Thousands of protesters gathered around the corner of Liberty and Church Streets on Sunday to voice their opposition to a proposed “mega mosque” near New York City’s Ground Zero.
The protest, organised by Stop Islamisation of America (SIOA), kicked off at noon and rallied support behind efforts to stop construction of the Cordoba House – a 15-story facility that project leaders claim will promote tolerance and serve as a platform for people of all backgrounds to come together.
“This proposed project is about promoting integration, tolerance of difference and community cohesion through arts and culture,” say those behind the Cordoba House.
“Cordoba House will provide a place where individuals, regardless of their backgrounds, will find a centre of learning, art and culture; and most importantly, a centre guided by Islamic values in their truest form - compassion, generosity, and respect for all,” they add.
Opponents of the Muslim-led project, however, say building an Islamic center so close to Ground Zero would be demeaning and offensive to the 2, 976 victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Some even said the construction of the Cordoba House would mark a victory for those who sought and still seek to terrorise the American people.
“Ground Zero is a war memorial. Ground Zero is a burial ground,” said SIOA Co-Founder Pamela Geller during Sunday’s rally. “We are asking for sensitivity.”
As a New York community board had voted 29-1 last month in favour of the plans to build the centre, the only way now to derail the project would be to landmark the site that was purchased for the centere – the old Burlington Coat factory that stands just 600 feet from where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center fell.
Knowing this, opponents of the Islamic centre are pressing the Landmarks Preservation Commission to vote in favour of granting the building landmark status. Aside from being a 152-year-old building, the old Burlington building also had a piece of one of the hijacked airplanes crash into it.
“We are going to sue the US Government to get a designation of war memorial status,” declared Geller on Sunday.
In addition to SIOA, other groups standing against the proposed Cordoba Center include the Freedom Defense Initiative, the Staten Island Tea Party, Shalom International, the Unity Coalition for Israel, 911 Families, and Faith Freedom International.
The Cordoba Center, meanwhile, is a collaboration between the American Society for Muslim Advancement and the Cordoba Initiative – both founded by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who preaches in a mosque twelve blocks from Ground Zero.
Born in Kuwait and educated in England, Egypt, and Malaysia, Rauf holds a Bachelor of Science in Physics from Columbia University in New York and a Master of Science in Plasma Physics from Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey.
source:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/thousands.protest.planned.mega.mosque.at.ground.zero/26056.htm
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Defense Minister: “A military operation is not a reality show”
07 June 2010 , 21:28
Defense Minister Ehud Barak
In a speech delivered on Monday (June 7) at a General Assembly of the Knesset, Defense Minister Ehud Barak saluted the IDF soldiers who took part in the flotilla takeover
Jonatan Urich
“The soldiers of the IDF Naval Special Forces acted in an optimal way during the flotilla takeover,” said Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday evening (June 7), in a speech delivered at a General Assembly of the Knesset. “I can guarantee you: there is no perfect operation from an intelligence standpoint, which unfolds according to plan. An assessment ahead of time is never perfect. An operation does not unfold like a movie; a military operation is not a reality show. In the flotilla raid, the goal was achieved. Without self-control, courage and professionalism from the IDF soldiers there would have been far more casualties. I salute the IDF soldiers”.
“The only man in the Gaza Strip who needs humanitarian assistance is Gilad Shalit”, stressed the Defense Minister. “The blockade on Gaza is required in order to prevent the launchings of rockets towards Israel. A million and a half people are living in Gaza, and only one of them truly needs humanitarian assistance, only one of them is imprisoned, does not merit to see daylight, his health situation in unknown, and his name is Gilad Shalit. There is neither humanitarian crisis nor starvation in Gaza”.
“The Israeli Government, the public, and friends of Israel feel pride about the flotilla takeover. We are facing difficult challenges and numerous threats. Even in times of crisis and of danger we must continue on our way of national unity”, he added.
source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/06/0706.htm
Iranian navy threatens to break Israeli blockade
The Iranian Red Crescent on Monday announced that it had two aid ships ready to set sail for Gaza to break Israel's maritime blockade, and Iran's Revolutionary Guard offered to send its forces to thwart any Israeli attempt to intercept the vessels.
The Revolutionary Guard later extended its offer of protection to any ships trying to break the Gaza maritime blockade, but had yet to receive authorization from Iran's religious authorities to take such action.
If Iranian warships were to accompany future blockade-busting "aid" flotillas, it would likely spark a very dangerous showdown with the Israeli navy, and possibly lead to regional war.
Observers noted that it is unlikely Iranian warships would be able to get to the Mediterranean to carry out their threat, as they would need to pass through Egypt's Suez Canal to do so. Iran and Egypt are regional rivals, and the probability that Egypt would let Iranian warships pass through the canal is small, especially since there would undoubtedly be heavy international pressure on Egypt to not let the Iranians pass.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21253
The Revolutionary Guard later extended its offer of protection to any ships trying to break the Gaza maritime blockade, but had yet to receive authorization from Iran's religious authorities to take such action.
If Iranian warships were to accompany future blockade-busting "aid" flotillas, it would likely spark a very dangerous showdown with the Israeli navy, and possibly lead to regional war.
Observers noted that it is unlikely Iranian warships would be able to get to the Mediterranean to carry out their threat, as they would need to pass through Egypt's Suez Canal to do so. Iran and Egypt are regional rivals, and the probability that Egypt would let Iranian warships pass through the canal is small, especially since there would undoubtedly be heavy international pressure on Egypt to not let the Iranians pass.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21253
Israeli students plan counter-flotilla to Turkey
The National Students Union of Israel is planning to launch a counter-flotilla to carry aid to oppressed minorities in Turkey in an bid to unmask the hypocrisy of the international community, and especially Ankara, in the wake of Israel's raid on the Free Gaza flotilla.
Boaz Torporovsky, chairman of the students union, told Ynet that "Turkey, which leads the campaign against Israel and makes all sorts of threats is the same Turkey that carried out a holocaust and murdered an entire nation of Armenians, and oppresses a minority larger than the Palestinians – the Kurds – who deserve a state, who have demanded a state for longer than the State of Israel has existed."
It is the Kurdish minority in Turkey that the group will try to reach with primarily medical supplies. Torporovsky knows the boat will be stopped by the Turkish authorities, which will hopefully reverse the negative attention on Israel.
Torporovsky said the group is currently seeking a suitable vessel and enough funding to carry out its plans. Arik Ofir, a former naval officer and current business owner, has agreed to captain the ship. The group hopes to set sail by the end of the week.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21251
Boaz Torporovsky, chairman of the students union, told Ynet that "Turkey, which leads the campaign against Israel and makes all sorts of threats is the same Turkey that carried out a holocaust and murdered an entire nation of Armenians, and oppresses a minority larger than the Palestinians – the Kurds – who deserve a state, who have demanded a state for longer than the State of Israel has existed."
It is the Kurdish minority in Turkey that the group will try to reach with primarily medical supplies. Torporovsky knows the boat will be stopped by the Turkish authorities, which will hopefully reverse the negative attention on Israel.
Torporovsky said the group is currently seeking a suitable vessel and enough funding to carry out its plans. Arik Ofir, a former naval officer and current business owner, has agreed to captain the ship. The group hopes to set sail by the end of the week.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21251
Palestinians admit Gaza not starving, Hamas steals aid
In the wake of the Gaza flotilla incident, anti-Israel activists around the world have worked to boost their message that the Gaza Strip is the most destitute place on earth, where famine and plague rule.
But remarks by Palestinians living in Gaza to international media outlets covering the aid flotilla story paint a very different picture.
"There is no starvation in Gaza. No one has died of hunger," Khalil Hamada, a senior official at Gaza's Ministry of Justice, told London's Daily Telegraph. Sticking to the Hamas party line, he then went on to criticize Israel's embargo as "inhumane" and "brutal."
Since much of the international media ignores Palestinians when they admit Israel isn't so bad, Israel itself tried to counter the misinformation regarding the Gaza embargo by publishing figures showing how much aid enters the territory.
According to figures released by Israel's Foreign Ministry, in the first quarter of 2010 (January-March), 94,500 tons of supplies passed through Israel's border crossings with Gaza. That aid included 40,000 tons of wheat (equal to 53 million loaves of bread), 2,760 tones of rice (or 69 million servings), 1,987 tons of clothes (the equivalent of 3.6 million pairs of jeans), and 553 tons of milk powder and baby food.
And it's not just essential goods Israel provides. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan late last year, Israel brought 11,000 head of cattle into Gaza, enough for 8.8 million meals of beef.
The problem is that most of these goods never reach average average Gazans. It is a long-time policy of the Palestinian and wider Arab leadership to maintain a victim or "refugee" status among average Palestinians.
Gaza resident Zaed Khadar acknowledged as much in an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel:
"People who are not in with Hamas don't see any of the relief goods or the gifts of money. Hamas supporters get prefabricated housing, furnishings and paid work. We get nothing."
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21252
But remarks by Palestinians living in Gaza to international media outlets covering the aid flotilla story paint a very different picture.
"There is no starvation in Gaza. No one has died of hunger," Khalil Hamada, a senior official at Gaza's Ministry of Justice, told London's Daily Telegraph. Sticking to the Hamas party line, he then went on to criticize Israel's embargo as "inhumane" and "brutal."
Since much of the international media ignores Palestinians when they admit Israel isn't so bad, Israel itself tried to counter the misinformation regarding the Gaza embargo by publishing figures showing how much aid enters the territory.
According to figures released by Israel's Foreign Ministry, in the first quarter of 2010 (January-March), 94,500 tons of supplies passed through Israel's border crossings with Gaza. That aid included 40,000 tons of wheat (equal to 53 million loaves of bread), 2,760 tones of rice (or 69 million servings), 1,987 tons of clothes (the equivalent of 3.6 million pairs of jeans), and 553 tons of milk powder and baby food.
And it's not just essential goods Israel provides. During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan late last year, Israel brought 11,000 head of cattle into Gaza, enough for 8.8 million meals of beef.
The problem is that most of these goods never reach average average Gazans. It is a long-time policy of the Palestinian and wider Arab leadership to maintain a victim or "refugee" status among average Palestinians.
Gaza resident Zaed Khadar acknowledged as much in an interview with Germany's Der Spiegel:
"People who are not in with Hamas don't see any of the relief goods or the gifts of money. Hamas supporters get prefabricated housing, furnishings and paid work. We get nothing."
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21252
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