Friday, January 13, 2012
BENADOR: Another Friday, Another Erev Shabbat
“So teach us to number our days, that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90
Thursday, January 12, 2012
BENADOR: KING DAVID PSALM 9
May King David words always inspire in us our emunah, our faith in Our G-d Almighty, Avinu Malkeinu... Our Father, Our King...
To the chief Musician, on the death of Labben, A Psalm of David.
I will praise you O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all your marvelous works.
I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O you most High.
When my enemies are turned back, they shall fall and perish at your presence.
For you have maintained my right and my cause; you sat in the throne judging right.
You have rebuked the nations, you have destroyed the wicked, you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.
The enemies have come to an end, in perpetual ruins; for you have destroyed the cities; their memorial is perished.
But the Lord shall endure for ever; he has prepared his throne for judgment.
And he shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the peoples in uprightness.
The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble.
And those who know your name will put their trust in you; for you, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion; declare his acts among the people.
For he avenges blood, he remembers it; he does not forgets the cry of the humble.
Be gracious to me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer from those who hate me, you who lift me up from the gates of death;
That I may tell all your praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion; I will rejoice in your salvation.
The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made; their own foot is trapped in the net which they hid.
The Lord is known by the judgment which he executes; the wicked is snared in the work of his own hands. Higgaion. Selah.
The wicked shall be turned back to Sheol, and all the nations that forget Gd.
For the needy shall not always be forgotten; the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever.
Arise, O Lord; do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged in your sight.
Put them in fear, O Lord; that the nations may know themselves to be only men. Selah.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
BENADOR: G-d gave His Land, Israel, to the Jews: More Proof
G-d gave His Land, Israel, to His Chosen People, the Jews, and unmistakably, G-d made sure to give the border lines that were to be where Israel had to sit and stand.
While these artifacts have been found and they are a material proof that the Jewish people *have* a most certain right to the whole of the Land of Israel, and not only to the tiny strip where they are based right now, there is more than enough proof to support this universal truth.
The Torah is actually not a religious prayer book. It's a History book, it's a Moral Code of Conduct for the Jewish people and human beings in general.
We, Jews, every single week read a portion of the Torah. Week after week, month after month, year after year, until we die...
And, throughout each weekly reading of the Parashat HaShavuah, the Torah portion of the week, Israel's name is always mentioned. There is not one single Parashah or Torah portion where Israel, the Land G-d gave to His Children, the Jewish Children, is not mentioned...
So, it is with great joy that I read the article written by my friend Gil Ronen, a great Jewish journalist.
__________________
Temple Menorah Stamp Affirms Jewish Claim to Land
By Gil Ronen for 7Arutz
Just two weeks after a Temple era seal was displayed to the public, archeologists continue to dig up breathtaking proofs of the ancient and never-severed connection between Jews and the Land of Israel. This time, the find is a 1,500 year old tiny stamp discovered near the city of Akko, bearing the image of the seven-branched Temple Menorah.
Menorah stamp
Dr. Danny Syon, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The stamp was used to identify baked products and probably belonged to a bakery that supplied kosher bread to the Jews of Akko in the Byzantine period.
The ceramic stamp dates from the Byzantine period (6th century CE) and was uncovered in excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is currently conducting at Horbat Uza east of Akko, prior to the construction of the Akko-Karmiel railroad track by the Israel National Roads Company.
This find belongs to a group of stamps referred to as “bread stamps” because they were usually used to stamp baked goods.
According to Gilad Jaffe and Dr. Danny Syon, the directors of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “A number of stamps bearing an image of a menorah are known from different collections. The Temple Menorah, being a Jewish symbol par excellence, indicates the stamps belonged to Jews, unlike Christian bread stamps with the cross pattern which were much more common in the Byzantine period."
There were no Muslims in the region at the time -- because the Quran had not yet been written.
According to Syon, “This is the first time such a stamp is discovered in a controlled archaeological excavation, thus making it possible to determine its provenance and date of manufacture. The stamp is important because it proves that a Jewish community existed in the settlement of Uza in the Christian-Byzantine period. The presence of a Jewish settlement so close to Akko – a region that was definitely Christian at this time – constitutes an innovation in archaeological research."
"Due to the geographical proximity of Horbat Uza to Akko, we can speculate that the settlement supplied kosher baked goods to the Jews of Akko in the Byzantine period," the excavators added.
The stamp is engraved with a seven-branched menorah atop a narrow base, and the top of the branches forms a horizontal line. A number of Greek letters are engraved around a circle and dot on the end of the handle. Dr. Leah Di Segni, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem suggested they probably spell out the name Launtius, which was common among Jews of the period and also appears on another Jewish bread stamp of unknown provenance. According to Dr. Syon and Gilad Jaffe, “This is probably the name of the baker from Horbat Uza."
Horbat Uza is a small rural settlement where clues were previously found that allude to it being a Jewish settlement. These include a clay coffin, a Shabbat lamp and jars with menorah patterns painted on them.
Dr. David Amit of the Israel Antiquities Authority, who has made a study of bread stamps, added, “A potter engraved the menorah image in the surface of the stamp prior to firing it in a kiln, whereas the owner’s name was engraved in the stamp’s handle after firing. Hence we can assume that a series of stamps bearing the menorah symbol were produced for Jewish bakers, and each of these bakers carved his name on the handle, which also served as a stamp.
"In this way the dough could be stamped twice before baking: once with the menorah – the general symbol of the Jewish identity of Jewish bakeries, and again with the private name of the baker in each of these bakeries, which also guaranteed the bakery’s kashrut."
Source
While these artifacts have been found and they are a material proof that the Jewish people *have* a most certain right to the whole of the Land of Israel, and not only to the tiny strip where they are based right now, there is more than enough proof to support this universal truth.
The Torah is actually not a religious prayer book. It's a History book, it's a Moral Code of Conduct for the Jewish people and human beings in general.
We, Jews, every single week read a portion of the Torah. Week after week, month after month, year after year, until we die...
And, throughout each weekly reading of the Parashat HaShavuah, the Torah portion of the week, Israel's name is always mentioned. There is not one single Parashah or Torah portion where Israel, the Land G-d gave to His Children, the Jewish Children, is not mentioned...
So, it is with great joy that I read the article written by my friend Gil Ronen, a great Jewish journalist.
__________________
Temple Menorah Stamp Affirms Jewish Claim to Land
By Gil Ronen for 7Arutz
Just two weeks after a Temple era seal was displayed to the public, archeologists continue to dig up breathtaking proofs of the ancient and never-severed connection between Jews and the Land of Israel. This time, the find is a 1,500 year old tiny stamp discovered near the city of Akko, bearing the image of the seven-branched Temple Menorah.
Menorah stamp
Dr. Danny Syon, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority.
The stamp was used to identify baked products and probably belonged to a bakery that supplied kosher bread to the Jews of Akko in the Byzantine period.
The ceramic stamp dates from the Byzantine period (6th century CE) and was uncovered in excavations the Israel Antiquities Authority is currently conducting at Horbat Uza east of Akko, prior to the construction of the Akko-Karmiel railroad track by the Israel National Roads Company.
This find belongs to a group of stamps referred to as “bread stamps” because they were usually used to stamp baked goods.
According to Gilad Jaffe and Dr. Danny Syon, the directors of the excavation on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, “A number of stamps bearing an image of a menorah are known from different collections. The Temple Menorah, being a Jewish symbol par excellence, indicates the stamps belonged to Jews, unlike Christian bread stamps with the cross pattern which were much more common in the Byzantine period."
There were no Muslims in the region at the time -- because the Quran had not yet been written.
According to Syon, “This is the first time such a stamp is discovered in a controlled archaeological excavation, thus making it possible to determine its provenance and date of manufacture. The stamp is important because it proves that a Jewish community existed in the settlement of Uza in the Christian-Byzantine period. The presence of a Jewish settlement so close to Akko – a region that was definitely Christian at this time – constitutes an innovation in archaeological research."
"Due to the geographical proximity of Horbat Uza to Akko, we can speculate that the settlement supplied kosher baked goods to the Jews of Akko in the Byzantine period," the excavators added.
The stamp is engraved with a seven-branched menorah atop a narrow base, and the top of the branches forms a horizontal line. A number of Greek letters are engraved around a circle and dot on the end of the handle. Dr. Leah Di Segni, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem suggested they probably spell out the name Launtius, which was common among Jews of the period and also appears on another Jewish bread stamp of unknown provenance. According to Dr. Syon and Gilad Jaffe, “This is probably the name of the baker from Horbat Uza."
Horbat Uza is a small rural settlement where clues were previously found that allude to it being a Jewish settlement. These include a clay coffin, a Shabbat lamp and jars with menorah patterns painted on them.
Dr. David Amit of the Israel Antiquities Authority, who has made a study of bread stamps, added, “A potter engraved the menorah image in the surface of the stamp prior to firing it in a kiln, whereas the owner’s name was engraved in the stamp’s handle after firing. Hence we can assume that a series of stamps bearing the menorah symbol were produced for Jewish bakers, and each of these bakers carved his name on the handle, which also served as a stamp.
"In this way the dough could be stamped twice before baking: once with the menorah – the general symbol of the Jewish identity of Jewish bakeries, and again with the private name of the baker in each of these bakeries, which also guaranteed the bakery’s kashrut."
Source
BENADOR: Today in 1775: First Jewish American Patriot held Office and died for America
Foreword by Goodwill Ambassador Eliana Batsheva Benador
The situation in our beloved America is dire. Many of us are seeing the tide changing and not for the best.
We live in this beautiful country as free men and women. We have been a striving population of millions of Jews, American Jews.
We are taught from birth to respect and adapt and adopt the customs and traditions of the host country -and our loyalty is unquestioned.
For us, what's good for America, is good for us, for our people, and for the Land G-d gave to our people, Israel.
America has been and is our home away from home.
And it is with love and loyalty that we, unhesitatingly, pledge allegiance to our country, the United States of America, and to our flag:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
It is, therefore, with pride that today, we celebrate that on this same day in 1775, the Jewish American patriot, Francis Salvador, became the first Jew to take his seat on the South Carolina Provincial Congress.
Thus, Francis Salvador became the first Jew to hold an elected office in "the Americas." He was also the first Jewish soldier killed in the American War for Independence
______________
Born in 1747, Salvador descended from a line of prominent Sephardic Jews who made their home in London. His great grandfather, Joseph, was the East India Company's first Jewish director. His grandfather was influential in bravely moving a group of 42 Jewish colonists to Savannah, Georgia, in 1733 despite the colony's prohibition on Jewish settlers. The Salvadors then purchased land in South Carolina.
After the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 destroyed their Portuguese property and the East India Company collapsed, draining the family's resources, the American property was all the Salvadors had left.
In 1773, Francis Salvador left his wife and children in London to establish himself in South Carolina with the hope of rebuilding his family's fortune. Within a year of his arrival, Salvador won a seat in the South Carolina General Assembly. In 1774, South Carolinians elected Salvador to the revolutionary Provincial Congress, which began to meet in January 1775, and in which Salvador spoke forcefully for the cause of independence.
On July 1, Salvador earned the nickname "Southern Paul Revere" when he rode 30 miles to warn of a Cherokee attack on backcountry settlements. Exactly one month later, while leading a militia group under the general command of Major General James Wilkinson, Salvador and his men were ambushed by a group of Cherokees and Loyalists near present-day Seneca, South Carolina. Salvador was shot and scalped by the Cherokees. Although he survived long enough to know that the militia had won the engagement, he never learned that the South Carolina delegation to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia had taken his advice and voted for independence from Britain.
Salvador was the first recorded Jewish soldier killed in the American War for Independence. He died at the age of 29, never having managed to bring his wife and children from London to the new country for which he fought so bravely.
Source
The situation in our beloved America is dire. Many of us are seeing the tide changing and not for the best.
We live in this beautiful country as free men and women. We have been a striving population of millions of Jews, American Jews.
We are taught from birth to respect and adapt and adopt the customs and traditions of the host country -and our loyalty is unquestioned.
For us, what's good for America, is good for us, for our people, and for the Land G-d gave to our people, Israel.
America has been and is our home away from home.
And it is with love and loyalty that we, unhesitatingly, pledge allegiance to our country, the United States of America, and to our flag:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
It is, therefore, with pride that today, we celebrate that on this same day in 1775, the Jewish American patriot, Francis Salvador, became the first Jew to take his seat on the South Carolina Provincial Congress.
Thus, Francis Salvador became the first Jew to hold an elected office in "the Americas." He was also the first Jewish soldier killed in the American War for Independence
______________
Born in 1747, Salvador descended from a line of prominent Sephardic Jews who made their home in London. His great grandfather, Joseph, was the East India Company's first Jewish director. His grandfather was influential in bravely moving a group of 42 Jewish colonists to Savannah, Georgia, in 1733 despite the colony's prohibition on Jewish settlers. The Salvadors then purchased land in South Carolina.
After the Lisbon earthquake of 1755 destroyed their Portuguese property and the East India Company collapsed, draining the family's resources, the American property was all the Salvadors had left.
In 1773, Francis Salvador left his wife and children in London to establish himself in South Carolina with the hope of rebuilding his family's fortune. Within a year of his arrival, Salvador won a seat in the South Carolina General Assembly. In 1774, South Carolinians elected Salvador to the revolutionary Provincial Congress, which began to meet in January 1775, and in which Salvador spoke forcefully for the cause of independence.
On July 1, Salvador earned the nickname "Southern Paul Revere" when he rode 30 miles to warn of a Cherokee attack on backcountry settlements. Exactly one month later, while leading a militia group under the general command of Major General James Wilkinson, Salvador and his men were ambushed by a group of Cherokees and Loyalists near present-day Seneca, South Carolina. Salvador was shot and scalped by the Cherokees. Although he survived long enough to know that the militia had won the engagement, he never learned that the South Carolina delegation to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia had taken his advice and voted for independence from Britain.
Salvador was the first recorded Jewish soldier killed in the American War for Independence. He died at the age of 29, never having managed to bring his wife and children from London to the new country for which he fought so bravely.
Source
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
BENADOR: Israel needs no potential refugees from Muslim Syria
One can but wonder, a legitimate question. Why would potential Muslim Syrian refugees even think of seeking asylum in Israel of all countries that surround them?
Saudi Arabia should plan on airlifting those potential Muslim refugees... It would be a major mistake to take any Muslim refugees to Israel. But, how could the current anti-Israel Israeli government see that...?
______________________________
Israel, Expecting Syrian Collapse, Braces for Refugees
By ISABEL KERSHNER Published: January 10, 2012
JERUSALEM — Israel’s military chief said on Tuesday that Jerusalem was preparing for a potential influx of refugees into the Golan Heights from Syria with the demise of the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which he said was inevitable.
Addressing a closed meeting of the Israeli Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, said that Israel was preparing to absorb the refugees in a buffer zone between Syria and the Golan, a strategic area controlled by Israel. The plans included defensive measures and humanitarian assistance for those in flight, including thousands from the ruling Alawite sect, the small minority to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs.
“I am not sure all the Alawites will run toward Israel,” General Gantz was quoted as saying, but he said he could not rule out the possibility that some would. He added that Mr. Assad could not continue to rule Syria, but he did not specify how much longer he thought the Assad government would survive.
Israel has tried to keep a low profile and not take sides in the struggle in Syria, a country that is hostile to Israel, but officials here have been increasingly open in their assessment that the Assad government is in dire straits.
The defense minister, Ehud Barak, told the same parliamentary committee on Jan. 2 that the Assad family’s prospects were worsening. “Though it is difficult to put an exact date on when the government will fall, the trend is clear and every day that passes brings the government closer to its end,” Mr. Barak said, according to a statement from his office. He added: “The cracks in the Syrian leadership are deepening, the economic situation is deteriorating and the military is having a hard time dealing with the opposition and the army deserters.”
Despite the uncertainty about who will take over in Syria in the event of a government collapse, and about the ascendancy of Islamic parties in other countries in the region, many Israeli officials and analysts said they would not shed any tears over Mr. Assad’s demise. Instead, Israel sees a potential benefit, saying that the collapse of his government would deal a severe blow to the “radical axis,” including enemies such as Iran, the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah and Palestinian militant groups like Hamas.
Though Syria has mostly maintained quiet along its frontier with Israel for more than 30 years, it has forged an alliance with Iran and provided vital support to Hezbollah.
Israel has held inconclusive negotiations with Syria in the past for a peace treaty based on the return of the Golan Heights, which it conquered in the 1967 war. Israel has extended its law to the area, but for the 20,000 or so Syrians of the Druze religious sect who live there, it remains Syrian territory. Most refused to take Israeli citizenship.
One village, Ghajar, which straddles Israel’s frontier with Lebanon and sits close to the Syrian border, is home to more than 2,000 members of the Alawite sect. The village came under Israeli control along with the Golan Heights. When Israel annexed the area in 1981, the villagers chose to become Israeli citizens.
For refugees fleeing Syria in Israel’s direction, heading for the Golan could be risky. The border area became a scene of deadly confrontation last year when Israeli forces shot pro-Palestinian protesters from Syria as they tried to breach the frontier and enter Israeli-controlled territory twice in three weeks. As many as 26 protesters were killed.
Earlier Tuesday, before General Gantz spoke, the Parliament approved harsh new penalties on illegal migrants, a measure aimed at stopping the flow of African asylum seekers and economic migrants across Israel’s southern border with the Egyptian Sinai.
The amendment, to the existing Law to Prevent Infiltration, makes it possible to detain illegal migrants and their children for up to three years without trial. Anyone caught aiding illegal migrants found to be carrying weapons, or trafficking in humans or drugs, could face prison terms of five to 15 years.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, a human rights organization, decried the new legislation as “draconian and immoral,” saying that “its entire purpose is to deter refugees from entering Israel.”
The Israeli government recently announced additional steps to stem the growing number of Africans who enter the country illegally. About 50,000, mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, have trekked across the Sinai into Israel over the past six years, a source of contention in Israeli society.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has described the illegal migration in the past as “a threat” that could “flood the foundation of the Zionist state.” Others here say that Israel, a nation of Jewish refugees, should show more compassion.
Source
Saudi Arabia should plan on airlifting those potential Muslim refugees... It would be a major mistake to take any Muslim refugees to Israel. But, how could the current anti-Israel Israeli government see that...?
______________________________
Israel, Expecting Syrian Collapse, Braces for Refugees
By ISABEL KERSHNER Published: January 10, 2012
JERUSALEM — Israel’s military chief said on Tuesday that Jerusalem was preparing for a potential influx of refugees into the Golan Heights from Syria with the demise of the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which he said was inevitable.
Addressing a closed meeting of the Israeli Parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, said that Israel was preparing to absorb the refugees in a buffer zone between Syria and the Golan, a strategic area controlled by Israel. The plans included defensive measures and humanitarian assistance for those in flight, including thousands from the ruling Alawite sect, the small minority to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs.
“I am not sure all the Alawites will run toward Israel,” General Gantz was quoted as saying, but he said he could not rule out the possibility that some would. He added that Mr. Assad could not continue to rule Syria, but he did not specify how much longer he thought the Assad government would survive.
Israel has tried to keep a low profile and not take sides in the struggle in Syria, a country that is hostile to Israel, but officials here have been increasingly open in their assessment that the Assad government is in dire straits.
The defense minister, Ehud Barak, told the same parliamentary committee on Jan. 2 that the Assad family’s prospects were worsening. “Though it is difficult to put an exact date on when the government will fall, the trend is clear and every day that passes brings the government closer to its end,” Mr. Barak said, according to a statement from his office. He added: “The cracks in the Syrian leadership are deepening, the economic situation is deteriorating and the military is having a hard time dealing with the opposition and the army deserters.”
Despite the uncertainty about who will take over in Syria in the event of a government collapse, and about the ascendancy of Islamic parties in other countries in the region, many Israeli officials and analysts said they would not shed any tears over Mr. Assad’s demise. Instead, Israel sees a potential benefit, saying that the collapse of his government would deal a severe blow to the “radical axis,” including enemies such as Iran, the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah and Palestinian militant groups like Hamas.
Though Syria has mostly maintained quiet along its frontier with Israel for more than 30 years, it has forged an alliance with Iran and provided vital support to Hezbollah.
Israel has held inconclusive negotiations with Syria in the past for a peace treaty based on the return of the Golan Heights, which it conquered in the 1967 war. Israel has extended its law to the area, but for the 20,000 or so Syrians of the Druze religious sect who live there, it remains Syrian territory. Most refused to take Israeli citizenship.
One village, Ghajar, which straddles Israel’s frontier with Lebanon and sits close to the Syrian border, is home to more than 2,000 members of the Alawite sect. The village came under Israeli control along with the Golan Heights. When Israel annexed the area in 1981, the villagers chose to become Israeli citizens.
For refugees fleeing Syria in Israel’s direction, heading for the Golan could be risky. The border area became a scene of deadly confrontation last year when Israeli forces shot pro-Palestinian protesters from Syria as they tried to breach the frontier and enter Israeli-controlled territory twice in three weeks. As many as 26 protesters were killed.
Earlier Tuesday, before General Gantz spoke, the Parliament approved harsh new penalties on illegal migrants, a measure aimed at stopping the flow of African asylum seekers and economic migrants across Israel’s southern border with the Egyptian Sinai.
The amendment, to the existing Law to Prevent Infiltration, makes it possible to detain illegal migrants and their children for up to three years without trial. Anyone caught aiding illegal migrants found to be carrying weapons, or trafficking in humans or drugs, could face prison terms of five to 15 years.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, a human rights organization, decried the new legislation as “draconian and immoral,” saying that “its entire purpose is to deter refugees from entering Israel.”
The Israeli government recently announced additional steps to stem the growing number of Africans who enter the country illegally. About 50,000, mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, have trekked across the Sinai into Israel over the past six years, a source of contention in Israeli society.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has described the illegal migration in the past as “a threat” that could “flood the foundation of the Zionist state.” Others here say that Israel, a nation of Jewish refugees, should show more compassion.
Source
BENADOR: Syria, framed in Arab Darkness, awaits League's Decision
Bashar al-Assad's fate is linked to the Arab League's decision -and in the world where taqqiya rules, surprises and disloyalty are unsurprising.
As the world discovers that what has been called the "Arab Spring" is not such, but in reality the "Darkness of the Muslim world," each of the countries in the Muslim region is falling to Islamist movements under the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, sponsors of terrorism and world domination.
__________________________________________________
Tense Syria awaits Arab League outcome
(DP-News - agencies)
DAMASCUS- Arab League foreign ministers meet on Sunday to discuss whether to ask the U.N. to help their mission in Syria, which has failed to end a 10-month-old crackdown on unrest that has killed thousands.
The ministerial committee on Syria was to meet in Cairo, where the Arab League has its headquarters, to be briefed by the head of the mission, General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi.
The ministers will also discuss ways the mission might operate more independently of Syrian authorities.
Speaking on the eve of the meeting, the head of the monitoring operations room at the League's headquarters in Cairo, Adnan al-Khudeir, said the withdrawal of the monitors was not on the agenda and they were continuing their work according to protocols agreed with the Syrian government.
He said in a statement the delegation could only be withdrawn by a decision of Arab League foreign ministers, who had initially agreed the mission's parameters.
Arab League sources said ministers were likely to reaffirm support for the monitors, resisting calls to end what Syrian pro-democracy campaigners say is a toothless mission that buys more time for President Bashar al-Assad to suppress opponents.
Qatar proposes inviting U.N. technicians and human rights experts to help Arab monitors judge whether Syria is honouring its pledge to stop its repression, Arab League sources said. One said it might ask that U.N. staff helping the mission be Arabs.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani said Syria was not implementing the terms of the Arab League peace plan it agreed, and monitors could not stay in Syria to "waste time." The Syrian army had not withdrawn from cities and there had been no end to the killing, he said.
Syria says it is providing the monitors with all they need and has urged them to show "objectivity and professionalism."
The 22-member Arab League suspended Syria in November after months of silence over the crackdown. But some Arab leaders are uncomfortable about targeting one of their peers given their own restive populations, diplomats say.
The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed in the uprising against President al-Assad`s regime.
A team of Arab League monitors has been in Syria since December 26, trying to assess whether President Bashar al-Assad's regime is complying with a peace accord aimed at ending its deadly crackdown on dissent.
But critics say it has been completely outmaneuvered by the government and has failed to make any progress towards stemming the crackdown. They have called for the mission to pull out.
Western powers that want president Bashar al-Assad to step down to allow for democratic reforms have welcomed the League's toughened stance. Arab states oppose any foreign military intervention like that which helped topple Libya's Muammar Gaddafi last year.
Sunday's meeting comes as heavy clashes broke out before dawn between the Syrian army and deserters, leaving 11 of its soldiers dead, according to human rights activists.
Ten Jordanian monitors had arrived in Damascus on Saturday, Khudeir said, bringing to 153 the number of monitors involved.
Syria bars most independent journalists from the country, making first-hand reporting impossible.
But a BBC Arabic service reporter was allowed to accompany three Arab monitors to a town on the outskirts of Damascus.
It was the first time foreign media were known to have been able to cover the activities of the monitors directly, although media access was a condition stipulated by the Arab League.
The BBC said it had been able to film, unhindered by the security forces.
Source
As the world discovers that what has been called the "Arab Spring" is not such, but in reality the "Darkness of the Muslim world," each of the countries in the Muslim region is falling to Islamist movements under the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, sponsors of terrorism and world domination.
__________________________________________________
Tense Syria awaits Arab League outcome
(DP-News - agencies)
DAMASCUS- Arab League foreign ministers meet on Sunday to discuss whether to ask the U.N. to help their mission in Syria, which has failed to end a 10-month-old crackdown on unrest that has killed thousands.
The ministerial committee on Syria was to meet in Cairo, where the Arab League has its headquarters, to be briefed by the head of the mission, General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi.
The ministers will also discuss ways the mission might operate more independently of Syrian authorities.
Speaking on the eve of the meeting, the head of the monitoring operations room at the League's headquarters in Cairo, Adnan al-Khudeir, said the withdrawal of the monitors was not on the agenda and they were continuing their work according to protocols agreed with the Syrian government.
He said in a statement the delegation could only be withdrawn by a decision of Arab League foreign ministers, who had initially agreed the mission's parameters.
Arab League sources said ministers were likely to reaffirm support for the monitors, resisting calls to end what Syrian pro-democracy campaigners say is a toothless mission that buys more time for President Bashar al-Assad to suppress opponents.
Qatar proposes inviting U.N. technicians and human rights experts to help Arab monitors judge whether Syria is honouring its pledge to stop its repression, Arab League sources said. One said it might ask that U.N. staff helping the mission be Arabs.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani said Syria was not implementing the terms of the Arab League peace plan it agreed, and monitors could not stay in Syria to "waste time." The Syrian army had not withdrawn from cities and there had been no end to the killing, he said.
Syria says it is providing the monitors with all they need and has urged them to show "objectivity and professionalism."
The 22-member Arab League suspended Syria in November after months of silence over the crackdown. But some Arab leaders are uncomfortable about targeting one of their peers given their own restive populations, diplomats say.
The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed in the uprising against President al-Assad`s regime.
A team of Arab League monitors has been in Syria since December 26, trying to assess whether President Bashar al-Assad's regime is complying with a peace accord aimed at ending its deadly crackdown on dissent.
But critics say it has been completely outmaneuvered by the government and has failed to make any progress towards stemming the crackdown. They have called for the mission to pull out.
Western powers that want president Bashar al-Assad to step down to allow for democratic reforms have welcomed the League's toughened stance. Arab states oppose any foreign military intervention like that which helped topple Libya's Muammar Gaddafi last year.
Sunday's meeting comes as heavy clashes broke out before dawn between the Syrian army and deserters, leaving 11 of its soldiers dead, according to human rights activists.
Ten Jordanian monitors had arrived in Damascus on Saturday, Khudeir said, bringing to 153 the number of monitors involved.
Syria bars most independent journalists from the country, making first-hand reporting impossible.
But a BBC Arabic service reporter was allowed to accompany three Arab monitors to a town on the outskirts of Damascus.
It was the first time foreign media were known to have been able to cover the activities of the monitors directly, although media access was a condition stipulated by the Arab League.
The BBC said it had been able to film, unhindered by the security forces.
Source
BENADOR: West Getting Serious with Nuclear Arms Charge Against Iran
Ever since the Shah was ousted, the fate of Iran has been at the hands of murderous mullahs and as time has gone by, the situation has worsened, especially with a president who virulently has called for the destruction of an existing country and who has been supporting the Islamist movements expansion throughout the world by exporting and encouraging, promoting terrorism.
Nuclear weapons at the hands of rogue regimes are among the most dangerous situations, and ideally, it should have been the turn of the Iranian people to stop their own misfit government. But they have not. And, one can but see with no enthusiasm the need of other countries to 'fix' the situation.
_____________________________________
Nuclear Arms Charge Against Iran Is No Slam Dunk: Robert Kelley
By Robert Kelley Jan 10, 2012 7:01 PM ET
The conflict between Iran and the West just keeps heating up, with the Iranians announcing over the weekend that they have begun to enrich uranium at a second major facility, a well-defended site outside the city of Qom.
Given the high stakes, it’s valuable to take another look at the main source of the tension: Iran’s nuclear-weapons program. That this enterprise is active is widely considered a given in the U.S. In fact, the evidence, contained in a November report of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is sketchy. And the way the data have been presented produces a sickly sense of deja vu.
I am speaking up about this now because, as a member of the IAEA’s Iraq Action Team in 2003, I learned firsthand how withholding the facts can lead to bloodshed. Having known the details then, though I was not allowed to speak, I feel a certain shared responsibility for the war that killed more than 4,000 Americans and more than 100,000 Iraqis. A private citizen today, I hope to help ensure the facts are clear before the U.S. takes further steps that could lead, intentionally or otherwise, to a new conflagration, this time in Iran.
It’s accepted that Iran at one time had a nuclear-weapons program. The country’s enormous investment in a secret underground uranium-enrichment complex in the city of Natanz is essentially proof of clandestine intentions. The military plutonium-production reactor in Arak is yet another indicator.
However, it must be remembered that in the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, U.S. agencies concluded that Iran halted its nuclear-arms program in 2003 under international pressure. It’s rare for intelligence officials to determine that they have sufficient evidence to say a program has ended, so their information presumably was very good. Similarly, until this year, the IAEA has consistently reported that it had no information suggesting Iran had a nuclear-weapons program after 2004.
So the issue is not whether there is evidence of such a program, but whether there is evidence that it was restarted after being shut down in 2003.
The Nov. 8, 2011, report of the IAEA, under the leadership of Director General Yukiya Amano, is long on the former and very short on the latter. In the 24-page document, intended for a restricted distribution but widely available on the Internet, all but three of the items that were offered as proof of a possible nuclear-arms program are either undated or refer to events before 2004. The agency spends about 96 percent of a 14- page annex reprising what was already known: that at one time there were military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program.
Three Indications
What about the three indications that the arms project may have been reactivated?
Two of the three are attributed only to two member states, so the sourcing is impossible to evaluate. In addition, their validity is called into question by the agency’s handling of the third piece of evidence.
That evidence, according to the IAEA, tells us Iran embarked on a four-year program, starting around 2006, to validate the design of a device to produce a burst of neutrons that could initiate a fission chain reaction. Though I cannot say for sure what source the agency is relying on, I can say for certain that this project was earlier at the center of what appeared to be a misinformation campaign.
In 2009, the IAEA received a two-page document, purporting to come from Iran, describing this same alleged work. Mohamed ElBaradei, who was then the agency’s director general, rejected the information because there was no chain of custody for the paper, no clear source, document markings, date of issue or anything else that could establish its authenticity. What’s more, the document contained style errors, suggesting the author was not a native Farsi speaker. It appeared to have been typed using an Arabic, rather than a Farsi, word-processing program. When ElBaradei put the document in the trash heap, the U.K.’s Times newspaper published it.
This episode had suspicious similarities to a previous case that proved definitively to be a hoax. In 1995, the IAEA received several documents from the Sunday Times, a sister paper to the Times, purporting to show that Iraq had resumed its nuclear-weapons program in spite of all evidence to the contrary. The IAEA quickly determined that the documents were elaborate forgeries. There were mistakes in formatting the documents’ markings, classification and dates, and many errors in language and style indicated the author’s first language was something other than Arabic or Farsi. Inspections in Iraq later in 1995 confirmed incontrovertibly that there had been no reconstitution of the Iraqi nuclear program.
Today’s Regrets
I regret now that ElBaradei did not speak out more vehemently, before the U.S. went to war, about the 1995 faked documents, additional forgeries provided to the agency in 2003 and other falsifications. A good man, he had been an international lawyer with years of experience dealing with half- truths and prevarications. But he was trapped between telling the whole story and overtly insulting the U.S., which supplied 25 percent of the IAEA’s funding.
For example, ElBaradei labeled documents provided to the IAEA about Iraq’s attempts to acquire uranium from Africa “not authentic.” A better description would have been “blatant and amateurish forgeries.” He provided evidence that aluminum tubes the U.S. said were for nuclear centrifuges were actually for rockets. But he did not supply the supporting engineering details publicly. The truth was lost in the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s scandalous detailing of Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction, which was wrong in almost every respect.
ElBaradei’s successor also has fallen short by failing to note in his report the earlier doubts that Iran was continuing to develop a neutron-producing device. If Amano has found new reasons to overlook the many questionable aspects of this story, he should present them. Given past doubts about the episode, the agency’s reporting on it should be above reproach.
When it comes to accurately accounting for potential diversions of nuclear materials, the IAEA’s main mission, the agency has gone about its work with precision. It needs to be just as exacting when it delves into allegations about Iran’s weapons intentions.
I should be clear: Iran deserves tough scrutiny. It claims to have given up its nuclear-weapons ambitions, yet repeatedly acts as if it has something to hide. I am a skeptic; I suspect the Iranians may have an ongoing weaponization program. And the uncertainty must be resolved.
At the same time, we should not again be held hostage to forgeries and the spinning of data to make the worst case. If Iran is developing nuclear weapons, let it be proved through the analysis of current, solid information -- not recycled, discredited data. If there is to be a war with Iran, let’s not have a repeat, afterward, of the anguished articles and books from officials who kept their misgivings to themselves. Let’s get all the facts on the table now.
Robert Kelley, a nuclear engineer, was a director at the IAEA, where he worked for nine years. He gained his weapons expertise over 30 years at the University of California’s nuclear-weapons laboratories. The opinions expressed are his own.
Read more opinion online from Bloomberg View.
To contact the writer of this article: Robert Kelley at R.kelley@atomicreporters.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this article: Lisa Beyer at lbeyer3@bloomberg.net.
Source
Nuclear weapons at the hands of rogue regimes are among the most dangerous situations, and ideally, it should have been the turn of the Iranian people to stop their own misfit government. But they have not. And, one can but see with no enthusiasm the need of other countries to 'fix' the situation.
_____________________________________
Nuclear Arms Charge Against Iran Is No Slam Dunk: Robert Kelley
By Robert Kelley Jan 10, 2012 7:01 PM ET
The conflict between Iran and the West just keeps heating up, with the Iranians announcing over the weekend that they have begun to enrich uranium at a second major facility, a well-defended site outside the city of Qom.
Given the high stakes, it’s valuable to take another look at the main source of the tension: Iran’s nuclear-weapons program. That this enterprise is active is widely considered a given in the U.S. In fact, the evidence, contained in a November report of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is sketchy. And the way the data have been presented produces a sickly sense of deja vu.
I am speaking up about this now because, as a member of the IAEA’s Iraq Action Team in 2003, I learned firsthand how withholding the facts can lead to bloodshed. Having known the details then, though I was not allowed to speak, I feel a certain shared responsibility for the war that killed more than 4,000 Americans and more than 100,000 Iraqis. A private citizen today, I hope to help ensure the facts are clear before the U.S. takes further steps that could lead, intentionally or otherwise, to a new conflagration, this time in Iran.
It’s accepted that Iran at one time had a nuclear-weapons program. The country’s enormous investment in a secret underground uranium-enrichment complex in the city of Natanz is essentially proof of clandestine intentions. The military plutonium-production reactor in Arak is yet another indicator.
However, it must be remembered that in the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate, U.S. agencies concluded that Iran halted its nuclear-arms program in 2003 under international pressure. It’s rare for intelligence officials to determine that they have sufficient evidence to say a program has ended, so their information presumably was very good. Similarly, until this year, the IAEA has consistently reported that it had no information suggesting Iran had a nuclear-weapons program after 2004.
So the issue is not whether there is evidence of such a program, but whether there is evidence that it was restarted after being shut down in 2003.
The Nov. 8, 2011, report of the IAEA, under the leadership of Director General Yukiya Amano, is long on the former and very short on the latter. In the 24-page document, intended for a restricted distribution but widely available on the Internet, all but three of the items that were offered as proof of a possible nuclear-arms program are either undated or refer to events before 2004. The agency spends about 96 percent of a 14- page annex reprising what was already known: that at one time there were military dimensions to Iran’s nuclear program.
Three Indications
What about the three indications that the arms project may have been reactivated?
Two of the three are attributed only to two member states, so the sourcing is impossible to evaluate. In addition, their validity is called into question by the agency’s handling of the third piece of evidence.
That evidence, according to the IAEA, tells us Iran embarked on a four-year program, starting around 2006, to validate the design of a device to produce a burst of neutrons that could initiate a fission chain reaction. Though I cannot say for sure what source the agency is relying on, I can say for certain that this project was earlier at the center of what appeared to be a misinformation campaign.
In 2009, the IAEA received a two-page document, purporting to come from Iran, describing this same alleged work. Mohamed ElBaradei, who was then the agency’s director general, rejected the information because there was no chain of custody for the paper, no clear source, document markings, date of issue or anything else that could establish its authenticity. What’s more, the document contained style errors, suggesting the author was not a native Farsi speaker. It appeared to have been typed using an Arabic, rather than a Farsi, word-processing program. When ElBaradei put the document in the trash heap, the U.K.’s Times newspaper published it.
This episode had suspicious similarities to a previous case that proved definitively to be a hoax. In 1995, the IAEA received several documents from the Sunday Times, a sister paper to the Times, purporting to show that Iraq had resumed its nuclear-weapons program in spite of all evidence to the contrary. The IAEA quickly determined that the documents were elaborate forgeries. There were mistakes in formatting the documents’ markings, classification and dates, and many errors in language and style indicated the author’s first language was something other than Arabic or Farsi. Inspections in Iraq later in 1995 confirmed incontrovertibly that there had been no reconstitution of the Iraqi nuclear program.
Today’s Regrets
I regret now that ElBaradei did not speak out more vehemently, before the U.S. went to war, about the 1995 faked documents, additional forgeries provided to the agency in 2003 and other falsifications. A good man, he had been an international lawyer with years of experience dealing with half- truths and prevarications. But he was trapped between telling the whole story and overtly insulting the U.S., which supplied 25 percent of the IAEA’s funding.
For example, ElBaradei labeled documents provided to the IAEA about Iraq’s attempts to acquire uranium from Africa “not authentic.” A better description would have been “blatant and amateurish forgeries.” He provided evidence that aluminum tubes the U.S. said were for nuclear centrifuges were actually for rockets. But he did not supply the supporting engineering details publicly. The truth was lost in the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell’s scandalous detailing of Iraq’s supposed weapons of mass destruction, which was wrong in almost every respect.
ElBaradei’s successor also has fallen short by failing to note in his report the earlier doubts that Iran was continuing to develop a neutron-producing device. If Amano has found new reasons to overlook the many questionable aspects of this story, he should present them. Given past doubts about the episode, the agency’s reporting on it should be above reproach.
When it comes to accurately accounting for potential diversions of nuclear materials, the IAEA’s main mission, the agency has gone about its work with precision. It needs to be just as exacting when it delves into allegations about Iran’s weapons intentions.
I should be clear: Iran deserves tough scrutiny. It claims to have given up its nuclear-weapons ambitions, yet repeatedly acts as if it has something to hide. I am a skeptic; I suspect the Iranians may have an ongoing weaponization program. And the uncertainty must be resolved.
At the same time, we should not again be held hostage to forgeries and the spinning of data to make the worst case. If Iran is developing nuclear weapons, let it be proved through the analysis of current, solid information -- not recycled, discredited data. If there is to be a war with Iran, let’s not have a repeat, afterward, of the anguished articles and books from officials who kept their misgivings to themselves. Let’s get all the facts on the table now.
Robert Kelley, a nuclear engineer, was a director at the IAEA, where he worked for nine years. He gained his weapons expertise over 30 years at the University of California’s nuclear-weapons laboratories. The opinions expressed are his own.
Read more opinion online from Bloomberg View.
To contact the writer of this article: Robert Kelley at R.kelley@atomicreporters.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this article: Lisa Beyer at lbeyer3@bloomberg.net.
Source
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