Recent Appearances...

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Recent Appearances...

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hamas links merger into regular army to establishment of independent Palestine state

2024-04-26

[GEO.TV] Hamas has signalled to merge into the regular army and cease its counter-attacks against Israeli brutality on the condition that the independent Paleostinian state is established, the group’s official Basem Naim told CNN Thursday.

Naim — who is a member of Hamas’ based in Istanbul — told the outlet referring to the group's armed wing: "If an independent state with its capital in Jerusalem, while preserving the right of return for refugees, [is created] Al Qassam could be integrated into [a future] national army."

Mustafa Barghouti, President of the Paleostinian National Initiative, was unaware of the proposal, however, suggested that "it would be a significant move if true."

"It's significant in the sense that Paleostinians are resisting occupation because there is an occupation," he told media outlet.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Palestinian NGOs refuse EU funds after being told not to fund terror

2020-01-01

[Jpost] According to the Strategic Affairs Ministry, the NGOs insisted that the terrorist organizations are simply political parties

Over a hundred of Paleostinian civil society organizations refused to request Europe
Europe

...the land mass occupying the space between the English Channel and the Urals, also known as Moslem Lebensraum...
an Union funds after the body insisted that the money not go to terrorist organizations, the Algemeiner reported.

According to Shawan Jabarin, director of the BDS organization al-Haq, the 100-plus NGOs "demanded to include conditions stipulating that we do not have to recognize the criteria listed regarding terrorist groups."

According to the Strategic Affairs Ministry, the NGOs insisted that the terrorist organizations are simply political parties, Jewish News Syndicate reported.

The organizations sent a letter of protest to a meeting between Jabarin, Paleostinian National Initiative secretary-general Mustafa Barghouti and EU representatives in the PA.

Over the past year, the Strategic Affairs Ministry and NGO Monitor have been exposing the ties between the civil society organizations and Paleostinian terrorist groups, such as the PFLP and Hamas, the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,.

According to the ministry's report entitled "Terrorists in Suits," the NGOs act as a medium for funds for the terrorist groups, which allows them to raise money through legitimate entities, such as the EU.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

The Barghouti clan’s jihad against Israel

2018-12-14

[Jpost] Saleh Barghouti,

...a.k.a Saleh Omar Barghouti...

the 29-year-old Paleostinian who was killed on Wednesday night by the IDF near the village of Surda, north of Ramallah, belongs to a clan whose members are famous for carrying out a series of terrorist attacks against Israel in the past four decades.

The IDF says that Saleh belonged to the cell that carried out the shooting attack outside Ofra, which resulted in the nine Israelis maimed. An infant boy was delivered prematurely after his mother was seriously maimed in the attack and died on Wednesday.

Saleh was the most recent member of the prominent Barghouti clan to be involved in terrorist attacks against Israel. The clan has several families that live in the villages of Kobar, Aboud, Bani Zeid and Beit Rima in the Ramallah area. Saleh was from Kobar.

Saleh’s father, Omar, 65, spent more than 25 years in Israeli prison for his role in terrorism. The father was first placed in durance vile
Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit!
by the IDF in 1978 for killing an Israeli citizen and was sentenced to life in prison. However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package...
Omar, who is known as Abu Asef, was released seven years later in a prison exchange. Since then, he has been repeatedly held in administrative detention for several years. Omar entered Israeli prison as a member of Fatah, but later became a prominent leader of Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw,A clan member also named Omar Barghouti is a founding member of the Paleostinian Campaign for the Academic Boycott of Israel and co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS). Omar was born in Qatar

...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
Saleh’s uncle, Na’el, is the longest-serving Paleostinian inmate in Israeli prison. Born in 1957 in Kobar, Na’el has spent a total of 39 years in Israeli prison for his role in terrorism. Like his brother Omar, he too was arrested for the first time in 1978. Na’el was released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange swap, but was rearrested years later.

Another family member, 64-year-old Fakhri Barghouti (a cousin of the brothers Omar and Na’el), was also arrested in 1978 for carrying out a terrorist attack in which an Israeli soldier was killed near Ramallah. He too was released in the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange agreement.

Another clan member, Abdullah Barghouti, 39, was a senior commander of Hamas’s military wing, Izaddin al-Qassam, in the West Bank. Once considered as one of Hamas’s chief bomb makers, he is currently serving 67 life term sentences in Israeli prison for his role in a series of suicide kabooms during the Second Intifada. Israel refused to release Abdullah in the 2011 prisoner swap.

One of the clan members, Mustafa Barghouti, from the village of Bani Zeid, is a prominent Paleostinian physician and political activist who serves as Secretary General of the Paleostinian National Initiative, an independent political party. In November 2004, Mustafa, a vocal critic of Israel, was the main challenger of PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas

... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
in the Paleostinian presidential election. An outspoken critic of the leadership, he received only 19.8% of the vote.

But the most famous member of the clan is Marwan Barghouti, 59, who is also from the village of Kobar. A senior member of Fatah, he was arrested by the IDF in 2002 after becoming one of the leaders of the Second Intifada. Marwan was tried and convicted on charges of murder, and sentenced to five life sentences.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Clashes erupt in Jerusalem amid Temple Mount unrest

2017-07-18

[IsraelTimes] Rioters block roads, hurl stones, Molotov cocktails at police in Old City, East Jerusalem neighborhoods over new security measures; at least 5 injured

Dozens of Moslems protesters clashed with police outside of Jerusalem’s Old City on Monday amid continued tensions over new security measures put in place at the entrance to the Temple Mount after Friday’s terror attack.

During the scuffles near Lions Gate, coppers called to the scene to disperse protesters blocking a road adjacent to the Old City were attacked with rocks and other objects, police said.

The Red Islamic Thingy told the Paleostinian Wafa news agency that five protesters were maimed during the confrontations, including the chairman of the Paleostinian National Initiative party, Mustafa Barghouti.

The Wafa report said that three people were maimed after being beaten by police, one person was injured by a stun grenade and Barghouti was hit in the head with a rubber-coated bullet.

Clashes were also reported in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Silwan and Issawiya. Rioters hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at coppers who responded with riot-dispersal means.

Following Friday’s terror attack, in which three residents of the Arab-Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm shot to death two coppers at the Temple Mount, Israel closed the compound for the first time in decades, only reopening it to Moslems on Sunday and to non-Moslems on Monday.

As part of the security measures taken in the wake of the shooting to prevent further such attacks, police installed metal detectors at the entrance to the site, which Jerusalem police commissioner Yoram Halevi said were necessary for it to reopen. Friday’s gunnies emerged armed from the compound and opened fire on the coppers stationed outside.

The placement of the metal detectors has been met with outrage by the Moslem religious authority charged with managing the Temple Mount. Moslems have held prayers outside the metal detectors to protest their placement at the gates.

Along with other Islamic groups, the Waqf trust, which administers the site, on Monday called on Moslems "to reject and boycott all the Israeli aggression measures, including changing the historical status quo including imposing the metal detectors."

In its statement, the Waqf called on the faithful not to enter the mosque by passing through the metal detectors, adding, "If the metal detectors continue to be imposed, we call upon the people to pray in front of the gates of the mosque and in the streets of Jerusalem."

On Monday afternoon, light festivities broke out in the Old City, when police ordered a group of Moslem protesters off a road they were trying to block with a prayer session.

Police said a Moslem teenager was locked away
You have the right to remain silent...
after throwing a bottle at police.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Hamas: Sharon's death leaves us 'confident in victory'

2014-01-12

[Ynet] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, front man says Paleostinians 'feel extreme happiness'; Fatah official: We wanted to see Sharon at the ICC

Hamas, the turban Paleostinian rulers of the Gazoo Strip who seized power of the coastal region two years after Ariel Sharon ceded Israeli control of the region, hailed the former prime minister's death Saturday as the "departure of (a) criminal."

"We have become more confident in victory with the departure of this tyrant," said Hamas front man Sami Abu Zurhi, whose movement preaches the destruction of the Jewish state.

"Our people today feel extreme happiness at the death and departure of this criminal whose hands were smeared with the blood of our people and the blood of our leaders here and in exile."

There was no immediate comment on the death from Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
, with whom Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Sharon's successor as Likud party leader, has been holding US-sponsored peace talks.

Abbas' political party Fatah, however, echoed rival Hamas' condemnation of Sharon, and blamed him for the death of Yasser Arafat, who died in 2004.

"Sharon was a criminal, responsible for the liquidation of (Paleostinian president Yasser) Arafat, and we would have hoped to see him appear before the

International Criminal Court
... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ...
as a war criminal," said Jibril Rajub, a bigwig of the Fatah party.

Leading Paleostinian political figure Mustafa Barghouti told the BBC that while no one should gloat at his death, Sharon had taken "a path of war and aggression" and had left "no good memories with Paleostinians".

"Unfortunately he had a path of war and aggression and a great failure in making peace with the Paleostinian people," Barghouti added.

In its obituary of Sharon, the Paleostinian news agency Ma'an said he, "promoted efforts to take over Arab-owned lands and give them to Jews, with the intent of preventing Arabs who had fled from returning."

Regarding the 1982 Leb War, the Paleostinian news agency claimed that Sharon "presided over the bloody Israeli invasion of Leb... (which) killed around 20,000 Lebanese and Paleostinians, and was brutal even by the standards of the ongoing civil war."

"In the most notorious episode of Sharon's career, he presided over and facilitated the massacre of around 3,500 unarmed Paleostinian civilians in Sabra and Shatila in southern Beirut by Israeli-supported Lebanese Phalangist militias," the news agency wrote.

As a result of Israel's Sharon-led entrance to Leb, Ma'an claimed he was in fact responsible for the formation and rise of power of Hezbollah: "The brutality of the invasion of Leb united previously divided Lebanese factions against Israel and led to the creation of the Lebanese political party and turban group Hezbollah."

In Gazoo, the Hamas Islamists whose political fortunes rose with the Israeli withdrawal savored Sharon's demise. Sharon had unilaterally disengaged from Gazoo, pulling out of the coastal enclave despite mass protests in Israel.

The decision was controversial and the images of Jewish settlers attacking IDF soldiers violently split public opinion.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel dismantles Paleo camp

2013-03-25

JERUSALEM - Hundreds of Israeli police dismantled a Palestinian protest camp on the outskirts of Jerusalem overnight, activists and police said on Sunday.

Activists set up the camp, which they dubbed Bab Al Shams or Gate of the Sun in Arabic, near the West Bank Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, in a bid to draw attention to Israeli plans to boost building in the area known as E1. Tents were pitched on Wednesday to highlight the issue ahead of a landmark three-day visit to the Palestinian and Israel territories by US President Barack Obama his first since taking office more than four years ago.

Palestinian legislator Mustafa Barghouti, one of the organisers, told AFP by phone on Sunday that he and four others were arrested and taken for questioning at Maale Adumim police station. He said about 50 other protesters were put on buses and released in a Palestinian Authority-controlled part of the West Bank.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that one woman was arrested for allegedly assaulting a policeman.

Over 200 officers took part in the operation, he said. The area was cleared in about half an hour. The camp was first set up in  January but taken down by court order on the grounds of public disorder.

Similar encampments have sprouted elsewhere but have later been ~~dozed~~ razed by troops or police.

The Palestinians say increased settlement construction in E1 would effectively cut the West Bank in two and prevent the creation of a contiguous Palestinian state. The international community has also reacted with consternation to Israeli plans to build in E1, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government to reconsider.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Boycott Israeli Products? Not In The PA

2012-05-27

South Africa has announced its boycott plans, Denmark and Ireland may follow, but in Bethlehem Israeli products are flying off the shelves

The storm surrounding South Africa's decision to boycott Israeli products manufactured in the West Bank is the result of a successful Paleostinian campaign. Yet a Ynet probe reveals that the Paleostinian Authority continues to market Israeli products, with locals seeing no reason why they should stop purchasing the products.

The boycott, which was recently announced in South Africa, is set to spread to Denmark and Ireland has also announced that it is considering a boycott. As mentioned, the Paleostinian Authority has been pushing a campaign through the Paleostinian National Initiative led by Mustafa Barghouti which has been gathering momentum.

For example, in November 2011, Barghouti had news hounds take pictures of him spilling an Israeli orange drink into the street together with other Paleostinian activists.

Barghouti and other senior Paleostinian officials welcomed the South African government's decision yet it would seem that the wind of change has not yet reached the Paleostinian Authority.

Brand names like Strauss, Tnuva, Osem, Elite, and other smaller Israeli brands are displayed in Hebrew and Arabic side by side in stores in Bethlehem. The names are even featured on the store signs and in the stores themselves.

"People love and buy Israeli products," says one Bethlehem minimarket owner. And while there are local dairies that sell their products in the Paleostinian Authority, he says "lots of people prefer to buy Tnuva products simply because there is tighter supervision and they want to feel safe in what they buy.

"It has nothing to do with politics. When we buy a product from you (Israelis) we know it is under supervision and only made with fresh ingredients."

The Israeli goods are not only found at the local food markets in the PA. Imad Naama, who owns a cleaning and hygiene product warehouse, explains that there is no comparison between the quality of Israeli products and other brands.

"If my clients see that the product has Hebrew letters on it or if it says the product is from Israel, they are sure that it is better," he notes.

Naama said that during the period before the Second Intifada and before the establishment of the Paleostinian Authority, products produced in Paleostinian factories were marked in Hebrew and people were sure that was their place of origin.

After the Intifada broke out, manufacturers changed the inscription and removed the Hebrew so people refused to buy it, even though it was the exact same product. "They said they weren't willing to purchase it because it's what you call 'Arabic work'," he joked.

Faiz Hamadan and Khaled Saleima, stall owners at the market in Bethlehem said they had no political issue with selling Israeli made produce so long as it did not originate in the settlements.

"The Paleostinian Authority patrols the stores and examines the country of origin of the inventory, no one here would sell anything that comes from settlement manufactories," they say.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

IDF: Next challenge -- Prisoner Day

2012-03-31

As Land Day protests die down, IDF front man says army is pleased with handling of riots; Army says 50 were maimed in West Bank, Gazoo, but Paleostinians report one man killed, 150 hurt

[Ynet] The IDF expressed contentment with its handling of Friday's Land Day protests, in which one Paleostinian was reported killed and dozens were maimed.

"Overall, no dramatic incidents took place, and the security forces in the Paleostinian cities did not allow the demonstrations to spread," IDF Spokesman Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai said.

The front man stressed that the soldiers stuck to the rules of engagement, which required the troops to verbally warn protesters to stay away from the border, use various means of crowd dispersal and fire warning shots before resorting to shooting the protesters in the legs, should they not heed the previous deterrence methods.

Mordechai noted that the army is already preparing for the next round of demonstrations, expected in the coming months.

"The challenge will be to deal with the upcoming memorial days, including Nakba Day, Naksa Day and especially Prisoner Day, which call for bolstered alertness."

Mordechai noted that the army is already preparing for the next round of demonstrations, expected in the coming months.

Hezbullies leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday praised the demonstrators in a speech during an opening ceremony held at a religious center in Beirut.

"This is a great day for Paleostine and Jerusalem, when our Paleostinian brethren came out to protest within occupied Paleostine and outside it," he said.

According to the IDF, some 50 people were maimed in the rallies in the West Bank and Gazoo, but the Paleostinians claimed that 150 were maimed, 100 of whom were hurt by inhaling tear gas in near the Qalandiya crossing north of Jerusalem.

According to the reports, 1 man was killed and eight were moderately injured when they approached the border fence near the Erez Crossing in northern Gazoo.

Four others were maimed by IDF sniper fire during a protest in the southern region of the Strip, near Khan Younis, aftering ignoring the soldiers' warnings against approaching the border fence. Their condition remains unclear. Also in southern Gazoo, Paleostinians snipers shot at IDF troops, and mortar shells were fired. No injuries were reported in these incidents.

In Qalandiya, security forces used tear gas against rioters who threw stones and torched tires. Paleostinian Parliament Member Mustafa Barghouti appeared to have been hit by a rubber bullet fired by the IDF, and was taken to the hospital. He was evidently also hurt by rocks hurled at him by Paleostinian protesters who opposed his participation in the rally. Earlier, the IDF denied having injured the politician.

Riots broke out in Jerusalem's Old City as well, prompting the security forces to arrest dozens.

Some 300 took part in a violent rally in Bethlehem, near Rachel's Tomb. Three sustained moderate injuries during the riots. One man was lightly hurt during the weekly protests against the construction of the security fence in the West Bank; he was hit in the eye by a gas grenade ricochet.

In Jordan, not far from the Allenby Crossing, a larger rally took place, drawing 14,000 people -- including protesters who arrived from Asia to take part in the Pro-Paleostinian event. The Jordanian security forces were able to contain the demonstration; no unusual incidents were reported.

Some 5,000 people held an anti-Israel rally in southern Leb, near the Beaufort. Some arrived at the demonstration from Leb's Paleostinian refugee camps, while others travelled from as far as India. Members of the krazed killer anti-Zionist Jewish sect Neturei Karta were in attendance as well.

Hundreds of Syrians rallied in Damascus
...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world...
in show of solidarity for the Paleostinians, while the Paleostinian community in Egypt staged a protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Meanwhile,
...back at the bunker, his Excellency called a hurried meeting of his closest advisors. It was to be his last. They discussed the officers's efficiency rating system...
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hussein Amir Abed Lahyan toured southern Leb near the border with Israel, and promised that the Islamic Theocratic Republic will continue to support the Lebanese and Paleostinian resistance "until the entire land is liberated." A Hezbullies delegation attended the reception held for the Iranian official.

Israeli Arabs joined in on the Land Day demonstrations; the main event was held in the village of Deir Hanna in the Galilee, and was attended by Arab Knesset members. Other rallies were held in Sakhnin, Arraba, Kafr Kanna, Taibe and Wadi al-Naam. No violent incidents were reported.

Meanwhile in Tel Aviv, normal life continues:

25,000 took part in the annual marathon. Kenyan Sammy Tu finished the course in two hours 15 minutes and fourteen seconds. Tu set a new record and won the $10,000 prize.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel Braces For Arab Protests On Friday

2012-03-30

IDF imposes full closure on West Bank, deploys thousands of soldiers, police along borders with Gazoo, Leb, Jordan ahead of 'Global March to Jerusalem'; protesters in Amman burn Israeli, American flags

Israel on Thursday stepped up preparations a day before a series of planned Arab protests, deploying thousands of troops and police across the country and along its borders in anticipation of possible violence.

On Friday, Israeli Arabs and Paleostinians in the West Bank and Gazoo are marking Land Day, an annual protest against what they say are discriminatory Israeli land policies. Supporters in neighboring Arab countries planned marches near the Israeli borders in a solidarity event they call a "Global March to Jerusalem."

While organizers said the events would be nonviolent, Israel's army and police were girding for trouble after similar protests last year turned deadly. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has instructed the army to impose a full closure on the West Bank, which will be lifted in 24 hours barring any unforeseen developments.

At least 15 people were killed in festivities with Israeli soldiers when they tried to cross the Syrian and Lebanese borders with Israel in a May protest marking Paleostinian sorrow over Israel's creation in 1948.

A month later, Israeli troops killed 23 demonstrators who crossed into the no-man's land between Israel and Syria in a demonstration against Israeli control of the Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war.

Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, who oversees the national police force, said officers would be spread out in potentially explosive areas Friday but would not enter Arab villages unless needed.

"The guidelines are to allow everyone to mark Land Day quietly ... We will keep a low profile," he told Israel Radio.

Police front man Mickey Rosenfeld said thousands of officers were on the move throughout the country Thursday in preparation for Land Day. He said the biggest deployments were near Arab towns in northern Israel and in Jerusalem.

He said police were in touch with leaders of Arab communities in Israel in an attempt to keep protests peaceful.

"We're hoping there won't be any major incidents," he said. "If there are ... obviously the police will respond and deal with them."

In Jerusalem, the entrance to the Temple Mount compound will be limited. Thousands of coppers will be deployed in and around the capital.

Mahmoud Aloul, a Paleostinian leader in the West Bank involved in preparations, said demonstrations were to be held in Jerusalem, the Qalandiya checkpoint - a frequent flashpoint of violence on the outskirts of Jerusalem - and in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Other events were planned in Arab towns in northern Israel.

The Israeli military was also preparing for possible trouble along the borders with Leb and Syria in the north, Jordan to the east, and Egypt and the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-controlled Gazoo Strip to the south.

In a statement, the Israeli military said it was "prepared for any eventuality and will do whatever is necessary to protect Israeli borders and residents." It gave no further details.

As part of the preparations in north Israel, roadblocks will be set up at the entrances to major cities.

Activists in Gazoo planned to hold a demonstration about a kilometer (half a mile) from the Israeli border, but said they did not plan to move closer, minimizing the chance of festivities.

The IDF has positioned snipers along the Gazoo border fence for fear demonstrators may try to approach it.

Authorities in Leb and Jordan also said they would keep demonstrators far from the Israeli border. Several thousand protesters were expected in each place. It was unclear whether protesters would gather in Syria, which is in the midst of a vicious civil war that has left thousands dead over the past year.

Paleostinian organizer Mustafa Barghouti said activists from 82 countries were expected to participate in Land Day activities.

Barghouti said the marches were aimed at "ending the apartheid regime and the ethnic cleansing."

It was reported this week that at least to of the Arab protest organizers were aboard the Mavi Marmara ship when it was raided by IDF commandoes while trying to violate the Israeli naval blockade of Gazoo.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Esquimeau village our hero was receiving a quick lesson in aeronautics......
dozens of Jordanians protested near the Israeli embassy in Amman on Thursday against Israeli presence in the Hashemite Kingdom. During the rally demonstrators burned Israeli and American flags and said they would continue to protest until the Israeli embassy "is removed from Jordanian land and Paleostine is liberated. They chanted, "Arab, fight for your rights."

The rally was organized by a Jordanian group that has been protesting against the presence of the Israeli embassy in Jordan for a few months. The group has also been protesting against the Israel-Jordan peace treaty.

More details from the Jerusalem Post.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Paleo unity deal faces big hurdle

2012-02-13

RAMALLAH, West Bank - A mounting rebellion by Hamas leaders in Gaza against a breakthrough power-sharing agreement with ~~ineffectual~~ Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas highlights a potentially fatal flaw -- the deal never spelled out how the Western-backed leader can take charge again in Gaza, the territory he lost to a violent takeover by the Islamic militants.

Former bitter foes Abbas and Khaled Mashaal, Hamas' top leader in exile, signed the Qatar-brokered deal in Doha last week, saying they are committed to a true partnership. As part of the agreement, Abbas is to head an interim unity government that replaces rival administrations in the West Bank and Gaza and leads the Palestinians to general elections.

Abbas needs to strike a delicate balance to make it work. The Palestinian leader has to satisfy international demands that the interim government -- to consist of politically independent technocrats -- not be a front for Hamas, shunned by the West as a terror group. If it is seen as too close to Hamas, the Palestinians would likely lose hundreds of millions of dollars in Western aid.

At the same time, he risks sabotage from Hamas leaders in Gaza if he tries to strip them of too much of their power. In the nearly five years it ruled the territory, Hamas hired some 40,000 civil servants and security forces, many of them supporters of the movement, while 62,000 troops and civil servants forced out by the 2007 takeover -- many of them pro-Abbas -- are waiting to return to their old government jobs.

Sounds like you boys can't work together. Too bad, so sad. Might as well go back to killing each other. The Zionists can help with that...

They'll take it in turns to go without pay? Because there isn't the funds to meet current expenses -- donor fatigue and the fragile situation in Europe, donchaknow.

Gaza leaders of Hamas have voiced their misgivings in increasingly strident tones. The Hamas bloc of legislators last week said the deal is illegal because Abbas cannot serve as both president and prime minister.

On Saturday, the Hamas strongman in Gaza, Mahmoud Zahar, complained that Mashaal did not consult with other leaders in the movement before signing the deal and that the decision-making Shura Council should meet to correct what he termed a mistake.

"We feel there is a real crisis concerning the Doha agreement, and that this problem should be resolved within the institutions of the movement," he said in comments published by the Egyptian news agency MENA.

Across the board, Hamas lawmakers in the Abbas-run West Bank rushed Sunday to support the agreement, siding with Mashaal against the Gaza rebels. "Reconciliation is our strategic choice and we should go for it without hesitation." said Hamas legislator Mona Mansour.

Such public airing of disagreements is rare for tightly organized Hamas, a Gaza offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, the pan-Arab movement that scored post-Arab Spring election victories in Egypt and Tunisia. It is still unclear whether the internal dispute is only about protecting Hamas' interests in Gaza or also the change in direction recently advocated by Mashaal.

The unity deal, first reached in principle last year, was made possible by a narrowing of the political differences between Hamas and Abbas, said Mustafa Barghouti, an independent from the West Bank who has played a key role in reconciliation.

Mashaal, while not formally renouncing violence, has embraced the idea of "popular protests" against Israeli occupation as a gesture to Abbas, Barghouti said. And while Hamas has long opposed Abbas' talks with Israel on the terms of a Palestinian state, Abbas now seems to have given up hope he can reach a deal with the current rightist Israeli government.

Israel, which has refused to halt construction, has condemned the reconciliation. A text message statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Abbas' insistence on a settlement freeze meant he was "turning his back to peace."

"Instead of entering a negotiation that will bring an end to the conflict, (Abbas) prefers to align himself with the Hamas terror group, the same Hamas that embraces Iran," it said.

Progress on reconciliation has been slow, a sign of continued distrust. Hamas complained that West Bank security forces loyal to Fatah have reneged on promises to release dozens of Hamas prisoners, and that only a few were freed. Election officials say that in apparent retaliation, Hamas in Gaza prevented them from trying to update voter records ahead of the planned votes for president and parliament.

Following last week's agreement, Abbas is to put together his transition government. He says however he does not want to announce the composition of his government until he is sure he can hold elections -- a task complicated by ensuring his elections commission can work in Gaza and in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

Once a unity government is in place, Abbas' biggest challenge would be to establish a single security service out of two rival forces. In the West Bank, many of Abbas' forces have undergone training by the U.S. and have cooperated with Israel in reining in Hamas, while the Hamas government in Gaza, with a force of 18,000, receives funding from Iran. Last year's initial unity deal called for a gradual blending of the security forces, but did not say how much of that would take place before general elections. However, the West might balk if troops closely linked to Hamas continue to control Gaza.

Abbas might also be held responsible by Israel if smaller militant groups tolerated by Hamas continue to fire rockets from Gaza at Israel from time to time. In recent years, Israel has praised the level of security cooperation it has received Abbas in the West Bank, and a loss of a good working relationship with Israel could make it very difficult to run a Palestinian entity that is still very dependent on its neighbor.

The delicate reconciliation arrangements seem to require an extraordinary amount of good will from Hamas leaders in Gaza -- and that seems in short supply.

Link

Fifth Column

More about that arrested Gaza Flotilla captain

2011-07-03

ATHENS, Greece (Ma'an) -- The captain of a US boat carrying activists who tried to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza was jailed Saturday in Athens, organizers of the flotilla said. John Klusmer is being charged with two felonies, organizers of the boat told reporters at a news conference in the Greek capital. The investigation will begin Tuesday, they said.

Klusmer was handcuffed and jailed Saturday afternoon. He and the organizers initially understood the charges to be misdemeanors. They later discovered the charges to be felonies upon arrival at the station.

US Boat to Gaza organizer Jane Hirschmann told reporters the captain was charged with disobeying a police order not to leave the port and disturbing sea traffic.

The captain's four-member crew is being detained on the boat. While passengers are free to go, they are staying on the Audacity of Hope as a show of solidarity with their captain and crew.

Hirschmann said the second charge was the result of a complaint lodged against the US Boat to Gaza by Shurat HaDin, an Israeli law center which is funded by American activist and pastor John Hagee. Hagee is a fundamentalist Christian who operates a pro-Israel group in the US.

Hirschmann called the charges "bogus" and added that "We hope to move on this before Tuesday and try to make sure that that [our captain] gets out."

She says the flotilla is not seeking a new captain for the Audacity of Hope. Passengers "are very worried about the captain and feel responsible for the captain. But they're also very determined people on the boat. They chose to stay on the ship," Hirschmann said.

Hirschmann and other organizers said the ships that make up the flotilla would not sail alone. When asked if the US boat had been effectively sidelined, Hirschmann responded, "We don't know, we're the Audacity of Hope and the audacity of hope triumphs over the audacity of violence and the audacity of threats. And our boat has not been impounded. Yet."

Also in Athens, Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Barghouti remarked that "We consider this boat, this flotilla, one part of peaceful non-violent resistance, one part of peaceful non-violent struggle."

Boilerplate follows:

He added that "this kind of struggle of the international community, joined with the Palestinian struggle -- which is going on non-violently and peacefully

True, for a very specific definition of violence and peace that mean the exact opposite

-- is one way of liberating Palestinians from occupation. "It is also one way of liberating the Israeli people from the same occupation and the same apartheid because the Israelis themselves will never be free as long as the Palestinians are not free," Barghouti added.

Barghouti called on the Greek government to allow the US Boat to Gaza and all other ships to sail, adding that the flotilla and other acts of non-violent resistance that are happening in the occupied Palestinian territories resemble "the best traditions of Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Gandhi."

While the latter two are proclaimed for their saintly peacefulness, there has been a great deal of violence associated with their movements -- Gandhi was fond of advising Nazi-era German Jews and Hindus in Pakistan to stay put and allow themselves to be killed in order to shame the killers, and encouraged the murder of Muslims fleeing north during the division.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Fatah, Hamas leaders to meet Russian officials

2011-05-22

MOSCOW - Members of rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas will meet very senior Russian officials on Monday during their informal three-day visit to Moscow, a Palestinian negotiator said Saturday. The Palestinian delegation arrived in Russia on Friday evening after concluding mechanisms for implementing a reconciliation agreement between the two sides earlier in the week.

A member of the so-called Middle East Quartet, Russia backs making east Jerusalem the capital of a unified Palestine and is also in contact with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip and is viewed as a terrorist organisation by Israel.

One of the Palestinian negotiators, Mustafa Barghouti, said the group planned to hold a very important meeting with Russian officials on Monday.

It will be a very senior meeting, Barghouti added.

Link

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