EUROPE ANTISEMITISM CONDEMNED

European Anti-Semitic Backlash Condemned Mon Feb 2, 1:48 pm ET

WASHINGTON, Feb 2 (OneWorld.net) - A recent wave of attacks on Jewish people in Europe has been condemned by a human rights monitor, which identified some of the violence as an apparent backlash against the recent Israeli incursion into Gaza. In its annual survey of hate crimes in Europe and North America, published in mid-2008 (before the recent attacks in Gaza), human rights watchdog Human Rights First (HRF) noted that anti-Semitism has been on the rise for several years. The dramatic rise of anti-Semitic violence since 2000 has been in part attributed to anti-Jewish sentiment triggered by the Second Palestinian Intifada. Antipathy toward Israeli policies sometimes translated into racist hostility toward all Jews, regardless of their political views or nationality, said HRF. However, since 2005, this pattern has to some extent changed, with month-by-month patterns of anti-Semitic violence leveling off, with more uniform rates that show little correlation with events involving Israel and the Middle East. Nonetheless, the survey noted, anti-Semitic violence increased in much of Europe and North America in 2007 while levels of violence motivated by anti-Jewish prejudice remained historically high in some countries. The Israel Defense Forces began aerial bombardments on Gaza December 27, 2008, with the stated aim of suppressing Hamas rocket fire against Israel, and launched a ground offensive eight days later, explained international watchdog Human Rights Watch, citing reports of heavy civilian casualties and alleged laws of war violations. After 22 days of war and over 1,000 casualties, Israel declared a unilateral ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, reported the New York Times on Jan. 18. Hamas initially rejected the ceasefire and shot at Israeli troops in northern Gaza, drawing return fire, and fired rockets into southern Israel, triggering an Israeli air strike in response, reported BBC News. Hamas then declared a one-week ceasefire, demanding that Israel withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip, but there have since been clashes between the Israeli military and Hamas militants. OneWorld.net's Gaza Crisis Alert provides news from groups on the ground in Gaza and links to organizations providing emergency relief to civilians.

Saudi cabinet says Palestinian unity is only way forward Mon Feb 2, 1:45 pm ET

RIYADH (AFP) – Unity is the only way through which the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people can be achieved, the Saudi cabinet said in a statement on Monday after its weekly meeting.The best resistance is one which unites the Palestinian people and guarantees its legitimate rights by using legal, political, civil and economic means against the policies of Israel and its allies, the statement said.It slammed the policy of polarisation which is emerging in the Middle East around inter-Palestinian disagreements.This policy should be rejected, the cabinet said, while urging caution towards regional and foreign ambitions dressed up as support for Arab and Islamic causes.Splits among Arab countries burst into the open at a summit in Kuwait last month, when leaders divided into a pro-western camp, lead by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and a radical group including Syria and Qatar and supported by Iran, a Shiite country which is seeking to extend its influence in the largely-Sunni Gulf region.The Saudi cabinet called on the Palestinian factions to look for what unites them and brings them together and for what links their beliefs, the only way to achieve the aspirations of their people.Divergences between the Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and the Hamas group which rules in Gaza have been exacerbated by calls by exiled Hamas political leader Khaled Meshaal for the formation a new political movement to replace the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, currently headed by Abbas.

Sarkozy meets US Mideast envoy Mitchell Mon Feb 2, 9:21 am ET

PARIS (AFP) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy met US Middle East envoy George Mitchell on Monday, as the American completed his first regional drive to revive peace talks.Sarkozy, who with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak helped broker a Gaza ceasefire last month, was to hold talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas later in the day.President Barack Obama's envoy ended his Middle East tour Sunday after meetings in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.Sarkzoy was also to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani of Qatar, whose country brokered a peace accord between Lebanon's rival factions in May last year.The French president has sought to carve out a greater role for Europe in the search for peace in the Middle East after the 22-day Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that left 1,330 dead.Mitchell, who was to have a working lunch with Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, was on a tour as a fragile ceasefire holds in Gaza.Egypt and other regional powers are seeking to firm up the ceasefire. One Palestinian was killed on Monday in an Israeli air strike on militants who had fired mortars on southern Israel.The 75-year-old former US senator on Friday said in Israel that Washington was committed to actively and aggressively seeking lasting peace in the Middle East but warned there would be further setbacks.Before arriving in Riyadh, Mitchell met Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman who urged Washington to resume its efforts to clinch a two-state settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.French officials said they planned to sound out Mitchell on the new administration's plan to bring the Gaza crisis to an end and revive Israeli-Arab peace talks.The envoy, who helped broker peace in Northern Ireland in 1998, travels later Monday to London to brief the British government on his first round of meetings.Abbas meanwhile will meet with National Assembly speaker Bernard Accoyer on Tuesday and with Kouchner before travelling to Strasbourg to address the European parliament on Wednesday.The president of the Palestinian Authority will travel to Britain, Turkey, Poland and Italy later this week to discuss reconstruction efforts in Gaza following the Israeli offensive.Abbas decided to cancel a visit to the Czech Republic, which currently holds the European Union presidency, to allow for more time to be spent in Cairo for truce talks.

Pro-Palestinian groups call boycott on Israel Sun Feb 1, 1:59 pm ET

BELEM, Brazil (AFP) – Pro-Palestinian groups meeting at the World Social Forum that ended Sunday launched a call for a worldwide boycott of Israel and a day of action on March 30.This is not intended to be an anti-Semitic action. It's a call against the apartheid that Israel is practising, said one of the organizers, Yuri Haas, an Israeli Jew.The campaign was decided by several groups headed by the Palestine National Committee.At the six-day forum in Belem, Brazil, t-shirts declaring I am Palestinian and Palestinian scarves were a common sight as participants showed their solidarity with the Palestinians following the conflict in the Gaza Strip.Israel killed more than 1,300 and wounded 5,000 Palestinians in 23 days in Gaza, Haas said.

The pro-Palestinian groups also launched a campaign to try to block a free-trade agreement between Israel and the Mercosur trading bloc comprising (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela).We only need one president not to sign it for it to be scrapped, Haas affirmed.

Israel says Hezbollah planning murder or abduction bid Sun Feb 1, 1:57 pm ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel's counter-terrorism bureau on Sunday warned that Hezbollah is planning to abduct or kill Israeli officials ahead of the anniversary of the assassination of the Lebanese militia's senior leader.Hezbollah is apparently prepared for carrying out a severe attack against an Israeli target, including abroad, the bureau said in a statement, warning specifically of assassination or kidnapping attempts.Such an attack is a threat against any Israeli, especially senior officials, it said.The bureau reiterated its travel warnings for Israelis, calling on tourists and businessmen to take special precaution in hotels, restaurants and recreational spots abroad.The anti-terror bureau has issued a number or warnings that Hezbollah was seeking to target or abduct Israelis abroad following the assassination of Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus in February 2008.

Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday vowed to avenge Mughniyeh's killing, which he blamed on Israel, although the Jewish state has denied any involvement in the incident.The Israelis live in fear of our revenge, Nasrallah said in a rare news conference via video link. The decision to respond to the killing is still on. We decide the time and place.In 2000, Hezbollah snatched Israeli businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum after luring him to the United Arab Emirates. He was released in January 2004 as part of a prisoner exchange deal with the militia.

After Davos row, Livni urges Turkey to respect Israel Sun Feb 1, 2:40 am ET

JERUSALEM, (AFP) – Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Sunday called on Ankara to show respect for Israel after Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan stormed off the stage in Davos over a heated debate on Gaza.We enjoy important strategic relations with Turkey, which is why I expect Turkey to show respect vis-a-vis Israel despite the demonstrations on the street and the very hard images aired about Gaza, Livni told public radio.Livni, whose centrist Kadima party is trailing in opinion polls ahead of a general election on February 10, said it was possible to repair the damage with Turkey, one of the few Muslim nations to have relations with the Jewish state.It is possible to fix everything, we have to talk, put things on the table, keep our common interests as well as our differences in mind, she said.Hamas as well as Iran constitute a problem for all the countries in the region, she said, criticising Turkey for being the first country to agree to receive a delegation from the Islamists after they swept parliamentary polls in January 2006.Erdogan on Thursday stormed out of a debate on the Gaza war at the World Economic Forum in Davos after a clash with Israeli President Shimon Peres, saying Israel committed barbarian acts in the Hamas-ruled territory.Predominantly Muslim non-Arab Turkey has been Israel's main regional ally since 1996 when the two signed a military cooperation agreement, much to the ire of Arab countries and Iran.

Gazan rockets hit Israel, no damage: police Sun Feb 1, 1:22 am ET

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – At least two rockets fired by Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip struck southern Israel on Sunday, causing no damage or casualties, police said.There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the salvo from armed factions in Gaza, which is still reeling from a 22-day Israeli offensive billed as punishing Islamist Hamas for such cross-border attacks.Since a January 18 truce took hold, there has been sporadic rocket fire. Israel has mostly responded with air strikes.(Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Netanyahu aims for unity government in Israel poll Sat Jan 31, 5:20 pm

JERUSALEM (AFP) – The leader of Israel's right-wing Likud party said on Saturday he will aim to form a government of the broadest possible unity if his party wins the February 10 general election.I will act to form a unity government that is as wide as possible, former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in response to viewers' questions on the private Channel 2 television.My greatest mistake when I was prime minister was not doing everything to enlarge my government to the maximum, added Netanyahu who was premier from 1996 to 1999.He said he hoped to lead a government of national unity that also included the centre-left Labour party and centrist Kadima, which would enable his administration not to be taken hostage by the extreme right.

Labour is led by current Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Kadima by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.Polls show Netanyahu in a strong position to become prime minister again, projecting that a right-wing bloc led by Likud would take 65 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel's parliament.