ISRAEL
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- DUTCH CHRISTIANS MAKE GOLAN BLOSSOM WITH TULIPS
- Thanks to Dutch Christians the Golan will blossom with tulips
this coming winter Dutch Christians for Israel brought a gift
of 9,000 tulips bulbs 25 November 2003 Golan News. A delegation
of five Dutch Christians for Israel came to the Golan in mid-November
with their annual present of 9,000 tulip bulbs. This unique gesture
of solidarity started 6 years ago, on Israel's 50th anniversary,
on the initiative of Mr. Pee Koelewijn, a Dutch Christian Zionist
leader.
- He and the members of Christians for Israel raised funds
to bring 100,000 tulip bulbs to the people of Israel. Koelewijn
contacted the Golan Residents Committee (GRC) and became a true
friend of the Golan. Pee Koelewijn passed away two years ago,
but the Tulip Campaign continues and memorizes his profound love
to Israel, as well as his important work. This year, the GRC
hosted the delegation in the communities, which celebrate their
30th anniversary: Moshav Eliad and kibbutz Kfar Haruv.
- They were also hosted at two educational institutes: HaZvi
elementary school in Moshav Keshet and Ohalo College in Qatzrin.
Finally, they visited the new hotel Midreshet HaGolan on the
banks of Lake Bnei Israel, and tasted the prestigious Chateau
Golan wines. Ms. Henriette Heuvelman-Beelaerts van Blokland and
Mr. Herman Schotanus, two of the leaders of the group, explained
that the organization is active for Israel, today more than ever,
with the increase of anti-Semitism in Europe.
- The Dutch Christians for Israel publish their own newspaper,
help Ukrainian Jews come to Israel, sell Israeli products, and
raise money for Israeli children in need. Most of their work
is done in Holland, and they frequently come to Israel to show
their deep support and love. IMRA - Independent Media Review
and Analysis
http://english.golan.org.il/ts.exe?tsurl=0.356.13897.0.0 - http://
www.imra.org.il
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- GENEVA INITIATIVE
- IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)Aaron Lerner:
27 November 2003 With only days left before the publicity blitz
to promote the Geneva Initiative, it is appropriate to consider
for a moment just what Beilin and
the other Israelis behind the Initiative are trying to compel
Israel to accept:
- Here are just a few highlights:
- #1 Complete Reliance On The Fairness And Judgment Of Third
Parties Israel has suffered over the years from biased rulings
against it, yet according to the Initiative, all disputes between
Israel and the Palestinian state are ultimately subject to imposed
third party arbitration (Article 17 Paragraph 4).
- #2 Sovereign Palestinian State Created Before Any Palestinian
Security Compliance Oslo has been a history of interim documents
under which Israel agreed to carry out further withdrawals in
return for Palestinian assurances that they would finally act
to honor their security obligations. Obligations that they promised
to carry out in the previous documents but never did.
- Beilin's Geneva Initiative avoids the problem of Palestinian
non-compliance by providing for the establishment of an independent
sovereign state of Palestine to take place on the very same day
as the signing of the agreement
(Article 2, Paragraph 1). While there will be a schedule for
Israeli withdrawals, with the first withdrawal "immediately
upon entry into force of this Agreement (Article 5, Paragraph
7(b)) no time element is associated with the disbanding of "irregular
forces or armed bands" (Article 5, Paragraph 1(b)iv). There
is no provision for clearing out weapons present in the area
of the Palestinian state that are prohibited by the "Initiative".
-
- #3 Formula For Crises: Defense Pacts Allowed The Palestinian
state can enter into defense pacts with even the most radical
state as long as the stated objective of the pact does not explicitly
includes "launching aggression or other acts of hostility
" against Israel (Article 4 Paragraph 1(b)iii).
- These pacts, combined with the presence of the Multinational
Force (Article 5, Paragraph 6(d)ii) would make it considerably
more difficult, costly and dangerous for Israel to carry out
defensive operations within the territory
of the Palestinian state when the agreement isn't honored.
- #4 Arming of Palestinian State Set By Others While the "Initiative"
would detail the weapons the "non-militarized"
Palestinian state's Palestinian Security Force could posses is
the yet to be written Appendix X, this list can be changed at
any time without Israel's consent. ["Any proposed changes
to Annex X shall be considered by a
trilateral committee composed of the two Parties and the MF (AL:
Multinational Force) If no agreement is reached in the trilateral
committee, the IVG (AL: Implementation and Verification Group
composed of the US,
Russian Federation, EU, UN and others) may make its own recommendations."
(Article 5 Paragraph 3(b))
- #5 Short Lived Security Provisions Monitoring of international
entry points into the Palestinian state can be
terminated by the Implementation and Verification Group composed
of the US, Russian Federation, EU, UN and others after 5 years.
- Israel is limited to a "small military presence in the
Jordan Valley under the authority of the Multinational Force
and that presence is only guaranteed for 5.5 years (Article 5,
Paragraph 7(f)). The two Early Warning Stations provided for
Israel under the "Initiative" are guaranteed for only
a period of ten years. (Article 5, Paragraph 8(f)).
- #6 Jerusalem Outside Of Israel's Air Defense Envelope The
West Bank, including parts of Jerusalem, are carved out of Israel's
air defense envelope with the IDF barred from patrolling the
airspace (Article 4, Paragraph 1(a), essentially leaving the
IAF to defend the Jewish State from the coastline.
- #7 Formula For Crises: Monetary Compensation of Refugees
While "The Parties recognize the right of states that have
hosted Palestinian refugees to remuneration"(Article 7 Paragraph
3(b)), there is no reference to the possibility of offsetting
the value of Palestinian property "at the time of displacement"
against the value of lost Jewish property in Arab countries.
And since "No further claims related to events prior to
this Agreement may be raised by either Party." (Article
1, Paragraph 2), it appears that the "Accord" would
forfeit that right.
- Israel is to pay a "lump sum" covering the aggregate
value of "Palestinians' property at the time of displacement".
This property was not identified as "Palestinian refugee"
property but as "Palestinians' property", opening the
possibility that land that Israeli Arabs may also claim would
be included in the calculation. A third party will determine
the size of the "lump sum", thus exposing Israel to
the possibility that an unworkable figure is set
(Article 7 Paragraph 9).
- #8 Jewish Religious Rights Forfeited The Waqf may bar Jewish
visitors to the Temple Mount on the grounds that it disrupts
religious worship or decorum on the site (Article 6 Paragraph
5(b)iii.) While the Oslo Interim Agreement refers to respecting
"the ways of worship" and "religious rights of
Jews. . ." at religious sites (Annex III, Appendix
1, Article 32) the "Initiative" only refers to "access".
(Article 10). It should be noted that it is the position of the
PA appointed Mufti of Jerusalem as well as the other Palestinian
religious officials that while Jews may have "access"
to such holy sites as the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron and
Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem that it is blasphemy for Jews and
other infidels to pray at these sites as they are also considered
mosques.
- Those who celebrate the Geneva Initiative are either dangerously
naïve, blinded by their ideology, or cynically devoted to
achieving goals that have nothing to do with securing Israel's
and the region's future. Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent
Media Review & Analysis) http://www.imra.org.il
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- PM SHARON DROPS REFERENCE TO 14 "CLARIFICATIONS
- When Discussing Road Map Sharon drops reference to clarifications.
Aaron Lerner, 27 November 2003 Speaking from a prepared text
at the opening of a press conference today, Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon referred to the Road Map as "the Road Map as we agreed
to at Aqaba". Just a week ago, on 20 November, the Prime
Minister's Office issued a press release using a different formula:
"Israel would like to reiterate the following: The Government
of Israel accepted the roadmap along with 14 clarifications that
it decided upon and this is the one and only diplomatic plan
that Israel is prepared to carry out."
- PM Sharon (as well as Shinui leader Minister Lapid and others
in the Government) have stated in the past that the "14
Clarifications" are "red lines" for Israel. In
the question and answer period Sharon repeated the new formula
"the Road Map as we agreed to at Aqaba". PM Sharon
said during the course of the press conference that if an agreement
was reached with the Palestinians within the framework of the
Road Map that "it is clear that we would not end up being
everywhere that we are today." Dr. Aaron Lerner, http://www.imra.org.il
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- PERES SAID RABIN WORSE THAN LIKUD
- MK Sneh: Peres said Rabin worse than Likud, Peres Opposes
Major Elements of Geneva Initiative Aaron Lerner, 27 November
2003 In a live interview broadcast this morning on Israel Radio,
Labor MK Efraim Sneh, who was reportedly termed "worse than
Likud" by MK Shimon Peres for his objection to unilateral
withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, responded that "Peres also
said in the past that Rabin was worse than Likud." Israel
Radio also reported this morning that Peres said at a meeting
of the Labor Party yesterday that he opposes major elements of
the Geneva Initiative - the role of third parties in the final
arrangements (Israel appoints them as final arbiters), the acceptance
of the right of return of Palestinian refugees, and the forfeiture
of the Temple Mount. Dr. Aaron Lerner, http://www.imra.org.il
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- PRESIDENT BUSH'S APPOINTEE TO COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
- PROF. KHALED ABOU AL-FADL WARNS AGAINST REELECTING PRESIDENT
BUSH
- Special Dispatch - U.S. and the Middle East November 26,
2003 No. 616 President Bush's Appointee to Commission on International
Religious Freedom, Prof. Khaled Abou Al-Fadl, Warns Against Reelecting
Bush Professor Khaled Abou Al-Fadl,
- (1) originally of Egypt, was appointed by President George
W. Bush to the Commission on International Religious Freedom,
where he is the only Muslim member.
- Recently he gave an interview to the Egyptian government
weekly October in which he strongly criticized the American president.
The following are excerpts from the interview:
- (2) 'Bush is a Religious Fundamentalist like Former Colonialists
in Muslim Countries'
- Question: "What is the truth about the
connection between the Islamic organizations in America and the
American government, today and in the recent past?"
- Prof. Abou Al-Fadl: "Unfortunately, because of shortsightedness
and ignorance, the Islamic organizations helped Bush reach the
White House. I met with many leaders of these organizations and
I told them that I have known Bush well since he was governor
of Texas, where I live, and I am familiar with his bad policy,
which does not bode well. "During the election campaign,
Bush gave the Islamic leaders a certain status... They
lost their equilibrium. They did not listen - not only to me,
but also to someone like Ralph Nader,
who was a presidential candidate of Arab origin. He met with
them and all but pleaded with them not to
vote for Bush. He all but kissed their hands so they
wouldn't. We told them that he [Bush] is a Christian religious
fundamentalist and that the group around him, of the likes of
Paul Wolfowitz and others, hold the same beliefs that accompanied
colonialism's entrance to the Muslim countries in the 19th century."
'Bush Makes Continued American Aid in the World Contingent Upon
Permitting Missionary Activity'
- "When Bush came to the presidency, there was a revolution
in American policy. He brought in religious Christian people.
In the field, Bush permitted missionaries into Iraq before medicines.
He is the first president in the history of America whose
policy includes supporting Christian missionaries and applying
pressure through them on some countries. He links them with continued
American aid to some countries. "Bush
says that he respects Islam and wants to spread democratic
standards in the Islamic countries.
- When we ask him what exactly these democratic standards that
he calls for are, he has no answer, as if Islam was permitted
to exist only provided that it was Islam according to American
standards. I say also that unfortunately, there were at first
some hesitations in the American administration regarding the
raid on Afghanistan, but when it was carried out, it cost much
less than they expected, and this spurred them on, in a way reminiscent
of intoxication and drunkenness, to start thinking of invading
Iraq, Syria, and Iran, and of changing the map of the region."
'20% of U.S. Soldiers in Iraq Suffer from Mental Conditions'
- Question: "What is American public opinion
on what is happening in Iraq?" Prof. Abu Al-Fadl: "In
Congress, I heard testimony by soldiers and officers regarding
the mental illness and nervous conditions that have struck the
American soldiers in Iraq. An officer who reported in his testimony
on disorders that harmed soldiers [said] that this loss was greater
than the military loss; the disorders [struck] 20% of the soldiers.
Some of them were panic-stricken in their sleep and wet themselves,
not only because of the [Iraqi] resistance, but also because
of the lies of the government that had convinced the soldiers
that the Iraqis would greet them with flowers...
- "In several articles I wrote for The Wall Street Journal
and The New York Times, I predicted what would happen.
- The White House wrote to me and asked me: 'How did you know?!'
I told them, from analysis, from studying history, and from political
science, I knew that this is what would happen. [I told them,]
'You were misled by the situation in Afghanistan, but the resistance
will increase and if you intervene in Syria and Iran, even double
the sum you are requesting [from Congress] will not meet your
needs, and the Shi'ites will rise up against you.'"
- Question: "Does this mean
that the danger of invasion has passed for Syria and Iran?"
Prof. Abu Al-Fadl: "It [would be] inaccurate to say this...
If Bush manages to remain for a second term, the considerations
will change, because then he won't care about his political future
and he can gamble on an erroneous policy. "The changed situation
led the president's advisors to suggest to him that Israel play
a role in the countries that America wants to invade or whose
regime it wants to change.
- On this matter, I told the State Department and President
Bush's representative [whom I met] in the White House: 'If Israel
attacks Syria and Iran, the entire Islamic world will say that
it is doing so with American approval and cooperation, even if
America disavows it.' They thanked me and said that they would
examine the matter..." Question: "On
the personal level, do you think that you have an influence on
American policy?" Prof. Abu Al-Fadl: "...I had an influential
role in the past, and I even got to the point of determining
the [U.S.] deployment plan of withdrawal from Iraq. I did not
win that battle, but I managed to obtain a promise from the American
government that it would withdraw soon."
- Question: "You speak as if you are a one-man
pressure group on the American administration." Prof. Abu
Al-Fadl: "I have the authority and promises from the American
administration that what I say is taken into account, and that
it is of interest. I do not waste my time. I told them this and
I added: 'Either the promises you are giving me will be realistic,
or everything is a lie, and I'll quit and go back to my academic
post.'"
- (3) Endnotes:
- (1) Professor Khaled Abou Al-Fadl is currently
a Visiting Professor at Yale Law School and a Full Professor
of law at the UCLA School of Law.
- (2) October (Egypt), October 19, 2003.
- (3) Responding to a question regarding "other
Islamic voices in America," Al-Fadl said: "We in America
are harmed greatly by the likes of Fouad Ajami, who presents
himself as a Lebanese citizen, and many other secular individuals
present themselves as if they wanted to purge the Arab world
of Islam. They cause us damage, because they present a deviant,
erroneous, and distorted picture of the Islamic states..."
The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) http://www.memri.org
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- EGYPT TO PRODUCE FINNISH TOWED HOWITZERS
- LONDON [MENL] -- Egypt has completed an agreement to manufacture
artillery systems under license from Finland. Industry sources
said the Egyptian Army has launched a project to produce the
155 mm towed howitzer by Finland's Patria Vammas. The agreement
calls for the production of Patria's 155 GH 52 155mm towed howitzers.
- The contract calls for Egyptian production to take place
at the Abu Zaabal Engineering Industries Co. The London-based
Jane's Defense Weekly reported that the artillery would be designated
the E52 and that Egypt would obtain technology to produce the
system. The Patria 155 GH 52 has a range of 41.3 kilometers.
The howitzer is a 155 mm and 52 caliber system. Middle East Newsline
- http://www.imra.org.il
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