded in cancelling “the Zionist’s lecture” on Facebook. Continue Reading »

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