Archive for Mid-East News

| December 11, 2014
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Jordanian Gov’t Defends Israel Gas Deal From Domestic Opposition

Jordanian parliamentary opposition to their gas deal with Israel grows as public protests & lawmakers attempt to cancel the deal.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

Jordanian plans to buy gas from Israel have aroused fierce opposition in the kingdom at a time of mounting criticism of the Jewish state’s policies toward Palestinians.

Jordan's parliament

Jordan’s parliament – Reuters

Parliament began debating the proposed gas deal on Tuesday, after 79 lawmakers in the 150-seat house filed a motion calling for it to be scrapped.

“Gas supply is part of national security, so how can we link it to an enemy who does not respect its commitments?”

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| December 11, 2014
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Cyprus, Greece & Israel push for EU gas pipeline link

 

Cypriot & Greek officials say the pipeline, linking Israel, Cyprus, Italy and Greece, would reinforce the European Union’s energy security with its 8-12 billion cubic meter capacity.

The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

 

Cyprus says it has joined with Israel and Greece to get the European Union to consider a pipeline that would link the continent with newly found natural gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean.

A statement Tuesday said Cypriot Energy Minister Giorgos Lakkotrypis and his Greek counterpart Yiannis Maniatis pitched the idea to European Commission Energy Union chief Maros Sefcovic.

The officials told Sefcovic in Monday’s meeting that the proposed East-Med Corridor would have a capacity of 8 billion to 12 billion cubic meters and would link Israel, Cyprus, Greece and Italy.

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| December 9, 2014
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Palestine newest observers at International Criminal Court

New status is said to be first step toward joining the world’s international war crimes tribunal in order to later press charges against Israel for alleged war crimes.

By The Associated Press

 

The Palestinians have become observers at the summit meeting of the 122 countries that are members of the International Criminal Court, a move they say is a step toward joining the world’s permanent war crimes tribunal.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Sept. 22, 2014.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas acknowledges the audience after delivering a speech at Cooper Union, Sept. 22, 2014.- Photo: AP

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to seek membership in the ICC in order to press charges against Israel for alleged war crimes. Continue Reading »

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| December 4, 2014
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Removal of 140,000 tons of rubble in Gaza City neighborhood begins

Sweden steps up to pay for the 1st project to clear away wreckage from the summer’s ‘Operation Protective Edge’.

By The Associated Press

 

The first large-scale project to remove tons of rubble in the Gaza Strip left over from this summer’s fighting between the Islamic militant group Hamas and Israel began on Wednesday, a significant step forward in rebuilding the war-torn area.

Rubble of destroyed buildings from the 50-day conflict between Hamas and Israel.

Rubble of destroyed buildings from the 50-day conflict between Hamas and Israel, Shijaiyah neighborhood, Gaza Strip, Oct. 12 ,2014. – Photo: AFP

The project is taking place in Gaza City’s Shijaiyah neighborhood, an area that was devastated during the fighting. Continue Reading »

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| December 2, 2014
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They’re not Palestinians: UN agency suspends food aid for 1.7 million Syrian refugees

Arab states remain quiet, unable to exploit crisis in Syria against Israel, forcing UN agency to appeal to Western donors to provide $64 million needed.

By i24news

 

The World Food Program (WFP) on Monday suspended food aid to more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees in neighboring countries, blaming a financing crisis caused by unhonored cash pledges.

A Syrian refugee carries on her head a box distributed by the World Food Programme as she walks through the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, on January 24, 2014 ( Khalil Mazraawi (AFP) )

A Syrian refugee carries on her head a box distributed by the World Food Programme as she walks through the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, on January 24, 2014 – Photo: Khalil Mazraawi/AFP

The Rome-based UN agency said refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt risked going hungry this winter if donors do not urgently provide the $64 million needed to finance the distribution of food vouchers through December. Continue Reading »

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| December 2, 2014
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Following in Palestinian Leadership’s Footsteps, BDS Seeks to Hurt Israel Rather Than Help Palestinians

 

BDS leadership tries to hinder the use of $5.4 billion aid to rebuild Gaza. Keeping the Gazans in poverty & increasing their suffering, stirs up international anger & backlash at Israel.

By David Lazarus

 

The Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) National Committee are trying to block a $5.4 billion investment to rebuild the Gaza Strip.

A BDS campaign grotesquely misuses a picture of Jewish Holocaust survivors for its anti-Israel agenda on social medias.

The huge sum of money was pledged during a conference this October in Egypt in order to help reconstruct some of the damage done during the recent Israeli military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| December 2, 2014
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Islamic State Commandeers Egyptian Warship, Planned to Attack Israeli Ship

 

Arab media reports: Islamic State took control of Egyptian missile boat near Suez, injuring 5 & 8 Egyptian sailors missing.

By YASSER OKBI/ MAARIV HASHAVUA

 

An investigation in Egypt is underway into a November 14 incident during which Islamic State members successfully hijacked an Egyptian missile boat.

Warship with the flag of the Egyptian Navy. - Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

Warship with the flag of the Egyptian Navy. – Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

According to Arab media reports Monday, the assailants planned to then attack and hijack an Israeli ship to use as leverage for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

The incident reportedly took place in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, by the Suez canal.

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| November 30, 2014
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Report: ISIS kidnaps former IDF female soldier who went to fight with the Kurds

Earlier this month, Gill Rosenberg, 31, said she decided to join the Kurdish fighters for humanitarian & ideological reasons, saying, “because they are our brothers.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

The Canadian- Israeli woman who joined the ranks of Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State earlier this month has been kidnapped by the organization that she went to fight, Channel Two reported on Sunday citing Syrian jihadi websites.

Gila Rosenberg

Gila Rosenberg(R) – Photo: FACEBOOK

Gill Rosenberg, 31, from Tel Aviv, said in an interview with Israel Radio earlier this month she had decided to join the fighters for humanitarian and ideological reasons and “because they are our brothers” who are fighting the evil of Islamic State. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| November 30, 2014
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Enumerating Erdogan’s Last Half-Dozen Outlandish Rants

Turkey’s anti-Semitic President has caused bewilderment around the world with his controversial comments, but with his conservative uneducated constituency at home, he connects.

By AFP

 

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has raised eyebrows around the world with a series of outlandish comments but while his remarks sometimes cause bafflement abroad they strike a chord with many conservative Turks at home.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. (Photo: Associated Press)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. – Photo: Associated Press

In the last month alone he has declared that Muslims discovered the Americas before Columbus and that women are not equal to men. But these were just the latest headline-grabbing declarations from Erdoğan over a long career of controversy. Continue Reading »

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| November 29, 2014
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Egyptian court drops graft charges & wrongful death charges against Hosni Mubarak

CLEARED: Egyptian judge drops case against ousted president Mubarak over killings of anti-government protesters and also cleared of him of graft charges involving a gas deal with Israel.

 

An Egyptian court on Saturday dropped the case against ousted President Hosni Mubarak for his involvement in the killing of antigovernment protesters in 2011.

Supporters of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak

Supporters of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak chant slogans as they wait for him to be transferred to a court, in front of Maadi military hospital in Cairo, November 29, 2014. – Photo: Reuters

Egypt’s former interior minister, Habib al-Adly, and his aides have also been cleared of ordering the killing of protesters during the uprising that ended Mubarak’s three-decade rule.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| November 26, 2014
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Al-Sisi’s peace plan: Cairo deploys Army into PA controlled areas & Gaza

Analysis: Egypt’s President al-Sisi would like to send his forces into the West Bank & Gaza, as a temporary ‘peace-force’, until Israel & the Palestinians reach a peace deal.

By Yaron Friedman

 

During his first trip to Europe, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi gave an interview to the Italian media in which he voiced a far-reaching and highly significant proposal concerning the peace process – the deployment of Egyptian military forces to monitor the implementation of the peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Al-Sisi with Pope Francis on his European tour. (Photo: Reuters)

Al-Sisi with Pope Francis on his European tour. – Photo: Reuters

It’s safe to assume that every Israeli cringes on hearing the phrase “the deployment of military forces to Palestine,” with all the negative connotations it evokes (the War of Independence, the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War). Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| November 23, 2014
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Turkish governor threatens to discontinue Jewish prayer after synagogue completes renovation

Governor of Turkish city Edirne threatened to turn synagogue into museum after renovations, saying it was unfair for Turkey to fund Jewish place of worship if Israel was denying Muslims access to their holy sites in Jerusalem.

By DPA

 

The governor of the Turkish city Edirne was under pressure on Saturday, after allegedly saying local Jews would not be able to use a synagogue there because of Israel’s actions at Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

The historical Büyük Synagogue

The historical Büyük Synagogue – Screenshot from hurriyetdailynews.com

The 100-year-old synagogue is undergoing renovations and when completed “will only serve as a museum” Edirne Governor Dursun Sahin was quoted by local media as saying on Friday.

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Category: Jewish News, Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| November 20, 2014
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Spanish parliament backs eventual Palestine state after solution with Israel

 

Spanish lawmakers urges Spanish government to recognize “Palestine” as a state in nonbinding text, albeit only after Israel & Palestinian leaders reach a negotiated solution.

By Reuters & Israel Hayom Staff

 

Spanish lawmakers on Tuesday urged their government to recognize “Palestine” as a state, albeit only when Israel and the Palestinians negotiate a solution to their long-standing conflict.

Palestinian delegate to Spain Musa Amer Odeh, center, celebrates after Spanish lawmakers approved a nonbinding motion urging their government to recognize “Palestine” as a state, Tuesday – Photo: Reuters

The symbolic motion, which echoes similar votes last month in Britain and Ireland, was backed by all the political groupings in the lower house after the ruling People’s Party watered down the wording hours after the attack in a Jerusalem synagogue in which five Israelis were killed by two Arab terrorists from east Jerusalem.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| November 20, 2014
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Egyptian prosecutor seeks death sentence for deposed President Morsi

Former Egyptian President is being accused of collaborating with Hamas to destabilize Egypt and leaking state secrets to Tehran.

By

AP – Egypt’s state news agency says prosecutors have asked for the death sentence for ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi and other Muslim Brotherhood leaders on trial on espionage charges.

A poster of Morsi in Cairo.

A poster of Egypt’s deposed President Morsi reads ‘Yes to legitimacy; no to the coup,’ in Cairo. – Photo: Reuters

Prosecutor Emad el-Sharawy said in closing remarks Wednesday that Morsi and his aides leaked state security documents to foreign intelligence agencies, naming Iran, while in office for one year.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| November 20, 2014
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World Remains Silent as Gazans Suffer Continued Egyptian Expulsion

Palestinians along Egypt’s border complain of constant explosions ‘worse than IDF operation’ as their homes are demolished, & Gaza’s economy collapses.

By Ari Yashar

 

Residents in Gaza’s south, and particularly the Sinai border town of Rafah, are being expelled from their homes and having them demolished by dynamite and bulldozers – an expulsion world media has largely shied away from because it is being conducted by the Egyptian army.

The Egyptian expulsion to create a buffer zone follows lethal terrorist attacks on Egyptian soldiers in the Sinai last month, and the ensuing crackdown on smuggling tunnels from Gaza by which Hamas reportedly armed the attackers has already seen hundreds of homes destroyed. Continue Reading »

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