Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Wednesday, October 20, 2004

Mauritania asks Israel for help fighting locusts

Mauritania has appealed for help from Israel fighting a locust epidemic. The appeal for experts in disease control was made via the Israel MP Ayub Kara, a member of the ruling Likud Party and member of the Druze minority in Israel. Kara was visiting Mauritania for a seminar of parliamentarians sponsored by NATO.

According to Israeli press reports, Kara will pass the message on to the Israeli minister of agriculture, Yisrael Katz. The Israeli Ambassador to Mauritania, Boaz Bismuth said that Israel should do its utmost efforts to help Mauritania as it is the only Arab country to have an Ambassador currently serving in Israel.

Saddam planned to provide aerial drones to terrorists

Saddam Hussein's government discussed supplying unmanned aerial vehicles to terrorists, according to a CIA report made public last week, reports Geostrategy-Direct, the global intelligence news service.

The Iraq Survey Group report stated that the development of the Al Quds remotely piloted aircraft included links between the program director and terrorists.

Al Quds program director Imad Abd-al-Latif Al Rida reported that four Al Quds drones were to be used as 'flying bombs' in an attempt to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, according to a source who worked on the Al Quds program.

'According to the source, four UAVs were to be given to a former Hamas member named Abu Radin who was a friend of Saddam Hussein,' the report stated.

'Abu Radin, who was no longer loyal to Hamas, would take the UAVs to Jordan, install 5 kg of C4 explosive and use them to attack Sharon at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem.'

Another Iraqi drone, called the Al Musayara-20, was also to be used as a flying bomb, the report stated.

A Dec. 23, 2000, memorandum discovered in Iraq showed that the Iraqi Air Force and senior members of the Fedayeen Saddam, a paramilitary organization, agreed to develop helicopter UAVs for the Fedayeen Saddam.

A prototype helicopter UAV was built but was destroyed by U.S. cruise missiles in March 2003.

Britain Charges Muslim Cleric Sought by U.S.

LONDON, Oct. 19 - Abu Hamza al-Masri, a radical Muslim cleric who faces extradition to the United States, was charged by the British police on Tuesday with encouraging followers to murder Jews and other non-Muslims. (He may be "radical", but only Jews are "extremists." -EoZ)

Appearing before a magistrates' court at Belmarsh Prison here, Mr. Masri was charged with 16 offenses in all. The other charges included inciting racial hatred, possessing threatening or incendiary sound and video recordings and having a terrorist document in his possession on the day he was arrested.

The charge states that the document 'contained information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism.'

Mr. Masri, who arrived in Britain in 1979, has been in a high security jail in Britain since May, when he was arrested by the British antiterrorism police on a United States extradition warrant. He faces 11 charges in the United States, including hostage taking and providing material support to Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies in Afghanistan.

The British police began pursuing their own charges against Mr. Masri during the summer. Now the British case, one of the highest-profile terrorism cases here, takes precedence, and the American extradition request will be put on hold until after Mr. Masri's trial in Britain. One potential problem with the extradition is that British law bars extradition where the death penalty could be imposed.

The former imam of the Finsbury Park Mosque in north London, Mr. Masri, 46, is considered a radical preacher and was known for delivering fiery speeches to his followers. Last year, the Egyptian-born cleric was stripped of his British citizenship and barred from preaching at the mosque. But he continued to preach on the road just outside the mosque.

Both Richard Reid, the so-called shoe bomber, and Zacarias Moussaoui, accused of being the 20th hijacker in the Sept. 11 attacks, reportedly attended that mosque before their arrests. Mr. Reid is in prison in the United States, and Mr. Moussaoui faces trial there. Antiterrorism officials have described the mosque as a focus of terrorist planning.

Mr. Masri, who lost an eye and a hand while fighting Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980's, appeared in court surrounded by several police officers.

He is one of several prominent Muslim clerics who have been accused of supporting terrorism, including Abu Qatada, who is said to have been the spiritual counselor of Mohamed Atta, the man who led the Sept. 11 plot. Mr. Qatada remains in prison here without charges.

Al-Qaida threatens more attacks against Israel

The al-Qaida affiliated terrorist organization that claimed responsibility for the series of brutal attacks two weeks ago in Sinai published a threatening message promising to continue attacks against Israel and Israeli interests.

'Message to the damned [Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon and [Defense Minister Shaul] Mofaz: We have prepared for you an army of martyrs and we will not rest until you reach the depths of hell,' the message reads.

'We promise the masses of the Islamic nation to continue the Jihad until we destroy the Zionist enemy,' Channel 1 TV quoted the message.

EU rewards Syria

Syria signed a wide-ranging agreement on political and economic cooperation with the European Union on Tuesday after more than five years of negotiations, snagged over a clause on weapons of mass destruction.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom spoke out against the agreement at Sunday's cabinet meeting, saying that stepping up international pressure and isolating both Syria and Iran at this time is 'critical.'

At the meeting, Shalom called the EU's intention to sign an 'association agreement' with Syria a 'pity.' He called on Europe to 'strengthen the international front against terror,' and said that a continuation of international pressure against Damascus will cause it to abandon terror 'and will bring them back to the negotiating table with Israel faster.'

The association agreement is similar to those the EU has already concluded with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Lebanon and Morocco as part of a plan to build trade and political ties across the Mediterranean Sea.

Syria's was delayed by its reluctance to sign, owing to a clause demanding commitment to the nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction that the EU has insisted upon since late 2003.

Negotiators wrapped up a deal last month by rewording the clause to satisfy both sides.

EU officials declined to immediately release the exact wording, but issued a statement saying it 'includes essential provisions on... cooperation to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery.'

Multi-National Force Might Take Over Philadelphi Route

National Security Advisor Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland said today that in the event of a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, it is likely that an international force would take over the strategic route along the Israeli-Egyptian border separating Egypt from Gaza. He made the remarks at an appearance before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

The route, known as the Philadelphi Route, is the scene of much arms smuggling from Egypt into Gaza. Over 100 tunnels have been discovered in the course of the past four years - many more have gone undiscovered - through which have flowed tremendous amounts of arms, explosives and ammunitions, used by Arab terrorists in attacks against Israel. Many Israeli officials have accused Egypt of turning a blind eye to the phenomenon.

The estimated amounts of arms and explosives smuggled in to Gaza over the past four years are: 2,000 kilograms of explosives, 6,700 Kalachnikov rifles (including 5,000 since 2003), 750 anti-tank shell launchers, 33 mortars, 18 submachine guns, 5 anti-aircraft missiles, 580,000 bullets, and dozens of RPG bombs.

MK Yuval Shteinitz, who Chairs the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said recently that the Egyptians continue to allow arms-smuggling to Gaza because they are interested in the continuation of the conflict between Israel and the Arabs of Gaza, Judea and Samaria.

Gen. Eiland said that the military has considered retaining control of the Philadelphi Route event in the event of a withdrawal from Gaza. He said, however, that the concern that the soldiers would simply be a target of terrorists from both south and north would probably tip the scales in favor of a withdrawal from the area.

Asked what would happen to the houses in Gush Katif in the event of a withdrawal, Eiland said that they would be destroyed. Sharon made the same decision regarding the homes in northern Sinai 22 years ago, and later said that he regretted it.

Committee member MK Uri Ariel said afterwards, 'We learned that what is being planned is not a disengagement, and not half of a disengagement. We will remain responsible for the Arab population, and we will remain responsible for security, and we [may] remain in the Philadelphi Route. So what is Sharon talking about when he says we're leaving Gaza? It's merely cruelty against Jews, nothing more.'

British Territorial Army infiltrated by Al-Qaeda

(I believe that this is like the British National Guard. -EoZ)

THE Territorial Army has been infiltrated by Al-Qaeda suspects, giving the Islamic terrorist group potential access to military bases, explosives and fuel dumps.

Five Al-Qaeda suspects are believed to have trained as part-time soldiers with the TA. At least one is now in custody.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed that other terror suspects have attempted to join the TA, but says they were rejected after undergoing security checks.

The connection with Britain’s Al-Qaeda network was uncovered in a series of wide-ranging investigations by MI5 and Scotland Yard’s Special Branch.

It is believed the terrorist suspects may have been taking advantage of military training as well as gaining access to bases and weapons.

Patrick Mercer, the Tory homeland security spokesman and a former army officer, said Al-Qaeda terrorists could use TA passes to penetrate security at key MoD establishments such as the permanent joint headquarters at Northwood in Greater London.

“This could have very serious security implications. Clearly in the war against terror you need to know who your friends are. The last thing we want is the enemy masquerading as our own people,” Mercer said.

The TA has about 41,000 members and comprises a substantial portion of the 102,000-strong British Army and has 329 centres throughout the country.

Israel increases role for IAF air support in anti-terror operations

The IAF's increased involvement was noticeable during May's Operation Rainbow in Rafah, but it went up a few notches in the current fighting. An IAF assessment at the start of the week shows helicopter gunships were responsible for some 50 percent of the fatalities among armed Palestinians during Days of Penitence.

The IAF's involvement was offensive and defensive. On the offensive front, the IAF closely supported infantry and armored corps forces in the built-up areas of the Jabalya refugee camp and the towns of Beit Hanun and Beit Lahia. The ground forces operated, in essence, under an airborne cover providing them with combat helicopters, drones and additional intelligence means.

Helicopters helped attack targets inside the Palestinian communities and also to locate and strike at armed cells that threatened ground soldiers. This is one of the reasons why the offensive force didn't sustain a single fatality during the operation. In addition, helicopters located and attacked Palestinian cells that attempted to fire rockets into Israel from the outskirts of built-up areas and in open ground.

To achieve these results, the IAF maintained an aerial combat arena, for all intents and purposes, in the Strip over the past weeks. Combat helicopters hovered over the Strip day and night, reserve pilots were called up for intensive and lengthy periods of duty, and the IAF's intelligence squadron set up a Palestinian department for the first time, with a number of senior officers entrusted with the task of gathering information regarding the firing of the Qassam rockets and coordinating operations with the IDF's Southern Command.

The IAF also significantly tightened its working relationship with the Shin Bet security service - ties that were institutionalized during the course of the assassination operations in recent years.

'I have no doubt that after the disengagement, there will be helicopters in the air along the border of the Strip 24 hours a day,' a senior IAF source said this week, adding that the techniques developed recently would serve the IDF also in the event of a flare-up along the northern border .

Presbyterian Church meets Hezbollah and calls Israel "oppressive"

DAMASCUS, Syria -- The head of a visiting U.S. Presbyterian Church delegation called on Israel to end its occupation of Palestinian territories and said Monday that his church is studying the possibility of withholding investments to increase pressure on Israel.

'The occupation by Israel in the West Bank and Gaza must end because it is oppressive and destructive for the Palestinian people,' the Rev. Nile Harper said in an interview with The Associated Press.

He criticized as 'unhelpful' the barrier Israel is building in the West Bank to prevent Palestinian suicide bombings.

Harper, of Ann Arbor, Mich., warned that the General Assembly of his church, whose investments in U.S. firms total $8 billion, had instructed its investment agency to study the possibility of withdrawing its money from U.S. corporations whose products 'are being destructively used against the Palestinians' by Israel.

The 24-member delegation traveled to Lebanon on Sunday and met with the south Lebanon commander of Hezbollah, a group Washington calls terrorist but Lebanon sees as a legitimate resistance movement against Israeli occupation of Arab lands.

On Monday, they traveled to Syria, where they met with the minister of expatriates. They were scheduled to meet with President Bashar Assad on Tuesday and to travel to Jordan on Wednesday.

The meeting will aim to gauge the Syrian president's views on Syria's relationship with the United States, said the delegation's coordinator, Peter Sulyok.

'We are interested in peace and justice for Palestinians as well as in the relationship between Syria and Lebanon and Syria and Israel,' Sulyok said. 'We will be looking to see what new initiatives there might be, what possibilities there might be for peace.'

US Official Warns Syria Over Lebanon Troop Pullout

Agence France Presse, Arab News

BEIRUT, 16 October 2004 — A top US official said in remarks published yesterday that a Syrian failure to comply with UN demands to pull out its troops from neighboring Lebanon would be a “serious problem.”

“We are determined to seek the implementation of (UN Security Council) Resolution 1559” which calls for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon, deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs David Satterfield was quoted as saying.

“And Syria’s failure to implement it (resolution 1559) will be a serious problem,” Satterfield was quoted in Lebanese newspapers as telling LBCI satellite television Thursday. “We are now trying to see whether Syria’s cooperation is serious. We will not wait forever for Syria and we want to see it act.” Resolution 1559, co-sponsored by the United States and France and adopted last month, also called for an end to outside interference in Lebanese internal affairs in a clear reference to Syria’s domination of its smaller neighbor.

Jew-Hating Videos on Palestinian TV for Kids

INTRODUCTION:
Short indoctrination clips and music videos for children, promoting violence as an ideal that is expected of them, were broadcast daily on PATV, often for several hours a day, during the period of conflict, Oct. 2000 - mid 2003.
The following are several examples from among many:

Song and Dance to Violence:
This MTV style music video from PA TV calls upon children to attack Israelis with stones: “You will not be saved, Oh Zionist, from the volcano of my county’s stones” and is sung to scenes of children throwing stones and participating in frenzied "war dances”. [PA TV Mar. 2002- June 2003, repeatedly]

Song and Dance to Violence: [PA TV Mar. 2002- June 2003, repeatedly]
[This song calls upon children to attack Israel with stones. It reiterates the preparedness to die: "I will even willingly fall as a Shahid!," is sung to scenes of children throwing stones and participating in a frenzied "war dance."]
"What is dearer to us than Al-Aqsa, Shake the earth, Raise the stones. You will not be saved, Oh Zionist, from the volcano of my country’s stones, You will not be saved, Oh Zionist, from the volcano of my country’s stones, You are the target of my eyes, I will even willingly fall as a Shahid[martyr]. You are the target of my eyes, I will even willingly fall as a Shahid. Allah Akbar, Oh the young ones".

Music Video to Children: Fight and "Don't be Afraid"

This PA TV music video instructs children to attack soldiers with stones and attempts to allay their fears. "Don"t be Afraid" the 10 year old sings to the 5 year old repeatedly. "The stone in their hand turns into a rifle..."
This was broadcast repeatedly 2000 - 2003.

Music Video to Children: Fight and “Don’t be Afraid” This was broadcast repeatedly 2000 - 2003.
[a young boy talking to an even younger child. (Jan 11, 2001) the older one is explaining and reassuring the younger about young stone throwers who appear on the screen:“Don’t be afraid”. We hear his plaintive voice singing in the background as the screen melts to large assemblies of children, in vivid colors, blues and greens, throwing stones, and waving, and at soldiers with weapons, as he continues]
"Don’t be afraid. Allah is with them. Don’t be afraid, the stone in their hand has turned into a Kalachnikov. Don’t be afraid. Allah is with them. Don’t be afraid, the stone in their hand has turned into a Kalachnikov. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid. Allah is with them. Don’t be afraid".

Teaching Children they can Destroy Israeli Symbols.
One of the most frequently broadcast PA music videos over 3 years teaches children that throwing stones at Israelis defends mother's honor. In one scene young boys throw stones at a glass window - smashing Jewish symbols and extinguishing the flames on a Menorah [Jewish Traditional Candelabra], teaching children that their stones are stronger than Judaism.

Teaching Children they can Destroy Israeli symbols [2001-2004]
[The prize-winning “You Shall Not Be Humiliated Mother”, ( recorded June 2001), opens with a woman in tears, sitting among the ruins of her home, when her son and his friends arrive. He sadly wipes the tears from her face with his hand. and suddenly jumps up and runs off to avenge her honor. The scene switches intermittently to a choir singing] "Beware, oh Zion! My mothers tears- how humiliated. Beware, oh Zion! My mothers tears-how humiliated. Even if they[Jews] gathered from the world, Even if they[Jews] gathered from the world, Your debt remains open with me! Your debt remains open with me!"
[The children are shown in various battle scenes, processions of flag-waving children, throwing stones, causing symbols such as the Israeli flag, Star of David, the seven branch candelabra (menorah), a soldier, to disappear or shatter] " Even if you decreed my death, even if you decreed my death, The stone is my revenge, my answer!"

PA Teaches Young Children to Replace Toys with Rocks:
Young Palestinian boys and girls taught to replace their trucks and dolls with rocks [PA TV May 2, 2001]

PA Teaches Young Children to Replace Toys with Rocks: [PA TV May 2, 2001]
“Palestine’s child”
[A Palestinian Authority TV clip (recorded May 2 ’01) explicitly tells the children: “The promise of peace has ended, the time for talk has ended” spoken as the TV screen shows the White House handshake between Arafat and Rabin at the time of signing of the Oslo Accords]
"The promise of peace is over The time of talking is over. The promise of peace is over The time of talking is over."
[At the end, the boy and the girl both stand still, the boy drops his toy car, the girl drops her doll, as they bend over to pick up stones, and run off to fight Israel]
"How will I find you, Muhhamad, Palestine’s child? How will I find you, Muhhamad, Palestine’s child?"

Kill all the Jews - Words of Palestinian Teenager on TV:
A teenage girl calls for the killing of Jews: “We won't leave a single Jew here.” [PA TV Oct. 22, 2000]

Kill all the Jews- Words of Palestinian Teenager on TV [PA TV Oct. 22, 2000]
Young girls about 12 years old, in a crowd with white head covers, flags waving across the screen, were interviewed on PA TV on 22 October 2000. One with an increasingly vituperative shrill voice and angry expressive hand and arm movements, says:
"We ask that countries stand by our side We want them to help us. We only want them to give us weapons. We on our own young boys and girls, we kill them[the Jews] on our own, murder them, shoot all of them. Just give us weapons, the boys and the girls themselves we will kill them all[the Jews]. We won’t leave a single Jew, We won’t leave a single Jew here".

PA Children Taught to be Combatants - Visual Messages
In the very same week that the Palestinian Journalists Union “banned journalists from photographing Palestinian children carrying weapons ... [because] the pictures harm the Palestinian cause” [AP, Jerusalem Post Aug. 26, 2002] PA TV interviewed a child in his home - and for the purpose of the interview - he held a Kalatchnikov automatic rifle. The media regularly shows pictures of children with weapons.
[PA TV Aug. 23, 2002]

PA Children taught to be Combatants- Visual Messages [PA TV Aug. 23, 2002]
Boy: I want to address Sharon and tell him that my father’s blood was not shed in vain.

Al Qaeda linked to Arafat

By Herbert London

Linking al Qaeda to Iraqi terrorist impulses was one of the tasks of the September 11 commission. And despite claims to the contrary from the Democratic hopefuls, there were linkages. In the shadowy network of terrorist groups, there are often alignments involving information-sharing, weapons development, safe houses and scientific expertise.
The unmistakable rationale for these alignments is future terror attacks against the United States and Israel. None of this is surprising. Immediately after September 11, 2001, not only Hamas approached al Qaeda, but Yasser Arafat's own forces, Al Aqsa Brigades, did so too.
Tired of Tom?
Although Palestinian terrorists hardly needed al Qaeda to prod them to commit acts of unspeakable cruelty, the example of September 11 offered direction and new resolve. For its part, al Qaeda has been pleased its Palestinian allies cite the Hadith: "Oh Allah, annihilate the Jews and their supporters."
The idea of killing on behalf of Islam is glorified both by the Palestinian terror organization and al Qaeda. In addition to the usual sanctification of suicide bombing, both groups approve of religious-based murder within the Islamic community.
Muslims who collaborate with the United States or are suspected of doing so are deemed Murtaddun (apostates) and a sentence of Murtadd Harbi is applied — to wit, a Fatwa or death sentence. The pertinent Koranic verse is: "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His Prophet and strive to make mischief in the land, is only this — that they should be murdered or crucified, or their hands and feet should be cut off on opposing sides."
While al Qaeda's hatred of the United States is only tangentially related to American support of Israel, the Palestinian terror groups focus on this issue exclusively. Nonetheless, it is not uncommon for all these organizations to target the presumptively "unforgivable" sin of American ties to "apostates and criminals" who rule in Kuwait, Jordan, the Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
On Dec. 2, 2002, al Qaeda announced establishment of the "Islamic al Qaeda Organization in Palestine." The announcement declared "a vow of allegiance to the emir of the Mujahideen, the leader Osama bin Laden, by means of whom Allah strengthened the Nation of Islam." Calling for an end to regimes that "serve only the murderous Jews and the Great Satan," the announcement concludes with a plea to "our brothers in Islam in Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to attack the American interests and the heretical institutions of apostasy.... Death to the Jews and Zionism; death to America; strength to Allah, Allah is great, and victory to Islam."
Although rarely reported in the West, al Qaeda now operates in the West Bank and Gaza at Mr. Arafat's expressed invitation, and with substantial logistical support. Mr. Arafat had imported Hezbollah fighters from Iran and Syria to assist with terrorist attacks against Israel; now he has added Osama bin Laden's Islamic fighters to the deadly terrorist mix.
According to authoritative Israeli intelligence sources, Mr. Arafat assembled under his wing Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah, Jibril's Popular Front, Iraqi military intelligence units (Palestinian terrorists were always close to Saddam, even sending Palestine Liberation Army units to help torture Kuwaitis in 1991), the pro-Iraqi Arab liberation Front, and, since April 2002, al Qaeda. Significantly, the same Israeli sources believe the same crosscut of Islamic terrorist groups exists nowhere else but in the United States — though at the moment "only" as sleeper cells.
There is probably little doubt terror strikes against the United States and Israel are being planned by joint Palestinian terrorist groups and al Qaeda, supported tactically by Hezbollah. Acknowledging this, Efraim Halevy — former Mossad chief and national security adviser — correctly identified the mega-terror menace as authentically "genocidal." Speaking on Dec. 2, 2002, Mr. Halevy emphasized Israel would respond to such barbarous attacks in ways that "have not yet been revealed." The United States, too, would surely respond in ways that could bring counterterrorist operations to new levels.
Arguably, the most important perception that emerges from this analysis is the terror network has no walls between the various organizations. Palestinian terrorists have friendly allies in al Qaeda and vice versa. It is therefore absurd to think Mr. Arafat is a potential American friend and Osama bin Laden an enemy. They are both enemies.
Faced with the potential of al Qaeda-Palestinian terror, Americans should understand the unavoidably best approach to threats of mass destruction is timely, vigorous and dedicated pre-emption against all who threaten us and our interests.
At a minimum, we should stop sending our tax dollars to Yasser Arafat and his corrupt Palestinian Authority.

Iran to launch first spy satellite by spring

Iran will launch its first spy satellite in March or April 2005, Uzi Rubin, head of the Defense Ministry department responsible for ballistic missile defense, predicted over the weekend.
The launcher will be based on Russian ballistic missiles adapted by expatriate Russian experts, Rubin said. These experts have significantly advanced Iran's ballistic capabilities, he said, among other things, by significantly improving the accuracy of its Shihab-3 missile.

Iran is currently developing three satellites. Two are small, weighing 20 to 60 kg, and are expected to be launched mainly as a test. The third weighs 170 kg and will carry a telescopic camera for espionage purposes. That is the one that Rubin expects to be launched next spring.

Unlike its nuclear program, which is shrouded in secrecy, Iran has been very open about its missile and satellite programs, and Rubin said that Tehran views the satellite launch as a global show of strength. That, he added, ought to worry the West, and especially the United States.

Rubin, who has won two national security prizes for his role in developing the Ofek spy satellite and the Arrow anti-missile missile, bases his belief that Iran is being aided by expatriate Russian experts on photographs that Tehran disseminated of improvements in the Shihab-3. He said the new shape of the missile's cone - the part containing the warheads - is very similar to that found in old Soviet missiles, but different from that of the missiles Russia has produced since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1990.

Israeli experts believe that the Shihab's new shape is meant to foil the Arrow. 'We go crazy about Iranian progress in the nuclear field, and forget that the missiles Iran is developing can do us damage even with conventional capabilities,' Rubin said.

Brussels says no plan to suspend EU-Israel pact

The European Union does not intend to suspend its association agreement with Israel, an official said Friday after a UN human rights expert called for the EU to punish the Jewish state.

The UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Jean Ziegler, said in Geneva Thursday that the 2000 association agreement laid out respect for human rights as an 'essential condition'. (Click the link to see what a Jew-hating nutcase Jean Ziegler is. - EoZ)

But he said that Israel was abusing the accord, which sets out the framework of its trade and political relations with the EU, by violating Palestinians' right to food.

'There are no plans to suspend the association agreement,' a spokeswoman for the EU's executive commission, Emma Udwin, told reporters in response to Ziegler's appeal.

'But in all our council (ministerial) conclusions and contacts with the Israelis, we are stressing the need to act within the bounds of international law, to respect human rights and to avoid any impact on civilians,' she said.

The EU has often been highly critical of Israeli action in the occupied territories such as house demolitions, checkpoints and disruption of EU-funded aid projects.

Ziegler said the Israeli military was 'producing a humanitarian food crisis' among the Palestinians. (Just curious what he thinks of Darfur - EoZ)

According to a report that the official is due to present to the UN General Assembly next week, 22 percent of children in Palestinian territories are gravely malnourished, and half of the Palestinians are dependent on food aid.

'Grave violations of the right to food have been recorded, they are clear. This (EU) accord must be suspended,' he said.

Duke conference speakers endorse terrorism

By Aaron Klein
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

Speakers at a Duke University Palestinian solidarity conference that starts today have advocated suicide bombing and are connected to terrorist organizations, charged the university's Conservative Union.

The Palestinian Solidarity Movement, allied with the controversial International Solidarity Movement, an organization that openly supports Hamas and calls for the destruction of Israel, is holding its fourth annual conference to "put pressure on the Israeli government, partly by urging universities to sell their stock in companies with military ties to Israel," WorldNetDaily previously reported.

Attendees of the three-day event will listen to speakers explain their strategies for taking action against Israel, including lectures entitled, "Divestment: The Weapon of the Global Fight for Justice" and a talk on "How to effectively use the media and improved public relations to advance the Palestinian cause."

Now a list of speakers, which was recently released, has revealed that several of those featured openly advocate terrorism.

In a recent article, Charles Carlson, who will lead a workshop at the conference, called Palestinian suicide bombers intelligent bombs "because the body bombers act in a logical fashion...Lest there be any doubt, this writer supports the Palestinian right to launch bombs on Israelis any way they know how...I salute the 58 Intelligent Bombs; they were not cowards, nor were they 'homicide bombers,' as President George W. Bush calls them."

Carlson specifically encourages the use of children as weapons, declaring, "How dare anyone, even Yasser Arafat, condemn youth for choosing to sacrifice their life for something in which they believe...I pray for these sad children and do now join those who condemn them."

Carlson also calls for the mass murder of Israeli youth, asserting, "Each wedding, Passover celebration or Bar Mitzvah [in Israel] is a potential military target..."

Also, the Rutgers Society, which will teach a workshop at the PSM conference, lost its funding from the Turner Foundation because of its role in providing military-style training to members of the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front, which are both recognized by the FBI as terrorist organizations.

Rutgers director John Sellers openly advocates vandalism and property destruction. "I think you can be destructive, you can use vandalism strategically. It may be violence under the law, but I just don't think of it as violence," said Stellers, charges the Conservative Union.

Also leading a workshop at Duke will be Fadi Kiblawi, who advocates killing Jews everywhere. He wrote an article, "The helplessness, the degradation. It is enough to make one indifferent when they [Jews] die in a freak accident in a wedding hall while dancing Dabkeh. It is enough to make one want to strap a bomb to one's chest and kill those racists...The enemy is not just overseas. The enemy is also amongst us."

Another PSM conference leader, Abe Greenhouse, was arrested in 2003 for smashing a pie in the face of Israeli Minister and former political prisoner Natan Sharansky, who was about to begin a speech at Rutgers University.

"President Brodhead, is this your idea of 'education through dialogue'?" the Conservative Union asked in an open letter advertisement to University President Richard Brodhead that detailed the speakers connections to terrorism.

The conference will be PSM's fourth national gathering, following previous events at Berkeley, Michigan and Ohio State. Some PSM critics have charged those earlier events were hotbeds of anti-Semitism, with some attendees shouting, "Kill the Jews," and "Death to Israel!"

Rann Bar-On, a graduate student who has identified himself as an activist for the International Solidarity Movement and is a member of the campus group sponsoring the PSM conference, said he thinks the event will foster a useful dialogue on campus.

Bar-On said PSM supports nonviolent action on behalf of the Palestinian people, but neither he nor the group would sign a statement prepared by Jewish groups condemning terrorism.

"We don't see it as very useful for us as a solidarity movement to condemn violence," Bar-On told The Herald-Sun last month.

And a statement on the PSM website says: "As a solidarity movement, it is not our place to dictate the strategies or tactics adopted by the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation."

Last year's original conference organizer, Charlotte Kates, reportedly said, "Why is there something particularly horrible about 'suicide bombing’ except for the extreme dedication conveyed in the resistance fighter's willingness to use his or her own body to fight?"

PSM spokesperson Fayyad Sbaihat dismissed Kates quotations as having been "taken out of context."