Palestinians who helped create Israel

Palestinians have so loudly and for so long (nearly a century) rejected Zionism that Mufti Haj Amin al-Husseini, Yasir Arafat, and Hamas may appear to command unanimous Palestinian support.

But no: polling research finds that a substantial minority of Palestinians, about 20 percent, is ready to live side-by-side with a sovereign Jewish state. Although this minority has never been in charge and its voice has always been buried under rejectionist bluster, Hillel Cohen of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has uncovered its surprisingly crucial role in history.

He explores this subject in the pre-state period in Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917–1948 (translated by Haim Watzman, University of California Press); then, the same author, translator, and press are currently preparing a sequel, Good Arabs: The Israeli Security Agencies and the Israeli Arabs, 1948–1967, for publication in 2010.

Filed under: Report, Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, E.U, Egypt, European Union, Gaza, Hamas, Iraq, Islam, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Muslim, Muslims, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Sudan, Syria, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Tunisia, Turkey, U.A.E, U.S.A, UK, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, War, World, Yemen

One million people at risk in Darfur – U.N.

More than one million people in Darfur are at risk of losing food, water and shelter in coming months, following the expulsion of international aid groups by Sudan’s government, the United Nations’ chief humanitarian coordinator said Tuesday.

The statement by coordinator John Holmes comes after a joint U.N.-Sudanese assessment of the situation.

The information was gathered from March 11-18 in hopes of stemming further troubles in Darfur after Sudan’s government expelled 13 international relief organizations from the wartorn region.

The announcement came on the same day that President Omar al-Bashir, now an indicted war criminal, ignored the threat of arrest by traveling abroad to Eritrea. Also Tuesday, a Sudanese staffer working for a Canadian relief group was shot dead in Darfur.

Filed under: Report, African Union, Aid, Barack Obama, Civil war, Darfur, Foreign affairs, Genocide, International, International Criminal Court, Justice, South Africa, Sudan, Terrorism, The Terror Journal, U.N, U.S.A, United Nations, United States, War, War Crimes, World

U.S. plans to expand Afghan security force

President Obama and his advisers have decided to significantly expand Afghanistan’s security forces in the hope that a much larger professional army and national police force could fill a void left by the central government and do more to promote stability in the country, according to senior administration and Pentagon officials.

A plan awaiting final approval by the president would set a goal of about 400,000 troops and national police officers, more than twice the forces’ current size, and more than three times the size that American officials believed would be adequate for Afghanistan in 2002, when the Taliban and Al Qaeda appeared to have been routed.

Filed under: Report, Afghanistan, E.U, European Union, Foreign affairs, Guerrilla Group, Guerrilla war, International, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Kabul, London, Muslim, Muslims, NATO, Pakistan, Sharia, Taleban, Taliban, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, World

Swedish citizen leader of Somali terror alliance

A Swedish citizen released by the government last year is currently a senior leader of a Somali Islamist terror alliance currently fighting against the newly formed government.

Swedish police arrested three Swedish citizens in February 2008 on charges of funneling money to Al Shabaab, the Somali terrorist group with close links to al Qaeda. One of the men was released shortly afterward, and the remaining two men were released in June 2008 because “the evidence was insufficient” to prove the men had made the transfer, SvD Online reported. The suspects were put on parole, banned from travel, and ordered not to hamper the investigation or destroy evidence. In September 2008 the investigation against the three men was dropped.

Filed under: Report, Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, E.U, Egypt, European Union, Gaza, Hamas, Iraq, Islam, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Muslim, Muslims, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Somalia, Sudan, Sweden, Syria, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Tunisia, Turkey, U.A.E, U.S.A, UK, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, War, World, Yemen

Growing influence of radical Islam in Sweden

A few years ago, the London Guardian newspaper called Sweden the most successful society the world has ever known. But Sweden today is being transformed by a large influx of immigrants from the Middle East.

Sweden’s third largest city, Malmö, sits just across the water from Copenhagen, Denmark. To visitors, Malmö seems quiet, nice, maybe a little boring; in other words, quintessentially Swedish. But under the surface, Malmö has serious problems.

On Saturday when Israel played Sweden in a Davis cup tennis match in Malmö, an estimated 6,000 Leftists, Arabs, Muslims and anarchists protested the Israeli presence in the city, and hundreds attacked police. Almost no fans were allowed inside to watch the tennis series, because authorities feared disruptions or possible violence against the Israeli team.

Filed under: Report, Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, E.U, Egypt, European Union, Gaza, Hamas, Iraq, Islam, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Muslim, Muslims, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Sudan, Syria, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Tunisia, Turkey, U.A.E, U.S.A, UK, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, War, World, Yemen

Insulting Islam is not insulting muslims

The Supreme Court yesterday produced an important ruling in principle in favour of freedom of speech. The highest court of the Netherlands acquitted a man of insulting Muslims although he dubbed Islam a tumour.

The Supreme Court quashed a ruling by an appeal court in Den Bosch. As had a district court earlier, the appeal court did find the man guilty. Yesterday’s acquittal can have consequences for all future court cases on insulting followers of a faith or ideology, including the notorious case against MP Geert Wilders.

Filed under: Report, E.U, European Union, Foreign affairs, Gaza, Hamas, Human Rights, IAF, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Libya, Muslim, Muslims, NATO, Palestine, Sharia, Syria, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, West Bank, World

Final Gaza toll shows 960 civilians killed

Israel’s 22-day offensive in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip killed 1,434 people, including 960 civilians, 239 police officers and 235 fighters, a Palestinian human rights group said on Thursday.

Israel carried out attacks by air, land and sea from Dec. 27 to Jan. 18 in a bid, it said, to force Hamas and other militant Islamist groups to stop firing rockets and mortars at southern Israeli towns across their border.

“The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights’ investigations reveal that throughout the course of the assault, Israeli Occupation Forces used excessive, indiscriminate force, in violation of the principle of distinction,” the group said in a report (www.pchrgaza.org).

Filed under: Report, E.U, European Union, Foreign affairs, Gaza, Gaza raids, Gaza strip, Hamas, Human Rights, IAF, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Israel Air Force, Libya, Muslim, Muslims, NATO, Operation Cast Lead, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Sharia, Syria, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, West Bank, World

Human Rights Report on Afghanistan (2009)

This report is submitted pursuant to Human Rights Council decision 2/113
of 27 November 2006 and has been prepared in cooperation with the United Nations Assistance
Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). Since the last report by the High Commissioner, Afghans
have continued to suffer significant rights deficits that pose serious challenges to the enjoyment
of their human rights and to the country’s long-term prospects for peace, stability, democracy,
development and the rule of law.
2. Gross human rights violations remain a serious threat to continuing efforts to transform
Afghan society. A culture of impunity prevails, and is deeply entrenched; this is manifested in
the lack of political will to advance the transitional justice process to address past abuses as well
as the absence of accountability for current human rights violations. Coupled with a weak,
corrupt and dysfunctional judicial system, and wide recourse to traditional dispute-resolution
mechanisms that do not comply with due process requirements, justice is effectively denied to
the vast majority of Afghans.

Filed under: Report, Afghanistan, E.U, European Union, Foreign affairs, Hamas, Human Rights, IAF, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Israel Air Force, Libya, Muslim, Muslims, NATO, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Sharia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, World

Russia tries new tactics to quell insurgency

The man chosen to rein in Russia’s most violent insurgency says he will tackle the root of the problem by stamping out the official corruption driving young men into the arms of Islamist rebels.

The approach set out by former paratroop commander Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the new leader of the Muslim Ingushetia region, marks a stark departure from the focus on tough security operations that critics said had been dragging the region into a civil war.

Filed under: Report, Arab, Egypt, Foreign affairs, Human Rights, Indonesia, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Muslim, Muslims, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sharia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, World

Even Israeli playground fortified against rockets

A year ago, as Hamas rockets from Gaza rained down almost daily on this Israeli border town, Stanley M. Chesley, president of the Jewish National Fund, was on a solidarity visit here and realized that he saw no children playing outdoors. It was too dangerous.

Mr. Chesley, an aggressive class-action litigator from Ohio, decided that something needed to be done, and he had an idea.

Filed under: Report, E.U, European Union, Foreign affairs, Gaza, Gaza raids, Gaza strip, Hamas, IAF, International, Iran, Iraq, Islam, Islamabad, Islamic law, Islamist, Islamists, Israel, Israel Air Force, Libya, Muslim, Muslims, NATO, Palestine, Palestinian Authority, Sharia, Syria, Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists, The Terror Journal, Turkey, U.A.E, U.N, U.S.A, UK, United Kingdom, United States, War, West Bank, World