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Africa North
Morsi stooge says Amr Moussa and El Baradei are zionist agents
2012-12-07
from an Egyptian news daily
Prosecutor General Talaat Ibrahim Abdallah on Tuesday referred a complaint accusing former presidential candidates and politicians of spying and inciting the overthrow of the government to the State Security Prosecution for investigation.
So are all the guys in the Muslim Brotherhood named 'Abdul'. Pass it on and make plans to whack 'em all...
Hamed Sadeq, a lawyer who filed the report, accused former presidential candidates Amr Moussa and Hamdeen Sabbahi, Constitution Party leader Mohamed ElBaradei, Wafd Party president Al-Sayed al-Badawy and Judges Club head Ahmed al-Zend of espionage and sedition.

Sadeq claimed that Moussa met with former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and agreed with her to fabricate internal crises, and that all of the politicians named in his complaint then met at the Wafd Pary headquarters to implement the "Zionist plot." He requested that the accused be banned from travel and that the Wafd Party headquarters be confiscated for investigation
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Clinton accuses Iran of interference in Palestine
2009-03-05
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has accused Iran of interference in Palestinian affairs by urging Muslims to support the Palestinians.

She claimed the remarks made by the Leader of Iran's Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei were "clear interference in the internal affairs of the Palestinian people," and "continuing efforts on the part of the Iranians to undermine the Palestinian Authority."

On Wednesday, Ayatollah Khamenei told an international conference held in Tehran to support the Palestinian nation that the policy of making a compromise with the Israeli regime does not work.

"By now those who advocated a pragmatic approach under the illusion of the invincibility of the Zionist regime and who succumbed to surrender and compromise with the usurpers should have realized their mistake," the Leader said on Wednesday.

Ayatollah Khamenei termed the recent attack on Gaza as a proof of the fact that Israel is pursuing "its aggressive policies," despite efforts by some Arab states to engage in talks with Tel Aviv.

The Leader also called for holding a referendum by Jews, Christian and Muslims in Palestine to determine the future of the country.

Clinton arrived in Brussels on Wednesday for meetings with NATO and European allies in a first exchange of views on Washington's new strategy in Afghanistan.

However, prior to her trip to Brussels, Clinton traveled to Israel on Tuesday and held talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and right-wing Israeli politicians who are set to take over affairs in Tel Aviv.

"It is important that the United States always underscore our unshakeable, durable and fundamental support for the state of Israel" and "our unrelenting commitment to Israel's security," she told the Israeli echelons.

The right-wing success in winning the majority of Knesset seats in the recent Israeli elections has raised questions as to whether White House's new polices in the region is to give in to the right-wing idea of a pure Jewish state or whether it will truly support a two-state solution.

In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Clinton pointed to the US stance in the region by saying, "In the absence of Hamas agreeing to the principles that have been adopted by such a broad range of international actors, I don't see that we or they or anyone -- could deal with Hamas."
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Clinton pledges to press for Palestinian state
2009-03-04
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pledged on Tuesday to press hard for Palestinian statehood and open dialogue with Syria, putting Washington on a possible collision course with Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We happen to believe that moving towards a two-state solution is in Israel's best interests," Clinton, referring to the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, told a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. "It is our assessment that eventually, the inevitability of working towards a two-state solution is inescapable," she said.

Netanyahu, whom Clinton was to meet later in the day, has spoken of Palestinian self-government but has shied away from saying he would back a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict.
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Gaza Donors Blackmailing: Hamas
2009-03-04
Hamas movement accused on Tuesday, March 3, some in the international community, particularly the United States, of politicizing donations to rebuild the bombed-out Gaza Strip and blackmailing the group to change its policies. "Some participants, especially the US administration, to a great extent made political use of the Sharm el-Sheikh (donors) conference," Hamas Spokesman Fawzi Barhum said, reported Agence France Presse (AFP).

After a one-day conference the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, international donors pledged ON Monday almost 4.5 billion dollars for the reconstruction of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. But the US and EU stressed that the money would only be funneled through Hamas' rival president Mohammed Abbas' government.

The US, which pledged $300 million for Gaza reconstruction and $600 million to support the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority's budget shortfalls, was adamant that none of the money would go to Gaza ruler Hamas.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the gathering Washington will ensure the funding is only used where and for whom it is intended and does not end up in the "wrong hands."

Barhum, the Hamas spokesman, lamented that the support direly-need by Gazans is now up to political ends. "We have warned against this politicization and this meddling."

The donors conference was called by Egypt after Israel's deadly 22-day war in Gaza, which killed more than 1,300 people, mostly civilians, and wounded 5,450. The offensive also left a trail of destruction in the sealed-off coastal enclave, home to 1.6 million people. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, 21,100 homes have been totally or partially destroyed, and about 1,500 factories and workshops, 30 mosques, 31 government buildings and 10 water or sewage pipes were damaged.

Blackmailing
Hamas officials affirmed that key aim of politicizing Gaza aid was to pressure and blackmail the movement into changing its very principled stances. "(They) used the need of the Gaza Strip for reconstruction to pressure Hamas and to try to blackmail it into changing its positions," said Barhum.

During her visit to Israel on Tuesday, Clinton maintained the former George Bush administration's anti-Hamas rhetoric by saying that Hamas must halt the resistance attacks on settlements. "The first step right now, not waiting for a new government, is a durable ceasefire. But that can only be achieved if Hamas ceases the rocket attacks," " Clinton said at a press conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. "These attacks must stop and so must the smuggling of weapons into Gaza."

A day earlier in meeting on the sidelines of the donors conference, the Quartet Middle East group, which includes the US, the EU, UN and Russia, has reiterated its former conditions to lift Hamas out of its isolation.

The Quartet called on Hamas to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept past Israeli-Palestinian agreements in exchange for an international recognition. Hamas officials, however, affirmed that it would not cave in to all the pressures. "Hamas' positions are fixed and can not be changed," Hamas spokesman and parliamentarian Mushir al-Masri said on Tuesday.

Masri lamented that Clinton's statements during her first Middle East visit "shows that there will be no new US policies towards the region. It is clear that we would be describing every visit by Clinton as an indication of bad luck if the policies of Bush and Rice are going to be applied again in the region."

The Bush administration, which blacklisted Hamas as a terrorist organization, has shunned the governments formed by Hamas since it came to power after sweeping the Palestinian legislative elections in 2006. It only communicated with Fatah-linked ministers in the Hamas-led national unity government, which was later dismissed by Abbas.

Bush's America spearheaded an international campaign to isolate Hamas, rejected any contacts with the group and backed a crippling Israeli siege on Gaza. Late last month, Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair criticized the West's isolation of Hamas, calling for its inclusion in the peace process. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the West last January to respect the democratic Palestinian elections that brought Hamas to power.
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Interpol issues arrest warrants for 15 Israelis
2009-03-02
The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) has issued a circular calling for the arrest of 15 top Israeli officials over war crimes.

At a news briefing on Sunday, Tehran's Public Prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, said that Iran had referred the case to the organization, known as Interpol, drawing on the Interpol charter and Israel's violation of the Geneva Conventions. "ICPO has notified governments of 180 countries to arrest the suspects," who were involved in the 23-day Israeli offensive on Gaza in December and January he said.

In December, Iran's judiciary announced its decision to set up a court to look into complaints made by the Palestinian envoy in Iran and wounded Palestinians delivered to Iran, against Israeli atrocities in Gaza, saying it was ready to try the Israelis in absentia. "In the current week, we have completed our investigation of about 15 individuals who were among those criminals," IRIB, Iran's State Television, quoted Mortazavi as saying. "Based on our investigation and according to article 2 of the Interpol charter, we asked Interpol to arrest these suspects."

Mortazavi said the charges included war crimes, invasion, occupation, genocide and crimes against humanity. The Iranian prosecutor was referring to Israeli strikes that started on December 27 on the densely populated Palestinian coastal territory and did not end until it had claimed the lives of more than 1,330 Gazans, mostly civilians.

Many international NGOs and human rights organizations, Palestinians wounded in the Gaza onslaught, more than 5,700 Iranian lawyers and attorneys in the Iranian Bar Association along with a large number of medics were also among those who filed complaints against Tel Aviv, Mortazavi added.

The list of Israeli war criminals includes:
1 Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
2 Defense Minister Ehud Barak
3 Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni
4 Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi
5 Commander in Chief of the Israeli Air Force Ido Nehoshtan
6 Commander of the Gaza war -- Operation Cast Lead -- Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant
7 Head of Military Intelligence Directorate Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin
8 Commander of Battalion 13 in the Golani Brigade Lt. Col. Oren Cohen
9 Deputy to the Givati Brigade Col. Ron Ashrov
10 Commander of the Israel Paratroopers' Brigade in Gaza Col. Hertzi Halevy
11 Commander of 401st Armored Corps Brigade convoy Col. Yigal Slovik
12 Commander of the 101st Battalion in the Paratrooper Brigade Lt. Col. Avi Blot
13 Lt. Col. Yoav Mordechai, who served as a commander of the Golani infantry brigade's 13th Battalion in Gaza
14 Givati squad commander Col. Tomer Tsiter
15 Brigade commander in Battalion 51 Col. Avi Peled
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Avigdor endorses Bibi
2009-02-20
Far-right politician Avigdor Lieberman endorsed Benjamin Netanyahu for Israeli prime minister on Thursday, all but guaranteeing that Netanyahu will be the country's next leader.

The divisive Lieberman emerged as the kingmaker of Israeli politics after the Feb. 10 election produced a deadlock between its two largest parties, and his backing of Netanyahu could be the basis for a hardline government.

Such a government could freeze peace talks with the Palestinians, hurt Israel's standing in the world and place it on a possible collision course with President Barack Obama, who has said Mideast peacemaking will be a top priority of his administration.

Lieberman's Yisrael Beitenu Party finished third in the election, essentially allowing him to determine whether Netanyahu or his chief rival, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, would be able to form a parliamentary majority.

Lieberman announced his decision in a meeting with President Shimon Peres, who is holding consultations with political parties this week before choosing a candidate to form a government. If Peres names Netanyahu, then Netanyahu will have six weeks to work out a deal with other parties to create a coalition.

Lieberman told Peres that Netanyahu's Likud Party should head the new government, but that he supports a broad coalition that includes Livni's centrist Kadima Party as well.

"We need a wide government with the three big parties, Likud, Kadima and Yisrael Beiteinu," Lieberman said. "Netanyahu will lead the government but it will be a government of Netanyahu and Livni together."

Lieberman has raised eyebrows around the world with his calls to make Israel's Arab minority swear loyalty to the state or lose their citizenship.

After Lieberman's announcement, Kadima officials said they were likely headed toward the opposition. Kadima leads the lame-duck government, and Livni had campaigned on pledges to continue peace efforts with the Palestinians.

"If Kadima will join a government like this, based on these guidelines, Kadima will be wiped off the political map," Kadima Cabinet Minister Meir Sheetrit told Israel Radio. "Kadima can be the only alternative to the Likud reign in the future."

Another Kadima Cabinet minister Zeev Boim, said Kadima would not serve as a "fig leaf" for a hardline government.

Netanyahu, a critic of the current peace talks with the Palestinians, has said he would turn to his "natural" allies among the religious and nationalist parties in parliament. But he has said he also hopes to bring in more centrist parties to create a wide coalition with broad national consensus.

Kadima edged out Likud in the election, capturing 28 seats compared to 27 for Likud. But in the 120-seat parliament, Likud is in a better position to put together a coalition because of gains by Lieberman and other hard-line parties. It could be several weeks before a coalition is finally formed.

Peres began his political consultations with Likud and Kadima representatives on Wednesday. He was meeting representatives of the 10 other elected parties on Thursday to hear their choice for prime minister.

If neither Netanyahu nor Livni were to garner the support of a majority, Peres was expected to encourage the two to share the premiership.

However, after Lieberman's endorsement of Netanyahu, a "rotation" at prime minister appears unlikely, and Netanyahu is poised to return to Israel's top post a decade after he was ousted from it.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Netanyahu: Palestinians should have sovereignty, but not at our expense
2009-02-17
In his address before a delegation of visiting American Jewish leaders on Monday, Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that his offer to the Palestinians should he be appointed prime minister would be considerably less than a sovereign state.

Netanyahu told about 100 leaders from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations that while he would not want to govern the Palestinians, Israel must maintain control of all borders, airspace and electronic traffic.

"Regardless how the solution is achieved, the Palestinians should run their lives," he said. "They should govern themselves, but they shouldn't have certain powers that would threaten the state of Israel."

Netanyahu also ruled out unilateral territorial pullbacks, charging that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 has allowed the Islamic militant Hamas to take over the coastal territory.

Prior to Netanyahu's speech, the American Jewish delegation heard an address from Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the leader of Kadima and Netanyahu's rival to the premiership.

The group has already met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fisher during its visit, which began earlier this week. The delegates are also scheduled to speak with President Shimon Peres and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat over the coming days.

The group comprises 51 member organizations representing virtually all political and religious streams of America Jewry; from the Orthodox Union to the Union of Reform Judaism, as well as the American Friends of Likud and the local branches of Peace Now.
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Cabinet to okay wording on Shalit deal, Gaza truce
2009-02-16
Israel's political leadership decided yesterday to prepare the text for a cabinet decision on a deal with Hamas for captured soldier Gilad Shalit and a renewed cease-fire. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Ehud Barak opted to prepare such a document for possible presentation to the cabinet on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a source at the Prime Minister's Bureau said that "efforts to gain the release of Shalit have been significantly accelerated and they will be intensified even more."

But the prime minister's declaration Saturday that there will be no cease-fire agreement or the reopening of the border crossings into Gaza without the release of Shalit stands in stark contrast to Hamas' position. The Islamist group is demanding that the two issues be kept separate and wants the crossings to be reopened before any prisoner exchange.
So that they can extort more from the evil Juice ...
Egyptian officials are now busy on a formula that would allow both sides to claim that their stance was accepted. However, in Israel some observers are pessimistic that Cairo's efforts will bear fruit, and some sources expressed concern that Hamas may toughen its stance in the belief that this will improve their hand.

Another key issue is the identity of the Palestinians that each side is willing to see freed. Hamas has demanded a large proportion of the prisoners on its list of 350 to 450 names. Significant progress has been made, and Israel now opposes only several dozen names.

A spokesman for Hamas' military wing, Abu Obeida, said yesterday that the group insists on the release of three senior figures: Ibrahim Hamed, the leader of the military wing in the West Bank; Abdullah Barghouti, responsible among others for the bombings at the Sbarro pizzeria and Cafe Moment in Jerusalem; and Abbas al-Sayed, mastermind of the Park Hotel massacre in Netanya.

On the other hand, there seems to be support in Israel for the release of Marwan Barghouti, the jailed leader of Fatah's more militant Tanzim faction.
Barghouti might be more useful in the West Bank than in prison. No secret that Abbas doesn't exactly inspire confidence from the Paleos. Barghouti might be a better counterweight to Hamas, even if he is an evil douche-bag.
Hader Shkirat, attorney for Barghouti, told Haaretz yesterday that there will be no deal for Shalit without the release of Barghouti.
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Kadima faction toes Livni's line, won't join Likud-led gov't
2009-02-16
A "government of national unity" always looks good on its face. It's one of those things that should work, like socialism or perpetual motion. But the reason we divide among ourselves into different political parties is that we disagree on issues that we deem important. Republicans are free traders, strong on national defense, supportive of small business. Democrats are protectionists, multilateralists leaning strongly toward pacifism, and supportive of labor in the abstract, big labor and big business in practice.

Similar divisions exist in Israel, where the division used to be between Likkud and Labour, and where now it's between Likkud and its offshoot Kadima. Likkud's conservative to the point of scaring the terrorists and their supporters -- which I tend to think of as a good thing, and Kadima's the Oslo wing, given to Norwegian-brokered ceasefires, land for peace, and exchanging a thousand Arabs for a single Israeli. They don't think alike, and as time goes by they're thinking more differently.

Kadima's natural ally has become Labour, the old-style Social Democrat party that's probably closer to the U.S. Democrats than either Kadima or Likkud. Likkud allies more naturally with Israel Beitenu, whose head, Avigdor Lieberman, is denounced by the Arabs for all sorts of sins. Today's example is Egypt calling him a racist. Shas, being out there somewhere and heavily populated by holy men, makes uncomfortable common cause with any of them.

If the thought of a Government of National Unity™ is ludicrous in the U.S., why isn't it ludicrous in any other country? In all the places it's been tried it's failed. Zim-bob-we's the current primo example, but the landscape is littered with lots of others, including Fatah-Hamas.
The Kadima faction stood solidly behind its chairwoman, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, in outlining its official position, presented yesterday: either a unity government headed by Kadima, a rotation of the premiership with Likud, or the opposition. Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz, who Kadima insiders say would like to see the faction in the coalition, even if it is headed by Likud, said, "a unity government headed by Kadima is what is needed. A coalition of 65 MKs will not make it." Sources close to Mofaz said yesterday that he would not allow attempts to drive a wedge between him and Livni by spreading rumors.

Livni came to yesterday's meeting after having spoken on the phone with the party's ministers and lawmakers to make sure none intended to surprise her and contradict her stand on heading for the opposition rather than going into a coalition headed by Likud. Even Housing and Construction Minister Ze'ev Boim toed the line.

Livni's position was revealed ahead of the meeting already, when TV cameras and microphones caught her in conversation with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Livni asked Olmert what he was going to say at the cabinet meeting: "You're going to say something about rotation," to which Olmert responded: "That I want a broad coalition." Livni then said, "Ehud, do me a favor." When they realized they were on camera, Livni wrote Olmert a note, which the cameras caught later: "I have no intention of being in a unity [government] under Bibi and don't hint in that direction. What you're saying is leading there and that's not the Kadima position."

Livni did manage to prevent Olmert from transmitting a message of a broad coalition. Instead, he told the cabinet yesterday that he "hopes a coalition will be established quickly in the context of the challenges Israel faces."

In the faction meeting, Livni said emphatically that Kadima had won and would form the next government. "What's not clear? Twenty-eight is more than twenty-seven. Twenty-eight is not a figure. It's hundreds of thousands of people who have expressed their faith in us. There was no ballot at the polling station with the word 'bloc' or 'camp' on it."
I think this is the Hebrew equivalent of "I won" ...
Alluding to Netanyahu's coalition-making efforts, Livni said: "I am well aware of the deals that were made even before the elections and are still being made at this very moment, to do something against the will of the voter.

"There will be moves now that could be enticing," Livni said, but added, "In this task of putting together a coalition I don't intend to cheat myself or the public. We will continue to serve the public, whether we form a coalition as the public wants, or from the opposition," Livni said.
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel faces gridlock as rivals claim power
2009-02-12
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and hawkish ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu were locked in a battle for power on Wednesday after a photo-finish election that could send peace talks into limbo.

Livni's centrist Kadima party won 28 seats in the 120-member parliament, just one ahead of Netanyahu's Likud party, leaving the country facing perhaps weeks of political uncertainty. Avigdor Lieberman's ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party came in third with 15 seats -- it's best-ever showing -- and the centre-left Labor party fell to 13, its worst performance in any Israeli election. The ultra-Orthodox Shas party came in fifth with 11 seats.

Analysts said the country was as split as the Palestinians and the prospects of the two making peace were dimmer than ever.

Centrist Tzipi Livni's Kadima party won the most votes but had little chance of building enough support for a coalition. Right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu can get the support, but analysts said the likely coalition would prove dysfunctional.

"I won," read the headline of the country's biggest newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, over photos of both leaders.

President Shimon Peres must now decide whether to call on Livni or Netanyahu, who then has 42 days to form a government. He is expected to begin talks next week.
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli election remains close
2009-02-11
JERUSALEM, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The makeup of Israel's next government remained unclear early Wednesday as votes counted thus far showed the Kadima and Likud parties neck and neck.

Kadima, the party of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, was projected to have won 29 Knesset seats and Likud, headed by Binyamin Netanyahu, 28 with 76 percent of the votes counted as of 2:30 a.m., The Jerusalem Post reported. Israel Beiteinu was projected to pick up 16 seats, Labor 12, Shas 11, Meretz 4, United Torah Judaism 4, National Union 4, Hadash 4, Bayit Hayihudi 3, United Arab List 3 and Balad 2 seats, the newspaper said.

Voter turnout was 65.2 percent, or 2 percentage points higher than in the 2006 national elections.

Though votes were still being tabulated, Netanyahu declared early Wednesday he would be Israel's next prime minister and that talks with other parties would start as early as Wednesday, the Post reported. "With God's help I will stand at the head of the next government," he told the supporters at Tel Aviv's airport.

With a key bloc of seats, Israel Beiteinu were to discuss the electoral situation Wednesday, though party leader Avigdor Lieberman indicated he favored siding with Likud. "It's true that Tzipi Livni won a surprise victory," Lieberman said. "But what is more important is that the right-wing camp won a clear majority ... . We want a right-wing government."

Kadima leaders claimed victory, too, saying Livni would be able to form a government with at least Labor, Meretz and Israel Beiteinu.
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israeli exit polls give Livni's Kadima shock lead
2009-02-11
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni led exit polls after Tuesday's parliamentary election but her Kadima party's two-seat lead over right-winger Benjamin Netanyahu left it too close to call who would be prime minister.

The polls released by three Israeli television channels showed Kadima ahead with 29-30 seats followed closely by Likud party with 27-28 seats in the 120-member Knesset, or parliament.

Whatever the final outcome, which could take until well into Wednesday to confirm, jubilant Kadima supporters broke out into dances and jumps of joy at the exit poll projections. If Livni wins she will form Israel's next coalition government and become the first woman leader since Golda Meir in the 1970s.

Netanyahu dismissed the exit polls and voiced confidence that he would become Israel's next prime minister. His Likud party had seemed to be cruising to victory until Livni and her centre-left coalition launched a three-week assault on the Gaza Strip in late December that won popular support in Israel despite an international outcry over the 1,300 Palestinians killed in the Hamas-ruled enclave.

However, some analysts noted that soldiers, whose votes could account for a couple of seats, had not been counted in exit polls and that could favor Netanyahu as tallying continues through into Wednesday.

One television station put the right-left split at 64 seats for the right to 56 for the left, which could deny Livni the premiership and persuade President Shimon Peres to ask Netanyahu to try to form a coalition government.
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