Category Archives: peace

Israel’s far right spreads from the fringes | Middle East | DW.DE | 14.07.2014

According to Rachel Elior, a professor of Jewish philosophy at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, these are dangerous statements that should be banned.

“There are certain circles that want to deny the fact that Palestinians are people just like us. No more, no less,” she said on Israeli radio. “Unfortunately, many think that we are a holy people, and that non-Jews can be defined as unclean and worthy of death.”

The rabbis base their views on ancient and traditional Jewish texts, said Elior, adding that this doesn’t, however, legitimize racism.

The Jewish people have a long history that stretches back more than 3,000 years, she added. The collective memory is shaped by texts, which resulted, in part, from Jews living as a persecuted minority among other peoples, said Elior.

There are written sources over 3,000 years old, and it’s clear “that over such a long period of time there are all sorts of beliefs that are no longer acceptable today,” she said. “Just as we no longer have slaves or maidservants, although there are religious laws that permit doing so, you cannot allow racist comments based on these Israeli sources.”

via Israel’s far right spreads from the fringes | Middle East | DW.DE | 14.07.2014.

US Military officers’ testimony undermines Benghazi ‘stand down’ theory

Do the math folks!

Military officials differ on when that telephone conversation took place, but they agree that no help could have arrived in Benghazi in time. They put the call somewhere between 5:05 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. local time. It would take about 90 minutes to fly from Tripoli to Benghazi. The next U.S.-chartered plane to make the trip left at 6:49 a.m., meaning it could have arrived shortly before 9 a.m., nearly four hours after the second, 11-minute battle at the CIA facility ended at about 5:25 a.m.

via US Military officers’ testimony undermines Benghazi ‘stand down’ theory.

Israeli airstrikes kill 30 Palestinians | Maan News Agency

GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli airstrikes across the besieged Gaza Strip killed 30 Palestinians overnight Wednesday and Thursday, including a family of eight, bringing the total death toll to 81.

Israeli warplanes fired a missile at a car in the northern Gaza strip killing three Palestinians. A medical official confirmed that the remains of the victims were taken to Kamal Udwan Hospital.

Two of the men were identified as Mahmoud Waloud and Hazim Balousha.

Ismail Abu Jami, 19, was killed in a strike on Khan Younis and Abdullah Ramadan Abu Ghazal, five, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Beit Lahiya, Gaza health ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said.

Israeli warplanes also targeted a residential house in al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, with no injuries reported.

In the southern Gaza Strip, an Israeli missile hit a residential building in Rafah. Three men were injured in a car traveling near the building.

Three men were injured, one seriously, in an airstrike targeting a motorcycle in Rafah. Another airstrike struck Gaza City, injuring two, while another airstrike targeted al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.

Earlier, an airstrike hit a car in al-Nafaq street in Gaza City, killing three and injuring four.

Bahaa Abu al-Leil, 35, Wisam Qandil and Amir al-Fayoumi were identified as the victims. Islamic Jihad said in a statement that the men were fighters with the al-Quds Brigades.

Early Thursday, Israeli warplanes targeted a building in Khan Younis, killing eight members of the al-Hajj family. Over 30 people were injured in the strike.

Most of the victims were children, al-Qidra said, adding that Israeli forces bombed the building without a warning or asking them to evacuate.

Tariq al-Hajj, Najla al-Hajj, Aminah al-Hajj, Saad al-Hajj, Omar al-Hajj, Aminah al-Hajj, and Basimah al-Hajj, 57, were named as the victims.

Earlier, nine Palestinians were killed and at least 10 injured when Israel targeted Waqt al-Marah coffee shop on a Khan Younis beach.

Locals said dozens of people were watching the World Cup semi-final game when Israel fired a missile at the crowd.

Muhammad Khalid Qannan, his brother Ibrahim, Hamdi Kamil Sawali, Suleiman al-Astal, Ahmad al-Astal, Mousa al-Astal and Muhammad al-Aqqad were identified as some of the victims.

Muhammad Ihsan Farawneh, 18, was found dead on Thursday under the rubble of the cafe.

Another airstrike in the al-Zawayda village in central Gaza killed four members of the Shalat family; a couple and two children.

The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on a media vehicle in Gaza late Wednesday.

Late Wednesday, an Israeli airstrike killed Hamdi Shihab, who worked as a driver for local news agency Media 24.

The car had ‘TV’ clearly marked in red paint on the bonnet of the vehicle.

Early on Thursday the Israeli military said that during the course of the preceding day, “at least 82 rockets hit Israel” and 21 were intercepted.

The Israeli army said it launched raids on “322 targets” overnight, taking the total number of Hamas targets hit to 750.

via Israeli airstrikes kill 30 Palestinians | Maan News Agency.

Hamas: All Israelis are targets | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

Horrible deaths but an Hamas all out attack is just what political leaders of Israel want just now – Hamas said Tuesday that “all

Israelis” would be targeted after a deadly strike on a house in the southern city of Khan Younis killed seven people, among them two teenagers.

“The Khan Yunis massacre… of children is a horrendous war crime, and all Israelis have now become legitimate targets for the resistance,” Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement, without elaborating.

Medics said another 25 people were wounded in the strike.

via Hamas: All Israelis are targets | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

ISIS chief orders Muslims to ‘obey’ him: video | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

{Self-delusion is very comforting to the one who deludes himself – but can be devastating to those who laugh or oppose the delusion}

“I am the wali (leader) who presides over you, though I am not the best of you, so if you see that I am right, assist me,” he said, wearing a black turban and robe.

“If you see that I am wrong, advise me and put me on the right track, and obey me as long as I obey God in you.”

AFP was not immediately able to confirm the authenticity of the video purportedly showing Baghdadi, of whom there were previously only two known photographs.

The video is the first ever official appearance by Baghdadi, according to Aymenn al-Tamimi, an expert on Islamist movements, though the jihadist leader may have appeared in a 2008 video under a different name.

“God gave your mujahedeen brothers victory after long years of jihad and patience… so they declared the caliphate and placed the caliph in charge,” he said.

“This is a duty on Muslims that has been lost for centuries,” he added, sporting a long and slightly greying beard, as he addressed the faithful from the mosque’s pulpit.

via ISIS chief orders Muslims to ‘obey’ him: video | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

Fifty Indian nurses forced onto buses in Tikrit | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

Nearly 50 Indian nurses from the southern state of Kerala have been taken against their will from a hospital in the militant-controlled city of Tikrit in Iraq, India’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

The nurses were forced to board buses, Foreign Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told reporters at a briefing, but he declined to say who had ordered them aboard or where they were headed.

Asked if the nurses had been kidnapped, Akbaruddin said: “In zones of conflict there is no free will. This is a situation where lives are at stake.”

A senior aide to Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who spoke to the nurses Thursday, told Reuters that “militants” had forced the nurses to vacate the hospital and board two buses.

Tikrit, the birthplace of former President Saddam Hussein, has been the site of fierce fighting this week as Iraqi troops battle to regain control of the city from Al-Qaeda splinter group the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS).

via Fifty Indian nurses forced onto buses in Tikrit | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.

Water supply key to outcome of conflicts in Iraq and Syria, experts warn | Environment | The Guardian

Armageddon on the horizon?

The Euphrates River, the Middle East’s second longest river, and the Tigris, have historically been at the centre of conflict. In the 1980s, Saddam Hussein drained 90% of the vast Mesopotamian marshes that were fed by the two rivers to punish the Shias who rose up against his regime. Since 1975, Turkey’s dam and hydropower constructions on the two rivers have cut water flow to Iraq by 80% and to Syria by 40%. Both Syria and Iraq have accused Turkey of hoarding water and threatening their water supply.

“There has never been an outright war over water but water has played extremely important role in many Middle East conflicts. Control of water supply is crucial”, said Stephen.

It could also be an insurmountable problem should the country split into three, he said. “Water is one of the most dangerous problems in Iraq. If the country was split there would definitely be a war over water. Nobody wants to talk about that,” he said.

Some academics have suggested that Tigris and Euphrates will not reach the sea by 2040 if rainfall continues to decrease at its present rate.

via Water supply key to outcome of conflicts in Iraq and Syria, experts warn | Environment | The Guardian.

US ship arrives in Italy port for Syria chemical weapons | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

The U.S. ship MV Cape Ray sailed into the southern Italian port of Gioia Tauro on Tuesday to handle the unprecedented transfer and destruction of about 1,300 tons of Syrian chemical weapons.

The 648-foot (197.5-meter) U.S. government cargo ship has been fitted with two machines designed to neutralize the most toxic chemicals – including mustard gas and the raw materials for sarin nerve gas – that were removed from Syria as part of the international effort to destroy its chemical weapons.

via US ship arrives in Italy port for Syria weapons | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.