DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADE BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
EU accused of meddling in Israeli democracy
LEIGH PHILLIPS Today JUNE 30,10 @ 10:45 CET
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - An archly conservative group with strong links to the Israeli government has attacked the human rights community in the Jewish state, saying that it is being bankrolled by the EU in a secretive attempt to undermine democracy. Israeli diplomats are touting in Brussels the investigative work of NGO Monitor, a body which claims that a clutch of officials in the heart of the EU is plotting to delegitimise Israel by funding local human rights organisations.
Professor Gerald Steinberg, NGO Monitor president, was last week brought to Brussels by Israel's EU mission to speak to MEPs and to promote his work among journalists.
The EU gives public funds to a small group of opposition groups in an effort to manipulate the political process,he told eurodeputies.In violation of the principle that democracies do not attempt to manipulate or interfere with the internal political processes in other democracies, anonymous European officials in charge of NGO allocations seek to exploit a minority group of Israelis to impose EU-favoured policies on the wider Israeli public.I don't see it as a conspiracy,he later told reporters.But with the EU lack of transparency in general, it is very hard to sort out.He compared the sums, amounting to 68.8 million shekels (€15 million) since 2006 for Israeli civil society groups including B'Tselem, Peace Now, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel, Mossawa and Physicians for Human Rights Israel, whom he terms radical fringe NGOs, to the €15 million annually Israel spends internationally on its public diplomacy efforts.Mr Steinberg also named Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam as part of what he calls third-generation warfare against Israel.First came attacks from nation-states, he says; second came violence from non-state actors such as the PLO and the Intifada uprisings; and now the new form of war that is being mounted against the Jewish state comes in the form of human rights discourse that aims to delegitimise its right to exist.Across the board, these organisations cast Israel as having a poor record on human rights. They have a structural bias against Israel and they are very active in the demonisation and delegitimisation campaign of Israel,he said.
He is especially critical of B'Tselem, saying they play fast and loose with death rates and casualty counts in particular.They are primarily an anti-occupation organisation. They should campaign for Israeli human rights as much as they do for Palestinians,he said.He highlighted a November 2008 conference in Cairo that was funded by Oxfam and the EU entitled Impunity and Prosecution of Israeli War Criminals,saying plans were hatched at the event for two Belgian lawyers to later target Israeli officials with legal claims in Belgium on war crimes.Why is the EU giving money to private Israeli organisations? he said. My speculation is that it's a group of EU bureaucrats with personal ideological interests. And with the EU and these groups clinging to secrecy so stubbornly, it suggests that there's something going on under the surface.Sarit Michaeli, of B'Tselem, dismissed the accusations, saying that NGO Monitor attacks all civil society groups in Israel no matter how moderate, as soon as they criticise the current government.Everyone, all human rights NGOs are instantly delegitimisers and demonisers of Israel. There are no shades of grey [for NGO Monitor],she told EUobserver.She added that Mr Steinberg gives the impression of being an objective academic studying NGOs in the region, but is in fact a partisan of the current administration: He maintains he is independent of the Israeli government, but he has been a consultant to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he has represented Israel within the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe programmes. This is not in any way someone who is independent of the Israeli government.She said that NGO Monitor fits in with the Israeli government's attempt to silence internal critics, such as NGO Breaking the Silence, an organisation of former Israeli soldiers who speak out about human rights abuses perpetrated in the occupied territories. In 2009, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs had meetings with the Spanish, Dutch and British governments in an attempt to stop them funding the group.It is tantamount to the government campaigning to discredit Israeli civil society and human rights NGOs,Ms Michaeli said. What [Steinberg] is actually doing in discrediting human rights groups in Israel, he is assisting in the creation of a system of repression of the crushing of internal dissent and actually injuring Israeli democracy - the very fragile democracy we have here.Mr Steinberg's own organisation receives most of its funding from private American Jewish foundations.The Israeli mission in Brussels for its part insists that NGO Monitor is not sponsored by the foreign ministry. We would be happy to help out with arrangements for B'Tselem if they had approached us about coming to Brussels,an Israeli diplomat said.
Israel's Barak to meet Palestinian PM Fayyad
9:15 AM JUNE 30,10
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak is to meet with Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad in the coming days, the two sides said on Wednesday, for a rare high-level meeting between the two.Barak confirmed the meeting after talks with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, but did not say when it would take place.
We are due to meet in the next few days. This is not the first time we are meeting and we will talk, I assume, about the situation on the ground, about security coordination,Barak told reporters after the meeting.We will talk about economic issues, issues they want to raise and where we have things we want to raise, like confiscating goods (from settlements) or attempts to stop (Palestinian) workers from working in the settlements,he said.Barak said he would also raise the issue of the Palestinian "activities against us in the international arena.I'm sure we will also hear their complaints and demands from us, Barak said.Fayyad's office confirmed the meeting and said Palestinians planned to discuss demands that Israel lift it's blockade of the Gaza Strip and Israeli military incursions into Palestinian cities.
Barak said his talks with Mitchell, who has been shuttling between Jerusalem and Ramallah, focused on moving to direct peace talks.The aim of the talks at this stage is to succeed in moving from proximity talks to direct talks with the Palestinians on all issues, Barak said.Mitchell was due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later on Wednesday and with Palestinian leaders on Thursday.Direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been blocked since December 2008 when Israel launched a deadly offensive against Gaza to halt rocket attacks.
Israeli soldier arrested for spying for Hezbollah
JUNE 30,10
JERUSALEM (AFP) – An Israeli soldier and several civilians have been arrested for allegedly passing information to the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and smuggling drugs across the border, the army said on Wednesday.It is suspected that an IDF warrant officer and a number of Israeli civilians were in contact with Lebanese drug dealers so as to smuggle drugs over the border,a statement said.According to the investigation, it is alleged that the warrant officer passed on military-security information to Lebanese drug dealers, connected to the Hezbollah terror organisation,it said.The statement, which did not identify the soldier or give further details on the civilians or their number, said charges would be filed in the coming days.Lebanon has arrested more than 70 people since launching a major crackdown in April 2009 against suspected Israeli spy networks, including a number of high-profile arrests of security force members.Israel launched a deadly offensive against Hezbollah in 2006 and Lebanon and the Jewish state remain technically in a state of war.
Israel's east Jerusalem demolitions a peace obstacle: EU
Wed Jun 30, 6:42 am ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) – The planned demolition of Palestinian houses in east Jerusalem, as part of an archaeological project, is an obstacle to peace, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said Wednesday.Jewish settlements and the demolition of homes are illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible,Ashton warned in a statement.The European Union's High Representative stressed that the EU has never recognised Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem.If there is to be genuine peace, a way must be found through negotiations to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the future capital of two states,Ashton added.The Palestinians reluctantly agreed to launch the indirect talks in May after months of shuttle diplomacy by US envoy George Mitchell, but said they would not move to direct talks without a complete Israeli settlement freeze.Ashton called on Israel to refrain from measures which may undermine the ongoing (indirect) proximity talks,where mediators shuttle between the two parties.These talks enjoy our full support and the parties need to engage seriously in these negotiations, the EU foreign affairs chief underlined.
Israeli police clashed on Sunday with some 200 Palestinian protesters in an Arab neighbourhood of east Jerusalem that is the planned site of the controversial archaeological park.The clashes occurred in Silwan, an Arab neighbourhood, which has been the focus of the plan by Jerusalem municipality to raze 22 Arab homes to make way for an archaeological park.Silwan is part of the so-called Holy Basin, just outside the walls of Jerusalem's famed Old City, and is believed to be the site of ancient Jerusalem during the time of the biblical kings David and Solomon.It is now a crowded Arab neighbourhood in a part of the city occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move not recognised internationally.Israel considers the whole of Jerusalem as its eternal and indivisible capital while the Palestinians see east Jerusalem as the capital of their promised state.
Israel weighs wider mandate for Gaza flotilla panel
Wed Jun 30, 1:47 am ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel may upgrade the mandate of its investigation of a deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, by allowing it to subpoena witnesses, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said.The panel headed by former Israeli Supreme Court justice Jacob Turkel launched its probe on Monday and served notice that Netanyahu and his defense chief may be called to testify about the May 31 incident in which nine Turkish citizens were killed.Israel went ahead with the inquiry after a world outcry against the raid, though it rejected a United Nations proposal for an international probe. The raid by Israeli commandos put a spotlight on Israel's blockade of Hamas-ruled Gaza, which has since been eased.The Israeli statement published on Tuesday, said Turkel had filed a request to broaden the authorities of the committee (investigating) with respect to the ability to require witnesses to appear before it and give testimony under oath.There is no reason not to give positive consideration to this request, it said, adding that ministers would also weigh a separate appeal to expand the number of members on the panel, and soon ask the Israeli cabinet to render a formal decision.In addition to Turkel, the panel includes an Israeli expert on international law, a former general, and two non-voting foreign observers: David Trimble, a Northern Ireland politician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Canadian jurist Ken Watkin.Due to the limited scope of the inquiry, it is seen as unlikely to pose any political threat to Netanyahu's year and a half old right-wing government.Turkel has said his panel's mandate calls for an examination of whether Israel's naval blockade and the flotilla's interception conformed with international law as well as an investigation of the actions of the convoy's organizers and participants.
The flotilla incident has soured Israel's strategic ties with Turkey, an important Islamic ally, which has since recalled its ambassador and canceled joint military exercises with the Jewish state.Israel has said its commandos, who boarded one of the Turkish-sponsored vessels to enforce the blockade it sees as necessary to prevent weapons from reaching Islamist militants, opened fire when activists assaulted them with knives and clubs.In response to Western criticism, including from its biggest ally, the United States, Israel has since eased a land blockade of Gaza where 1.5 million Palestinians live, allowing most civilian goods through, while continuing to enforce a naval embargo of the coastal territory.(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, Editing by Noah Barkin)
Obama, Saudi King discuss 2-state Mideast solution
By Alister Bull – Tue Jun 29, 10:11 pm ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama and Saudi Arabian King Abdullah Tuesday stressed the importance of a two-state solution to Middle East peace that secured a Palestinian homeland alongside a strong Israel.Arab leaders are disappointed that Obama has not made more progress in pressuring Israel to give ground in U.S.-mediated peace talks. Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on July 6.Obama said his lunch with King Abdullah ranged over various strategic issues, including Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, as well as the importance of moving forward in a significant and bold way in securing a Palestinian homeland that can live side by side with a secure and prosperous Israeli state.Netanyahu began indirect talks with the Palestinians in May but has imposed strict conditions for accepting their demand for statehood.In addition, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said earlier Tuesday that problems with the talks, and divisions among the Palestinians, meant no Palestinian state would be founded by 2012. This was an apparent reference to a call by the Quartet -- the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia -- for an accord by that time.Obama and King Abdullah expressed their hope that proximity talks between Israelis and Palestinians will lead to the resumption of direct talks with the aim of two states living side-by-side in peace,the White House said.King Abdullah only spoke briefly after their meeting, thanking Obama for his hospitality and praising the friendship between their two countries.We appreciate all that you personally have done to further broaden and deepen and strengthen this relationship, he said, speaking through in interpreter in the Oval Office.Analysts say the Saudis want Obama to lean on Netanyahu over stalled peace talks with the Palestinians and on freezing Jewish settlements on occupied Arab land.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the King had assured Obama of his continued support for the Arab Middle East peace initiative.This is the 2002 plan originated by King Abdullah offering Israel recognition in exchange for returning occupied territories and allowing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.Last year Obama revived a long-standing U.S. request for Saudi Arabia to make gestures toward normalizing relations with Israel as an incentive to the Jewish state to take up serious negotiations over establishing a Palestinian state.(Editing by Patricia Zengerle and Sandra Maler)
Turkey bars Israeli military planes amid deepening rift
Tue Jun 29, 12:51 pm ET
ISTANBUL (AFP) – Turkey has twice denied Israeli military planes access to its airspace in retaliation for the deadly raid on Gaza-bound aid ships, a diplomat said Tuesday, in a sign of the deepening rift between the one-time allies.There have been two flights in request and we refused both, a diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said while denying the refusals constituted a blanket ban.This does not mean that we will refuse them in the future but we are taking them one by one,he stressed, adding that civilian flights remained unaffected as they were an international obligation.The May 31 raid on the aid flotilla, which left eights Turks and a dual US-Turkish citizen dead, shattered Turkey's already strained ties with the Jewish state, with Ankara recalling its ambassador and cancelling three planned joint military exercises.The two countries had been close allies since a 1996 military cooperation deal before their ties nosedived amid sharp Turkish criticism of Israel's devastating war on Gaza begun in December 2008.Turkish officials gave no details of the flights which were refused, but Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that an Israeli military plane heading to Poland was barred from flying over Turkey immediately after the raid.Turkish media quoted the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot as saying that the military plane had been taking an army delegation of 100 officers to the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz.
Turkey's English-language Hurriyet Daily News reported on Monday that a second flight had been barred, but gave no details.Israel's Transport Minister Yisrael Katz said in a statement Monday the country had not been informed of any procedural changes for entering Turkish airspace.The refusal of the overflight permissions is a result of the indignation the Israeli assault caused in Turkey, foreign ministry spokesman Burak Ozugergin told a press conference in Ankara.We have already announced that we would take some measures if our demands were not met.Turkey has said it wants Israel to apologize for the deaths and injuries, compensate the victims' families, agree to an international inquiry, release three Turkish vessels seized in the operation and lift the blockade on Gaza.Ankara has also urged Washington, a close ally of Israel, to intervene in the crisis, with Erdogan discussing the issue with US President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Canada ahead of a July trip by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington.A Turkish diplomatic source said on condition of anonymity that Ankara believed the United States could persuade Israel to meet the Turkish demands for an apology, compensation and return of the ships.But it is unlikely that there will be any progress on the demand for an international inquiry, he said.Israel has set up its own commission to investigate the raid, but Turkey has dismissed it as insufficient, insisting on a UN-led international probe.The activists abroad the aid ships say Israeli soldiers opened fire as soon as they landed. Israel denies the charge and argues that troops used force only after coming under attack from the activists.Forensic reports made available to AFP Tuesday by lawyers' representing the victims' families showed that all but two of the nine victims were shot more than once, and five died from bullet wounds to the head.
The nine volunteers were shot a total of 31 times, according to the documents. The findings make it clear the Israeli forces shot to kill the activists and not to overpower them,one of the lawyers, Yasin Divrak, told AFP. The youngest victim, a 19-year-old who held both Turkish and US citizenship, was shot five times, including twice in the head, his autopsy report said.Another victim was shot six times, including once in the abdomen, while a third was hit by five bullets, among them a fatal one in the chest, according to the documents.
Egypt bars Jordanian activists from reaching Gaza
Tue Jun 29, 12:28 pm ET
AMMAN (AFP) – A group of Jordanian trade unionists who tired to get into the blockaded Gaza Strip returned home on Tuesday after Egypt denied them entry through the Rafah crossing.We decided to go back to Jordan after Egypt refused to give us permission,Ahmad Armuti, head of the delegation and president of the trade unions' council, told AFP.We contacted Egyptian authorities several times but we failed to get the reasons behind their decision.Earlier Alaa Borqan, who is in charge of public relations at the Islamist-dominated trade unions, said the 12-member group including journalists left for Rafah on Saturday.They were carrying nothing but solidarity for the people of Gaza,he said, adding the unions had sent a letter to Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif urging him to allow the delegation into the enclave.Borqan said Egypt granted entry to a Lebanese delegation on Monday and we have information that a Malaysian group will enter the Strip today.However, the Egyptian authorities justified their refusal to allow the group into Gaza by the fact that it had failed to give prior notice of its arrival.The entry of the delegations and of aid is not permitted without advance coordination with the Egyptian authorities, a security official told AFP.The security services were surprised to see the (Jordanian) delegation arrive at the crossing without prior agreement,he added, confirming that a Lebanese group had entered Gaza after receiving the green light from Egypt.Jordan's Islamic Action Front, the main opposition party, urged Egypt in an online statement to help all those who want to ease the sufferings of Palestinians in Gaza.
The impoverished Palestinian territory of 1.5 million people has been under a crippling blockade since militants captured an Israeli soldier in a deadly cross-border raid in 2006.Israel tightened its grip after the Islamist Hamas movement seized control of Gaza the following year.The Rafah border is Gaza's only crossing that bypasses Israel.Egypt, which is building an underground steel barrier to stop the smuggling of goods and weapons into Gaza via a network of underground tunnels, had kept Rafah largely closed, opening it for humanitarian cases on two days a week.
But earlier this month Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak ordered the opening of the border after a deadly Israeli raid on a flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.
Israel hopes Russian leader will visit this year
Tue Jun 29, 6:31 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Tuesday after a meeting with Moscow's top diplomat that he hoped Russia's president or prime minister would visit the Jewish state in 2010.I hope that by the end of the year there will be a visit by President Dmitry Medvedev or Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Lieberman said at a press conference with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.Lieberman, an immigrant from Moldova whose mother tongue is Russian, said they had discussed the two countries' close bilateral relations and the situation in the Middle East,without providing further details.Lavrov said he hoped for the renewal of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians following the launch of indirect US-brokered negotiations in May.He also welcomed Israel's recent decision to allow more goods into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip while calling for the complete lifting of its four-year blockade of the impoverished territory.Meanwhile, Lavrov requested an explanation from Washington regarding the arrest of an alleged spy ring, which came at a time of rapidly warming ties between the two countries.They did not explain what the matter is about. I hope they will, he said, referring to US authorities.The moment when it was done has been chosen with a special finesse,he said with apparent sarcasm.Medvedev and US leader Barack Obama met in Washington earlier this month to underscore warming ties between the two Cold War adversaries.
But on Monday US authorities said they had cracked open a massive alleged spy ring, announcing the arrest of 10 deep-cover suspects after unravelling a mission secretly monitored by the FBI for more than a decade.
Palestinians seek new partner: American Jews By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer - Tue Jun 29, 3:18 am ET
JERUSALEM – The Palestinians have long feared the Jewish lobby in Washington. Now, they are embracing it.During a swing through the U.S. capital this month, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was the guest of honor at a dinner with a small but influential gathering of more than 30 Jewish American leaders and political heavyweights. In what participants on both sides have described as a highly successful meeting, Abbas patiently fielded questions for more than 90 minutes, discussing such touchy topics as Mideast peace talks, anti-Israeli incitement in the Palestinian media, violence and terrorism and the Holocaust.It was a dramatic departure for the Palestinians, who have traditionally viewed the American Jewish leadership with a mixture of awe, animosity and envy for its political skills and influence over what is seen as a pro-Israel U.S. policy.Palestinian officials say it was the first time Abbas has met with such a large and diverse group of Jewish leaders, and reflected a realization that courting American Jews could benefit the Palestinians.I think it's a mistake to ignore these institutions and communities by saying that they are against us, and that we should not talk to them, Abbas told The Associated Press.No, we should sit with them, and we should try to convince them by talking to them.With indirect U.S.-brokered peace talks just getting under way, Abbas said he also felt it was important to explain his positions. Specifically, he defended his refusal to hold direct negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying more progress is needed before face-to-face talks can begin.This week, Abbas said in the West Bank that he has heard nothing from Israel to encourage him to move to direct talks — highlighting his decision to find other ways to influence events as efforts to engage Israel falter.
According to a transcript of the June 9 dinner, Abbas made a number of conciliatory statements. He repeatedly condemned violence, recognized the Jewish connection to the Holy Land and informed the audience that he had sent representatives to attend Holocaust commemoration ceremonies in Russia and Poland.I want to tell everyone that these people suffered, and we are suffering. Now we want peace between each other, Abbas was quoted as saying. He rejected Holocaust denial, a common sentiment in Palestinian society.Abbas also acknowledged Israeli security concerns, saying he would allow foreign troops into a future Palestine to help maintain the peace. He vowed to remove incitement from Palestinian airwaves and textbooks.The event took place at the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace, and the audience included leading personalities that spanned the spectrum of Jewish opinion.Among them were Elliot Abrams, a veteran of the Reagan and second Bush White Houses; Sandy Berger, the National Security Adviser to Bill Clinton; publisher Mortimer Zuckerman; and leaders from major Jewish groups like the powerful AIPAC lobby, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Anti-Defamation League.
The center's president, former Democratic congressman Robert Wexler, said that Abbas' comments — particularly his condemnations of violence — went a long way with the audience.The unequivocal rejection of violence was both a powerful statement and made a significant impression,Wexler said.Abbas' statements on other issues, such as anti-Israel incitement in Palestinian media and textbooks, were less persuasive with some participants, Wexler said. In vowing to fight incitement, Abbas suggested a dormant U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian committee resume work on the topic.Nonetheless, Wexler said Abbas' attempt to reach out to the Jewish community appeared to be widely appreciated.He said Abbas insisted the session be conducted on the record, and after a brief opening statement in Arabic, conducted the session in English to better connect with the audience. Abbas rarely speaks English in public.Participants said Abbas was so engrossed in the conversation that he didn't even eat his dinner. When flying home two days later, he still spoke warmly about the event. The point I think leaders took was that this was a unique opportunity to create a true, candid dialogue between parties, meaning the Palestinian leadership and the American Jewish community, where that dialogue in the past has been lacking,Wexler said.
Not all guests were swayed.
Abrams, a top Bush adviser on Mideast affairs, acknowledged that Abbas' condemnations of violence make him an appealing person.But he said that most of Abbas' comments lacked substance, and that he likely did little to change people's minds.For those in the Peace Now camp, Abrams said, referring to a dovish Israeli activist group,it showed how dedicated to peace he is. He seems to realize fully that the use of violence will only harm Palestinians. But for those who are more skeptical about his ability to deliver, his evasiveness suggested that he doesn't want to be pinned down on substantive issues.Abrams acknowledged that the Palestinians' meeting with Jewish leaders is an intelligent thing to do, but added,if they think it is a substitute for meeting with the government of Israel, they are making a huge mistake.Israeli government officials in Jerusalem and the Israeli Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the meeting. Abbas said he hoped to continue the dialogue by inviting the group to visit the West Bank. He also hopes to hold a similar meeting with Jewish leaders in France in the near future. I talked to them in the same language that I speak on the Palestinian street. I found them accepting what I was saying, and this is good,Abbas said.
Israel arrests Arabs wanted for Qaeda-inspired attacks
Mon Jun 28, 2:06 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israel has arrested seven Arab citizens on suspicion of planning attacks against Jews and Christians that were inspired by the speeches of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, officials said Monday.According to documents released by the district court in Nazareth, northern Israel, three of the men were charged with the murder of a 54-year-old Jewish taxi driver and the attempted killing of another man.
The suspects were arrested two months ago, but the news was blocked by a court gag order which was lifted on Monday.Police said six of the men were from Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel, and the seventh from a nearby village.Regional police chief Aviv Elgrisi said the group was uncovered after two of its members went to east Africa, hoping to join Islamic militants there.Two Nazareth residents travelled to Kenya with the intention of reaching Somalia and fighting alongside the Muslims against the infidel and the American enemy,Elgrisi told Israeli public radio.These two aroused the suspicions of the security services in Kenya who sent them back here and informed our security service.Elgrisi said Israel's Shin Bet internal security service arrested the men upon arrival and interrogated them, which led to the arrest of the five other suspects. Their intention was to harm any non-Muslim,he said.
Court documents charge Ahmed Ali Ahmed, 21, with the fatal shooting last year of cab driver Yefim Weinstein and name Ghaleb Ghanaim, 25, and Haider Zaidana, 21, as accessories, accused of helping him flee the scene.The charge sheet also accuses members of the group of kidnapping and wounding a man from the Jewish suburb of Upper Nazareth and attempting to murder a Christian who they believed had cursed the prophet Mohammed.They also allegedly torched a Nazareth business owned by a Christian Arab.The accused shouted Long live Osama bin Laden and God is greatest as they were led into the courtroom, according to the radio.Members of the group were arraigned on different charges, including murder, kidnapping, assault and weapons offences. They were then remanded in custody for six weeks, with no trial date set.
Israel's Arab citizens, who make up nearly 20 percent of the population, are Palestinians who remained in the Jewish state following the 1948 war that attended its creation and their descendants.
Rival Hamas, UN summer camps compete over children By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jun 28, 1:06 pm ET
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Masked men trashed a U.N. summer camp Monday, tying up guards and slashing tents and an inflatable pool in the second such attack blamed on suspected extremists in just over a month — a sign of how, in Gaza, youth camp is not just about crafts and volleyball.Rival day camps by the United Nations and Gaza's Islamic militant Hamas rulers compete for the hearts of the next generation, the roughly 700,000 children under 15 who make up nearly half of the Gaza Strip's population.Hamas camps teach an anti-Israeli doctrine and military-style marching, along with horseback riding, swimming and Islam. U.N. camps try to instill hope in a better future, a message wrapped in fun and games.The U.N. says it hopes to help shield Gaza's children against the lure of militancy, a task that's getting harder in the impoverished territory. Educators say today's children are more vulnerable than the previous generation, having witnessed war with Israel last year, internal Palestinian fighting and the violent Hamas takeover in 2007, followed by an Israeli-Egyptian blockade that has virtually cut Gaza off from the outside world.Time is against us, warned local U.N. chief John Ging.We are losing an entire generation.In Monday's vandalism, two dozen masked men broke into a U.N. camp before dawn, while children were not present. They tied up four guards, then slashed and burned tents, toys and a plastic swimming pool.
Hamas police condemned the attack and there was no claim of responsibility.However, Islamic extremists, including a Hamas legislator, have accused the U.N. in the past of corrupting Gaza's youth, objecting to camp activities such as folklore dancing. A number of Islamic groups more militant than Hamas have carried out violence in the territory in the past few years.Hamas is also becoming more assertive in imposing its strict version of Islam on daily life in Gaza. It has ordered male coiffeurs out of women's salons, and teenage girls are under intense pressure from teachers to wear headscarves and robes in government schools.For now, Hamas has largely avoided confrontation with Ging's U.N. Relief and Works Agency, well aware of how vital it is to the lives of impoverished Gazans. UNWRA runs schools, clinics and food centers for two-thirds of Gaza's 1.5 million people.The U.N. agency stays clear of Hamas, internationally shunned as a terror group.Hamas says some 100,000 youngsters have signed up for its camps, compared to about 250,000 registered for the U.N. program. Both types of camps are free, and are arranged by age groups.The U.N. camps run for two weeks each, for schoolchildren through ninth grade. Hamas camps offer 10 days of activities for children and teens from first grade through high school. There are also smaller, private camps — one nonpolitical day camp where students try to memorize sections of the Quran, for instance, has drawn about 20,000 children.While Hamas and the U.N. may use the opportunity to get their ideas across, the motive for many Gaza parents and youngsters in turning to the camps is the same as that of families around the world: The camps break up an otherwise tedious summer.The problem is particularly acute in Gaza, which offers few diversions. Families tend to be large, many homes are crowded and kids are often sent into the streets by stressed parents. Frequent power cuts make idle days more miserable.Mahmoud Migdad, a 15-year-old from the Shati refugee camp, says he often gets yelled at by neighbors for playing football in the streets and gets kicked out of the house by his older sisters when they want to clean. He says that's why he's not only joined a Hamas camp, but is also trying to sign up for the U.N. program.
On a recent afternoon, at one of the Hamas youth camps near Shati, dozens of elementary school students took turns riding horses, swimming in the Mediterranean, sailing in a fishing boat and learning the choreography of Muslim prayer.After the children recited Quranic verses, a camp supervisor gave a brief lecture. We have two aims in our camps, our prisoners and al-Aqsa,said the man, referring to Islam's third holiest shrine, in Israeli-ruled east Jerusalem, and the more than 6,300 Palestinians held by Israel.First we must free the prisoners, and then also al-Aqsa.
Where is al-Aqsa? he asked.In the hands of the occupation,the children responded. Who is the occupation? he asked.Israel,they responded.Where are the prisoners?" he asked.In the hands of the occupation,they said.Each camp is dedicated to a Hamas prisoner, and a large banner with the photo and name of this camp's patron, Mahmoud Nimr Shaheen, was draped over the entrance. Shaheen, an aide to a Hamas militant leader, was released this month after serving 18 years.Asked what he knows about the camp's patron, 12-year-old Tareq al-Ghoul said,He was in prison because he fought for us.After the lecture, the boys lined up outside the tent and practiced marching in formation, to the singsong of a drill sergeant, shaking their fists to shouts of Allah.Ahmed Yousef, a representative of Hamas' more pragmatic wing, denied the children were being indoctrinated. He said the emphasis on religion meets the demands of a conservative society. However, Hamad al-Raqoub, a Hamas official involved in the camps, said their aim is also to forge a generation that will lead the liberation of Palestine from the Israeli occupation regime.
At a U.N. camp, the atmosphere was more laid back.Three boys rehearsed a skit with an anti-smoking message. Others splashed in a water tank. Crafts projects were on display. We need to be hopeful to bring about real change,read one of the cheerful signs posted on tent walls. Life skills are part of the program, and the day's lesson was about human rights, a topic also taught in U.N. schools. The boys quickly shouted out the answers to the instructor in their circle. The right to be healthy, said one. The right to play, added another.One eager participant, Abdel-Hamid Ashi, said he loves going to camp, like most of the boys in his neighborhood. Most don't care which camp they attend, added the 13-year-old. They just want to have fun.
Associated Press writer Ibrahim Barzak contributed to this report from Gaza City.
