Jewish terrorists attack Palestinian olive harvesters near Nablus

"- Army-backed Jewish terrorists on Monday shot and seriously wounded a Palestinian olive harvester south West of Nablus in the West Bank, Palestinian sources reported.

The sources said a group of heavily armed messianic Jewish terrorists from the settlement of Yitzhar near Nablus descended on Palestinian olive growers and began shooting at them.

One Palestinian, Hani Shehadeh, was shot in the neck, reportedly by a settler dressed in military uniform.

The man was transferred to a local hospital where he was listed in serious condition.

A spokesman of the Rafidya hospital where Shehadeh was transferred said the victim underwent a surgery and was recuperating in the intensive care unit."

War in Iraq 'spurs terror groups on'

"The war in Iraq did not damage international terror groups, but instead distracted the United States from confronting other hotbeds of Islamic militancy and actually "created momentum" for many terror groups, a top Israeli security think tank says in a report.

US President George W Bush has called the war in Iraq an integral part of the war on terrorism, saying that deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein hoped to develop unconventional weapons and could have given them to Islamic militants around the world.

But the Jaffee Centre for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University said that instead of striking a blow against Islamic extremists, the Iraq war "has created momentum for many terrorist elements, but chiefly al-Qaeda and its affiliates".

Jaffee Centre director Shai Feldman said that the vast amount of money and effort the US had poured into Iraq had deflected attention and assets from other centres of terrorism, such as Afghanistan.

The concentration of US intelligence assets in Iraq "has to be at the expense of being able to follow strategic dangers in other parts of the world," he said.

Shlomo Brom, a retired Israeli army general, said the US-led effort was strategically misdirected. If the goal in the war against terrorism was "not just to kill the mosquitos but to dry the swamp," he said, "now it's quite clear" that Iraq "is not the swamp"..."

PA: It's 'peculiar' Israel didn't inform us of Sinai warnings

"Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat hinted on Monday that Israel was behind the suicide attacks in Sinai and said the PA is in touch with the Egyptian government on the issue.

Referring to Shin Bet head Avi Dichter's warning of the possibility of an attack on Israeli tourists in Sinai a few weeks before the bombings, Arafat said: "These are important statements. Why didn't he inform us and the Egyptians about the information? What happened in Taba is a big crime."

He was speaking to reporters in Ramallah after meeting with a delegation from the United Nations Development Program.

A senior PA official later denied that Arafat had accused Israel of masterminding the attacks, pointing out that he was only raising questions about to how the Israelis knew of the plan in advance.

"We are only saying if Israel had concrete evidence that someone was planning an attack, how come it didn't share this information with the Egyptian authorities?" he explained. "Isn't this peculiar?" "

Poll finds support for Israel drives votes of US Evangelicals

"Support for Israel is a decisive factor for US evangelicals in choosing between President Bush and Senator Kerry in the upcoming presidential election.

The findings are from a new poll conducted by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

The findings will come as little surprise to those who have watched US Evangelicals, and warned that their interpretations of Scripture foster an “uncritical and one-sided approach to the future of the Holy Land.”

Responding to the email and website-based survey, 31 percent of 1,875
self-described evangelicals who claimed they were “very likely” to vote in November called support for Israel their primary consideration in selecting a president, and 64 percent called support for Israel “an important factor” in that choice.

Nearly 98 percent of that group indicated they plan to vote for Bush, whereas 2 percent indicated support for Kerry.

Of 147 “very likely” Jewish voters, 32 percent said support for Israel was the No. 1 concern driving their presidential selection, and 59 percent called support for Israel “an important factor.” However, concern for Israel among this group did not translate into universal support for Bush, who was favoured by 73 percent of Jewish respondents, with 27 percent supporting
Kerry.

On related issues, 97 percent of evangelicals and 73 percent of Jews saw Bush as a better friend of Israel, compared with 2 percent of evangelicals and 10 percent of Jews who saw Kerry’s election as better for the Jewish State. Similarly, 97 percent of evangelicals and 74 percent of Jews saw Bush as the candidate better able to protect the United States, whereas 16 percent of Jews saw Kerry as stronger in this role."

Palestinians accuse Israel of "Nazi tactics" in Gaza

"A high-ranking Palestinian Authority official has accused the Israeli army of adopting "Nazi tactics" against Palestinian population centers in the Gaza Strip.

The official, PA Deputy Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah told PIC that the ongoing Israeli blitz in northern Gaza was "nothing but a Nazi-like rampage of murder and terror against a defenseless civilian population."

"Israel is simply slaughtering innocent civilians under the pretext of fighting terror. I don't know how much Palestinian blood would satiate Israel's thirst, I don't know how many Palestinian children would have to be killed in order to make up for two Jewish kids who died last week," said Abdullah.

So far, as many as 80 Palestinians, more than half of them children and non-combatants, have been killed in one of the most ferocious Israeli army campaign since the outbreak of the current Palestinian uprising four years ago.

Abdullah accused Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of wanting to slaughter "as many Palestinian children as it takes to enhance and consolidate his political standing in Israel."

"He knows quite well that the only thing that makes him popular among Israelis is (shedding) Palestinian blood. This explains it all." "

US uses Israel as its proxy to threaten Syria

"The Bush administration is using Israel as its subcontractor to threaten Syria and Iran, carry out military strikes and reorganise the region in its interests.

This is why—shielded by its backers in the White House—Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Likud government is able to operate with impunity. And what is more, world leaders know it...

An Israeli attack on Syria had been on the cards for several weeks. Following a double suicide attack on two buses that killed 16 people in Beer Sheba at the end of August, for which a Hamas cell based in Hebron admitted responsibility, Israel immediately claimed that Syria was behind the suicide bombings and threatened military action...

Sharon said that Syria was directly responsible for Hamas attacks because the orders to carry them out were issued from Damascus. He produced not a shred of evidence to support these claims.

Israeli Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon threatened that Israel “would deal with... those who support terrorism,” including those in “terror command posts in Damascus.”

Israel has for some time been seeking an excuse for a confrontation with Syria. Sharon’s Greater Israel project demands, as well as the land grab on the West Bank and the penning of the Palestinians into ghettos—or better still their transfer elsewhere, that Israel control the headwaters of the river Jordan which lie in Syria and Lebanon."

Vanunu: Israel greater nuclear threat than Iran

"Israeli whistleblower calls on Israel to dismantle its nuclear program never acknowledged by Jewish state.


STOCKHOLM - Israel is a greater nuclear threat than Iran, Mordechai Vanunu, who was freed in April after 18 years in an Israeli prison for revealing the country's nuclear program, told Swedish Radio on Thursday.

"We can say to Israel that if you're blaming Iran, let's go make Israel and Iran both open their facilities and be nuclear free zones. I think Iran and Iraq accept this but Israel is still not ready to accept this policy," Vanunu said in an interview on Swedish public radio.

Iran has been faced with stinging criticism for its atomic program, which it claims is purely peaceful, but which the United States and Israel in particular fear conceals efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

Israel, which now views Iran as its number one enemy after the downfall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, has been lobbying hard for greater pressure to be exerted on Tehran.

Vanunu meanwhile called in the interview on Israel to dismantle its nuclear program - a program the Jewish state has never acknowledged - pointing out that "Israel is the one who became aggressive and who took Arab lands". "

The Many Takes of Donald Rumsfeld on Saddam and al-Qaida

"The US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, today attempted to distance himself from his earlier comments that there were no links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida.
In a statement issued several hours after he had told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York that "to my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two", Mr Rumsfeld claimed he had been "misunderstood"...

Mr Rumsfeld's comments in New York, however, were a reversal of the position adopted by many senior Bush administration figures...



Rumsfeld on Saddam and al-Qaida

August 2002: Mr Rumsfeld claims "there are al-Qaida in Iraq", and accuses Saddam of "harbouring al-Qaida operatives who fled the US military dragnet in Afghanistan".

September 2002: "We do have solid evidence of the presence in Iraq of al-Qaida members, including some that have been in Baghdad," Mr Rumsfeld says. "We have what we consider to be very reliable reporting of senior-level contacts going back a decade, and of possible chemical and biological agent training."

October 2002: He tells a Pentagon briefing he had already been informed there is "solid evidence of the presence in Iraq of al-Qaida members".

March 2003: Mr Rumsfeld says the US-led coalition has solid evidence that senior al-Qaida operatives had visited Baghdad in the past, and that Saddam had an "evolving" relationship with the terror network.

September 2004: The defence secretary confuses the jailed Saddam and the fugitive Bin Laden in a speech to the US National Press Club: "Saddam Hussein, if he's alive, is spending a whale of a lot of time trying to not get caught. And we've not seen him on a video since 2001." He corrects himself when asked for clarification."

Rumsfeld: No Saddam Link to Sept. 11; No WMD's

"Asked to describe the connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida, the Pentagon chief declined to answer the question but then said: "To my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two.''...

When asked what he thought was the primary reason for invading Iraq, he said it was important to remove Saddam's regime, but he acknowledged the intelligence ahead of the invasion was faulty.

"It turns out that we have not found weapons of mass destruction,'' he said..."

Jewish Democratic leaders converge on South Florida to spotlight Kerry’s support of Israel

"National Jewish Democratic leaders barnstormed through Broward and Palm Beach counties on Sunday to put presidential candidate John Kerry’s pro-Israel stand on the record.
U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, state Sen. Ron Klein and famed attorney, lecturer and author Alan Dershowitz spoke to audiences at temples in Boca Raton and Delray Beach. They cited Kerry’s “100 percent pro-Israel” voting record during 19 years in the U.S. Senate and said they felt the support given to Israel by President George W. Bush pales by comparison."

Bush, Kerry agree: Iraq success vital for Israel

"They barely mentioned Israel. But when they did, in their first debate on Thursday night, US President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry both used the platform to assert that success in Iraq is necessary for Israel's security.

Most of the 90-minute debate focused on Iraq and the war on terrorism. While the situation in Sudan and Russian President Vladimir Putin's abandonment of democracy as he pursues a war on terrorism were briefly discussed, wide swathes of foreign policy were neglected.

No question was asked about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan. But both candidates made sure to mention Israel when discussing Iraq.

"A free Iraq will be an ally in the war on terror, and that's essential. A free Iraq will set a powerful example in the part of the world that is desperate for freedom. A free Iraq will help secure Israel," Bush said.

Kerry, in explaining how he would be better equipped to deal with the situation in Iraq, said, "I'm going to get it right for those soldiers because it's important to Israel, it's important to America, it's important to the world, it's important to the fight on terror. But I have a plan to do it, he doesn't."

Republicans and Democrats were surprised that more attention was not paid to Israel. But surrogates for both sides pointed out that both Bush and Kerry had mentioned the need to restore stability to Iraq as a means of protecting Israel.

"John Kerry put in clear terms his commitment to success in Iraq in first order because it matters in the short order for the security of Israel," Susan Rice, Kerry's national security adviser, told The Jerusalem Post."

Why Must Jews claim the holocaust as their own?

"It's disturbing enough that whole segments of our society insist on ignoring the holocaust, or denying its reality at all. But it seems even stranger to me that many of a group that has so suffered at the cruel hands of history should choose to jealously guard their tragedy, to the exclusion of other equally tormented groups.

This is the case with a certain segment of the world's Jewish population, that for one reason or another, must claim the holocaust as their own, and deny the systematic murder of half a million Roma in the same way that so many others have tried to deny the systematic murder of six million Jews.

The ignorance of the Romany loss in the holocaust can be significantly blamed on European governments' not finding it necessary to memorialize a group they has long sought themselves to marginalize. But why so many in the Jewish communities? What a strange opposite to the old adage that "misery likes company!" I don't get it.

I am neither Jewish nor Roma, so many will say that I cannot ever hope to understand the collective consciousness surrounding the holocaust. This is true. I cannot. Nor can I imagine why so many -- Jews and Gentiles alike -- insist on denying that the Roma, too, were victims of Nazi extermination."

Global Anti-Semitism Awareness Act's Chances of Passage "very, very strong" - Lantos

"Two GOP lawmakers, Senator George Voinovich of Ohio and Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey, are pledging to lead the fight for a bill requiring the State Department to create a special office to combat antisemitism and file annual reports on anti-Jewish activity throughout the world. The brainchild of Representative Tom Lantos, a California Democrat and the only Holocaust survivor in Congress, the measure is opposed by the Bush administration but is now expected to pass, with the help of its new Republican supporters.

The chances of the bill, the Global Anti-Semitism Awareness Act, passing are now "very, very strong," Lantos told the Forward.

The emergence of GOP co-sponsors for Lantos's bill comes as Senate Republicans have made a priority of focusing attention on antisemitism. The GOP-controlled Senate approved legislation September 23 urging members of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to consider appointing a "personal envoy" to ensure "sustained attention with respect to fulfilling OSCE commitments on the reporting of antisemitic crimes."

Senate Republicans last week took the unusual step of dedicating a major bloc of time on the Senate floor, including at least seven speeches in two days, to the rise of antisemitism worldwide and the need to combat it. The campaign was organized by Senator Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican, who last week told reporters that he supports the content of the Lantos bill."

Israeli national security adviser: November is "point of no return" for taking out Iran's nukes

In an interview in an Israeli newspaper this week, Giora Eiland, Israel's national security adviser, made a startling statement: November will be the "point of no return" for taking out the Iranian nuclear program.

"Point of no return" is a phrase with a history. In 1981, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin demanded to know when Saddam Hussein's nuclear plant at Osirak, Iraq, would reach it. Military intelligence then, as always, was muddy. Some of Begin's advisers counseled patience. Others warned that delay could be fatal. The most influential advocate of the go-for-it approach was Begin's minister of defense - Ariel Sharon.

Iran is now on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons. This week, President Bush said categorically that he will not let that happen. But how will he stop it? Persuasion? The Iranians are spitting in the face of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Invasion? The U.S. military is already busy in Iraq and Afghanistan. Covert action? A botched operation would bring the wrath and scorn of the world down on the United States...

The Bush administration already has supplied the tool kit, including F-16I, the first Israeli warplane capable of striking Iran without in-flight refueling. The United States also has supplied ordnance capable of piercing massive fortifications.

"It is rather significant that the United States is now selling Israel over $300 million worth of bunker-busting bombs. They don't need those for the Palestinians," Richard Holbrooke told Bill O'Reilly on Sept. 23. O'Reilly was visibly surprised by the clear implication of this observation. Holbrooke is, after all, the leading Democratic spokesman on foreign affairs, John Kerry's presumptive secretary of state...

This may be America's last remaining point of 100 percent bipartisan foreign policy agreement: Israel was right to smash the Iraqi reactor 23 years ago, and it should be equipped for a similar job in Iran."

Jewish American group calls for international intervention to stop Israel's massive military invasion of Gaza Strip

Press Release, Jewish Voice for Peace, 1 October 2004

"MANY MORE ISRAELIS AND PALESTINIANS WILL DIE BEFORE THIS INVASION IS OVER."

SAN FRANCISCO, September 30, 2004 - Jewish Voice for Peace, a national Jewish-American organization with 10,000 supporters, called for an immediate halt to the massive Israeli invasion of Gaza Strip. The group called for the United States and the international community to intervene to stop the Israeli military operation and prevent the rocket attacks by Hamas that have provided the pretext for it.

A rocket fired yesterday from Gaza into the Israeli town of Sderot killed two Israeli toddlers, aged two and four. Israel has responded with disproportionate force, injuring and killing many Palestinian civilians. Israel has launched a sustained ground assault, which they have dubbed "Operation Days of Penitence". JVP predicts that such a sustained operation will cost more lives on both sides and make peace even harder to achieve. The Israeli incursion and Palestinian attacks have already caused the deaths of 30 Palestinians and five Israelis, and the wounding of over 120 Palestinians.

"It's just common sense and basic decency," said Cecilie Surasky, a JVP spokesperson. "As the parent of a 2-year-old, there are no words to express my horror at the killings of these toddlers. But to respond to the deaths of two Israeli children by killing and maiming 150 Palestinians living in a refugee camp, many of them civilians, is to take an eye for an eye to obscene proportions. This is the way to fuel violence, not stem it. Many more Israelis and Palestinians will die before this invasion is over."

The group also noted its offense at Ariel Sharon's choice of "Days of Penitence" as the name of Israel's renewed invasion of Gaza.

"Israeli actions have already cost dozens of Palestinian lives, severely injured many more innocent civilians, and has seen the destruction of more Palestinian homes," said Mitchell Plitnick, JVP's Co-Director. "The planned invasion is sure to multiply these numbers greatly. To name such an operation after the holiest days in the Jewish year-- days in which all Jews are meant to open their hearts and atone for the sins of the past year -- is an affront to every fundamental Jewish value.

"This violence is the inevitable result of Israel's refusal to talk with the Palestinians," Plitnick continued. "Israel cannot stop this conflict unilaterally. It has to be done in partnership with the legitimate leaders of the Palestinian people. As the Israeli peace group, Gush Shalom said yesterday, 'There is somebody to talk with. There is something to talk about. When people don't talk - they kill and are killed.'"

Senior IDF officer: Disengagement Plan "similar to deportation of Berlin Jews to crematoriums” - Maariv

Colonel (Res) Gadi Dorchler has said that actions of Disengagement Authority chief Yonatan Basi “chillingly resemble the activities of the Jewish Yudenrat”, according to Maariv.

Dorchler, who is still active in the IDF’s Northern Command, went on to say "The pullout plan is extremely similar to the plan to deport Berlin Jews to the crematoriums...His (Basi's) actions chillingly resemble the activities of the Jewish Yudenrat who collaborated with the Nazis in order to complete a smooth and problem-free expulsion."

Jewish settler who killed Palestinian driver freed from police custody

"A Jewish settler who killed a Palestinian driver has been freed from police custody and placed under temporary house arrest, Israeli state-run radio has reported.


His release, ordered by the Kfar Sava court on Tuesday, sheds light on the leniency adopted by the Israeli justice system towards Jews involved in serious crimes against non-Jews.



The court, presided over by a religious Jew, reportedly rejected a police request to extend the remand of Yehosua Elitzur, 33, from the West Bank settlement of Itamar, until the end of the legal proceedings.



On Monday, Elitzur killed a Palestinian driver, claiming the victim tried to run him off the road.



Witness accounts



Palestinian witnesses testified that Elitzur killed Salah Jibara, a father of eight children, in cold blood and for no reason other than wanting to kill a Palestinian.




Some rabbis support Jewish
killings of Palestinians


"The settler parked his car on the right side … and stood in the middle of the road. When Salah Jibara arrived and slowed down thinking that the settler needed help, the settler aimed his M-16 at him, killing him on the spot," said Muhammad Shattiya.



"Then the settler began praising God for killing him."



When a Palestinian passerby asked why he shot him, the settler said: "It doesn't matter. He is only a Palestinian," according to the Jerusalem-based Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group which has investigated the incident.



Murder



Another Palestinian witness, Ahmad Shattiya, said: "The settler simply was waiting for any Palestinian motorist to come so that he could kill him. Even if Jibara had not stopped, the settler would have killed him, claiming that he had tried to run him over.




Settlers are accused of creating
reasons to attack Palestinians


"The man was out to kill an Arab it is as simple as that."



Shattiya and other Palestinians in the area tried in vain to save Jibara's life.



"He lost consciousness and we tried to resuscitate him. We shouted to the settler to call an ambulance, but he said: 'Praise to God, he is dead,' and left." "

Jewish settlers attack American Christian volunteers near Hebron

"Jewish settlers immigrants from North America on Wednesday attacked and severely beat American Christian peace volunteers near the village of Yatta south west of Hebron, Palestinian and Israeli sources said.

According to the Hebron-based Christian Peace Making Team (CPT), five settlers carrying iron chains and baseball clubs, assaulted two volunteers ( a woman and a man) who were escorting Palestinian school children to their school at the village of Tuba near the settlement of Maon in the southern Hebron hills.

The assailants reportedly beat the two volunteers and robbed them. The two were evacuated by an Israeli ambulance to a hospital in the southern Israeli town of Be'ir Sheva were they have been listed in moderate conditions.

The assailants reportedly also stole a bag belonging to a female volunteer named Kim Lamberty, 44. The bag contained passport, money and a cellular phone. It is not clear if the settlers had wanted to attack Palestinian school children who fled to their homes.

A CPT spokesperson in Hebron named Cal Carpenter told PIC that one volunteer named Chris had a collapsed lung while a woman volunteer had bruises and cuts.

Asked why he thought the settlers assaulted his friends, Carpenter said the settlers "didn't like what we were doing, namely escorting Palestinian kids to their schools."

"They apparently were unhappy to see us stand by the kids whom the settlers want to abuse….so they thought that we were frustrating their efforts." "