Tunisia’s Secular Opposition Uniting Against Islamists

Five months after an Islamist-led coalition came to power in Tunisia, the country’s fractious opposition is working to unite and fight for a secular state.

Tunisia

Tunisia

The numerous opposition parties in Tunisia’s parliament are merging into bigger blocs in hopes of mounting a challenge to the ruling Islamist party, Ennahda.

Ennahda and its coalition partners – the Congress for the Republic and Ettakatol – won up most of the votes in the October 23 election that followed nine months after dictator Zine el Abidine Ben Ali’s ouster.

Several leftist and liberal groups have already announced they were planning to merge, such as the Ettajdid movement, the Labour Party and the Democratic Modernist Pole. Continue Reading »

Fuel crosses from Israel to ease Gaza fuel crisis

Delivery of around 450,000 liters of diesel is the first to Gaza’s only power station coming via Israel in almost a year, due to Hamas resistance; energy crisis triggered by Hamas-Egypt dispute.

 

Israel allowed nine fuel tankers to cross into the Gaza Strip on Friday to ease a severe power shortage triggered by a dispute over supplies between Egypt and Hamas.

Electric Powerlines [file]
The delivery of around 450,000 liters of industrial diesel was the first to Gaza’s only power station coming via Israel in almost a year after Hamas softened on its resistance to accepting supplies from its Jewish neighbor.
The fuel is enough to power the plant, which serves two thirds of Gaza’s population, for one day, an official from Gaza’s energy authority said.
Continue Reading »

Madonna adds second ‘Concert for Peace’ in Tel Aviv

Queen of pop sets additional concert date in Israel to kick off her international tour; says concert will ‘honor peace efforts in Middle East, help people come together’

 

The timeless queen of pop announced Wednesday that she would be giving a second show in Israel on May 31 for a special cause. Madonna has dubbed this new show a “Concert for Peace,” and has invited several organizations that are working for peace in the Middle East to attend.

Madonna

Madonna

“Music is so universal and if there’s any chance that through my performance I can bring further attention and enlightenment to honor the peace efforts in the Middle East and help people come together, it would be an honor for me,” Madonna said in a statement posted on her fan club website. Continue Reading »

Toulouse shooting exposes rift between French Jews and Muslims

The unease between communities is one of the reasons CRIF dropped out of Sunday’s planned march against intolerance.

 

Several Muslim and Jewish leaders appeared united on French television after the attack in Toulouse, but officials within the Jewish community have no illusions: French Jews and Muslims are deeply divided.

“Don’t tell me French Muslims appreciate Jews – 50 percent of them hate Jews,” Rabbi Michel Sarfati told Haaretz on Thursday. The rabbi created the Jewish-Muslim friendship group and has traveled across France for several years preaching moderation.

“Many hate Jews because extremist imams denigrate Jews in their sermons. They say we’re Israel’s puppets. Continue Reading »

Israel May Quit the UN Human Rights Council

FM Lieberman says a UNHRC decision to establish a fact-finding mission to Judea and Samaria may lead to Israel severing ties with the body.

 

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Friday he may recall the Israeli ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council and cut ties with the body.

His remarks came after the 47-member council voted to establish a fact-finding mission to probe the “effects of settlements on Palestinian human rights.”

Lieberman also said Israel may choose not to cooperate with the council in its investigation, adding that he plans to ask the US to quit the council as well. Continue Reading »

Israel won’t cooperate with UN pr… JPost – Diplomacy & Politics

Israel won’t cooperate with UN pr… JPost – Diplomacy & Politics. Continue Reading »

More Palestinian detainees decalre hunger strike

22 administrative prisoners joined Hanaa Shalbi in hunger strike. Detainees leaders threaten to join the protest. Prison Services: Situation under control

Hana Shalabi, a member of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group, stopped taking food after Israeli troops seized her in the West Bank on February 16. Recently about 22 additional detainees joined the protest over Sahlbi’s detention by refusing food. Four of them have been striking for more than three weeks.

The new retaliation in protest might be just the tip of the iceberg as the leaders of Palestinian organizations called on detainees to join the strike by the end of the month if Shalabi is not released. Continue Reading »

Israel to Transfer Diesel to Gaza

Gaza energy crisis over? Israel to transfer 450 thousand liters of industrial diesel for the Gaza power station.

 

Israel will transfer 450 thousand liters of industrial diesel to Gaza on Friday for the Gaza power station.

The Palestinian Authority in Ramallah has reportedly purchased the fuel from the Israeli Dor Alon company and it will enter Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. The Coordinator of Government Activities in Yesha, Maj. Gen. Eitan Dangot, has agreed to open the crossing on Friday, when it is normally closed, for the purpose of transferring the diesel.

The shortage of fuel in Gaza caused a power crisis that triggered lengthy blackouts in Hamas-run Gaza last month. Continue Reading »

PA urges donor countries to pay up

Palestinian Authority PM Salam Fayyad says donations necessary to help $1 billion PA fiscal deficit; Norwegian FM says Israel should transfer PA tax revenue.

 

The Palestinian Authority Thursday hailed as “important” a decision by the international donors to provide financial aid to the Palestinians, but urged the countries to channel the promised funds immediately.

Representatives of international donors met in Brussels Wednesday to discuss the financial crisis in the PA.

At the end of the meeting, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere urged the donors to ensure the contribution of $1 billion in assistance [to the PA] in 2012.

He also urged Israel to facilitate the transfer of tax revenues belonging to the PA.

Continue Reading »

Laying the groundwork for the Toulouse massacre – By Melanie Phillips

When the Toulouse school massacre happened, the media rushed to say that the perpetrator was a white far-right racist. The lone gunman had mown down at close range a rabbi and three children at a Jewish school, wounding several others. He was thought to be the same killer who a few days earlier had murdered three black French paratroopers in two separate attacks. A killer who targeted Jews and blacks – must be a far-right white racist, right?

Wrong. The suspect who the French police have now Cornered turns out to be a jihadi Islamic terrorist with self-declared links to al Qaeda, who has made trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan in the past. Continue Reading »

Hello, Iran speaking

While in Israel we are preoccupied with threats and preparations for a possible strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, residents of Tehran, Esfahan, Shiraz and other Iranian cities are already deep into another war – the war for their survival. Phone calls made in recent days by Yedioth Ahronoth to several Iranian citizens revealed a fascinating picture of the enemy state that hides behind the scary rhetoric of the leaders from Tehran.

While top Iranian leaders Ali Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad boast that Western sanctions merely make Iran stronger and issue statements claiming Iran’s home front is resilient, the Iranians we spoke with have other news – the situation in the country is terrible. Continue Reading »

Egypt-Gaza Power Struggle Leaves PA Arabs in the Dark

Gaza’s Hamas rulers are caught between their rage at Israel and their distaste for having to cooperate with Egypt.

The result has been a wintry region without electricity and, within the next few days, the situation will reach crisis proportions if the leadership does not come up with a solution.

Storage tanks in which fuel was kept as a back-up have been drained nearly dry; basic infrastructure is now threatened, local sources say.

However, Hamas did not expect Egypt to balk at the intransigence so long tolerated by a Jewish State that had formerly supplied Gaza with electricity even during the 2006 war, and subsequently during Operation Cast Lead. Continue Reading »

Egypt struggles for spy satellite program progress

Country has struggled to make progress in gaining intelligence satellite capabilities.

 

Since Egyptian technicians lost touch two years ago with an observation satellite they hoped would help carry the country into the “space club,” the country has struggled to make progress in gaining intelligence satellite capabilities, but it remains committed to the program, a space security expert told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.

Tal Dekel, a research fellow at Tel Aviv University’s Yuval Ne’eman Workshop for Science, Technology and Security, said few were aware of the extent of Egypt’s satellite program.

“People talk about the Iranians, but no one talks about Egypt’s program, which includes much more than a satellite,” he said.Cairo

Continue Reading »

Jethro Tull to heat up Israeli summer

British rock band to perform once more in Israel, as global tour dates include 3 September gigs in Jerusalem, Haifa, Raanana

 

British rock band Jethro Tull is no stranger to Israel, and in their upcoming global tour they promise to once again grace the Israeli stage.

According to the group’s official website, Jethro Tull will perform at three locations across the country between September 6th-8th 2012.

They will first take the stage on September 6 at the Old Jerusalem Railway Station, then continue to Haifa’s International Convention Center the following day and conclude their visit at Raanana’s amphitheatre on September 8. Continue Reading »

Want to promote Israel in the U.K.? Recognize 1967 borders

Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority cancels ad by Israel’s tourism ministry in London after it promoted a book on northern Israel without properly demarcating the Golan Heights as a disputed area.

 

Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) cancelled an advertisement by Israel’s Ministry of Tourism in London which attempted to promote a new book on northern Israel. The reason for the cancellation of the ad, which was first published in British newspapers in November 2011, was the fact that the map that was attached to it did not properly demarcate the 1967 borders in the Golan Heights and the West Bank.

The ASA received no less than 350 complaints against the advertisement, as it is the body that oversees advertisements in media outlets and billboards throughout the kingdom.

Continue Reading »