An open letter to my Muslim brothers and sisters

From blog of 'Son of Hamas'

 1942. The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin Al-Hussaini visits the Muslim storm troopers of the Bosnian SS.

The world condemned Nazi Germany for trying to conquer the world. But it affirms and accommodates Islam which commands Muslims to replace the nations with a global caliphate.
The world condemned Adolph Hitler for believing that Aryans were the master race, created by God to rule the world and who considered all others to be Untermenschen, racially inferior. Non-Aryans were pollution, garbage to be swept up and shoveled into landfills and incinerators. Yet the world ignores a fundamental doctrine of Islam that lists “disbelievers” amongst “types of filth and impurities” which include “urine, feces, semen, carrion, blood of carrion, dogs and pigs.”  ¹
The world condemned Hitler as a racist who systematically slaughtered as many as 17 million Jews, ethnic Poles, Romani, Soviet civilians and POWs, disabled people homosexuals and political opponents in six years. But despite its vow of “Never again!” it sticks its head deep into the oil-soaked sand and pretends that Islam has not turned the world red with innocent blood for more than fourteen centuries.
Hitler publicly condemned prostitution, yet ordered Himmler to establish brothels for German soldiers, forced laborers and prisoners. ² Muhammad established one moral code for Muslims and another for himself, one that allowed him at the age of 53 to take a nine-year-old child to bed as his wife. ³ Yet, how many of you today dream of such a thing for your little girls? And if not, are you greater than your Prophet?
Muhammad declared it. The Qur’an mandates it. Yet most Muslims deny it.
How can this be?
The “great masses,” Hitler wrote, ” . . . more easily fall a victim to a big lie than to a little one, since they themselves lie in little things, but would be ashamed of lies that were too big.” ⁴
Point for point, the Prophet and the Führer agree. Point for point, Mein Kampf nods to the Qur’an.
Hitler was a terrorist. ⁵ So was Muhammad. ⁶
Hitler murdered those who opposed him. So did Muhammad.
Stop believing the Big Lie, my brothers.
Be furious with me for what I am saying. Fill my blog with outraged comments quoting suras that contradict those that I cite here, as evidence that I am wrong. They will only prove that I am right. The Qur’an, which all Muslims must believe to be the infallible word of God, is riddled with contradictions and factual and historical errors. No? Go to www.thequran.com and read for yourself what Muslim scholars say, verse by verse, about their holy book.
You who are outraged, how well do you know your Qur’an? Have you read it, studied it? Do you understand it? For centuries, Christians knew only what their priests told them. They did not have access to Scripture. Martin Luther changed that in 1522, when he published the New Testament in the language of the people. Nevertheless, even with the abundance of resources, translations and paraphrased versions, half of today’s Christians do not know their Bible. ⁷
Unfortunately, it is the same with most Muslims.
What is Islam to you? Culture or life? Divine truth or superstition? Something you know or only believe? Your faith or just your inheritance?
A “moderate” Muslim is not one who is not violent; he is one who is simply uninformed. It is not that he is not an extremist; it is that he is apathetic. The God of the Bible says, “because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” ⁸ The god of the Qur’an holds the same opinion.
Please stop being lazy. Begin showing love for your families and your neighbors by reading your Qur’an and your Hadith, and asking the inevitable questions.
The Prophet and his book are not merely mistaken; they are wicked. Hitler killed countless millions on the battlefields and in his extermination camps in six years, but Muhammad has been killing steadily since the seventh century—Jews, Christians and other non-Muslims. The Qur’an commands even the slaughter of its own.
You are the only hope the world has of crushing the Big Lie. Christians cannot stop it. The secular world is afraid to try.
Your weapon is truth. First, you must love and respect your religion enough to learn the truth; then you must love your neighbor enough to share that truth.

*  *  *

1. “Muslim students ‘being taught to despise unbelievers as filth,’” Sean O’Neill, The Sunday Times, April 20, 2006
2. “Secrets of Nazi camp brothels emerge in German exhibition,” Reuters, November 7, 2007
3. D.A. Spellberg, Politics, Gender, and the Islamic Past: the Legacy of A’isha bint Abi Bakr, Columbia University Press, 1994, p. 40
4. Mein Kampf, volume 1, chapter 10, paragraph 31, Manhein translation
5. Mein Kampf, volume 2, chapter 5
6. The Qur’an, sura 5, chapter 60 (Shakir)
7. http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/177-christians-say-they-do-best-at-relationships-worst-in-bible-knowledge?q=bible
8. The Holy Bible, NIV, Revelation 3:16

Ex-Israeli warns another flotilla in works

Dror Feiler says additional flotilla will be bigger than first, will not agree to Israeli checks on board

News agencies
Published: 08.04.10, 19:49 / Israel News

The organizers of the Freedom Flotilla to the Gaza Strip in May announced Wednesday after a meeting in Stockholm that they intend to send another flotilla to the Strip by the end of the year.

"We will send another flotilla if the blockade on Gaza is not lifted," Dror Feiler, spokesman for the Swedish branch of the pro-Palestinian organization Ship to Gaza, told AFP.

"We'll set off before the end of 2010 and we are sure the flotilla will be bigger with more vessels," he added. "We will not agree to Israeli checks and barriers."

Feiler (59) is a former Israeli artist and musician who moved to Sweden in the 70s. In January 2004 he made the headlines after exhibiting an installation in a Stockholm museum. The installation, entitled Snow White and the Madness of Truth, was comprised of a pool of water colored to look like blood, on which floated a small boat labeled "Snow White" bearing a picture of Hanadi Jaradat, who carried out a suicide attack on the Maxim restaurant in Haifa in 2003.

Israel's ambassador to Sweden at the time, Zvi Mazel, was invited to the opening and destroyed the installation in fury, sparking a diplomatic furor.


Feiler also took part in the flotilla to Gaza in May which included the Marmara, on which nine activists where killed when Israeli soldiers took control of the vessel. Feiler was lightly wounded.


The Turkel commission is still investigating the events and commission members, including the foreign observers, met Wednesday after looking into the IDF's Eiland report.


Another investigative committee, one of three looking into the flotilla events, continues to cause an uproar. President of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva Sihasak Phuangketkeow rejected claims that there was no need for the committee the Council nominated because of Israel's agreement to cooperate with the UN secretary-general's committee. However, Sihasak called on Israel to cooperate with both committees.


He said there was a clear distinction between the aims and mandate given to the two committees, and hoped Israel would take an effective and active part in the investigations because the committee's aim was not to condemn Israel.


According to Phuangketkeow, committee members would try to get to the Middle East to interview those involved in the flotilla events despite Israel's declaration that it would not cooperate.


The more important committee, that set up by the UN secretary-general and headed by former New Zealand Prime Minister Geoffrey Palmer has won the support of Israel and Turkey, and will receive the report from the Turkel commission, which is investigating the events independently.


The committee will include outgoing Columbian President Alvaro Uribe as well as an Israeli and a Turkish representative. Both committees are expected to publish their findings next month.


The declared aims of the Geneva committee is to ascertain whether Israel violated international law or human rights, while the New York committee will concentrate on fact-finding and the implications of the flotilla affair as well as recommendations to prevent a similar occurrence.
source:http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3930403,00.html

Archaeologists uncover Philistine temple in Goliath's hometown

by Ethan Cole, Christian PostPosted: Thursday, August 5, 2010, 4:51 (BST)

Archaeologists in Israel have recently discovered a Philistine temple at the site where the giant warrior Goliath’s hometown would have been.

The temple ruins are located in the ancient city of Gath and date back to the 10th century BC, according to Aren Maeir, an archaeology professor at Bar Illan University.

The uncovered temple has a similar architectural image to the one described in the Bible story of Samson pulling down the Philistine temple of Dagon on himself.

“We’re not saying this is the same temple where the story of Samson occurred or that the story even did occur,” Maeir, who has directed excavation at the site for the past 13 years, told The Jerusalem Post last week.

“But this gives us a good idea of what image whoever wrote the story would have had of a Philistine temple.”

This is the first Philistine temple found at Gath.

In addition to the temple discovery, the team also found evidence of a major earthquake from the 8th century BC that could be the quakes mentioned in the books of Isaiah and Amos.

“If the seismologists are right, an 8 on the Richter scale would have levelled a major city,” said Maeir. “The intensity of the energy required to move the walls seem to have been from something very powerful.

“What we have here is very strong arch-evidence of a dramatic earthquake, a natural event that left a very significant impression on the biblical prophets of the time.”

Maeir and his international team uncovered the temple amid ruins on ancient mounts in Tel Tzafit National Park on the southern coastal plain.
source:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/archaeologists.uncover.philistine.temple.in.goliaths.hometown/26436.htm

Muslims kill Christian woman and children in Pakistan

by Staff
August 4, 2010

(christiansunite.com) - A Christian woman and her four children were murdered by a Muslim mob in Jhelum, Pakistan after her 11-year-old son was accused of committing blasphemy.

On June 21, the Christian boy went to the local store to buy laundry detergent. The shopkeeper, upon learning the boy was a Christian, refused to sell any products to him. When the boy returned home and informed his mother of the incident, she phoned her husband -- Jamshed Masih -- and asked him to rush home from work.

Before he was able to return, Muslim residents arrived at the family's home and accused the boy of committing blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad. When Jamshed's wife argued against the accusation, they killed her and the children -- two boys and two girls.

Authorities are reportedly too fearful of the local Muslim leader to file charges. The family had earlier been warned by the Muslim leader to leave the predominately Muslim area. (Source: Compass Direct)
source:http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion09557.shtml

Israeli general opposes Ground Zero mosque

Brig.-Gen. Dov Shefi (ret.), a former chief IDF prosecutor who today serves as attorney-general of Israel's Defense Ministry, lost his son, Haggai, nine years ago when Muslim terrorists flew two passenger jets into the World Trade Center towers in New York City.

He is appalled that today the city of New York seems ready to approve the construction of a mosque at the site of history's most bloody Islamic terrorist attack.

"I think that the establishment of a mosque in this place, a place that serves as a memorial site for [thousands of] families, is like bringing a pig into the Holy Temple," Shefi told Israel's Arutz 7 radio station. "It is inconceivable that in all the city of New York, this site was specifically chosen to establish an institution that represents the culture that led the terrorists of Al-Qaeda to carry out the greatest crime ever."

Shefi said that people around the world admire America for its openness and commitment to personal freedom, but lamented that "this belief often makes [Americans] lose sight of reality."

Shefi has joined with several conservative groups in the US that are fighting to make sure a mosque is not erected at Ground Zero, as it would be seen throughout the Muslim world as a testament to the domination of the world's greatest economic and military power by Islam.

Unreported was the fact that the death of Haggai Shefi in the southern World Trade Center tower on September 11, 2001 stands in sharp contrast to the conspiracy theorists who claim the terrorist attack was orchestrated by Israel, and that all Jews were secretly evacuated.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21641

IDF Officer Killed as Lebanon Opens Fire on Northern Border

03 August 2010

LAF opened fire at IDF forces operating inside Israeli territory, killing Lt. Col. (res.) Dov Harari. White House sent condolences to the Harari family.
Elana Kieffer

The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) fired at an IDF position in the Israeli side of the border along the Lebanese border in northern Israel on Tuesday afternoon (Aug. 3). The Israeli soldiers who were fired on had been in Israeli territory, carrying out routine maintenance which had been coordinated ahead of time with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is the peacekeeping force created by the UN Security Council in March 1978 following Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon.

Lt. Col. Dov Harari (45) from Netanya was killed by the LAF during this incident. The White House sent President Barak Obama's personal condolences to the Harari family, on the passing of the Battalion Commander. Harari served as a battalion commander. Capt. Ezra Lakia (30) from Kfar Ha'Rif sustained severe injuries in the same incident. Capt. Lakia served as a platoon commander.

The border area is west of the Israeli town of Misgav Am. The incident occurred east of the internationally recognized “Blue Line”, the border between Israel and Lebanon, and west of the security fence, thus lying within Israeli territory.

The IDF force immediately returned fire to an LAF force. Several minutes later an Israel Air Force (IAF) helicopter fired at the LAF Battalion Command Center in Al-Taybeh, damaging several LAF armored combat vehicles.

The IDF holds the LAF responsible for the incident that disrupted the calm in the region, and its consequences.

Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, arrived at Israel's northern border and has been closely following the events as they unfold. He is currently holding situation assessment meetings with the Commander of IDF's Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, as well as the Commander of the Galilee Regional Division and additional commanders.

Since the conclusion of the Second Lebanon War over four years ago, three incidents of firing towards Israeli territory have been recorded, and terrorist organizations have claimed responsibility for each of these incidents.

There have also been two recorded incidents of Lebanon violating the Blue Line. First, in a cross border raid in October 2000, Hezbollah forces abducted and killed three IDF soldiers, Sgt. First Class Adi Avitan (22), Sgt. First Class Benyamin Avraham (21), and Sgt. First Class Omar Sawaid (27), who at the time had been patrolling on the Israeli side of the border demarcation.

In an additional cross border raid in 2006, Hezbollah forces attacked two Israeli armored Hum-vees which were located within the Israeli side of the border. As a result, seven IDF soldiers were killed, two were wounded, and Sgt. First Class Ehud Goldwasser and Sgt. First Class Eldad Regev were abducted and killed.
source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/08/0302.htm

Lebanese Christian Leader Takes on Hezbollah

President Barack Obama's top counterterrorism advisor John Brennan created a stir recently when he talked of building up the "more moderate elements" of the terrorist group Hezbollah.

But in response to such an idea, one Christian member of Lebanon's Parliament said, "Good luck with that."

"Hezbollah is a very dangerous party because they are trying to impose to Lebanon their policy and their vision of jihad and martyrdom," said Nadim Gemayel, member of the Lebanon Parliament. "And this is unacceptable."

Gemayel has called for Hezbollah to disarm. He told CBN News in an exclusive interview that the Shiite terror militia has hijacked his country.

"It's abiding to the rules of the Iranian revolution," Gemayel said of the gorup. "But moreover, I think that with the support, of course, of the Iranian arms and the money and the financing of the Iranians and from the facilities that Syria is providing to Hezbollah, we are having a party -- a military party -- growing day after day and year after year -- especially after the war of 2006."

In that war, Israel heavily damaged Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Lebanon after the group kidnapped two Israeli soldiers.

Hezbollah has been able to regroup -- to the tune of some 60,000 rockets and long range missiles. Israeli officials believe that those rockets and missiles are aimed at their country from across the Lebanese border.

Gemayel said Hezbollah sponsors, Iran and Syria, are funneling the weapons into his country. He told CBN News that most Lebanese are afraid of the terrorist group and its Iranian influence in their country.

"Today, I think that most of the Lebanese, of course, are afraid," Gemayel said. "And maybe some of them cannot say clearly and openly what I am saying today: and that is Hezbollah is threatening them."

Speaking out like this can be deadly. Gemayel's father, former Lebanese President Bashir Gemayel, was assassinated by Syrian operatives in 1982. His cousin Pierre was also murdered in 2006.

CBN News asked Gemayal that as a bold, Christian voice in Lebanon, if he ever feared for his own safety.

"I think that this battle -- the battle of freedom, the battle of democracy, and especially the battle of preserving the role and existence of the Christians in Lebanon is very, very important." he responded. "And it's worth giving all that I have in order to preserve the civilization and the culture and the role of Christians in Lebanon."
source:http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/insideisrael/2010/August/Source-Hezbollah-Party-a-Threat-to-Lebanon/

NYC Panel Clears Way for Ground Zero Mosque

A New York City panel sponsored by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg will allow a mosque to be built near Ground Zero.


The 9-0 vote Tuesday by the Landmarks Preservation Commission permits the existing building to be torn down and paves the way for a group called the Cordoba Initiative to begin construction on a 13-story Islamic center.

According to the commissioners, the 152-year-old building does not meet historic criteria to qualify as a landmark.

"We really stand for peace, and peace is what matters the most," said Daisy Khan, executive director of the American Society for Muslim Advancement. "And we believe the symbolism of being close to the site that had so much tragedy emanating from it is the very site that we believe will bring about much healing."

However, the American Center for Law and Justice, which is representing a New York City firefighter who survived the 9/11 terror attacks, expressed a different view.

"The actions taken by the City of New York represent a blatant disregard for the city's own procedures, while ignoring the fact that this is a historic and hallowed site that should not be destroyed to build an Islamic mosque," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ.

"It has been clear from the beginning that the city has engaged in a rush to push this project through - ignoring proper procedure and ignoring a growing number of New Yorkers and Americans who don't believe this site is the place to build a mosque," Sekulow continued.

Sekulow said his organization would be filing a legal challenge to the panel's "flawed" decision on behalf their client.

Former New York Mayor Rudi Giuliani also didn't mince words when he called the mosque a "desecration," while talking to conservative talk radio host Jeff Katz. He added that "decent Muslims" would take no offense at opposition to the Islamic center since they too desired peace.

"Nobody would allow something like that at Pearl Harbor. Let's have some respect for who died there and why they died there," Giuliani said. "Let's not put this off on some kind of politically correct theory."

Meanwhile, a prominent Jewish group has also spoken out against the mosque. The Anti-Defamation League said the mosque would be disrespectful to the victims and families of Sept. 11 and that the location was "counterproductive to the healing process."
source:http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2010/August/NYC-Panel-Clears-Way-for-Ground-Zero-Mosque/

Israeli, Lebanese armies clash along border

The Israeli and Lebanese armies engaged in a rare armed clash along Israel's northern border on Tuesday.

According to Israeli military sources, the incident was sparked when Lebanese soldiers confronted Israeli troops conducted routine operations along a disputed section of the border. The Lebanese refused to depart the area and instead opened fire on the Israelis.

In the Lebanese version of events, it was Lebanese soldiers who were operating in the area, and the Israelis who refused to leave. The Lebanese said they fired warning shots to scare off the Israelis, but were instead met by Israeli tank fire.

Whatever version of events is correct, the clash quickly turned into a short-lived artillery exchange that saw several shells fired by both sides. Residents across northern Israel were told to enter their bomb shelters.

There were no casualties on the Israeli side. Lebanon reported two of its soldiers were wounded.

It is unusual for the Lebanese army itself to engage in armed conflict with the Israeli army. Usually, the Lebanese prefer to attack Israeli through terrorist militias such as Hizballah.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=79

Born-again Palestinian embraces Israeli soldiers

Last month, Saed Awwad, a member of the Christian "he-man" group Team Xtreme, became a focus of attention at two reconciliation events in Tel Aviv.

When Team Xtreme was invited to participate in the Elav worship conference, organizer Rick Ridings of the 24-hour prayer ministry Succat Hallel was reportedly unaware of Awwad's Palestinian background. Once Ridings found out, Awwad was asked to share his testimony with the hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian young adults who had gathered there.

Awwad also shared his testimony at the Tiferet Yeshua Messianic congregation in Tel Aviv. Tiferet Yeshua pastor Ari Sorko-Ram, who also heads Maoz Israel Ministries and istandwithisrael.com, had teamed up with Ridings in funding room and board for the young Jewish and Arab participants at Elav.

At Tiferet Yeshua, as he had at Elav earlier, Awwad recounted how despite growing up in an Arab Christian home, he hated the Jews of Israel every bit as much as his Muslim neighbors. He actively took part in the First Intifada, hurling stones and anything else he could get his hands on at Israeli soldiers on a daily basis.

But he received as good as he gave, to flip a common phrase, and was the victim of regular mistreatment by anxious and angry Israeli soldiers. The pressure of the situation began to get to Awwad, and he decided to use the American passport he had thanks to his mother's American citizenship and spend some time in the US.

While living in the US, Awwad was invited to attend an Arab church, where he was astonished to hear the pastor preach that though the Jews may be their enemies, the Arabs must practice forgiveness and love toward them, as Jesus had taught.

Awwad was even more determined to stay away from Evangelical Christianity, convinced that it was nothing but a Zionist ploy. But God had other plans, and touched Awwad's heart, forcing him to make a decision between the things he had grown up believing were right, and the truth he could find only in Jesus.

"I gave my life to Jesus then and there," said Awwad. "For three days I could not eat or drink. I just read the Bible, and in everything I saw Jesus Christ."

But he still didn't like Israel very much, so when six months following his transformation the Lord asked Awwad to forgive the Jews, he considered turning his back on God. "If you’ll ask me this even one more time I will never speak to you again!" Awwad said, recalling his reaction to the Lord. "From my perspective [the Jews] had come from many nations and taken the land that I believed belonged to the Arabs. I was angry."

Eventually his heart was softened, and Awwad knew he had to surrender to God's nature of unconditional love and forgiveness.

To demonstrate the fullness of his transformation, Awwad invited every active and reserve soldier in the Tiferet Yeshua congregation to join him on stage, where he embraced and professed his love for them, the very people he had fought hardest to defeat.

"I am a Palestinian - you are Jewish. The world calls us enemies - but we are brothers! Brothers and sisters in Yeshua. Nothing can separate us. The world will not separate us, politics will not separate us, walls will not separate us. We have a place in Heaven. You and I will bow our knees and worship the Messiah Yeshua, our King together! He is the Real Thing!"

Awwad concluded by asking the Israeli soldiers to also forgive him, and was greeted by a great outpouring of love.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21633

Rocket remnants found north of Eilat

Sappers find parts of Grad rocket thought to have been one of five fired towards Eilat in drainage tank north of city. Netanyahu calls Jordanian, Egyptian leaders to inveigh against 'criminal attack on innocent citizens'

Ahuva Mamos

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Jordanian and Egyptian leaders Monday and called the rocket fire towards Eilat, which occurred earlier that day, "a criminal attack on innocent citizens".

Sappers located remnants of one of the five rockets fired Monday morning in a drainage tank north of the southern city. An initial examination suggests it was a Grad rocket.

Netanyahu told Jordan's King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that the attack "was committed by terror agents who want to thwart the peace process".

"All states in the region that aspire towards peace should fight these powers, push terror away and bring peace closer," he added.

Security forces are apparently planning on draining water from the facility in which the rocket remnants were found in order to retrieve all of its parts.

Southern District Police chief Major General Yohanan Danino will arrive in Eilat on Tuesday to hold a special status evaluation on the matter together with the IDF, Shin Bet and local authorities, but police sources stressed that no special arrangements are being made and that the city of Eilat is functioning as normal.

Shortly before the parts were located, a military source said one rocket had landed in the Sinai Peninsula not far from an international force post. The source noted that the Defense Ministry's estimate that the rockets were fired from Egypt's territory has not changed.

Vacationers undeterred

Five rockets were fired towards Eilat and the Jordanian port city of Aqaba Monday morning. Two rockets exploded in open areas in Eilat, two landed at sea and one landed near a hotel in Aqaba. Jordanian authorities reported of one fatality and several injuries.

Israeli elements estimated the rockets were fired from Sinai. Jordan's information minister did not name the peninsula but said the rockets had been fired from southwest of Aqaba.

Egypt denied any suggestion the attack was executed from its territory. "The rockets were not launched from Sinai," an Egyptian security official claimed. "The firing of rockets from Egypt entails extensive logistical preparations and a large amount of equipment. It's impossible, since the Sinai Peninsula is under heavy security."

Meanwhile, the firing has not slowed traffic at the Yitzhak Rabin border crossing. A Jordanian citizen working in Eilat told Ynet: "I phoned my wife, she told me a taxi driver was killed. I heard the blast at 8 am, thinking it was the engine. I looked over at the Jordanian side and saw nothing. I spoke to my wife and she said everyone was alright. The kids were sleeping. As far as I'm concerned nothing happened. I expect that should this happen again the government will act."

An Israeli citizen crossing the border on his way to a hotel in Aqaba was also unfazed. "We considered staying and decided to go. We're hoping there will be no more missiles," he said. "Some of the people canceled, but we're going. I have one night to enjoy myself here so I'm ready to go despite the risks."
source:http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3929085,00.html

Official: State won't allow UN to question Israelis

Source says Israel had no choice but to cooperate with UN flotilla probe, but will set strict guidelines

Roni Sofer

State officials stressed Monday that though Israel had agreed to cooperate with a UN probe on the IDF raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla in May, the government would not allow the committee to interrogate Israeli officers, civilians, or soldiers.

"There was no choice but to agree to the international community's demands, first and foremost those of the US and the UN," one official source said.

"We could have been considered naysayers, or we could have done what we did, which was to take part in determining the mandate that will be given to the committee and affect its program."

The source said the committee would have been established in any case, even without Israel's consent. "Though Israel didn't want another inquiry, there was no choice," he said.

However he stressed that the committee would not receive testimony from any Israeli citizen or military official, and would have to make do with documents. At most it will be permitted to interrogate state leaders.

Meanwhile Turkish media has reported that the country's representative at the committee will probably be an established former diplomat.

Of the Israeli representative, no decisions have been made. "We are still oscillating between two options: A retired senior diplomat, or an international jurisprudent. The decision will be made in the coming days," said the official, adding that the government had not yet named any names.

'The right decision'

Many in Israel praised the government's decision. Yossi Shain, a professor of Political Science in Tel Aviv University, called it the "right decision".

"Israel wants to reduce tension and prevent additional flotillas, as well as express international cooperation, and this is the right way to do that," he told Ynet. "The mistakes were clear. The Eiland report highlighted them, and now we need to correct the damage on another plane – the damage is worse on the international front."

Professor Natan Lerner, of Israel's most respected experts on international law, agreed. He said the Goldstone committee on Operation Cast Lead, with which Israel refused to cooperate, had concluded that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza because the state was adamant in refusing to talk to it.

"We need to be realistic," he said. "We have to take our place in the international community."

The US on Monday also praised Israel's decision to cooperate with the probe. "We thank both governments (Israeli and Turkish) for the constructive and cooperative spirit they have shown and the Secretary General for his leadership and determination," said Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN.

Rice stressed that the UN probe was meant to complement national investigations by Israel and Turkey.

"The United States also hopes that the panel can serve as a vehicle to enable Israel and Turkey to move beyond the recent strains in their relationship and repair their strong historic ties," she added.

'Why should we make world happy?'

But there are also those who oppose the cooperation. Irit Kohn, vice president of the International Association of Jewish Lawyers, believes that if Israel had established a state inquiry committee, international pressure would have abated.

She said Israel had hesitated for too long before setting up an investigation on the flotilla. "When we don't fill up the empty spaces, clearly they will be filled by international moves," she told Ynet.

But she called on the government to answer to the Israeli public rather than the world. "Why should we make the world happy?" she asked. "If there is justification for what happened, the people want these answers too."
source:http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3929203,00.html