| |
October
20 - 24, 2003
Terrorism and Prevention:
- Three
Soldiers Killed in Infiltration at Netzarim
Three Israel Defense Forces
soldiers - Staff Sgt. Alon Avrahami, 20, from Or Yehuda;
Sgt. Adi Osman, 19, from Kfar Sava; and Sgt. Sarit Shneor,
19, from Shoham - were killed and two other soldiers
were wounded in a Palestinian infiltration at an army
base in the heavily guarded Gaza Strip settlement of
Netzarim at around 4:20 A.M. Friday. IDF's southern
command, Maj. Gen. Dan Harel said one terrorist entered
the camp and began shooting at the camp's barracks,
while the second remained outside the perimeter. The
gunman inside the camp killed three soldiers before
being shot and killed, and the IDF is searching the
area for the second attacker, who managed to flee. Al
Manar television, run by Hezbollah, said a caller to
its Gaza office claimed joint responsibility on behalf
of Hamas and Islamic Jihad. (From Ha'aretz) more
- Three
IDF Soldiers Killed in Fatah Ambush
Three IDF soldiers
of the Duhifat Batalion were killed and a fourth soldier
moderately wounded in a terrorist ambush as they patrolled
inside the Ein Yabrud village east of Ramallah on Sunday
night. The three were identified as Sgt.
Elad Polak, 20, from Kiryat Motzkin; Sgt.
Roi Yaakov Solomon, 21, from Tel Aviv and St.-Sgt.
Erez Idan, 20, from Rishon Lezion. The Fatah Al
Aksa Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack
in which three terrorists crept up behind the troops
and opened fire at the patrol ten meters away. They
then fled in a car taking the soldiers' weapons with
them. (From Jerusalem Post) more
- Israel
on High Alert; Terrorists Vow Revenge for Gaza Strikes
Israel was
placed on high alert Tuesday after the IAF struck at
Hamas on Monday, launching five separate air attacks
on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip that killed 12 and
wounded scores. By Tuesday morning, Palestinians were
pledging retailiation. Thousands of people attended
the funerals for the victims in Gaza on Tuesday. "We
are warning all the collaborators and we are warning
the Israelis. Our highest goal is jihad (holy war),"
Hamas officials told the cheering crowd. By Tuesday
evening, three Kassam rockets landed in an open field
of Moshav Shuva, and four mortars were fired at a Jewish
community in Gaza's Gush Katif settlement bloc. There
were no injuries.
According to Palestinian reports, among those killed
in the IAF attacks were senior Hamas commander Imad
Akel and several Hamas members. An Israeli military
source said that the terrorists killed were planning
a major attack inside Israeli to have taken place in
the near future. Helicopters and an F-16 pounded a bomb
factory, a warehouse where weapons and explosives were
stockpiled, a vehicle containing two terrorists in charge
of manufacturing Kassam rockets, mortar shells, and
explosives used in attacks, and a second vehicle containing
Hamas terrorists. (From Jerusalem Post) more
- Poll:
Palestinians Support Armed Struggle Even After Statehood
Fifty-nine percent of Palestinians believe that Hamas
and Palestinian Islamic Jihad should continue their
armed struggle against Israel even if Israel leaves
all of the West Bank and Gaza, including East Jerusalem,
and a Palestinian state is created, a new survey conducted
by two polling firms, the Public Opinion Research of
Israel and The Palestinian Center for Public Opinion
shows. Forty-two percent of Palestinians and 61 percent
of Israeli-Arabs stated that they support the people
who are attacking Americans in Iraq. Zero percent of
Israeli Jews said they did. (From Jerusalem Post) more
- Israel
Tells UN: Security Fence is a Necessity
Israel vowed Wednesday to press
on with building the separation fence in along its border
with the West Bank, despite a U.N. resolution condemning
the project as a violation of international law and
demanding it be halted. "The fence will continue
being built and we will go on taking care of the security
of Israel's citizens," Deputy Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert said Wednesday, reiterating the Jewish state's
stance that the barrier is needed to keep out suicide
bombers. (From Ha'aretz) more
-
PM
Sharon Slams Geneva Accord at Knesset's Opening Session
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
opened the winter session of the Knesset on Monday
with a speech slamming the Geneva Accord proposal
for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (From
Ha'aretz) more
"We adopted the political plan called the "Roadmap"
in an official government resolution," he said.
"It is a plan which has been accepted by the
majority of the world. Any deviation from it will
release the Palestinians from the commitments they
took upon themselves, and from the international demands
made on them to uproot terror. Any such deviation
will only encourage terrorist organizations. It is
no wonder that they are trying to renounce these commitments
- and it is a pity that there are those in the world,
and in Israel, who assist them by creating a false
impression of alternative plans, without the Palestinians'
making any effort to stop the terror directed at us...We
all agree that we must not, at this time, reward terrorism
by making far-reaching concessions, without an agreement."
(From MFA) Click
here for full text of PM Sharon's speech
- Palestinian
Terrorism, American Blood
By Jeff Jacoby
Three Americans --- John Branchizio, Mark Parson, and
John Martin Linde -- were murdered last Wednesday when
terrorists in Gaza bombed the diplomatic convoy they
were riding in. News accounts immediately described
the attack as a first -- "an unprecedented deadly
attack on a US target in the Palestinian territories,"
to quote the Associated Press. But Branchizio, Parson,
and Linde were not the first Americans to be murdered
by Palestinian terrorists. They were the 49th, 50th,
and 51st in the past 10 years alone...Americans have
been dying at the hands of Palestinian terrorists for
decades, yet the US government and media rarely if ever
portray Yasser Arafat and his lieutenants as avowed
enemies of the United States...The State Department
does not demand the extradition of Palestinian killers
of Americans, not even when the killers' identities
and whereabouts are known. President Bush has never
given the Palestinian Authority the same ultimatum he
gave the Taliban in Afghanistan: Hand over the terrorists
or be destroyed. Instead he issues declarations like...blasting
the Palestinian Authority for refusing "to fight
terror in all its forms," while assuring Americans
that the United States is "working closely with
the appropriate officials" -- i.e., the selfsame
Palestinian Authority -- to find and prosecute those
responsible. As if it isn't those very officials who
have been aiding and abetting such butchery all along.
(From Boston Globe)
more
- The
Palestinian Money Trail
By Mitchell G. Bard
Numerous reports have documented
the suffering of the Palestinian people in the disputed
territories. This is a human tragedy that is the direct
result of the failure of the Palestinian leadership
and the corruption of the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The principal reason for the worsening plight of the
Palestinians is the strategic choice Yasser Arafat made
to engage in violence rather than negotiations. The
problems facing the Palestinian people and the PA economy
are not due to a lack of resources. Instead of feeding,
housing, and employing Palestinians, significant amounts
of financial aid have been siphoned off by Yasser Arafat
and other PA officials for their personal benefit. A
2003 report by the International Monetary Fund revealed
that Yasser Arafat diverted approximately $900 million
from the PA Finance Ministry into secret accounts that
he alone controlled. Forbes ranked Arafat number 6 on
a list of the richest "kings, queens, and despots"
with a fortune of $300 million. The Palestinian people
deserve better. But their plight will not improve by
sending more money to Arafat. Their suffering will end
only when representative leaders come to power who have
the will and the capability to reform the corrupt Palestinian
Authority, dismantle the terrorist networks, and engage
in peace negotiations. (From Israel Insider) more
- Tour
of U.S. Schools Reveals Why Zionism Is Flunking on Campus
By Natan
Sharansky
When I got to Rutgers University last month, my arrival
was greeted by a noisy demonstration of Palestinian
and Jewish students holding signs reading "Racist
Israel" and "War Criminals." Opposed
to them were hundreds of no less rowdy Jewish students,
full of motivation to defend Israel and give the protesters
back as good as they got. It is because at these moments
I felt that there was some point to my trip, perhaps
because the violent hostility had stirred the students
and motivated them to want to fight and win —
which I, of course, was delighted to see.
There were other moments during my tour, difficult moments
when I felt fear, sadness and worry. One student at
Harvard University admitted to me that she was afraid
— afraid to express support for Israel, afraid
to take part in pro-Israel organizations, afraid to
be identified. The mood on campus had turned so anti-Israel
that she was afraid that her open identification could
cost her, damaging her grades and her academic future.
That her professors, who control her final grades, were
likely to view such activism unkindly, and that the
risk was too great.
Having grown up in the communist Soviet Union, I am
very familiar with this fear to express one's opinions,
with the need to hold the "correct opinions"
in order to get ahead, with the reality that expressing
support for Israel is a blot on one's resume. My conversations
with other students at various universities made it
clear that her feelings are widespread, that the situation
on campuses in the United States and Canada is more
serious than we think. And this is truly frightening.
The continuing support of American Jewry depends on
this younger generation. If it chooses to affiliate
actively with the Jewish people, if it supports Israel
and acts on its behalf, then we will continue to have
a strong backbone of support in a world that is turning
more and more hostile. But if this younger generation
were to disappear — whether through assimilation
or an unwillingness to be identified — Israel
would find within a very few years that it faces an
entirely different United States.
Can the trends be reversed? Can we recapture the campus?
I believe we can. But it will require a concentrated
effort and a genuine change of consciousness and direction
in Israel's informational efforts. We in Israel and
in Jewish communities around the world must combine
our efforts and work together. (From Ma'ariv) more
- Can
You Tell Me How to Get to the Mideast 'Sesame Street'?
 The
EU head office said Monday that they, along with the
Ford Foundation and other organizations will fund three
versions of a 26-part Sesame Street show in Israel,
Jordan and the Palestinian territories. The shows blend
cartoons and puppetry with mini-documentaries that stress
such familiar Sesame Street themes as cooperation, respect
for others and self-esteem. (From Jerusalem Post) more
- Jerusalem
Chosen as Site of International Gay Fest
A major international gay and
lesbian organization has selected Jerusalem as the site
for it's next major world parade, in an event that could
draw hundreds of thousands of homosexual revelers to
the Holy Land. The event, which takes place once every
five years, is set to take place in Jerusalem in two
years time, the head of Jerusalem's Gay and Lesbian
center said Sunday. The last such international parade,
which took place in Rome in 2000, saw about half a million
participants. (From Jerusalem Post) more
- Major
Medical Conferences Return to Israel
Over 100 senior doctors, researchers, and medical journal
editors in the field of cardiology and vascular medicine
are coming to Eilat from around the world to express
their solidarity with Israel and to demonstrate against
actual and proposed academic boycotts of Israeli scientists.
The conference will discuss heart diseases and drugs
for reducing cholesterol in addition to voicing moral
support for academic freedom.
In addition, the Second International Solidarity Medical
Conference will be held in November. The stated aims
of the conference is to support Israelis in this difficult
period; to reach out to the Israeli medical community,
"a diverse group of professionals that despite
communal violence, continues to provide high-quality
health care to all citizens; and protest against the
European-inspired boycotts of the Israeli academic community."
(From Jerusalem Post) more
- Nuclear
Science Museum Proposed Near Dimona Reactor
The Atomic Energy Commission
has drawn up plans for a nuclear science museum, hoping
to uncover the "mysteries" surrounding the
country's nuclear reactor without touching on the issue
of weapons, a spokesman said Monday. The idea for "Explore
Atom," a museum to be opened in the Negev Desert
area - not far from the country's nuclear reactor in
Dimona - is in the planning stages, commission spokesman
Gideon Shavit said. (From Jerusalem Post) more
Champions
- Israeli
CEO Amnon Landan Named "Entrepreneur of the Year"
by Forbes
 Amnon
Landan learned to create his own luck as an Israeli
commando. Now he is pushing Mercury Interactive to find
new challenges--and to climb into the top ranks of the
software business. The company he leads--Mercury Interactive
(nasdaq: MERQ), in Sunnyvale, Calif.--is one of the
hottest software firms in the world. Its tools catch
glitches in software projects, make crucial Web and
business programs run smoothly and help automate the
job of running information technology departments. Revenue
is up 36% annually since 1997 and 24% in the past year
(the company ranks 15 on our list). Sales should reach
$500 million for 2003, with $85 million in net profit
and more than $1 billion in the bank. The experience
of being young, in charge and under fire in the Israeli
army taught Landan and many other Israelis how to run
fast-growing companies: Assert your authority when necessary--"There's
no confusion that I run the show"--but give lieutenants
wide operating freedom. (From Forbes) more
- Israeli
Pair Wins Third Prize at Folding Chair Design Competition
 Israeli
designers Zohar Shoef and Eli Chissick of Tel Aviv won
third prize at the folding chair design competition
organized last month by the design Web site, designboom.
Some 1,300 designers from 84 countries submitted entries
in the competition. Of the 470 designs sent in, judges
selected 30 to be shown at the prestigious "100%
Design" exhibition in London. In the second round
of the competition, the top three chairs were picked
- including the Sitybike chair designed by the Israeli
pair. The chair is a variation on a bicycle seat which
when pulled out of the bicycle frame opens up into a
regular chair. The chair weighs less than a kilo, is
made of aluminum and can be used as a sitting chair
while out in the open or in an urban environment. (From
Ha'aretz) more
- Checkmate!
An impressive Israeli chess
success. On Monday, Israel took the silver medal in
the European Team Championships, held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Team members GM Boris Gelfand, GM Ilia Smirin, GM Emil
Sutovsky and IM Michael Roiz tied with the Slovenian
team for second place, having lost only to the Russian
gold medalists. (From Arutz Sheva) more
This Week in Review was prepared
by Joy Powers at The Consulate General of Israel in San Francisco.
news
archives
|
|
