NO GAY PRIDE PARADE IN HOLY JERUSALEM

Originally posted byTamar Yonah, at

http://tamaryonahshow.blogspot.com/

on Sunday, October 22, 2006

I thought this post was very urgent, so I have re-posted it here, on my blog, to help get the word out to as many readers as possible. Please be sure and pass this information along to others who also love Jerusalem, and please get involved to make sure this event is cancelled !!

They're Coming ...... "The Un-invited"

Well, we THOUGHT that maybe they would get the message that their Gay Pride Parade was not wanted in this Holy City of Jerusalem. They refuse to be tolerant of the wishes of the vast population of Jerusalem, the city council of Jerusalem, and the Mayor of Jerusalem.

Clickety-clack .......

Here they come ........

on ...... November 10th, .......

the same day that commemorates the beginning of the Holocaust, 'Kristalnacht', the same day that the Nazis burned down synagogues, these people insist on marching down the public streets of Jerusalem with 'Pride' and gaiety.

By the way, this parade also marches in the very week, where we read about where G-d destroyed Sodom and Gamora !!!

If that is not a message to us, I don't know what is !!!

Folks, it is time to start FAXING again. And let me tell you some GOOD NEWS, all the faxes that we sent before, DID indeed help !!!

See this media piece from Ynetnews.com :

TA loses bid to host Europride

In a close race, selection committee votes 8:5, choosing Zurich over Tel Aviv to host 2009 European gay pride parade. Israeli committee disappointed, but has hopes for future. A member of the Tel Aviv city council and former chairman of the association, Itai Pinkas, pointed out two main causes that tipped the scales in favor of Zurich: The war in Lebanon, and the cancellation of the pride parades in Israel. (Your faxes helped in the cancelations!) “The forced cancellation of the pride parade in Jerusalem caused a feeling of instability, despite the fact that Tel Aviv has no history of cancellations, and, from the point of view of the average European, Israel is a dangerous place. When the alternative is a place like Switzerland, in the center of Europe and with fantastic access to trains, they have an advantage,” he said. ..................

So, we have done some good with our faxing, sending a democratically expressed vote and message that it is not a good idea to hold a Pride Parade here in the Holy city of Jerusalem.

Now, I am going to ask you again, to PLEASE fax these people below, please keep your message short and polite. Maybe something like,

"My name is________ from ________ and I am asking you to please say NO to any type of Gay pride Parade in the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Also, please add something to make the fax more personal and original, but short and easy. G-d bless you for guarding G-d's city and the sanctity of Jerusalem.

Here are the numbers below: (please do it now!)

Jerusalem Mayor: Uri Lupolianski
Fax: 02-6296014 LPURI@jerusalem.muni.il

Jerusalem Chief of police: Ilan FrancoFax: 02-539-1466 (no email)

Minister Eli Yishai: Fax: 02-666-2909 eyishay@knesset.gov.il

posted by Tamar Yonah @ 3:40 PM

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Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Mahdi Army Find a Friend in Iran

We already know how Iran feels about Hezbollah ......

A bus takes off from Tehran filled with Iranian martyrs to assist Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon in their battle against Israel this summer. (What ever happened to these suicide buses?)

Iran and Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Mahdi Army - all in the news today.

Iran News is reporting that Iran is giving the Mahdi army millions of dollars in order to dominate Iraq:

Iran has transferred millions of dollars as well as weapons and expertise to Iraq's Mahdi Army.

Officials said the Mahdi Army has become a leading Iranian surrogate in Iraq. They said Mahdi fighters have been trained and equipped in Iran in a move meant to avoid deployment of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps soldiers in Iraq.

"We're having to block Shi'ite extremists from linking with Iran." Maj. Gen. Richard Zahner, deputy chief of staff of intelligence for Multinational Forces in Iraq, said.

Zahner told a briefing on Sept. 27 that Iran has sought to dominate Iraq. He said Iran has been developing the Mahdi Army as well as splinter groups that no longer came under the umbrella of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Sadr.

And, Turkish media is reporting that Hamas may send fighters to Iran to be trained by the regime:

Hamas representatives were in Teheran on Thursday discussing the possibility of training its operatives in Iran, Channel 2 reported.

Following PA elections earlier this year, Hamas reportedly asked Iran for guidance, instructions and financial assistance as it prepared to take over the Palestinian government.

"Hamas is currently trying to obtain funding from Iran and has asked the Iranians for advice on how they think Hamas should lead the PA," then-defense minister Shaul Mofaz told EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana at the time.

In 1999, the IDF claimed Iran had been training Hamas guerrillas near Teheran for several years to carry out attacks on Israel, after a military court indicted two Hamas members from Gaza for carrying out illegal activities for the movement that included initiating Iranian training.

And... the Supreme Leader in Iran, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, today devoted his entire Friday sermon to the Hezbollah's 34 day war with Israel.

posted by Gateway Pundit
at 10/13/2006 06:11:00 AM

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Gateway Pundit: Islamic Hackers Exorcised By Vatican

Gateway Pundit: Islamic Hackers Exorcised By Vatican

Via Stefania...

Islamic hackers attacked the Vatican this week as they had promised but were repelled at the gates:

Picture on the left: "Sister Catherina Ann of the Glorious Firewall"

Islamic computer hackers tried to disrupt the Vatican web site earlier this week, but failed, according to a report in the ANSA news service. In an online forum for militant Muslims, a group announced plans for an assault on the Vatican computer network, which was said to be a form of retribution for Pope Benedict's criticism of Islam in his Regensburg speech. Police later confirmed that there had been a concerted effort by hackers to penetrate the Vatican site, but computer-security experts were able to detect and repel the attack. The nature of the attempted attack was not clear. Some observers in Rome believed that the Islamic group was planning a "denial of service" attack, in which a web site is bombarded with many thousands of simultaneous visits, overloading the available bandwidth and making it impossible for others to reach the site.

posted by Gateway Pundit
at 10/14/2006 07:08:00 PM

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Are We Lumberjacks?: New DOI Seal

Are We Lumberjacks?: New DOI Seal

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Gates of Vienna: The Federal Times has the DOI Story

Gates of Vienna: The Federal Times has the DOI Story

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FOLLOW UP BY SEAN GLEESON - DOI: ALL BLOGS BANNED

Posted in Critic by Sean Sat 14 Oct 2006 @ 7:55 am

The Federal Times is reporting on the DOI blog-ban. A spokesman for the Department of the Interior explained that their ultimate goal is to block all weblogs, not just conservative blogs. He gave two justifications for the policy: that blogs are not work-related, and that blogs are offensive.

An objective examination of these reasons, however, shows the blog-ban policy to be wrong. Blocking “blogs,” as if they were the culprit, makes about as much sense as blocking all websites with a ‘z’ in their name, or some other random attribute. Sure, you’ll end up blocking some offensive material, but that doesn’t justify the criterion. I call on the Department of the Interior to rethink this policy.

BLOGS ARE NOT WORK RELATED

The first justification for blocking all blogs is that they violate Interior’s policy “prohibiting the use of government computers on government time for sites unrelated to business.” In the main, that is no doubt true. Most blogs have nothing to do with the business of the Interior Department. Heck, only a quarter of all blogs are written in English, and only some subset of those, fewer than half, are American. Furthermore, only a tiny fraction of these American blogs — let’s be conservative and say one percent — contain any content that would be even slightly useful for conducting the affairs of the U.S. Department of the Interior. For some ballpark numbers, let’s say that there are about 50 million blogs in the world, but only about 5 million are American, and only 50 thousand have work-related content for DOI employees.

The problems with this justification are:

1. The same is true for the entire Internet, not just blogs. Of all the websites in existence, only a tiny sliver of them might contain work-related content for DOI staff. Singling out blogs as being especially non-work-related makes little sense. For what it’s worth, I would bet that the proportion of work-related to non-work-related content is actually higher for the blogosphere than for the Web as a whole.

2. The ban is for all time, not just paid time. There is no policy against using government computers for personal Web browsing on the employee’s own time. If a DOI employee wants to come to the office early, or eat lunch at his desk, or stay awhile after work, there is no reason to block him from reading a few blogs. But the DOI blog ban blocks all blogs at all times.

BLOGS ARE OFFENSIVE

The other justification offered by the DOI spokesman was that blogs “are among blocked sites because some include sexually explicit language, libelous or defamatory commentary, and outrageous language.” Again, this is indisputably true; some blogs include some or all of those things. And the DOI certainly has a valid interest in keeping such content off of government computers, even on the employees’ personal time.

The problems with this justification are:

1. The same is true for the entire Internet, not just blogs. I hate to sound like a broken record here, but some websites that are not blogs also contain pornography and other bad things. A website is not more likely to be obscene because it is a blog. I think most blogs (like this one) are clean as a whistle.

2. The ban is on all blogs, not just obscene ones. There is software that can block obscene content from a Web browser. Parents and school libraries use it all the time, so why can’t DOI? Or why not make use of the ICRA system of content labels, which was designed for exactly this sort of purpose?

See other coverage on Gates of Vienna, and Zonka.

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LGF - Condi Panders to Palestinian Victimhood

Original post: Little Green Footballs

Photo - AP

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Condi Panders to Palestinian Victimhood

A question for Condoleezza Rice:

on what basis do Palestinians “deserve” a better life, and why is it our responsibility to give it to them? They voted en masse for a radical Islamic terrorist group with an open policy of genocide. They have turned their back on every offer of statehood, chosen a path of violence and murder, and built a death cult society that instills hatred in children from their first moments of life.

And they danced in joy on September 11.

This is nothing but pandering to the victimhood propaganda of an enemy of America, and once again Condi Rice has succeeded in making my stomach turn: Rice: Palestinians owed a better life. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)

Palestinians deserve to live better than they do and be “free of the humiliation of occupation” in a state of their own,“ said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday night.

”I promise you my personal commitment to that goal,“ Rice said at a dinner marking the third anniversary of the American Task Force on Palestine.

”There could be no greater legacy for America,“ Rice told the group, which describes itself as nonpartisan and supportive of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.

”The Palestinian people deserve a better life ... free of the humiliation of occupation," she said.

8:14 AM PDT

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Gates of Vienna: Wear It With Pride

Gates of Vienna: Wear It With Pride

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THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BANS CONSERVATIVE BLOGS !!!

If your blog is one of the conservative blogs recently BANNED by the DEPARTMENT of the INTERIOR, you might want to add this "BADGE of HONOR" to your blog !!! It has been created and offered for free to all those whom the DOI has banned !!

You can get your own graphic in different sizes to accommodate your personal template, at http://sean.gleeson.us/2006/10/12/doi-ban-art !!

A special "Thank You" to it's creator, Sean Gleeson !!!

Conservative bloggers who have been banned can display this "Badge of Honor" with PRIDE !!!

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Latest Update from Gates of Vienna: Uncle Sam Blocks Gates of Vienna (Among Others)

Gates of Vienna: Uncle Sam Blocks Gates of Vienna (Among Others)

Thursday, October 12, 2006

A Brief Hiatus

by Baron Bodissey

I am in the process of investigating the Interior Department blocking of the VRWC blogosphere. This is taking up much of my time, on the phone and online, so posting will be light.

Stay tuned.

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Dept of Interior Blocking Conservative Blogs ???

Origianal Post : Little Green Footballs

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Dept of Interior Blocking Conservative Blogs?

Baron Bodissey forwarded this email today; is the US Department of the Interior following the lead of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, and blocking American anti-jihad sites?

I’m a long-time reader, without ever actually commenting on anything. Yesterday the U.S. Department of the Interior (I work for the Mineral Management Service) installed blocking software on their entire network. Gates of Vienna is now blocked, as are all sites with a .blogspot URL. Also blocked are other conservative blogs, such as Wizbang. More than half the sites I check on a daily basis are now completely blocked. As of today, Little Green Footballs is not blocked, but that’s about the only one I’ve seen that isn’t. There’s not much that can be done, but I just thought I’d let you know. I’ll check later today when I get in to see if the liberal blogs are blocked. Take care, and thanks for the good stuff you folks post.

Update: As of now, Little Green Footballs is also being blocked, but DailyKos is not... Can we try to get the word out? Blocking conservative blogs and not liberal ones is BS.

UPDATE at 10/11/06 10:46:36 am:

More info from Gates of Vienna:

Here’s a quick runthrough of what I’ve found so far at work. You’ll see that its pretty one-sided.

Blocked Blogs:

Captain’s Quarters
Cox and Forkum
Gates of Vienna
Little Green Footballs
Michael J. Totten
Michelle Malkin
Power Line
Protein Wisdom
Rantings of a Sandmonkey
Roger L. Simon
The Adventures of Chester
The American Thinker
The Belmont Club
The Doctor is In Wizbang

Blogs not blocked:

DailyKos
Democrat Underground
America blog
Atrios.blogspot.com
JuanCole.com
The Huffington Post
Talkingpointsmemo.com

In fact, every blog, linked to / off of, DailyKos seems to work.

UPDATE at 10/11/06 10:53:43 am:

Here’s the DOI’s policy on internet blocking. (Hat tip: MJ.)

10:19 AM PDT

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Gates of Vienna: Uncle Sam Blocks Gates of Vienna (Among Others)

Gates of Vienna: Uncle Sam Blocks Gates of Vienna (Among Others)

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TWO SNAKES IN THE GRASS

They say, "A picture's worth a thousand words", so how much do you think these FIVE pictures are worth ???? There's only one thing that I hate worse than a SNAKE IN THE GRASS, and that's TWO SNAKES IN THE GRASS !!! Just what are these two planning ??? You can be sure of one thing, it won't be good for Israel or the United States !! Please read my two previous posts about Hugo Chavez and then consider these pictures !!!

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HERE'S A NOVEL IDEA, RE-TAKE GAZA AND ALLOW THE FORMER RESIDENTS TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES WITH COMPENSATION

Another great post by Mad Zionist. I would just like to add a novel idea that I had while reading his post, "Instead of these leaders just saying, "Ooops", or admitting it was all a diasterous tragedy, how about righting the wrong ?? Take back the Gaza and give the former residents back their properties, with enough compensation to allow them to rebuild and re-establish their livelihoods there !! This would right the wrong and solve the resulting security issues caused by the "disengagement" !! Seems like the smart thing to do to me !! Most importantly, never commit this insanity again !! One of my favorite quotes is, "The definition of insanity, is to continue to do the same things over and over again and expecting to achieve a different outcome". Land for PEACE is a disasterous policy which will always lead to defeat !! Determine to never make this mistake again !! Proclaim it loudly and mean it, "Not one more foot of Israeli soil for PEACE, NOT EVEN AN INCH !! Concessions are viewed by the Arabs as WEAKNESS, lets show them STRENGTH !!! Unite and stand firm !! Right the previous wrongs !!! And loudly proclaim, "NEVER AGAIN" !!!

Please read Mad Zionist's post below:

Monday, October 09, 2006

Oops! Another concessionist admits to being wrong
Ahhh...it feels so good to be back to my blogging passion of exposing the stupidity of appeasing the vermin and thinking it will somehow lead to peace. Here's yet another idiot concessionist who has suddenly realized that land for peace with the moslem scum is shockingly a tragic mistake after all. Well, unless you mean throwing them out of OUR Land in exchange for peace, that is.
(IsraelNN.com) Kadima Knesset Member Amira Dotan Sunday evening joined a growing group of leaders who have admitted that last year's demolitions of Jewish communities and expulsion of the residents were a mistake. "I am embarrassed at what we did," MK Dotan said during a tour organized by former Gush Katif communities.Last week, Kadima MK Tzachi HaNegbi said the expulsions and demolitions, which the government termed "disengagement," were a mistake because "they were interpreted as weakness, which brought about attacks" from the south and north.Recently, the retiring Chief Rabbi of the IDF Yisrael Weiss publicly questioned whether the expulsion plan was in vain, and Major-General Yiftach Ron Tal attacked both the military and political establishment for establishing and carrying out the program.Funny, but I don't think the 9,000 Jews you voted to expel from their homes in Gaza feel any happier standing in line at the soup kitchen because you say "ooops!" I'd also wager that the Jews in Sderot, who duck kassam rockets every day from what had been Jewish Gaza, are none to relieved to see you suddenly wake up after the fact, either.Still, I suppose it's better to admit to having been a total dumbass traitor back then, and move forward to correct your mistakes, than remain a dhimmi loser forever. - MZ

posted by Mad Zionist @ 12:43 AM

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ARE WE GOING TO SELL OUT OUR COUNTRY FOR CHEAPER OIL ?? I HOPE NOT !!!

This is a follow-up article to my previous post:

"My Last Gallon of Gasoline From Citgo"

Please, everyone realize that this man, Hugo Chavez has vowed to overthrow our government, and that he is a very vocal ally of Iran's President Ahmadinejad. He has visited with President Ahmadinejad in Iran, and has promised the support of his government to assist Iran in their nuclear ambitions !! Please, consider the threat these two men and their numerous allies represent to both ISRAEL and the UNITED STATES. Please do not be fooled !! This carrot that Chavez is offering (cheap oil), has a nuclear string attached. I beg all Americans to reject Mr. Chavez's offers and everything that he represents !! There is much more at stake here than most people realize !! Again, I would ask that all supporters of Israel and all Americans consider carefully the true intentions of these two men (President Ahmadinejad and President Hugo Chavez), and their allies, and not be tempted by Mr. Chavez's offer of cheap oil !! The price-tag is deceiving, the true cost might be our freedom !!! Do we really want cheaper oil at that price ??? I certainly hope not !!

Read article below:

Chavez's Cheap Oil Valued Over Politics For Some Americans

Reuters News Service
Oct 4, 2006 — By Jason Szep

QUINCY, Massachusetts (Reuters) - With a chill of autumn in the air, Bridget Durkin welcomes cheap heat for her Massachusetts home, even if it comes from a Venezuelan leader who called President Bush "the devil."
"If people are really hard up, politics will be the furthest thing from their mind", said Durkin, 71, who has relied on government subsidies to heat her home in Quincy, a suburb of Boston, since her husband died 20 years ago.
Citgo Petroleum, backed by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, plans to expand a controversial program of subsidizing home-heating oil for the U.S. poor this year, doubling the number of states that will receive the cheap oil.
Flush with cash from soaring oil prices, Chavez has used Venezuela's petroleum wealth to secure closer ties with South American neighbors and proposed the U.S. heating oil program last year to trim costs for America's poor — a group he says Bush's government has severely neglected.Citgo, the Houston unit of Venezuelan state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela, will sell 80 million to 100 million gallons of heating oil for 40 percent less than its usual price in 16 states — from Alaska to the U.S. east coast.But some politicians who eagerly embraced the cheap oil from the world's No. 5 crude exporter last year are now shunning it after Chavez called Bush "the devil" in a September 20 speech at the United Nations."This person has no right coming to our country to criticize our president," New York Gov. George Pataki, a White House hopeful, told Fox News. "He can take his cheap oil and do something for the poor people of Venezuela."The expanded program threatens to deepen an ongoing spat between Chavez and Bush, who calls the Venezuelan a threat to democracy in Latin America. Socialist Chavez says Bush is trying to undermine his political support.

CHEAP OIL VERY TEMPTING

But America's needy are reluctant to turn the oil away."When you are on limited income, that oil is just as good as any other oil," said Mary Lyons, 88, of Windham, Maine, whose 90-year-old husband's pension and social security benefits barely covered their monthly heating bills that spiked 40 percent last winter. "My husband says if we can save a few dollars why shouldn't we."

Venezuela, where per capita income is about 1/10th that of the United States, has called the fuel "humanitarian aid. Many politicians last year praised Citgo for helping the needy. Maine Gov. John Baldacci shook hands with Citgo Chief Executive Felix Rodriguez in Lyons' driveway before a bank of TV cameras at a high-profile launch of the program. This year, spokesman Dan Cashman said Baldacci "is not going to participate in that particular program." Under the plan, those exhausting federal heating oil aid can receive up to 200 gallons of Citgo oil, discounted by about $300 based compared to market rates of $2.50 a gallon. "We get scores of calls every day from people asking when the program starts," said Brian O'Connor of the nonprofit Citizens Energy Corp., which helps Citgo distribute the oil and is headed by former U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy, son of the late Robert F. Kennedy. Rep. Bill Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat who helped broker the Citgo deal last year, said Chavez' behavior should be separated from Citgo's philanthropy. "I've sent a letter to President Chavez expressing my outrage at his remarks," he said. "But let's make the distinction here between the Citgo program and the behavior of Hugo Chavez."But Bruce Everett, who teaches petroleum economics at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, said the program aims to embarrass Bush and portray America as fundamentally weak. "Under Hugo Chavez, Citgo has basically been turned into an instrument of state policy," he said. But he said it raises questions of whether the federal heating oil aid has enough funding to help people most in need such as former social worker Agnes Crosson in Quincy. "I'm not a Bush person, but I really didn't like what Chavez said at the United Nations. Still, I may accept it if it gets really cold this winter", the 75-year-old said.

Copyright 2006 Reuters News Service. All rights reserved.

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MY LAST GALLON OF GASOLINE FROM CITGO

THIS SHOULD MAKE YOUR BLOOD BOIL !!

Important message to all Americans, "Do not do business with, or buy gasoline from, the Citgo Petroleum Company, the national oil company of Venezuela."

I recieved this message as an e-mail alert from a friend, however I was already aware of this, and have determined NOT to buy from any stations whose supplier is Citgo. Every American should read this information, sent to me by a friend, and refuse to buy from Citgo stations nationwide.

CHAVEZ IS ALSO A VOCAL ALLY OF THE IRANIAN PRESIDENT, MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, ANOTHER REASON TO DETEST HIM !!!

Venezuela Dictator Vows To Bring Down U.S. Government:

Venezuela government is sole owner of Citgo gasoline company. Venezuela Dictator Hugo Chavez has vowed to bring down the U.S. government. Chavez, president of Venezuela , told a TV audience.

"Enough of imperialist aggression; we must tell the world: down with the U.S. empire. We have to bury imperialism this century."

The guest on his television program, beamed across Venezuela , was Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war activist. Chavez recently had as his guest Harry Belafonte, who called President Bush "the greatest terrorist in the world." Chavez is pushing a socialist revolution and has a close alliance with Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Regardless of your feelings about the war in Iraq , the issue here is that we have a socialist dictator vowing to bring down the government of the U.S. And
he is using our money to achieve his goal !!!

The Venezuela government, run by dictator Chavez, is the sole owner of Citgo gas company. Sales of products at Citgo stations send money back to Chavez to help him in his vow to bring down our government. Take Action, please decide that you will not be shopping at a Citgo station. Why should U.S. citizens, who love freedom, be financing a dictator who has vowed to take down our government? Very important. Please forward this to your friends and family. Most of them don't know that Citgo is owned by the Venezuela government.

YOU CAN VERIFY THIS ON THE CITGO WEB PAGE: http://www.citgo.com/AboutCITGO.jsp "The company is owned by PDV America, Inc., an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Petrleos de Venezuela, S.A. , the national oil company of
the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela."

ALSO, SEE: http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/v/venezuela.htm %20 "... Venezuelan Dictator Hugo Chavez has vowed to bring down the U.S. government, that he has had antiwar activist Cindy Sheehan and actor Harry Belafonte on his television show."..............................................

ALSO, READ THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE WHICH REMINDS US THAT THIS SAME CHAVEZ IS ALSO A VOCAL ALLY OF THE IRANIAN PRESIDENT, MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, AN EVEN GREATER REASON TO DETEST HIM !!!

Date:17/09/2006

http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/17/stories/2006091703491200.html

International

America, Britain have no place on U.N. Council: Ahmadinejad

Hugo Chavez suggests setting up a bank for developing nations:

Havana: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has claimed the United States was the real nuclear threat and reiterated his insistence Tehran's nuclear atomic programme had peaceful aims.

"Why should people live under the nuclear threat of the United States?'' he asked at the summit of the 118-strong Non-Aligned Movement in Havana.

"What is the U.N. Security Council waiting for to react to those threats?''

He urged his counterparts to help, "counter attempts to prevent Iran from developing its peaceful nuclear activity.''

The United States is pushing for sanctions against Iran to force Tehran to stop producing enriched uranium, which can be used both for atomic energy and nuclear weapons.

"Arrogance and power."

Mr. Ahmadinejad said Iran had clearly demonstrated U.S. accusations were unfounded and insisted that the United States, "knows our country has fully collaborated with the International Atomic Energy Agency, which declared we were not in violation of its norms.

''He also called for a thorough reform of the Security Council and suggested the United States and Britain had no place on the Council. "The United States, with their arrogance and power, and Britain, how can those countries be represented and have a veto right?'' he asked in his address to the more than 55 heads of state and Government gathered for two days of talks in Havana.

He claimed Washington used the Council, "as a basis for imposing its policies."

Speaking at the same forum, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez proposed the creation of a bank of developing nations to use international reserves for financing the development of these countries.

"If we are going to have a Bank of the South, we cannot lose one single day to use our international reserves to finance our development,'' he told the 14th Summit of 118-nation NAM here.

"Where are our reserves today?... in the countries of the North. This is about re-launching the potential of NAM and the basis of unity of this movement,'' Mr. Chavez said.

Coming down heavily against international financial institutions, he said, "we don't accept the kind of development the World Bank or International Monetary Fund wants to push on us to change our hopes, our souls, and our pain."

— AP, PTI

© Copyright 2000 - 2006 The Hindu

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Tehran and Damascus Are Gearing-Up For A Pre-Emptive Attack on Israel

DEBKAfile’s sources: Tehran and Damascus are gearing up for a pre-emptive attack on Israel to ward off a US strike on Iran’s nuclear sites:

October 8, 2006, 12:13 AM (GMT+02:00)

Our military and Washington sources read as preparatory justification the Syrian ruler Bashar Asad’s statement Saturday, Oct. 7, that he expects an Israeli attack.
He was speaking in an interview to Kuwaiti paper al-Anba.

Asad’s Iranian-backed war plan would serve the purpose of forcing the Americans to divide their military assets between a strike against Iran and the defense of their allies in the Persia Gulf, Israel and US forces in Iraq. Both are seriously looking at a Syrian attack on the Golan which would escalate into a full-blown Syrian-Israeli war and a second Hizballah assault from Lebanon.

Asad’s remark that during the Lebanon hostilities, he was under pressure from the Syrian population to go to war against Israel and liberate the Golan is the most direct threat of belligerency of all his four Golan statements in the last month. He is implying that he stood up to the pressure once but may not do so again. And for the benefit of the Americans, the Europeans, the Saudis and the Egyptians - all of whom are pretty fed up with him – Asad is posing as the picture of self-restraint; anyone else in his place, he implies, would have taken advantage of the Lebanon war and made a grab for the Golan. Therefore, he is saying, he deserves to be treated with the respect due to a strategic asset by Western and moderate Arab powers instead of being targeted for an ouster.

The Syrian ruler would not threaten war without guarantees from Iran. According to DEBKAfile’s sources, Asad and Iran’s supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei are prompted by the following motives:

1. Tehran is not prepared to wait passively for the Americans to build up their assault force in the Gulf and strike its nuclear facilities. A pre-emptive attack would suit them better.

2. Tehran and Damascus have not missed the debilitating crisis in which Israel’s political and military leadership are sunk since the Lebanon war. They do not propose to wait until the IDF pulls itself together enough to handle fresh aggression.

3. Both accept Israel’s deputy prime minister Shimon Peres’ assessment that Israel’s cities are not prepared for missile attack. Iran and Syria take it for granted that Israeli leaders understand they cannot afford to launch missiles against either one of them for fear of reprisal in kind.

4. Syria believes that if Hizballah could stand up to the Israeli army in Lebanon, its commandoes can capture sections of the Golan and walk off with an easy victory.

5. Tehran figures that the Bush administration is coming to the end of its patience in Iraq and preparing for a major review of its position there. The influential U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, John Warner, said Friday that Iraq's government had 60 to 90 days to control the violence that threatens civil war or the United States would have to reconsider its options. This gives the Maliki government in Baghdad up to December or January to de-escalate if not halt the sectarian war engulfing the country.
Iran, Syria and Hizballah would not be averse to disrupting the American Iraq timeline by attacking Israel and putting the Bush administration on the spot, forced to address three warfronts simultaneously.

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Fatah Official: Abbas Wants Israel Destroyed

"THIS ARTICLE IS A MUST READ !!! "

Original post by:
Elder of Ziyon
October 04, 2006

Yesterday, Dry Bones blog linked to an older article of mine where I reminded everyone that Mahmoud Abbas is hardly the moderate, peace-seeking person that the world makes him out to be.Today, we have more proof, thanks to the incomparable Aaron Klein of WND, who seems to be the only reporter on the planet to actually interview terrorist leaders and print what they say in English:
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' stated recognition of Israel's right to exist is part of a "political calculation" aimed at ultimately destroying the Jewish state, a terror group leader and member of Abbas' Fatah party told WND in an interview.The leader said the Fatah party does not recognize Israel and that any final accord that doesn't include flooding the Jewish state with millions of Palestinians will not be supported by the Fatah party and will lead to Palestinian civil war."The base of our Fatah movement keeps dreaming of Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jaffa and Acco," said Abu Ahmed, Fatah member and leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip. "There is no change in our position. Abbas recognizes Israel because of pressure that the Zionists and the Americans are exercising on him. We understand this is part of his obligations and political calculations."The Brigades is the declared "military wing" of Abbas' Fatah party. Together with the Islamic Jihad terror group, the Brigades has taken responsibility for every suicide bombing inside Israel the past two years, including an attack in Tel Aviv this past April that killed an American teenager and nine Israelis. The Brigades also has carried out scores of deadly shooting and rocket attacks against Israeli civilians in recent months.Brigades leaders are members of Fatah. The terror group's founder, Marwan Barghouti, is an elected Fatah official and is largely considered one of the most popular Fatah figures. Several top Brigades members serve in Abbas' Force 17 personal security detail.The U.S. and Europe label Hamas a terror group, while Fatah largely is considered "moderate," in part for its purported willingness to accept Israel. The U.S. has given large sums of financial aid and weapons to Fatah since late Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat signed the Oslo Peace Accords with the Jewish state in 1993.Abu Ahmed explained Fatah itself has never officially recognized Israel."It is the PLO, which is a separate entity, that recognized Israel,and this was a step, a tactical step that had as its goal to bring the resistance and the revolution closer to the lands of Palestine," Abu Ahmed said.The PLO was the official governing body of the Palestinians until the PA was formed following the Oslo Accords. Subsequent Israeli-Palestinian agreements were signed officially by the Fatah-led PA but not by Fatah as a party.Still, Fatah leaders, including Abbas, have made scores of statements recognizing the Jewish state.But Abu Ahmed commented, "There is an opportunistic class at the head of the Fatah leadership that for personal and political interests says it accepts the existence of Israel. There is no change in our official position. Fatah as a movement never recognized Israel. It is the PLO who did so for the reasons I mentioned."The U.S. State Department considers the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades a terror organization.A State Department spokesman yesterday told WND the Brigades is "separate" from Abbas' Fatah party. But Abu Ahmed explained his Brigades group is "one and the same" with the Fatah party."We are members of Fatah, and there are normal organic relations between us and the Fatah. We are in the Al Aqsa Brigades because we are Fatah members. We participate in all political decisions making of the Fatah movement."Abu Ahmed said Brigades members consider Abbas their legitimate leader and answer ultimately to the PA president."Of course we are loyal to Abbas. He is our elected leader. We would of course prefer if his policy toward Israel was different, but we understand his obligations and calculations, and we do not consider ourselves limited by these calculations," the terror leader said.Abu Ahmed explained the difference between Hamas and Fatah is that the Fatah party "is ready to discuss a political arrangement for the Jews."But he said any arrangement must include the "right of return" of millions of Palestinians to Israel."We demand [any agreement with Israel] be based upon the principles that the great majority of our people support and first of all the right of return to the refugees, which mean that there cannot be any recognition of the Zionist entity."If any Palestinian government will dare sign a deal without this it means that this government has decided to throw away the fate and destiny of more than four million Palestinian refugees, and we cannot accept this."The "right of return" is widely seen by Israelis as a ploy to flood Israel with millions of Palestinians, thus threatening the country's Jewish character.As we have seen before, the Fatah "constitution" indeed never recognized Israel. It's major goal, still on its website today, is "Complete liberation of Palestine, and eradication of Zionist economic, political, military and cultural existence."So what Abu Ahmed is saying is entirely consistent with known facts about Abbas, Fatah, the PLO and the Al Aqsa Brigades. The evidence that Abbas does not truly seek a lasting peace with Israel is overwhelming. But as the State Department quote above proves, the Western world would rather keep the fiction of a peaceful Abbas alive than abandon the failed, destructive "peace process."

Original post by: Elder of Ziyon, on Wednesday, October 04, 2006, at 6:37 AM

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MORE "International Observers" ON ISRAEL'S BORDERS

I DON'T LIKE THE SOUND OF THIS, AT ALL !!!

READ ARTICLE BELOW :

Original post from: MSNBC

Blockade of Gaza Could be Eased by Rice Plans

By: Harvey Morris in Jerusalem

International observers could be deployed at the main cargo crossing point between Israel and the Gaza Strip as part of expected proposals by Condoleezza Rice, US secretary of state, to loosen the economic siege of the Palestinian territory, diplomats said.

Ms Rice was due in Jerusalem on Wednesday for separate talks with an Israeli government politically weakened by the war in Lebanon, and with officials of a Palestinian administration that risks disintegrating in an upsurge of factional violence.

In the face of political stagnation on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide, US officials played down the prospect that she would bring any new initiative to restart the peace process. But western diplomats said she was expected to try to revive a moribund agreement on easing the movement of Palestinian goods and people. Ms Rice brokered the agreement last November, eventually overcoming Israeli objections in an extended round of frequently abrasive talks. But 11 months on, most elements of the deal have yet to be implemented.

In the intervening period, and particularly since Hamas won Palestinian elections in January, movement to and from the Gaza Strip has actually been more restricted than before Israel withdrew from the territory more than a year ago.

The Israeli authorities have frequently cited security concerns when ordering closure of crossing points, an argument that was reinforced by the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier on June 26 by Palestinian militants who tunnelled out from Gaza.

The negative impact of closures on Palestinian exports has exacerbated the economic decline brought on by Israeli and international financial measures against the Hamas government.
The only element of Ms Rice's November deal that was implemented was the deployment of unarmed European observers to monitor traffic at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. Since the June kidnapping, however, Israel has forced the closure of Rafah for all but a few days.

Among the proposals Ms Rice was expected to bring with her this time was a plan to deploy international observers at the main Karni cargo crossing point between Gaza and Israel. It has also been closed for about a third of the time since the November agreement was an-nounced. Palestinian officials say the frequent closures of Karni cost Gazan farmers $400,000 a day during the 2005 harvest season. The measures have also hit Gaza's lucrative textile export trade.

Diplomats said that the US was unlikely to offer to supply its own forces and might appeal again to EU states that are already playing a central role in the expanded international presence in south Lebanon.

Foreign observers might also be deployed along the Egypt-Gaza border where Israeli officials say arms smuggling is out of control.

"After Lebanon, people are more interested in internationalising security in the region," said one diplomat.

There is growing concern in Arab capitals about the disintegrating social and political conditions in the Palestinian territories and the ammunition this is providing for extremists throughout the region. Egyptian officials argue that only when there is a more comprehensive framework for negotiations on substantive issues between the Israelis and Palestinians will it be possible to make progress on details.

Foreign ministers from eight US-allied Arab countries who met Ms Rice in Cairo on Tuesday had hoped to impress this on her but are themselves increasingly frustrated by the inflexibility of Hamas, with months of efforts by Cairo to negotiate the release of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners so far achieving little. The meeting in Cairo appeared to break little new ground.

"The Palestinians need a government that can represent the interests of the Palestinians and can engage with the international community in accordance with the broad consensus for a two-state solution," Ms Rice said in a press conference with Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Egypt's foreign minister.

Additional reporting by William Wallis in Cairo.

Copyright The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved.

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ISRAEL PULLS OUT OF LEBANON

Israel Quits Lebanon Leaving Hizballah Back in the Saddle under UN Auspices:

DEBKAfile Special Military Report
October 1, 2006, 10:55 AM (GMT+02:00)

DEBKAfile’s military sources saw the Iast Israeli soldier quit Lebanon before dawn of Oct. 1, Yom Kippur eve, leaving in captivity Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the two soldiers whose abduction by Hizballah provoked the 34-day Lebanon war on July 12.

Only one third of the 15,000 international peacekeepers the UN Security Council pledged for an expanded UNIFIL has in fact been deployed in South Lebanon. And even that paltry force has made no effort to stop Hizballah restoring its presence and replenishing its stocks of rockets and missiles to points in South Lebanon within firing range of Israel. In most ways, therefore, UN Security Council Resolution 1701 of Aug. 14 is a dead letter.
While withdrawing the bulk of its force gradually, Israel kept the last units behind in a futile effort to persuade UNIFIL commanders to uphold key provisions of the resolution. They refused even the minimal demand to restrict Hizballah’s military movements along the Israeli border. They claimed they could only act with the permission of the Lebanese government. By finally giving way on this point, the Israeli government accepted the determination that UNIFIL is the instrument of the Lebanese government - not the enforcer of UN resolutions or Israeli security.
This concession makes nonsense of the claim that the most important gain of the Lebanon operation was the removal of Hizballah’s fighting forces from access to the Israeli border. This claim was made in a desperate attempt by Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert, defense minister Amir Peretz and chief of staff Lt.-Gen Dan Halutz, to justify the war and its losses.
Looking slightly further ahead, Israel’s policy-makers had better hurry up and form a plan to meet an exacerbated threat from Lebanon, the possible displacement of the Fouad Siniora government in Beirut with a pro-Syrian, Hizballah-dominated administration. This further deterioration in Israel’s national security situation is far from being a remote hypothesis.
Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah used the war to forge alliances with the Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, head of the rival Shiite movement Amal, and the Christian Maronite strongman Michel Aoun. This bloc intends to make a bid to install a pro-Syrian government after Ramadan is over next month.
Our sources in Beirut report a last-minute US-French initiative to frustrate this development. Siniora had his interior minister Ahmed Fatfat posted decree No. 2403 for Lebanon’s five intelligence and security agencies to pool their intelligence data and so provide his government and national army with the means of asserting control over national security. Two pro-Syrian officers, General Security chief Wafic Jezzini, and Director-General of Internal Security forces, Maj.-Gen Ashraf Rifi, stamped hard on this decree. The Siniora government was thus denied a key resource for dominating the country at large, not just the South, and is more vulnerable than ever to a hostile push.
As for Israel’s policy-makers, their handling of the bargaining with UNIFIL was as muddled, vacillating and feeble as their conduct of the Lebanon war itself. By accepting the Aug. 14 truce, they agreed to handing over the Lebanese-Israeli border to an international peacekeeping force without teeth; its rules of engagement are so constrictive that without Lebanese government authorization its members may not fire a single shot - even when necessary to prevent Hizballah moving back to its former aggressive positions or smuggling in fresh supplies of weapons – both of which are out-and-out violations of the same Resolution 1701 which mandated its own deployment.
By removing its troops in keeping with that same resolution, Israel has bargained away its last option for extracting information about the fate of the two soldiers seized by Hizballah; Red Cross access has brusquely refused.
In the view of DEBKAfile’s political sources, the last IDF units were kept in Lebanon after the truce for no discernible military or diplomatic purpose but to lull the Israeli public into not looking too closely at their leaders’ feeble negotiating stance and assuming Israel was still a strong player on the Lebanese scene. By Yom Kippur eve, most people were caught up in seasonal pursuits and less inclined to continue their painful in-depth calculation of the war’s net results.
Those results can be summed up in four negative developments which the Olmert government failed to thwart:
1. The wholesale smuggling through Syria of fresh weapons supplies to Hizballah from Syria and Iran, which neither the Lebanese army nor UNIFIL is lifting a finger to stop despite an explicit UN embargo. The heads of Israel’s government neglected to draw lessons from the failed deal on the Gaza crossings and the Philadelphi route, which never prevented arms flowing freely from Egyptian Sinai to Palestinian terrorists, notably the ruling Hamas.
Syria stays technically in the clear of the UN arms embargo by setting up huge arms dumps on its border with Lebanon, ready to be pushed across at a moment’s notice by land.
2. Expanded UNIFIL, which Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni did her best to present as a force with teeth, rather than monitoring Hizballah’s movements and disarming its combatants, is busy monitoring the feuds of Lebanese political and military factions.
3. These international units refrain from entering S. Lebanese villages. There is therefore no hindrance to Hizballah re-occupying those villages and restoring its strongholds within range of the Israeli border. The UN force is not setting up checkpoints to control banned traffic in the South. At best, the units are using makeshift roadblocks which go up for an hour at most before being removed and leaving Hizballah a free field for moving around the South.
4. The naval blockade against illegal arms imports, purportedly maintained by French, Italian, German and Greek war vessels, is about effective as UNIFIL’s ephemeral roadblocks. Their governments consented to the vessels being barred from entering Lebanese territorial waters. And so a strip of ocean 12 miles wide up to the Lebanese coast remains wide open for Hizballah’s arms ships to freely ply the route between Syrian and Lebanese ports.
Anxious to turn disaffected popular attention away from Hizballah’s recovery under the benign auspices of the UN’s European contingents, Israeli ministers and military chiefs have been debating out loud the need to carry out a major ground operation in the Gaza Strip, whence Qassam missiles continue to be fired into Israeli communities and where the Palestinians are building up their arms stocks, unhindered by international monitors and Egyptian police.

Related articles:

Israel’s Real Danger

European Lebanon Force Is Cast as Shield for Iranian-Hizballah Military Buildup

Nasrallah Is Already Carving out Lebanon’s Future

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Deadly Clashes Continue Between Palestinian Factions

Hamas official: 'We'll stay in power'

Deadly clashes continue between Palestinian factions, but leading party refuses to relinquish power, calls Fatah behavior mutinous.

Ali Waked
Published: 10.03.06, 11:27

Another attempt at calm in Gaza: Palestinian organizations and an Egyptian security delegation continued discussions Tuesday morning in efforts to contain violent infighting in the Strip. However, Fatah and Hamas representatives are sure that any calm will be temporary in nature.

The riots, which began in Gaza on Sunday and spread to the West Bank, started after Hamas intervention forces used live fire and grenades in order to disperse Palestinian policemen who were demonstrating to receive wages.

Starting Violence
8 killed, dozens hurt in Gaza clashes / Ali Waked
Intra-Palestinian conflict escalates: Eight killed, dozens wounded when striking Hamas security apparatus tries to suppress protests by Palestinian security officers demanding months of unpaid wages. Abbas calls for calm.
Full Story

Nine Palestinians were killed in the exchange of fire and dozens were injured. Monday, two more Palestinians were killed and 17 were injured in Rafah.

Members of the Hamas movement promised that they will not let "mutiny and attempted revolution" succeed. A senior Hamas leader told Ynet that the movement, who won a majority in the January 2006 elections, will not relinquish control of the government.

"We will remain in power, a Hamas government or a unity government, at least for the next four years until the end of our term, even if this will bring about an escalation of the conflict and even if, to our chagrin, there will be many more fatalities," he said.

Opportunistic Behavior Causes Infighting:

This same official pointed an accusing finger at the United States as responsible for the recent infighting in Gaza: "This hasn't been about a workers' strike for a long time. This is an attempt of US pressure on a known group within the Fatah, and on (Palestinian President) Mahmoud Abbas to prevent a unity government containing Hamas."

"This group, under American and Israeli pressure, undermined a unity government following the elections, they think that if they incite in the streets, that we will surrender, but we are here and we will fight these corrupt people," he said.

According to the official, the Palestinians wanted a change and, therefore, voted for Hamas. "The nation wanted a change of a corrupt group and now, by preventing the transfer of funds, some of which Mahmoud Abbas is preventing himself, into the accounts of the government workers who are protesting, they are trying to topple us."

"Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh warned them not to play with us. He said that we are lions. I hope that, in the end, ethical and logical considerations and the prohibition against bloodshed will overcome any opportunistic considerations. If not, we'll deal with this group in any way necessary. The way of Islam and the followers of Islam has never been easy," he added.

Fatah: 'Allowed to Check Government':

Fatah, on the other hand, claims that Hamas treats the Haniyeh government as something holy. Movement spokesman Tawfik abu-Husa told Ynet that Fatah is not trying to topple the Hamas government.

"On the contrary, we're in favor of the legislative body to continue serving out its term; however, one of our roles is to check the government when it is clear that it has failed in its duties," he said.

"It is the right of the public to criticize and protest against the government. Ministers and regional representatives don't hesitate to call the government something holy, a government of Allah and, as such, above criticism," he explained.

Abu-Husa claims that changes of government within the Palestinian Authority have a precedent, and therefore, Hamas members are overreacting to normal and democratic protests. "We remind Hamas that this is the tenth PA government. Changes of government are routine."

"However, Hamas doesn't distinguish between the government as a political movement and between Parliament and react to every criticism as political criticism against the movement. We are criticizing the action and quality of action of the government, and not Hamas," he continued.

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Gaza Infighting Renewed, Causing Increased Concerns for Shalit

Latest Report from IsraelNationalNews.com:

Gaza Infighting Renewed, Causing Increased Concerns for Shalit
11:05 Oct 03, '06 / 11 Tishrei 5767
by Hana Levi Julian

Renewed clashes between Fatah and Hamas left three dead and at least 22 wounded in Gaza Monday night. Israeli officials are concerned about how the situation impacts IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

The inter-faction violence which began Sunday escalated into what Palestinian Authority officials were concerned might once again raise the threat of a civil war, especially with the realization of the large number of weapons available in Gaza. Terrorists have smuggled thousands of arms across the border from Egypt in recent months.

Israeli officials, meanwhile, are concerned that the sharp increase in fighting between Hamas and Fatah gunmen in Gaza will negatively impact efforts towards obtaining Shalit’s release.

The soldier was abducted on June 25th by Hamas terrorists in a raid on an IDF outpost near the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Gaza. His whereabouts and condition are still unknown.

Two Fatah members were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in Khan Younis, an attack the faction blamed on Hamas. Three people were wounded in a firefight at Shifa Hospital in Gaza between the family of a dead Fatah gunmen and Hamas police officers. Fatah gunmen killed a waiter in Jericho when he refused to close his restaurant and comply with a strike organized by the minority faction to protest violence in Gaza. Two of PA Deputy Prime Minister Nasser al-Shaer’s bodyguards was shot by unidentified attackers in Shechem, according to the Associated Press. Al-Shaer was not present at the time.

Some 5,000 Fatah protestors in Rafah called for the resignation of PA Interior Minister Said Siyam and demanded the Hamas-led police force disband, leading to more violence. One police officer and a demonstrator were killed and at least 18 others wounded in the clash between police and protestors, according to Reuters.

Nabil Amr, a top aide to President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) said in Ramallah that Abbas was ‘seriously considering’ forming an emergency government or calling early elections to put an end to the ongoing conflicts and bloodshed. “Decisions should be taken in a short period of time,” he said.

The two factions have been battling for control of the PA government since Hamas took over from Fatah as majority party after a landslide victory at the polls in January.

An announcement last month by leaders of both factions that a new unity government would be formed proved meaningless after Hamas insisted it would never agree to formally recognize Israel’s right to exist, one of the demands of the Quartet Forum.

The United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, which comprise the Quartet, have also demanded that Hamas disarm and renounce violence as well as promise to uphold agreements signed by the previous PA administration.

Despite a statement released a week ago by Hamas officials that the impasse between Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Abbas would be overcome within two weeks, little progress has been made.

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