AUGUST 2007
Arab envoys discuss peace with Israel
By Reuters, July 25, 1020 GMT
The land-for-peace initiative offers Israel normal ties with all Arab states in return for a full withdrawal from the lands it seized in the 1967 Middle East war, creation of a Palestinian state and a ”just solution” for Palestinian refugees.
Israel sought to cast the arrival of the Egyptian and Jordanian envoys as a potential turning point in relations with the Arab League, which has long shunned the Jewish state.
Arab diplomats played
down the gesture. Egypt and Jordan already have full
relations with Israel, and despite U.S. and Israeli
appeals to expand the number of Arab participants in the
talks, Saudi Arabia and other Arab League members with no
formal ties to the Jewish state have refused to take
part.
.................
Reading behind the lines is not too difficult is
it!As follows....JB.ed.
Israel seeks to change international law in its favour.................
'New rules for new wars'
Conference brings Israeli, US experts together to
'fine tune' international law
Yaakov Lappin
The Geneva Convention on armed conflict and the 100
year-old Hague Rules on war need to be "fine
tuned" to meet the challenges posed by 21st century
asymmetrical warfare, Israeli and American experts said
during a conference in Herzliya on Monday.
The two-day conference, 'New Battlefield, Old Laws,' is being held at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzliya, and was jointly organized by the IDC's International Institute for Counter Terrorism (ICT) and Syracuse University's Institute for National Security and Counter Terrorism.
"This conference is about the application of rules to asymmetrical war," William Banks, Director of Institute for National Security, told Ynetnews. "It's about finding new ways to look at rules to govern modern warfare. We hope to try and make concrete proposals for the governing of asymmetric conflict," he added.
When asked whether such rules could ever be relevant to terrorists, Banks replied, "This is the most difficult question. We're looking at incentives so that the bad guys may come to the table, but it's a very tricky business."
Boaz Ganor, Executive Director of the ICT, said the conference was mainly aimed at internal dialogues within democracies. "It's not important whether terrorists respect international laws. The question is, what are our moral constraints as a democracy fighting terrorists?" he said.
"One example is the use by the IDF of disguised commando soldiers in raids. On the face of it, the State is obliged to send soldiers that can be identified. On the other hand, we know that such a tactic allows for a surgical strike, with the least risk to Palestinian civilians. This means we need to fine tune the Geneva Conventions on army uniforms," Ganor added.
"We're not calling for an abandoning of international law or an extreme change, but for an internationally accepted platform," Ganor emphasized. "We do believe there is a need to go over international law and fine tune it," he added.
Mitchell Wallerstein, Dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, cited the Second Lebanon War as a good example of new types of warfare requiring new rules.
"Last summer, the IDF faced the issue of human shields, and the storing of weapons in civilian areas. We've seen this in other places such as Somalia and the Balkans. We are likely to see this again," Wallerstein said.
"International law does not adequately deal with this issue," he added.
The Herzliya conference will be followed by a meeting in Washington DC in October, in which experts in international law and national security are expected to list recommendations for reforming international law on warfare.
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http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/876415.html
45% of former USSR immigrant
students do not see future in Israel
By Or Kashti, Haaretz Correspondent
Some 45 percent of high school students who immigrated
from the former Soviet Union do not believe they have a
future in Israel, according to the preliminary results of
a new study due to be published in a few months.
Only 65 percent would define themselves as Israeli, the
study found. However, 88 percent would accept a
hyphenated definition, such as Israeli-Russian.
The survey, conducted over the past two months by the
Forum for Immigrant Parents, covered some 300 students in
ninth through 12th grades in communities with sizable
Russian populations, such as Ashdod, Ramle and Petah
Tikva. The preliminary results were presented to a
subcommittee of the Knesset Immigration Committee
Thurday.
Some 30 percent of the respondents said Israelis could
teach them nothing, while 40 percent saw no need to study
Jewish tradition or the Bible. Some 82 percent saw
nothing worth learning from in Israeli culture, and 90
percent felt similarly about Israeli behavior.
The study also found that the longer they were in Israel,
the more likely the students were to define themselves as
mehagrim (migrants) rather than olim (immigrants, but
with the connotation of "to a better place").
Thus, after three years here, 68.6 percent defined
themselves as olim, while after six years, only 23.6
percent did so.
Some 28 percent did not define themselves as Jewish, and
76.1 percent said that Israel systematically violated the
rights of non-Jewish immigrants on issues such as
marriage and burial.
*************************************
Picking American Pockets for
Israel
by Karin Friedemann and Joachim Martillo (ThorsProvoni@
Political pressure from the Israel Lobby induces the U.S.
government to fund Israel's ongoing program to remove the
native population of Palestine, primarily Muslims and
Christians, and supplant them with European-American
Jewish colonists. Our tax dollars facilitate this ethnic
cleansing and colonization of Occupied Palestine. Israel
has cost the USA well over $1.6 trillion since 1973. (See
http://www.csmonito
Why do seemingly normal, middle class Jewish American
families take part in genocidal ethnic cleansing?
While some sick individuals might get a
"thrill" from moving into property stolen from
a family expelled from their home at gunpoint by the
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), our observations indicate
that fun and profit serve as the primary motivation
for relocating to Occupied Palestine.
The Israeli government offers American Jews subsidized
mortgages at interest rates far lower than anything
available to non-Jews. The subsidies are funded by
Israeli bonds and underwritten by U.S. loan guarantees.
The new mortgage holders are allowed to sink their credit
card debts into Israeli mortgages valued in shekels,
which are practically guaranteed to depreciate relative
to the dollar. (See http://www.tehilla.
While these "ethically challenged" American
Jews stay in Israel, they receive free Hebrew classes and
living expenses for up to one year paid by the Israeli
government and some private racist ethnic Ashkenazi
organizations.
The cost of "doing business" with Israel is not
only financial but moral.
The system creates suburban sprawl in the Holy Land,
environmental devastation and mass homelessness for
the original, rightful non-Jewish property owners.
Most Palestinians under Israeli government control
are not citizens and have no rights under Israeli
law. Lands to which the Jewish Agency holds title
are only leased or deeded under conditions that prevent
transfer or use by non-Jews. Such discrimination would be
illegal in the USA.
The Israeli government organizes the eviction (nishul)
of Palestinians (usually uncompensated) through transfers
of the land to specialized organizations like the Jewish
Agency or the Israel Lands Authority
(ILA). Sometimes Israel discovers military or
security requirements that "necessitate" the
transfer of property from Palestinians to the Army.
Eventually, the ILA develops the stolen land
to create or expand Jews-Only settlements. The
contractors employed by the ILA and its helper
organizations build the homes and necessary
infrastructure. They are typically connected to
government and military officials, who all profit
tremendously from the US-financed plunder and ethnic
cleansing of the Palestinian population.
Local travel agents often double as recruiters and real
estate brokers for Israel. American Jews willing to
relocate to stolen properties are not usually subject to
credit checks when they seek an Israeli mortgage because
the Israeli government subordinates its fiscal
responsibility to the goal of overwhelming the
Palestinians demographically.
Most American olim (immigrants) do not settle
permanently in Occupied Palestine. They live there for a
couple of years and then sell their house when the
value goes up and come back debt free. They enjoy a
nice vacation and make a profit as well.
Here's how it works:
Jewish aliyah (immigration to Israel)
organizations engage in ongoing campaigns to recruit
American Jews. They advertise in the Jewish media,
through Jewish run travel agencies, and on college
campuses.
Suppose you are an American Jew with $60,000 in
educational or credit card debt.
You might attend a class at the local Jewish Community
Center or take part in some organized pro-Israel
activity. At some point you will meet an official or
semi-official shaliah (recruiter/emissary) who
will explain the deal to you.
You can purchase a home, with no down payment, in a new
settlement with a subsidized mortgage of up to
$300,000. You will only pay interest (usually 3% or
less) on half the mortgage. The other half is
interest-free. You can buy a new house for $100,000
comparable to a $750,000 house in Brookline,
Massachusetts.
Say you have a $60,000 debt, are paying $2,000 a month
rent and you owe another $1000 in various loan payments
and other expenses. You can get a $160,000 mortgage in
Israel for less than $400/month.
You and your family get free health insurance.
The Israeli government will pay your living expenses for
at least 6 months.
You get Israeli citizenship and all the rights the
native population does not have.
Settlers in the more recently ethnically cleansed
Occupied Territories get lower tax rates and other
special benefits than those settling in "Israel
Proper."
Qualified individuals may receive free plane tickets to
Israel from organizations like Birthright Israel.
You can apply for an additional $5,000 - $25,000 stipend
from organizations like Nefesh b'Nefesh (Soul to Soul
- i.e. Jewish souls).
You should be able to live for one year without working,
at which point your home has accrued in value because the
settlement has expanded and amenities have
improved.
You should be able to sell your home at a profit, pay off
your debt and return to the USA debt free.
Once back home you will be strongly encouraged to
contribute to your local Congressmen.
Doesn't it sound like payback for the pleasant
vacation and good fortune made possible by the U.S.
government simply because you are Jewish?
--
Posted By Joachim Martillo ŠJuly 2007