Aug
10
By Michael Freund Jerusalem PostÂ
After repeated delays, the trial of a Bangladeshi Muslim editor arrested
for advocating ties with Israel began in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, editor of the Weekly Blitz, an
English-language newspaper published in the Bangladeshi capital, is
facing a series of charges that include sedition.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.
In November 2003, Choudhury was arrested at Dhaka’s international
airport just prior to boarding a flight on his way to Israel, where he
was scheduled to deliver an address on promoting understanding between
Muslims and Jews. His visit to Israel would have been the first by a
Bangladeshi journalist.
Bangladesh does not recognize Israel’s existence.
Since his arrest, Choudhury has been subjected to various forms of
intimidation and harassment. Two years ago, the offices of his newspaper
were the target of an attempted bombing by unknown assailants.
In the first day of testimony this week, the prosecution called Abdul
Hanif, the officer in charge at the airport when Choudhury was detained.
Hanif accused Choudhury of being anti-Islamic, and said that he had
“praised Jews and Christians” and defamed Bangladesh. The hearings were
then adjourned.
Contacted by The Jerusalem Post, a spokeswoman for the Bangladeshi
Mission to the United Nations declined to comment on the case, saying
she was not familiar with the details.
Dr. Richard Benkin, an American Jewish activist who has been leading the
fight on Choudhury’s behalf, told the Post that while he was clearly
concerned about the trial, he nonetheless remains cautiously optimistic.
“The judge conducted himself in a judicially correct and professional
manner today, something we never experienced under the previous
government which initiated these charges,” Benkin said.
In a message sent to his supporters abroad after the conclusion of the
first day of hearings, Choudhury remained upbeat, declaring: “Now my
luck hangs in the balance of being either acquitted from the charges by
the court or accorded capital punishment.”
“But let us remain strong. Pray for me, for God is with us and we shall
win,” he said.
Aug
6
Members of the Egyptian Unique Moustache Association: We Respect the
Moustache of Hitler Because He Humiliated the World’s Most Despicable Sect
Following are excerpts from an interview with members of the Egyptian Unique
Moustache Association, which aired on Egyptian TV on July 11, 2008.
To view this clip, visit www.memritv.org/clip/en/1829.htm.
Interviewer: “I’m sure many people have pressured you to shave off your
moustache, saying, ‘What is this? Enough of that.’”
Association head Fathi Ahmad Mahmoud “Moustache”: “My personality forces
people to treat me with respect.”
Interviewer: “Didn’t your friends, relatives, your wife, or your children
say ‘Enough is enough?’”
Fathi Ahmad Mahmoud “Moustache”: “They are all proud of me. My youngest boy,
Nader, calls himself ‘Nader Moustache.’ Get it? All his friends call him
‘Nader Moustache.’”
[…]
Interviewer: “Do you respect all types of moustaches - regardless of their
size, length, or width?”
Allam Muhammad Abdel Al-Halim: “Of course.”
Interviewer: “Even Hitler’s moustache?”
Captain Sayyed Shahada: “By the way, I respect the moustache of this Hitler,
because he humiliated the most despicable sect in the world. He subdued the
people who subdued the whole world - him with his ‘11′ moustache. By the
way, that kind of moustache is called ‘11.’ The generation of this Hitler…
When I was little, my father, may he rest in peace, grew that kind of
moustache, and so did all his classmates. They all had this ‘11′ moustache.
That was in the days of Hitler… My father… ”
Interviewer: “That was the fashion back then.”
Captain Sayyed Shahada: “Exactly. I should know - my father was a barber.”
[…]
Fathi Ahmad Mahmoud “Moustache”: “We have different styles. One style is
‘the Douglas.’ Then there’s ‘the Pretzel,’ which is rolled like this… The
‘Two Swords’ style stands up like that… The ‘Mafroud’ is flat like a
ruler. Another style is the ‘Carter,’ which comes out from here and is very
wide.”
Interviewer: “What is it called?”
Fathi Ahmad Mahmoud “Moustache”: “The ‘Carter.’ We have two special hair
designers, Muhammad Salomon and Yasser Imam. They are the association’s
designers. They designed all these styles.” […]
Fathi Ahmad Mahmoud “Moustache”: “In the days of King Farouq, anybody who
grew a moustache would get a raise.”
Interviewer: “Really?”
Fathi Ahmad Mahmoud “Moustache”: “Yes, they would get a raise.”
Memri
Aug
3
Son of Hamas leader who converted to Christianity slams Hamas
Filed Under Terrorism | Leave a Comment
Interview: Son of Hamas leader who converted to Christianity slams Hamas
“You Jews should be aware: You will never, but never have peace with Hamas.
Islam, as the ideology that guides them, will not allow them to achieve a
peace agreement with the Jews. They believe that tradition says that the
Prophet Mohammed fought against the Jews and that therefore they must
continue to fight them to the death. They have to take revenge against
anyone who did not agree to accept the Prophet Mohammed, like the Jews who
are seen in the Koran as monkeys and the sons of pigs. They speak in terms
of historical rights that were taken from them. In the view of Hamas, peace
with Israel contradicts sharia and the Koran, and the Jews have no right to
remain in Palestine.”
Read more
Jul
29
IDF starts using new laser system near Gaza
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment
Jul. 29, 2008 Yaakov Katz , THE JERUSALEM POST
www.jpost.com
/servlet/Satellite?cid=1215331128662&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Alongside production of the Iron Dome interceptor, Rafael is also in the
midst of developing a solid-based laser system that is believed to be the
future in short-range missile interception. The Jerusalem Post has learned
that a prototype of the model is already used by the IDF Southern Command to
detonate explosive devices planted alongside the border fence.
“With the laser, there is no need to send troops across the border to
destroy the bomb,” one official explained.
The Defense Ministry is also closely following the development of a Star
Wars-like laser beam system recently ordered by the United States government
to help defend troops operating in Iraq and Afghanistan under the threat of
short-range rockets and mortar shells.
Called the Laser Air Defense System (LADS), the platform is under
development by Raytheon in the US and was put on display earlier this month
at the Farnborough defense expo in England.
Israeli defense officials said that the Defense Ministry’s Research and
Development Directorate was closely tracking the development of the system
and that if it was operational before the Iron Dome - currently under
development by Rafael Defense Systems - it was possible that Israel would
purchase it to help defend against mortars and Kassam rockets fired from the
Gaza Strip.
In June, Raytheon tested a prototype solid-state laser weapon which it said
was designed to intercept rockets, mortars and missiles at significant
ranges. LADS, according to the company, may be operational within the coming
year and combines the capabilities of the 20-millimeter Phalanx rapid-fire
cannon with the power and effectiveness of lasers to provide fast and
precise direction of laser energy on target.
In static ground testing conducted with the US government, the LADS
demonstration used a proven, off-the-shelf solid-state laser coupled with
commercially available optics technology to detonate 60-millimeter mortars
at a range greater than 550 yards within the required time limit.
“In just six short months, Raytheon and government engineers went from an
idea to operational field-testing of a solid-state laser system that offers
the potential of near-term protection for our troops,” said Mike Booen,
Raytheon’s Missile Systems vice president of Advanced Missile Defense and
Directed Energy Weapons.
“Our solid-state LADS proves you don’t have to wait another three to five
years for solid-state lasers to have military utility on the battlefield.
They are ready now, with no chemicals required.”
Jul
28
Hamas: Al- Qassam website stopped from working on the World Wide Web after a fierce campaign by the Zionist lobby
Filed Under Terrorism | Leave a Comment
www.alqassam.ps/english/
Following the opening of Al Qassam Brigades website with the new design,
which marked by easily browsing and introducing update news services to the
thousands of participants and the great boom that the site has received by
the visitors, so the Zionists became angry. As a Zionist official parties
have launched a fierce campaign against Al Qassam website, which tried to
exhibit the website for the entire world that it is a web-terrorist
supporter. The Zionist lobby worked around the clock to put pressure on the
company which is hosting the site, instigating and accusing the company of
sponsoring and supporting terrorism, as the Zionists internet hackers tried
more than once to penetrate the website, but our engineers were able to
repel these attacks.
Several prominent Zionist officials in Russia have moved along with rights
institutions and two of the largest Zionist organizations upon there in
order to stop the website from working. Recently, a Zionist parliamentary
delegation includes eleven Knesset members visited Russia and they met with
members of Robert Aellatov Knesset (Israel Baituna) and Ze’ev Alkinim(
Kadima Party), with the Vice President of the Russian Federal Council
Alexandre Rocha, who promised the Zionists to stop hosting Al Qassam website
service provided by the Russian company Data Force, he said, “We and Israel
are in the same boat either we swim together or we sink together”. After all
these contacts and pressure, the company of Russian Data Force decided to
stop providing services to the website, considering the website as a danger
threat on the lives and the security of people in the world.
Al Qassam Brigades information office assure the visitors from the Arab,
Islamic world and the supporters of the Palestinian case people and his
resistance against the usurper Zionist occupation.
Our engineers are working for re-opening Al Qassam website to the World Wide
Web soon and we would say that these attacks and harassments will not deter
us from continuing our electronic resistance and delivering the voice and
the Palestinian resistance, which defends the Palestinian people, and it is
striving to recover the usurped rights, because we are aware that the battle
media battle is as important as the battle field with the Zionist
occupation.
Ezzedeen Al-Qassam Brigades
Information Office
July 27th,2008
Jul
25
What asked Obama to G-d in the Wailing Wall?
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment
The Israeli newspaper Maariv showed a picture of the message left by Barack Obama in the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, during his visit in Israel this week. Here is the picture:
Jul
16
AMEX Bank Sued by Hizbollah Victims
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment
First American Correspondent Bank to be Sued for Aiding Terrorist
Organization Facing $650 Million in Damages
85 Victims of Hizbollah Terrorist Rocket Attacks File Unprecedented Civil
Suit Against American Express Bank in New York Court
Eighty five American, Israeli and Canadian victims of Hizbollah terror
attacks have filed an historic civil action in the New York Supreme Court
in Manhattan against American Express Bank Ltd. (”AMEX Bank”) and the
Lebanese-Canadian Bank SAL (”LCB”). The suit, Licci v. American Express
Bank, requests $650 million in compensatory damages and an unspecified sum
of punitive damages.
Amex Bank, headquartered in New York, serves as one of LCB’s correspondent
banks the United States, and in that capacity processes LCB’s dollar
transactions. LCB’s main office is in Beirut, and it has branches
throughout Lebanon and a branch in Canada.
The plaintiffs, whose family members were killed or who were themselves
injured by rocket attacks fired at northern Israel by Hizbollah in the
summer of 2006, allege that AMEX Bank and LCB unlawfully executed millions
of dollars in wire transfers for Hizbollah between 2004 and 2006. The
plaintiffs assert that Hizbollah used the funds transferred by Amex Bank
and LCB to prepare and carry out the rocket attacks which the terrorist
organization rained on Israeli cities between July 12 and August 14, 2006.
The plaintiffs rest their claims in part on written findings issued by the
New York State Banking Department last year, which determined that AMEX
Bank had failed to establish adequate procedures to prevent terrorism
financing as demanded by state and federal law. This is the first lawsuit
brought by terror victims against an U.S. financial institution that
serves as a correspondent for a bank in Lebanon.
The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Robert J. Tolchin Esq. of New
York City, and Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Esq. of Israel.
Attorney Darshan-Leitner stated that: “Hizbollah is a financial giant
which is deeply entrenched in the Lebanese banking system. Any U.S. bank
that serves as correspondent for a Lebanese bank may well be aiding and
abetting Hizbollah terrorism, and runs the risk of serious civil
liability. U.S. correspondents for Lebanese banks owe it to themselves and
to their shareholders to carefully examine and re-evaluate their
relationships with banks in Lebanon.”
According to attorney Tolchin: “There will be more suits to come against
Lebanese banks and their U.S. correspondents.”
A copy of the complaint is available here:
www.snapdrive.net/public.php?action=download&id=33e970e810c4
Jul
15
While Israel unconditionally talks with Syria - Germany says Syria should stop arms smuggling
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment
Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA: While the Olmert team contributed generously to
the rehabilitation of Syria’s international status by engaging in indirect
talks without first requiring Syria to take serious action to stop the
smuggling to Lebanon, the Germans warn that such action is called for.
Then again - with Israel so anxious for any bone President Assad will throw
to it, one can hardly blame the Europeans if they ultimately proceed with
their relations with Syria while ignoring the smuggling.]
“If Syria aims to show its good will with this announcement then it could
also follow up with good deeds and that would include, for example, a
readiness to ensure that the alleged — at least never ruled-out — weapons
smuggling over the land route to the Hezbollah militias is stopped,” Steg
said. “That would also contribute to the security of Lebanon.”
Berlin Signs Repatriation Deal With Syria
Deutsche Welle (Germany)Middle East | 14.07.2008
www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3483911,00.html
German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble signed a repatriation agreement
with his Syrian counterpart Bassam Abdelmajid in Berlin Monday, July 14. The
deal followed talks between Chancellor Merkel and President Assad.
The agreement provided a basis for sending back not only Syrian nationals
required to leave Germany, but also nationals of other countries and
stateless persons who had the right to be in Syria, Schaeuble said.
The new agreement was in line with modern European practice and would make a
significant contribution to combating illegal migration from the Middle
East, he said.
A spokeswoman for the German Interior Ministry said that some 7,000 of the
28,350 Syrian nationals currently in Germany were obliged to leave the
country.
Abdelmajid’s visit to Berlin was unexpectedly announced last week. The
Syrian minister did not speak to the press and had no public engagements.
In another unexpected development marking a thaw in relations between the
two countries that have long been strained, German Chancellor Angela Merkel
met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Paris at the launch of the Union for
the Mediterranean on Sunday.
Assad comes out of the cold
At the meeting of 43 heads of state and government from the European Union
and countries of the Mediterranean littoral, Assad agreed to establish
formal diplomatic links with Lebanon for the first time.
Assad ended his international isolation by attending the summit, which
included indirect talks through Turkey between him and Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert.
Germany has long demanded that Syria should recognize Lebanon’s sovereignty
and integrity and should cease interfering in domestic Lebanese politics.
Merkel’s spokesman, Thomas Steg, said Monday the chancellor hoped that
“deeds would soon follow words” and that formal ties between the two Middle
Eastern neighbors would soon be established.
“We want to see actions now because enough words have been exchanged,”
Merkel reportedly told the press after her talks with Assad in Paris.
Merkel calls for more action on arms smuggling
Steg said Merkel had also called for an end to weapons smuggling across the
border to the Syrian-backed Hezbollah movement.
Steg said Berlin and the international community were now waiting for Syria
to follow through on its pledge and to address other problems that had led
to its pariah status.
“If Syria aims to show its good will with this announcement then it could
also follow up with good deeds and that would include, for example, a
readiness to ensure that the alleged — at least never ruled-out — weapons
smuggling over the land route to the Hezbollah militias is stopped,” Steg
said. “That would also contribute to the security of Lebanon.”
Arms smuggling between Lebanon and Syria’s 170-kilometer (105-mile) long
border is believed to be rampant.
Israel accuses Syria outright of supplying weapons to the militant Shiite
group Hezbollah.
Diplomatic relations re-established
Syria and Lebanon announced Saturday their decision to establish diplomatic
relations, a first since their independence from colonial rule.
Steg said Syria’s declarations were grounds for hope that it was ready to
end its “in part self-imposed isolation”.
“Now the Syrians must prove that they truly intend to play a responsible
role to bring about peace and security in the Middle East and that they want
to work together constructively,” he said.
Jul
10
Olmert Team sacrifices future of 4 Jewish women to satisfy Goldwasser family?
Filed Under Opinion | Leave a Comment
Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 7 July 2008
When the Olmert Cabinet voted last week to, among other things, provide
information on the fate of four missing Iranian officials in return for the
bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev they ostensibly gave priority to
the need to free Karnit Goldwasser from her aguna (unable to remarry) status
against the chances of trading this information in order to resolve the
status of four other agunot.
I say “ostensibly” because it is far from clear that the Olmert Cabinet even
considered the fates of Nahid Farangian, Simcha Razakansari, Orit Rabizadeh,
and Linda Balazadeh (Ram), the four wives of Iranian Jews arrested in the
1990s as they sought to escape from Iran across the border with Pakistan.
None of these women may remarry because it is believed that their husbands
are still alive and wallowing in
Iranian prisons.
The only bargaining chip Israel holds to help resolve their fate is the
information it has on the Iranian diplomats.
But the Olmert team threw that chip on the huge pile of concessions in the
live terrorists for dead Israeli trade with Hezbollah.
But what of Karmit Goldwasser’s rights?
A key argument that has been raised by supporters of the trade of Kuntar for
Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev is that Goldwasser’s wife, Karnit, is a live
hostage since, under Jewish law, she cannot remarry until it is determined
that her husband is indeed dead.
Is the Rabbinate unable to make this determination in the absence of a body?
A resounding “no”.
Chief Rabbi of the IDF, Rabbi Avichai Ronsky was in the process of making
just this determination when it was put on hold so that the Olmert Cabinet
could vote without knowing if Karnit could be freed from her aguna status
without the bodies-terrorist swap.
But the Olmert Cabinet did not want to know. So the determination was never
made.
Let’s be clear about this.
The obligation of the State to the Goldwasser family to free Carmit from her
aguna status is considerably greater than Israel’s obligation to satisfy the
Goldwasser family’s need to see physical proof that Ehud is indeed dead.
While the former obligation to a woman whose aguna status is the direct
result of his service in the IDF may take precedents over the rights of four
other agunot, it would be obscene to argue that, assuming Karnit can be
released from aguna status by rabbinical ruling , that her right to see
physical proof that her husband is dead takes precedents over the rights of
Nahid Farangian, Simcha Razakansari, Orit Rabizadeh, and Linda Balazadeh
(Ram).
Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
Website: http://www.imra.org.il
Jun
30
Israel accepts it transfers millions to Hamas
Filed Under News | Leave a Comment
PRIME MINISTER TO SHURAT HADIN: “ISRAEL IS TRANSFERRING HUNDREDS OF
MILLIONS OF SHEKELS TO HAMAS IN GAZA”
In an unprecedented admission, the office of Israel’s Prime Minister
revealed today that it is, in fact, allowing the transfer of hundreds of
millions of dollars to the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza due to
“Israeli diplomatic considerations.”
In a response letter sent to Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director
of human rights organization Shurat HaDin - Israel Law Center, the Prime
Minister’s Office (PMO) wrote that the transfer of funds to the Hamas
controlled government in the Gaza Strip does indeed regularly take place
after
“consultations among the relevant bodies.” Shurat HaDin had accused
the Israeli government of secretly transferring hard currency to the
Hamas.
“At this point,” states the PMO’s letter, dated June 25, 2008, “due to
conclusions that there is an Israeli interest that the transfer of
funds continue, a decision was made to continue to transfer certain
sums of money to the Gaza Strip.”
The PMO’s letter was dispatched to Shurat HaDin, an
organization representing hundreds of terror victims in an ongoing
global battle against terror funding, in response to a series of
warning letters from the group to the Prime Minister, the Bank
of Israel and the Israel Postal Bank, in which Shurat HaDin demanded
that all transfers of funds to the Hamas terrorists and Hamas
controlled organs in the Gaza Strip be immediately terminated. .
In the initial letter of warning sent by Shurat HaDin on behalf of
victims of Hamas terror attacks to the PMO, Attorney Nitsana
Darshan-Leitner wrote: “The currency of record in the Gaza Strip is
the New Israeli Shekel (NIS).” Most of the financial activity in the
Gaza Strip runs on a cash basis, using the NIS. Tens of thousands of
Hamas terrorists and governmental official get their salary in Israeli
currency - in cash. Thus, the transfer of large sums of cash into the
Gaza Strip is, by definition, an act that directly fuels the terrorist
activity of Hamas and is therefore a violation of the Terror-Funding
Act of 2005 and the domestic and international laws against money
laundering.”
The warning letters from Shurat HaDin also note that a portion of the
cash funneled into Gaza by Israel is used to replace Israeli currency in
Hamas’
coffers that has physically deteriorated and another portion serves
the international money laundering trade, most notably the money
“smuggled” by Hamas from Iran via the Egyptian border. Without these
criminal acts, Hamas’ financial hold on the Strip would collapse and thus
these measures are directly responsible for shoring up the Hamas control
over Gaza and its continued terrorist activity launched from the
region.
The PMO’s letter reveals for the first time, that the Israeli government
allows and encourages the financial support for the Hamas government in the
Gaza Strip - knowingly and willingly. In reaction to the PMO’s letter
Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner stated that “the government of Israel
cannot fight against the Hamas terrorist organization with one hand, and
continue to secretly finance it with the other. Hypocritically, the Prime
Minister demands governments around the world isolate and and embargo the
Hamas terrorists in Gaza, and stop transferring funds to them while at the
same time he authorizes the transfer of Israeli currency into the hands of
the enemy. This government claims to be fighting against the smuggling of
tens of millions of dollars and euro into the Gaza Strip via the Egyptian
border, all the while participating in the laundering of this money by
exchanging them for New Israeli Shekels.”
“There can be no doubt that the Israeli government’s policy of transferring
shekels is assisting the Hamas terrorists with their missile attacks on the
Negev communities. If the Prime Minister does not immediately halt the
currency transfers to Gaza, Shurat HaDin will take all legal means available
against the government to bring this terror financing to a close.”