Hopes For Peace Rekindled as Israel and PA Reps Agree To Meet In Jordan

Israel, PA Reps to meet again in Amman

Jerusalem Post 

01/09/2012 02:45 

Palestinians have been downplaying significance of second round of direct talks since Jordanians renewed channel last week; officials in Ramallah say they don't expect current talks to achieve a breakthrough.

Israeli and Palestinian officials are scheduled to meet in Amman on Monday for the second time in a week, though Palestinian officials say the gap between the two sides on security and border issues remains as wide as ever.

Unlike the meeting last Tuesday, this time representatives of the Quartet – the US, EU, Russia and UN – will not be in attendance. Jordan will host the talks at the Foreign Ministry in Amman.

Caveat Emptor!

UNESCO Pulls Financing To (Hate Mongering) Palestinian Magazine

A day after a protest from the Simon Wiesenthal Center to UNESCO's Director-General over a Palestinian youth magazine which published materials exalting Hitler, UNESCO has agreed that it "will not provide any further support to the publication in question." Zayzafouna, a magazine which supposedly promotes democracy and tolerance, published an article by a ten-year-old Palestinian girl who said that in her dreams, Hitler told her, “Yes. I killed them [the Jews] so you would all know that they are a nation who spreads destruction all over the world.” The article was brought to the public's attention by Palestinian Media Watch.

A letter from the office of UNESCO's Director-General read:
"UNESCO’s attention has been drawn to the February 2011 issue of the Palestinian children’s magazine Zayzafouna. This magazine is published by an NGO of the same name under the patronage of the Palestinian National Commission for UNESCO, which is the national body set up by the Palestinian Authority to facilitate its work with the Organization. The February issue features a story written by a 10-year-old girl in which Hitler is quoted by her as stating that he “killed [the Jews] so you would all know that they are a nation who wreak havoc on Earth”. While UNESCO upholds freedom of expression as an integral part of its mandate, the inclusion in this publication of a statement that may be interpreted as an apology of the holocaust is contrary to UNESCO’s constitutional mandate and values. It is totally unacceptable.

UNESCO supported the publication of three issues of the Zayzafouna Magazine six months after the February 2011 issue. The support was provided for these issues following agreement with the editorial board that they would focus on building greater appreciation amongst Palestinians for their heritage and culture. They were to open the way for positive dialogue aimed at overcoming the consequences of the Middle East conflict, and to fight against stereotypes that may be conducive to violence. It was UNESCO’s intention to foster a positive view ofPalestinian heritage based on the values of tolerance and UNESCO’s mandate of building peace in the minds of men and women. This vision guides all of UNESCO’s activities, and we urge all partners to work in this direction.

UNESCO is shocked and dismayed by the content of the February issue, and has requested more detailed information and clarification from the editors of the magazine and to Palestinian Authority.
UNESCO strongly deplores and condemns the reproduction of such inflammatory statements in a magazine associated with UNESCO’s name and mission and will not provide any further support to the publication in question.
The Organization, which is deeply committed to the development and promotion of education about the Holocaust, disassociates itself from any statement that is counter to its founding principles and goals of building tolerance in the full respect for human rights and human dignity."

Muslims Drive out Christians from PA Territories ...

The Jooz Did It!

Arutz Sheva

Interview Series: International human rights lawyerJustus Reid Weiner:

 "They flee to almost any country that will issue them a visa."

From Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld 

"The disputed territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip have been administered by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and in more recent years, in part, by Hamas. Under these regimes, the resident Christian Arabs have been victims of frequent human rights abuses including intimidation, beatings, land theft, firebombing of churches and other Christian institutions, denial of employment, economic boycott, torture, kidnapping, forced marriage, sexual harassment, and extortion.

"Muslims who have converted to Christianity are the ones in the greatest in danger. They are often left defenseless against cruelty by Muslim fundamentalists. PA and Hamas officials are directly responsible for many of the human rights violations. Christian Arabs also fall victim to the semi-anarchy that typifies PA rule."

Justus Reid Weiner is an international human rights lawyer and a member of the Israel and New York Bar Associations. His professional publications have appeared in leading law journals and intellectual magazines. Weiner lectures widely abroad and in Israel and teaches international law and business courses at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

In Weiner's view, the crimes committed against Christian Arabs result from a way of thinking that dates back to the earliest days of Islam. "Traditionally, Christians and Jews were given an inferior social status known asdhimmitude in Islam. To this day, Muslim attitudes toward Christians and Jews are influenced by the concepts and prejudices that dhimmitude has spawned in Islamic society. The widespread persecution of Christians in various Muslim dominated lands brings many proofs of this.

"Israel is the only exception in the Middle East where the Christian population since 1948 has increased. It has risen by more than 400 percent. This also includes non-Arab Christians, such as Russian Christians who have moved to Israel as spouses of Jews.

"As dhimmis, Christians living in Palestinian-controlled territories are subjected to debilitating legal, political, cultural, and religious restrictions. Muslim groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad have built a culture of hatred upon the age-old foundations of Islamic society. Moreover, the PA has adopted Islamic law into its draft constitution.

"In such an environment, Christian Arabs have found themselves victims of prejudice and hate crimes. Tens of thousands of Palestinian Christians have left their ancestral homes and emigrated. They flee to almost any country that will issue them a visa.

"The demographics in the Palestinian areas have changed drastically. In Bethlehem, the Christian population was an 80 percent majority in 1950. Today the population of Christian Arabs in Bethlehem is hovering at about 15 percent of the city's total population. Neither the Palestinian Christian leaders nor the PA want to reveal accurate statistics. That would mean the extent of the emigration would become publicly known. They would then have to face questions about the reasons for this decline."

Seventy percent of Christian Arabs who originally resided in the PA administered areas now live abroad.

Weiner points out that Yasser Arafat determined the policy that led to this demographic shift. "After the PA gained control of Bethlehem, it redistricted the municipal boundaries of the city. Arafat also defied tradition by appointing a Muslim governor of the city. The Bethlehem City Council, which by Palestinian law must have a Christian majority, has been taken over by Muslims. Eight of the fifteen seats on the Council are still reserved for Christians, but Hamas controls the City Council with some Christian allies. Arafat crowned his efforts when he converted the Greek Orthodox monastery next to the Church of Nativity into his official Bethlehem residence.

"The problems for Christians in Bethlehem are typical throughout the Middle East. As in Palestinian society, Christian Arabs have no voice and no protection. It is no wonder they have been leaving. Because of emigration – some of it dating back two or three generations – seventy percent of Christian Arabs who originally resided in the West Bank and Gaza now live abroad. Tens of thousands live in Sydney, Berlin, Santiago, Detroit, and Toronto. The emigration of Christian Arabs has multiplied over the last decade, with no end in sight.

"It is currently estimated that the number of Christians living in Gaza totals only 1,500-3,000 amid 1.2 million Muslims. Probably less than fifty thousand Christians remain in all of East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Gaza together.” 

Weiner concludes: "The human rights crimes against the Christian Arabs in the disputed territories are committed by Muslims. Yet many Palestinian Christian leaders accuse Israel of these crimes rather than the actual perpetrators. These patriarchs and archbishops of Christian Arab denominations obfuscate the truth and put their own people in danger. This is often for personal benefit or due to intimidation. This motif has been adopted by a variety of Christian leaders in the Western world. Others who are aware of the human rights crimes choose to remain silent about them."

There are none so blind as those, that will not see

Tutu ignorant of Palestinian minority persecutions

Times Live: A Freed Palestinian prisoner Nael Barghoutia, who was released in the Egypt-facilitated Israel-Palestine prisoner swap.

Archbishop Tutu obviously does not know that Arab Christians and other minority religions have been severely persecuted by the Palestinian Authority first under Arafat and now Abu Mazem.

The result has been  that the vast majority of Palestinians who are Christian have left to avoid suffering. Pope John Paul II begged Arafat on several occasions to give protection to Christian Arabs but his appeals fell on deaf ears.

The situation today is that there no longer remain Christian Arabs to take care of the Christian holy places in the Palestinian area.

This is the story throughout the Arab Muslim World. Gaza is free of Christian Arabs, as are most Arab Muslim Countries like Iraq,Yemen, etc.

The terrible treatment of the Egyptian Christian Copts by Muslims is typical of the lack of tolerance by Islam of other faiths. Archbishop Tutu would not be welcome in these countries.

The Archbiship would do well to address this persecution before lecturing the Jewish People who provide the only safe haven for Christian Arabs and other minor faiths in the whole Middle East.

Palestine Authority: Pay Our Bills? ... Sorry, We're Broke!

Yad Israel

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad ѕауѕ hе wіƖƖ bе unable tο pay thе thе salaries οf tens οf thousands οf civil servants, аѕ Israeli economic sanctions ѕtаrt tο bite.

Israel сhοѕе last month tο рlасе οn hold thе monthly transfer οf аbοut $100 million іn tax revenues іt collects οn behalf οf Fayyad’s Palestinian Authority. Thе transfers, along wіth foreign aid, аrе crucial fοr keeping Fayyad’s government afloat. Nearly one-third οf thе close tο 4 million Palestinians іn thе West Bank аnԁ Gaza depend οn public sector salaries.

Fayyad tοld reporters Sunday thаt thе sanctions hаνе a “devastating impression” οn thе Palestinian economy.

Israel suspended thе transfers іn retaliation fοr Palestinian attempts tο win global recognition fοr a state οf Palestine.

To Be...or...Not To Be?

L'chaim ... To Life!

Choosing Life Over Death; Them and Us

Boulder Jewish News
In 2002 the Palestinian Second Intifada took a turn for the worse. After the so-called Passover Massacre which killed 30 Israelis and wounded 140, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) became engaged with the Palestinian militias in what became known as the Battle of Jenin.

Although the Palestinians spread the lie to the world media that Israel committed a massacre against the Palestinian civilian population (the UN subsequently verified that no such massacre occurred), and the level of destruction was limited rather than widespread as also depicted in the media, an important and telling incident during that battle showed the difference in the mentality between the warring sides.

An IDF unit chose to do an on-the-ground house-by-house search for terrorist combatants rather than call for F-16 strikes which might kill innocent civilians as collateral damage. One should understand that Palestinian civilians often offered themselves as human shields, knowing that Israelis will avoid harming them while in pursuit of their compatriots, and that the Palestinian side booby-trapped the houses and streets with explosives. Knowing this, the IDF still decided to choose “boots on the ground” rather than air power.

A Palestinian commander during the battle, Tabaat Mardawi, told CNN from prison in Israel, that after learning the IDF was going to use troops, and not planes, “It was like hunting … like being given a prize… The Israelis knew that any soldier who went into the camp like that was going to get killed… I’ve been waiting for a moment like that for years”. [CNN.com, August 23, 2003, "Palestinian fighter describes 'hard fight' in Jenin"]

The result of this “boots on the ground” decision was the deaths of thirteen Israeli soldiers in one incident, all killed by the explosion of a booby-trapped home and the subsequent ambush by Palestinian militias in what became known as “the bathtub.”

Such decisions are not unique and the IDF soldiers are constantly and in numerous incidents called on to choose life over death. In fact, the entire Israeli operation in Jenin was deliberately slowed down just in consideration of possible civilian casualties.

Why? And does the answer matter?

The answer demonstrates the difference in mentality between the warring sides. The Palestinian side makes it honorable to lie, to encourage death, to slaughter its enemies. Let me be clear, I am not saying this is the mentality of the Palestinian population; I am saying this is the attitude of the Palestinian militants and a large segment of the Palestinian population. This is different with the Israelis. Armies kill and wars are brutal, but the difference in attitudes is none the less telling and distinctive.

It is not that Israeli soldiers harbor no hate or desire to kill, it is that they are educated differently in handling their response and the rules under which they can engage Palestinians.

And one can see this by observing the difference in their training from the primary, secondary and university educational institutions in distinction to the culture of radical Islamism. All that even before we get to that which comes from soldiering.

But soldiering, the training of a soldier, is telling too.

The Looming EU Banking Crisis and Funding the PA

Oy Vey! ...  Who will support the 'Palestinians'?

Israel Matzav
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday morning, Oliver Sarkozy, the half brother of French President Nikolas Sarkozy, says that a bailout of Europe will require the European Central Bank to inject at least $2.12 trillion into the European economy (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).

Sarkozy on Europe math fail: "The math i'm working with is very simple. In the US banking sector, we had 3 trillion of wholesale funding that needed to be stabilized, got stabilized by the implementation of TARP which saw the US treasury buy $212 billion worth of preferred in the banking sector to stabilize that $3 trillion, give our banks the time to work through hair problem their problem assets. In Europe, that $3 trillion is $30 trillion. so if you multiply the $212 by 10, you get the $2.12 trillion. In my view, the issues on the European banks are bigger than the issues on the books of the US Banks. So if you want to stabilize that $30 trillion and in my view it's not that you want to, it's that you have to, you do not have a choice, you're going to have to be at least at 2.1 trillion and i suspect it may need to be more."

Here's more. Let's go to the videotape.

And it was just last week that the Europeans promised the 'Palestinians' another €100 million. Obviously, the Europeans will keep their priorities in order: Destroying the Jewish state, by giving money to terror mongerers who are the frontline soldiers against it, must come before saving Europe. But where will they get the money? What could go wrong?

It couldn't happen to a nicer group. Heh.

Israeli Settlers Invade Sacred Mosque in Nablus

... or just maybe ... 
Jews went to Pray at Ancient Site of Jewish Patriarch's Tomb

"1500 Jewish settlers break into Joseph's tomb in Nablus"

Jordan Directions

Ramallah, Nov. 24 (Petra) -- Jewish settlers on Thursday broke into the West Bank town of Nablus under the protection of Israeli occupation soldiers, sources said.

According to Palestinian sources, around 1500 Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai of Shas, illegally stormed what they claim to be "Joseph Tomb" east of the city and performed religious rituals.

"Clashes erupted between Palestinian youths and the Jewish settlers and soldiers, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets," the sources added.

Settlers storm the shrine on weekly basis since 2000 after the withdrawal of the occupation forces following bloody clashes with Palestinian activists.

Joseph’s Tomb is a holy place for Muslims, Christians and Jews located in Nablus. According to an agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis, Jewish worshipers are allowed to visit the site only with previous coordination between Palestinian and Israeli authorities. In recent years, however, Israeli settlers started entering this holy site illegally, without Palestinian coordination and permission.

//Petra// SK / A SH
24/11/2011 - 12:05:57 PM

History About To Repeat, Repeating Itself?

'Next Palestinian gov't to be headquartered in Gaza'

Jerusalem Post

Hamas adviser Ahmed Youssef tells "Quds al-Arabi" time is "ripe" for consensus between Fatah and Hamas; PA President Abbas to visit Gaza in near future.

Hamas and Fatah agreed to headquarter the next Palestinian government in Gaza, a Hamas official told the Palestinian "Quds al-Arabi" newspaper on Friday.

Ahmed Youssef, a political advisor to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, told the newspaper that the time is "ripe" for consensus between the two opposing Palestinian factions. 

The agreement over Gaza indicates the possibility that the next Palestinian leader may also be a Gaza resident.

Youssef said Hamas would support Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in his bid to gain Palestinian membership in the United Nations, and that Hamas supported the establishment of a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 border with Jerusalem as its capital.

According to Youssef, Abbas will visit Gaza in the near future.

PA Authority TV Accuses Israel of Inciting Hatred

From YouTube:

Uploaded by palwatch on Nov 15, 2011

http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=663&fld_id=663&doc_id=5832

Transcript:
TV news reader: "Israeli TV Channel 1, during the first part of the prisoners' exchange, deliberately rebroadcast an interview held in the past in prison with the [now] released female prisoner Ahlam Tamimi to incite against the prisoners."
Ahlam Tamimi: "My mission was just to choose the place and to bring the Martyrdom-seeker (i.e., the suicide bomber). [I made] the general plan of the operation, but carrying it out was entrusted to the Martyrdom-seeker."
Ahlam Tamimi: "I told him to enter the restaurant, eat a meal, and then after 15 minutes carry out the Martyrdom-seeking operation. My job was to realize, for this Martyrdom-seeker, the happy life that he wanted."
Interviewer: "Didn't you think about the people who were in the restaurant? The children? The families?"
Ahlam Tamimi: "No."
Interviewer: "Do you know how many children were killed in the restaurant?"
Ahlam Tamimi: "Three children were killed in the operation, I think."
Interviewer: "Eight."
Ahlam Tamimi: "Eight?! Eight."
[PA TV (Fatah), Oct. 23, 2011]

Note: Terrorist Ahlam Tamimi led a suicide bomber to the Sbarro pizza shop in Jerusalem in August 2001. 15 people were murdered in the attack, many of them children. In October 2011, Tamimi was released from Israeli prison as part of the Shalit prisoner exchange deal brokered between the Israeli government and Hamas.

Gaza PA Farmers Learn Export Expertise from Israel

Israel National News

While rockets are fired by Gaza terrorists, PA farmers in the region are being taught by Israel how to export something better.

While Hamas and allied terrorists continue to fire rockets and mortars at Jewish communities in the western Negev, Palestinian Authority Arab farmers in Gaza are being taught by Israelis how to export something better and more peaceful.
Despite all provocation, Israel has continued “business as usual” and this month held its training programs in fresh produce export expertise to prepare Gaza farmers for the new season that starts in another week or two.
Following the finalization of the trade process from Gaza to various European markets, a continuing education program for the region's Palestinian Authority agriculturalists was held last Tuesday at the offices of the Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza.
Representatives of the Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories (CoGAT) also announced that starting next month, a pilot program of furniture export from Gaza to Europe would also begin.
“This conference is part of the ongoing daily cooperation between the Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza and the Palestinians in the agricultural sector,” said the IDF Spokesperson.
During the past year, PA farmers in Gaza exported more than 399 tons of strawberries, 10 million carnations, 6.5 tons of cherry tomatoes and 6 million tons of red, green and yellow bell peppers to European markets.
Quartet Adviser Tim Williams also attended the conference.
One of the items on the agenda was teaching Gaza farmers to avoid the severe infestation of the red palm weevil, which destroyed crops last year. The pest managed to enter the region via the illegal tunnel network used by the Hamas terrorists to ferry people, weapons and contraband between Egypt and Gaza.
“Though the existence of these illegal tunnels served as the catalyst for the infestation, the CLA assisted the farmers in Gaza whose crops had been damaged,” the IDF Spokesperson pointed out.
“It is Hamas who is our mortal enemy, not the people of Gaza,” said Mark Regev, spokesman for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. “They have made it clear they consider every man, woman and child in Israel a legitimate target,” he told Arutz Sheva in a telephone interview Sunday afternoon.
“The Hamas agenda is separate from the people of Gaza, who we consider to be victims as well,” Regev said.

The Rain Cleanses Al Quds (Jerusalem) of Jews Impurity

Camera Blog November 10, 2011 PA TV:
"Rain cleanses Jerusalem of Jews' impurity." 
 The Arab attempt to erase the Jewish connection to the land of Israel is ongoing.
Whether claiming that Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem is actually a mosque, or denying the existence of the Jewish Temple while destroying its remnants on the Temple Mount, these tactics reflect an ongoing attempt to rewrite Jewish history and distance the Jews from their Jewish homeland.
In a recent rendition of this tactic, as depicted in a new video which aired on PA TV November 6, 2011, the Jews of Jerusalem are cast as "foreign impurity."



 Transcript: "The golden dome [of the mosque] shines with colors of the sky, with the white of clouds, while the joyous holiday [Eid Al-Adha] is good to the residents. The light rain cleanses the steps of the foreigners [Jews] so that the feet [of Muslims] in prayer will not step on impurity." [PA TV (Fatah), Nov. 6, 2011]