23 Mar 2010
Obama (or Netanyahu) as modern Moses!
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has delivered another "The US and I personally are in love with Israel" speech to America's pro-Israeli lobby - with a twist.
Her three-part speech at the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) on Monday underlined Washington's unshaken strategic and moral commitment to Israel "for ever" and, in the second part, threatened Iran with tougher sanctions and warned it will never allow it to develop nuclear weapons.
In the third, and much awaited part, of the speech, Clinton delineated a hardcore realist approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict in the context of US security in the Middle East that envisions a freeze on settlement paving the way for direct talks that culminate in two states.
Like Moses, Obama - an unflinching supporter of Israel who has its interest and security at heart - will take it and the region to the promised land.
[Supporters of John McCain, the Republican candidate in the 2008 US presidential election, also depicted Obama, albeit sarcastically, as the "One" - that is, Moses - during the campaign.]
If you doubt it, Clinton said, look at what we've done yesterday, meaning the healthcare bill.
Realists vs neoconservatives
Two decades and seven transitional agreements since the peace process started, the US and Israel can't seem to agree between themselves, let alone with the Palestinians, on the necessary condition to resolve the Palestinian question.
US realists including the Obama administration (and the Israeli Labor Party) believe that a two-state solution is good for Israel as a "democratic Jewish state". Clinton made it as clear in her speech to Aipac today.
Otherwise, continued Jewish settlement will exacerbate Israel's security and lead to apartheid state, to quote Israel Defence Minister and Labor leader Ehud Barak.
Likewise, a Palestinian state is consistent with US national security as it would help boost the "moderate" anti Iranian, anti-Islamic fundamentalist movements, Clinton pleaded with her audience.
Escalation in Palestine would endanger US lives in Middle East war zones, according to General David Petreaus, the head of US Central Command.
On the other hand, US nneoconservatives, like the previous Bush administration and by extension the Israeli Likud party, reckon that US support for the "Jewish state" - a strategic ally and "moral soulmate" - must be unconditional.
It's up to Israel alone to define the outcome of any negotiations with the Palestinians according to its security imperatives.
Israel's approach to Palestine, they argue, must be seen in the context of the US war on terror and against violent extremists in the region from Hamas in Gaza to the Taliban in Afghanistan/Pakistan.
Two decades of more-of-the-same
For two decades, progress and regress in the peace process was measured by balancing out the two approaches. When the gap is substantial as it has been over the last year, paralysis or a fallout can be expected.
In 1991, the Bush administration refused to back down, and its confrontation with Israel - over the same settlement issue - paved the way for convening the Madrid International peace conference.
The urgency is far higher today. Unlike Bush Sr, who presided over a US victorious in the Cold War and the war against Iraq, President Obama presides over major foreign-policy crises as he tries to finish a war in Iraq and escalate another in Afghanistan/Pakistan.
Moreover, the deterioration in the occupied territories is creating a credibility problem for the Obama administration as it tries to rally Arab support against Tehran and radical fundamentalist groups.
However, as long as Likud and Labor are governing together and in coalition with the two most radical Israeli parties, Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu, US pressure will fail to lead to concrete concessions.
As in 1992, US will save face only when a new less extremist Israeli government comes into being. But would that resolve the Palestinian questions?
Palestine, nuance or nuisance
Meanwhile, the Palestinian and Arab leaderships are watching Hillary Clinton from the sidelines, hoping that the US present the Netanyahu government with ultimatum will be disappointed.
But even if the Obama administration forces the Israeli government to accept its approach, the result could hardly meet the minimum requirement of the Palestinians.
A Palestinian state as a compromise between the US and Israel, might enjoy the trappings of sovereignty, but in reality it would be no more than a Bantustan.
Palestinian leaders who still need Israeli passes to move around and out of occupied Palestine, already welcome foreign dignitaries in front of a guard of honour as they did when they welcomed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon over the weekend.
However, as Clinton warned, the Israeli civilian and military occupation will soon reach the point of no return, rendering separation into two sovereign and viable states impossible.
In fact, the borders problem will soon be insolvable without major ethnic cleansing - which means war - or apartheid, leading to de facto one-state solution.
The disagreement goes on ...
Ultimately it was in the latter part of her speech that Clinton revealed the administration's three-part explanation why Israel must accept a Palestinians state.
Israel faces three main challenges - demography, technology and ideology - that work against its security and against the security of the US.
Although she promised that the US will augment its military and diplomatic support for Israel, she arged that rockets from Gaza and Lebanon have no military solutions.
Furthermore, Palestinian population growth, coupled with expanding Israeli settlements, renders separation (as we said above) impossible.
Likewise, Israel's policies in Palestine is feeding Middle Eastern and other "extremists" with much ammunition, that a peaceful solution will deny them.
Needless to say, the Netanyahu government and the US neocons have answered to all of the three challenges: a bilateral commitment to combat terrorism and extremism, not give in or reward the extremists.
As Netanyahu will tell you, Islamist extremists don't need reasons for actions. They are terrorists because they are. Or, in his words, the reason for religious extremism and terrorism is the terrorists and the fundamentalists.
Obama can play Moses all he wants, but Netanyahu seeks King David persona!
17 Mar 2010
Violence flares in East Jerusalem
Palestinians have clashed with Israeli police in two areas of occupied East Jerusalem after Palestinian groups called for a "day of rage" over the reopening of a synagogue in the Old City.
Palestinians threw stones at Israeli police who responded with stun grenades in the Shuafat and Essawiyya neighbourhoods early on Tuesday.
At least 90 people were wounded in the clashes, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, with around 15 people seriously hurt by rubber-coated steel bullets, teargas inhalation and at the hands of Israeli police.
Israel security forces said about eight police officers were lightly injured in clashes that ended with up to 60 arrests.
About 3,000 police officers had been deployed in East Jerusalem and nearby villages after Hamas and other Palestinian groups called for action in response to the reopening of the Hurva synagogue.
The Hurva, considered by some people to to be one of Judaism's most sacred sites, reopened for the first time in 62 years on Monday in the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem's Old City.
The walled Old City is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which makes the reopening of the synagogue controversial.
'Extremely tense'
Moreover, al-Aqsa, Islam's third holiest site, and the Hurva are about just 700 metres apart.
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Essawiyya, said Palestinian protesters hurled stones at the Israeli border guards, who responded using stun grenades.
Earlier, Adnan al-Husseini, the governor of East Jerusalem, told Al Jazeera from al-Aqsa mosque that only a few people had been able to attend prayers because of restrictions placed on movement by Israeli authorities.
"Also, many police are at the entrance of the Old City and the mosque and on the streets of the Old City. So movement is very difficult and very tense.
"People are trying to come to the mosque, the shops, their houses. And unfortunately the Israeli police are stopping them."
Israeli officials have limited access to al-Aqsa since Friday for security reasons.
Palestinian men under the age of 50 have not been allowed to enter the mosque.
Micky Rosenfeld, the Israeli police spokesperson, told Al Jazeera: "Throughout the morning we have been dealing with local disturbances. A group of 50 to 60 Palestinians who are causing riots.
"The rest of Jerusalem itself is absolutely quiet. The Temple Mount is closed to visitors and tourists.
"Our units are responding to small incidents in and around East Jerusalem."
Hamas warning
The previous day, Khaled Meshaal, Hamas' political chief who is exiled in Syria, strongly condemned the ceremony.
He urged Palestinians in Jerusalem to "take serious measures to protect al-Aqsa mosque from destruction and Judaisation".
Meshaal also said that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank should "launch a campaign to protect Jerusalem and Islamic and Christian holy sites there".
An Israeli government decision to include two West Bank religious sites in a Jewish national heritage plan has already angered Palestinians and raised tensions in recent weeks.
The announcement last week of Israeli plans for new settler homes near East Jerusalem has further contributed to the unrest.
The US state department announced on Tuesday that George Mitchell, the US envoy to the region, who had been due to visit Israel, would not now do so before a meeting of the Middle East diplomatic Quartet in Moscow on Thursday.
Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, said that Israel must prove it is committed to the peace process with actions.
But she brushed aside suggestions that US relations with Israel are in crisis over the settlement announcement, made in the middle of a visit by Joe Biden, the US vice-president.
"We have an absolute commitment to Israel's security. We have a close, unshakable bond between the United States and Israel," she said.
Clinton also said she remained confident Mitchell would return soon and begin shuttling between the Israelis and Palestinians.
Message from Abbas
Meanwhile, Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, left for Moscow on Tuesday to present the Quartet - which includes the US, Russia, the EU and the UN - with Palestinian conditions for starting peace negotiations with Israel.
Al Jazeera has gained exclusive access to the content of letters that Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, despatched with Erekat, in which he accuses Israel of exploiting Palestinian and Arab goodwill.
Abbas says Israel's stepped-up settlement activity, especially in East Jerusalem, threatens to "permanently derail peace talks".
In the letter, he also calls on the Quartet to take "effective" steps against Israel.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/03/201031642239450987.html
16 Mar 2010
A call for a general demonstration today..
As Isreal opened the synagogue in Jerusalem, which is consider against the freedom of worship, and which contradictes what the Isreali Prime Minister said yesterday: "We permit believers of other faiths to conserve their places of worship. We proudly protect our heritage, while at the same time allowing others freedom of religion," he said.
Synagogue opens in Jerusalem
The Hurva synagogue was reopened officially on Monday after five years of reconstruction [AFP]
Israel has stepped up security in occupied Jerusalem amid the reopening of what many Jews consider as one of the most important places of worship.
The rebuilt Hurva synagogue opened its doors in Jerusalem's Old City for the first time in more than 60 years on Monday.
The synagogue, first built in 1694, was first destroyed in 1721 and then demolished during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.
The walled Old City is at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which makes the reopening of the synagogue controversial.
Al-Aqsa, Islam's third holiest site, and the Hurva are about just 700 metres apart.
The ceremony was attended by Reuven Rivlin, the Israeli parliament speaker, ministers and the country's chief rabbis.
In a video message to the ceremony, where Israeli politicians and chief rabbis were in attendance, Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, said the Hurva brought a message of coexistence.
"We permit believers of other faiths to conserve their places of worship. We proudly protect our heritage, while at the same time allowing others freedom of religion," he said.
Palestinian condemnation
Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip, denounced the synagogue's opening.
IN DEPTH
Jerusalem's religious heart
"We warn against this action by the Zionist enemy to rebuild and dedicate the Hurva synagogue. It signifies the destruction of al-Aqsa mosque and the building of the temple," he said from the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The al-Aqsa site is revered by Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), comprising al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock. It is known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
In a statement, issued at a meeting of leaders of Palestinian groups, Meshaal called the ceremony "a falsification of history and Jerusalem's religious and historic monuments".
"Israel is playing with fire and touching off the first spark to make the region explode," he said.
Earlier, Hatem Abdel Qader, the official in charge of Jerusalem affairs for Fatah, the party led by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said: "This is no mere synagogue.
"This synagogue will be a prelude to violence and religious fanaticism and extremism, and this is not limited to Jewish extremists but includes members of the Israeli government."
'Tense situation'
Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from the Hurva inauguration ceremony, said thousands of police and border guards were deployed across the Old City.
"Certainly the situation is tense here," she said.
"We are about 350 metres from al-Haram al-Sharif, one of Islam's holiest sites, and the towering presence of the Hurva synagogue has been called a provocation by Palestinian leaders and religious figures."
An Israeli government decision to include two West Bank religious sites in a Jewish national heritage plan has already angered Palestinians and raised tensions in recent weeks.
The announcement last week of Israeli plans for new settler homes near East Jerusalem has also contributed to the unrest.
Against this backdrop of tensions, Israeli soldiers injured 10 Palestinians on Monday in clashes with dozens of students hurling stones at a West Bank checkpoint, Palestinian medics and witnesses said.
"We have received six people, two of them wounded by live bullets, one in the stomach and the other in the neck," Mohammed Eida, the director of Ramallah area hospitals, told the AFP news agency.
Rocks thrown
The Palestinians had marched to the checkpoint from the nearby Birzeit University. Several of them threw rocks at the soldiers.
An Israeli military spokesperson said security forces responded by using riot-dispersal means and that there was no live fire.
Citing security concerns, Israel imposed a temporary closure of the West Bank on Friday.
Palestinians who do not carry Jerusalem residency have been banned from crossing into the city from the West Bank until Tuesday.
Men under the age of 50 have also been denied entry to al-Aqsa in the Old City since Friday.
14 Mar 2010
Israel extends West Bank closure
Israel has extended a lockdown on the occupied West Bank and restricted access to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem as tensions continue over its plans to build new homes for Jewish settlers in mainly Arab east Jerusalem.
The lockdown, which was due to end on Saturday night, was extended until Tuesday at midnight, because of a continued risk of attacks, an army spokesman said.
The military said people needing to pass for humanitarian reasons, medical workers and patients, religious workers teachers and other professionals would be permitted to cross subject to Israeli authorisation.
Israeli police also said access to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem would be restricted to men under 50 on Sunday because of fears of violence.
Muslim women will not be affected, although "visitors from other religions will be barred from entering", Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said.
Police reinforcements deployed around east Jerusalem amid the tensions in the city will remain in place, he said.
'Adding to tension'
Sherine Tadros, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Jerusalem, said that while Israel was characterising the closures as "standard procedure", the timing itself was "irregular".
"It's an irregular move - over a time that's not a Jewish holiday. We haven't seen that happen here for several years ... [and] that has not been met silently by Palestinians, who are not happy about these continued restrictions on their freedom of movement," she said.
"One of the reasons perhaps why these closures are continuing, especially in the Old City, is that over the next three days a series of events and commemorations are taking place by the Jewish community to celebrate the opening of the Hurva synagogue."
The Hurva synagogue, which was destroyed in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and rebuilt after Israel seized control of the site when it expanded its borders in 1967, will be officially re-opened on Monday.
Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera's correspondent in the West Bank, said the extension of the closure will only add to the frustration there and lead to more clashes.
"This closure brings the tension to the surface. There are more soldiers so there is more friction," she said.
West Bank clash
On Saturday Israeli troops clashed in the West Bank with Palestinian women and youths protesting against the settlement plans.
Two Israelis were slightly injured on Saturday night when a petrol bomb was hurled at cars on a highway linking Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, police said.
Restrictions have been enforced since March 5 when police battled Muslim protesters at the mosque after weekly prayers.
Clashes erupted last week after Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, announced plans to include two sites in the West Bank on a list of Israeli heritage sites.
An announcement from the interior ministry that plans to build 1,600 new Jewish homes in East Jerusalem had been approved also contributed to the tensions.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem after the 1967 war with the Arabs and built settlements that are considered illegal under international law.
10 Mar 2010
US family seeks Israeli damages
The family of a US student activist killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza has launched a case against the Israeli government. Rachel Corrie, whose family is seeking $324,000 in damages from the defence ministry, was one of several foreign activists killed in confrontations with Israel in occupied territory in the past decade. She was nonviolently protesting against Palestinian home demolitions when the army bulldozer crushed her to death. The proceedings on Wednesday in the Haifa district court in northern Israel, are likely to stoke controversy over Israel's treatment of pro-Palestinian protesters. The Israeli army says Corrie, 23, a member of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement, was fatally hit by a concrete slab on March 16, 2003, as a bulldozer cleared a hideout for Palestinian fighters in the Gaza area. The Israeli government failed to conduct a thorough investigation into Corrie's killing and her family, advised by the US state department, then filed a private lawsuit five years ago. Corrie's family, citing witness accounts, has charged the Israeli driver must have spotted her before moving the blade in her direction.
But Lieutenant-Colonel Avital Leibovich, an Israeli army spokeswoman, told the Reuters news agency in an interview that "the crew inside the bulldozer did not see her nor hear her". She said tear gas and stun grenades had been fired to warn protesters to flee. Cindy Corrie, the victim's mother, said in a statement: "As we approach the seven-year anniversary of Rachel's killing, my family and I are still searching for justice." Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros, reporting from Haifa, said: "In a very interesting twist, just a few days ago, the state of Israel filed a motion that was accepted by the court, which means that they have 30 days after the end of this two-week period to submit witness testimonies and affadavits. "Its a very unusual motion to have been granted. It means that the plaintiffs will be giving their testimonies without knowing what Israel has up its sleeves. "The family lawyer said this is just a way to delay the whole procedure." Israelis have shown little sympathy for Corrie, whose death occurred at the height of a Palestinian uprising in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank in which thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of Israelis were killed. The case is expected to fuel anger in a nation facing accusations by a UN report that its army and Palestinian fighters committed war crimes during the 2008-9 Israel-Gaza conflict. | ||||
8 Mar 2010
Wilders shows film in UK parliament
Anti-fascist demonstrators have scuffled with police in London after Geert Wilders, the far-right Dutch politician, screened a film denouncing Islam and the Quran to Britain's House of Lords.
Wilders, riding an electoral wave in the Netherlands based on his anti-immigration populism, screened the film to about 60 people, including six members of the UK's upper house.
The MP's film, Fitna, released in 2008, urged Muslims to tear out "hate-filled" passages from the Quran and juxtaposes images of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the US with quotations from the text.
The Dutch politician was invited to show his film in the UK by Lord Pearson, a member of the country's upper house who belongs to Britain's UK Independence Party.
At a news conference after the screening, Wilders described Islam as a "totalitarian ideology" and made derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad.
He said he had hopes of becoming prime minister after the June 9 election, although Dutch political analysts say it is unlikely he could garner a majority coalition if his party emerged the largest.
If elected, Wilders said he would close all Islamic schools, ban construction of new mosques, and expel Dutch Muslim criminals if they held dual citizenship.
'Racist tripe'
The visit, and the controversy surrounding it, added to Wilders' visibility as he heads into a national election campaign with his popularity soaring and polls predicting that his Freedom Party (PPV) could become the largest in the next Dutch parliament.
Wilders' party scored a stunning success in local elections this week, winning one city outright and coming second in another.
However, the relatively new PPV lacks a national organisation and declined to field candidates in nearly 400 other town hall elections.
Outside the parliament on Friday, dozens of protesters jeered and chanted: "Fascist thugs off our streets!"
The protest, by Unite Against Fascism, was countered by a rival demonstration further down the River Thames of more than 100 people from the English Defence League, a self-described "counter-jihad" movement with links to Britain's far-right.
Police wrestled with anti-fascist protesters trying to block a street in front of the parliament building, piling many of them into a double decker bus.
Jack Kavanagh from Ireland was one of the people pulled out of the crowd.
Kavanagh, 21, said he was trying to block the pro-Wilders crowd from approaching parliament.
He expressed scorn for Wilders, calling his movie "racist tripe".
Travel ban
Britain's interior ministry originally barred Wilders' entry into the country in February 2009 as a potential threat to public security.
Defying the ban, Wilders flew into London's Heathrow airport, only to be turned back, prompting a minor spat between Britain and the Netherlands.
He later successfully challenged the ban in a British court and visited the country in October last year.
Wilders has denounced the Quran as an "evil book" and a fascist work that should be outlawed, just as Hitler's manifesto Mein Kampf cannot be sold in the Netherlands.
He has urged the halting of immigration from Muslim countries, and says Muslims already living in the Netherlands must accept its law, its culture and its way of life - or they should leave.
Police protection
Wilders' language against Islam has brought charges against him in the Netherlands for "hate speech," a little-enforced crime, subject to a maximum one-year jail sentence and fine.
 |
| Wilders says his remarks are protected by freedom of speech [AFP] |
He appealed to have the case dismissed, saying his remarks were not against Muslims but rather against Islam, and were protected by freedom of speech.
Last month, the court ruled against the objection, but is yet to set a trial date.
Wilders has been under permanent police protection since his life was threatened in 2004 by a Muslim radical.
He describes himself as a libertarian and rejects comparisons with right-wing European politicians such as the late Jorg Haider in Austria and Jean-Marie Le Pen in France.
Wilders began his political career as a speech writer, town councilman and member of parliament for the centrist pro-business Liberal Party, but left in 2004 over its readiness to accept Turkey into the European Union.
His new party won nine seats in the 150-member Dutch parliament in 2006, and polls predict he may more than triple that number in the June election.
7 Mar 2010
Thousands march in Jerusalem rally
The largest Israeli police contingent ever watched over the demonstration in Sheikh Jarrah [AFP]
At least 3,000 protesters, including Israelis and Palestinians, have rallied in an Arab quarter of east Jerusalem to protest the eviction of Palestinians from their homes there in favor of Jewish settlers.
The protesters waved red flags bearing the inscription "Shalom," or peace in Hebrew, during the demonstration in Sheikh Jarrah on Saturday.
They chanted slogans such as "No to ethnic cleansing," and "Sheikh Jarrah residents don't lose hope, we are blocking the road to settlement."
A large Israeli police contingent watched over the demonstration, the largest of its kind for several decades against Jewish settlements in Jerusalem.
Police had intended to ban the gathering, but it was finally approved by the supreme court on an appeal launched by the far-left movement.
Old City evictions
The demonstration came amid tensions in the Old City after days of clashes between Israeli riot police and Palestinian protesters in and around the Al-Aqsa mosque and several Arab neighbourhoods of Jerusalem.
Several Palestinian families of Sheikh Jarrah have been expelled in recent months in favour of Israeli settlers on the grounds their houses belonged to Jews before the creation of Israel in 1948.
The evictions led to demonstrations that were put down by the police who arrested Israeli peace activists and pro-Palestinian foreigners.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war and built new quarters to house more than 200,000 Israelis.
The annexation has never been recognised by the international community. Palestinians denounce settlements in east Jerusalem, which they want to make the capital of their future state.
In early February, the daily Haaretz revealed Israeli authorities had given the green light to a project to build 600 homes in an area set aside for settlement in the eastern sector.
5 Mar 2010
Muslim women who refused to take 'naked' full-body scan are barred from Manchester to Pakistan flight
Two Muslim women have become the first passengers to refuse to subject themselves to controversial 'naked' full body airport scans, it emerged today.
The pair - who security officials insist were selected at random - opted to miss their flight to Pakistan and forfeit tickets worth £400 each rather than be screened.
One of the women refused to go through the full-body scanner at Manchester Airport on religious grounds.
The women were travelling together to Islamabad when they were selected to pass through the controversial security screen after checking-in at Terminal Two at the airport.
Naked scan: A Manchester Airport employee tests the scanner, with suspicious substances in his pockets that show up as a dark colour identified in the red squares
Both told airport staff they were not willing to be scanned. They were warned they would not be allowed to board the Pakistan International Airlines flight if they refused.
The pair decided they would rather forfeit their £400 tickets and left the airport with their luggage.
The £80,000 scanners were introduced at Heathrow and Manchester airports on February 5.
The X-ray machines allow security staff to see a 'naked' image of passengers to show up hidden weapons and explosives, but it has attracted criticism for also showing clear outlines of passengers' genitals.
Manchester Airport confirmed the passengers had refused to be scanned but said it had received no complaint from the women.
The women were travelling together to Islamabad in Pakistan when they were selected to pass through the controversial security screen
However, civil liberties campaigners say the incident could form the basis of a legal test case to challenge the use of the Rapiscan device in airports.
Alex Deane, director of campaign group Big Brother Watch, said the organisation would represent the women if they wished to challenge the decision in court.
He said: 'People shouldn't have to sacrifice their health, their faith, their dignity, or their privacy in order to fly.
'People with health and religious concerns shouldn't be forced to go through these scanners if they have good reason not to. Foolishly, the government has ignored both issues and ignored privacy concerns to boot - they are in the wrong on this.'
Security: The passenger is asked to stand in front of the machine, which produces a virtual 'naked' image that shows if they are carrying explosives or any other suspicious items
There is one Rapiscan scanner in use in a trial at Manchester Airport's terminal two, which has seen 15,000 people pass through it.
A further two devices - one each for terminals one and three - have been delivered and are set to be operational within the next month.
The scanners have been criticised by the human rights group Liberty and the government's own Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Only selected passengers are scanned. Security staff say they are chosen at random and not according to race, religion or ethnicity.
Councillor Afzal Khan, who was Manchester's first Asian lord mayor, said the vast majority of Muslims believed that any privacy concerns should be outweighed by ensuring they are safe when flying.
He said: 'Hundreds of Muslim passengers have gone through without a problem. While I appreciate people's concerns for privacy, these steps are necessary for our safety and security.'
A Manchester Airport spokesman said: 'Two female passengers who were booked to fly out of Terminal Two refused to be scanned for medical and religious reasons.
'In accordance with the government directive on scanners, they were not permitted to fly.
'Body scanning is a big change for customers and we are aware that privacy concerns are on our customers's minds, which is why we have put strict procedures in place to reassure them that their privacy will be protected.'
Last month, Transport Secretary Lord Adonis stressed that an interim code of practice on the use of body scanners stipulated that passengers would not be selected 'on the basis of personal characteristics'.
Two weeks ago, a week after the scanners were introduced at Manchester and Heathrow airports, Islamic scholars in the U.S. said Muslim travellers should not pass through the scanners because they violate religious rules on nudity.
The Fiqh Council of North America issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, warning Muslims not to go through the scanners.
‘It is a violation of clear Islamic teachings that men or women be seen naked by other men and women,’ read the order.
‘Islam highly emphasises haya (modesty) and considers it part of faith. The Quran has commanded the believers, both men and women, to cover their private parts.'
In the U.S., there are now 40 scanners in 19 airports and could be as many as 450 by the end of the year.
The powerful council of ten scholars that issued the fatwa is affiliated with the Islamic Society of North America.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1255104/Muslim-women-barred-flight-refusing-naked-body-scan.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0hKV4BSzt
Clashes at Jerusalem's Aqsa mosque
Israeli police have entered Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound to disperse Palestinian protesters who they said threw stones at police officers and Jewish worshippers nearby. The Reuters news agency reported that 30 people were injured in the clash. Shmulik Ben Rubi, a Jerusalem police spokesman, said officers "intervened in the compound after stones were thrown at Jewish worshippers at the Wailing Wall" below. Najeh Btirat, an official with the Muslim clerical authority that administers the compound, said the clash followed a mosque sermon on the issue. "The Friday sermon focused on the Islamic sites that are being targeted by Israel and the need to preserve them," he said. About 300 young men threw stones at police after prayers, he said. 'Minimum force' Sherine Tadros, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Jerusalem, reported: "Medical sources are telling us that a lot of the Palestinians who were injured were fired on by rubber bullets from the Israeli police. "But that is something the Israeli police tell us did not happen - they have not been using any ammunition live or otherwise." Mickey Rosenfeld, the Israeli police spokesman, told Al Jazeera that police used only the "minimum ammount of force" against the protesters. "Only stun grenades were used, in fact, to disperse those rioters. Nine of our officers were injured at the scene and treated in hospital," he said. "Our main aim is to continue a calmness - a respectable calmness - on the Friday prayers on the Temple Mount, as well as in East Jerusalem." Skirmishes The compound, which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary, has been the site of a number of such incidents. Clashes there on Sunday have been linked in part to a decision by Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to include two sites in the occupied West Bank on a list of Israeli heritage sites. Skirmishes also broke out after Friday prayers in the West Bank city of Hebron, but no serious injuries were reported. A group of about 100 Palestinians protested outside the holy site known to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi mosque. |
2 Mar 2010
UK police probe false passports use
British police officers are in Israel to investigate the use of fake UK passports in the recent murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas leader, in Dubai.
The officers' presence was reported as Dhahi Khalfan Tamim, the Dubai police chief, said most of the suspects linked to the murder were in Israel.
Tamim pointed the finger at Meir Dagan, the head of Israel's secret service Mossad, which is widely suspected of carrying out the Cold War-style hit on al-Mabhouh in his Dubai hotel room.
Rafi Shamir, a spokesman for the British embassy in Tel Aviv, confirmed on Saturday the presence of two police officers.
"Two British police officers arrived a few days ago to interview British passport holders on the use of false passports" bearing their identities in the case, Shamir told the AFP news agency.
The officers were preparing to meet six dual nationals whose British passports were used in the assassination, Britain's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca) said.
"We are arranging to speak to the six genuine passport holders who are resident in Israel as potential witnesses to a crime," Britain's Press Association news agency quoted a Soca spokesman as saying.
Identity of killers
The Dubai police have published details of 26 suspects together with passport photographs, and claims to have DNA evidence of the identity of at least one of the killers.
"What is sure right now is that the majority of the murderers whose names have been announced ... are to be found in Israel," Tamim, the police force's head, said in comments published in the Arabic-language daily Al-Khaleej.
"Dagan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will head the list [of an international arrest warrant] if it is proven that Mossad is behind the murder," he said, referring to Israel's spy agency.
Israel has said there is no evidence of its involvement and has rejected the calls for Dagan's arrest as "baseless" and "absurd".
The murder of al-Mabhouh, regarded by Israel as a vital link in a weapons-smuggling chain into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, has mounted international pressure on Israel.
Twelve British, six Irish, four French, one German and three Australian passports were used by the suspects, according to Dubai police.
Israeli ambassadors in four European countries have been summoned for talks and the European Union has also voiced outrage over the use of fake passports.
The revelation of stolen identities being used by suspected Israeli agents has caused a diplomatic outcry, with Australia threatening it would "not be silent on the matter".
Canberra summoned Yuval Rotem, the Israeli ambassador, on Thursday and said that friendly ties were at risk if Israel was found to have sponsored or condoned the tampering of the Australian passports.
European reluctance
The spotlight is also falling on those countries where police say the alleged assassins' trails begin and end: Switzerland, Italy, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Authorities there have either declined to say whether they are investigating, or told the Associated Press news agency that they have no reason to hunt down the 26 suspects.
European countries' reluctance to investigate may have something to do with the widely held belief that the killing was carried out by a friendly country's intelligence agency, namely Mossad.
Experts say arresting Israeli agents - or even digging up further evidence that Israel was involved - could be politically costly.
