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My paper, Maariv, published today an eight pages interview with professor Ben Zion Netanyahu, Benjamin Netanyahu’s 99 year old father. Netanyahu often refers to his father as the person who inspired him the most. When he resigned from the government just before the disengagement from Gaza, Netanyahu mentioned his father as one of the reasons for his move (Prof. Netanyahu opposed the disengagement plan). “From you I’ve learned, father,” said Netanyahu that day.In this interview, Prof. Ben Zion (who’s mind and thinking are clear as ever – in fact, he is about to go on a work tour to the...

Elena Bonner, the widow of great scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov and an outstanding human rights activist in her own right, is truly one of the heroes of the modern age.   (It was my privilege to interview Bonner nearly two years ago for this article.)  Yesterday, the 86-year-old grande dame of the Russian human rights movement spoke at the Oslo Freedom Forum.  Her speech, of which Ms. Bonner sent me an English translation, is worth reproducing in full.  Ms. Bonner is a woman of strong and outspoken opinions; agree or disagree, she is always worth hearing (by Cathy...

NGO (Non-Government Organization) Monitor Professor Gerald Steinberg charged on Monday that human rights organizations “have released no more than a token demand” for the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. He cited Human Rights Watch and Oxfam for their silence in efforts to free the soldier, abducted on June 25, 2006. “Their shameful silence on Shalit's fate amounts to a betrayal of universal human rights,” he stated. His captors’ denial of visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) violates the Geneva Convention, “a grave contravention of one of the foundations of international humanitarian law.” Shalit was...

And of course, stories that Joe Klein makes up get recycled in Palestinian propaganda. Ben Smith reports: U.S. and Israeli officials are dismissing an eyebrow-raising claim from a prominent Palestinian activist and official, Mustafa Barghouti, in today's International Herald Tribune. "The Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, stands up and walks out on the U.S. envoy, George Mitchell, every time the American envoy mentions East Jerusalem," Barghouti wrote in an op-ed deploring "U.S. and European inaction" in the face of Israeli intransigence. Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, through a spokesman, dismissed the claim as "nonsense." "I have never heard such a thing,"...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Hamas has sent a sharp warning to Israel in the form of an animated film about an Israeli soldier it has held in Gaza for nearly four years. The short film appeared Sunday on the website of Hamas' armed wing. .

Israeli aircraft struck two targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday a day after a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave killed a Thai worker in Israel, Hamas security officials and witnesses said. There were no reported injuries in either strike. In one, missiles struck an open area near the town of Khan Younis. Another, near Gaza City, it a metal foundry. The Israeli military had no immediate comment. Vice Prime Minister Silvan Shalom had said Israel would make a strong response to what was the first deadly rocket fire from Hamas-ruled Gaza at Israel in more than a year....

New Antisemitic Animated Film on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV Vilifies Palestinian Authority: PA Security Forces Help Stereotypical Blood-Drinking Jews Following are excerpts from an antisemitic cartoon on Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV which vilifies the Palestinian Authority. The cartoon aired on Al-Aqsa TV on January 1, 2010.To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/2323.htm. To view the MEMRI TV page for Hamas, visit http://www.memri.org/subject/en/94.htm. To view the MEMRI TV page for Al-Aqsa TV, visit http://www.memritv.org/content/en/tv_channel_indiv.htm?id=175. "We Swear That We Will Not Be Terrorized by [U.S. General] Dayton"Title: "'Required Vision' presents:" Israeli officer holds PA officer by the ear: "If the resistance...

Peretz: No decision to delay outpost evacuation Police, IDF continue preparation for outpost evacuation, and thus far Defense Minister Amir Peretz has not postponed the plan; but Gaza incursion could cancel evacuation Ronny Sofer Despite the rising tensions with the Palestinians and the IDF's large-scale preparations for incursions into Gaza, Defense Minister Amir Peretz has not decided to cancel next week's evacuation of illegal outposts in the West Bank. However, defense officials said, "The evacuation is dependent on a possible incursion into the Gaza Strip." Officials estimated that should a large-scale offensive be launched to free abducted IDF soldier Gilad...

A sizable majority of Palestinians support the continued kidnappings of Israelis as well as persistent Qassam rocket fire as a means to pressure Israel to release Palestinian prisoners, according to a new poll commissioned by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center, the results of which were released Sunday. Of the 1,197 respondents from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, 66.8 percent expressed support for further kidnappings of Israeli civilians while 77.2 percent backed the Kerem Shalom tunnel operation and subsequent kidnapping of Israel Defense Forces Corporal Gilad Shalit. Nonetheless, just 47.7 percent of those polled said they believed the...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit out at the militant Palestinian organization Hamas on Sunday, after the group released an animted short film depicting abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been captive by Hamas in Gaza for nearly four years, returning to Israel in a coffin. The video, said Netanyahu was a reflection of "the true character of Hamas." "It is yet another despicable action aimed to help the Hamas leadership avoid making a decision regarding our offer for a prisoner swap deal which it has not responded to for many months," Netanyahu added. "This offer," Netanyahu said,...

Pray For The Peace Of Jerusalem The Book of PsalmsPsalm 7 Shiggaion of David,Which he Sang Unto The LORD,Concerning the Words of Cush the Benjamite. 1. O LORD my God, in thee do I put my trust: save me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me: 2. Lest he tear my soul like a lion, rending it in pieces, while there is none to deliver. 3. O LORD my God, If I have done this; if there be iniquity in my hands; 4. If I have rewarded evil unto him that was at peace with me; (yea,...

(IsraelNN.com) On Wednesday, just two days before IDF soldier Gilad Shalit’s fourth birthday in Hamas captivity, his sister Hadas will be enlisting in the army. Sources close to the Shalit family say that Hadas is interested in working with soldier welfare or performing psychological testing. Following initial training, she could serve at Troop 71’s Ramat HaGolan command base where her brother also served. Instead of celebrating the enlistment, the Shalit

"Defense Minister Ehud Barak said it best: 'A million and a half people are living in Gaza, but only one of them is really in need of humanitarian aid.' "That one, of course, is Gilad Shalit."

The U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch says Hamas militants are violating the rules of war by prohibiting a captive Israeli soldier from having contact with his family and the Red Cross. Human Rights Watch says the treatment of the 23-year-old soldier is "cruel and inhuman" and matches a U.N. definition of torture because he is denied any outside contact.

PLEASE PRAY FOR GILAD SHALIT AND MOSAB HASAN YOUSEF Please pray for Gilad Shalit.>> Christian Post article published yesterday: Pro-Israel Epicenter Conference to be Seen, Heard in 200 Nations >> Israel National News item about 2010 Epicenter Conference Many Christians around the world are asking, “What is something I can do right now to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus?” Tonight as the 2010 Epicenter Conference begins, I will be asking Christians to: 1.) Pray for the Lord to protect, encourage, comfort and provide for the immediate release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who has been...

Will the Media Remember Gilad Shalit? COMMUNIQUE: 23 June 2010 After 4 years in Hamas captivity, make sure that the mainstream media doesn't forget the tragic plight of the kidnapped Israeli soldier. This Friday marks the fourth anniversary of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit's kidnapping and incarceration by Hamas in Gaza. Israel has, during this period, allowed tonnes of humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and has now relaxed restrictions on the transfer of goods. Shalit has not even been allowed a visit by the Red Cross. Gilad Shalit's welfare is a central part of the story surrounding Israel's policies towards the Hamas...

The son of a leading Hamas figure, who famously converted to Christianity, served for over a decade as the Shin Bet security service's most valuable source in the militant organization's leadership, Haaretz has learned. Mosab Hassan Yousef is the son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a Hamas founder and one of its leaders in the West Bank. The intelligence he supplied Israel led to the exposure of a number of terrorist cells, and to the prevention of dozens of suicide bombings and assassination attempts on Israeli figures. (snip) During the second intifada, intelligence Yousef supplied led to the arrests of a...

Hamas: 1 Israel Soldier Equals 1,000 Soldiers From Palestine By Herb Brandon Israel News Agency Jerusalem ---- December 1, 2009 ..... The Israel State Prosecutor’s office confirmed today that Israel will free up to 980 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit. Though the news was excellent for the Shalit family, it did very little for the pride of the Islamic terror group Hamas and those seeking to live in a state called Palestine. "Sadly, we must beg of those in Israel for over 1,000 of our brave brothers to return to Gaza," a Palestinian journalist told...

According to the Saudi Network, al-Arabiya (via Ynet), Gilad Shalit, Kidnapped by Hamas over three years ago, may be coming home as soon as this coming Friday. It will be a four-stage deal. Israel will release 450 terrorists, custody of Shalit will be transferred to the Egyptian Government. Israel will follow up by releasing the another 650 terrorists and Egypt will transfer Shalit to the Israel. I assume that means that Hamas believes that one Jewish life is worth 1,000 Arab terrorist lives. Israel had agreed to release 1,000 prisoners months ago, within the group 450 specific prisoners were demanded...

European diplomatic sources said Thursday that kidnapped Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit will be transferred to Egypt in the coming hours or coming days. This information has yet to be confirmed by Israeli officials. According to the European sources, Shalit's transfer is the first stage of an agreement between the various Palestinian factions, assisted by Egyptian mediation and done in coordination with the United States and with the support of Syria. Shalit will be used as a "deposit" toward the completion of a prisoner exchange between the Palestinian factions, the sources said. The agreement will include the exchange of...