Disasters Emergency Committee Tsumami Earthquake Appeal
You can help every penny counts

Israeli humanitarian and medical shipments leave for Sri Lanka In accordance with the decision of the Minister of Defense and in coordination with the Foreign Ministry, and given the dimensions of the devastation, the IDF has sent a humanitarian aid delegation and medical supplies to Sri Lanka.

Israeli Aid, Unreported
All major media outlets ignore Israel's massive humanitarian aid to South Asia - an indication of a national ethos of caring.
When disaster strikes anywhere in the world, Israelis can be counted on to help. So it's no surprise that within hours of the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the following humanitarian missions all departed from the tiny Jewish state:

Judgements of the Israel Supreme Court: Fighting Terrorism within the Law

There exists a consensus on the need to fight terror, but there is still much controversy regarding the best way to conduct this war. Unfortunately, this dilemma is not new to the Israeli legal system. Since its birth, the State of Israel has been the target of significant threats to its existence, including terrorism. In this sense the Israeli experience in the legal-judicial field is relevant to all those interested in the war on terrorism.

A Top Kofi Annan Aide Insults Israeli Leader
BY BENNY AVNI - Special to the Sun
December 30, 2004
UNITED NATIONS - Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, yesterday urged that Secretary-General Annan fire his top adviser, Lakhdar Brahimi, for his anti-Israel tirades.

Stop splitting hairs on 'terrorism'
By Ammar Abdulhamid
Many people around the world today seek to differentiate between what they call "freedom fighters" and those described as terrorists. They argue that such differentiation, which is most often applied to Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Continue..
source: Lebanese Daily Star

Transforming the common image – Israeli and Palestinian health care and cooperation by Jeanine Hirschhorn
The pictures of Israel commonly shown by the media show attacks by Palestinian suicide bombers, stone-throwing youths and Israeli military incursions into West Bank and Gaza towns. Other pictures exist.

Cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian
the Israel Foreign Ministry's Center for International Cooperation
prior to the current Palestinian uprising, the Intifada

Human rights groups are working against peace
By GERALD STEINBERG
With their multi-million-dollar budgets, global superpowers such as Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International, Christian Aid, Oxfam and dozens of smaller allied groups have contributed to the hatred, rather than supporting peace. Their activities amplify the rhetoric that labels Israel as an "apartheid regime" and Jews as "imperialists" and "colonialists," while whitewashing terror and condemning Israeli defensive actions.

Female Suicide Bombers: Dying to Kill
Brian Handwerk,NationalGeographic.com,December 13, 2004
As a spate of suicide bombings around the world in recent years has shown, the face of terror is increasingly female. In 1991 a female Sri Lankan separatist killed herself and former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Since then similar bombings have occurred in Turkey, Pakistan, Israel, Uzbekistan, and Iraq.

PLO's LONDON REP SLAMS
Honest Reporting
On Nov. 30, BBC TV's NewsNight program finally put some tough questions to the PLO representative in London, Afif Safieh. Safieh was caught off-guard by challenges regarding Palestinian terror and Hamas' popularity, and was noticeably embarrassed on-air.

PM Sharon: Palestinian education and propaganda are more dangerous to Israel than their weapons.
Thur. 18th Nov 2004,
The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, spoke yesterday evening about his expectations of a new Palestinian leadership.

“…what will happen tomorrow? What will be the test of the Palestinian leadership? I will give you one example: we must not relinquish the demand for the collection of weapons and dismantling of terror organizations. But, of course, this is a much more complicated process."

some excerpts from his speech>.

Ending the Incitement
A key obstacle to progress - and root of terror - that the western media has chosen to ignore.

Video:Yasser Arafat's Education Legacy - "Be a Shahid": Arafat explains that dead Palestinian children- Shahids - are “the greatest message to the world”. [PA TV Jan. 15, 2002]
source:Palestine Media Watch

Clip #390: Fatah Leader Faruq Qaddumi: Two-States a Temporary Solution - MEMRI TV

An excerpt: "Our enemy always says, "This is Judea and Samaria" and they are "terrorists." They haven't changed their discourse. If they change theirs, we will change ours, and if not, we will keep saying that armed resistance is the way to Palestine. If there is no political initiative and they keep addressing us with sweet words, and try to seduce us like foxes do, we must continue in our path.[There are] 300 Million Arabs, while Israel has only the sea behind it...At this stage there will be two states. Many years from now there will be only one."
Transcript
MEMRI TV Home

On the Ground..

Fiddler at the Checkpoint
IDF Investigation: The Palestinian played the violin at a checkpoint of his own volition

Between the Lines..

Arafat's terrorist history: a partial list

Have you heard...

Joint Palestinian – Israeli Statement on Tourism Signed
29/11/2004
At a joint press conference on November 24, 2004 in Jerusalem, Israeli Minister of Tourism Gideon Ezra and Palestinian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Mitri Abu Aita signed a joint statement pledging to cooperate to promote tourism to the area:

Hanna and her Sisters
Ruth Wishart gave a one-sided view of Israel when she wrote a sanitised account of the activities of grandmother, Hanna Barag, and her Machsom Watch (The Herald, Nov 22, 2004).

The View from Egypt..Al-Ahram - Egyptian weekly:

'We are at war'
There are some -- including in his Fatah movement -- who see Yasser Arafat's death as an opportunity for change. Not so Zakaria Zubeidi, leader of the Al-Aqsa Brigades in the northern West Bank.

America, Israel Should Take UN Seriously, Expert Says

For many years, Israel has downplayed the importance of U.N. resolutions, which are usually against it, but neither Israel nor the U.S. can afford to take that stand any longer, said Professor Anne Bayefsky of the Hudson Institute.

Israel and world Jewry: Are the bonds breaking?
For years, Jewish leaders and Israeli envoys throughout the Diaspora have monitored what some believe to be a growing distance between Jews abroad and the State of Israel.

Analysis / Many Diaspora Jews fear for the future
By Daniel Ben Simon, Haaretz Correspondent
Sharp divisions Those who worry about the low point Israel has reached in global public opinion are sharply divided over the reasons for it. Is opposition to Israel rooted in its military policy toward the Palestinians, or has anti-Semitism awoken after a long hibernation? As time passes and the negative attitude toward Israel intensifies, many Jews are beginning to feel that these sentiments are more anti-Semitic than anti-Israeli.

Eye Witness..

Israeli Arabs credit fence for newfound prosperity

Arabs Who Speak Out..

Brigitte Gabriel, a Lebanese
who is proud to speak out
on behalf of Israel.

Egyptian Progressive Dr. Amr Isma'il: 'Why Can't We [Arabs] See Things as the Rest of the World Sees Them?'

European Union aid finances terrorism: There have been persistent reports that the Palestinians have used foreign aid, in particular from the EU, to finance terrorism.

TV campaign urging: Kick U.N. out of U.S.
A new anti-United Nations television campaign is reversing the familiar refrain "get the U.S. out of the U.N.," and instead urges the global body be kicked out of the U.S.

Press conference with the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon and British Prime Minister 22 December 2004

The Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair stressed his committment to the peace process and announced that an international meeting on the Middle East would be held in London next year.

Palestinian politics in the post-Arafat era: the current situation
The death of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat has re-focused world attention on Palestinian politics. New hopes have arisen for the possible revival of the diplomatic process between Israelis and Palestinians. Yet, a sober understanding of the dynamics of power in Palestinian politics remains limited.

Security fence off world's agenda – for now
By HERB KEINON
Yasser Arafat's death, a more optimistic air in the region, and Europe's reluctance right now to support anti-Israeli initiatives are responsible for knocking the security fence – at least temporarily – off the UN's agenda.

BEIRUT: Palestine Liberation Organization chief Mahmoud Abbas said the armed struggle for the Palestinian people is over and it is now time for the "democratic route to liberation." His comments came as he warned that the Palestinian Authority "would not able to take control of Gaza if Israel withdraws" adding "it would lead to a civil war ... we are not ready - security wise - to take over."
(N.B. Abbas, speaking in Arabic, said "return to Palestine" but the Daily Star translated it as "Occupied Palestinian Territories." see full article)

Have you heard.. Hanna and her Sisters
Ruth Wishart gave a one-sided view of Israel when she wrote a sanitised account of the activities of grandmother, Hanna Barag, and her Machsom Watch (The Herald, Nov 22, 2004).

The Lauching of Israel Academia Monitor Israel Academia Monitor is an Israeli watchdog group that monitors abuses of academic freedom and politicalization of Israeli campuses by extremists and radicals in Israeli academia who probably damage Israel because they want to be accepted by the enemy or by some of Israel's worst adversaries.

Beslan Children Visit Israel Eighteen children who were injured and held hostage during the Beslan siege two months ago are in the middle of a three week visit to Israel to heal wounds - both physical and psychological.

"Festival of Festivals" is a yearly joint celebration of the three religions who live in peace and harmony in Haifa. The Jews celebrate Hannukah, the Muslims celebrate Ramadan and the Christians celebrate Christmas.