US support for Israel strong

The American people's strong support for Israel remains constant and their support for action to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power has substantially increased, according to a new nationwide survey released by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Monday.

The survey's findings demonstrate that Americans recognize Israel as a strong and loyal US ally, are skeptical about "peace dividends" that would be realized by Israel stopping all settlement construction and believe that a Palestinian state must not be established until the Palestinians demonstrate a commitment to end violence and accept Israel's legitimacy.

The 2009 Survey of American Attitudes on Israel, The Palestinians and Prospects for Peace in the Middle East, a national telephone survey of 1,200 American adults, was conducted September 26-October 4, 2009 by Marttila Communications of Washington, D.C. and Boston.

"This latest survey of the American people, coming at a time of a full range of challenging issues facing Israel and the region demonstrates anew the breadth and depth of American public support for Israel from a variety of perspectives," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Americans see Israel as a loyal ally to the US, as being very serious about wanting to achieve peace with the Palestinians and as deserving the sympathy of the American people in the conflict with the Palestinians."

Foxman also noted a changing dynamic regarding Iran and the nuclear issue. "The significant increase in Americans viewing Iran as a threat and supporting, if nothing else works, US or Israeli military options against Iran, reflect a new and needed sense of urgency about the issue in light of Iran's oppressive policies and the discovery of a secret Iranian nuclear plant," he said. "This is the first time a majority of Americans - 54 percent - support such an option for the US"

Some two thirds of Americans consider Israel a strong and loyal US ally, as previous surveys showed. On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, 64% believe that Israel is serious about achieving peace with the Palestinians, with three-to-one respondents expressing more sympathy with Israel than the Palestinians, when asked to choose a side. Support for US involvement in the peace process rose by nine percentage points to 39% since 2007, but 48% believe the two sides must ultimately solve their own problems.

With recent US efforts to freeze Israeli settlement activity, 53% of those questioned believe that even if Israel halts all construction Arab leaders will continue to refuse Israel's right to exist. Some 61% believe that the conflict will continue for years with 51% claiming that Palestinian divisions are an obstacle to peace and 56% saying no Palestinian state should be established until Palestinians cease violence and accept Israel's legitimacy.

Concerning the question of the Iranian threat, 63% of the respondents consider Iran an immediate or short-term security threat to the Middle East compared to 50% in 2007. There has also been significant gain in those who would support either Israel or the US using military action to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, with 57% of Americans supporting an Israeli hit, up from 42% in 2007, and 54% supporting a US campaign, up from 47% in 2007.

Goldstone fallout is political, not legal

The challenge facing Israel over the Goldstone Report is political and not legal, Israel's ambassador to the UN Gabriella Shalev said on Wednesday. The report, which has unleashed worldwide criticism of Israel, accused it of violating the laws of war during Operation Cast Lead. Shalev was speaking from New York by video conference to participants in a round table discussion in Jerusalem sponsored by the Israel Democracy Institute on the challenges to Israel posed by the report and what Israel should do about them.

According to Shalev, some countries are challenging Israel's right to exist as a result of the report. "We are facing an attack on Israel, our army and our judicial system," she said, adding that Israel must not shy away from the fight or treat it as a lost cause but should participate in every forum and try to prove its case.

"We rely on our friends, the US and other enlightened countries," she said. Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog said Israel had made mistakes all along the line in its handling of the situation that developed after Operation Cast Lead.

First of all, he said, Israel should have agreed to cooperate with the Goldstone Commission and should not have treated Goldstone himself as a persona non grata. The government not only refused to cooperate with the commission, but also prohibited it from entering Israel to visit Sderot and the Gaza periphery or entering the West Bank via Israel.

Herzog added that the government should have challenged the appointments of the other three members of the commission and perhaps tried to cancel some of them. All three appointments were problematic, said Herzog, since one of them, Professor Christine Chinkin, had already accused Israel of committing war crimes while fighting was still going on in Gaza, another, Hina Jilani, was Pakistani and the third, Colonel Desmond Travers, lacked battleground experience.

Herzog also blamed Israeli leaders for making irresponsible and bombastic statements which had no operative significance but were used by the Goldstone Commission to "prove" that Israel's aim in the fighting was to punish the Palestinian civilian population for Hamas's military actions.

He said Israeli leaders continued to talk too much about establishing an investigative commission to examine the allegations that Israel violated the laws of war. Herzog warned that should an investigative commission be established, such statements, which he called thoughtless, would be exploited in the future to "prove" it was solely a tactical move to preclude the possibility of an international investigation, rather than the result of genuine desire for a serious and objective investigation.

Herzog added that he sided with those who believe the laws of war must be changed to address the issue of fighting terrorist organizations which deliberately involve civilians. The current laws of war did not address the new reality, he said. Hebrew University Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer charged that the Goldstone Report was clearly influenced by the political opinions of the commission. "Goldstone," said Kremnitzer, "believes that Hamas is fighting for independence. So he thinks that there is nothing the poor, innocent organization can do but fire rockets at Israel.
"This is obvious because Goldstone did not attribute any motive to the fact that the Hamas fought from among the Palestinian civilian population, but had no problem determining that, given the number of Palestinian civilian casualties, Israel's premeditated aim must have been to wage war against Palestinian civilians."

But Kremnitzer added that Israel did not act wisely by angering Goldstone during the investigation. "The courtroom rule is that you don't make the judge angry," said Kremnitzer. "But that is exactly what Israel did in systematically refusing requests by Goldstone throughout the investigation."

In the long run, he added, the only way Israel stood a chance of putting an end to the harsh international criticism against it was by reaching a diplomatic solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. So long as the conflict was unresolved, no amount of Israeli propaganda or information would help, he said.

Israel has no chance in UN

President Shimon Peres called the Goldstone Commission's report "a great victory for terror," saying a "built-in majority against Israel" in the United Nations means the Jewish state has "no chance to win" support on any single issue.

In an interview with Newsweek published on Saturday, Peres said, "Never before did any terrorist organization gain such recognition, in the most unfair way," referring to the UN-commissioned report on Operation Cast Lead, which accuses both Hamas and Israel of committing war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity.

The report was endorsed earlier in October by a majority in the UN Human Rights Council. Among the countries who voted in favor of endorsement were Bahrain, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.

"We have a problem in the United Nations: There is a built-in majority against Israel. Israel doesn't stand a chance to win any single issue because the Muslim and the Arab nations and the ones who follow them are a majority," Peres said.

When asked whether he would support an internal Israeli inquiry into alleged war crimes committed during the three-week IDF operation in Gaza, Netanyahu replied that such an option was being looked into "not because of the Goldstone Report, but because of our own internal needs."

Speaking the truth was "the best way to defuse this issue," the prime minister said, because "Israel was defending itself with just means against an unjust attack.

"Serious countries have to think about adapting the laws of war in the age of terrorism and guerrilla warfare. If the terrorists believe they have a license to kill by choosing to kill from behind civilian lines, that's what they'll do again and again. What exactly is Israel supposed to do?" Netanyahu said.

In response to Netanyahu's remarks, Defense Minister Ehud Barak reiterated his opinion that Israel should not appoint a commission to investigate the actions of IDF officers and soldiers during Operation Cast Lead.

Barak stressed that he fully trusted the operational investigations conducted by the IDF, adding that "there is no army in the world that investigates its actions like the IDF."

Also in the interview published over the weekend, Peres said Netanyahu could no longer be called "right-wing."

"He came from the Right, but he's no longer a rightist. He agreed to a two-state solution and to what no other prime minister ever agreed to, to freeze settlements," Peres was quoted as saying.

Peres told Newsweek he may have had "a certain influence" upon the steps that Netanyahu has taken. "I don't expect him to take everything that I say. My advice is simple: We have to make peace. We shouldn't postpone it," the president said.

Netanyahu, for his part, expressed his belief that the government represented the "consensus of the Israeli public."

He went on to blame the Palestinian Authority for preventing the resumption of peace talks by setting preconditions. "We just wasted six months because of the Palestinian effort to place preconditions on the negotiations, preconditions that weren't there for the last 16 years … it's freezing the settlements, it's committing in advance to the results of the negotiations."

The prime minister claimed that "the gist of the problem is that for 62 years the Palestinians have refused to recognize Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people

Europe and Obama's relationship

When US President Barack Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize winner, a tidal wave of reactions emerged from international leaders. Many western European leaders responded positively, with French President Nikolas Sarkozy stating that the award showed that “America had now returned to the hearts of the worlds’ peoples.” Meanwhile, German chancellor Angela Merkel declared that the award was an incentive to do more for world peace.

Nobel Committee Chairman, Thorbjoern Jagland, former prime minster of Norway and a Labor Party politician tried to explain that “it could be too late to respond three years from now” to Obama’s call for change. The Nobel Committee further elaborated that it was Obama’s efforts to ease Western conflict with Muslim nations and nuclear disarmament that they found particularly worthy of the prize.

There is a less noticeable reason for the Norwegian committee and Western Europe’s overall embrace of President Obama’s diplomatic dialogue with Iran. Many European leaders have a vested interest in keeping Iranian President Ahmadinejad content because of their countries’ involvement in Iran’s oil and gas industry.

The Tehran Times, Iran’s leading international English-speaking daily reported on August 29, 2009 on Iran’s major oil and gas contracts with its European partners. “Iran has been negotiating with over 30 companies from 9 European nations in recent years to carry out energy projects, despite mounting global economic sanctions and political pressures,” the article said.

Norway’s oil and gas companies, in particular, are heavily involved in Iran’s energy production. Statoil, Norway's biggest oil company is currently developing what is known as the South Pars project to tap Iran's biggest single gas deposit. In a Reuters report Statoil indicated that unless there was “significant sustained improvement in Tehran’s relations with the West," the company would not expand activities.

Obama’s engaged diplomacy with Iran has offered European energy companies new hope after years of Iranian isolation under the Bush Administration. According to the Reuters article, “major European energy firms are keen to tap the world’s second largest gas reserves but have shied away from investing huge sums under pressure from their own governments and Washington.” Statoil’s Vice President Peter Mellbye indicated in the Reuter report that the early months of the Obama presidency have shown “that there might be signs that things are changing...”

Lucrative relationship
In addition to Norway's economic ties with Iran, The Tehran Times reported that in 2008, the Swiss energy group EGL signed a 25-year gas purchase worth over $13 billion with Iran. In past years, French-based energy companies including Technip Conflext, have built petrochemical plants in the Persian Gulf worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Spain has been negotiating with the National Iran Gas company to construct refineries. Austria, Italy, Turkey, Russia and China are also involved with Iranian energy projects.

The above may suggest why Western Europe favors dialogue over military action with Iran and why European leaders favor President Obama's policies. A hard line stance against Iran's nuclear arms, one that involves international military action would place billions of dollars of European investments in Iran’s energy production at stake.

If President Obama can do more to strengthen this lucrative relationship, the continent that has the most to gain is Europe. And the Nobel peace prize, as the Norwegian Nobel committee indicated, is just one way to urge the US president forward in that direction. Indeed, Mr. Jagland himself is doing all he can to make President Ahmedinejad happy.

As the chairman of the board of directors for the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, he has refused to recognize any human rights for the young Iranian killed by the Islamic regime on the streets of Iran. Other human rights violations committed in Iran also receive little response from European countries that have no problem publicly condemning Israel for alleged war crimes.

From persecuting its Bahai minority to securing its national elections by force, the Iranian dictatorship will stop at nothing to gain power and promote its radical Islamic agenda. The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs warns in its September bulletin that "Iran is a true revolutionary power whose aspirations extend into the oil-producing states."

While Western Europe continues with its economic investments in Iranian energy, and grants President Ahmadinejad the UN platform to spew hatred against Israel and the West, Iran is gaining the momentum to become the nuclear powerhouse of the Middle East. It is time that Norway and Europe place oil aside and respond to President Ahmadinejad’s actions - instead of to President Obama's calls.

US-Israel

A major US-Israeli missile-defense exercise begun this week was planned several months ago and bears no relations to current events, US and Israeli military officials said during a press conference in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

Military representatives from both countries sought to downplay any tensions that might be fueled by the drill, pointing out that the Juniper Cobra Air Defense Exercise is held every two years, and is designed to test the active missile-defense capabilities of both armed forces. But in the shadow of increased regional tensions sparked by Iran's nuclear program, the presence of the US Navy ships in Israeli territorial water and 1,000 US European Command soldiers in Israel, together with a number of advanced American missile defense systems, will be seen by many as a sign of US readiness to assist Israel in defending its skies in the event of an Iranian attack.

The American Navy will activate its AEGIS Ballistic Missile Defense System and Patriot advanced capability missiles during the drill. Israel's Arrow 2 Theater Ballistic Missile Defense System will also be tested.

Brig.-Gen. Doron Gavish, who commands the IAF's Air Defense Corps, and R.-Adm. John M. Richardson, director of US Naval Forces Europe and US Naval Forces Africa, praised each other's professional abilities and said they looked forward to a fruitful exercise over the coming three weeks. The officials said the drill, the largest of its kind, is divided into three stages. In the first phase, American missile ships, radar stations, planes and missile-defense systems will take their positions. In the second, a computer simulation will test responders with scenarios of missile attacks. In third phase, dummy missiles will be fired from US Navy ships and intercepted in live fire exercises.

"The crews will be jointly made up of Americans and Israelis, and the commands will work should to shoulder with one another," Gavish said. "Our level of cooperation and consistency is very deep," Richardson said. "Our picture of the scenario is very common."

Radar stations have been set up around the country, and Israel's Green Pine and Super Green Pine missile detection systems will be activated. The US-made Forward Based X-band Tactical radar, situated in the Negev, which has long-range missile detection system, will also come into play.

The X-band radar works in conjunction with the Arrow missile defense, while also transmitting data to a US joint tactical ground station.

Clinton's agenda on Iran

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the world "will not wait indefinitely" for Iran to live up to its international obligations regarding its nuclear program. Speaking in London, Clinton said that the recent meeting in Geneva that saw Iran and six world powers resume nuclear talks was "a constructive beginning, but it must be followed by action."

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who Clinton met with in London, said the Islamic republic would never have a better opportunity to establish normal ties with the rest of the world, Reuters reported.

Clinton, who is on a tour of Europe, was due to meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown before travelling to Ireland later Sunday. US officials said Iran is at or near the top of Clinton's agenda with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov .

Russia and China have long balked at imposing new sanctions on Iran if it fails to come clean about its suspect nuclear program, but Medvedev hinted the Russian position might be shifting after Teheran disclosed a previously secret uranium enrichment site near the city of Qom.

But US officials believe it will be a hard sell to convince the Russians on fresh penalties since Iran agreed to allow UN inspectors to visit the Qom site and has agreed, in principle, to send most of its low-enriched uranium to Russia for reprocessing.

Iran agreed to allow inspections of the Qom site following talks last week between Iran's chief nuclear negotiator and diplomats from the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. The Iranians were given time to decide whether to accept a package of incentives in exchange for Iran's compliance with international demands to suspend its uranium enrichment or face new sanctions.

The Obama administration is anxious not to let up on the pressure and Clinton will be looking for Russian expressions of support for sanctions and other penalties should Iran continue to refuse by the end of the year, the officials said.

Goldstoned

News-consumers tuned to foreign channels these past two days are being treated afresh to horrific footage of bombed-out Gazan buildings, accompanied by damning quotes from the Goldstone Commission Report.

Israel is accused of having committed war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity, during Operation Cast Lead last December and January. The rocket barrages against southern Israel that prompted the IDF assault on Hamas are mostly relegated to the margins of the new-old TV coverage - just as in the Goldstone report itself.

The learned judge's concoction, based heavily on unverifiable claims from avowedly non-objective sources, some of them long-since discredited, is a feat of cynical superficiality, without appropriate distinction between terror and defense. The distorted picture justifies the Foreign Ministry's reaction of "nausea and fury."

Yet nobody here is surprised. The verdict was sealed before the probe had begun. NOTHING WAS impartial about the Goldstone panel. It was dispatched by the UN Human Rights Council to compile a case against Israel for "violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law..." Because the panel's conclusions were pre-scripted, its mission was opposed by Canada, Japan, Switzerland and the EU (America wasn't a member), and Israel refused to cooperate with it.

The council itself - the UN's most anti-Israel subsidiary even vis-a-vis other ultra-antagonistic UN forums - was established in March 2006 to replace the much-discredited UN Human Rights Commission, which spent its energies in obsessive demonization of Israel. But the new body was so akin to its predecessor that, in November 2006, then-UN secretary-general Kofi Annan was moved to deplore its "disproportionate focus on violations by Israel" whereas "graver crises," like Darfur, were overlooked.

Annan's successor Ban Ki-moon echoed the sentiment in June 2007: "The Secretary-General is disappointed at the Council's decision to single out only one specific regional item, given the range and scope of allegations of human rights violations throughout the world."

Among these are atrocities committed in intra-Palestinian violence, to say nothing of a decade's indiscriminate rocketing of Israeli towns. The UN's own indifference toward the latter, it must sadly be noted, helped render Israeli counterstrikes unavoidable.

Considering the UNHRC's inglorious record - not to mention the fact that the Goldstone panel was set up at the instigation of Syria, Somalia, Pakistan, Malaysia and Bangladesh - there was plainly no point in Israel abetting its own vilification.

BESIDES OBVIOUSLY rewarding terror, demonizing Israel and seeking to constrain Israel's capacity to protect itself, the Goldstone Commission displays contempt for Israel's judiciary. UN human rights frameworks were founded to combat abuses by rogue states and dictatorships, where autonomous legal systems are nonexistent. Israel's courts are renowned for their activism and independence, often provoking government displeasure.

Yet the Goldstone report, while effectively giving Hamas a free pass, demands "an independent inquiry to assess whether the treatment by Israeli judicial authorities of Palestinian and Jewish Israelis expressing dissent in connection with the offensive was discriminatory."

Such wholesale bias leaves no room for fair evaluation of the IDF's own probes. The IDF judge-advocate general has initiated 24 (ongoing) investigations into some 100 allegations by assorted NGOs against soldiers who may have deviated from stringent IDF codes. Respect for enemy lives, indeed, often culminates in the endangerment, even sacrifice, of Israeli troops.

Goldstone also faults Israeli investigators for not collecting evidence in Gaza as per "domestic police investigation of a murder in Manhattan." This analogy is absurdly misguided. In warfare, different rules apply from those governing civilian law enforcement. Goldstone can hardly expect Israelis to collect evidence in hostile Gaza. The fate of kidnapped Gilad Schalit (an outrageous human rights violation, on which the Goldstone report also falls short) should elucidate why.

Israel knows that its survival depends on it continuing to act in the best interests of its own self-preservation, consistent with its own profound moral obligations. But the Goldstone phenomenon is not only a challenge to Israel. It underlines that any democracy, and most pertinently the US, can find itself prosecuted and judged by the cynical scales of the worst tyrannies.

In their ongoing handling of the Goldstone recommendations, the world's democracies must demonstrate their refusal to be cynically manipulated by the rogue states that empowered this panel. They must refuse to be Goldstoned. Today, Israel has been manoeuvred toward the dock. Who will it be tomorrow?

Goldstone shameful UNHRC resolution legitimising terror as freedom fighters

Palestine (Non-Member State of the Human Rights Council), Egypt (on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement), Nigeria (on behalf of the African Group), Pakistan (on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic Conference), Tunisia (Non-Member State of the Human Rights Council on behalf of the Arab Group): draft resolution 12 - The human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem
A
The Human Rights Council,

Recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights,

Affirming the responsibility of the international community to promote human rights and ensure respect for international law,
Emphasizing the particularity of The Occupied East Jerusalem in its rich religious and cultural heritage,

Recalling all relevant United Nations resolutions including Security Council resolutions on Occupied East Jerusalem,

Deeply concerned at the Israeli actions undermining the sanctity and inviolability of religious sites in the Occupied Palestinian Territory including East Jerusalem,

Deeply concerned also at the Israeli policy of closure and severe restrictions, including the permit regime, that continue to be imposed on the movement of Palestinians hindering their free access to their Christian and Muslim holy sites, including Al Aqsa Mosque,

1.Strongly condemns all policies and measures taken by Israel, the occupying power, including those limiting access of Palestinians to their properties and holy sites particularly in Occupied East Jerusalem, on the basis of national origin, religion, sex, age or any other discriminatory ground, which are in grave violation of the Palestinian People's civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights;

2.Condemns further the recent Israeli violations of human rights in Occupied East Jerusalem, particularly the confiscation of lands and properties, the demolishing of houses and private properties, the construction and expansion of settlements, the continuous construction of the separation Wall, changing the demographic and geographic character of East Jerusalem, the restrictions on the freedom of movement of the Palestinian citizens of East Jerusalem, as well as the continuous digging and excavation works in and around Al-Aqsa mosque and its vicinity;

3.Demands Israel, the occupying power, to respect the religious and cultural rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as provided for in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the core International Human Rights instruments, the Hague Conventions, and the Geneva Conventions, and to allow Palestinian citizens and worshippers unhindered access to their properties and religious sites therein;

4.Demands also Israel, the occupying power to immediately cease all digging and excavation works and activities beneath and around Al Aqsa Mosque and its vicinity, and refrain from any acts or operations that may endanger the structure or foundations or change the nature of holy sites both Christian and Islamic in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem;

5.Requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights, pursuant to resolution S-9/L.1 and in the context of her periodic reports, to monitor, document and report on the state of implementation by Israel, the occupying power, of its Human Rights obligations in and around East Jerusalem;
B
The Human Rights Council,

Guided by the principles and objectives of the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,

Considering that the promotion of respect for the obligations arising from the Charter and other instruments and rules of international law is among the basic purposes and principles of the United Nations,

Reaffirming the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the inadmissibility of the acquisition of land by the use of force, as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations,

Acknowledging that peace, security, development and human rights are the pillars of the United Nations system,

Affirming the applicability of international human rights law and the international humanitarian law, namely the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

Expressing serious concern at the lack of implementation by the occupying Power, Israel, of previously adopted resolutions and recommendations of the Council relating to the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,

Recalling its resolution A/HRC/S-9/L.1 of 12 January 2009, in which the Council decided to dispatch an urgent, independent international fact-finding mission, and its call upon the occupying power, Israel, not to obstruct the process of investigation and to fully cooperate with the mission,

1.Condemns the non-cooperation by the occupying power, Israel, with the independent international fact-finding mission;

2.Welcomes the report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission (A/HRC/12/48);

3.Endorses the recommendations contained in the report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, and calls upon all concerned parties including United Nations bodies, to ensure their implementation in accordance with their respective mandates;

4.Recommends the General Assembly to consider the report of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission, during the main part of its 64th session;

5.Requests the United Nations Secretary General to submit to the 13th Human Rights Council's session, a report, on the status of implementation of paragraph 3.above;
C
The Human Rights Council,

Emphasizing that international human rights law and international humanitarian law are complementary and mutually reinforcing,

Recalling the obligations of the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention, and reaffirming that each High Contracting Party to the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War is under the obligation to respect and ensure the respect for the obligations arising from that Convention,

Stressing that the right to life constitutes the most fundamental of all human rights,

Recognizing that the Israeli siege imposed on the occupied Gaza Strip, including its closure of border crossings and the cutting of the supply of fuel, food and medicine, constitutes collective punishment of Palestinian civilians and leads to disastrous humanitarian and environmental consequences,

1.Welcomes the first periodic report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on the implementation of the Human Rights Council resolution S-9/1(A/HRC/12/37);

2.Endorses the recommendations contained in the first periodic report of the High Commissioner, and calls upon all concerned parties including United Nations bodies to ensure their implementation in accordance with their respective mandates;

3.Requests the High Commissioner for Human Rights to submit to the 13th Human Rights Council's session, a report on the status of implementation of this resolution;

4.Decides to follow up on the implementation of section A, section B and section C of the present resolution at its 13th session.

Livni to Turks: Ties with Israel important

Opposition leader gave an interview to Turkish state television following cancelation of recent joint military drill, says, 'We must end crisis, Ankara aware of importance of ties with Israel, realizes we're in same camp'

After criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government at the start of the Knesset's winter session on Monday, Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni gave an interview to a Turkish television station, where she said, "The ties between Israel and Turkey are of a strategic nature, and as chairwoman of the Opposition, I hereby state that they are not related to the type of government ruling in Jerusalem, and there is no opposition or coalition in this matter."

Following Ankara's decision to call of the Israel Air Force's participation in a joint military drill, Livni told Turkish state television TRT, "We support the government's efforts to try and end the crisis. I believe that what is on the agenda here is not the Israel-Turkey ties, but the division between states in the region that understand what the real threat is, are threatened themselves by extremist bodies and cooperate together to defeat them."

On Operation Cast Lead in Gaza, which took place during her term as foreign minister and led to the release of the Goldstone report which accused both Israel and Hamas of committing war crimes, Livni said, "The Gaza operation was not aimed at Gaza or Gaza's residents. We left Gaza, we gave the Palestinians the option to build their lives there, we gave them hope, and in return we got thousands of rockets on our citizens.

"The operation was aimed at the rockets and those who fired them, and it was Hamas that chose to operate from among the civil population. The attacks, and the attacks alone are what led us to take action," she said. The January war led to a wave of extremist demonstrations in Istanbul against Israel.

"Turkey plays an important role in the region," the Kadima chairwoman continued, "The Israel-Turkey ties yield important results for Turkey and its interests, and not just for Israel – the military cooperation is important to you as well."

Addressing both the Turkish people and the Turkish leadership, Livni added, 'Supporting the war on terror is not an anti-Palestinian act. It is anti-terror. Hamas does not represent the national Palestinian aspirations; it does not work for them and does not promote them. The need to fight terror and extremist bodes is a common denominator between all the moderate powers in the region – and Turkey should be among them."

She continued to say, "I know that the images from Gaza were not easy, Hamas chose to operate from among the civil population, to hide behind civilians and fire at our children. There is an essential difference between someone who harms a child on purpose and someone who harms a child by accident during combat in civilian territory. The pictures are hard to look at, but the leadership must do what is right for its state, and sometimes this does not fall in line with the public opinion that is not always exposed to everything."

She added, "Turkey knows the importance of its ties with Israel, it knows it's in the same moderate camp with Israel, the moderate Palestinians and other Muslim countries, and the threat to Turkey is not from us. A leader, in any place, must ask himself who he identifies with, with which values and towards what goals.

"In all these matters, Turkey and Israel share a common denominator. The important ties between us can and should be directed at cooperation towards promoting joint goals, the first of which is advancing the region, and not hurting it with crises that can and should be solved," the former foreign minister concluded.

'Iran will blow up the heart of Israel'

Iran will "blow up the heart of Israel" if the United States or the Jewish state attacked it first, a top official with Iran's most powerful military force, the Revolutionary Guard, warned Friday. Cleric Mojtaba Zolnour, who is Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in the Guard, said that if a US or Israeli missile lands in Iran, Iranian missiles will hit Israel in retaliation. "Should a single American or Zionist missile land in our country, before the dust settles, Iranian missiles will blow up the heart of Israel," Zolnour was quoted as saying by the state IRNA news agency.

In March, Iran's deputy army chief made similar remarks, warning that his country will eliminate Israel if it attacks the Islamic republic. "Should Israel take any action against Iran, we will eliminate Israel from the scene of the universe," Gen. Muhammad Reza Ashtiani said at the time in Teheran. Ashtiani claimed Israel was "very vulnerable" and dismissed allegations that Iran was worried about Israeli maneuvers. "Due to its special conditions, Israel is very vulnerable in the region," he said. "The aggressors will face a crushing response."

Livni slams Goldstone report at Yale

Speaking at an event at Yale University in New Haven on Thursday night, where she was honored as a Chubb Fellow, the highest honor awarded by the university to foreigners for their work and inspiration, opposition leader Tzipi Livni criticized the UN fact-finding mission's report on Operation Cast Lead for drawing comparisons between IDF soldiers and terrorists, and told the audience of her support in the two-state solution.

"I will never accept the comparison between IDF solders and terrorism, just as you would never compare murder and accidental killing," Livni said of the Goldstone report. She added that the IDF is a moral army, and that Israeli soldiers endanger themselves on a daily basis in order to avoid harming civilians. While she stressed that the pain of a mother over the death of her children could not be underestimated, Livni said that is was important to distinguish between those who aim to murder children in their homes and those who unintentionally harm civilians who are used by terrorists as human shields. Every judgment of Israel that overlooks these differences and draws these comparisons is wrong, misleading and holds a double standard, Livni emphasized.

On the Middle East peace process, Livni said that achieving a comprehensive peace agreement with the Palestinians was a central goal for Israel and expressed support in the two-state solution. Israel is not engaging in peace negotiations in order to placate the US or the Arab world, but rather because peace is an interest for anyone who wants to maintain the Jewish nature of the state, she explained.

A defeat of Olympic proportions

Barack Obama gave shuttle diplomacy a new twist when he set out last week for Copenhagen to lobby the International Olympic Committee to choose Chicago for the 2016 summer games.The aim was trivial by global geopolitical standards, and yet - perhaps because of that inconsequence - the failure of Obama's bid was felt in places other than the Windy City.

The fact that the leader of the Free World was unable to move a panel of IOC members sufficiently to help Chicago advance into even the second round of voting has made some question how he could expect to prevail with Iran, North Korea and other equally cagey parties.

And those perennial adversaries haven't been the only ones giving Obama attitude. European allies have been unwilling to provide more troops in Afghanistan or more stimulus money. Closer to home, Capitol Hill minions describe an atmosphere in which "Yes, we can" might be Obama's mantra, but members readily tell him "No, we won't." In the Middle East, slammed doors came first from Arab leaders refusing to make gestures toward the Jewish state, and then from Israelis unwilling to freeze settlements.

"When the king of Saudi Arabia or the prime minister of Israel - or the Olympic Committee - says no, it clearly diminishes the credibility and the influence of the United States," asserted Elliott Abrams, who served as the deputy national security adviser in the George W. Bush administration. "It makes it harder to do whatever you're trying to achieve."

While Bush had also lost clout by the time he left office, Abrams said such a phenomenon was common for presidents coming to the end of their terms. "In the first year, you usually don't have this kind of issue arise."

Although Abrams disagreed with what Obama had been trying to get Israel to do - freeze settlements, including for natural growth, as a gesture toward the Palestinians and the Arab world - he said that an American president who wasn't seen as being able to get things done was no good for anyone.

Regardless of ideology, he said, "we all have to wish it were otherwise."

"WHEN YOU say no to the superpower, it comes at a price for the great power's credibility," echoed Aaron David Miller, though the Woodrow Wilson Center scholar takes different positions than Abrams on settlements and other issues.

Miller, who has advised six secretaries of state on the Middle East, compared Obama to Gulliver, an idealistic adventurer who awakens in a distant land only to find himself "tied up by small tribes who are tougher and meaner and have a greater stake in the outcome."

He added, "Where we're not tied up by them, we're tied up by our own illusions."

He pointed to the Obama administration's initial expectation of getting a complete settlement freeze and steps on normalization from the Arabs.

"That's not seeing the world the way it really is," he contended, but suggested that the setbacks of recent months would lead to some reassessing. "You're going to see a rethinking of the peace process in the coming months. There's a dawning of how extremely painful the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian track are."

At the same time, many observers are concerned about the lessons the administration has drawn so far, and that it is setting its sights on a goal - a final-status agreement - that is sure to be even harder to obtain.

"It hasn't worked for 35 years. I don't see that it's working now," said another Middle East analyst of the elusive final-status deal, who didn't want to be quoted criticizing the administration. And coming up empty-handed could cost the White House even more stature down the road.

"It goes to the heart of the president's credibility, because the president's come out very strong in support of a Palestinian state; he's come out very strong against settlements," the analyst continued. "The more he backtracks, the less credibility he has in the Middle East and globally."

A drop in credibility could make the next steps even harder, but it could also make the administration more pragmatic.

"It might be more helpful for the US to set more practical and attainable goals, rather than reaching for a final-status agreement," said Haim Malka, an Israel expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

He suggested shorter-term goals that could "improve dynamics on the ground," such as promoting a Palestinian unity government between Hamas and Fatah, and a broader Israel-Hamas cease-fire.

Abrams said there was room for the US to encourage the Arab states to do more to bolster the Palestinian Authority, and also to build Israel's confidence that America was watching out for its security interests. Malka assessed that the difficult situation on the ground was such that America's lack of results so far wouldn't be decisive in determining what could be produced. And while Miller thought it wouldn't make things easier, "it's not fatal."

Europe atom lab: physicist arrested on terror link

French police have arrested a nuclear physicist on suspicion that he had links to terrorist organizations in Algeria, the European Organization for Nuclear Research said Friday.
The man was one of more than 7,000 scientists working at the organization and has been assigned to analysis projects under contract with an outside institute, said the organization, known as CERN.

The man had no contact with anything that could be used for terrorism, said the organization. The LHCb experiment where he worked is the smallest of a series of installations along the 17-mile (27-kilometer) circular tunnel under the Swiss-French border.The nuclear research organization said the unidentified man was arrested Thursday in the eastern French city of Vienne, 23 kilometers (20 miles) south of Lyon.

That coincides with the arrest by French police in Vienne of two brothers suspected of being in contact with al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb, but the organization was unable to say if that was the same case.

A French police official said officers arrested two brothers suspected of being in contact with al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb. The men were French and aged 25 and 32. The arrest was part of a French judge's probe into suspected terrorist links.Police searched the suspects' apartments and seized their computers.

Al-Qaida in Islamic Maghreb regularly targets Algerian government forces and occasionally attacks foreigners.The collider started spectacularly a year ago with beams of particles flying in both directions on the first day of trying. But later that month an electric failure because of a construction fault caused the entire machine to shut down. It has been undergoing repairs almost ever since.

Spokeswoman Renilde van den Broek said there was no indication of sabotage in the shutdown and that the arrested man would have had access only to the small experiment he was working on, and not to the tunnel itself.The projects are aimed at making discoveries about the makeup of matter when the Large Hadron Collider — the world largest atom smasher — starts collecting data later this year or early next year.

"LHCb is an experiment set up to explore what happened after the Big Bang that allowed matter to survive and build the universe we inhabit today," said a description on the organization's Web site.

The Big Bang was a vast explosion that scientists theorize was the beginning of the universe 14 billion years ago.The European laboratory has been working for years to build the $10 billion collider.

Not all physicists working on the LHCb project were informed of the arrest."This is news to me," said Ken Wyllie, one of dozens of scientists in the department. The prosecutor's office in the Isere region said the arrest of the physicist had been transferred to the anti-terrorist section of the Paris prosecutor's office.

There was no immediate confirmation from the Paris prosecutor's office or the French Interior Minister.

Many of the scientists at the laboratory, whether or not they are employees of the organization or of other institutes around the world, live in France, and about half the operation is on French territory.

The man has been working on analysis projects with the LHCb experiment at CERN since 2003. "None of our research has potential for military application, and all our results are published openly in the public domain," the organization said in a statement. The laboratory said it is providing the support requested by the French police in the inquiry

Italian scientist reproduces Shroud of Turin

ROME (Reuters) – An Italian scientist says he has reproduced the Shroud of Turin, a feat that he says proves definitively that the linen some Christians revere as Jesus Christ's burial cloth is a medieval fake.

The shroud, measuring 14 feet, 4 inches by 3 feet, 7 inches bears the image, eerily reversed like a photographic negative, of a crucified man some believers say is Christ.
"We have shown that is possible to reproduce something which has the same characteristics as the Shroud," Luigi Garlaschelli, who is due to illustrate the results at a conference on the para-normal this weekend in northern Italy, said on Monday.

A professor of organic chemistry at the University of Pavia, Garlaschelli made available to Reuters the paper he will deliver and the accompanying comparative photographs.
The Shroud of Turin shows the back and front of a bearded man with long hair, his arms crossed on his chest, while the entire cloth is marked by what appears to be rivulets of blood from wounds in the wrists, feet and side.

Carbon dating tests by laboratories in Oxford, Zurich and Tucson, Arizona in 1988 caused a sensation by dating it from between 1260 and 1390. Sceptics said it was a hoax, possibly made to attract the profitable medieval pilgrimage business.But scientists have thus far been at a loss to explain how the image was left on the cloth.

Garlaschelli reproduced the full-sized shroud using materials and techniques that were available in the middle ages.They placed a linen sheet flat over a volunteer and then rubbed it with a pigment containing traces of acid. A mask was used for the face.

PIGMENT, BLOODSTAINS AND SCORCHES

The pigment was then artificially aged by heating the cloth in an oven and washing it, a process which removed it from the surface but left a fuzzy, half-tone image similar to that on the Shroud. He believes the pigment on the original Shroud faded naturally over the centuries.

They then added blood stains, burn holes, scorches and water stains to achieve the final effect.

The Catholic Church does not claim the Shroud is authentic nor that it is a matter of faith, but says it should be a powerful reminder of Christ's passion.

One of Christianity's most disputed relics, it is locked away at Turin Cathedral in Italy and rarely exhibited. It was last on display in 2000 and is due to be shown again next year.Garlaschelli expects people to contest his findings.

"If they don't want to believe carbon dating done by some of the world's best laboratories they certainly won't believe me," he said.

The accuracy of the 1988 tests was challenged by some hard-core believers who said restorations of the Shroud in past centuries had contaminated the results.The history of the Shroud is long and controversial.

After surfacing in the Middle East and France, it was brought by Italy's former royal family, the Savoys, to their seat in Turin in 1578. In 1983 ex-King Umberto II bequeathed it to the late Pope John Paul.

The Shroud narrowly escaped destruction in 1997 when a fire ravaged the Guarini Chapel of the Turin cathedral where it is held. The cloth was saved by a fireman who risked his life. Garlaschelli received funding for his work by an Italian association of atheists and agnostics but said it had no effect on his results.

"Money has no odor," he said. "This was done scientifically. If the Church wants to fund me in the future, here I am."

L’acné des adultes

Alors que les boutons et autres points noirs sont associés aux problèmes d’adolescent, l’acné des adultes est pourtant plus commune que ce que l’on pense. Tout comme les adolescents, l’acné est souvent mal vécue par l’adulte et ces imperfections gâchent souvent la vie. Même si on ne l’étudie que depuis 10 ans environ, les causes les plus courantes de l’acné adulte sont connues, et on sait même comment le traiter. Les causes : De nombreuses causes sont évoquées pour l’acné des adultes. Et comme presque tous les cas d'acné (chez les ados ou les adultes), l'acné résulte d’une surproduction de sébum qui occasionne la prolifération de points noirs et une inflammation du follicule pilo-sébacé qui engendre ces nombreux boutons disgracieux.

Chez l'adulte d’ailleurs, l'acné se manifeste autrement que chez l'adolescent : les points noirs sont des boutons bien rouges, présents surtout sur la mâchoire inférieure, chez la femme, et dans le dos, chez l'homme. Les femmes de 25 à 40 ans sont d’ailleurs plus touchées que les hommes par l’acné des adultes. Quelques facteurs sont vus comme déclencheurs pour l’acné des adultes.

Tout d’abord les soins cosmétiques de mauvaise qualité, ou, ceux mal adaptés à son type de peau peuvent entraîner des risques d'allergies et de réactions cutanées. Mais, la liste ne s’arrête pas là : on peut parler aussi du stress, de la pollution, de la contraception, des menstruations, des grossesses ou de la sensibilité hormonale...

A savoir : ce n’est pas forcément parce que vous avez été touché par l’acné juvénile que vous serez sujets à l’acné des adultes.

L’hygiène de vie
Jusqu’à aujourd’hui, aucune étude n'a démontré que le chocolat, les frites ou la pizza aggravaient l'acné. Idem pour l'alcool. Mais même si rien n’est prouvé, la nourriture trop grasse n’est de toute façon pas trop bonne pour la santé. Alors, si vous êtes touchés par l’acné des adultes, il vaut mieux manger équilibré et sainement, et préférer les produits naturels comme les légumes ou fruits frais.

Pour les cigarettes par contre, des études ont montrée que les cas d'acné adulte sont plus importants chez les fumeurs, et surtout, que ces derniers répondent moins bien aux traitements dermatologiques que les non-fumeurs.
Bien nettoyer sa peau

Avant même d’utiliser un traitement, il est important de bien nettoyer sa peau, car souvent en effectuant des gestes efficaces, votre acné peut disparaître ou du moins diminuer. Pour enlever le surplus de sébum et assainir la peau, il vaut mieux utiliser des solutions nettoyantes sans savon (et il vaut mieux éviter les laits démaquillants sans rinçage car ils laissent un film gras sur l'épiderme) à faire mousser, sans frotter, sur tout le visage (et non pas seulement sur les zones boutonneuses) à l'aide d'eau tiède. Une fois que sa peau est bien sèche, on applique un tonique sans alcool ou une eau thermale apaisante et on termine par un hydratant non comédogène adapté à son problème cutané lorsque l’on suit un traitement (le soir, ce produit peut être remplacé par un traitement ciblé plus puissant, et donc plus asséchant).

A savoir : si vous vous maquillez, l’important est d’avoir la main légère en évitant la couche de fond de teint épaisse qui empêche la peau de respirer. Préférez utiliser une crème teintée matifiante avec un peu de poudre que le fond de teint.

Le traitement
L'acné se guérit. Avec l'âge, les glandes sébacées s'atrophient d’elles-mêmes, si bien que, au-delà de la cinquantaine, les cas d'acné sont rares. Des dizaines de traitements en vente libre sont vendus en pharmacie. Demandez conseil à votre médecin ou pharmacien. Les traitements les plus utilisés sont ceux à base de trétinoïne, d'acide salicylique, de peroxyde de benzoyle ou de lipohydroxyacide (LHA).

Si ces solutions de base s'avèrent inefficaces, allez consulter un dermatologue qui pourra vous proposer divers traitements médicaux (plus ou moins long). Il peut vous prescrire un des nombreux traitements d'anti-acnéiques locaux (pour lutter contre le développement bactérien et agir sur la sécrétion de sébum) et des traitements généraux par voie orale sont également envisageables.

Le saviez-vous ? Environ 25% des adultes seraient touchés par l’acné des adultes.

Obama and the racism card

During his 2008 presidential campaign, Obama avoided wisely raising the racism issue. Playing that card was tempting, but Obama wanted to be judged on his character and the content of his ideas, rather than on the color of his skin. By doing so, he fulfilled one of Martin Luther King’s dreams. He adopted Abraham Lincoln as a role model, rather than Jesse Jackson’s style of rhetoric. In the 2012 campaign, however, the racism card may very well be played against him.

President Obama has decided to discriminate against Jews. There is no other way of interpreting his demand to freeze building of homes for Jews in the disputed territories between Israel and Jordan, while refraining from raising similar demands from Arabs.

Israel sees the area between it and Jordan as Judea and Samaria and duly regards it as part of the historic Jewish homeland. The Palestinians, on the other hand, refer to the same area as the West Bank and vehemently view it as an integral part of a future Palestinian state. That is a core component of the conflict that needs to be negotiated and resolved.

The issue is less complex than commonly perceived.

Within the disputed territories there are vast areas of high Palestinian population density, such as in Jenin and Nabulas. Subsequent to successful negotiations, those areas and the vicinity immediately adjacent to them will most probably be part of a future demilitarized Palestinian state. Therefore, there is no sense for Jews to currently build their homes there.

Concurrently, there are areas within the disputed territories of highly concentrated Jewish residence, such as in Ariel and Modiin Illit. Those areas and the vicinity immediately adjacent to them will inevitably be part of Israel. Therefore, there is no logic for Arabs to build their homes there. Any honest broker would start from there and leave the final demarcation of borders to direct and candid negotiations. Eventually, true peace and the ultimate dream will be fulfilled, when on the green hills of a once disputed land, Arabs and Jews will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. To date, Obama has decided to discriminate.

Reviving reciprocity
Realism would have it that Obama wants Jews to refrain from building in areas that may jeopardize the final border to be drawn between Israel and its neighbors. Yet he has not made such demands from the other side. No American administration has ever suggested Israel return to the 1967 borders, which the Pentagon defined long ago as indefensible. Therefore, a demand for a full freeze on Jewish home building is unfounded.

It is peculiar that during his demanding presidential campaign, Obama found time to visit Israel and spoke strongly before Jewish American voters – vowing his allegiance. As a presidential candidate, he also declared his dedication to an undivided Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal capital. Subsequently, since his emotional inauguration, over six months ago, he has found time to talk with Arabs, Muslims, Iranians, Western and Eastern Europeans, Russians and Africans – but couldn’t be bothered with Israeli interests as he denounced its development of Jerusalem.

Benjamin Netanyahu has made it clear that he is willing to compromise and was able to reach a consensus concerning a demilitarized Palestinian state alongside Israel. Mahmoud Abbas, in return, is still unwilling to recognize the Jewish state or to even meet with the Israeli PM in New York without preconditions.

Netanyahu can compromise but he will not be a “sucker”, as he takes pride in being the one to institutionalize the concept of reciprocity” into the Middle East peace process. Indeed, one of his fundamental first term achievements as prime minister was stopping the process of giving something for nothing at best, and “land for terror” at worst. He was able to educate Israelis and Palestinians alike on the concept of reciprocity and to clarify to a disinclined Clinton administration that the term should also apply to the relationship between Israel and its neighbors.

One of Netanyahu’s key challenges in the New Jewish Year to revive reciprocity.

Ahmadinejad was born Jewish. Hoax of the Year

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was born Jewish and converted to Islam, according to a report in London's Daily Telegraph.

The Saturday report cited a photograph from 2008 which showed Ahmadinejad holding up his identity card, bearing his former last name, Sabourjian, a common Jewish name in Iran.

The Telegraph said that the name was "Jewish" for cloth weaver, and that the Iranian president's family had changed their name when they converted to Islam. "The name derives from "weaver of the Sabour," the name for the Jewish Tallit shawl in Persia," the report said.

The report also cited experts as speculating that Ahmadinejad's anti-Semitic rhetoric may be a kind of overcompensation to conceal his heritage. "Every family that converts into a different religion takes a new identity by condemning their old faith… By making anti-Israeli statements he is trying to shed any suspicions about his Jewish connections," Ali Nourizadeh, the head of the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies was quoted as saying.