S Aftershock Survival Summit. Formal_apology0-size-790x0.jpg from humorpix.com. The Non-Aggression Principle. Www.patriotdepot. Is Obama Winning His War on Jerusalem? Jewish World Review May 3, 2010 / 19 Iyar 5770 Is Obama Winning His War on Jerusalem?
By Jonathan Tobin | The Israeli government is walking a fine line as it tries holding out against the Obama administration's demand for a building freeze while simultaneously fending off charges that it is not interested in making peace with the Palestinians. The predictable result is confusion. The Netanyahu government's defiance of the American diktat is contradicted by news reports about a de facto suspension of planning for projects by Israel in those parts of the city under Jordanian occupation between 1948 and 1967.
It isn't clear whether the slow-down of Jewish construction in Jerusalem is merely an attempt by the government to ensure that it will not be taken unaware by housing announcements, as it was during the recent visit of Vice President Joe Biden, or by an actual freeze. This is, as Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said, "a slap in the face" to Israel. JWR contributor Jonathan S. Israel: Stop Blocking School Supplies From Entering Gaza. (Jerusalem) - Israeli authorities should immediately lift restrictions that have left students in Gaza's public schools without textbooks and the most basic school supplies, such as notebooks and pens, Human Rights Watch said today.
Israel severely limits imports into Gaza of a wide variety of basic goods, from food to construction materials. More than a month into the school year, the Israeli restrictions have caused severe shortages that leave students unable to afford supplies such as notebooks. Students are obliged to share or take turns studying from used textbooks and workbooks.
Some did not receive any books for this year's classes. Supplies smuggled through tunnels underneath Gaza's southern border with Egypt have failed to make up for the shortages caused by Israel's arbitrary restrictions on imports of educational materials. RSA Animate - The Secret Powers of Time. Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House: Full Comments. TV: Israel agrees to negotiate over pre-67 lines - World news - Mideast/N.... JERUSALEM — In a dramatic policy shift, Israel's prime minister has agreed to negotiate the borders of a Palestinian state based on the cease-fire line that marks off the West Bank, a TV station reported Monday.
Up to now, Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to spell out his plan for negotiating the border. A senior Israeli official would not confirm outright that the prime minister was now willing to adopt the cease-fire line as a starting point, but said Israel was willing to try new formulas to restart peace talks based on a proposal made by President Barack Obama.
In a speech about the Middle East in May, Obama proposed negotiations based on the pre-1967 line with agreed swaps of territory between Israel and a Palestinian state. Netanyahu reacted angrily, insisting that Israel would not withdraw from all of the West Bank, though that was not what Obama proposed. Krauthammer: Those troublesome Jews. The world is outraged at Israel's blockade of Gaza.
Turkey denounces its illegality, inhumanity, barbarity, etc. The usual U.N. suspects, Third World and European, join in. The Obama administration dithers. But as Leslie Gelb, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations, writes, the blockade is not just perfectly rational, it is perfectly legal.
Gaza under Hamas is a self-declared enemy of Israel -- a declaration backed up by more than 4,000 rockets fired at Israeli civilian territory. In World War II, with full international legality, the United States blockaded Germany and Japan. Oh, but weren't the Gaza-bound ships on a mission of humanitarian relief? Why was the offer refused? Israel has already twice intercepted ships laden with Iranian arms destined for Hezbollah and Gaza.
But even more important, why did Israel even have to resort to blockade? Where possible (Sinai, for example) Israel has traded territory for peace. Land for peace. The result? Ah, but that's the point. Gaza blockade: Iran offers escort to next aid convoy. Hojjatoleslam Ali Shirazi, an aide to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, pledged Tehran would send Revolutionary Guard units to escort Gaza aid convoys.
Photograph: Reuters Iran has warned that it could send Revolutionary Guard naval units to escort humanitarian aid convoys seeking to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza – a move that would certainly be challenged by Israel. Any such Iranian involvement, raised today by an aide to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would constitute a serious escalation of already high tensions with Israel, which accuses Tehran of seeking to build a nuclear weapon and of backing Hamas, the Islamist movement that controls Gaza.
"Iran's Revolutionary Guard naval forces are prepared to escort the peace and freedom convoys that carry humanitarian assistance for the defenceless and oppressed people of Gaza with all their strength," pledged Hojjatoleslam Ali Shirazi, Khamenei's personal representative to the guards corps. New aid ship heads to Gaza, Israel vows to stop it. Klein: ‘Israel may strike Iran next month.’ Country secures bord. Egypt vows to try those who targeted Israel mission.