Construction on Israeli- Egyptian Security Fence Begins

22 November 2010 , 13:06

Today (Monday), construction work began to build a fence along the Israeli-Egyptian border in order to protect against security and criminal threats.

Construction on the Israeli- Egyptian security border fence began this morning (Monday) in order to prevent infiltrators and smugglers from entering Israel via the Egyptian border. The building project will start by focusing on a few select points along the border, with the aid of many engineering instruments which will prepare the land for construction. This project, which was approved eight months ago, has a budget of 1.35 billion shekels funded by the Israeli government.

The fence is expected to stretch for the

240 kilometer-long Israel-Egypt border, from the Kerem Shalom area until Tabah.

The fence is expected to stretch for the 240 kilometer-long Israel-Egypt border, from the Kerem Shalom area until Tabah. Part of the border will include a physical fence, while the other part of the fence will be equipped with alerting devices. According to IDF estimates, 1.3 tons of hash and 130 kilograms of heroin were smuggled through its border with Egypt in the previous year. 5,000 infiltrators also fled into Israel through its border.

For the past few months, an IDF construction center has been testing applications of the government’s decision to erect a border along Israel’s western border. In preparation for the on-site building, the Southern Command and the Technological and Logistics Directorate conducted a preliminary pilot which tested the security means to be used.

Due to difficult terrain in the area which includes quicksand, gusty winds and extreme weather, the Technological and Logistics Directorate will be aided by geology expects from Israel and overseas. Given that so far a complex construction project has yet to be built on the shifting sands of Israel, the IDF construction center has tested various alternatives from all over of the world with the help of industry and security experts. The center noted that Egypt and Saudi Arabia have already attempted to construct security barriers.
Source:http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/News/today/10/11/2202.htm

Sinai on high alert after rocket attack on Israel, Jordan

Egypt on Thursday deployed hundreds of extra troops to the border between the Sinai Peninsula and southern Israel, just days after terrorists used the Egyptian territory to fire at least five Grad missiles at the nearby Israeli and Jordanian resort towns of Eilat and Aqaba.

One Jordanian man was killed and three others were wounded when one of the missiles landed in front of an Aqaba hotel.

"Security forces will search the area and conduct investigations into the possible hiding place of Palestinians," and Egyptian official told the Egyptian Gazette, indicating that Cairo agrees with Israel's assessment that Palestinian terror groups were behind the attack.

"Egypt will never, under any circumstances, tolerate the use of its lands by any party to harm the country's interests," another Egyptian government source told the Middle East News Agency (MENA). "Security efforts are being intensified to unravel the circumstances behind the firing of the five rockets."

Meanwhile, Hamas, the Palestinian group most likely responsible for the missile attack, tried to blame the incident on Israel.

A senior Hamas official in Gaza told reporters that Israel was the only one with anything to gain from the attack since it provided "a justification for the (Israeli) occupation [sic] to condemn Egypt and strike the Gaza Strip." Israel has neither condemned Egypt nor retaliated against Gaza in the aftermath of the attack.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21661

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

Libyan ship expected to test Gaza blockade

A Libyan cargo ship that departed from Greece on Sunday is now expected to test Israel's maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The ship was originally touted as an aid ship to Gaza. But Greek officials refused to let it leave port if it was going to try and run the Israeli blockade. Athens said it reached an agreement with the ship's owners whereby the vessel would sail to the Egyptian port of El-Arish and there unload its cargo for Gaza.

But the group behind the ship later announced that it would make for Gaza despite its agreement with the Greeks, and that the crew of the ship would not surrender to Israeli demands that it halt and change direction for the Israeli port of Ashdod.

Israeli officials are urging the UN to stop what they termed a reckless provocation before another incident like the May 31 interception of a violent Turkish-led flotilla is forced on the Israeli military.

The Libyan ship is expected to reach its destination, be it Gaza or Egypt, early Wednesday morning.
source:http://www.israeltoday.co.il/default.aspx?tabid=178&nid=21493

Egyptian security agents destroy church

by Ethan Cole, Christian PostPosted: Friday, March 26, 2010, 9:21 (GMT)

State security agents in the upper Egyptian city of Luxor destroyed an Anglican church and assaulted the church’s pastor when he tried to save the building last week.

Pastor Mahrous Karam of the Anglican Church in Luxor reported that he was still negotiating with city authorities about replacing the community center building on the church’s compound the day before the demolition occurred. Authorities said they were still considering the options, according to Karam.

But the next morning, March 18, without warning, hundreds of security personnel blocked the road leading to the church and dragged the pastor’s family out of their residence. The pastor’s wife, Sabah, said two men used force to remove her from the home, including slapping her face, pulling her by her clothes, and dragging her by her hair.

"They threatened that if I do not leave the place they would take my 3-year-old boy and throw him under the bulldozers which came for the demolition work," she told Freecopts. "Twenty traumatized children were dragged out of the attached nursery and thrown into the church hall."

All the family’s possessions were thrown in the street and they are now homeless.

"I believe they wanted to give us an Easter present, the way they gave the Copts of Nag Hammadi the Christmas Eve Massacre," she said bitterly.

Gunmen in several cars opened fired on Coptic and Eastern Orthodox Christians in Nag Hammadi who were celebrating their Christmas Eve on January 6. Six Christians were killed, mostly young men in their twenties, from the attack.

The Christmas Eve attack was the worst assault on Copts in Egypt since January 2000, when 21 Christians were killed in sectarian violence.

During last week’s persecution incident, Pastor Mahrous tried to save the buildings from being demolished by sitting on the church’s fence to block the demolition work, but he was beaten and dragged away.

The pastor said Christians simply want the same treatment as Muslims who build mosques and additions to their Islamic centers.

After the demolition, only a 400 sq metre prayer hall was left standing out of the nearly 3,000 sq metres of buildings attached to the church.

The governor of Luxor, Dr Samir Farag, claims the security forces seized only one room of the Anglican church and denied his personnel assaulted the pastor’s family.

"The Governor is lying, that is why the forces blocked the road leading to the Church before their attack, so that nobody would witness their doings,” said one Anglican witness, who was not identified. “But he forgot there is the Internet and cell phone videos to show the whole world the uncivilised way Egypt deals with Christians and their places of worship."

The Anglican Church in Egypt issued a statement on March 19 condemning the actions of Luxor authorities.

Egypt’s Christian population makes up eight to 12 per cent of the overall population.

Despite their sizeable number in the country, the Christian community in Egypt, which consists of mostly Coptic Christians, are marginalised in society and reportedly suffer from violent forms of abuse. They also lack fair representation in the government, leading to further abuse of the minority group.

Among the most common complaints by Copts are government obstacles when it comes to building, repairing or additions to churches. While Muslims are free to build mosques in Egypt, Christians need to obtain special government permission for any construction work done on a church. The permission is almost always not granted.

Islam is the “religion of state” and the country’s “principle source of legislation”, according to Egypt’s constitution.
source:http://www.christiantoday.com/article/egyptian.security.agents.destroy.church/25568.htm

Christians of Egypt are Massacred, and President Mubarak is Still Silent

by Staff
January 21, 2010

WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- The Copts, Egypt's Christian minority, number approximately 12 million, about 15% of Egypt's population. Under the rule of President Mubarak, violent attacks against them run rampant. These attacks were once carried out mainly by organized Islamic terrorist groups. The climate of hatred in Egypt has worsened to the point that attacks against Christians are now carried out by their Muslim neighbors.

The latest attack took place in Naga Hamady, Upper Egypt, during the late hours of Wednesday, January 6, 2010. Drive-by gunmen opened fire from machineguns at worshippers coming out of church after celebrating Coptic Christmas mass. Seven people were instantly killed, and many others were seriously wounded.

The escalation of attacks is encouraged by the Egyptian government's lack of resolve in addressing the problem and adopting a plan of action to stop it at its roots. The climate of hatred is deeply entrenched in Egypt's mosques, the Egyptian media and the Egyptian educational system. Very seldom are killers of Copts apprehended, and when arrested, they are often released for lack of evidence, or given a very light sentence.

President Mubarak, now in power for almost 3 decades, during which 7 American presidents took office, turns a blind eye to what happens to the Coptic citizens of his country. This seems to be an attempt at appeasing the Islamists to strengthen his hold on power and pass it on to his son. Not once, did President Mubarak address his nation assuring the Copts that he cares about their problems.

Egypt, the recipient of 2 billion dollars yearly of American foreign aid since the signing of the Camp David peace treaty in1978, can not continue abusing the human rights of its Coptic Christian citizens, a basic perquisite for receiving American foreign aid.

We ask President Obama, the US Congress and government officials, and all freedom-loving people and organizations in the US and around the world to support the right of the Copts, for protection from aggression and equality under the law.

The American Coptic community will hold a rally in support of the Copts, Christians of Egypt, on Thursday 21, 2010 from 11:00AM to 2:00PM in front of the main gate of the White House, and from 2:30 to 3:00PM in front of the Egyptian Embassy.

source: http://news.christiansunite.com/Religion_News/religion08951.shtml