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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Breaking taboo, Jerusalem Palestinians seek Israeli citizenship

2015-08-05

[Ynet] While the vast majority of East Jerusalem Paleostinians refuse citizenship, more are requesting it, citing lack of peace deal, weak legal status, and pragmatism. "I declare I will be a loyal citizen of the state of Israel," reads the oath that must be sworn by all naturalized Israeli citizens. Increasingly, they are words being uttered by Paleostinians. In East Jerusalem, which Israel captured from Jordan during the 1967 Middle East war and later annexed, issues of Paleostinian identity are layered with complexity. While Israel regards the east of the city as part of Israel, the estimated 300,000 Paleostinians that live there do not. They are not Israeli citizens, instead holding Israeli-issued blue IDs that grant them permanent resident status. While they can seek citizenship if they wish, the vast majority reject it. And yet over the past decade, an increasing number of East Jerusalem Paleostinians have gone through the lengthy process of becoming Israeli citizens, researchers and lawyers say. In part it reflects a loss of hope that an independent Paleostinian state will ever emerge. But it also reflects a hard-headed pragmatism - an acknowledgement that having Israeli citizenship will make it easier to get or change jobs, buy or move house, travel abroad and receive access to services. Israeli officials are reluctant to confirm figures, but data obtained by the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies indicates a jump over the past decade, rising from 114 applications in 2003 to between 800 and 1,000 a year now, around half of which are successful. On top of that, hundreds have made inquiries before the formal application process begins. Interior Ministry figures obtained by Rooters show there were 1,434 applications in 2012-13, of which 189 were approved, 1,061 are still being processed and 169 were rejected. The remainder are in limbo. Paleostinians who have applied do not like to talk about it. The loyalty oath is not an easy thing for them to sign up to and becoming a naturalized Israeli - joining the enemy - is taboo. "It felt bad, really bad," said a 46-year-old Paleostinian teacher who took the oath a year ago. Despite her reservations, she knew it was right for stability and career prospects. "We just want to live our lives," she said. "At the end of the day, politics gets you nowhere." Demographic change The fraught decisions over identity come at a time when political and religious tensions are high in Jerusalem, and yet integration has to an extent been rising. The most visible sign of that is the city's light-rail system which allows passengers - a mix of ultra-Orthodox Jews, secular Israelis, Paleostinians and tourists - quick access to west Jerusalem shopping centers, markets and parks. More Paleostinians, albeit in small numbers, have also been moving into predominantly Jewish neighborhoods and even settlements. Khalil Tafakji, a map expert and former member of the Paleostinian negotiating team, said political deadlock - the sense that years of striving for an independent Paleostinian state were going nowhere - was driving numbers up. "If this continues, what will the Paleostinians negotiate about? They want to negotiate on the land - they have already lost the land," he said. "They want to negotiate for the population and the population is being lost." Israel, he said, was trying to strengthen its hold on Jerusalem demographically, a process helped by Paleostinians taking up Israeli citizenship. Since 1967, around 24,000 Paleostinians had made the switch, he said, equivalent to almost 10 percent of the East Jerusalem Paleostinian population. The demographic impact is even wider when one considers that the children of those who become Israeli citizens are born Israeli. Israeli Interior Minister Silvan Shalom rejected the demographic argument. "This will not affect negotiations with the Paleostinians, which encompass far greater and wider issues," said Shalom, whose portfolio includes Paleostinian affairs.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Jordan PM Puts Kibosh On Canceling Peace Treaty With Israel

2014-11-10

[IsraelTimes] The ongoing tension over Jerusalem's flashpoint al-Aqsa Mosque compound is inflicting a "stab wound" on the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said on Sunday, though he said Amman would not cancel the 20-year agreement. "Israel and Jordan are committed to peace and to respect the peace treaty, but this commitment is not just applicable to one side, it is a commitment by both," Ensour told news hounds in Amman. He added that backing out of the peace treaty with Israel was not on the table for now, the state-run Petra News Agency reported. Last week, heavy festivities raged at the mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City as Israeli police faced off with Paleostinian stone-throwers, prompting Jordan to recall its ambassador in protest. Jordanian officials had warned the kingdom may reassess the peace treaty in the wake of what they called "unilateral Israeli violations." "What is happening is a stab wound to the idea of peace," Ensour said Sunday in remarks just two weeks after the 20th anniversary of the peace treaty. Ensour said Israel's actions at the site were the result of a "clear" policy aimed at changing the decades-long status quo at the site, which is holy to both Moslems and Jews. "The Jordanian government condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the events of recent weeks in Jerusalem, which are not the result of administrative errors or acts by a few snuffies but rather a clear government plan to change the realities at the holy places," he continued. Months of unrest in and around the plaza have been triggered by Paleostinian fears that Israel was preparing to change the status quo to allow Jews to pray there -- a suggestion that has been repeatedly rejected by Israel. Although Jews are allowed to visit the compound, they are not permitted to pray there for fear it could shatter the fragile status quo at the site, one of the most sensitive places in the Middle East. During talks with the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... 's new foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini earlier on Sunday, Jordan's King Abdullah II reiterated his opposition to Israeli "attacks" on Jerusalem's holy places. He also called for a resumption of international efforts to revive the collapsed peace talks, a palace statement said. Under terms of the 1994 peace treaty, Jordan is recognized as custodian of the Moslem holy sites in East Jerusalem, which was captured by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed in a move never recognized by the international community. Abdullah reportedly canceled Jordanian participation in a ceremony that had been scheduled for this week to mark 20 years of the Israel-Jordan peace treaty. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Abdullah spoke by telephone last week, and agreed on the imperative to calm tensions. Netanyahu also assured the king of Jordan, who is responsible for the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf trust that administers the site, that he has no intention of changing the status quo there to allow Jewish prayer, as some right-wing Jewish snuffies are demanding. Nonetheless, in a further sign of Jordanian displeasure, Abdullah ordered two of his ministers and some 40 other Jordanian officials not to attend the 20th-anniversary ceremony scheduled to be held in the Jordan Valley area between the two countries, Israel's Channel 10 news reported Friday night. This move forced the official postponement of the ceremony, which may well be cancelled altogether, the TV report said. The "modest" ceremony was also to have been attended by Israel's Minister for Regional Development, Silvan Shalom.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel signs agreement to EXPORT nat gas to Jordan

2014-09-03

Israel will sign a deal to supply natural gas from its Leviathan field to Jordan for 15 years, Israeli Energy Minister Silvan Shalom said on Wednesday. Shalom said the agreement comes after many meetings with Jordanian officials but gave no other details. An industry official who asked not to be identified said the deal was worth about $15 billion. btw - this is more of a WOT economics but we don't have a category for that

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Rocket Hits Power Line Near Gaza Border, Causing Disruption In Electricity Supply To Southern Gaza

2014-07-14

[Ynet] A rocket fired towards communities surrounding the Gazoo Strip hit a high voltage power line. Consequently there were disruptions in the electricity supply to approximately 70,000 residents in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in the northern Gazoo Strip. Netanyahu To IEC: do Not Endanger Lives Of Workers By Repairing Electricity Supply To Southern Gaza [Ynet] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Infrastructures, Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom instructed the Israel Electric Corporation to not endanger the lives of workers by repairing the electricity supply to residents in the southern Gazoo Strip. The IEC announced that in accordance with the instructions, the malfunctioning power line will be repaired after once the security situation allows it.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Boosting Palestinian Economy At Allenby Bridge

2014-05-21

[Ynet] The upgrade of the commercial crossing will mean a 30% increase in the goods passing through it, boosting the Paleostinian economy. This week, the Office of the Quartet ... The Quartet are the UN (xylophone), the United States (alto), the European Union (soprano), and Russia (shortstop). The group was established in Madrid in 2002 by former Spanish Prime Minister Aznar, as a result of the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Tony Blair is the Quartet's current Special Envoy.... (of Middle East peacemakers) Representative will visit Amman to further discussions with the Jordanian government on the upgrade of the commercial crossing at Allenby Bridge between Jordan and the West Bank, aiming to increase the volume of containers passing through it. The vast majority of the Paleostinian export market is with Israel. According to the Paleostinian Bureau of Statistics, some 70% of imports (worth some $4.7 billion) and 80% of exports (worth around $800 million) come from Israel or through it each year. These figures have long troubled Paleostinian economic leaders, and they are looking for ways to diversify the Paleostinian export market and open up other markets. Israel is also unhappy with these figures. Research carried out by the Office of the Quartet Representative and the Ministry for Regional Cooperation in Jerusalem found that if Allenby Bridge was equipped with a scanner capable of checking containers, it would see a 30% increase in the goods bring processed. Similar scanners are now being used in Haifa and Ashdod ports. But Allenby Bridge is more important to the Paleostinians than Ashdod or Haifa, as this is the passing point for their exports to the Arab states to the east, mainly the rich Gulf states and Jordan. There is no passage for Israeli goods at Allenby - it serves only the Paleostinians. There is currently no scanner at the bridge, and so no containers pass through, only trucks carrying crates of goods. This creates a problem as international companies, particularly in the Gulf, demand modern standards for goods and container packaging to make the transfers much more efficient. At present, 1,400 trucks pass through Allenby each month. The vast majority of them are for import (raw materials, household items and food) and very few are used for export (such as agricultural produce and building materials). Furthermore, the Paleostinians import used cars, which are in high demand in the West Bank, via a special terminal at the bridge. Some two years ago, the Quartet Representative Tony Blair and the Dutch foreign minister visited the bridge. Following a recommendation and encouragement by then-Paleostinian prime minister Salam Fayyad ...Fayyad's political agenda holds that neither violence nor peaceful negotiations have brought the Paleostinians any closer to an independent state. The alternative to both, violent negotiations, doesn't seem to be working too well, either... , the Dutch government announced that it would donate 8 million shekels to purchase a container scanner for the bridge. In order to install and operate the system, a further investment of NIS 35 million was needed. In October 2013, Israel, at the initiative of Minister Silvan Shalom, took the decision to fund and carry out the infrastructure work needed to install the system. The scanner will be owned by the PA, but operated by Israel. Those responsible for installing the container scanner and the necessary work on the Allenby Bridge will complete the project within approximately two years. At the same time, the Office of the Quartet Representative is working with the Jordanian authorities to upgrade the arrangements on the Jordanian side of the bridge, as well as at the port of Aqaba, which is vital for the passage of the goods.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

More signs of gas found at offshore drilling site

2013-05-16

Significant signs of natural gas were discovered Wednesday at the Karish 1 drilling platform, off the coast of Nahariya. It gets better and better for the Israelis. There's enough gas in their part of the eastern Med to make them energy independent, and maybe generate some significant cash from the Europeans. Then we'll see how eager the Euros are to turn the whole area over to the Paleos. Karish 1 is owned in part by business magnate Yitzhak Tshuva, who is also the controlling shareholder of the offshore Tamar field from which Israel started pumping natural gas in March. The Tamar deposit, which was discovered in 2009 approximately 90 kilometers (56 miles) west of Haifa, holds an estimated 8.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. According to discoveries made at the site in recent months, the Karish deposit could contain as much as two trillion cubic feet of natural gas, about one-fourth of the amount of gas contained in Tamar. On Wednesday evening, Energy and Water Minister Silvan Shalom lauded the announcement as “praiseworthy,” adding that the discovery would help Israel develop its energy market and economy. “Increasing the supply of natural gas in the deposits will allow us to supply more natural gas to the local market and increase the natural revenue, which will be utilized by investing in education, welfare, health, the Negev and the Galilee, and the citizens of Israel.” The gas from Tamar is expected to help meet Israel’s energy needs for the next 20 years, and will save the economy some NIS 13 billion ($3.5 billion) per year. In addition to Tamar, in 2010 an even larger deposit, Leviathan — which boasts an estimated 16-18 trillion cubic feet of gas — was discovered 130 kilometers (81 miles) west of Haifa. It is expected to become operational in 2016, at which time Israel expects to begin exporting natural gas.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Report: Syria Already Has Advanced Russian Missiles

2013-05-16

[ArutzSheva] Advanced Russian missile launchers have already been transferred to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... 's regime, reports an Arabic newspaper. Advanced Russian missile launchers that Israel was trying to prevent from falling into Syrian hands have already been transferred to President Bashir al-Assad's regime, the London-based Arabic-language Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper reported Tuesday. The report was published as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took off to Russia to convince President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... not to sell advanced Russian missile launchers to Syria. According to the Al-Quds Al-Arabi report, 200 launchers for advanced anti-aircraft S-300 missiles are already in Syrian hands, and Syrian experts have been fully trained to use the launchers and no longer need Russian supervision. The report, cited by JNS, was attributed to a Syrian military official. Israel fears that Syrian possession of the S-300 system, which is able to intercept drones and cruise missiles, will make future aerial offensives by the Jewish state more difficult, in addition to the possibility of Russian weaponry being obtained by the Hizbullah terror group. "Anyone who provides weaponry to terror organizations is siding with terror," Tourism Minister Uzi Landau said Monday, according to JNS. He accused Russia of destabilizing the Middle East by selling weapons to Syria. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Israel had warned the United States that Russia plans to sell these advanced weapons to Syria, and that Netanyahu spoke with U.S. President Barack Obama Jedi mind meld... to make him aware of the deal. Russia's Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, subsequently said his country is not planning to supply Syria with any weapons beyond the current contracts that are nearing completion. Following their meeting Tuesday, Netanyahu and Putin spoke to the press, but Netanyahu did not indicate whether he succeeded in convincing Putin to halt arms supplies to Syria or whether the two leaders reached any firm agreements. Speaking to news hounds, Netanyahu stressed that his country's task was to "defend its citizens." "Together we are trying to find ways to strengthen stability and security, we have a remarkable opportunity to directly speak with each other," the Israeli premier was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. Water and Energy Minister Silvan Shalom said on Monday that Netanyahu was "fully determined" to halt sales by Russia of advanced missiles to Syria. "Such a sale to Syria would alter the balance of forces in the region and these weapons could fall into the hands of Hizbullah," Shalom said.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

UN humanitarian chief in Syria for talks

2013-01-28

DAMASCUS, Syria - The United Nations humanitarian chief was in Damascus on Sunday for talks with Syrian officials about the nation's conflict. Valerie Amos did not make any public remarks upon her arrival in Damascus on Sunday for a two-day visit, but at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, she said world powers had not done enough to lessen Syrian suffering. The money spent on the Davos Forum might have put a dent in the suffering but that's completely different, of course... "The humanitarian situation in Syria is already catastrophic and it's clearly getting worse," she said. "What we are seeing now are the consequences of the failure of the international community to unite to resolve the crisis." Noticed that, did you Valerie? The Russians and Chinese are on one side, the Iranians and their minions are on another, the Lebanese are quaking in fear on another side, the Turks are seething on yet another side, the Israelis are warily watching from their side, the Sunni Arabs are on at least two sides, maybe three, the Euros are on the far, far side a long ways away, and the U.S. is on the side-line hoping not to be called to come into the game. You need those hexadecahedron dice the kids use in Dungeons and Dragons to roll hits for each side. So it's a failure to unite alright. You got it on the first try! The U.N. says more than 60,000 people have been killed since the start of the conflict in March 2011. Living conditions have deteriorated across Syria during the 22-month conflict, which began with political protests that escalated into a civil war with scores of rebel groups battling President Bashar Assad's forces. Entire towns and neighborhoods have been damaged in the fighting, and more than 2 million people are internally displaced, with another 650,000 seeking refuge in neighboring countries. Some areas face food shortages, and even areas that have been spared large-scale violence like Damascus lack sufficient quantities of gasoline, heating oil and cooking gas. On Friday, the U.N. announced it was preparing to send $10 million in new U.S. aid to help alleviate hunger in northern Syria. World powers remain divided on how to solve the crisis. It's all those sides... The U.S. and many Arab and European countries have called on Assad to step down, while Russia, China and Iran refuse any pressure from outside that seeks to hasten the regime's fall. On Saturday, Iran made its strongest warning to date that it could intervene militarily to help Assad's regime. A senior Israeli Cabinet minister warned on Sunday that Israeli could attack sites in Syria if Assad's regime transferred chemical weapons to the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom confirmed to Israel's Army Radio that top security officials held a special meeting last week to discuss Syria's chemical weapons arsenal. "It would be crossing a line that would demand a different approach, including even action," he said. Asked whether this might mean a pre-emptive attack, he said: "We will have to make the decisions."

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

'We Could Destroy Parts Of Lebanon To Stop Rockets'

2012-08-14

[Jerusalem Post] Former Mossad chief Yatom says rockets from Leb, Gazoo Strip "can cover all of Israel and that is the main problem." The increasingly public discussion over a possible attack on Iran shifted slightly on Monday from reports of rifts within Israel's leadership, and deep divisions with the US, to how Israel might destroy parts of Leb and Gazoo if faced with a barrage of rockets from Hezbollah and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,. One of the most oft-mentioned scenarios is that if Israel were to attack Iran, Tehran would respond not only by sending long-range missiles toward the Jewish state, but also by directing Hezbollah and Hamas to rain tens of thousands of missiles down on the country. Vice Premier Silvan Shalom, speaking to Israel Radio, said that Iran did not have an "unlimited number of missiles," and that it was not as if Israel could not stop massive rocket fire within 24 hours by attacking the infrastructure in Leb and Gazoo and paralyzing daily life there. He mentioned targets such as power plants, oil refineries and airports. Former Mossad head Danny Yatom echoed the idea, saying Israel may need to destroy parts of Leb and Gazoo if Hezbollah and Hamas acted at Iran's behest and launched a massive rocket attack. Yatom warned against presenting an apocalyptic picture of how the Islamic Theocratic Republic would respond if Israel took military action against its nuclear program. While acknowledging that Iran had a few hundred missiles that could reach Israel, and that the price would be horrible if those missiles were equipped with either nuclear or chemical warheads, Yatom said the central concern was the tens of thousands of rockets in Hezbollah and Hamas storehouses in Leb and Gazoo. Those rockets, he said, could "cover all of Israel, and that is the main problem." Yatom said that the lesson Israel learned from the 2006 Second Leb War, when Hezbollah fired hundreds of rockets on the North, was that "we will have to stop the firing of missiles, both from the North and the South, as quickly as possible." To do this, he said, Israel would have to "act with great force against infrastructure in Leb and Gazoo, and it is possible that the price that Leb and Gazoo will pay will be horrible. We are liable to destroy, or likely to destroy, parts of Leb and parts of Gazoo, so that our citizens will not suffer and be killed." Meanwhile, ...back at the abandoned silver mine, the water was up to Jack's neck and still rising... Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman picked up and amplified a theme first introduced last month by Defense Minister Ehud Barak: that the lesson Israel is taking away from the blood-letting in Syria is that the international community cannot be relied upon to intervene when needed. "What is happening in Syria, unfortunately, is the failure of the international community to stop violence, the spilling of blood and the killing of civilians," he said. Clearly hinting at the situation in Iran, Liberman said Syria was a test-case for the reliability of the international community. "There is a basic question here. Can we, as people, as different, small countries, depend on the international community, with all the promises of security and guarantees?" he asked. Liberman said that there was much talk about the situation in Syria in the UN Security Council, the EU and other forums. "What we did not see is any real ability to stop the mass slaughter of human beings," he said, adding that this raises "many difficult questions."

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India-Pakistan

'Pakistan should have ties with Israel' sez Perv

2012-01-08

Perv has a death wish... ISLAMABAD: Pakistan should consider establishing ties with Israel, said exiled former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, remarks likely to anger many in the Muslim-majority country where he hopes to make a political comeback. Musharraf, who resigned in 2008 in disgrace, has said he plans to return to Pakistan this month, despite possible arrest, in order to participate in a parliamentary election due by 2013. Praising Israel will certainly help his chances... On Sunday, he is scheduled to address a rally via video in Karachi, sources in his recently formed All Pakistan Muslim League said. Speaking in favor of relations with Israel could make Musharraf more unpopular, especially among militants who made several attempts on his life with bombings because of his support for the US "war on terror" following the 9/11 attacks. Those same groups want the destruction of Israel. "There is nothing to lose by trying to get on Israel's good side," Musharraf, a former army chief, told the liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz in an interview carried on its website. "Pakistan also needs to keep readjusting its diplomatic stand toward Israel based on the mere fact that it exists and is not going away." So long, Perv, nice knowing ya... That kind of talk could comfort Israel, which is increasingly nervous because Islamist groups opposed to the Jewish state have been making political gains in Arab states following revolts that brought down autocrats in the region. Israeli officials were not immediately available for comment on Musharraf's remarks. Pakistan has been a staunch supporter of demands for a Palestinian state. Pakistan and Israel, however, have maintained covert contacts for decades, officials have said. According to an October 2009 US diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks, the head of Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), said he had contacted Israeli officials to head off potential attacks on Israeli targets in India. A senior ISI official said the agency has never established any contacts not authorized by the government to do things which were not in the interests of Pakistan. Easy dodge: all the contacts were in the interests of Pakistain. Or at least in the interests of the ISI... The same thing in the mind of the ISI, surely. Many Pakistanis think Israel and the United States are constantly plotting against Pakistan -- a belief that inspires abundant conspiracy theories. Pakistani media routinely rail against Jews and Israeli plots. Musharraf, who came to power in a 1999 coup, said Israel's influence in the United States and its relations with Pakistan's main rival, India, can help Pakistan gain influence abroad. The first public talks between Israel and Pakistan were held in 2005. They were described as a "huge breakthrough" by then Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, but sparked fury in Pakistan, a nuclear-armed nation that is home to some of the world's most supposedly feared terrorist militant groups. "I felt I needed to test the waters in Pakistan when it comes to Israel," Musharraf said. "We have been anti-Israel in Pakistan because of Palestine ... But I believe in realism and in assessing ground realities."

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Egypt to lift restrictions on Gaza border crossing

2011-05-26

CAIRO -- Egypt will open the Rafah border crossing on a daily basis starting this weekend in a bid to ease the blockade on the Gaza Strip, the official MENA news agency reported on Wednesday. Shares in the Paleo tunnel industry plummeted... Hamas income as well. They controlled who could dig, and got a cut of each shipment. Palestinians will now be able to travel through Rafah -- Gaza's only crossing that bypasses Israel--under entry rules in place before the blockade was tightened in 2007. Egyptian authorities will now open the border from "9:00 am to 5:00 pm on a daily basis, except for Fridays and public holidays" starting on Saturday, MENA said. "Palestinian women of all ages will be exempted from visas as will men under 18 or over 40," it said. The exemption also applies to Palestinians entering Egypt for study as long as they have proof of affiliation to an Egyptian university. "The opening of the crossing comes as part of Egyptian efforts to end the state of Palestinian division and achieve national reconciliation," the news agency reported. Translation: "We have no problems with Hamas, and are thrilled with the opportunity to stick it to Israel and those dirty Joooos! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!" Although Egypt had been gradually easing restrictions on the Gaza border -- it had been operating five days a week -- Palestinians needed to coordinate with security authorities before entering Egypt or had to show humanitarian need. The move is likely to rattle Israel which said earlier this month it was "worried" by Egypt's plans to reopen the crossing. Israeli deputy prime minister Silvan Shalom claimed the opening of the border "could allow the passage of arms and terrorists." And money. Lots and lots of money donated by those who've given up on Al Qaeda, but still want to support in jihad. Egypt's Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi had announced that Cairo planned to open the crossing, ending what he called his country's "shameful" cooperation in keeping it closed.

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Africa North

Egypt: Protesters call Mubarak to resign

2011-01-27

[Ennahar] Clashes took place in downtown Cairo with several hundred demonstrators and, further east, in the port city of Suez where 2,000 people gathered, demanding the departure of Hosni Mubarak, after twenty three years in power. At least 500 people were jugged Wednesday in Egypt after the authorities' decision to ban demonstrations against geriatric President Hosni Mubarak, according to security services, after the events of Tuesday Signs of violence that killed four- 3 protesters and a policeman The "6 April Movement", a group of pro-democracy activists, called for new rallies Wednesday to call for the right to live, freedom and dignity." The Interior Ministry has warned however that "no act of provocation, protest rally, march or protest will be allowed." Activists, very active with young people through social networks on the Internet, said they would ignore this warning, and gatherings could also take place. The anti-government protests on Tuesday which have mobilized thousands of people across the country are the largest of their kind that occurred in Egypt since the arrival of Mubarak to power in 1981. Dominated by slogans demanding the departure of Mr. Mubarak, 82, they were inspired by the revolt in Tunisia, which led to the departure of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in mid-January. "Thousands of people demonstrate against poverty, unemployment, inflation and corruption, and demanding the departure of the government," according to the independent daily al-Masri al-Yom. The Cairo Stock Exchange closed down 6.14%, and the Egyptian pound has plunged in the day to 5.83 pounds per dollar, its lowest level since January 2005. The idea of events was strongly backed up, especially among young and middle-class, through social networks. Micro blogging site Twitter has said being blocked in Egypt since Tuesday afternoon, as well as the applications related to this service. The Swedish Bambuser website, which allows direct viewing in "streaming" on the Internet video filmed by mobile phone or webcam, was also blocked. The calls have increased from overseas asking Egypt to undertake reforms to meet the expectations of its population, and further underlining the importance of its moderating role between the Arab world and Israel. The government should be "sensitive" to the aspirations of his people, found the American presidency, encouraging Cairo to "conduct political, economic and social reforms." The European Union has urged Egypt to listen to the demands for political change. Berlin said it was "very worried" by the situation, while Gay Paree has deplored the deaths and recalled being in favour of "more democracy in all states." Italy had hoped that Mr. Mubarak continues "to govern with wisdom and foresight." Israel, speaking through its deputy prime minister Silvan Shalom expressed hope that the troubles will not impact on its relations with Israel. Egypt is the first Arab country to recognize Israel. With over 80 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in the Arab world, and over 40% of its population lives on less than two dollars a day per person. Several immolations by fire took place in Egypt in recent days, reminiscent of a young Tunisian who sparked the rebellion in his country.

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