Archive for August 31, 2013

Putin impugns Obama’s veracity: Present evidence at UN of chemical weapons used by Assad

 

UN’s investigative team leaves Syria, indicating American-French attack may be imminent.

Poll shows most French against strike on Syria.

Several nations advise their citizens against traveling to Lebanon.

 

The UN experts investigating last week’s alleged chemical weapons strike outside Damascus left Syria early Saturday and crossed into neighboring Lebanon, departing hours after President Barack Obama said he is weighing “limited and narrow” action against a Syrian regime that the administration has bluntly accused of launching the deadly attack.

The convoy of UN experts cross into Lebanon at the Lebanese border crossing point of Masnaa

The convoy of UN experts cross into Lebanon at the Lebanese border crossing point of Masnaa, eastern Bekaa valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Aug.

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A Peek at United Hatzalah – Israel’s Rescue Squad

United Hatzalah’s motto: “The Faster you Respond, the More Lives you Save”

By Kochava Rozenbaum

 

Arutz Sheva visited United Hatzalah of Israel’s main center in Jerusalem, where over 2,000 people volunteer and answer hundreds of phone calls a day in order to save lives.

With Jay Leno - United Hatzalah Facebook page

With Jay Leno – United Hatzalah Facebook page

The center responds to over 650 calls daily from dozens of locations across the country. The 24/7 rescue team uses the “best” and most advanced technology, called the Moskowitz Life Compass. The team also uses the Israeli mobile navigation, Waze, in order for respondents to arrive as fast as possible. Continue Reading »

Report: Syria moving its prisoners to military targets as human shields

 

 

A British paper reports Syria buses filled with inmates were seen being moved to military targets to be exploited as human shields against any possible Western airstrike.

By Roi Kais

Thousands of Syrian prisoners have been moved to military targets to be used as human shields against Western air strikes, Britain’s Daily Mirror reported Friday.

Residents in Damascus Photo: Reuters)

Residents in Damascus – Photo: Reuters

According to the report, Damascus residents said they saw buses filled with inmates being taken from their cells to sites the regime believes could be targets.

The opposition Syrian National Coalition said: “Assad’s fascist regime is amassing activists and civilians in prisons in military locations that may be targets for foreign forces. Continue Reading »

Golan Druze now free to prefer Israel to Syria, in public

 

After 32 years of public anti-Israel rhetoric, the Druze of the Golan can now openly align with the Jewish state without Syrian retaliation.

By Aviel Schneider

 

 

In the shadow of the raging Syrian civil war, the 20,000 Druze who live in the Golan Heights are finally admitting publicly that they prefer life under Israeli sovereignty.

Golan Druze

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six Day War, and annexed the strategic plateau in 1981. All during that time, the Golan Druze leaned more anti-Israel for fear they would one day find themselves again under Syrian sovereignty. Continue Reading »

Western Wall opens temporary egalitarian section for the public

 

On its first day, the new section called “Ezrat Yisrael,” hosted 6 bar mitzvahs & weddings.

Bennett says he doesn’t want any controversy surrounding the temporary area, ahead of the Jewish High Holy Days.

By Yori Yalon & Israel Hayom Staff

 

On Thursday, Jerusalem’s new temporary egalitarian section at the Western Wall was opened to the public.

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Kerry: Syrian assault won’t be like Afghanistan, Iraq, or Libya

 

US Sec. of St. Kerry promises the American people that the U.S. military action in Syria will be “limited & tailored”.

By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF, MICHAEL WILNER
 

 

US Secretary of State John Kerry assured the war-weary American people on Friday that any decision the US would make on a military action in Syria would be a “limited and tailored response” and would not in any way resemble the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, nor its intervention to help topple former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

US Secretary of State John Kerry talking about possible US strike in Syria, August 30, 2013.

US Secretary of State John Kerry talking about possible US strike in Syria, August 30, 2013.

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With UK Retreat, France Supports U.S. Military Intervention in Syria

U.S. initiative to intervene militarily in Syria was received with French backing following the British parliament’s rejection of UK forces participation in the U.S.-led offensive.

By Ari Soffer

 

French President Francois Hollande gave a boost Friday to US hopes of forging an international coalition for possible strikes against Syria after British lawmakers rejected any involvement in military action.

UN Chemical weapons experts inspecting site of attack in Syria – Reuters

The White House had signalled Thursday that President Barack Obama, guided by the “best interests” of the United States, was ready to go it alone on Syria after deadly chemical weapons attacks last week.  Continue Reading »

Israel steaming after UK justifies Hezbollah’s terrorism

 

UK’s ambassador to Lebanon said Europe does not view Hezbollah ‘resistance’ to Israel as terrorism.

By Yossi Aloni

 

Israel filed a strong protest with the British government after the UK ambassador in Lebanon, Tom Fletcher, stated that the inclusion of Hezbollah’s military wing on the European Union’s list of terrorist organizations had nothing to do with Hezbollah’s “resistance” against Israel.

UK ambassador in Lebanon, Tom Fletcher

Flether made his remarks in an interview with Al-Monitor in Lebanon following the EU’s decision last month to finally include the military wing of Hezbollah in its list of terror organizations, a step most Arab states had taken long ago. Continue Reading »

Israelis prepare their homes for Rosh Hashana….and for war

 

Supermarket chain reports rise in sales of canned goods, bottled water & adhesive tape for gas-proofing rooms.

In addition to war preparations, Israelis are buying food & gifts for the Jewish New Year.

By Hili Yacobi

 

 

With tension in Syria rising and Rosh Hashana rapidly approaching, Israeli shoppers have been busy in recent days.

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U.S. President will visit Great Synagogue of Stockholm on Rosh Hashanah

During U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Sweden, he’s scheduled to visit the Great Synagogue of Stockholm on the Jewish New Year.

By JTA

 

President Barack Obama is slated to visit the Great Synagogue of Stockholm during his visit to Sweden.

Great Synagogue of Stockholm – Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Obama, who will arrive in the Swedish capital Wednesday on the eve of Rosh Hashanah, is en route to the G20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, Svenska Dagbladet reported Thursday.

The U.S. embassy in Stockholm confirmed that the president will visit the synagogue and a memorial monument for Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust.

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Feature: Safe or Free

 

In Israel, with the Arab Middle East exploding around us, with gov’ts from Egypt to Syria gleefully slaughtering their own citizens, with poison gas & G-d knows whatever horrific chemical weapons, the harbinger of a new war is ever present.

By Irwin Blank

 

Years ago someone defined the Cold War between the USA and the USSR as MAD-Mutually Assured Destruction. That both sides, having more than enough nuclear weapons to destroy each other several times over, an open armed conflict involving both nations, would end up with no victors, only losers. That to engage in a direct clash of arms between these two super powers could only end in the total eradication of not only both nations, but exterminate life on Earth as we know it. Continue Reading »

Egyptian marine security shoot 2 Gaza fishermen & detain 5 others

This armed confrontation is an example of deteriorating relations between Hamas and Egypt since ouster of Islamist Morsi and rejection of the Muslim Brotherhood.

By REUTERS
 

Egyptian naval police shot and wounded two Palestinian fishermen and detained five off the Gaza Strip on Friday, medics said, an incident that hinted at increased tension between Gaza’s Islamist Hamas rulers and Cairo.

A Palestinian boy fishes at the Gaza Seaport

A Palestinian boy fishes at the Gaza Seaport – Photo: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Fishermen from Gaza have often brought in catch from Egyptian territory to sidestep restrictions imposed by Israel’s naval blockade of the enclave. But Egypt has grown less tolerant of this practice since Islamist president Mohamed Morsi was toppled by the military almost two months ago.

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Healthier food for the IDF

 

IDF Technology & Logistics Branch are changing their soldiers’ diet from processed meats to grains, less fat & no preservatives.

By Reuven Weiss

The iconic IDF hotdogs are being replaced: The IDF’s Technology and Logistics Branch is overhauling soldiers’ diets, Yedioth Ahronoth reported. “This change, that has already begun, is meant to improve soldiers’ nourishment and make it healthier,” said Lieutenant Colonel Sandra Moshe, head of the branch’s food division.

Illustration Photo: Shutterstock

Illustration Photo: Shutterstock

“The changes include using healthier products, such as whole grain cereal, less fat and more olive oil, using low fat foods, and introducing foods with no preservatives.” Continue Reading »

Washington Post exposes U.S. counterintelligence operations against Israel

Washington Post revealed top secret files leaked by Snowden that show U.S. spy agencies devoted considerable funds & attention not just on America’s foes, but also to one of its closest allies.

 

The United States conducted counterintelligence operations against Iran, China and Cuba, but also against Israel, classified documents obtained by the Washington Post reveled on Thursday.

NSA headquarters building in Fort Meade, Maryland.

NSA headquarters building in Fort Meade, Maryland. – Photo: Reuters

 

The top secret 178-page summary for the U.S. government’s National Intelligence Program, which was leaked by former CIA contractor Edward Snowden, maps a bureaucratic and operational landscape that has never been subject to public scrutiny. Continue Reading »

Interior Minister Saar: Returning to ‘1967 Borders’ Are Out of the Question

Interior Minister Saar said that Israel will never agree to the Abbas’ demands that Israel withdraw to the indefensible 1949 Armistice Line, the ‘Auschwitz borders’.

By Elad Benari

 

Interior Minister Gideon Saar (Likud) said on Thursday that Israel will never agree to pull back to the indefensible pre-1967 borders as part of a peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Saar made the remarks during a toast in honor of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) which he hosted in Tel Aviv. The event was attended by ministers, Knesset members and mayors.

Saar explained that Israel was obliged to resume negotiations with the PA in order to maintain a series of security and international interests, but stressed that this time around it was necessary to negotiate using a different approach. Continue Reading »