Archive for Mid-East News

| May 14, 2013
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Int’l Criminal Court opens investigation of Gaza flotilla fiasco

International Criminal Court’s prosecutor obliged to open investigation after request from Comoros, an Indian Ocean island nation, to which one of the vessels Israel raided in 2010 was registered.

Few preliminary probes lead to a full investigation, let alone trial.

By Reuters

The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor said on Tuesday she would open a preliminary examination into the events surrounding the 2010 Israel Navy raid on a Turkish-flagged aid flotilla to the Gaza Strip.

Mavi Marmara AP 22.5.10

Mavi Marmara taken on May 22, 2010 – Photo: AP

 

Nine Turkish citizens died during the raid on the flotilla, which set out from Turkey to the Gaza. Continue Reading »

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| May 14, 2013
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Putin Greets Netanyahu in Russia for talks on Syria

Israel’s PM expected to ask Putin not to carry out S-300 air defense systems sale to Assad, fearing the deal would complicate future foreign intervention in ending Syrian war.

By Attila Somfalv

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday at Putin’s residence in Sochi.

(צילום: EPA)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said upon meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin that he was pleased at the opportunity to discuss instability at the Middle East with Russia. The Russian president thanked the prime minister for accepting the invitation to visit Russia.

The two are expected to discuss developments in Syria and the reported deal between Russia and Bashar Assad’s regime. Continue Reading »

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| May 14, 2013
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Palestinian gov’t official to Israel: Beware! We are Enemies

Palestinian official Rajoub, interviewed on Lebanese TV, breaks from moderate tone of PA leaders saying, ‘Palestinians are the enemies of Israel & if we had nuclear weapons, we would use them against Israel’

By Elior Levy

Rajoub, one of several Palestinian leaders who signed the Geneva Initiative, had stated on previous occasions that he was interested in peace with Israel.

Jibril Rajoub - YouTube screenshot

Jibril Rajoub, a Fatah Central Committee member who recently visited Lebanon, said in an interview with the Hezbollah affiliated television network Al Mayadeen, “We the Palestinians are the enemies of Israel.”

In the interview, which took place earlier this month, Rajoub emphasized that Fatah now supports popular resistance, but has not abandoned the idea of armed resistance. Continue Reading »

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| May 14, 2013
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Turkish F-16 jet goes down, pilot ejects near Syrian border

Turkey’s military said it lost contact with the pilot of a F-16 jet over a mountainous area about 30 miles from the Syrian border in what is thought to be an accident.

By News Agencies

 

Turkey’s military says it has lost contact with a fighter plane in southern Turkey, in what is likely an accident, Turkey’s NTV television cited military sources as saying Monday.

A Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet - AP

A Turkish Air Force F-16 fighter jet. – Photo: AP

A military statement said it lost contact with the F-16 jet over a mountainous area in Osmaniye province, about 30 miles from the border with Syria. Continue Reading »

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| May 13, 2013
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Canada finally deports 1968 Palestinian El Al hijacking murderer

Palestinian who killed Israeli man on El Al flight from Athens in 1968 & caught living under false identity in Canada, was deported to Lebanon after fighting in court for 25 years.

By REUTERS


OTTAWA After a 25-year legal battle, Canada has finally deported a Palestinian convicted of an attack on an Israeli airliner in 1968, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said on Monday.

EL AL planes lie at rest at Ben-Gurion Airport earlier this week due to a strike

EL AL planes parked at Ben-Gurion Airport due to a strike – Photo: REUTERS

Mahmoud Mohammad Issa Mohammad, a former Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine commando, took part in the assault on an El Al jet in Athens that killed an Israeli man.

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| May 13, 2013
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‘Typical’ or ‘Crazy’ to have Iran Head of UN Disarmament Panel?

Iran’s upcoming status as head of the UN disarmament body sparked protest Monday from the NGO, UN Watch.

By Arutz 7 Staff

 

Iran’s looming status as head of a UN disarmament body sparked outrage Monday from campaigners who said its nuclear program and arming of Syria and Islamist militias disqualified it from a place at the table. “This is like putting Jack the Ripper in charge of a women’s shelter,” said Hillel Neuer, head of Geneva-based UN Watch, announcing that the organization would organize protest events involving Iranian dissidents.

UN General Assembly

The leadership of the UN Conference on Disarmament rotates automatically in alphabetical order among its 65 member nations, and Iran is scheduled to take the helm on May 27 for a session running until June 23. Continue Reading »

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| May 13, 2013
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Syria tells Israel it may enter Golan at any time

Syrian Information Minister: “We have the right to go in and out of it whenever we want and however we please.”

By JTA

JERUSALEM — A Syrian government official warned that his country can enter the Israeli-held Golan Heights at any time.

UNDOF soldiers watching for rebel fighters who've infiltrated the Golan Heights DMZ - Photo Israel Today

UNDOF soldiers watching for rebel fighters who’ve infiltrated the Golan Heights DMZ – Photo Israel Today

“The Golan is Syrian Arab territory and will remain so, even if the Israeli army is stationed there,” Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said Sunday at a news conference in Damascus. “We have the right to go in and out of it whenever we want and however we please.”

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| May 13, 2013
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Everyone Blames Israel: Rebel leader says Israel wants Assad kept in power

Rebel militia

commander

 claims alleged Israeli airstrikes in Damascus were aimed at preventing weapons from falling into rebel hands.

 

He went on to says Jerusalem is cooperating with Iran & Hezbollah to keep Assad in power.

By Ynet

 

 

The commander of a Syrian rebel militia is claiming that the alleged Israeli airstrikes in Damascus were meant to prevent rebels from seizing Assad’s weapons caches, Turkey’s Today Zaman reported Sunday.

 SA 17

Abdul Qader Saleh, commander of the Al-Tawhid Brigade, told the Turkish news agency Cihan that Bashar Assad‘s regime has in fact already been defeated and that Iran and Hezbollah , with Israel’s backing, are preventing his downfall. Continue Reading »

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| May 13, 2013
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Fatah accepts Arab League’s peace proposal

Fatah Central Council welcomes both the US & Arab League’s efforts to revive peace process.

But list of unreasonable preconditions demanded on Israel makes any initiative moot. 

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

 

 

The Fatah Central Council has accepted the Arab League’s latest proposal for land swaps with Israel.

A Palestinian shouts as he holds a Fatah flag at the funeral of terrorist Maissara Abu Hamdiyeh.

A Palestinian shouts as he holds a Fatah flag at the funeral of terrorist Maissara Abu Hamdiyeh. – Photo: Mussa Qawasma/Reuters

Following a meeting in Ramallah late Saturday, members of the council also welcomed US efforts to revive the peace process with Israel.

The announcement is seen as a boost for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who has been facing criticism from some Fatah officials for supporting the land swap idea.

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| May 12, 2013
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EU’s possible ban of only Hezbollah’s theoretically independent military wing

EU expected to allow Shi’ite Lebanese group’s political arm to operate as legal organization, even though it’s fund-raising facilitates terrorism.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, BERLIN, & JONNY PAUL, LONDON

 

 

 

The European Union has moved toward a consensus on outlawing the armed wing of Hezbollah, with its inclusion on the EU terror list slated to take place in late 2013.

Lebanon's Hezbollah supporters gesture as they march in Beirut, November 2011

Lebanon’s Hezbollah supporters gesture as they march in Beirut, November 2011 – Photo: Reuters/Khalil Hassan

The EU plans to endorse the UK’s model of proscribing Hezbollah’s military wing as a terror entity while permitting the Shi’ite Lebanese group’s political arm to operate as a legal organization, sources well-versed in the inner workings of EU discussions on the matter told The Jerusalem Post last week.

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| May 12, 2013
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Assad’s Facebook page smears Israeli that aids Syrian refugees

Syrian President’s personal Facebook page posts photo of Israeli Moti Kahana, who told Ynet of his Syrian relief plan in aiding refugees.

Kahana: Assad’s attention is encouraging

By Yitzhak Benhorin

WASHINGTON – Though Assad and his men are fighting a bloody civil war, it appears they still find the time to read Ynet reports and comment on them on President Bashar Assad‘s personal Facebook page.

התמונה שפורסמה בעמוד הפייסבוק של אסד (צילום: יצחק בן-חורין)

The photo – Photo: Yitzhak Benhorin

Following a report on Friday on Moti Kahana, an Israeli businessman who aids Syrian refugees, Assad’s page quickly posted the Israeli’s photo from the story, showing him hoisting the Free Syria flag. Continue Reading »

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| May 12, 2013
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11th Saudi Aid Convoy Enters the ‘Besieged’ Gaza Strip

In spite of claims by Hamas that Israel is keeping Gaza under “siege”, a Saudi convoy carrying medical aid arrives from Egypt.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

Despite claims by Gaza’s Hamas terrorist rulers that Israel is keeping the region under “siege”, a convoy carrying medical aid from Saudi Arabia, the 11th one in recent weeks, arrived at the coastal enclave on Saturday.

Arab affairs expert Dalit Halevi reports that the Saudi convoy includes 10 tons of medicines and medical equipment. It was transferred to the El-Arish airport in Egypt and from there was taken to Gaza in coordination with the Egyptian Red Crescent in North Sinai and the Palestinian Authority’s Red Crescent. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| May 11, 2013
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Since the PA won’t hold overdue elections, on ‘reality TV’ they do

 

The ‘reality TV’ program “The President” is broadcast weekly & offers participants a chance to address the Palestinian people on what they would do on a variety of subjects if elected to replace Mahmoud Abbas.

The winner will be determined in late June & travel the world as an ‘honorary’  ambassador.

By The Associated Press & Israel Hayom Staff

 

The Palestinians haven’t elected a president since 2005, but now they are finally getting a chance to do so — virtually — thanks to a hit reality TV show.

Palestinian contestant Soaar Salman stands in front of the judges during the taping of the program “The President” in Bethlehem – Photo: AP

“The President” is broadcast weekly on Maan TV, a popular independent Palestinian TV station in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| May 11, 2013
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Newseum maintains decision to keep Hamas ‘terrorists’ on honor list

The media museum in Washington D.C., stands by its decision to honor 2 Hamas members killed by Israel.

By JTA Staff

 

NEW YORK – The Newseum, a media museum in Washington D.C., has stood by its decision to include two Palestinian ‘terrorists’ on its list honoring journalists killed in the line of duty.

Newseum upholds Palestinian terrorists.

Newseum upholds Palestinian terrorists decision. – Photo: JTA

A spokesperson for the museum said the two, who died in an Israeli airstrike on their vehicle in Gaza last November, would remain on its roll of slain reporters despite protests from Israel’s embassy in Washington.

“Hussam Salama and Mahmoud Al-Kumi were cameramen in a car clearly marked “TV.”’

Continue Reading »
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| May 11, 2013
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Syrian-Palestinian terror group says units forming to fight for the Golan

Palestinian terror group, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) said that after nearly 40 years of quiet on the Syria-Israel border, it was now preparing for new (terrorist) operations .

By Reuters

 

 

A militant Palestinian group in Damascus said it is forming combat units to try to recapture Israeli-occupied territory, in particular the Golan Heights, after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah that they would support such operations.

The Golan Heights.


A picture taken from the Israeli side of the border shows a Syrian woman waking near the Syria-Israel boundary fence in the Golan Heights near the southern Syrian village of Ar Rafide, May 7, 2013.

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