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1. Hamas Bombards Southern Israel
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Terrorists from Hamas-controlled Gaza attacked the Negev twice Monday morning with Kassam rockets, sparking a fire and sending residents back into shelters. A rocket also struck southern Israel late Sunday night. No one was injured in the latest round of attacks that have returned western Negev residents to an eight-year-old routine of panic and trauma.
One rocket Monday morning exploded in the Sdot Negev area, setting fire to a field of cactuses. The same area was targeted shortly before midnight with a Kassam. The other morning missile attack was on the Sha'ar Negev region, adjacent to Sderot, causing no injuries or damage.
Operation 'Cast Lead', launched at the end of December, was aimed at destroying the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza and stopping rocket attacks. The Olmert administration ordered the IDF to end the war against terror after three weeks, claiming it had accomplished its objective.
Israel has held Hamas responsible for continuing rocket fire and generally has retaliated for each attack. However, the targeted retaliation has not changed the tactics of Hamas, which simultaneously is negotiating with Israel through Egyptian mediators for another declared truce.
Knesset Member Yuval Steinitz (Likud), former chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, has charged that "tit-for-tat" responses by the IDF are equivalent "to punching holes in the sand." The Likud had called for the IDF to remain in Gaza and continue to attack Hamas in order to topple the Hamas terrorist organization's grip on the area.
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by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Terrorists from Hamas-controlled Gaza attacked the Negev twice Monday morning with Kassam rockets, sparking a fire and sending residents back into shelters. A rocket also struck southern Israel late Sunday night. No one was injured in the latest round of attacks that have returned western Negev residents to an eight-year-old routine of panic and trauma.
One rocket Monday morning exploded in the Sdot Negev area, setting fire to a field of cactuses. The same area was targeted shortly before midnight with a Kassam. The other morning missile attack was on the Sha'ar Negev region, adjacent to Sderot, causing no injuries or damage.
Operation 'Cast Lead', launched at the end of December, was aimed at destroying the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza and stopping rocket attacks. The Olmert administration ordered the IDF to end the war against terror after three weeks, claiming it had accomplished its objective.
Israel has held Hamas responsible for continuing rocket fire and generally has retaliated for each attack. However, the targeted retaliation has not changed the tactics of Hamas, which simultaneously is negotiating with Israel through Egyptian mediators for another declared truce.
Knesset Member Yuval Steinitz (Likud), former chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, has charged that "tit-for-tat" responses by the IDF are equivalent "to punching holes in the sand." The Likud had called for the IDF to remain in Gaza and continue to attack Hamas in order to topple the Hamas terrorist organization's grip on the area.
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2. Saar: Gov't Will be Nationalist
by Hillel Fendel
MK Gideon Saar, #2 in the Likud and a leading candidate for a top ministerial post if and when Binyamin Netanyahu forms the upcoming government, has issued yet another reassurance to the religious and Zionist parties: “The new government will be based on our natural partners in the nationalist camp.”
“What is this we hear about a nationalist-bypass route,” asked Shimon Cohen of Arutz-7, “wherein the Likud, Kadima and Labor form a unity government of the large parties, thus obviating the need to take the religious parties?”
“There is no such animal,” Saar said. “It is just a spin by Kadima to drive a wedge between the Likud and our natural partners on the right. The voters have voted nationalist, and we have said many times that the new government will be built along these lines, and will not be a unity government that leans to the left.”
“There has also been talk,” Cohen then asked, “that possibly Ehud Barak and some others from the Labor party would join the new government – what can you tell us about that?”
Saar hesitated, and then said, “At this point, we’re not dealing with such a thing. We have not hidden our opinion that Israel needs as broad a government as possible, but it has to be clear which path has won the elections and which one has lost. The voters rejected the path of the outgoing government that brought rockets to many places in Israel, exactly as we warned, and therefore we have to take a different path, and that’s what we will do.”
Cohen: “So why, if there are 65 MKs on the right, compared with 54 others – since the 11 MKs of the Arab parties won’t join any government – then why is the Likud so zealously trying to bring another party into the government?”
Saar: “There is no zeal, there is just a desire to do so, given the heavy challenges that face us…”
Cohen: “There is a serious question about Netanyahu working with the new US administration under Obama. It’s clear that Obama is not as hawkish as the Bush government. What can you answer?”
Saar: “Netanyahu and nationalist governments have worked well with Clinton and with Democratic administrations in the past, and the same will happen this time. A Netanyahu-headed government will be able to maintain both our special relationship with the U.S. and Israel’s vital interests. There have been many incidents in the past in which we and the U.S. had differences of opinion. For instance, even Ronald Reagan, our very good friend, objected when we struck the nuclear reactor in Iraq in the 1980s – yet our friendship was maintained.”
A-7: “Back on the issue of forming a coalition government: How do you think the issues dividing Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu – specifically, the latter’s demand for civil marriage – can be resolved?”
Saar: “I think it can be resolved, because once we define the problem as those who cannot be married according to Jewish Law, there is no reason not to find a solution in the form of civil marriage for that sector and not for the entire population. I also think that the parties involved – Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas and United Torah Judaism – also have an interest in solving this problem so that the coalition can get off the ground.”
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by Hillel Fendel
MK Gideon Saar, #2 in the Likud and a leading candidate for a top ministerial post if and when Binyamin Netanyahu forms the upcoming government, has issued yet another reassurance to the religious and Zionist parties: “The new government will be based on our natural partners in the nationalist camp.”
“What is this we hear about a nationalist-bypass route,” asked Shimon Cohen of Arutz-7, “wherein the Likud, Kadima and Labor form a unity government of the large parties, thus obviating the need to take the religious parties?”
“There is no such animal,” Saar said. “It is just a spin by Kadima to drive a wedge between the Likud and our natural partners on the right. The voters have voted nationalist, and we have said many times that the new government will be built along these lines, and will not be a unity government that leans to the left.”
“There has also been talk,” Cohen then asked, “that possibly Ehud Barak and some others from the Labor party would join the new government – what can you tell us about that?”
Saar hesitated, and then said, “At this point, we’re not dealing with such a thing. We have not hidden our opinion that Israel needs as broad a government as possible, but it has to be clear which path has won the elections and which one has lost. The voters rejected the path of the outgoing government that brought rockets to many places in Israel, exactly as we warned, and therefore we have to take a different path, and that’s what we will do.”
Cohen: “So why, if there are 65 MKs on the right, compared with 54 others – since the 11 MKs of the Arab parties won’t join any government – then why is the Likud so zealously trying to bring another party into the government?”
Saar: “There is no zeal, there is just a desire to do so, given the heavy challenges that face us…”
Cohen: “There is a serious question about Netanyahu working with the new US administration under Obama. It’s clear that Obama is not as hawkish as the Bush government. What can you answer?”
Saar: “Netanyahu and nationalist governments have worked well with Clinton and with Democratic administrations in the past, and the same will happen this time. A Netanyahu-headed government will be able to maintain both our special relationship with the U.S. and Israel’s vital interests. There have been many incidents in the past in which we and the U.S. had differences of opinion. For instance, even Ronald Reagan, our very good friend, objected when we struck the nuclear reactor in Iraq in the 1980s – yet our friendship was maintained.”
A-7: “Back on the issue of forming a coalition government: How do you think the issues dividing Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu – specifically, the latter’s demand for civil marriage – can be resolved?”
Saar: “I think it can be resolved, because once we define the problem as those who cannot be married according to Jewish Law, there is no reason not to find a solution in the form of civil marriage for that sector and not for the entire population. I also think that the parties involved – Yisrael Beiteinu, Shas and United Torah Judaism – also have an interest in solving this problem so that the coalition can get off the ground.”
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3. Hamas Puppet Bear Declares War
by Gil Ronen
After having three puppet hosts -- Farfur the Mickey Mouse look-alike, Nahoul the bee and Assoud the rabbit -- all die on TV, Hamas children's television has introduced a fourth puppet host. The new one, a bear named Nassur, appeared Friday on Hamas TV promising to be a Jihad fighter, and declaring war on the Zionists.
Below is the full transcript of the video (by Palestinian Media Watch):
Nassur: "I will join the ranks of the Izz A-Din Al-Qassam [Hamas Brigades. I will be a Jihad fighter with them and I will carry a rifle. Do you know why, Saraa?"
Saraa: "Why?"
Nassur: "To defend the children of Palestine, the children who were killed, the children who were wounded, the orphaned children. That's why, from this moment, I declare war on the criminal Zionists. Not only me, me and you. You are ready, right, Saraa?"
Saraa: "We are all ready to sacrifice ourselves for our homeland!"
[Al-Aqsa TV, Feb. 13,
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by Gil Ronen
After having three puppet hosts -- Farfur the Mickey Mouse look-alike, Nahoul the bee and Assoud the rabbit -- all die on TV, Hamas children's television has introduced a fourth puppet host. The new one, a bear named Nassur, appeared Friday on Hamas TV promising to be a Jihad fighter, and declaring war on the Zionists.
Below is the full transcript of the video (by Palestinian Media Watch):
Nassur: "I will join the ranks of the Izz A-Din Al-Qassam [Hamas Brigades. I will be a Jihad fighter with them and I will carry a rifle. Do you know why, Saraa?"
Saraa: "Why?"
Nassur: "To defend the children of Palestine, the children who were killed, the children who were wounded, the orphaned children. That's why, from this moment, I declare war on the criminal Zionists. Not only me, me and you. You are ready, right, Saraa?"
Saraa: "We are all ready to sacrifice ourselves for our homeland!"
[Al-Aqsa TV, Feb. 13,
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4. European Anti-Semitism Spiking
by Hana Levi Julian
Anti-Semitic violence is skyrocketing in Western European countries, particularly in Britain and France, according to national Jewish organizations.
The London-based Community Security Trust reported Friday that after Israel's counterterrorist Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, the incidence rose to more than six times the number of attacks that were carried out in the same period just a year earlier.
The organization, which tracks anti-Semitic incidents and tries to maintain security for the Jewish community in Britain, released the report in advance of an international conference focusing on how to deal with anti-Semitism, slated to be held Monday in London.
According to the report, in the four weeks following the start of the operation on December 27 there were 250 attacks, as opposed to 40 recorded for the same period in 2007-2008.
Among the incidents were physical assaults, verbal attacks, Jewish property damaged, threats, hate mail and anti-Semitic graffiti.
London police confirmed a rise in anti-Semitism, and said that in the period from December 27 to February 3, they recorded three times as many incidents as were reported a year earlier. Some of the increase, they said, came due to a change in record-keeping methods; however, they note that the data speaks for itself.
French Jews Afraid to Walk the Streets
Friday also marked the three-year anniversary since the murder of 23-year-old Ilan Halimi, a Parisian Jew who died in France after being kidnapped and brutally tortured by an anti-Semitic gang.
Since Halimi's death, things have only gotten worse, according to Serge Benhaim, president of a Jewish community in the French capital.
"Almost every day we witness severe racially motivated incidents, and tension has only intensified after the operation in Gaza," Benhaim told journalists. "We don't take the train after 7:00 p.m., we wear a skullcap only under a hat and our youths don't wander the streets late at night anymore," he added.
The suspects in Halimi's murder are expected to go on trial next month, and the Jewish community has already been warned to keep a low profile, according to Benhaim, who said Jews in Paris are "preparing for the worst. Unfortunately, Halimi's murder probably won't be the last," he said.
More than 100 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in France during the period between December 27, when Operation Cast Lead began, and the end of January 2009, according to the country's Representative Council of Jewish Institutions. That was compared to a total of 250 anti-Semitic incidents recorded during the entire 12-month period from January to December 2007.
Organization president Richard Prasquier told journalists last month that he and several other Jewish community leaders met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy to ask for his intervention. "He told us that he would do more to find a solution to this problem," Prasquier said.
Meanwhile, six weeks ago Michael Benhamou became the next victim of French anti-Semitic brutality when he was attacked by three "Arab-looking men" on the Parisian metro while on his way home. The attackers cursed him, threatened to kill him and then beat him up. Benhamou was hospitalized for four days with multiple facial fractures, including a broken nose.
His attackers disappeared, and no arrests have been made. "We can't count on the police," said the young victim. "Nothing has changed here since Ilan's murder. There is no place for Jews in France; we can't keep living here with these acts of barbarism. I already told my girlfriend that we are going to make aliyah. There's nothing left for us here; I want my child to be a sabra."
Related article: A German-American Who Stood Up - How to Deal with Anti-Semitism
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by Hana Levi Julian
Anti-Semitic violence is skyrocketing in Western European countries, particularly in Britain and France, according to national Jewish organizations.
The London-based Community Security Trust reported Friday that after Israel's counterterrorist Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, the incidence rose to more than six times the number of attacks that were carried out in the same period just a year earlier.
The organization, which tracks anti-Semitic incidents and tries to maintain security for the Jewish community in Britain, released the report in advance of an international conference focusing on how to deal with anti-Semitism, slated to be held Monday in London.
According to the report, in the four weeks following the start of the operation on December 27 there were 250 attacks, as opposed to 40 recorded for the same period in 2007-2008.
Among the incidents were physical assaults, verbal attacks, Jewish property damaged, threats, hate mail and anti-Semitic graffiti.
London police confirmed a rise in anti-Semitism, and said that in the period from December 27 to February 3, they recorded three times as many incidents as were reported a year earlier. Some of the increase, they said, came due to a change in record-keeping methods; however, they note that the data speaks for itself.
French Jews Afraid to Walk the Streets
Friday also marked the three-year anniversary since the murder of 23-year-old Ilan Halimi, a Parisian Jew who died in France after being kidnapped and brutally tortured by an anti-Semitic gang.
Since Halimi's death, things have only gotten worse, according to Serge Benhaim, president of a Jewish community in the French capital.
"Almost every day we witness severe racially motivated incidents, and tension has only intensified after the operation in Gaza," Benhaim told journalists. "We don't take the train after 7:00 p.m., we wear a skullcap only under a hat and our youths don't wander the streets late at night anymore," he added.
The suspects in Halimi's murder are expected to go on trial next month, and the Jewish community has already been warned to keep a low profile, according to Benhaim, who said Jews in Paris are "preparing for the worst. Unfortunately, Halimi's murder probably won't be the last," he said.
More than 100 anti-Semitic incidents were recorded in France during the period between December 27, when Operation Cast Lead began, and the end of January 2009, according to the country's Representative Council of Jewish Institutions. That was compared to a total of 250 anti-Semitic incidents recorded during the entire 12-month period from January to December 2007.
Organization president Richard Prasquier told journalists last month that he and several other Jewish community leaders met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy to ask for his intervention. "He told us that he would do more to find a solution to this problem," Prasquier said.
Meanwhile, six weeks ago Michael Benhamou became the next victim of French anti-Semitic brutality when he was attacked by three "Arab-looking men" on the Parisian metro while on his way home. The attackers cursed him, threatened to kill him and then beat him up. Benhamou was hospitalized for four days with multiple facial fractures, including a broken nose.
His attackers disappeared, and no arrests have been made. "We can't count on the police," said the young victim. "Nothing has changed here since Ilan's murder. There is no place for Jews in France; we can't keep living here with these acts of barbarism. I already told my girlfriend that we are going to make aliyah. There's nothing left for us here; I want my child to be a sabra."
Related article: A German-American Who Stood Up - How to Deal with Anti-Semitism
Comment on this story
5. Murderer Barghouti for Shalit?
by Hana Levi Julian
The Cabinet went on silent mode Sunday, issuing no statement in its post-meeting communiqué regarding reports of a deal for freeing kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit and the Egyptian proposal for a truce with Hamas.
Prior to the meeting, a handful of Shas and Kadima ministers made a point of publicizing their views that the government must “pay the price” and swap high-level terrorists for the return of the soldier, kidnapped by Hamas nearly 1,000 days ago.
On Saturday night, however, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert took a harder line, insisting that the Gaza crossings would not reopen until the Hamas terrorist organization returned the abducted soldier.
Both Olmert and Public Security Minister Avi Dichter have been careful in their statements to the media to avoid saying whether they are now willing to trade the top four terrorists demanded by Hamas in exchange for the young Israeli soldier.
In the past, Israel has refused to include these specific terrorists due to the enormity of their crimes.
Among them, and number one on the list demanded by Hamas, is Tanzim terror leader Marwan Barghouti.
Who is Marwan Barghouti?
Marwan Bin Khatib Barghouti, 49, became a political icon on the Palestinian Authority street during the first and second intifadas.
The leader of the al-Mustaqbal faction which split from Fatah, Barghouti enjoys wide popularity among PA Arabs.
From his jail cell in an Israeli prison, he ran in the 2004 PA presidential elections after the death of Yasser Arafat, having been registered as an independent candidate by his wife. At the last minute, however, he was persuaded by Fatah officials to abandon his campaign and support Mahmoud Abbas in the interests of unity.
He has remained in prison, serving five life terms for his conviction on five counts of murder, as well as a sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment for attempted murder.
Lifelong History of Terror
Born in Ramallah, he began his career as a terrorist while still in his teens, joining Fatah at the age of 15 and by the time he was 18 years old, he had already been arrested by Israel for involvement in terrorist activities.
Eleven years later, in 1987, he became one of the top leaders of the first intifada, resulting in another arrest by Israel and deportation to Jordan.
Despite his almost life-long history of terrorism, Barghouti was allowed to return to Israel seven years later, in 1994, as a result of the Oslo Accords. Within two years, he was elected as a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), also serving as secretary-general of Fatah in Judea and Samaria.
At the advent of the second intifada, Barghouti became head of the Tanzim, the armed branch of Fatah that often clashed with the IDF. He was placed on Israel’s “most wanted “list in 2001 and was finally arrested in 2002.
He was convicted in a civil court on five counts of murder, on May 20, 2004, although he managed to be acquitted on 21 counts of murder that stemmed from 33 other attacks.
Among along list of attacks he orchestrated are:
The June, 2001 murder of a Greek Orthodox monk on the road to Ma'aleh Adumim;
A January 2002 shooting attack during a bat mitzva celebration at a banquet hall in Hadera, where six Israelis were killed and 26 were injured;
A shooting spree in the same month on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem, killing two Israelis and wounding 37;
The February 2002 shooting attack in the Jerusalem residential neighborhood of Neve Yaakov, murdering a policewoman;
The March 2002 shooting spree at the Tel Aviv Seafood restaurant, in which three Israelis were killed and 31 others wounded.
Later that month, Israeli security and military personnel intercepted an ambulance confiscated an explosive belt which was being smuggled from Samaria into Barghouti's terrorist infrastructure in Ramallah.
In an interview with the Arabic language Al Hayat newspaper in 2001, he boasted that he was responsible for launching the second intifada, also known as the Oslo War, in which terrorists have murdered more than 1,000 Israelis and bombed and shelled Israel with more than 10,000 rockets and mortar.
Barghouti was sentenced on June 6, 2004 to five sentences of life in prison for the five counts of murder , in addition to 40 years’ imprisonment for attempted murder.
PA Politician from Prison
Barghouti earned a name for himself among the “common man” as a warrior against corruption in the PA government, specifically in the Fatah faction and in the administration of Yasser Arafat. He spoke out often against human rights violations perpetrated by Arafat’s security force.
Unlike many other terrorist leaders, Barghouti also made a point in his public speeches of clarifying that he opposed terror attacks on civilians “inside Israel, our future neighbor.” However, he said, he reserved the right to “resist the Israeli occupation of my country and to fight for my freedom.” He did not defend himself in court, insisting the entire proceeding was illegal.
Barghouti has continued to be active in PA politics, albeit from an Israeli jail cell. He formed a new political party in December 2005 (al-Mustaqbal, “The Future”), comprised of Fatah members who were dissatisfied with the “old guard” corruption. Among the members were rising young "stars" such as Mohammed Dahlan, Kadoura Fares and Jibril Rajoub.
However, when it became apparent that his legislative seat would be jeopardized, he reversed his position and instead ran as a Fatah candidate in the January 2006, easily retaining his seat as a lawmaker.
Barghouti was also involved in putting together a unity document designed to bring together the diverse factions of the PA terror groups, called the National Conciliation Document of the Prisoners.
The document was signed by convicted terrorists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) terrorist organizations. Initiated by Barghouti, the document was intended to form the basis for a PA unity government to be established in the PLC.
The controversial piece of text in the document was the sentence implicitly recognizing Israel by calling for negotiations with the State of Israel in order to achieve lasting peace.
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by Hana Levi Julian
The Cabinet went on silent mode Sunday, issuing no statement in its post-meeting communiqué regarding reports of a deal for freeing kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit and the Egyptian proposal for a truce with Hamas.
Prior to the meeting, a handful of Shas and Kadima ministers made a point of publicizing their views that the government must “pay the price” and swap high-level terrorists for the return of the soldier, kidnapped by Hamas nearly 1,000 days ago.
On Saturday night, however, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert took a harder line, insisting that the Gaza crossings would not reopen until the Hamas terrorist organization returned the abducted soldier.
Both Olmert and Public Security Minister Avi Dichter have been careful in their statements to the media to avoid saying whether they are now willing to trade the top four terrorists demanded by Hamas in exchange for the young Israeli soldier.
In the past, Israel has refused to include these specific terrorists due to the enormity of their crimes.
Among them, and number one on the list demanded by Hamas, is Tanzim terror leader Marwan Barghouti.
Who is Marwan Barghouti?
Marwan Bin Khatib Barghouti, 49, became a political icon on the Palestinian Authority street during the first and second intifadas.
The leader of the al-Mustaqbal faction which split from Fatah, Barghouti enjoys wide popularity among PA Arabs.
From his jail cell in an Israeli prison, he ran in the 2004 PA presidential elections after the death of Yasser Arafat, having been registered as an independent candidate by his wife. At the last minute, however, he was persuaded by Fatah officials to abandon his campaign and support Mahmoud Abbas in the interests of unity.
He has remained in prison, serving five life terms for his conviction on five counts of murder, as well as a sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment for attempted murder.
Lifelong History of Terror
Born in Ramallah, he began his career as a terrorist while still in his teens, joining Fatah at the age of 15 and by the time he was 18 years old, he had already been arrested by Israel for involvement in terrorist activities.
Eleven years later, in 1987, he became one of the top leaders of the first intifada, resulting in another arrest by Israel and deportation to Jordan.
Despite his almost life-long history of terrorism, Barghouti was allowed to return to Israel seven years later, in 1994, as a result of the Oslo Accords. Within two years, he was elected as a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), also serving as secretary-general of Fatah in Judea and Samaria.
At the advent of the second intifada, Barghouti became head of the Tanzim, the armed branch of Fatah that often clashed with the IDF. He was placed on Israel’s “most wanted “list in 2001 and was finally arrested in 2002.
He was convicted in a civil court on five counts of murder, on May 20, 2004, although he managed to be acquitted on 21 counts of murder that stemmed from 33 other attacks.
Among along list of attacks he orchestrated are:
The June, 2001 murder of a Greek Orthodox monk on the road to Ma'aleh Adumim;
A January 2002 shooting attack during a bat mitzva celebration at a banquet hall in Hadera, where six Israelis were killed and 26 were injured;
A shooting spree in the same month on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem, killing two Israelis and wounding 37;
The February 2002 shooting attack in the Jerusalem residential neighborhood of Neve Yaakov, murdering a policewoman;
The March 2002 shooting spree at the Tel Aviv Seafood restaurant, in which three Israelis were killed and 31 others wounded.
Later that month, Israeli security and military personnel intercepted an ambulance confiscated an explosive belt which was being smuggled from Samaria into Barghouti's terrorist infrastructure in Ramallah.
In an interview with the Arabic language Al Hayat newspaper in 2001, he boasted that he was responsible for launching the second intifada, also known as the Oslo War, in which terrorists have murdered more than 1,000 Israelis and bombed and shelled Israel with more than 10,000 rockets and mortar.
Barghouti was sentenced on June 6, 2004 to five sentences of life in prison for the five counts of murder , in addition to 40 years’ imprisonment for attempted murder.
PA Politician from Prison
Barghouti earned a name for himself among the “common man” as a warrior against corruption in the PA government, specifically in the Fatah faction and in the administration of Yasser Arafat. He spoke out often against human rights violations perpetrated by Arafat’s security force.
Unlike many other terrorist leaders, Barghouti also made a point in his public speeches of clarifying that he opposed terror attacks on civilians “inside Israel, our future neighbor.” However, he said, he reserved the right to “resist the Israeli occupation of my country and to fight for my freedom.” He did not defend himself in court, insisting the entire proceeding was illegal.
Barghouti has continued to be active in PA politics, albeit from an Israeli jail cell. He formed a new political party in December 2005 (al-Mustaqbal, “The Future”), comprised of Fatah members who were dissatisfied with the “old guard” corruption. Among the members were rising young "stars" such as Mohammed Dahlan, Kadoura Fares and Jibril Rajoub.
However, when it became apparent that his legislative seat would be jeopardized, he reversed his position and instead ran as a Fatah candidate in the January 2006, easily retaining his seat as a lawmaker.
Barghouti was also involved in putting together a unity document designed to bring together the diverse factions of the PA terror groups, called the National Conciliation Document of the Prisoners.
The document was signed by convicted terrorists from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) terrorist organizations. Initiated by Barghouti, the document was intended to form the basis for a PA unity government to be established in the PLC.
The controversial piece of text in the document was the sentence implicitly recognizing Israel by calling for negotiations with the State of Israel in order to achieve lasting peace.
Comment on this story
6. Kids Surf, Parents Ignore
by Hillel Fendel
An Education Ministry survey of 16,700 pupils shows that 2/3 of them have no parental supervision over their internet surfing habits. Educators both in and out of the Ministry intensify their push for “Family Internet Control.”
Students in the 5th, 8th, and 11th grades in 234 schools around the country filled out the questionnaires, in a survey overseen by Dorit Behar, the Education Ministry’s national supervisor of information science and internet ethics. It found that nearly 3/4 of the youth say they prefer to spend their free time surfing the net, and that in fact half the students - 45% - spend 6-12 hours a week doing so; 20% spend even more than that.
Particularly disturbing to Behar is the fact that 67% of parents allow their children to surf their net with no time restrictions, and more than half of them do not supervise their children’s internet habits. “It is of utmost importance,” Behar said, “that parents cooperate in supervising their children. It is incumbent upon them to know that the internet is a genuine arena of events for their children. They may close the doors of their home to the dangers outside, but parents must know that the internet opens other doors to the [dangers of t entire world, with all that that entails.”
Yona Pressburger, a producer of children’s movies and media documentation, and his wife Aliza, of Mitzpeh Yericho, lecture widely on the dangers of internet dangers. They say that filters such as Rimon and Moreshet are important - “Internet in the home without a filter is a crime!” says Yona – but not enough.
“What we need is not only filtering and awareness,” Aliza says, “but a full-scale war against the culture of the internet. Yes, many people need it for work, or to do banking and the like, but do they realize that their children are using it for totally different purposes?”
A recent article in Britain's The Guardian quotes government-report author and psychologist Tanya Byron as warning of a "digital divide" developing within families as children mastered the internet and video games while their parents and grandparents often had little clue about the material they were looking at.
53-62% - Parents Show No Interest
The survey found that 53% of the parents do not show interest in their children’s surfing habits, and that 62% do not discuss what they find on the internet with their parents. This, together with the fact that 78% of the homes do not have internet filters, paints a dangerous picture for children in Israel.
Two-thirds of the children say they use the internet, among other things, for chatting, instant messaging, forums and email. Just over 70% say they do not use their real names and are aware that the internet is “not a safe place to find new friends.” However, the Education Ministry report authors write, “it is known that even when nicknames are chosen, they are liable to be ones that invite danger.”
One-seventh of the young surfers say they enter sites that are designed for adults only.
The Education Ministry runs many programs throughout the school year, including lectures from soldiers of the IDF’s C4I (Command, Control, Computers, Communications and Information) Corps, workshops for teachers, activity kits for safe surfing, and more.
The survey results were released in honor of National Safe Internet Day, this Tuesday, Feb. 17. This entire week will feature many Education Ministry activities promoting safe internet surfing. Parents and students alike will be targeted for increased awareness of the internet’s dangers and how to deal with them.
Yona Pressburger, having just completed one of “hundreds of lectures that I’ve given on this topic,” told IsraelNationalNews.com on Sunday some of the many stories of internet damage he has heard or encountered: “For instance,” he said, “we recently heard from an 11-year-old girl about an internet game she had been playing, involving the killing off of nursing home residents in order to make room for new ones… We immediately contacted the site, as well as the police and the Council for Children’s Welfare, and the game was removed. Parents have to be very aware in order to be able to fight this type of phenomena.”
Yona has established a non-profit association called Netivei Reshet [Paths of the Interne. “The goal is to promote better internet awareness, provide aid and counsel to youth and adults who have been harmed by internet addiction or violent, sexual or other negative content, and serve as a lobby to fight against negative content,” he explained.
Parents: "They're Old Generation, They Don't Get It"
Explaining why parents tend to be permissive in terms of internet, Pressburger said, “Parents usually belong to the old generation, and really don’t understand the full depth of the internet. When they surf, they generally look for a particular kind of information on the internet, while children often have more curiosity and find other things. The parents often simply don’t grasp how perfectly easy it is for a simple search to end up on a site that they would never want their children to visit…”
“Not that I am minimizing the problems that adults can have,” he said. “Many young couples come to us with internet issues, such as young husbands who continue their habits from before. There are spouses who meet someone else over the net, internet addiction, etc…”
“We don’t advocate getting rid of internet access from the house – internet is here, it’s the way the world works - but rather to simply have it under control. We must learn how to relate to it, how to use it, and how to restrict it. There are strategies: The computer must be used only at certain times, in open areas of the house, and with a purpose determined in advance. We must sit down with our children at the computer - not as policemen, but as partners in this struggle against bad things. We have to talk with them openly about which sites they visit, how they generally surf, if they have ever seen things or entered sites that affected them badly, who they may have chatted with, etc.
“Just now, a mother called me about her daughter who has fallen in love with her chat partner – someone she [the daughte has never met! Of course it is likely that there were problems before – but now she’s in trouble. And what about the girl who liked music and ended up on a religious Jewish site that turned out to be a missionary site – and without even realizing it, because of their influence, she began putting missionary themes in her music… In short, we must take control of the internet, not the other way around!”
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by Hillel Fendel
An Education Ministry survey of 16,700 pupils shows that 2/3 of them have no parental supervision over their internet surfing habits. Educators both in and out of the Ministry intensify their push for “Family Internet Control.”
Students in the 5th, 8th, and 11th grades in 234 schools around the country filled out the questionnaires, in a survey overseen by Dorit Behar, the Education Ministry’s national supervisor of information science and internet ethics. It found that nearly 3/4 of the youth say they prefer to spend their free time surfing the net, and that in fact half the students - 45% - spend 6-12 hours a week doing so; 20% spend even more than that.
Particularly disturbing to Behar is the fact that 67% of parents allow their children to surf their net with no time restrictions, and more than half of them do not supervise their children’s internet habits. “It is of utmost importance,” Behar said, “that parents cooperate in supervising their children. It is incumbent upon them to know that the internet is a genuine arena of events for their children. They may close the doors of their home to the dangers outside, but parents must know that the internet opens other doors to the [dangers of t entire world, with all that that entails.”
Yona Pressburger, a producer of children’s movies and media documentation, and his wife Aliza, of Mitzpeh Yericho, lecture widely on the dangers of internet dangers. They say that filters such as Rimon and Moreshet are important - “Internet in the home without a filter is a crime!” says Yona – but not enough.
“What we need is not only filtering and awareness,” Aliza says, “but a full-scale war against the culture of the internet. Yes, many people need it for work, or to do banking and the like, but do they realize that their children are using it for totally different purposes?”
A recent article in Britain's The Guardian quotes government-report author and psychologist Tanya Byron as warning of a "digital divide" developing within families as children mastered the internet and video games while their parents and grandparents often had little clue about the material they were looking at.
53-62% - Parents Show No Interest
The survey found that 53% of the parents do not show interest in their children’s surfing habits, and that 62% do not discuss what they find on the internet with their parents. This, together with the fact that 78% of the homes do not have internet filters, paints a dangerous picture for children in Israel.
Two-thirds of the children say they use the internet, among other things, for chatting, instant messaging, forums and email. Just over 70% say they do not use their real names and are aware that the internet is “not a safe place to find new friends.” However, the Education Ministry report authors write, “it is known that even when nicknames are chosen, they are liable to be ones that invite danger.”
One-seventh of the young surfers say they enter sites that are designed for adults only.
The Education Ministry runs many programs throughout the school year, including lectures from soldiers of the IDF’s C4I (Command, Control, Computers, Communications and Information) Corps, workshops for teachers, activity kits for safe surfing, and more.
The survey results were released in honor of National Safe Internet Day, this Tuesday, Feb. 17. This entire week will feature many Education Ministry activities promoting safe internet surfing. Parents and students alike will be targeted for increased awareness of the internet’s dangers and how to deal with them.
Yona Pressburger, having just completed one of “hundreds of lectures that I’ve given on this topic,” told IsraelNationalNews.com on Sunday some of the many stories of internet damage he has heard or encountered: “For instance,” he said, “we recently heard from an 11-year-old girl about an internet game she had been playing, involving the killing off of nursing home residents in order to make room for new ones… We immediately contacted the site, as well as the police and the Council for Children’s Welfare, and the game was removed. Parents have to be very aware in order to be able to fight this type of phenomena.”
Yona has established a non-profit association called Netivei Reshet [Paths of the Interne. “The goal is to promote better internet awareness, provide aid and counsel to youth and adults who have been harmed by internet addiction or violent, sexual or other negative content, and serve as a lobby to fight against negative content,” he explained.
Parents: "They're Old Generation, They Don't Get It"
Explaining why parents tend to be permissive in terms of internet, Pressburger said, “Parents usually belong to the old generation, and really don’t understand the full depth of the internet. When they surf, they generally look for a particular kind of information on the internet, while children often have more curiosity and find other things. The parents often simply don’t grasp how perfectly easy it is for a simple search to end up on a site that they would never want their children to visit…”
“Not that I am minimizing the problems that adults can have,” he said. “Many young couples come to us with internet issues, such as young husbands who continue their habits from before. There are spouses who meet someone else over the net, internet addiction, etc…”
“We don’t advocate getting rid of internet access from the house – internet is here, it’s the way the world works - but rather to simply have it under control. We must learn how to relate to it, how to use it, and how to restrict it. There are strategies: The computer must be used only at certain times, in open areas of the house, and with a purpose determined in advance. We must sit down with our children at the computer - not as policemen, but as partners in this struggle against bad things. We have to talk with them openly about which sites they visit, how they generally surf, if they have ever seen things or entered sites that affected them badly, who they may have chatted with, etc.
“Just now, a mother called me about her daughter who has fallen in love with her chat partner – someone she [the daughte has never met! Of course it is likely that there were problems before – but now she’s in trouble. And what about the girl who liked music and ended up on a religious Jewish site that turned out to be a missionary site – and without even realizing it, because of their influence, she began putting missionary themes in her music… In short, we must take control of the internet, not the other way around!”
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7. Shabak:Hamas Smuggling Continues
by Hillel Fendel
Yuval Diskin, head of the General Security Service (GSS), says that while Israeli-Egyptian-Hamas negotiations over an extended ceasefire drag on, Hamas is rebuilding and using its arms-smuggling tunnels. He spoke at the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday morning.
“We see that Hamas is making efforts to rebuild the tunnels,” Diskin said, referring to the many that were destroyed in the recent Cast Lead offensive waged by the IDF against Hamas terrorism. “Since the ceasefire went into effect [nearly a month a, we have identified several incidents of smuggling of war materials.”
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter (Kadima) said, “The weapons smuggling has remained the Achilles’ heel of the situation in Gaza. We must fight this smuggling the same way we fight rocket attacks from Gaza.”
Disagreement on Egypt
Dichter, who preceded Diskin as head of the GSS, disagreed with him on Egypt’s role in the situation. Diskin said the Egyptians are “acting in a manner that indicates a war against the smuggling,” though he admitted that they are relatively slow. Dichter, for his part, said that the Egyptian activity is “too slow,” and that the Israeli government must "therefore give the appropriate instructions to the IDF.”
“We need not wait for rockets to be fired at Yavneh,” Dichter said, referring to a long-range rocket that was fired from Gaza over the weekend towards Gan Yavneh, not far from Ashdod. No one was hurt in that attack.
Egypt’s role – or lack of it - in stopping arms smuggling into Gaza has long been cited by some Israeli government officials as an important part in the buildup by Hamas of its weapons and arms arsenals.
Israel Bombs Six Tunnels
Late Friday afternoon, the IDF announced that the Israel Air Force had bombed six arms-smuggling tunnels under the Philadelphi Route between Gaza and Egypt. Secondary explosions were noted in several of the tunnels, indicating the presence of explosives.
Hundreds of tunnels were destroyed by Israel during the recent offensive, but it was estimated that approximately 100 still remained.
On Jan. 18, the day the offensive ended, Diskin predicted at a Cabinet meeting that despite the serious impairment of Hamas's smuggling abilities, Hamas would be able to rebuild the tunnels within a few months' time.
Comment on this story
by Hillel Fendel
Yuval Diskin, head of the General Security Service (GSS), says that while Israeli-Egyptian-Hamas negotiations over an extended ceasefire drag on, Hamas is rebuilding and using its arms-smuggling tunnels. He spoke at the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday morning.
“We see that Hamas is making efforts to rebuild the tunnels,” Diskin said, referring to the many that were destroyed in the recent Cast Lead offensive waged by the IDF against Hamas terrorism. “Since the ceasefire went into effect [nearly a month a, we have identified several incidents of smuggling of war materials.”
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter (Kadima) said, “The weapons smuggling has remained the Achilles’ heel of the situation in Gaza. We must fight this smuggling the same way we fight rocket attacks from Gaza.”
Disagreement on Egypt
Dichter, who preceded Diskin as head of the GSS, disagreed with him on Egypt’s role in the situation. Diskin said the Egyptians are “acting in a manner that indicates a war against the smuggling,” though he admitted that they are relatively slow. Dichter, for his part, said that the Egyptian activity is “too slow,” and that the Israeli government must "therefore give the appropriate instructions to the IDF.”
“We need not wait for rockets to be fired at Yavneh,” Dichter said, referring to a long-range rocket that was fired from Gaza over the weekend towards Gan Yavneh, not far from Ashdod. No one was hurt in that attack.
Egypt’s role – or lack of it - in stopping arms smuggling into Gaza has long been cited by some Israeli government officials as an important part in the buildup by Hamas of its weapons and arms arsenals.
Israel Bombs Six Tunnels
Late Friday afternoon, the IDF announced that the Israel Air Force had bombed six arms-smuggling tunnels under the Philadelphi Route between Gaza and Egypt. Secondary explosions were noted in several of the tunnels, indicating the presence of explosives.
Hundreds of tunnels were destroyed by Israel during the recent offensive, but it was estimated that approximately 100 still remained.
On Jan. 18, the day the offensive ended, Diskin predicted at a Cabinet meeting that despite the serious impairment of Hamas's smuggling abilities, Hamas would be able to rebuild the tunnels within a few months' time.
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