A Tragedy Shrouded in Silence: The Destruction of the Arab World's Jewry : Azure - Ideas for the Jewish Nation. A vast diaspora was utterly annihilated, but Israelis rarely talk about it. Preview: The pages are yellowing, nearly disintegrated. For decades they have lain forgotten, stuffed into crates piled high in the archives of Israel’s Ministry of Justice. No one reads them; no one even shows interest. Even now, nearly sixty years after the painful experiences of loss and flight they recount, they still wait for their stories to be told.
In one, a Jewish woman from Alexandria describes her youth in Egypt: After the [1948] war broke out, my mother was arrested in her ninth month of pregnancy, and they wanted to slaughter her; they threatened her with bayonets and abused her…. On another page, Mordechai Karo, also Egyptian-born, testifies about an explosive device planted in a Jewish neighborhood in Cairo in the summer of 1948: “The tremendous explosion killed and injured scores of Jews in the neighborhood. How to explain this omission? Adi Schwartz is an independent journalist and researcher. LIVE: Israel-Gaza violence. Israel-Gaza violence in maps. Note: Locations of areas hit are based on BBC News reports to 20 Nov The Israeli military and Palestinian militants in Gaza are trading fire with air strikes and rocket attacks amid the latest eruption of violence.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called for an immediate ceasefire. Israel's offensive began with the killing of Ahmed Jabari, the leader of Hamas's military wing, on 14 November. His assassination followed months of cross-border violence and mounting tensions. Negotiations to find a peaceful settlement in the region broke down in 2010. Israel is mobilising up to 75,000 army reservists - but Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi has said an Israeli ground invasion would have "serious repercussions".
Rising death toll As of midday on Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that militants in Gaza had fired more than 1,400 rockets towards Israel. Israel had launched over 1,500 strikes on the Gaza strip, the IDF added. How the Iron Dome works Continue reading the main story 1. BBC gets in a muddle on Gaza reporting. Yesterday’s news that Ahmed Said Khalil al-Jabari, a leading Hamas terrorist, had been killed by an Israeli airstrike was met with the usual ham-fisted BBC coverage. To most commonsensical, free-thinking people, Hamas's rocket attacks - which have recently killed three Israeli civilians - were asking for trouble. You might say al-Jabari had it coming. But, lo and behold, the BBC’s report this morning reduced the significance of the recent Hamas rocket attacks on Israel, prefering to lead back-to-front.
The publicly-funded broadcaster reported (09:52am): “Eleven Palestinians – mainly militants but also children - have been killed in the ensuing Israeli operation. I suppose if we weren't such enlightened individuals, we may fall into the trap of believing that rocket attacks only came after Israel's strike. That said, if there is anyone reading this who isn't appalled at the sight of civilian casualties, let alone children, may I suggest you re-assess your outlook on life.
And the madness begins: Israel's detractors out in force. So already the madness has started. No, not Israel's self defence operation against the terrorism from Gaza but the onslaught from Israel's detractors. Already the Israeli action is being presented as a reckless 'escalation' of hostilities, a means of sparking a regional conflagration that will drag in other countries.
The BBC's Jeremy Bowen suggested yesterday that the Israeli operations were part of a ploy by Benjamin Netanyahu to get re- elected. "In the past", he declared "military strikes have been used to send messages about the toughness of Israeli leaders.” In other words, Netanyahu's action was designed to feed the Israeli public's insatiable appetite for conflict.
As we know, what the BBC says really matters because it remains the most influential shaper of public opinion in the UK. In the few days before Israel targeted Ahmed al-Jabari, the head of Hamas' military wing, there had been an unprovoked attack on an Israeli jeep that injured four soldiers, one seriously. Israel kills Hamas commander, bombs Gaza targets.
Simon Hughes's Final Solution - Mail Online - Melanie Phillips's blog. The deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, Simon Hughes, has told the Jewish Chronicle that the time has come to consider a ‘one-state solution’ to the impasse between Israel and the Palestinians. He said: ‘“We are near to the end of the opportunity of being able to get a peaceful two-state solution because of the extent of the settlements.”’ As a result, he thinks that ‘a single federated state in which Muslims, Jews and Christians had separate constitutional rights may now be the best option’. He also spoke about ‘the genuine feelings of anger and frustration felt by his colleagues over Israeli government policy’ such as ‘forced removals of Bedouin and the wall and demolition of houses on the outskirts of Jerusalem’. Where to start? The ‘wall’, or security barrier, is there only to prevent the Palestinians from murdering yet more Israelis.
The home demolitions and Bedouin evictions have occurred because of illegal building and occupancy. Israel's drone dominance - Israel. Stark Aerospace of Mississippi is perhaps the only foreign-owned company with FAA permission to fly a drone in U.S. airspace. Based in the town of Columbus, not far from Mississippi State University, Stark is a subsidiary of the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries — not that you could tell from looking at the company’s website, executive leadership or affiliations.
You have to go to the Mississippi secretary of state website to learn that two of Stark’s three directors are Israelis. So too with the America’s drone industry. The Israeli influence is not visible but it is real, documented and extremely relevant to the future of drones in America. “There are three explanations for Israel’s success in becoming a world leader in development and production of UAVs,” a top Israeli official explained to the Jerusalem Post last year. Israel’s drone expertise goes back to at least 1970, according to the UAV page of the Israeli Air Force.