It's time to halt the Arab rocket fire

Cheshvan 3, 5772, 10/31/2011

It's time to halt the Arab rocket fire.

Arab rocket fire against Israel has gone on for far too long. It's time for Israel to take bold action against the terror groups and, this time, finish the job.

As a journalist, I've covered Kassam attack after Kassam attack and Katyusha attacks in the North and the South. No other counrty in the world would tolerate any group attacking its citizens in such a manner, why should Israel?

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Erdogan Tries to Extort Israel, Again

Israelity! with Mark Kaplin - October 31, 2011

Israel National News

NATO squeezes Assad: A Syrian uranium enrichment plant "discovered"

NATO squeezes Assad: A Syrian uranium enrichment plant "discovered"

November 1, 2011, 1:21 PM (GMT+02:00)

Aerial photo of Hasaka plant in Syria

The disclosure Tuesday, Nov. 1, by the International Atomic Energy Agency -that a spinning factory built in the northeastern Syrian town of Hasaka in 2003 was in fact designed for developing nuclear weapons from enriched uranium - had a purpose: It was intended to crowd Bashar Assad into talking to the leaders of the revolt against him instead of slaughtering them. debkafile's intelligence sources report that Syria procured the enriched uranium and equipment for the plant from Iraq when its ruler Saddam Hussein in early March 2003 when he decided to dispose of the bulk of his nuclear plant and weapons of mass destruction by spiriting them out to Syria, then his closest ally. The IAEA sources revealed that the Syrian government worked on the secret Hasaka complex with Abdel Qader Khan, father of Pakistan's atomic bomb, basing it on the same technology he designed for Muammar Qaddafi's nuclear bomb project. Khan also provided Iran and North Korea with the basics for their nuclear weapons programs. They also disclosed correspondence between Khan and a Syrian government official Muhidin Issa after Pakistan's nuclear test in 1998 requesting scientific cooperation and asking to visit Khan's laboratories. debkafile sources add: The cottonspinning plant at Hasaka could have been used as a facility for uranium enrichment by centrifuges. Yet the IAEA inspectors who visited the site two years ago found no traces of nuclear activity there. Aerial photos accompanying this article show long, disused structures standing at a distance from the factory alongside water pools, which would not be used for cottonspinning. This group of buildings, which look like ammo stores, would confirm the presence of a large military complex at the site which may well have served a secret uranium enrichment project run in parallel to the clandestine plutonium reactor which Israel demolished in 2007.

The timing of the nuclear watchdog's revelations points to two objectives:

1. A broad hint that the atomic agency has more information about the Hasaka site which it is holding back for now. If it reacts to the disclosure, Damascus may give away more than it intends.

2. To squeeze Bashar Assad into bowing to the opposition's demands for democratic reforms and a share in government. He was given to understand that further damaging disclosures about his illegal nuclear activities will be calibrated according to his continuing rejection of political dialogue and abuses. They will pave the way towards tougher sanctions.

Sunday, Oct. 31, the Syrian ruler threatened to "burn the Middle East" if the West intervened in Syria.

Monday, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said firmly: "NATO has no intention [to intervene] whatsoever. I can completely rule that out."According to the information reaching debkafile's military and intelligence sources, this negative applies to the alliance as a body, not its individual members. Turkey for example is directly involved in supporting the Syrian revolt against the Assad regime by laying on weapons and training and allowing rebel leaders to operate cross-border command centers on its soil. Qatar, which is not a NATO member but was closely associated with the alliance operation in Libya, is a major purveyor of arms and funding for Syria's anti-regime fighters. In the operation against Muammar Qaddafi, the Qataris became expert in the management of revolts against Arab dictatorships and accustomed to working in close sync with NATO intelligence and military arms. Whether or not NATO intervenes in Syria is no longer a question. It already has, in one way or another. The question is when will Assad decide thatWestern intervention has reached a level warranting delivery on his threat toburn the Middle East?

Tags: Syria Bashar Assad IAEA nuclear bomb NATO

Israel National Radio Format Change - Live News Daily (excluding Friday and Shabbat) From Israel - Starting November 01, 2011

Tishrei 29, 5772, 10/27/2011

For You: ALL NEW RADIO - Nov. 1st!

by Tamar Yonah

I have been out. Neglected the blog, and took hiatus from my own radio show, all to work behind the scenes on developing a band new, user friendly and efficient radio broadcast schedule for our Israeli and worldwide listeners. Many people have been complaining - and rightfully so, that we have not been able to cover some of the more pressing news that happens in Israel in a timely fashion. Running a radio station in Israel can be difficult. Trying to run a station that is way out in Bet El (about half an hour's drive from Jerusalem) also makes things more difficult. And trying to service people in Israel as well as around the world with LIVE shows that will fit easily into their time zones, is also a BIG challenge. However we at Israel National Radio [INR] are going to be trying to beat these odds. Our new broadcast schedule will be offering a LIVE show every day of the week Sunday through Thursday at 9pm Israel time, 2pm New York/EST time and 11am Pacific time (excluding Friday and Shabbat) . This daily LIVE show will be called, News, Views, and Call-In and will be hosted by veteran Arutz 7 journalist Gil Ronen, and my self. The daily news will be covered, we will give you our views, have interviews, and take your calls! Our toll free number for all our listeners in North America & Israel is: 1-800-2670-4288. The Tamar Yonah show will also continue and air for 2 hours on Sundays from 3-5pm Israel time/8-10am New York/EST. In addition, Israel National Radio will be offering NEW shows for our listeners. We will be having an 'Ask the Rabbi' show, where Jews as well as Gentiles can ask the rabbi about Judaism, religious law, mysticism, Jewish belief, relationship/family issues, etc... All questions should be sent to Rabbi Shimshon Nadel at: RabbiNadel@gmail.com

Other NEW shows include: Tshuva w/Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi - Rabbi Mizrachi proves through science and reason, that the Torah is true. He is a great speaker, is very entertaining, funny, and sometimes 'terrifying', but he has the best stories that he shares with you from real life. You won't want to miss his show! The Jewish Home & Family Show is hosted by Marriage and Family Therapist, Leora Mandel. Leora has a soothing voice, and coupled with her wisdom, will be covering everything from family dynamics, to Holidays in the home, to child rearing and marriage tips!

Rabbi Lazer Brody will be doing radio shows specifically geared to Arutz 7 listeners, called LAZER BEAMS. He is also re-starting his blog on our A7 blog page: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Josh Hasten is reformatting his show and entitling it, 'Reality Bytes' and he will be talking about the case for Israel and sharing his personal 'bytes' from life.

Shows that will be returning to INR are Light Unto the Nations with Ari & Jeremy, The Noahide Nations Show, and my show, the Tamar Yonah Show.

If you are a fan of all our current classic shows, most of these will continue as well. Check our broadcast schedule to find the times when all our shows will be aired. In the upper right corner of that page, you can plug in your own time zone to know exactly when to listen!

In addition, our LIVE stream will be presenting many nice surprises with possible 'Breaking News' reports interrupting our regular broadcast when something important happens. Also, we are planning on doing a piece called, 'News for Jews' where a Jewish comedian will come on and give us a short hilarious news broadcast. Wouldn't it be nice to hear GOOD news once in a while, even if it is only a 2 minute comedy break? Contests, prizes and other surprises will be incorporated in as well, in the future, and we would love to hear from our listeners with feedback, comments or questions at our contact page http://www.israelnationalnews.com/More/ActivePage.aspx/Contact

Just choose RADIO from the drop down menu list there, and send us in your comments.

Remember, Nov. 1st is the date! 'LIVE News' shows every day! Please go and take a look at our radio page now to see all the flashing banners (on the left side) announcing our NEW shows! http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/

Check our broadcast schedule at: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/Schedule.aspx or just go to the radio page and click on the SCHEDULE tab to the right. Shows in RED text are LIVE shows.

November 1st!

Tell your friends, family and community! Call into our shows for free and participate in them. Don't be shy, we want you to join us. See you there!

US pulls Unesco funding after Palestine is granted full membership

Controversial move endorsed in UN cultural agency vote despite US threat of withholding £50m in funds.

Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem guardian.co.uk,

Monday 31 October 2011 09.11 EDT

Article history

Unesco vote on Palestine membership gets angry response from US

Link to this video

The United States has cut off funds to Unesco as a punitive action after the Palestinian Authority was accepted into the UN agency as a full member in defiance of American, Israeli and European pressure.The overwhelming backing for the Palestinians' bid to join the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation was a huge boost for their campaign for international recognition of an independent state, and a blow to Israel and the US, who had opposed the move.Members voted by 107 votes to 14 to accept Palestine as a full member state to loud cheers from delegates in Paris. Fifty-two countries, including the UK, abstained.Within hours, the US announced it would withhold its huge contribution to Unesco's budget as a result of the vote. State department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the US had no choice due to a 21-year-old law prohibiting the payment of funds to any UN body accepting the Palestinians as full members.A $60m (£38m) transfer that was due later this month would be halted in a move that will have serious consequences for Unesco activities. The US contributes 22% of the agency's annual budget.Unesco's decision was "regrettable, premature and undermines our shared goal to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace [between Israelis and Palestinians]", said Nuland.Israel also hinted at punitive measures. A statement from the foreign ministry said it would "consider its further steps and ongoing co-operation" with Unesco following the decision. The move was a "unilateral Palestinian manoeuvre which will bring no change on the ground but further removes the possibility for a peace agreement", it added.Nimrod Barkan, Israel's ambassador to Unesco, described the vote as a "tragedy". "Unesco deals in science, not science fiction. They forced on Unesco a political subject out of its competence," he said.Palestinian officials, who described the vote as historic, were jubilant. "This vote will erase a tiny part of the injustice done to the Palestinian people," foreign minister Riyad al-Malk told the Unesco gathering in Paris.The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said the vote "represents support for freedom and justice".In a statement to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, he said: "This vote is for the sake of peace and represents international consensus on support for the legitimate Palestinian national rights of our people, the foremost of which is the establishment of its independent state."Some ridiculed the US response. "You would think we were asking to be accepted by al-Qaida," senior official Nabil Shaath said before the vote.The swift action of the US in withdrawing funding is likely to increase cynicism among Palestinians about the credibility of the US as a mediator between them and the Israelis.Membership of Unesco is largely symbolic, although it will allow the Palestinian Authority to seek world heritage status for historical sites. Israel would be expected to vigorously object to applications for sites in areas of the West Bank and East Jerusalem currently under its control. The Palestinian Authority is expected to seek Unesco world heritage status for the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, believed to be the birthplace of Jesus.A nomination attempt was rejected earlier this year because the Palestinians were not a full Unesco member. The nomination of other sites is expected to follow.The vote was the first taken in a UN body since the Palestinians embarked on their campaign for recognition of an independent state in the international arena. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, submitted a formal application for full membership of the UN in September in defiance of US opposition.The process has become mired in UN bureaucracy after the security council set up a subcommittee to examine the application. No date has been set for a decision, which is bound to go against the Palestinians as the US has pledged to veto the move.The Palestinians may then take their case to the UN general assembly, which is barred from granting full membership without security council approval.Monday's vote at the Unesco general conference is an indication of the extent of support for the Palestinian case in the international community.France was among those voting in the Palestinians' favour, a move which could indicate its as yet unstated stance in the forthcoming security council vote on full membership of the UN.The UK has not declared its voting intentions but is expected to line up with the US.Others countries that voted in favour included China, Russia, India, Brazil and South Africa. The US, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands voted against. US and European diplomats made unsuccessful efforts to seek a postponement of the Unesco vote in the runup to the debate at the general conference in Paris.Despite US and EU insistence that negotiations are the only way to secure a lasting settlement and an independent Palestinian state, efforts led by the Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair to restart talks between the two parties have made little progress.Palestinian negotiators have largely despaired of securing a state through talks with Israel while the latter continues to build and expand settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.They are also deeply disappointed in the lack of pressure exerted on Israel by the US. Many feel that taking the Palestinian cause into the international arena has a greater potential for progress.