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US 'tax-exempts' aid Israel settlements

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Written by Muhammad Aslam al Hindi

Wednesday, 25 Rajab 1431
Wednesday, 07 July 2010 04:02

Charity tax-exempts in the US fund aid to illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank in clear contrast to President Barak Obama's Mideast peace plan.

According to a report published in New York Times on Monday, many groups in the United States use tax-exempt donations to help Israelis establish permanence in occupied Palestinian territories.

The report has identified at least 40 American groups that have collected over $200 million in tax-deductible gifts for Israeli settlement in the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem) over the last decade alone.

Despite claims that the money goes to Jewish religious and educational facilities, it is believed that the sums are mainly used to enforce paramilitary activities against Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied regions.

The American funds also support projects that focus on the judaization of al-Quds, and back Jewish campaigns which resist a freeze on illegal settlement construction in the West Bank.

One of these campaigns known as "Price Tag" engages in violent actions against Palestinians with the slogan: "For every move by Israeli authorities to curtail settlement construction, the price will be an attack on an Arab mosque, vineyard or olive grove."

Interestingly, many contributions also go to large, established settlements close to Israel's boundary that would very likely be annexed in any possible future peace deal, the report said.

This is while under the US tax law, the use of charity funds for political purposes at home or abroad are prohibited.

This unrelenting support for the illegal Israeli settlement expansions in the West Bank has effectively obstructed the creation of a Palestinian state, seen as a necessary condition for the Obama administration's Middle East policy.

"Settlements violate international law, and the United States is supposed to be sponsoring a two-state solution, yet it gives deductions for donation to the settlements?" the New York Times quoted chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat as saying.

The report comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived in Washington for talks with US President Barack Obama, where they are expected to discuss the controversial settlements issue.

The meeting could also serve as a strong push to re-launch direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians which have been stalled since Tel Aviv waged a deadly 22-day war on the Gaza Strip in late 2008.

[Source: Press TV]

PKK attacks in Turkey leave 15 dead

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Written by Muhammad Aslam al Hindi

Wednesday, 25 Rajab 1431
Wednesday, 07 July 2010 04:01

Twelve militants and three Turkish soldiers have been killed after Kurdish militants attacked a military base in the east and southeast of Turkey, security sources say.

The clashes broke out overnight on Monday, when Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants opened fire on a military post in Hakkari Province near the borders with Iran and Iraq, AFP reported.

The Turkish army issued a statement on its website, announcing that fifteen people were killed -- including three soldiers and 12 militants -- while three other soldiers were wounded.

Turkish military helicopters have been searching for the remaining fighters, security sources reported.

In a separate incident late Monday, six soldiers were lightly wounded and one militant was killed when PKK militants opened fire on troops that were on patrol in the eastern province of Elazig.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party, listed as a terrorist group by Ankara and much of the international community, is blamed for the loss of some 45,000 lives in its decades-long armed struggle for an ethnic homeland in Turkey's Kurdish majority southeast.

PKK militants launch their attacks from the Qandil Mountains in the areas under the control of Iraqi Kurdistan's President Massoud Barzani. The Qandil mountain range is also where Israel and Israeli firms operate.

The group, which says it is fighting for independence in southern Turkey, has recently stepped up its attacks against Turkish military personnel and civilians.

Some observers maintain that Israeli intelligence services have been training PKK members to launch their attacks inside Turkey.

The observers say Tel Aviv is seeking to pressure Ankara in light of the recent Israeli attack on the Gaza aid flotilla, which left nine Turkish activists dead.

[Source: Press TV]

Obama slams toughest sanctions on Iran

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Written by Muhammad Aslam al Hindi

Wednesday, 25 Rajab 1431
Wednesday, 07 July 2010 03:57

Stressing that Iran’s Nuclear Weapons programmes are a major threat to world peace, the US president has signed a bill that if approved will impose some of the toughest sanction on Iran. Till date the UN has been lenient, but now the US president is all set to target the Islamic republic in Iran.

The financial and scientific establishments are going to be the most affected by the UN sanctions. The bill was signed on Thursday and it will be instrumental in cutting off refined petroleum imports including gasoline and jet fuels and bans the United States banks to do business with foreign banks that are involved in transactions with the elite revolutionary Guards from Iran.

According to Obama, the new sanctions are designed in order to put a halt to the inflow of funds in Iran that are used by Iran in its nuclear programmes. Obama made the statement at the White House Summary.

The new sanctions have serious implications on banks doing business with Irtna as well as the United States of America. The Unilateral US sanctions are in lieu of the new United Nations Security Council Sanctions on Iran that were passed in the last month to no effect.

But according to critics, since Iran is quoting investment from emerging markets, it is difficult to ascertain if the new sanctions would be instrumental in putting a stop to nuclear programmes in Iran.

[Source: AP]

Hamas welcomes European ministers’ intended visit to Gaza

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Written by Muhammad Aslam al Hindi

Sunday, 22 Rajab 1431
Sunday, 04 July 2010 05:50

GAZA CITY: Hamas welcomed on Saturday the intention of a European ministerial delegation to visit the Gaza Strip and described the step as “positive.”

“It’s a good chance that European ministers see the disastrous humanitarian situation in Gaza with their own eyes,” Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said. “This is should be the beginning of ending the unjust siege,” he said.

The visit comes one month after Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman invited his Italian counterpart, Franco Frattini, to visit the territory to witness the recent relaxation of the Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza.

Meanwhile in the West Bank, Ghassan Al-Khatib, spokesman for the Palestinian government in Ramallah said, “The government believes that the visit is very important,” adding that the PNA “hopes this visit would end the political embargo of the Gaza Strip.” Al-Khatib added that Frattini and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad talked over the trip to Gaza and agreed to remain in contact to prepare for the visit.

“The trip will be fully coordinated with the government,” he said. “We hope it will be productive and help end the siege.”

It might take the delegation one month to visit Gaza, Al-Khatib added.

Israel imposed a siege on the Gaza Strip after an Israeli soldier was kidnapped by members of the Palestinian resistance groups including Hamas movement on June 25, 2006 in across border operation southeast of Rafah city in southern the Strip. The blockade was further tightened after Hamas forcibly seized control of the coastal enclave in June 2007.

[Source: Arab News]

'Obama warned Erdogan of Flotilla probe'

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Written by Muhammad Aslam al Hindi

Sunday, 22 Rajab 1431
Sunday, 04 July 2010 05:46

An international inquiry into the Israeli raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla may hurt the Turks – This is the message that US President Barack Obama has conveyed to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish sources told the London-based al-Hayat newspaper.

Saturday's report said Obama told Erdogan that "such an inquiry commission may lead to accusations against several passengers on the Marmara ship, or members of the IHH organization and Turkey must know that its request could turn into a double-edged sword."

Turkish sources told the paper that the meeting between Obama and Erdogan on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Canada paved the way for the secret meeting between Israel's Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Brussels.

According to the Turkish sources, "Obama conveyed promises and calming messages to Turkey, in an attempt to convince Israel's prime minister, Netanyahu, in their upcoming meeting next Tuesday, to accept the Turkish demands."

The sources said Ben-Eliezer noted that Israel could apologize to the families of some of the activists killed in the flotilla raid, but not to all of them, as some of them were affiliated with Hamas.

The sources added that Ben-Eliezer asked that Turkey give the internal Israeli probe into the raid a chance, or include its report in the international commission's report, which Israel will not officially take part in or work with directly.

“ISRAEL CAN’T BE TRUSTED TO PROBE FLOTILLA RAID”
Earlier this month, the family of Rachel Corrie wrote to U.S. United Nations envoy Susan Rice that Israel cannot be trusted to conduct a reliable investigation of its raid of the Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

Corrie, a U.S. citizen, was 24 when she was struck and killed in 2003 by a bulldozer as she and other human activists tried to stop Israel razing homes in Rafah by using their bodies as human shields.

The driver claimed he didn't see her, and the Israeli occupation army has ruled her death an accident - a version her parents reject.

In the letter obtained by Israeli daily Haaretz, Cindy and Craig Corrie referred to the May 31 raid of the Gaza flotilla which resulted in the deaths of 9 activists, saying they wished to express their "continuing sorrow and outrage over the recent killings and injuries aboard the Mavi Marmara and other vessels that sailed with the Freedom Flotilla to break the siege of Gaza."

"We write also to inform you," the Corrie family added, "of the longstanding, U. S. government position that Israel has failed to conduct a thorough, credible and transparent investigation into our daughter’s killing and that after repeated attempts at the highest levels, U.S. officials have been unable to secure such an investigation."

Rachel Corrie's parents' then said they believed it was "important that Israel’s raid on the flotilla be investigated independently," adding that "while the Israeli Government has a responsibility to conduct its own internal investigation, our experience leads us to believe that Israel cannot be counted upon to reliably investigate itself."

The letter to UN representative Rice concluded with Cindy and Craig Corrie urging the U.S. to support a "truly independent investigation into the raid on the Mavi Marmara, one that is complete, impartial, and trustworthy."

[Source: Al-Manar TV]

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