tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41582979673432522142024-03-05T08:28:24.228-08:00Matthew Kalman, Jerusalem CorrespondentMatthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.comBlogger802125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-77535150928341185682017-06-16T07:22:00.002-07:002017-06-16T07:22:50.942-07:00Live interview with Israel Defence Minister Avigdor Liberman<h4>
Iran is to blame for the ongoing tragedy in Syria, defense minister says</h4>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">Liberman at ToI event: Israel is coordinating settlement building with the US</span></h2>
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In rare English-language appearance, defense minister pins Gazan humanitarian crisis on Hamas-PA row, denies Israeli responsibility</h4>
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<span class="m_-7008132251454948274gmail-byline" style="border-right-color: rgb(52, 111, 153); border-right-style: solid; border-width: 0px 1px 0px 0px; color: #346f99; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16.5px; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">BY <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/judah-ari-gross/&source=gmail&ust=1497707114182000&usg=AFQjCNGyiQeEk7x53XFN41Leg5_ud-AQCg" href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/writers/judah-ari-gross/" style="border: 0px; color: #346f99; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank" title="Judah Ari Gross">JUDAH ARI GROSS</a></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 10px;"> </span><span class="m_-7008132251454948274gmail-date" style="border-right-color: rgb(52, 111, 153); border-right-style: solid; border-width: 0px 1px 0px 0px; color: #787878; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 16.5px; margin: 0px 5px 0px 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px 5px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">THE TIMES OF ISRAEL June 16, 2017</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Israel is coordinating its settlement construction with the White House, including the approval for building the largest number of homes in the West Bank</span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-settlement-building-at-highest-level-since-1992/&source=gmail&ust=1497707114182000&usg=AFQjCNE3cX5ma0_s3y6Ak_wT5jOWLLn-iw" href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-settlement-building-at-highest-level-since-1992/" style="border: 0px; color: #346f99; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank"> since 1992</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman told the crowd at a Times of Israel event in northern Tel Aviv on Thursday night.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-walks-back-us-support-for-two-states-but-vows-to-pursue-a-great-peace-deal/&source=gmail&ust=1497707114182000&usg=AFQjCNH4SWEVHyohTLjjNPnAmR-KBMvHtg" href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-walks-back-us-support-for-two-states-but-vows-to-pursue-a-great-peace-deal/" style="border: 0px; color: #346f99; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">“hold back on settlements”</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"> at a press conference in the White House. But this no longer seems to be the American position, Liberman indicated.</span><span style="color: #bd0d1d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
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Giving a rare English-language interview, the defense minister said that while coordination is not happening on the level of “every 10 [houses],” there is general understanding between Jerusalem and Washington about acceptable levels of construction in the West Bank.</div>
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Even if Israel were to exceed the level that the US wants, Liberman added, the Trump administration still “respects our approach and our vision for the Jewish settlements of Judea and Samaria” — the biblical name for the West Bank. That comment was an apparent reference to the practice of the Obama administration to publicly condemn all Israeli construction over the pre-1967 lines.</div>
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<li><span style="color: #bd0d1d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold;">VIDEO-1: </span><span style="color: #bd0d1d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><b><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://youtu.be/vrFetJgN5ao&source=gmail&ust=1497707114182000&usg=AFQjCNE72gANOYPCvL0hEm2DPQR0sdi9Tw" href="https://youtu.be/vrFetJgN5ao" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/<wbr></wbr>vrFetJgN5ao</a></b></span></span></li>
<li><b style="color: #bd0d1d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">VIDEO-2: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://youtu.be/8URsWJKpEDA&source=gmail&ust=1497707114182000&usg=AFQjCNGmvhmN6ZumGQunG_mTS-2DA1Podw" href="https://youtu.be/8URsWJKpEDA" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/<wbr></wbr>8URsWJKpEDA</a></b></li>
<li><b style="color: #bd0d1d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">FULL SOUND RECORDING: <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://soundcloud.com/the-times-of-israel/toi-presents-defense-minister-avigdor-liberman&source=gmail&ust=1497707114182000&usg=AFQjCNGPP3xD2nso3C9I28wuzaPo94CR0Q" href="https://soundcloud.com/the-times-of-israel/toi-presents-defense-minister-avigdor-liberman" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://soundcloud.<wbr></wbr>com/the-times-of-israel/toi-<wbr></wbr>presents-defense-minister-<wbr></wbr>avigdor-liberman</a></b></li>
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At the Thursday evening event in the northern Tel Aviv port, which was jointly organized by The Times of Israel and the Tel Aviv International Salon, Liberman discussed a wide range of topics from the Syrian civil war to his first days in Israel as a 20-year-old new immigrant from Moldova.</div>
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The issue of the growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip dominated the night’s discussion.</div>
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Liberman denied that Israel had any responsibility to ease the difficulties facing the Palestinians in the coastal enclave, who have access to just a few hours of electricity a day, saying instead that Israel should work to make the world understand that their plight is the fault of <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-hamas-using-power-crisis-to-distract-from-its-failures/&source=gmail&ust=1497707114182000&usg=AFQjCNFDnvJjd5Ync_FAwlbM95TffIwNaw" href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-hamas-using-power-crisis-to-distract-from-its-failures/" style="border: 0px; color: #346f99; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">Hamas and the Palestinian Authority</a>.</div>
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“It doesn’t make sense that Hamas collected in the past year NIS 100 million every month in taxes… but are not prepared to divert one shekel for electricity,” Liberman said.</div>
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Instead the terror group invests that money in “rockets and tunnels,” he added.</div>
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“At the end of the day, it’s not our responsibility. We evacuated completely to the 1967 lines,” he said, in a reference to the 2005 disengagement from the Strip, in which some 7,000 settlers were removed from the 21 Israelis communities in Gaza.</div>
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Liberman was asked about <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-said-to-block-cabinet-talk-of-building-island-off-gaza/&source=gmail&ust=1497707114182000&usg=AFQjCNHE9m0bBy3r3UdZZjU08rvb-gNBqA" href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-said-to-block-cabinet-talk-of-building-island-off-gaza/" style="border: 0px; color: #346f99; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">his opposition</a> to a proposal by Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz to construct an artificial island with a port off the Gaza coast in order to aid the ailing economy of the Strip.</div>
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The defense minister said that Hamas would present the port as a victory, and he repeated his belief that it would not be feasible in any case given Israel’s security requirements.</div>
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A Gaza port would “become a way of smuggling weapons and mercenaries and Iranian operatives,” Liberman said.</div>
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The defense minister decried Iran as the source of much of the world’s miseries.</div>
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“We have a real problem with Iran, but it’s not just Israel,” he said, pointing to Tehran’s efforts to “undermine” countries across the Middle East.</div>
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According to Liberman, the “nearly 600,000 killed and seven million displaced” in the Syria civil war are “only because of Iranian involvement.”</div>
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On the issue of the Syrian civil war, Liberman would not say what specific outcome Israel was hoping for, only that he was ultimately interested in ensuring that, regardless of how it ends, Israel remain safe.</div>
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Earlier this week, the defense minister said that Israel was <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-we-are-closer-than-ever-to-deal-with-palestinians/&source=gmail&ust=1497707114182000&usg=AFQjCNEwJvsmAqAlJuFQAbbaQibetAgN3w" href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-we-are-closer-than-ever-to-deal-with-palestinians/" style="border: 0px; color: #346f99; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_blank">“closer than ever” </a>to a regional agreement — not a peace deal — with Arab countries, in light of the presidency of Donald Trump and the Sunni Muslim nations coming together to fight Iran and violent extremism.</div>
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He elaborated Thursday that he doubted such an agreement would revolve around social or economic issues, but thought it would more likely be concerned with security cooperation, given the level of volatility and violence in the region.</div>
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Liberman said that Israel’s somewhat cold, but lasting agreements with Jordan and Egypt, with which Israel now has deep security ties, are “good examples” for other Arab countries about the benefits of cooperating with Israel.</div>
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However, he said dryly that he doubted the Middle East would ever become “like Scandinavia,” adding wryly that there will be regional peace “maybe when the <em style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">moshiach</em> comes,” using the Hebrew word for the messiah.</div>
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The defense minister said that he doubted a final status agreement with the Palestinians would be possible without their first being an agreement with the “moderate Arab states” in the region — the so-called “outside-in” approach.</div>
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He noted that PA President Mahmoud Abbas turned down former prime minister Ehud Olmert’s offer at a peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland, in 2008, which Liberman said was the best proposal the Palestinians could have received.</div>
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“I don’t see intention on the Palestinian side” to go back to the negotiating table, he said.</div>
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Liberman reiterated his long-held belief that an accord would only be possible if the future Palestinian state included the Arab towns in northern Israel, otherwise known as the Triangle.</div>
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The defense minister said it was only fair that there should be a “homogenous Palestinian state and a homogenous Jewish state.”</div>
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However, he said he did not believe that “Arabs in Israel are a fifth column,” or a traitorous segment of the population. “I think they are loyal citizens.”</div>
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The defense minister did, by contrast, doubt the loyalty of Arab Israeli Knesset members, who he “never saw with an Israeli flag, only a Palestinian flag.”</div>
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He said he still believed Trump would move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. “Maybe this year, maybe next year,” he speculated.</div>
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Liberman, who immigrated from Moldova in 1978, said that Israel is the only country where you could immigrate at the age of 20 and one day wind up defense minister.</div>
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Liberman was appointed to the post just over a year ago — after Netanyahu ousted Moshe Ya’alon from the position — after his Yisrael Beytenu party entered into a coalition agreement with the ruling Likud party.</div>
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Liberman laughed at interviewer Matthew Kalman’s attempt to describe his ascension to the Defense Ministry as merely unexpected.</div>
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“You’re being politically correct,” Liberman joked. “It was a huge surprise — even for me!”</div>
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<span style="color: #bd0d1d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold;">STORY LINK: </span><span style="color: #bd0d1d; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><b><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-at-toi-event-israel-is-coordinating-settlement-building-with-the-us/&source=gmail&ust=1497707114182000&usg=AFQjCNGrBThmcEf35rtNdqNWeWzBIW9b3Q" href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/liberman-at-toi-event-israel-is-coordinating-settlement-building-with-the-us/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">http://www.<wbr></wbr>timesofisrael.com/liberman-at-<wbr></wbr>toi-event-israel-is-<wbr></wbr>coordinating-settlement-<wbr></wbr>building-with-the-us/</a></b></span></span></div>
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Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-49475971745827364832017-05-21T07:32:00.000-07:002017-06-16T07:33:15.225-07:00<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">The 6 Biggest Questions Facing President Donald Trump in Israel</span></span></h2>
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MATTHEW KALMAN / Jerusalem<br /><br />TIME May 21, 2017<br /><br />President Trump’s forays into Middle East diplomacy have been as unpredictable as the rest of his presidency and his first visit to Israel as Commander-in-Chief promises more of the same.<br /><br />Originally billed as a warm welcome to an outspoken friend, his visit has become overshadowed by a slew of unseemly spats over Jerusalem, intelligence-sharing and settlements, while the Palestinians look on, perhaps unable to believe their luck. But their joy could be short-lived.<br /><br />Here are a few questions Trump faces in his lightning first trip to meet Israelis and Palestinians on their home ground:<br /><br /><b>1. Will that Israeli intel blunder hurt diplomatic relations?</b><br /><br />Israelis were shocked this week to learn that Trump may have divulged some of their secret intelligence on ISIS to the Russians, an ally of Iran, Israel’s sworn enemy. After the Washington Post revealed that Trump had shared classified reports with the Russian foreign minister and ambassador, the New York Timesand ABC quoted sources asserting that the information came from an Israeli spy embedded with ISIS. Israeli media said the intelligence was related to a plot to carry a booby-trapped laptop onto a plane that triggered a sudden ban on computers on flights to the US and UK in March. There was no official confirmation from Israel, but the head of Israel’s military intelligence was reported to be in Washington trying to defuse the crisis.<br /><br />The reports certainly caused dismay from some in Israeli intel circles. Former Mossad chief Shabtai Shavit urged Israel to re-assess its intelligence-sharing with the CIA after Trump’s “bull in a china shop” behavior. “The rules of proper operation demand that even a president of the world’s greatest power consult with the experts,” Shavit told The Times of Israel. “That’s why the government pays them.”<br /><br />But others said the bond between Israel and the U.S. intel communities is built of sterner stuff. “The security relationship between Israel and our greatest ally the United States is deep, significant and unprecedented in volume,” Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Libermantweeted. “This relationship with the U.S. is unprecedented in its contribution to our strength. This is how it has been and how it will continue to be.”<br /><br />Local intelligence experts queried the dramatic reports of an Israeli spy embedded with ISIS, saying it was more likely the information resulted from signals data collected by Israel’s military intelligence from internal ISIS transmissions.<br /><br />The fallout may be temporary, in other words. “It may cause a small damage or a local one,” said Amnon Sofrin, a former head of Mossad’s intelligence directorate, "but not a disaster."<br /><b><br />2. Can Trump really make the "ultimate deal"?</b><br /><br />Donald Trump seems like the Middle East’s most unlikely peacemaker — but could that work to his advantage? Expectations are so low, and his experience is so limited, he could be the breath of fresh air required after decades of diplomatic sophistry.<br /><br />Certainly, Trump’s ingénue naïveté is one rare thing on which both sides appear to agree. “What Trump has going for him is so far no-one wants to be the one to say no to Donald Trump. That’s what he seems to be counting on to get short-term gains,” says David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, who served on John Kerry’s Middle East peace team.<br /><br />His team has also gone down well — Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s newly-appointed envoy, has impressed both sides. “He doesn’t come from the peace process establishment. He comes from the business world. I found sitting with him remarkably refreshing,” says Michael Oren, an Israeli deputy minister and former ambassador to Washington.<br /><br />There are green shoots of progress. Palestinian officials tell TIME that plans to restart security training by the CIA in Langley for Palestinian security forces, shelved after Trump’s victory, are now back on the agenda. The sudden warmth and talk of the Palestinians as “strategic partners” tell the Palestinians that Trump’s willingness to engage is not just for show.<br /><br />“The approach that he started made us optimistic that maybe he is the right man,” says Jibril Rajoub, secretary-general of the central committee of Fatah, the party headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. “In his meeting with the president, he encouraged us to believe that it’s the right time. Our impression is that there is a very serious effort to make the ultimate deal.”<br /><br /><b>3. A one-state solution, or two?</b><br /><br />Trump amazed seasoned observers during his White House press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in February when he appeared to discard the long-standing U.S. policy of a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, saying he was “looking at two-state and one-state” and “can live with either one” agreed by the parties.<br /><br />Israel’s official position, set out by Netanyahu in a 2009 speech at Bar-Ilan University, is to support the creation of a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside Israel. But large swaths of the Israeli public, including members of the government coalition and even Netanyahu’s own party, are vehemently opposed. Netanyahu himself said in March 2015 that the Palestinians’ policy had made the notion “irrelevant.” The recent turmoil in Syria and Iraq has added security fears to Israel’s concerns. “We can’t afford to have a state on our border that’s going to fall apart in a matter of hours. That’s the bottom line,” says Michael Oren.<br /><br />As Israel backs away from two states, Palestinian support is growing. Earlier this month, Hamas amended its charter, officially endorsing the creation of a West Bank and Gaza state - but only as a first step towards liberating all of Palestine. Rajoub says that’s a glass half full. “For the first time the Palestinians are talking unanimously about the two-state solution,” he says. “Regionally, there is no state against this political settlement.”<br /><br /><b>4. Will the U.S. Embassy move to Jerusalem?</b><br /><br />Trump arrives in Jerusalem on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War, when Israelis captured the city, and it remains a central issue in peace talks. Israel wants it to be their “eternal, undivided capital.” The Palestinians want the pre-1967 border through the city reinstated so they can establish their own capital in East Jerusalem.<br /><br />No-one in the international community recognizes the current city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and the U.S. embassy remains firmly anchored in Tel Aviv. However, before his election Trump had vowed to transfer it. By February he was prevaricating. “As far as the embassy moving to Jerusalem, I'd love to see that happen. We're looking at it very, very strongly. We're looking at it with great care, great care, believe me. And we'll see what happens. OK?” said Trump as he stood beside Netanyahu at the White House.<br /><br />The waiver signed by every president since Bill Clinton delaying the move for another six months will land on Trump’s desk in early June. Israelis hope he won’t sign it. “The U.S. Embassy – like all embassies – should be moved to Jerusalem,” Netanyahu told the incoming U.S. ambassador on Tuesday. That would be “a fatal mistake” says Jibril Rajoub.<br /><br />The issue was complicated, ahead of the trip, by a controversy surrounding Trump's visit to the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest shrine. Officials at the U.S. Consulate-General in Jerusalem urged against the visit, with one official describing the site as part of the West Bank. The White House disavowed those comments, but at a subsequent press briefing Trump’s national security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster demurred from saying whether the wall, which forms the perimeter of the Temple Mount site that houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque, is Israeli territory.<br /><br /><b>5. Is Trump on board with new settlements?</b><br /><br />Right-wing Israeli cabinet ministers hailed Trump’s election as an opportunity to annexe the West Bank and ramp up Israeli settlement activity. “Trump’s victory is an opportunity for Israel to immediately retract the notion of a Palestinian state in the center of the country, which would hurt our security and just cause,”said Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the pro-settler Jewish Home party.<br /><br />Hardliners were further cheered by the appointment of David Friedman, Trump's long-time lawyer and confidante, as the new ambassador to Israel. Friedman, an orthodox Jew, is a prominent supporter, fundraiser and frequent visitor to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. But during confirmation hearings, Friedman recanted some of his harsher statements – he had branded the Anti-Defamation League “morons” and the left-wing Zionist group J Street as “worse than kapos” - agreed that new settlements could hamper peace moves, and said he did not support Israel’s annexation of the West Bank.<br /><br />So the settlers’ initial euphoria at Trump’s election is evaporating. Israeli officials have postponed decisions on new housing developments in East Jerusalem to avoid a repeat of the diplomatic disaster during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden in 2010. But there is intense pressure on Netanyahu from Bennett and others within his cabinet to take advantage of Trump’s election to entrench Israel’s control of the West Bank. That may not be as easy as it appeared last November. “I’ve been in the White House. My impression is that they want us to exhibit a significant amount of restraint,” says Oren.<br /><br /><b>6. Should Israelis and Palestinians unite to combat Iran?</b><br /><br />Trump’s swing through Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the Vatican is big on symbolism, as the White House has underlined, linking the centers of the world’s three great monotheistic religions. It also links the Middle East opponents of both Iran and ISIS.<br /><br />The U.S. President has echoed the fears expressed both by Israel and the moderate Gulf states about the Iranian nuclear deal. “Now is the time to address this threat and not in 10 or 15 years’ time,” says Oren. Israeli media have reported that Netanyahu wanted to take military action against Iran, but was pulled back by his intelligence and security commanders.<br /><br />The threat of Iran may yet build momentum for strategic alliances. The Arab League reportedly offered this week to normalize relations with Israel in return for a deal on Palestine, to better face Iran as it races towards nuclear military capacity. The grouping of 22 states believes such a deal could remove the barrier to regional cooperation with the Jewish state.<br /><br />Will Trump agree that the Iranian threat justifies pressuring Israel into making concessions to the Palestinians in order to solidify the anti-Iranian front? Israeli officials are not convinced the risk is tolerable or necessary, but it could be the Palestinians’ trump card. “The emergence of a sovereign independent Palestinian state is the must to assure regional stability, security and global peace,” says Rajoub.Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-35379639726653578732014-11-25T10:24:00.002-08:002014-11-25T10:34:39.499-08:00Speech by Israel's President Ruvi Rivlin to conference on minorities in Israel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: black;">President Ruvi Rivlin "</span></b><span style="color: black; text-align: justify;"><b>We must ask ourselves seriously, what is the point of the proposed law – Israel: The National State of the Jewish People? </b></span><b style="color: black; text-align: justify;">Does promoting this law, not in fact, question the success of the Zionist enterprise in which we are fortunate to live?"</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>President Reuven Rivlin, this evening (<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1263663303" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Tuesday, 25 November 2014</span></span>) addressed the annual gathering of the State Prosecution, in Eilat. </i> </span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Honored friends, at the height of the tensions between the Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel, and amidst a wave of murderous terrorism, you have bravely chosen to dedicate this year’s conference to the issue of the relationship between minorities and the majority in our land.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Moreover, the headline of the conference, ‘To be a minority in our country’, alludes strongly to the idea, (as stated in the national anthem), ‘To be a free people in our land’, juxtaposed with ‘to be of a minority in our land.’ The title of the conference, demands of us to take the bull by the horns and not to avoid the question – is there really a contradiction? Does being a part of a minority in the State of Israel, mean that one is not a free citizen of the state? </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Firstly, allow me to offer a critique of the conference’s title. Not because I think the question posed is inappropriate, but because for the simple reason that the Arab community of Israel, is not a minority, at least not in the conventional sense. In the same way as the Ultra-Orthodox community is not a minority. When close to quarter of the children in first grade are Arab, and close to a fifth are Ultra-Orthodox, the usage of the term ‘minority’ in relation to these communities is false and flawed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Indeed this level of preciseness is not merely a matter of linguistics, nor of semantics, but strikes at the core of the matter. Because, when we raise the issue of the relationship between Israel’s Arab and Jewish communities, we must understand that we are seeking to clarify the matrix of the relationship between the State of Israel, and over one-fifth of its citizens. Citizens who are part and parcel of this country, and for whom this land is their homeland. Citizens for whom the discussion about their rights and obligations, does not only address their equality as individuals in the State of Israel, but as a population with a collective and cohesive cultural and religious identity.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; font-weight: normal;"><i>The severe discrimination of the Arab community as far as resources (in education, infrastructure, building and development,) is inconsistent with the democratic nature of the state, as it is inconsistent with the Jewish nature of the state.</i></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">And now, we return to the question with which we opened.</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">That being, is there a contradiction between the vision of Jewish independence and sovereignty in the State of Israel, and the freedoms of non-Jewish groups within it?</span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">It occurs to me that this question is nothing but another way of asking; can the Jewish State, be a democratic state? Against a background of a range of efforts to enact a ‘national law’, attempting to set in law the Jewish character of the Jewish State, it seems that this question has become more relevant than ever.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Friends, the Declaration of Independence – accepted as a basic charter, and meriting of declarative constitutional status by a Supreme Court ruling – emphatically states the Jewish and democratic nature of the State of Israel.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The formulators of the Declaration of Independence, with much wisdom, insisted that, the Arab communities in Israel, as well as other groups, should not feel as the Jews had felt in exile.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Therefore, the declaration not only determines the complete equality of social rights for all its citizens, but religious, language, educational and cultural rights. The founding fathers of the State of Israel, envisioned a state whose Jewish nature and democratic nature, were as one.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Moreover, ‘social and political equality’ was for them in keeping with the vision of the Prophets of Israel. For them, it was an obvious outcome of the Jewish vision rooted in the values of freedom, peace and justice.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">In the seventh decade of our independence, Jewish citizens of the state enjoy a strong and wonderful national home. We must always remember what has for our young men and women, already become taken for granted. Citizens of Israel speak Hebrew, and are creating a rich and diverse in their own language. Israel’s holidays are celebrated publically. The Israeli public education provides a rich, Jewish and nationalist education. The flag and national anthem of Israel are seen and heard at sports competitions across the world. The symbol of the state, the Jewish Menorah is emblazoned on the pages of the Israeli passport, with which Israeli citizens can enter 144 countries without a visa. The State of Israel is the national state of the Jewish people, ‘a free people in our land’.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>A hierarchical approach, which places Jewishness before democracy, misses the great significance of the Declaration of Independence, which combined the two elements together – without separating them</i></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">A small, abhorred minority, undermine this fact, both from within our own and from outside, and so, we must ask ourselves seriously, what is the point of the proposed law – Israel: The National State of the Jewish People.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Does the promotion of this law, not in fact, question the success of the Zionist enterprise in which we are fortunate to live?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Does this proposal, not in fact encourage us to seek contradiction between the Jewish and democratic characters of the state?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Does this bill not in fact play into the hands of those who seek to slander us? Into the very hands of those who wish to show, that even within us, there are those who see contradiction between our being a free people in our land, and the freedoms of the non-Jewish communities amongst us?<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Friends, I remember like yesterday, the unparalleled pride we felt, my friends and I, on November 10<sup>th</sup>, 1975, when we saw the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, who of course later became President of Israel, Chaim Herzog, when from the podium at the United Nations, he tore up the resolution equating Zionism with racism. Herzog ripped up an improper and distorted decision, which sought to attribute to the Zionist enterprise the very injustices which Zionism itself had righted.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">And yet, even then, as Chaim Herzog was speaking out against those who dared to question the moral basis for our right to self-determination, the leaders of Israel did not see fit to respond to the authors of the shameful UN resolution with attempts to pass laws regarding the superiority of the Jewish nature of the state. The thought did not even cross their minds, specifically, because Israel’s being the national home of the Jewish people was self-evident.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">With a heavy heart, while still Speaker in the Knesset, I read the opinion of the Knesset's legal advisor, regarding the original proposal of the Basic Law of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish People.<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span dir="LTR"></span><span style="color: black;">“This proposal seeks to establish a new and different hierarchy, between the State of Israel being the national state of the Jewish People, and between being a democratic state.” He continued, “No longer would there be a horizontal balance between the two parts, but instead a disconnect between the two, and the creation of a vertical balance, so that following the acceptance of this proposal, at the top of the constitutional hierarchy would be placed the principle of the State of Israel as a the nation state of the Jewish People, and only beneath it on the constitutional hierarchy would be placed the principle of a democratic state.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Ladies and gentlemen, such a hierarchical approach, which places Jewishness before democracy, misses the great significance of the Declaration of Independence, which combined the two elements together – without separating them.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Judaism and democracy, democracy and Judaism, said as one utterance, are combined, and continue to be so. These are not merely words. This is the beating heart of the State of Israel. A state established on two solid foundations; nationhood on the one hand, and democracy on the other. The removal of one will bring the whole building down.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Even if another law would eventually pass through the current Knesset, I am afraid that the atmosphere which led to the formation and proposal of this law will not quickly pass through either the Knesset of the Israeli public.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">When considering the possibility of changing the constitutional foundations of the State of Israel, it would be fitting to hold a full and comprehensive referendum, to consider the ramifications. Such a deliberation must be undertaken with the necessary level of seriousness, and with long term considerations.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">We must understand the deep connection between the Jewish and democratic components is not artificial. Those who see the proposal of a Basic Law which cements Israel as a Jewish state, to be a counterweight to the Basic Law on 'Human Dignity and Liberty' are simply mistaken.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Moreover, one who thinks that the Basic Law on 'Human Dignity and Liberty' in some way contradicts the Jewishness of the state, not only does not understand what a democratic state is, but fails to understand what a Jewish state is.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Indeed, I ask you, is there a more 'Jewish law' than the Basic Law on 'Human Dignity and Liberty'?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">In each and every legal text, this is the law that states most clearly the greatest assertion that the Jewish perspective brought to the world; 'Beloved is man, for he is made in God's image'. <span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL" lang="HE"><span dir="RTL"></span><span dir="RTL"></span> </span>And so I fear that the original text of the law, whilst trying to avoid a conflict between Judaism and democracy, ended up stuck in a conflict a between the Jewish State and Judaism.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Every law which weakens the greatest of Jewish laws - that of human dignity - not only weakens the Jewish character of the State of Israel, but at the end of the day, will also weaken our national home.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">I call on all Members of Knesset, on all citizens of Israel, Jews and non-Jews. Our combined efforts must be invested not in drawing differences between Judaism and democracy, but in the mutual development and empowerment to be found where they meet.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Friends. Amongst those who promote this law in its hierarchical version, there are those who state that the aim of this law is to force the Supreme Court to preference in its rulings Jewish considerations over democratic ones.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">It must be stated clearly, the relationship between the courts on one hand and the legislature on the other, has yet to reach a desired balance. For twenty years, the Supreme Court and the Knesset have been on a chronic collision course, whereby judicial activism has sought to cause the Knesset's activities to spill over into the realm of the courts.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">I supported in the past, and I continue to support the vital need for a 'Basic Law on Legislation.' A law, that even without a constitution, will at least codify the rules of the game between the different authorities. A law which, for the first time, will regulate the status of the Basic Laws, and legislate for a judicial review. A law which will allow for a limited period, the renewal of laws which did not pass such a judicial review, with a special majority of 65 MKs.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">I thought then as I do now, that the citizens of Israel are the sovereigns of the state, and thus, the Knesset as their representatives holds the last word. Is there anyone in the Knesset that fears the Supreme Court would suddenly annul the 'Law of Return'? Or that it would suddenly find legal issue with the settlement of Jews in the Galilee or the Negev? If so, they should support and respect a Basic Law on legislation.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Passing such a law would not require harming the Jewish or democratic essence of the State of Israel, by showing preference to one component over the other. Make no mistake – a sovereign and independent Knesset in no way makes for a more Jewish and less democratic Israel. <span dir="RTL" lang="HE"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">In any event, the issues with which we begun have brought into focus – that our ambition to live as a free people in our land, in our national home, requires the empowerment and reinforcement of the strong, democratic foundations upon which the State of Israel was established.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">The strengthening of these democratic foundations will of course not be realized by handing over power of attorney to the Supreme Court, nor by the weakening of the Knesset, the representative of sovereignty.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Furthermore, the strengthening of the Knesset not only safeguards the freedom for which we waited generation upon generation, but distinctly preserves the magnificent Jewish heritage, in whose name we established the State of Israel.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">And so, my friends, what does it mean to be a free, non-Jewish, citizen in our land?<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">If we are dealing with the freedom of the Arab public, and their equal rights in the State of Israel, then we must address, and correct the ongoing discrimination which they endure.<span dir="RTL" lang="HE"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">And when we are dealing with Judaism and democracy, we must state clearly. The severe discrimination of the Arab community as far as resources (in education, infrastructure, building and development,) is inconsistent with the democratic nature of the state, as it is inconsistent with the Jewish nature of the state.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">And yet, even if we succeed to narrow these inequalities, and to eradicate this discrimination from within us – we will yet to have realized the vision, and we will yet to have fulfilled the promises of the Declaration of Independence, if we still seek to cement into law the Jewish nature of the state, in a way that places it above the democratic nature of the state.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;">Specifically, during these days, when brutal and murderous terrorism seeks to drive us apart, we must reiterate to ourselves, (here, in the Knesset, in schools, in academia and in the halls of Torah study,) that </span><span style="color: black;">Jewish is democratic and democracy is Jewish. </span><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Only thus can we know that this external, brutal terrorism, will not only not break us physically, but neither will it break our spirit.</span></span></div>
Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-41788063195958758572014-11-24T23:50:00.003-08:002014-11-24T23:54:06.593-08:00Netanyahu's "Jewish State" Bill - Full text<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-top: 0.8em;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">BASIC LAW: ISRAEL - THE NATIONAL STATE OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">(Decision of the Israeli Cabinet, November 23, 2014)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Cabinet discussed three versions of draft </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Basic Law: Israel – the National State of the Jewish People</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, that of MK Zeev Elkin, of MK Ayelet Shaked and MK Yariv Levin, and of MK Robert Ilatov.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Cabinet decided to support Prime Minister Netanyahu's draft principles (see attached annex below).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Cabinet decided to support, in preliminary Knesset discussion, the aforementioned three draft versions on condition that their sponsoring MKs agree that their draft versions would be attached to the Government version to be presented by Prime Minister Netanyahu, which will be formulated on the basis of the principles detailed in the annex below, and will be adapted to it. The Government draft will be formulated in coordination with Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Annex of Principles</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">I. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Objective</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Defining the State of Israel as the national state of the Jewish People, and anchoring the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state in the spirit of the principles of the </span><a href="http://cp.responder.co.il/link.php?lid=5481231&sid=110383285&k=8492da47b57345602ecdd6a10c8932a2" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Declaration of Independence</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">II. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Basic principles</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Land of Israel is the historic homeland of the Jewish People and the place of the establishment of the State of Israel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The State of Israel is the national home of the Jewish People in which the Jewish People realizes its right to self-determination in accordance with its cultural and historic heritage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The right to realize national self-determination in the State of Israel is unique to the Jewish People.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The State of Israel is democratic, based on the foundations of freedom, justice and peace in light of the visions of the prophets of Israel, and upholds the individual rights of all its citizens according to law.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">III. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Symbols of the State</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The national anthem is </span><em><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Hatikvah</span></em><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The national flag is white with two sky-blue stripes close to the margins and a sky-blue Star of David in the center.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The national emblem is a seven-branched menorah with two olive branches at its sides and the word 'Israel' below.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">IV. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Return</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All Jews are eligible to immigrate to the country and receive citizenship of the state according to law.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">V. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Ingathering of the Exiles and Strengthening Links with the Jewish People in the Diaspora</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The State will act to gather the exiles of the Jewish People and strengthen links between Israel and Jewish communities in the Diaspora.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">VI. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Assistance to Jews in Distress</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The State will act to assist Jews in distress and in captivity due to their being Jews.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">VII. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Heritage</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The State will act to preserve the historical and cultural heritage and tradition of the Jewish People and to enshrine and cultivate it in the country and in the Diaspora.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">All educational institutions that serve the Jewish public in the country will teach the history, heritage and tradition of the Jewish People.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The State will act to enable all residents of Israel, regardless of religion, race or nationality, to preserve their culture, heritage, language and identity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">VIII. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Official Calendar</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Hebrew calendar is the official calendar of the State.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">IX. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Independence Day and Remembrance Day</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Independence Day is the national holiday of the State.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel's Wars and Holocaust Heroes and Martyrs Remembrance Day are the official remembrance days of the State.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">X. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Public holidays</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The regular public holidays of the State of Israel are the Sabbath and the Jewish holidays on which no worker shall be employed except under conditions to be defined by law; members of recognized faiths shall be entitled to rest on their Sabbaths and holidays.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">XI. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Jewish Law</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Jewish law shall serve as a source of inspiration for the Knesset</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">If a court shall consider a legal question that requires a decision and not find an answer in legislation, precedent or clear inference, it shall render a decision in light of the principles of freedom, justice, fairness and peace of the heritage of Israel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">XII. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Maintaining the Holy Places</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The Holy Places shall be guarded against desecration, any other damage and against anything that is liable to infringe on freedom of access by worshippers to the places that are holy to them or on their feelings toward those places.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">XIII. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Infringement of rights</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">There shall be no infringement of rights according to </span><a href="http://cp.responder.co.il/link.php?lid=5481241&sid=110383285&k=8492da47b57345602ecdd6a10c8932a2" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">the basic laws</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> except by law that befits the values of the State of Israel, that is designed for a worthy purpose and which does not exceed that which is required.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">XIV. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: underline;">Amendment</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The basic law shall not be amended except by a basic law that is approved by a majority of MKs.</span> </div>
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<i>(Approved for support in the Knesset by the Israeli Cabinet, November 23, 2014)</i></div>
Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-13206851167758622312014-11-05T08:47:00.001-08:002014-11-05T08:47:07.747-08:00Israel Govt Press Office warns foreign press over "incitement" and "misleading information"<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0.8em; margin-top: 0.8em; text-align: center;">
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: underline;">GPO Summons Anadolu Agency Bureau Chief over Tweet Describing Jerusalem Terrorist as "Palestinian man shot dead by Israeli police"</span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">(Communicated by the GPO)</span></div>
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<a href="mailto:nitzanc@press.pmo.gov.il" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Government Press Office Director Nitzan Chen</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> has summoned – for <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_16942603" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">tomorrow</span></span> morning (<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_16942604" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Thursday, 6 November 2014</span></span>) – the Israel bureau chief of the Turkish Anadolu Agency in the wake of a </span><a href="http://cp.responder.co.il/link.php?lid=5377311&sid=110383285&k=8492da47b57345602ecdd6a10c8932a2" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Tweet</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> in which the terrorist responsible for </span><a href="http://cp.responder.co.il/link.php?lid=5377313&sid=110383285&k=8492da47b57345602ecdd6a10c8932a2" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">today's deadly attack in Jerusalem</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> was described as a "Palestinian man shot dead by the Israeli police."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Journalists who engage in incitement and who disseminate misleading information which is liable to put lives at risk are liable to have their GPO cards revoked.</span></div>
Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-79254902641579738492014-11-05T05:11:00.002-08:002014-11-05T05:17:53.381-08:00PLO warns international reporters not to use the term "Temple Mount"<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">State of Palestine</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Palestine Liberation Organization</span></b><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Negotiations Affairs Department</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">MEDIA ADVISORY</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<b><u><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">For Immediate Release</span></u></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Concern over the use of the inaccurate term “Temple Mount” to refer to Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Jerusalem</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound</span></b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">, sometimes referred to as the Noble Sanctuary (“Haram al-Sharif” in Arabic), is the compound that contains Al Aqsa building itself, ablution fountains, open spaces for prayer, monuments and the Dome of the Rock building. This entire area enclosed by the walls which spans 144 dunums (almost 36 acres), forms the Mosque.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Sacred to approximately 1.6 billion Muslims around the world, and a symbol for all Palestinians, the Mosque has been under exclusive Muslim sovereignty and control since the construction of the Dome of the Rock in 692 CE. As such, any entrance to the Al Aqsa Mosque must be agreed and coordinated by the Muslim Waqf.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound is located in East-Jerusalem, an internationally recognized part of the Occupied State of Palestine</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Since Israel’s military occupation of East Jerusalem in the June 1967 War, several plots by Settler organizations and other Zionist extremists to blow up the Mosque were uncovered by the Israeli authorities. In 1980, Israel adopted the “Basic Law” on Jerusalem, which ratified the annexation of Occupied East Jerusalem to Israel. The international community does not recognize this annexation, in line with UN Security Council Resolution 478. This Resolution rejected the Israeli measure as a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and determined that: </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">“all legislative and administrative measures and actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, which have altered or purport to alter the character and the status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and in particular, the recent ‘basic law’ on Jerusalem, are null and void.”</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">Today, many settler leaders, with the support of the Israeli government, continue to incite against this sacred site, and consequently provoke Palestinian fears and anger. Israel, the occupying power, has failed at stopping settler extremists from entering the<span style="color: #1f497d;"> </span>Mosque and this constitutes a violation of the Waqf’s custodianship and its obligation as an occupying power to maintain public order and civil life in the occupied territory.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u></u><u></u></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 14pt;">All international media representatives are advised to adhere to international law and correct any other existing terminology used. The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is not a disputed territory and all other terms, therefore, are null and void.</span></b></div>
Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-6425242203076385412014-08-16T22:32:00.001-07:002014-08-16T22:32:02.562-07:005-day Gaza truce extension holding<a href="http://english.cntv.cn/2014/08/15/VIDE1408057923340458.shtml#.U_A92Zlra2Q.blogger">5-day Gaza truce extension holding - CCTV News - CCTV.com English</a><br />
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Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-5503858589045128522014-04-10T00:16:00.002-07:002014-04-10T00:20:14.620-07:00Empathy in action<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">"I will not be a bystander"</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Prof Mohammed Dajani Daoudi</b> responds to critics who denounced his decision to take a group of Palestinian students to Auschwitz-Birkenau</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKEkjTgHUeMgvp9XVMnEicZL3dH-QxbdM0zGx2sdKc0eOtGuc8cibD0osxglIN0_CkWatNze-GNOmG-Rf51ykJTI2_ByX-z4kuwVF6g_nvdI2EslKxKiaEXpkFFViDPhpcJEGYeIxue3YK/s1600/Dajani+Auschwitz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKEkjTgHUeMgvp9XVMnEicZL3dH-QxbdM0zGx2sdKc0eOtGuc8cibD0osxglIN0_CkWatNze-GNOmG-Rf51ykJTI2_ByX-z4kuwVF6g_nvdI2EslKxKiaEXpkFFViDPhpcJEGYeIxue3YK/s1600/Dajani+Auschwitz.jpg" height="266" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.31999969482422px;">I will not be a bystander</span><br />
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Al-Quds University issued a statement to distance itself from the tour.<br />
In a statement, Al-Quds University announced that it had nothing to do with the Auschwitz-Birkenau visit. The university said that this was a private visit by Professor Dajani and the students. "They do not represent the university," the statement said. "Professor Dajani is on leave and was not entrusted by the university [to arrange the visit]." Bir Zeit University issued a statement saying no students from the university participated in the trip.<br />
A scathing attack on me and students filled the social media.<br />
"I don't understand how the [Palestinian] students accept normalization [with Israel]," wrote a Palestinian journalist from Ramallah on his Facebook page. "This professor is the king of kings of normalization."<br />
The leading Palestinian daily, Al-Quds, which reported about the visit, triggered a heated debate among readers about the visit.<br />
The paper later had to delete some reader responses that accused me of treason and collaboration. When the inciting comments reached a peak the newspaper withdrew the article with all its comments. I received emails warning me not to go to Ramallah or the university. I was accused of of trying to change the Palestinians' mentality "by brainwashing generations and teaching them big lies and fabrications such as the Holocaust and the suffering of Jews so that they would accept the theft of their land."<br />
Palestinian columnist Abdullah Dweikat expressed regret over the visit and called on Palestinian academics to stop the "pilgrimage" to Nazi death camps. "I felt pain over the visit by Palestinian university students to Auschwitz-Birkenau," he wrote. "Yes we are human beings who reject genocide. But our humanity rejects any attempt to bypass the suffering of our people, who are being slaughtered every day at the hands of the occupiers. Wouldn't it have been better had our professors and students visited Yarmouk refugee camp [in Syria] or refugee camps in Lebanon to see the real suffering?" Others said this is not freedom of expression but treason.<br />
My response to all this tirade is that my duty as a teacher is to teach, to have my students explore the unexplored, to open new horizons for my students, to guide my students out of the cave of perceptions and misperceptions to see the facts and the reality on the ground, to break the walls of silence, to demolish the fences of taboos, to swim against the tide in search of truth, in sum, to advance the knowledge and learning of my students in adhering to the verse in the Holy Quran, "{And say My God increase my knowledge.}.. If there are those who do not see or do not like that, it is their problem not mine. I will go to Ramallah, I will go to the university, I will put my photos of the visit on facebook, and I do not regret for one second what I did. As a matter of fact, I will do it again if given the opportunity. I will not hide, I will not deny. I will not be silent. I will not remain a bystander even if the victims of the suffering I show empathy for are my perpetrators and my occupiers. And this is my final statement on this issue..<br />
<i>(From the Hearts of Flesh - Not Stone Facebook page)</i></div>
Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-37034702687720239012014-03-22T10:21:00.003-07:002014-03-22T10:24:03.392-07:00The 7 Bogies of Moshe Ya’alon<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Bogie" Ya'alon. Never has a handle been more aptly applied</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">By Matthew Kalman</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon is <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.580636" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">back in the news</a> following his latest childish outbursts against the US administration. I have never failed to be impressed with the extent of his crushing stupidity. His nickname is “Bogie.” Never has a handle been more aptly applied. Here are 7 of Ya’alon’s most embarrassing gaffes:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">1. As head of IDF Central Command, responsible for the West Bank, and then deputy chief of staff, he was one of the key Israeli generals responsible for the pitiful intelligence failure that missed the looming and very obvious signs that the Second Intifada was about to erupt in September 2000.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">2. In November 2000, when he was the IDF deputy chief of staff, I asked Ya’alon why the Israel military was responding to the intifada with the clearly ineffectual and probably counter-productive tactic of bombing Palestinian prisons and police stations. His answer: “You want they should hit us and we don’t hit back?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">3. Ya’alon was one of the architects of the catastrophic IDF response to the Second Intifada, which not only failed to stem the violence but escalated it, prolonging the uprising by several years. He was one of the key generals whose adoption of the tactic of targeted assassinations in Bethlehem and Tulkarm led directly to the Palestinian deployment of suicide bombers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">4. As IDF chief of staff from 2002-2005, Ya’alon masterminded the redeployment of the IDF after Operation Defensive Shield in 2002. He so degraded the IDF’s military, logistical and intelligence capability that when the Lebanon War broke out in 2006 the army lacked training, basic equipment and clear lines of intelligence communication.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">5. During a study break at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem, Ya’alon <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/paul-sheehan/israeli-hawks-ready-to-fly-on-iran/2008/11/23/1227375056994.html" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">publicly called</a> for the assassination of then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. “We have to consider killing him. All options must be considered,” he wisely told the Sydney Morning Herald.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">6. As vice-premier, Ya’alon <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/vice-pm-barak-favored-his-political-interests-over-israel-s-welfare.premium-1.469762" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">publicly clashed</a> with his prime minister over attacking Iran, describing military action as “a last resort.” “Iran's nuclear program could be stopped without military force,” he said in October 2012. This week he peformed a <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.580421" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">180-degree flip-flop</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">7. Since January, Defense Minister Ya’alon has <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.568577" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">described</a> the US Secretary of State as “obsessive and messianic,” in his pursuit of a peace deal and this week <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.580421" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">publicly accused</a> the White House of “demonstrating weakness.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">You just wonder what he’s going to do or say next.</span>Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-57195326004012781862014-01-02T10:39:00.002-08:002014-01-02T10:39:31.469-08:00Holy Writ<h1 style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 29px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 2px 0px 4px; padding: 0px;">
SACRED SCRIBBLES IN BETHLEHEM</h1>
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by MATTHEW KALMAN<br />
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CCTV December 31, 2013</div>
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Karen Stern of Brooklyn College, CUNY, helps unlock the secrets of the divine graffiti left by pilgrims over the centuries at the birthplace of Jesus.Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-51782978617626204102014-01-02T05:50:00.000-08:002014-01-02T05:50:00.820-08:00Twitter for twits<div>
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<a href="http://htz.li/1hXbNqM">Danny Seaman: The Israeli official whose career died from foot-in-mouth disease</a></h1>
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The former director of the Government Press Office never let Israeli policies get in the way of provocative propaganda.</h2>
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<span class="" style="color: #7c7c76; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; margin-bottom: 0px;">By<span class=""> </span><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/misc/writers/matthew-kalman-1.566664" rel="author" style="color: #434141; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #7c7c76; font-size: 12px;">Matthew Kalman</span></a> </span>|<span class=""> HAARETZ </span><span class="" style="color: #7c7c76; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;">Jan. 2, 2014</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyP3oG7eh92WWazNt_lqLrGMjO6HiyxpxrS3Ukdux0vcLc5eciP3lEBm4mBAugWACQcccnMNmDqna5iRBTCvKos9wHV5SuaCQQEEHg2I20LHJIHF5xmZzHPiyVzJFIAN1qQuDmIq1qhGoM/s1600/Seaman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyP3oG7eh92WWazNt_lqLrGMjO6HiyxpxrS3Ukdux0vcLc5eciP3lEBm4mBAugWACQcccnMNmDqna5iRBTCvKos9wHV5SuaCQQEEHg2I20LHJIHF5xmZzHPiyVzJFIAN1qQuDmIq1qhGoM/s320/Seaman.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I shall miss Danny Seaman, the former director of the Israel Government Press Office.<br />
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Seaman was suspended from his position as social media guru and deputy director-general for information at the Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Ministry last August after a series of flaming Facebook posts that insulted Muslims, Palestinians and Japanese in equal measure.<br />
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Seaman is no longer in government. I mistakenly placed him there this morning when I shared his latest wisdom – a measured response to the untimely death Wednesday in Prague of Palestinian Ambassador Jamal al-Jamal, killed when an old safe exploded in his home.<br />
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“Guess you can say that the Palestinian ‘Ambassador’ to the Czech Republic died of natural causes,” Seaman commented. Minutes after I shared it with my own Facebook followers, he removed it and, sadly, demoted me from his list of “friends.”<br />
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READ THE FULL POST <a href="http://htz.li/1hXbNqM">HERE</a>Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-8477801344251924822013-12-27T05:35:00.000-08:002014-08-16T22:36:37.199-07:00War of words and pictures<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
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Israel Defence Forces deploy 'selfie squad' to improve image</h1>
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Combat camera unit 'here to explain and to document for the entire world that we don't use force for bad'</div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/profile/matthew-kalman" rel="author" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Matthew Kalman</a></span></span> in Jerusalem</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">theguardian.com</a>, Friday 27 December 2013 13.12 GMT</span></div>
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<img alt="Mustafa Tamimi 9/12/11" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjvdOcmQhGnOg8Z5TLvN8oz45LS-WShqipE47RImL5BkMrY-qXujW26tQPwLmhKU_6-ab8WZJeUsYpGXsk1FWrHsMdazp-_mxosqT8Sxbj_X-cYdGYuq9XjZtuQtSNJ1ZFLw9YVQghOohFxgvnXy2T02SeT_Aj81ctz-AQWM3llEU77oSSMGlIs46Eiznj6LsRD-72d1zfUUCi7KM7Y6qa5knG4O4jlfjHX83iJ6IDk=s0-d-e1-ft" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="460" /><br />
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Palestinian
protester Mustafa Tamimi lies fatally injured after IDF troops fired a
teargas canister at him in 2011. Photograph: Haim Schwarczenberg/AP</b></span></div>
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Having suffered a PR battering from viral video clips showing its soldiers in an unflattering light, the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/israel" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="More from the Guardian on Israel">Israel</a> Defence Forces are firing back with a combat camera unit trained to show their side of the story.</div>
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The
first round of graduates - all combat soldiers - have completed a
seven-month training programme before joining front-line units. Private
Ido H, one of the new "selfie squaddies", has trained for more than a
year as a combat soldier and videographer. He can film, edit and
broadcast from the battlefield.</div>
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"My
main mission is to film. I think the job of anyone recording what
happens is much more important than any fighter," he told the Guardian.
"There are lots of cameras on the other side. They show us apparently
acting in an unfair way to civilians, to our enemies. We are here to
explain and to document for the entire world that we don't use force for
bad."</div>
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In recent years, cameras wielded by <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/law/human-rights" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="More from the Guardian on Human rights">human rights</a> groups
have focused unwelcome attention on the IDF. The Israeli human rights
group B'Tselem has distributed cameras to Palestinians and collected
hours of footage documenting life under occupation. Palestinians say
they are sometimes the only effective weapon against an army equipped
with tanks and fighter jets.</div>
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Last
April, Lt Col Shalom Eisner was suspended after he was filmed striking a
Danish protester in the face with his M16 rifle. Video showing Mustafa
Tamimi apparently dying after being hit by a teargas canister during a
West Bank demonstration in December 2011 has helped sustain pressure for
an inquiry.</div>
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But
the IDF says videos can be tendentious. In July, human rights groups
assailed the army over film of a five-year-old boy and his father being
arrested and blindfolded after he threw stones at Israeli cars in
Hebron. The army argued the editing failed to show what they described
as an hours-long effort to return the boy safely to his family via the
Palestinian police.</div>
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Major
Micha Ohana, the new unit's commander, denied his soldiers were being
trained in disinformation. "If there are errors or other things we will
present them and if necessary we will apologise or explain. But of
course we won't blur, or lie or say they didn't happen," Ohana said.</div>
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B'Tselem
welcomed the new unit. "More documentation is a very positive thing,"
said B'Tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli. "There are a lot of arguments
about the facts of various incidents. The problem is that the army
doesn't release this footage and when it does, it releases very heavily
edited sequences."</div>
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Haitham
Katib, a Palestinian who has spent eight years filming protests against
attempts to build Israel's security barrier through the middle of his
village farmland in Bil'in, said cameras helped everyone.</div>
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"I
feel that my camera can stop some of the violence," said Haitham Katib.
"If the soldiers see you filming, they stop their violence. Sometimes
they broke my camera. They stopped me filming many times. They shoot me
sometimes with rubber bullets. But 70% I believe my camera has stopped
the violence."</div>
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Katib said Israeli soldiers had started to film him while he was filming them.</div>
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"It's
like we're fighting with cameras," he said. "I would like everyone to
use a camera. It means we are searching for the truth."</div>
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Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-89022332079303316442013-12-25T09:48:00.000-08:002013-12-25T09:48:04.203-08:00Christmas Cracker<h1 style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-bottom-color: rgb(214,29,0); border-collapse: collapse; border-left-color: rgb(214,29,0); border-right-color: rgb(214,29,0); border-top-width: 0px; font-family: georgia,serif; font-size: 2.166em; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.154; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px; width: 460px;">
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Ancient burial box claimed to have earliest reference to Jesus</h1>
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Limestone burial box is typical of first century Jerusalem and has chiselled on side "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus"</span><br />______________________________________________________________<br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/profile/matthew-kalman"><b>Matthew Kalman</b></a> in Tel Aviv <br /><br /> <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian">The Guardian</a>, Wednesday 25 December 2013 16.41 GMT</span></div>
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<img alt="Jesus" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEh0OsrmN9qNymRE3VywrFeMXhSBnn-DJkjJZOOS8Po26mlQjx0QqMQNd2yhRuV4ekuUmmjWecvaAW9xmFjEcg1AWxEtVn9PLQ6LTudmwA4GvZ__sItrDss5ECJjKkAc27NWw_rVqTOIjC0Cg0n3HJ3UGTUwSnjGKA20C14oUKSj2z9ZZdYea594gxNVPj-u3I9Efr8FAdL3MuAWR-U3wrk=s0-d-e1-ft" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="460" /><div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
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Tel Aviv antiquities collector Oded Golan with the stone burial box
bearing the inscription "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus."
Photograph: Matthew Kalman/<a href="http://theguardian.com/" target="_blank">theguardian.com</a></b></span></div>
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For 2,000 years, pilgrims and archaeologists have hunted for physical
evidence of Jesus and his family, without success. But now an ancient
burial box claiming to contain the earliest reference to the Christian
saviour is about to go on public display in Israel after its owner was
cleared of forgery. It has not been seen in public since a single, brief
exhibition in Toronto in 2002.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
The
modest limestone burial box, known as an ossuary, is typical of first
century Jerusalem, and is owned by Oded Golan, an Israeli antiquities
collector. Chiselled on the side are the words "James, son of Joseph,
brother of Jesus."</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
James
the Just was the first leader of the Christians in Jerusalem after the
Crucifixion. He was executed for apostasy by the local rabbinical court.</div>
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At
that time, Jews were not buried but laid in a cave. The bones were
collected after a year and placed in an ossuary. Thousands have been
discovered, some of them inscribed with names to identify whose bones
they contain. One other ossuary mentions a brother.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
"This
is the oldest evidence that mentions the name of Jesus Christ," said
Golan, who bought the box in the 1970s but did not realise its
significance until Sorbonne Professor Andre Lemaire noticed it in
Golan's collection.</div>
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Lemaire published his findings in 2002 and the ossuary was briefly displayed at a Toronto museum, causing a worldwide sensation.</div>
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But
sceptics questioned its authenticity. In 2003, the Israel Antiquities
Authority seized the ossuary and appointed an expert committee who
dubbed it a fake. Golan was arrested and charged with forging the
mention of Jesus.</div>
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After
a 10-year investigation and criminal trial, Golan was found innocent of
forgery in 2012. Despite the verdict, doubts remain.</div>
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"Because
of the differences in the depth and the clarity and the kerning between
the first half of the inscription that mentions James son of Joseph,
and the second half, I'd be willing to wager that the second half was
added in modern times," said Professor Christopher Rollston of the
Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem.</div>
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But others disagree.</div>
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"The inscription is written in the Jewish script, it was done with a
sharp instrument and I think it was done by the same hand. It is an
authentic inscription," said Professor Gabriel Barkay of Bar-Ilan
University.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
Golan
cites expert evidence from the trial showing the patina - a biological
crust formed on ancient objects - inside the grooves of the inscription.</div>
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"There is no doubt that it's ancient, and the probability is that it belonged to the brother of Jesus Christ," said Golan.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
Although
Golan's trial ended last year, the ossuary was returned only a few
weeks ago by the Israel authorities. Golan plans to put it on public
display, together with the expert opinions from the trial, so that
scholars and the public can decide for themselves whether this box did
truly contain the bones of the brother of Christ – a unique piece of
concrete evidence of the family of Jesus.</div>
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<b><i>CLICK <a href="http://jamesossuarytrial.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">HERE</a> FOR FULL COVERAGE OF THE <a href="http://jamesossuarytrial.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">JAMES OSSUARY TRIAL</a></i></b></div>
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Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-83932610173173768132013-12-25T08:57:00.003-08:002013-12-25T08:57:39.628-08:00Holy Writ - Haaretz version<br />
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מריה וישו היו פה: סיפורו של הגרפיטי בכנסיית המולד</h1>
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כתובות הקיר במקום שבו על פי האמונה נולד ישו, שופכות אור על זהות המבקרים בו, ובראשם צליינים שהותירו דיוקנאות של עצמם בשעת תפילה</h2>
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<li style="background-image: none; color: #7e7e7e; float: right; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px -1px 0px 1px; padding: 3px 0px 0px 8px; text-align: right;"><strong><span class="autorBarWriters" style="color: #404040;">מתיו קלמן, גרדיאן</span></strong></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #232323; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">מרבית </span><a href="http://www.haaretz.co.il/news/politics/.premium-1.2198950" style="color: #008bcf; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;">המבקרים בכנסיית המולד</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #232323; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #232323; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">בבית לחם שמים פעמיהם ישר למערה שמתחת למזבח, שבה, על פי המסורת, נולד ישו לפני 2014 שנים. קארן סטרן, היסטוריונית מברוקלין קולג' שבניו יורק, שבאה השנה למקום בגל המבקרים שלפני</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #232323; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"> </span><a href="http://www.themarker.com/misc/tags/1.4236" style="color: #008bcf; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; text-decoration: none;">חג המולד</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #232323; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">, נראית כעוף מוזר בכנסייה. בשונה מאחרים, היא מתעניינת יותר בעמודים שגובהם שישה מטרים, ותומכים בתקרה אותה בנה הקיסר יוסטיניאנוס במאה השישית לספירה.</span></div>
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הפנס של סטרן מאיר באפלולית מאות צלבים קטנטנים החרוטים על פני ארבעה טורי עמודים, אשר למרבה הפלא לא משכו את תשומת לבם של החוקרים עד לתחילת שנה זו. זוהי מלאכתם של צליינים, שביקשו להותיר את חותמם על מקדשי הנצרות שנים רבות לפני שאמן הרחוב בנקסי הפך את קירות בית לחם לרקע לאמנות רחוב ברמה בינלאומית. במבט מקרוב, שכן הסימנים כמעט בלתי נראים על רקע האבן האדומה זרועת הנימים הלבנים, ניתן לראות מאות כתובות דיו המכסות את העמודים מהקרקע ועד לגובה ניכר.</div>
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כתובות רבות מתאימות יותר לספסלים בפארק מאשר למקום הולדתו של ישו, ומשוות למקום מראה כשל לוח מודעות באכסניית תרמילאים עתיקה במיוחד. מאזן ומוסטפה פשוט ציינו שם את שמותיהם, חסן הותיר חתימה מסולסלת על כל אחד מ–44 העמודים, ו"MAH" חתם על העמוד ב–1940, בדיוק מעל "YM", שביקר במקום ב–1938. בין התפילות השונות ניתן למצוא שם גם קטעים מהתנ"ך ומהקוראן, והמלים "אלוהים זכור אותי" מופיעות במספר שפות. אברהים התפלל למען אשתו האהובה, סועאד, והביע תקווה שחייה יהיו מאושרים ושהם "יישארו לנצח יחד". בשארה איבן אל־וואפי, המתפלל להגנתם ולשגשוגם של 21 בני משפחתו, הצהיר כי "כאן, במקום המבורך הזה, אני כותב בידי שלי". לצד התפילה שלו לא מצוין תאריך, אבל השמות הארכאיים שפורטו בדקדקנות מצביעים על כך שהוא לא ביקר במקום הקדוש לו כל כך בעת האחרונה</div>
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"במערב רואים בכתובות קיר סוג של השחתה", אומרת סטרן, שחקרה כתובות במקדשים שונים במזרח התיכון. "הכתובות במקדשים ובאתרי הצליינים הן תופעה שונה לגמרי. אנשים מותירים סימנים ומסרים בתקווה שאלה יועברו לעיניהם של ישויות אלוהיות או קדושים, ולעיניהם של מאמינים אחרים", היא מסבירה. לדבריה, "זה מנהג מקובל ולגיטימי, ולא ונדליזם. אנשים כותבים 'זכור אותי' במקומות קדושים, כך שכתובות הקיר האלה מבטאות אמונה דתית", הוסיפה.</div>
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החלק העליון של העמודים מכוסה בציורים של ישו, של המשפחה הקדושה ושל קדושים שונים שצוירו בתקופה הצלבנית. מתחת לבתולה גליקופילוסה ולציור של מרים וישו העולל משנת 1130, הותירו צליינים מימי הביניים דיוקנאות של עצמם בשעת התפילה. הצלבן הצרפתי לורד דה קרוסי לא הסתפק בכך, ואף צייר את שלט האצולה של משפחתו על אחד העמודים במאה ה–12.</div>
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ליסה מאהוני, חוקרת אמנות ימי הביניים באוניברסיטת דה פול שבשיקגו, רואה קשר בין הציורים בני מאות השנים בחלקם העליון של העמודים לבין כתובות הקיר בנות זמננו. "המבקרים במקומות מעין אלה, בכנסיה המציינת אתר שבו התרחש אירוע קדוש, מוצאים משמעות מיוחדת בהותרת זכר לביקורם במקום", אומרת מאהוני. "זה המקום שבו האלוהי נכח בעולמנו, ולכן זה מקום מיוחד ליצירת קשר עם האלוהות. מקום שבו התקיים מפגש אמיתי בין הארצי לאלוהי".</div>
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למרות שיצירות הצלבנים על העמודים תועדו על ידי היסטוריונים, כתובות הקיר לא זכו עד כה להתייחסות. שטרן סבורה שהן מתעדות את חייהם ומנהגיהם של אנשים פשוטים, שזכרם לא נרשם בדפי ההיסטוריה. "נותרו כאן קולות קטנים מהעבר, שהיו נעלמים לגמרי לולא הכתובות הללו", היא ציינה.</div>
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Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-36993698203387008582013-12-24T07:39:00.000-08:002013-12-24T07:39:13.194-08:00Netanyahu's Pollard agenda<img alt="The Guardian home" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEhH-5uk2-8iUVR4Q7xTyZtXbrivKVo45iuO48FNaNv76e2sZIzbHMgjRCy1pwLKNWzyyZj8aWt2cjrZFtbT6MK_Dujl-iU55Z_AgNhkKsf80_GOKlKLIxRKf5maJn5QClv9PjFS-h2SsYAfIMI7TIX692Lws_wA3zAW_YQ-css7Ql1tYF4_z8d58WPhN7E4cN5RhCYKO4bNu5Y8l_Rn2y5JewMNQDDtPGiEmEZHV2fVo_RT=s0-d-e1-ft" /><br />
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Netanyahu 'to demand release of spy in return for peace talks concessions'</h1>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 1.333em; line-height: 1.25;">Israeli PM will demand release of Jonathan Pollard, convicted of spying for Israel against US in 1987, reports say</span><br />_________________________________________________________<br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Matthew Kalman</b> in Jerusalem</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">theguardian.com, Tuesday 24 December 2013 14.10 GMT</span><br />_________________________________________________________</div>
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<img alt="Binyamin Netanyahu" data-pin-description="The reports said Binyamin Netanyahu (pictured) would either demand Pollard’s release when Israel signed a framework agreement, or as part of a prisoner exchange involving Arab citizens of Israel held for terrorist offences.
Photograph: Gali Tibbon/AP" height="276" itemprop="contentUrl representativeOfPage" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/About/General/2013/12/24/1387894189212/Binyamin-Netanyahu-011.jpg" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="460" /><div class="" itemprop="caption" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>The
reports said Binyamin Netanyahu (pictured) would either demand
Pollard’s release when Israel signed a framework agreement, or as part
of a prisoner exchange involving Arab citizens of Israel held for
terrorist offences. Photograph: Gali Tibbon/AP</b></span></div>
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The Israeli prime minister<span class=""> </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/binyamin-netanyahu" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="More from the Guardian on Binyamin Netanyahu">Binyamin Netanyahu</a><span class=""> </span>will link the release of former US naval intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard, convicted of spying against the US for<span class=""> </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/israel" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="">Israel</a>, to progress in the US-sponsored peace talks with the Palestinians, Israeli media reported on Tuesday.</div>
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The reports said Netanyahu would either demand Pollard's release when<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/israel" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="More from the Guardian on Israel">Israel</a><span class=""> </span>signed
a framework agreement, or as part of a prisoner exchange involving Arab
citizens of Israel held for terrorist offences, who have always been
excluded from previous agreements.</div>
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Netanyahu's
office declined to confirm or deny the story, which was reported by
most of Israel's most well-informed diplomatic correspondents – a
favoured method of leaking sensitive information.</div>
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Netanyahu appeared to be responding to mounting pressure following revelations that<span class=""> </span><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/20/gchq-targeted-aid-agencies-german-government-eu-commissioner" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" title="">Britain's
GCHQ and America's National Security Agency had targeted then Israeli
prime minister Ehud Olmert, his defence minister, Ehud Barak, and
Barak's chief of staff</a>.</div>
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Pollard
was imprisoned in 1987 and has served longer than any other spy
captured in the US. Repeated Israeli requests for his release have been
ignored, although they have lately been joined by top US officials
responsible for his prosecution, including Lawrence Kolb, deputy to then
US defence secretary Caspar Weinberger.</div>
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"We
ask that you seriously consider the requests that there have been from
top current and former American officials and release Pollard on
humanitarian grounds," said a letter to The US president, Barack Obama,
signed by more than 100 Israeli MPs and ministers ahead of a special
session in the Knesset on Wednesday.</div>
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"It's
a matter of justice," said the deputy defence minister, Danny Danon.
"The Americans can't come to us asking for more and more while Pollard
remains in prison."</div>
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Gilad
Shalit, the Israeli soldier released in a prisoner swap in 2011 after
being held for five years by Hamas, added his moral weight to the
campaign and called on "our American friends" to release him.</div>
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"After
Israel released terrorists with blood on their hands as a gesture to
the Palestinians – this is an appropriate reciprocal gesture," Shalit
wrote in a national newspaper column.</div>
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However,
some close observers of the tangled web of US-Israeli relations warned
that the latest leaks might be designed more for domestic consumption as
Netanyahu grapples with the fractious right wing of his party ahead of
next week's planned prisoner release against a background of scattered
but increasing Palestinian violence.</div>
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"There
are so many difficult issues right now on the agenda between Obama and
Netanyahu that to add Pollard to that with all of the baggage that it
carries is not likely," said Professor Gerald Steinberg of Bar-Ilan
University.</div>
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Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-23783800112411879472013-12-23T22:28:00.001-08:002013-12-23T22:28:45.436-08:00Holy Writ: A rare scoop<img alt="The Guardian home" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/static/3a21a6225712e7df59854c0749abc6cffcf00ef2/common/images/logos/the-guardian/news.gif" /><br />
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Graffiti and selfies record pilgrims' progress at Bethlehem shrine</h1>
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Academics are only now studying messages and paintings on the Church of the Nativity's columns dating back to the Crusades</div>
________________________________________________________________<br /><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/profile/matthew-kalman"><b>Matthew Kalman</b></a> in Bethlehem<br /><br />The Guardian, Monday 23 December 2013</span><br />________________________________________________________________<br /><br />
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<b>Pilgrims
light candles in the Church of the Nativity, in the West Bank town of
Bethlehem, the supposed birthplace of Jesus. Photograph: Oliver
Weiken/EPA</b></div>
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Most
visitors to the Church of the Nativity head straight for the grotto
beneath the altar where, according to tradition, Jesus was born 2014
years ago. But among the throng of pre-Christmas pilgrims this year,
Karen Stern, a historian at Brooklyn College, City University of New
York, was more interested in the six-metre-high columns built to support
the roof by the Emperor Justinian in the sixth century.</div>
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In
the gloom of the ancient nave, Stern's torch picks out hundreds of tiny
crosses scratched into the four rows of columns – a common practice of
ancient pilgrims who wanted to make their mark on the holiest shrines in
Christendom – long before Banksy helped transform the walls of
Bethlehem into a canvas for world-class street art.</div>
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Almost
invisible against the white-veined red stone, close inspection reveals
hundreds of messages scrawled in ink from floor level to high on the
columns, which have only come to the attention of scholars this year.</div>
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Much
of the graffiti is more suited to a park bench than the birthplace of
Jesus. Mazen and Mustafa simply wrote their names. Hassan signed each of
the 44 columns with an artistic flourish. MAH tagged a column in 1940,
just above YM, who visited in 1938. GS Diek signed off in English and
Arabic in 1930.</div>
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The
prayers are interspersed with scribbled passages from the Bible and
Qur'an. "God remember me," is written in the stonework in several
scripts and tongues. Ibrahim offers a prayer for his beloved wife, Suad,
hoping she will have a happy life and that they will be "together for
ever".</div>
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"Here
in this blessed place, I write this in my own hand," proclaims B'shara
Ibn al-Wafi, praying to God for the protection and prosperity of 21
family members. His prayer is undated, but the archaic names
painstakingly listed suggest it is not recent.</div>
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There
are more messages on the marble facing of the Holy Nativity grotto
beneath the altar. "God have mercy on me, I am a sinner, Deacon
Suleiman, 1960," confessed a Lebanese priest near the exit from the
grotto in the Armenian chapel dedicated to the Magi. "God remember your
servant Yusef and have mercy on his parents," says a prayer chiselled
into the marble.</div>
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More prosaically, a wall nearby is covered with names of foreign visitors like a noticeboard in a backpackers' hostel.</div>
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"In
the west today people are used to seeing graffiti as a type of
defacement," said Stern, who has studied religious graffiti in Middle
Eastern shrines, including a third-century building from Dura Europos in
Syria that may be the oldest-known church prototype. "When you see
graffiti in these shrines and pilgrimage sites, you realise that it's
actually something quite different. People are literally leaving their
marks in these places to be somehow witnessed by the divine and other
worshippers," she said.</div>
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"It
appears to be a sanctioned practice – not vandalism. People are going
to these specifically religious places to write 'remember me'. It's very
poignant and simple. This is graffiti as a form of veneration."</div>
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High
on the columns are Crusader-era paintings depicting Jesus, the holy
family and the saints. Beneath the Virgin Glykophilousa, an 1130
painting of a tenderly mothering Mary and infant Jesus, medieval
pilgrims commissioned the original selfies – freelance votive images of
themselves at prayer. The medieval French Crusader Lord de Coucy painted
his family crest on a column sometime in the 12th century. There is
another medieval coat of arms etched on the wall of the Chapel of
Joseph, beneath the Catholic section of the church.</div>
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Lisa
Mahoney, a medieval art historian at DePaul University, says there is
a link between the centuries-old paintings high on the columns and the
modern graffiti below.</div>
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"When
people visited a place like this, a church that marked the site of a
sacred event, it was important to them that they left some physical
trace of their visit behind," Mahoney said. "This is the place where the
divine entered the world so it makes it a special place for
communicating with the divine. It's a place where there's been a real
meeting of the earthly and heavenly realms."</div>
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Historians
have noted the Crusader artwork, but the graffiti has so far attracted
scant attention. Stern said it illuminates the life and practices of
ordinary souls discarded by history. "We have these small voices from
the past that otherwise would totally disappear," she said.</div>
</div>
Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-27730197372462961952013-12-23T09:09:00.002-08:002013-12-23T09:09:31.465-08:00Up in the gods<img alt="The Guardian home" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/static/2893e1c331bc96900e0b9d7d6ef715d337bf53e9/common/images/logos/the-guardian/news.gif" /><br />
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Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity: saving the angels at Jesus's birthplace</h1>
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Italian craftsmen have won the Palestinian Authority's tender to repair the fourth-century church and Unesco heritage site</div>
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______________________________<wbr></wbr>______________________________<wbr></wbr>______<br /><div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/profile/matthew-kalman" rel="author" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Matthew Kalman</a></span></span> in Bethlehem</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">The Guardian</a>, Monday 23 December 2013 14.53 GMT</span><br />
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<img alt="Bethlehen Church of the Nativity" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjzhPf1RbMZ25vdw4fBCN2owCH1peA4sM-bFAZ8EyR0uX2S9oOnlTzJ0OtdA-5C0sVYON_nUvm8GV4_oEiynAcWI7DqY8SSfDsw8RmTRsPVUaHByk9Zp0vqbSEZvo1KZJP-au7xVQAPTt5LRvp3BEExOXop3c4fyl56Ru_Be9Re6f4sfBUfxgJ718bgmun6iTrZ-XJyPxuM_Wq7ubAiDiUAzJ0C9cf3rcc5X3DyZNI6uq3_ojE=s0-d-e1-ft" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="460" /><div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>
The
sixth-century nave constructed by the Emperor Justinian is undergoing
massive restoration work. Photograph: Abed Al Hashlamoun/EPA</b></span></div>
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Italian
craftsmen have begun urgent repairs to the centuries-old roof of the
Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, first constructed in the fourth
century over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born 2,000 years
ago.</div>
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"Water
leaks, earthquakes and incidents that happened here in Bethlehem had a
negative impact on the whole structure and especially on the roof of the
church," said Ziad Bandak, head of the Palestinian committee overseeing
the work. "The leakage of the water affected the structure, the wood,
the walls and the frescoes and mosaics inside."</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
Marcello
Piacenti, head of the family business that has been lovingly restoring
the ancient shrines of Europe for six generations, said he was honoured
to have won the international tender issued by the Palestinian Authority
to repair crumbling pine and cedar timbers up to 800 years old and a
lead roof donated by Edward IV of England in 1479.</div>
<span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: auto;"><img alt="Church of Nativity in Bethlehem" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjcIK-tkr_05G5Gyg1fsm_BPMw6MvRFNl0Gosk28g0pdghEO8lAaxD0th7TOntvT1ibvogxOpkmjbYMGzNYrwI523wkHmsvzsGtNLWXl0VVHgWJBkgSKWgs6spzguawl2aKe_fhCSQJ9k0Unww2AmwfTFkFThcCgbkM8NJdCYsSdicdMuhSwpLekNS3rFzUr2zF1A18fweb3fzSlOqmh5q5wDxGId4m7o3InDUFh1PHiVEom9U=s0-d-e1-ft" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px; padding: 5px 0px 0px;" width="460" /><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; display: block; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 13px; padding: 0px; width: 460px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Visitors light candles in the church. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters</b></span></span></span><div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
"It's
very emotional to work here," Piacenti said as his experts applied
protective gauze to a gold-leaf mosaic of an angel high in the rafters
above the sixth-century nave constructed by the Emperor Justinian, and
technicians probed deep into the thick wooden trusses to check for
hidden damage. "This ancient structure has withstood the centuries and
we hope to make our contribution to its continuing presence here."</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
The
leaky roof has sparked regular clashes between mop-wielding monks from
the Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Catholic churches over who has
authority to clean which parts of the shrine shared between the three
denominations under a brittle arrangement known as the status quo. The
water damage has also harmed many of the wall frescoes and mosaics that
date back to Crusader times and beyond.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
In
2009, the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, fearful that the church
might collapse, issued a decree to repair the building that the warring
parties that run the church finally accepted.</div>
<span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: auto;"><img alt="Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEjWXL3WdrnV12Xe6no6VQBOSI5qCV33poomj63Gga42htkGxKPBdMqYOBz9CFACReTnkD5sVnNdqq9pLh9sjG8mfCGonU7DKImKTUy9zOn6b4FjGXKrIFw48UW3MR2Er6npN3HULsiV5EjJa_9wTQRMYCfSiaX-kMW6CKZabwBmjgvmU4YFuf1lOf6k8Xiw1PSH28qQtMkEuGDvNaOOwlPat995FECq-seYY9Yh46YqC21IibY=s0-d-e1-ft" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px; padding: 5px 0px 0px;" width="460" /><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; display: block; line-height: 1.25; margin: 0px 0px 13px; padding: 0px; width: 460px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>A Greek Orthodox priest walks inside the Church of the Nativity ahead of Christmas in Bethlehem. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters</b></span></span></span><div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
But
despite being declared a Unesco heritage site in 2012, the Palestinians
were able to raise only €2m of the €15m (£12.5m) required for the full
renovation of the building. In this first phase, expected to last until
next September, Piacenti's men, together with five Palestinian
colleagues, will repair or replace the roof lead and timbers and the
church's 18 upper windows.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
"After we have stopped all the water leakage I hope it will be possible
to begin restoring the other materials," said Piacenti. "There are many
angels up here. I hope we can save them."</div>
</div>
</div>
Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-65734257830448497812013-12-23T08:53:00.000-08:002013-12-23T08:53:07.658-08:00All ears<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; float: left; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: auto!important;">
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Israeli PM condemns US and UK spying on predecessor as 'unacceptable'</h1>
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• NSA and GCHQ targeted email address of Ehud Olmert</div>
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• Binyamin Netanyahu demands explanation for US spying</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/profile/matthew-kalman" rel="author" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Matthew Kalman</a></span></span> in Jerusalem</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">theguardian.com</a>, Monday 23 December 2013 16.26 GMT</span><br />
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<img alt="Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEj_8d3rEOfJ89gMUfloICcq4rIS8fOZ3MQsIEKcZVu0SjZis8e7hhkF5Bo1TawUdVbRnEdNx9KwJQkRDURs7ddZzcsypPqlco46s7AJwg8osc4tq7Bx7GLByBqWKc0AKGjYX_Q1wRzboemkdqwfv9TDDAZG30qAcXdyL_QJsqf69rQLfJyWsv4OYzdbzBbyVcUJhM-lB6_7edXT3lx6ivyjqV0fqHrnx0jpIAKefm0wk5X80qJMFyR_AB7tKfH83p9mOdWOiYE=s0-d-e1-ft" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; margin: 0px auto 5px; padding: 0px;" width="400" /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Israeli
prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu chairs a weekly cabinet meeting at
his office in Jerusalem on Sunday. Photograph: Gali Tibbon/AP</b></span></div>
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The
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has broken his silence over
revelations that British and US spy agencies had targeted one of his
predecessors, condemning the activities as “unacceptable”.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
Papers leaked by Edward Snowden, and <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/20/gchq-targeted-aid-agencies-german-government-eu-commissioner" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">published by the Guardian on Friday</a>,
revealed that GCHQ in association with the National Security Agency had
targeted an email address used by the Israeli prime minister when Ehud
Olmert was in office.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
Three
further Israeli targets appeared on GCHQ documents, including another
email address understood to have been used to send messages between the
then Israeli defence minister, Ehud Barak, and his chief of staff, Yoni
Koren.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
“I
have asked for an examination of the matter,” Netanyahu told members of
his ruling Likud Party at a meeting of the parliamentary faction in the
Knesset on Monday. “In the close relationship between Israel and the
United States, there are things that are prohibited and that are
unacceptable to us.”</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
Netanyahu
had pointedly avoided addressing the growing storm at a meeting of the
Israeli cabinet the previous day, prompting widespread media comment in
Israel that he was attempting to stifle discussion on the embarrassing
revelations about the behaviour of Israel’s closest strategic ally.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
Israel
has given undertakings not to spy on the United States since the arrest
and life imprisonment of US naval intelligence analyst Jonathan Pollard
in 1987 for spying on behalf of Israel.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
Netanyahu
and other Israeli leaders across the political spectrum, as well as
senior retired US security officials, have unsuccessfully petitioned
successive presidents to release Pollard, who has served a longer
sentence than any other spy in the US. Although Netanyahu repeated his
claim on Monday that the two matters should not be connected, he
pointedly met with Pollard’s wife Esther in Jerusalem and posted a video
of their handshake <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0q6aaNqiKQ&feature=c4-overview&list=UU4XJnRPZjXhgvVMhXKNSJvQ" style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">on his YouTube channel </a>in response to a new groundswell of protest demanding Pollard’s immediate release in light of the latest revelations.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
“I
have met with Esther Pollard and updated her on our ceaseless efforts
to liberate Jonathan. He should have been released long ago. I think
that’s understood by everyone here, and also understood by large and
growing sectors in the United States,” said Netanyahu.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
Israel
and the US are locked in sensitive diplomatic manoeuvring around the
peace talks with the Palestinians. This new issue could not have arisen
at a worse time.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
Several
Israeli ministers had already broken ranks and protested publicly about
NSA surveillance. Israeli anger at the US was exacerbated by a report
in Yedioth Ahronoth, the country’s largest-selling newspaper, that a US
marine rented an apartment in June 2009 directly opposite the private
home of Ehud Barak, a former prime minister and military chief of staff
who was then Israel’s defence minister.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
“Israeli
intelligence detected sizeable amounts of electronic equipment
delivered to the US-rented apartment,” Yedioth reported, together with
diagrams of the sophisticated laser spying devices that might have been
used to eavesdrop on Barak’s private conversations via the vibrations of
the windows of his home.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
Strategic
affairs minister Yuval Steinitz and other officials said the NSA and
GCHQ would have learned little of value from the email addresses and
phone lines they apparently intercepted, which were publicly listed
contact points and not used for the transmission of sensitive
information.</div>
<div style="background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 13px; padding: 0px;">
Oved
Yehezkel, a former military intelligence officer who was cabinet
secretary to then prime minister Olmert, said it was assumed that
communications between Israeli leaders were being monitored by their
closest friends in Washington. “Of course we knew. Anyone who thinks
that friends and allies don't spy on each other should re-read John le
Carré,” Yehezkel said.</div>
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Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-55815463804630750592013-12-21T08:40:00.001-08:002013-12-21T08:40:58.668-08:00Chinese FM wraps up MidEast tour<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Wang Yi meets Palestinian & Israeli leaders to boost peace talks </b></span><br />
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CCTV, December 21, 2013<br />
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By Matthew Kalman
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has left Israel and the West Bank to continue his tour of the Middle East. His next stop will be Algeria. During the past few days, Wang met leaders from both Palestine and Israel to boost the peace process.
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China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, has ended three days of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, just days after telling a symposium on foreign affairs that China was conducting its diplomacy across the world with a broader vision and more enterprising spirit to make a greater contribution to world peace and stability.
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In Ramallah, he threw Chinese support firmly behind the peace talks between Palestine and Israel.
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"War does not solve the problems. Violence increases the hatred. The peace talks are the appropriate and the only path," he said.
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He celebrated 25 years of official Chinese-Palestinian relations and pledged Chinese support for training and infrastructure projects.
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In Jerusalem, Minister Wang told Israeli technology executives to imagine a car built with a Jewish brain and a Chinese engine. And he told Israeli President Shimon Peres that Israelis must work for peace.
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"Peace needs to be made through taking initiative and will not happen on its own. Peace needs be won with hard work rather than waiting," he said.
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But the Palestinians are hoping that China’s interests extend beyond economics.
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"China is interested in seeing the peace process successful, meeting the demands of the Palestinian people. Thus far the role of China in the peace process is not wide. We hope it will be increased because to us China will play a balancing role at least to counter the biased, double-standard role that the Americans keep in this Israeli-Palestinian conflict," said Abdullah Abdullah, Fatah Deputy Int'l Commissioner.
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One of the major projects being financed by the Chinese government is the new $4m Palestinian Ministry of foreign affairs being constructed here in Ramallah. Palestinian leaders are hoping that this visit from the Chinese foreign minister will mark the beginning of a new phase, not just in support for Palestinian diplomats but also support for Palestinian diplomacy.
<br />Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-87097060079712569262013-12-18T07:35:00.000-08:002013-12-18T07:36:12.987-08:00Rare visit suggests new profile<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Trade high on agenda during Wang Yi’s visit to Israel </b></span><br />
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CCTV, December 18, 2013<br />
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By CCTV reporter Matthew Kalman<br />
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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is in Jerusalem to begin three days of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders before continuing his tour of the Middle East.
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China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in Tel Aviv on Tuesday for a three-day visit to Israel and Palestine - the first visit by such a senior Chinese official since 2009 - almost as rare as the raging snowstorm that has paralyzed Jerusalem and Ramallah for most of the past week.
High on his agenda with Israeli leaders are the soaring trade relations between Israeli and China, which have grown in the past 20 years from $50 million to more than $8 billion a year.
China is a major consumer and investor in Israel’s fast-growing high tech industry. Israeli technology is also helping to solve China’s problems with water, waste and agriculture. The largest water desalination plant in China was built by an Israeli company.<br />
"Israel and China are complementary economies. China has the market. Israel has the technology. Israel has the sophistication to bring China to a more modern more developed economy. That’s exactly what China lacks. It’s the edge that Israel is able to offer China." said Aurora Colson, Israel-Asia Investment Analyst.<br />
While the United States has long been involved in the Middle East, some analysts are asking whether Beijing will also raise its diplomatic profile on such issues as the Iranian nuclear program and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Dore Gold, Israel’s former ambassador to the United Nations, is one of many high-ranking Israelis who have made semi-official visits to Beijing recently to seek a common language on the region’s strategic issues.<br />
"I would expect that China could play a greater role in the Middle East but I’m not sure China is coming to replace the United States. It’s my understanding that what’s most important for China is a stable Middle East. With China drawing so much of its energy and oil from this region, I’m sure they would like to contribute to a strategically balanced Middle East." said Dore Gold, President, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.<br />
This rare visit by the foreign minister comes just as Jerusalem is recovering from its worst winter storms in 50 years and all sides hope that it’s a sign of the increasing thaw in relations between the two countries.Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-36522391551200755152013-12-12T21:53:00.000-08:002013-12-12T21:53:09.591-08:00<a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/index.html" style="background-color: white; color: #797979; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><img alt="The Daily Beast" height="139" src="http://cdn.thedailybeast.com/etc/clientlibs/dailybeast/img/logo/daily-beast.png.dimg.png/ec59a4a.cached.png" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" width="116" /></a><div>
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Confused by the current frenzied round of Middle East diplomacy? Me too. Until I imagine it as a Hollywood movie.<br /><br />Here’s my elevator pitch. Working title: A Foreign Affair. It’s a bit like When Harry Met Sally meets Knocked Up meets Dr Strangelove.<br /><br />Doe-eyed but flint-hearted former Mossad lovely Tzipi (Meryl Streep) and chubby, eloquent but iron-minded Saeb (Danny DeVito) are neighbors and on-again, off-again friends/rivals. They are each happily married with their own families and there is no question of an affair—but that simmering tension provides a backdrop for the drama that follows. Saeb has threatened to leave the neighborhood before and has planted a For Sale notice in his front yard several times, but he keeps changing his mind at the last minute.<br /><br />Along comes steel-jawed, helmet-haired, former war hero John (Clint Eastwood) and asks them to look after his love-child, Salaam, due in nine months. John will not be around much longer and so he must entrust the child to their safe-keeping. They each owe him big time for past favors and they cannot refuse his request.<br /><br />Alas, neither Tzipi and Saeb, sadly, can have children of their own. This could be their one slim chance of parenthood. For their own reasons, they cannot afford to pass it up. There’s also a back story on each that we won’t go into—a violent past, lots of suffering, various disappointing father figures.</div>
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<b><i>READ THE FULL POST <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/12/if-the-peace-talks-were-a-movie.html" target="_blank">HERE</a></i></b></div>
Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-57508120832854811872013-12-06T12:19:00.000-08:002013-12-10T08:09:30.471-08:00US tries hard sell on security plan<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Kerry attempts to kick start peace talks</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">CCTV, December 6, 2013</span><br />
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<b>By MATTHEW KALMAN, CCTV Correspondent</b><br />
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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has returned to the Middle East where renewed peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians have made little progress after almost two dozen meetings.</div>
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US Secretary of State John Kerry returned to the Middle East on Thursday for the eighth time this year, shuttling between Jerusalem and Ramallah in yet another effort to push forward the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks which appear to be stalled after 20 sessions.</div>
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High on this morning’s agenda with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was a security plan for the West Bank drafted by General John Allen, former commander of US forces in Afghanistan.</div>
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"Israel’s security is fundamental to these negotiations... This morning Gen Allen and I provided Prime Minister Netanyahu and his military leadership with some thoughts about that particular security challenge," said Kerry.</div>
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But Netanyahu indicated that Israel will take some convincing before making any concessions</div>
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"Israel is ready for a historic peace, and it’s a peace based on two states for two peoples. It’s a peace that Israel can and must be able to defend by itself with our own forces against any foreseeable threat," said Netanyanhu.</div>
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Despite Kerry’s public commitment, analysts say Israeli leaders feel betrayed by the Geneva deal over Iran’s nuclear program and no longer trust the United States to put Israel’s security at the top of the agenda.</div>
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"Israel is very concerned about security issues. The United States is in no position now to reassure Israel that it will protect Israeli security after what happened in Geneva. We’re talking primarily about the area of the Jordan Valley the border with Jordan. Israel is very reluctant to give up that territory because there are no international guarantees, so there’s going to be a lot of scepticism over whatever Kerry brings," said Gerald Steinberg, Bar-ilan university.</div>
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This Israeli fortified position helps them keep control over the Jordan Valley and Jericho behind me where the peace talks have been held for the last few months. And it’s precisely control of this area that has become one of the major sticking points during the peace talks. Now the United States is presenting a new security plan designed to solve precisely that problem.</div>
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In Ramallah, Kerry had to convince the equally sceptical Palestinians that Israel really is serious about helping to create a viable Palestinian state while it continues to build settlements on the West Bank. Kerry remained optimistic but in a gesture that spoke louder than words, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not emerge to speak to reporters after the meeting.</div>
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"I don’t think people should fool themselves. There is no peace talks. There are meetings searching for formulas and the real negotiations are between Israelis and Israeli negotiators on what the best formula for security and economy and for containment of the Palestinians. Everybody knows that Mr Netanyahu is not going to deliver, everybody is expecting to maintain the status quo as is," said Dr. Mahdi Abdul Hadi, Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of Int'l Affairs.</div>
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Despite the scepticism on both sides, Kerry hopes that the talks in Jericho can dissipate the dark clouds of conflict that have hung over this region for generations.</div>Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-73292221639333596962013-12-06T05:09:00.001-08:002013-12-06T05:09:16.436-08:00What Israelis and Palestinians think of Kerry<span style="font-size: medium;"><b>News Analysis: Kerry bids to revive peace talks amid slim hope</b></span><br /><br />XINHUA NEWS 2013-12-06 <br /><br />by Matthew Kalman<br /><br />JERUSALEM, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry returned to the Middle East this week for his eighth visit this year trying to save the stalled talks, but analysts here predict slim prospect for his fresh efforts.<br /> <br />The current Israeli-Palestinian talks began in July but appeared to be stuck after 20 sessions in Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Jericho, half-way through the nine-month time frame agreed with the Americans. At least one recent negotiating session has been cancelled. One of the two main Palestinian negotiators, Mohammed Ishtayeh, has resigned, saying the gaps between the two sides block any chance of reaching a peace deal.<br /> <br />But Kerry remains optimistic, declaring that he perceives "some progress" where others see very little.<br /><br />While the core issues of refugees, borders, settlements and Jerusalem remained firmly unresolved, Kerry set out to demonstrate U.S. resolve on one practical issue by presenting a plan for future security arrangement drafted by General John Allen, the former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan.<br /> <br />The plan was designed to meet Israeli demands that the Jordan Valley would not become a porous route for militants entering the West Bank via Jordan, while allaying Palestinian fears that satisfying Israel's security needs effectively meant Israel's continuing occupation of the West Bank.<br /> <br />Analysts, however, said there will be little chance that the security plan presented by Kerry is well received by both sides.<br /><br />Dr. Gerald Steinberg, professor of political science at Bar- Ilan University, said Israelis were dismayed by what they believe was Kerry's eagerness in Geneva to accept "a bad deal" over the Iranian nuclear program and had no intention of accepting U.S. promises when it came to the security of Israel's eastern border.<br /> <br />"Israel is very concerned about security issues," said Steinberg. "The United States is in no position now to reassure Israel that it will protect Israeli security after what happened in Geneva, so the talks were in crisis before they started and there's no public indication that there is a package on the table. "<br /> <br />"We're talking primarily about the area of the Jordan Valley, the border with Jordan. Israel is very reluctant to give up that territory without international guarantees, so there's going to be a lot of skepticism over whatever Kerry brings," he said.<br /> <br />From the Palestinian point of view, Kerry's plan seems to favor Israeli security needs over the basic Palestinian demand that the occupation of the West Bank must come to an end, and soon.<br /><br />"What we are witnessing today is a security arrangement proposed by the Americans, focusing on security which is the Israeli obsession," said Dr. Mahdi Abdul Hadi, chairman of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs.<br /> <br />"Israelis are searching for the best formula for security, which means the containment of the Palestinians in cantons. In line with this, here come the Americans with formulas for security like John Allen's formula now with early-warning stations on the West Bank and full Israeli control of the Jordan Valley, maintaining Israeli control of Area C and again containing the Palestinians."<br /> <br />As part of the 1993 Oslo Accords, the West Bank was divided up into three administrative regions: Areas A, B and C.<br /><br />According to these interim accords, Area C, which makes up 60 percent of the West Bank and contains all the major Jewish " settlement blocs," is under full Israeli civil and security control.<br /> <br />Both Steinberg and Abdul Hadi agreed that the talks have achieved very little so far on any of the key issues.<br /><br />"Frankly, the Americans have not done anything to try to resolve those issues because they don't really understand how to deal with them," said Steinberg.<br /> <br />"I don't think people should fool themselves. There are no peace talks. There are meetings searching for formulas," said Abdul Hadi.<br /><br />The Palestinians fear that the U.S. strategy is to normalize Israel's relations with the Arab world without securing full Palestinian statehood.<br /> <br />"Washington comes with a serious message to the Israelis to get out of the military ghetto, to normalize its relationships with the Gulf States and the Arab countries. They want to stop Mr. Netanyahu from spoiling this kind of game," said Abdul Hadi.<br /> <br />"Everybody knows that Mr. Netanyahu is not going to deliver. Everybody is expecting to maintain the status quo as is," he said.<br /><br />But Steinberg disagreed, saying that Netanyahu was determined to move forward on the Palestinian issue, even if he could not fully satisfy Palestinian aspirations for a completely independent state on all of the West Bank.<br /> <br />"My guess is that after nine months, if there's no framework for agreement, there may be Israeli unilateral moves," said Steinberg. "The Israeli government under Prime Minister Netanyahu does not want to see this situation stay at the status quo as it's been since 1967."<br /> <br />Israel will probably take some moves to change the boundaries even if there's no agreement, he said, adding that there will be more territory for the Palestinians, less Israeli involvement except in security issues.<br /> <br />"They are going to take unilateral moves, perhaps like what happened in 2005 when Israel withdrew from Gaza. The only difference now would be that Israel would not withdraw its military presence from vital areas of the West Bank," he predicted.Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-34076539893328091332013-12-02T06:16:00.000-08:002013-12-02T06:16:08.166-08:00Deutsch Files $3 Million Suit Against Israel Antiquities Authority<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Suit
says that the police investigation, lengthy trial and public
denunciation by officials nearly dealt a death-blow to Deutsch’s
academic career and caused the loss of millions of dollars in past and
future business.</i><br /><br />By Matthew Kalman<br /><br />BIBLE & INTERPRETATION<br />December 2013<br /><br />Nearly
two years after the spectacular collapse of the Jerusalem archaeology
forgery trial and his sweeping acquittal on all charges, Robert Deutsch,
proprietor of the Archaeological Center in Old Jaffa, has filed suit
demanding more than $3 million in damages from the Israel Antiquities
Authority, the Jerusalem District Attorney and individual officials
behind the 10-year prosecution. Deutsch, one of the most prominent
antiquities dealers in Israel, was acquitted in March 2012 on all six
charges against him after being accused of “forgery with the intention
of aggravated fraud” of various artifacts together with Tel Aviv
antiquities collector Oded Golan and others.<br /><br />Deutsch filed suit
on 28 November in the Tel Aviv District Court against the Israel
Antiquities Authority, its director Shuka Dorfman, the head of its
anti-theft unit Amir Ganor, the Jerusalem District Attorney and
Assistant District Attorney Dan Bahat who led the prosecution. He is
seeking 12 million shekels ($3.4 million) in damages – an astronomical
sum for Israel. In an interview, Deutsch said the multi-million-dollar
damages demanded were “a drop in the ocean” compared to the wreckage
wrought to his reputation and business by the affair. Deutsch was never
accused of any involvement with the alleged forgery of either the James
Ossuary or Jehoash Tablet, but when those items propelled the sprawling,
18-count indictment sheet into the headlines, as the main co-defendant
his name was yoked to the allegations against Golan.<br /><br /><i><b>READ THE FULL STORY <a href="http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/2013/12/kal378001.shtml" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></i>Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4158297967343252214.post-17799536743415109572013-11-25T03:18:00.002-08:002013-11-25T03:30:53.347-08:00Israel's Arab student revolution<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="color: #3a3a3a; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875em; line-height: 1em;">CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATION</b><span style="color: #3a3a3a; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', sans-serif; font-size: 0.875em; line-height: 1em;"> November 25, 2013</span><br />
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<a href="http://chronicle.com/article/One-Academics-Efforts-Aid/143233/"><b>One Academic's Efforts Aid Arab Students Across Israel</b></a></h1>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSS4wjWaxGAQA_7WtdmLtsEQOlVoFXCNnmFTCiUGIFBCwIiN5irGiELzf0SpPkXODxmxS593jjtRePFtrz97D2kET3SMxxqgLc-3yJ_lC3UdqjalMHh0gWVnzubmadDQ-i7zAsKzT5QT14/s1600/Jabareen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSS4wjWaxGAQA_7WtdmLtsEQOlVoFXCNnmFTCiUGIFBCwIiN5irGiELzf0SpPkXODxmxS593jjtRePFtrz97D2kET3SMxxqgLc-3yJ_lC3UdqjalMHh0gWVnzubmadDQ-i7zAsKzT5QT14/s400/Jabareen.jpg" title="" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Yosef Jabareen is now an assistant professor of architecture and urban planning at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. His efforts there to help Arab students enroll and succeed have inspired a nationwide program. (Oded Bality, AP)</span></td></tr>
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By Matthew Kalman<br />
Haifa, Israel<br />
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A year after Yosef Jabareen graduated from college, the only work he could find was as a hotel waiter or as a night watchman at a Jewish cemetery. Despite having a degree in mechanical engineering from the prestigious Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, he began to suspect that he had little chance of finding work in his field because he was an Arab.<br />
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After switching disciplines and earning advanced degrees from Harvard and the Technion, Mr. Jabareen is now an assistant professor of architecture and urban planning at his alma mater here.<br />
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He is also a key figure in an effort to make sure that other Israelis of Arab descent get access to educational opportunities and don't face the type of discrimination he did.<br />
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Israel recently started a $170-million program designed to end what its education minister has described as the "moral stain" of chronic lack of investment in the educational development of the country's 1.6-million-strong Arab minority. Arabs make up more than 20 percent of Israel's population, but in 2011-12 they were just 12.5 percent of the country's undergraduates, 4.5 percent of Ph.D. students, and just 2 percent of the faculty members at Israeli colleges, according to Israel's Council for Higher Education.<br />
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The new program is based in part on what Mr. Jabareen has done at the Technion, which is often referred to as Israel's MIT.<br />
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<b><i>READ THE FULL STORY <a href="http://chronicle.com/article/One-Academics-Efforts-Aid/143233/" target="_blank">HERE</a></i></b></div>
Matthew Kalmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11277300314060736852noreply@blogger.com0