Monday, January 13, 2014
Khaled Abu Toameh: Why Is Hamas Courting Iran and the Palestinian Authority?
If Hamas is so strongly opposed to the peace talks, why are its leaders saying that they are prepared to join forces with the Palestinian Authority?Dignitaries from 19 states due for funeral, but no heads of state
The answer is obvious: Hamas wants the Palestinian Authority to continue channeling funds to the Gaza Strip.
More than half of the Palestinian Authority's annual budget goes to pay salaries and support various projects in the Gaza Strip despite the rivalry between the two sides. Abbas told Jordanian parliamentarians during a meeting in his office that 58% of the Palestinian Authority budget goes to the Gaza Strip.
Hamas's efforts to restore ties with Iran and the Palestinian Authority are nothing but a ploy to ensure its continued presence in power. Hamas is definitely not headed toward any change. Now that it is back on the payroll of Iran, Hamas will feel more confidant than ever to pursue its efforts to foil any agreement between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
US Vice President Joe Biden, Czech Prime Minister Jiří Rusnok and the foreign ministers of Australia and Germany are among the top foreign officials scheduled to attend the funeral of former prime minister Ariel Sharon on Monday. The list of dignitaries includes senior ministers and top officials from 19 countries, but not a single head of state.Bush remembers friend Sharon as ‘man of courage’
The countries sending senior government officials to the funeral roughly correspond with a list of Israel’s closest allies on the international stage. No senior officials from the two Arab states with which Israel has diplomatic relations — Jordan and Egypt — are scheduled to attend.
Former US President George W. Bush remembered late Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon Saturday as “a warrior for the ages.”
In a statement, Bush called Sharon a “partner in seeking security for the Holy Land and a better, peaceful Middle East.”
“I was honored to know this man of courage and call him friend,” he said.
Despite Israeli warning to Hamas, 2 rockets fired from Gaza
An Israeli security source said Israel had "passed the message" to Gaza authorities to prevent any rocket fire during the funeral.World Leaders Praise Ariel Sharon, Abbas Mum on Former Israeli Leader
"It was made clear to them that [Monday] would be a very bad day for anyone there to test Israel's patience," said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The leaders of Israel’s top allies praised former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon following his death on Saturday.BBC TV News Coverage of Ariel Sharon Death
U.S. President Barack Obama sent his “deepest condolences” to Sharon’s family and the people of Israel.
The programme was a perfect textbook implementation of the Rules and Guildeines for Reporting about Israel. The program stated as 'facts' a catalogue of blood libels that have long been comprehensively debunked (see Honest Reporting's coverage for example). What was ignored was the fact that, in total contrast to the narrative presented, Sharon was ultimately so desperate to achieve peace at any price that he uprooted the entire Jewish population from Gaza and that these 10,000 Jews were therefore his most unfortunate 'victims'. What has also been ignored in all the main stream media reporting is that it was Sharon who, in 2004, secured from the US President George Bush a binding commitment from the US that in any future agreement with the Palestinians Israel would keep the major settlement blocks, and there would be no 'right of return' to Israel of Palestinian 'refugees'. This was a written agreement that Obama has now decided to tear up.Loving the hate: BBC coverage of Sharon’s death
But apparently the BBC policy of amplifying the hate-speech of anyone and everyone – from the Tweeter in the street to members of terrorist organisations and tame editors of newspapers from theocratic dictatorships – when statesmen and politicians pass away is selective. We certainly saw no evidence of such policy when Mandela recently died and it will be remembered that the BBC saw fit to censor a song about former British PM Margaret Thatcher at the time of her passing on the grounds that it was an inappropriate “celebration of death”.Multiple breaches of editorial guidelines in Sharon report by BBC’s Paul Adams
One wonders how the licence fee-paying public would react if, when their time comes, former British statesmen were treated according to the version of those selective criteria deemed appropriate for a former Israeli Prime minister and their families exposed to BBC-sponsored tirades of hatred before they are even buried.
BBC audiences learn nothing from Paul Adams’ report of Ariel Sharon the man – who lost his first wife and eldest son in separate tragic accidents and his second wife to cancer. Neither will audiences learn much about Sharon the soldier and statesman because what little cherry-picked information is provided is presented without the vital historic context necessary to understand the man and his deeds.Swedish Mosque Claims Ariel Sharon Used Blood of Palestinian Children To Make Pudding…
In fact it is all too obvious that Adams’ real aim in this pre-prepared film was not to tell BBC audiences about the life of Ariel Sharon, but to use the occasion of his death as a vehicle from which to advance a collection of myths and memes originating from a specific political viewpoint of the Arab-Israeli conflict. In that mission, he has undoubtedly reached his target. The fact that in order to do so, BBC editorial guidelines – including those on the proper presentation of interviewees – were trampled is clearly not of interest to either this particular BBC correspondent or his editors, just as long as audiences have got the ‘right’ message.
The Mosque spokesman says to NA that the blood pudding story is something that he was told, and that he possibly expressed himself poorly, "I don't know whether I believe that Sharon drank blood or not... My point is that he is responsible for many massacres."Major IDF base to be named after Sharon
To Swedish TV the spokesman says he can understand if people react to his claim, but that he did not write about Jews in gernal, just about someone in particular. "I got very emotional when Sharon was praised by Sweden's foreign minister. It's not a good idea to write anything when you're upset... It was unprofessional."
IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz officially accepted a recommendation by the Government Names Committee to commemorate Sharon by dedicating the base to the late prime minister, an IDF statement said.Guardian publishes letter by Gilad Atzmon ally Karl Sabbagh
The military complex building site, known colloquially as “Instruction Base City” is located several miles south of Beersheba and is set to be completed in late 2014 or early 2015. It is expected to be the country’s largest base, combining a number of smaller training camps currently spread around the country.
Even by Guardian standards, this is an especially egregious distortion of historical reality.Abbas vs Facts: Jews 'Weren't Attacked' In Kusra
First, contrary to what Sabbagh implies, there was never an “existing state of Palestine”. Further, the suggestion that Jews were the belligerent party in 1947-48 represents a remarkable inversion, as it was the Jews (and not the Arabs) who accepted partition, despite the fact that it gave them only a small portion of the land previously promised to them. (Indeed, 77% of the landmass of the original Mandate for the Jews was excised in 1922 to create a fourth Arab state – today Jordan.)
Arab leaders didn’t unleash their armies merely to adjust the borders, but were completely clear that their goal was the total annihilation of the nascent Jewish state.
Abbas's wild claims come in direct opposition to documented fact, as video filmed by Arab residents clearly shows Arabs chasing the Jews, stooping to pick up rocks, and hurling them at the running Jews. The video, despite being edited to suit Arab propaganda needs, also shows the serious wounds inflicted:Ex-resident of UAE allegedly stabbed to death by husband in Palestine
The statements by Abbas, who in the past has had unfortunate encounters with historical fact, including a recent occasion in which he claimed Jesus was a Palestinian, are also belied by death threats uttered by the "cultured" residents of Kusra just before the lynching.
“The cousin and his family were forced out of the house but the husband became suspicious and could not stand the claim that his wife had been photographed with him,” said the sources. The picture was apparently just a general one taken with the cousin as they had all been living in the same house and was taken without the victim noticing.Geneva deal begins Jan. 20, allows Iran to continue centrifuge research
As a result of his distress, the husband did not go to work for five days. The family elders, meanwhile, summoned the two men for a reconciliation and the issue of the photograph was resolved.
However, the husband could not overcome his suspicion so allegedly grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed his wife several times. The woman was taken to Yasser Arafat Hospital in Salfit where she was declared dead.
The Joint Plan of Action allows Iran to continue research and development on nuclear centrifuge technology, senior US administration officials said on Sunday, announcing the conclusion of technical talks on the implementation of an interim deal pausing Iran’s nuclear program.Veto-Proof Majority of Senators Support Iran Sanctions
The deal, brokered by world powers in Geneva in November, is to go into effect on January 20 and to last for six months while Iran and the P5+1 – the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany – attempt to negotiate a comprehensive agreement to end the long-standing crisis.
“[Iran’s] commitment is to continue their current enrichment R&D practices,” a senior official told journalists in a phone conference on Sunday, detailing the agreement. “That’s been documented. That’s what they’ll continue to do.”
The President has already declared that he would veto the Iran sanctions bill. Press Secretary Jay Carney said of the bill, “We don’t think this action is necessary; we don’t think it will be enacted. If it were enacted, the president would veto it.” Two thirds of both houses of Congress are needed to overturn a veto.Pakistani Jew Tries to Restore Karachi Community
The 77 Senators reportedly in favor of the bill are more than enough, and it is widely acknowledged that the House would vote overwhelmingly in favor of the legislation.
A campaign has been launched to restore the Jewish community of Karachi in Pakistan. A young member of the tiny persecuted Jewish community has turned to the courts, asking for the re-establishment of a synagogue and the restoration of a Jewish cemetery in the city.
The Jewish community has largely fled Pakistan, becoming refugees in Israel, India and the West, due to the rampant local anti-Semitism and raging Islamic fundamentalism. Terror groups such as Al Qaeda and Taliban have plagued the country, as demonstrated in the death of a 15-year-old who tried to stop a suicide bomber from blowing up his school.
Nevertheless, Fishel Bhenkhald has decided to fight to return a Jewish presence to Pakistan.
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