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Carmel wildfire punishment from God?

 

Shas spiritual racist rabbi implies fire raging in northern Israel result of ‘desecration of Shabbat’. Haredi newspapers say disaster ‘a warning sign’, call for personal and public self-scrutiny

Shas’ spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef implied on Saturday night that the fire raging on Mount Carmel in northern Israel was a punishment from God for religious offenses committed by the area’s residents.

During his weekly sermon, the rabbi read a section from the Babylonian Talmud, which states that “the fire only exists in a place where Shabbat is desecrated.”

Joint police, fire service investigation team’s preliminary probe suggests initial blaze caused by bonfire lit by residents near Usfiya; two brothers arrested. Team suspects fires in other locations may have been set by arsonists

“A number of houses were destroyed, entire neighborhoods were lost – all under supervision,” the rabbi said. He recommended that people “study Torah, engage in good deeds, repent, observe Shabbat, and know the entire Halacha, and thanks to this God will apply a full recovery.”

On Friday, a day after fires began blazing on the Mount Carmel range, ultra-Orthodox newspapers called for self-scrutiny, saying the disaster was a sign from God.

In its editorial, haredi paper Hamodia said the Carmel wildfires demanded that the people of Israel scrutinize their acts and ask themselves if they caused the disaster.

Under the title “Who by Fire,” the editorial said this was the time for each and every one to look inward and do what is required to improve their lives.

To touch its readers, the paper quoted two phrases from the Yom Kippur liturgy, “Unetanneh Tokef”, according to which each one will be judged on the Day of Judgment – “who will live” and “who will die.”

The Hamevaser newspaper wrote that an investigation committee would probably be set up, but said we must not forget that there are things beyond human control. The editorial noted that in legal language it is known as “force majeure,” and that we know there is a directing force from above without whom it is impossible to even lift a finger “here below.” The Heavens caused the events and lead them to such disastrous levels, the editorial claimed.

“The warning sign sent (Thursday) from above joins the previous warning sign, when we are already in the midst of drought, after a number of years of insufficient rain,” according to the editorial. “These warning signs are sent to wake us, to prod the sleeping from their sleep… Each one must come to conclusions and drive crookedness from his heart… And just as in the days of High Priest Mattathias Ben Yohanan made miracles and wonders (from the Hanukkah story), also in our time, He will save us from the darkest hours.”

In many cases haredi news channels tend to ignore major news events, especially in crime, for educational reasons. However, they were not indifferent to the human tragedy of the bus carrying prison services cadets and the fires still blazing in some areas of the Carmel Forest.

Lithuanian haredi newspaper Yated Ne’eman dedicated nearly all its news pages to the Carmel fires, and both Hamodia and Hamevaser covered the tragedy extensively.

In addition to regular updates, various particularly Jewish points of view were presented, including a red headline over the evacuation of Torah scrolls from the religious kibbutz Nir Etzion, and the instructions of Torah scholars to perform prayer vigils and laments in the yeshivas to invoke heavenly mercy.

Clinton to keep phoning leaders on leaks

HILLARY Clinton, who contacted dozens of foreign leaders after the latest WikiLeaks disclosures, will continue to do so for “the next weeks”, the US secretary of state said today.

“I haven’t seen everybody in the world, and apparently there are 252,000 of these things (leaks) out there in cyberspace somewhere,” she said, noting with a smile that they had not yet all been published.

“So I think I’ll have some outreach to continue doing over the next weeks just to make sure that as things become public, if they raise concerns, I will be prepared to reach out and talk to my counterparts and heads of state and governments,” she said.

“I take on the responsibility because I’m talking to them anyway. I’ve invested a lot of efforts in building these relationships

“I really believe that we had to re-establish trust, to re-establish relationships, so I take this very personally.”

Speaking of President Barack Obama, Clinton said: “I know he’s made recommendations for calls…. As he’s calling people on other matters, of course (WikiLeaks is) on the list to raise.”

The secretary of state was talking to journalists on the plane taking her back to Washington after a trip to Central Asia and Bahrain during which she came under constant pressure over the leaks.

The WikiLeaks website was fighting to stay online after Sweden issued a new arrest warrant for its elusive chief and it battled cyber attacks and government attempts to silence it.

The whistleblowing website’s founder, Julian Assange, briefly broke cover to say he had boosted his security after receiving death threats amid the storm unleashed by his site’s publication of about 250,000 US diplomatic cables.

“I’m not making light of it (but) what you see are our diplomats doing the work of diplomacy, reporting, analysing… in a way, it should be reassuring, despite the occasional tidbit that is pulled out and unfortunately blown up,” Clinton said.

“The work of diplomacy is on display. It was not our intention to release this way (but) there’s a lot to be said for what it shows about the foreign policy of the United States.”

Gaza Hamas leader: Carmel fires are Zionist’s divine punishment

Ismail Haniyeh says Allah is punishing Zionist’s for ‘what they did,’ during emergency prayers in Gaza City to ask for rain.

The de-facto Palestinian prime minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh said Sunday that the massive forest fires in northern 1948 occupid Palestine served as a “strike from God.”

Commenting on the fires, which killed 41 Zionist’s and burnt more than 50 square kilometers of forest, Hamas’ Haniyeh told reporters that “those fires are divine strikes for what they Zionist did.”

The Hamas strongman made the statements as he joined emergency prayers in Gaza City to ask for rain. He expressed hope rain would fall in the Palestinian territories, which like Zionist, have been struck by an unprecedented dry season.

Over 17,000 residents, including 600 prison inmates, were evacuated as the blaze raged out of control since Thursday, devastating hundreds of acres of pine forest before sweeping down the slopes of the Carmel plateau near Haifa, Palestine’s third largest city.

Carmel inferno proves Zionist can’t afford war with Iran

Just like Israel’s army in the 1973 Yom Kippur war, the emergency services were wholly unprepared to handle a shock on this scale.

Yesterday it turned out that Israel is not prepared for war or a mass terrorist strike that would cause many casualties in the home front. The warning of the outgoing Military Intelligence Chief, Amos Yadlin, that the next war will be a lot more difficult than past experiences, and that Tel Aviv will be a front line, was not translated into the necessary preparation by the authorities assigned the protection of the civilians.

Under such circumstances, it is best for Israel not to embark on war against Iran, which will involve thousands of missiles being fired on the home front.

After the Second Lebanon War, which exposed how pathetic the civil defense system was, reports were written, exercises were held, but everything broke down under the stress of a real emergency on the Carmel range − an area that already experienced the trauma of Hezbollah missiles.

Yesterday Israel asked for help from Cyprus and Greece, and the air force traveled to France to bring fire retardants to make up for the material that had run out. In war time, it is doubtful whether Israel will be able to rely on the generosity and largess of its neighbors.

Responsibility for the home front is currently divided among three ministries: the Home Front Command and the National Emergency Authority, who are answerable to the Defense Ministry; the police, which is part of the Ministry of Public Security; and the Fire and Rescue Command, which belongs to the Interior Ministry.

Interior Minister Eli Yishai, who is responsible for the firemen and the head of the Fire and Rescue Services, Shimon Romah, were nowhere to be found yesterday. They are obvious candidates for losing their jobs as a result of the disaster.

Each ministry has its own bureaucratic dynamic, and ability to raise funds for equipment and human resources. The firemen are at the bottom of the pile, and have for years struggled to get more resources.

A year ago the firemen went on strike and warned that the system is far from being able to provide for defending the population. According to the firemen’s association, the international standards require one fireman for every 1,000 citizens, and in Israel the ratio is nearly one in 10,000. Over and over the firemen warned that they can’t shoulder the responsibility they are given.

Funding authorized several weeks ago was meant to head-off criticism in a State Comptroller report on the state of the fire departments.

In similar circumstance in the past, organizations that were found lacking were later bolstered with enormous resources. This is what happened to Military Intelligence and the air force following their failures during the Yom Kippur War. This will probably also happen to the Fire and Rescue Services.

Ab-A$$: Last resort — I’ll ask Israel to take over

RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian Puppet Mahmoud A-A$$ has warned he may dissolve his self-rule government and ask Zionist to resume full control of the West Bank if troubled peace talks fail.

Dismantling the Palestinian Authority would be a last resort, Ab-A$$ told Palestine TV in an interview broadcast late Friday. However, his comments marked the most explicit warning yet that he’s considering a step that could crush lingering hopes for a Mideast peace deal.

If Ab-A$$ were to take such a step, Zionist, as a military occupier, would have to assume full responsibility again for 2.2 million Palestinians in the West Bank. Zionist was relieved of that financial burden with the establishment of the Palestinian Puppets in 1994, as part of interim peace deals.

Still, Ab-A$$ might face considerable domestic opposition to dismantling the Palestinian Authority, since it employs some 150,000 Palestinians, a large chunk of the work force.

The Palestinian puppet’s, which receives hundreds of millions of dollars a year in foreign aid, has limited authority over 40 percent of the war-won West Bank, while Zionist has final say over the entire area and exclusive control over 60 percent of the land.

Puppet Ab-A$$ currently are threatening to quit peace talks with Zionist unless it freezes construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. Zionist so far has refused to do so.

Ab-A$$ has said that if peace negotiations collapse, the Palestinians might seek unilateral U.N. recognition of a state in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, territories Zionist captured in the 1967 Mideast War.

If all efforts fail, Ab-A$$ said, “I will tell the Americans and the Israelis, come and put an end to all this. I can’t continue like this. We have an occupation and we don’t. No, keep it all and release me (from my responsibility).”

On Saturday, Zio=Nazi PM Netanyahu called Ab-A$$ to thank him for sending members of the Palestinian civil defense to help fight a major fire that is devouring much of the Carmel Forest. It was a rare isntance of personal contact after weeks of silence between the two leaders.

Also Saturday, Ab-A$$’ interior minister ordered the closure of a satellite TV station co-owned by CIA agent’s Mohammed Dahlan.

The station, “Palestine Tomorrow,” was to begin broadcasting in January. Palestinian security forces came to the office of the company operating the station on Thursday and delivered the closure order, said a senior station official who spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of further retaliation.

CIA puppet Dahlan, a former Gaza strongman, and Interior Minister Said Abu Ali declined comment.

Shuttering the station seems to be the latest sign that Dahlan, a leading member of Ab-A$$’ Fatah movement, has fallen out of favor. Dahlan once served as a security adviser to Ab-A$$, and at one point was considered a potential successor to the president.

Iran will ‘never’ use force against Muslim neighbors, foreign minister says

IRAN will never use force against its Muslim neighbours, the country’s foreign minister told a conference on Middle East security today, following US said Arab states voicing concernss over Tehran’s suspected attempts to acquire nuclear weapons.
 

And in a keynote address to the conference, Jordan’s King Abdullah II said Israeli-Palestinian peace talks must be rescued from collapse to ensure regional and world stability.

“We have never used force against our neighbours and never will because our neighbors are Muslims,” Iran’s Manouchehr Mottaki said.

“Your power in the region is our power, and our power is your power.”

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said Friday that US concerns over Tehran’s suspected atomic weapons program were shared by Iran’s neighbours.

But Mottaki cautioned against submitting to “pressure by outsiders to divide us and create instability,” saying that “the presence of foreign powers will not help establish security in the region” and urging cooperation among Gulf countries.

He said it was vital for Iran to “have stability and security, because we [Iran and its neighboring Gulf states] provide the world with most of its energy.”

“Iran is determined to guarantee international security in the field of energy,” he added.

Yesterday, Mrs Clinton said that “there is no debate in the international community, and perhaps the Iranians will engage seriously … on what is a concern shared by nations on every continent but most particularly right here in the region,” referring to talks due to start Monday between major powers and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program.

“Obviously, if you’re the neighbour of a country that is pursuing nuclear weapons, that is viewed in a much more threatening way than if you’re a concerned country many thousands of miles away. But the concern is the same, and we hope that Iran will respond.”

The Manama Dialogue came as US diplomacy reels over State Department cables published by WikiLeaks.

Some of the most prominent headlines highlighted widespread fears among Arab countries in the Gulf about Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons program.

For his part, King Abdullah II said that “our region will not enjoy security and stability unless we solve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and Arabs, Muslims and Israelis find peace.”

“If hope is killed, radical forces will prevail. The region will sink into more vicious warfare and instability, threatening security far beyond the borders of the Middle East,” he said of direct peace talks launched in September in Washington.

“This is why it is essential that we rescue the new round of negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.”

The talks ground to a halt as Israel refused Palestinian demands to impose a new moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank. A 10-month freeze expired on September 26, shortly after the launch of the latest round of negotiations.

King Abdullah II said that “the building of settlements has to stop” and urged Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to resume “serious negotiations” on all pending issues – borders, security and refugees – adding that “the alternative is new conflicts that will reverberate far beyond the borders of the Middle East.”

The annual Manama Dialogue is organized by the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies and was formally opened last night by Mrs Clinton.

She previously said Washington was “working intensively” to break the impasse in Palestinian-Israeli talks.

Iran scientists not intimitaded by hit

 

Iran’s Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi Iran’s Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi says the country’s scientists will not be intimidated by Western efforts to prevent the Islamic Republic from reaching scientific heights.

“The Zionist regime [of Israel] and the West want to use every means to prevent the Islamic Republic of Iran from obtaining scientific and technological capabilities and they think that in this manner they can intimidate our scientists,” Brigadier-General Vahidi said on Saturday.

“Their effort will surely be in vain,” ISNA quoted him as saying at a memorial ceremony for Majid Shahriari, the scientist killed in a terrorist attack in Tehran on November 29.

Unknown terrorists detonated bombs in the vehicles of Shahriari and Fereydoun Abbasi in separate locations in the capital Tehran. Shahriari was killed immediately, but Abbasi and his wife sustained injuries and were transferred to the hospital.

Both men were professors at Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran.

Iran says the perpetrators behind the assassination could be traced through those who included Abbasi’s name in Resolution 1747 adopted by the UNSC in March 2007 which cites his name as a “nuclear scientist.”

Israel and Western powers have also been blamed for the terrorist attacks.

On July 12, Iranian nuclear physics scientist Dr. Massoud Ali-Mohammadi was killed in a remote-controlled bomb attack in the Iranian capital of Tehran.

Brazil recognition of Palestine irks Israel

 

Acting Zionist puppet Mahmoud Ab-A$$ (L) and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at Mercy Museum in Salvador, Bahia State, November 20, 2009Israel has expressed regret over Brazil’s decision to recognize the state of Palestine based on the borders before Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967.

On Friday, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry announced that Brasilia recognizes the Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

“Israel expresses sadness and disappointment over the decision by the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a month before he steps down,” AFP quoted a statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry as saying on Saturday.

“Recognition of a Palestinian state is a breach of the interim agreement which was signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 1995, which said that the issue of the status of the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be discussed and resolved through negotiations,” it added.

Zionist regime also accused Brazil of ignoring the 2003 Middle East roadmap for peace, which said a Palestinian state could be established through dialogue but not through unilateral measures.

“Every attempt to bypass this process and to decide in advance in a unilateral manner about important issues which are disputed, only harms trust between the sides, and hurts their commitment to the agreed framework of negotiating towards peace,” the statement said.

The Brazilian announcement came in a public letter addressed to acting Zionist

Puppet  Mahmoud Ab-A$$. Lula sent the letter in response to a personal request by Ab-A$$b on November 24.

The letter expressed support for the Palestinians’ quest for a homeland as a “legitimate aspiration of the Palestinian people for a secure, united, democratic and economically viable state.”

Racism rising in Zionist regime, survey shows

 

Recent survey reveals growing racism and intolerance among Zionist Jews, with one-third of them saying they believe the Zio=Nazi government should place Palestinians in internment camps.

Thirty-three percent of Zionist Jews support the idea of putting Palestinians in internment camps if a war breaks out, said the results of an opinion poll conducted by the Zionist Democratic Institute released on Tuesday, The Christian Science Monitor reported.

The respondents cited fears that the Palestinians might help their fellow Arabs during a possible conflict.

The poll indicated that 53 percent of Zionist Jews believe Tel Aviv has the right to deport Arab citizens, and some 55 percent say Tel Aviv should direct more funds to Jewish communities than to Palestinian communities.

More than 80 percent think any final decision about Zionist’s future political arrangement must only be approved by a Jewish majority of the Zionist parliament, the Knesset, the study found.

The poll also revealed that almost half of Zionist Jewish would be bothered by having a Palestinian neighbor.

More than 62 percent of Zionist Jewish respondents also said that as long as there is not a final deal with the Palestinians, Tel Aviv should not take into account Palestinian opinions on foreign policy.

More than 1,203 people were surveyed by six researchers, who compiled the required answers from public opinion polls.

Carmel Fire: Racism Rears Its Ugly Head Even in Tragedy

Richard Silverstein,Tikun Olam,

December 4, 2010

The worst forest fires ever to have struck Israel are sweeping through the Carmel Mountains surrounding Haifa.  42 prison guard trainees died when their bus was blocked on a highway and burned, thus cutting off their escape.  It is the worst loss of life in a natural disaster in Israel’s history.  17,000 have been evacuated.  The University is threatened.

While it is natural for human beings facing such tragedy to look for villains and scapegoats, it’s unfortunate the direction that attention has turned.   Israeli Jews have gravitated to a nasty spate of rumors blaming Palestinian Israelis for deliberately setting the fires as an act of terror and protest.  This commenter in a comment thread here writes, linking to the Drudge-like Rotter internet news portal (and rumor-mill):

…According to Haifa radio today, Arab citizens in the town of Fureidis, were seen cheering the massive forrest [sic] fire occuring in the Carmel forrest [sic] that has taken the lives of at least 40

http://rotter.net/cgi-bin/forum/dcboard.cgi?az=read_count&om=18440&forum=scoops1

In fact, this Arab news source says that on Saturday, the residents of the town actually gathered in the soccer stadium to pray for rain.  Either the earlier rumor is wrong or Fureidis is massively schizoid.

Only a day earlier, the same individual wrote this:

…During wartime they’re [Israeli Palestinians] a security risk. Most Jewish Israelies [sic] believe that they’d join the enemy and try to join the war.

And a different commenter writes about the fires:

There are rumors of arson. The rumors blame the fires on Israeli Arabs, Heuzballa’s and even Iran’s agents…Reset Bet (Channel 2, the public news channel) – A wave of arson in the north, two suspects captured.

Rotter itself fuels the flames with this:

Shabak has been called into investigate the forest fires

Since the fires began spreading throughout the north, the national police have transferred the investigation to the Shabak.  Great concern that orders to set the fires originate in terror elements.

Air tanker fighting Carmel fire (Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

Funny thing that this alleged report hasn’t been confirmed anywhere else in the Israeli media.  But now that it’s circulating in the Israel right-wing underworld of rumor and hate, the notion will have a long shelf life.  All this reinforces a right-wing nationalist narrative that proclaims that the Palestinian minority is the enemy within, a force that can never be trusted.  One that will side with “the enemy” during war or security crisis.

There’s only one problem with this line of thinking: it’s wrong.  Dead wrong.  Except for a few minor exceptions and despite massive levels of hate, mistrust and discrimination, Israeli Palestinians have shown remarkable dedication to the State, which is, after all, their country.

Let’s examine the reputable Israeli media reporting on the fires.  True, one strain of reporting emanating from the National Police (who tend to follow the Shabak’s lead and be harshly anti-Arab in their views and prejudices) arouses suspicion of arson.  But if you read the following carefully you’ll see that the police chief is not claiming the original fires were Arab-inspired arson, but rather that future copy cat fires might be.  Also, note how bereft of evidence or proof the police “suspicion” is in the first paragraph and that the police don’t even seem to be basing these suspicions on field investigations:

Close to a dozen fires broke out across the Galilee in northern Israel on Friday, even as fire fighters from Israel and abroad fought to contain a massive wildfire which has swept across a huge swathe of the nearby Carmel region. Police suspect that the new blazes were set deliberately.

Police Commissioner David Cohen earlier Friday warned local police chiefs to prepare for a spate of fires that had been purposely started. Police fear that some would take advantage of the current crisis to start more fires in the region.

Further fueling the rumors were reports that two residents of a Druze village were arrested on suspicion of setting the fires.  But the suspects were quickly released:

Two male residents of Daliat al-Carmel were released on Friday after having earlier been arrested on the suspicion that they had attempted to ignite fires in the Carmel hills region.

After being questioned by police, it became clear that the two were not responsible for the acts they were suspected of.

The second strain of reporting seems to derive from fire department sources who are on the scene or in contact with those who are.  This strain rejects claims of arson completely:

The initial inquiry conducted by fire investigators has pointed to negligence, not arson, as the cause of the wildfire.

According to the investigation, the wildfire started at one location west of Ussifiya. It is believed that household trash and tires that had been discarded in the area caught on fire and the fire spread. Investigators are looking into what exactly caused the trash to ignite.

While it’s too early to know definitively what the final determination will be, I feel safe saying that it’s likely that Israeli racism fueled by great pain and suffering has induced Jews to level yet another form of blood libel against their fellow Palestinian citizens.

The wild exaggeration hasn’t been limited to blaming Israeli Palestinians either.  Ynetnews blares this headline:

Hezbollah Overjoyed by Fire

The body of the report says no such thing.  It quotes the following Hezbollah statement:

The great Carmel fire embarrassed Israel’s firefighting capabilities and proved its almost complete incompetence,” a report by Hezbollah’s al-Manar network said. The Lebanese station said the poor performance came despite Israeli claims regarding the IDF Home Front’s full readiness to cope with any emergency and face the implications of an all-out war.

Even most Israelis would agree with these sentiments.  So where’s the joy?

I might add that among the 42 Israelis who died during the fires were three Druze and one Ethiopian.  Instead of falling prey to ethnic division and scapegoating, why can’t Israelis focus on the fact they all (Jewish and Palestinian) have lost something deep and painful with this natural disaster?  Why not acknowledge that the PA sent its firefighters to battle the blaze and Turkey too offered help?  Instead of finger-pointing at the weakest link in society and blaming them, why don’t Israelis turn their wrath where it belongs–toward an inept government more attuned to building expensive high-tech walls, Iron Dome anti-missile defenses, and buying F-35 jets as toys for the IAF; when it could’ve bought or leased a single air tanker that could’ve attacked this fire when it was at its origins, instead of having to wait for nations like Cyprus and Greece to send their equipment after the conflagration went out of control.

I write this post in the context of a disturbing survey by the Israel Democracy Institute baring the deep racism inherent in Israel society toward the Palestinian minority.  In the ways in which Israeli Jews have contemplated this disaster, the bad news of this poll have been borne out.

UPDATE: An up to the minute report from an Israeli reader confirms that the police are now agreeing that the fire was caused by negligence.  What are the odds that any Israeli politician or police officer will ever apologize to Palestinian citizens for promoting these rumors?

  

As Fires Continue To Consume More Areas in Haifa, Jewish Extremists Torch Islamic Graveyard

Saed Bannoura

(IMEMC) The Al Aqsa Foundation told the Maan News Agency that a group of Jewish extremists torched the Al Qassam Graveyard in Haifa under the guise of the ongoing fires that started Thursday in the area and continues to spread.

The Foundation said that there were two attempts to burn the graveyard that includes the grave of Iz Ed Deen Al Qassam, a Syrian nationalist who came to Palestine in 1922 and resided in Al Yajour village in Haifa. He was killed by the British Forces in Palestine in the 1930’s. He is regarded as a symbol of resistance against the occupation in Palestine and the Arab world.

He came for Palestine in February 1922 and resided in Al Yajour village in Haifa. He was known as an Islamic preacher and spiritual leaders. He was also the head of the Young Men Muslim Association In Haifa.

The Al Aqsa Foundation confirmed that two attempts to torch the Al Qassam Graveyard were carried out by extremists, and that Israeli firefighters managed to extinguish them.

There have been several attempts to ruin and burn the graveyard since Palestine fell under Israeli occupation, but Arabs and Muslims reconstructed and fenced it.

An Israeli police spokeswoman denied the report, and told the Maan News Agency that no fires took place at the graveyard.

She said that the fires in the area consumed 34000 Dunams, and that initial reports indicate arson.

So far, 42 persons were killed in the fires and 17 were injured, three of them, including Haifa police chief, are in serious conditions.

Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that nearly a dozen of fires broke out across the Galilee, north of the country, while wild fires continued to consume more areas in the Carmel. Haaretz said that the police suspect that the new fires were deliberate.

Haaretz added that Police Commissioner, David Cohen, instructed local police chiefs to prepare to counter fires that had been deliberately started.

The suspicion rose after the police and investigators found two bicycles and a bag that contained a wig.

The Police arrested and released two Druze residents of Daliat Al Carmel and released them later on after the investigation revealed they had nothing to do with the fire. A number of Israeli investigators stated that they believe the fire was likely caused by negligence.

Furthermore, Haaretz said that the largest fire that broke out on Friday around noon was in Tsur Shalom industrial area on the outskirts of Haifa. The massive density of smoke led the police to temporarily seal a section of Route 4 which links between Acre and the center of the country.

Later on, bushfires broke out in “Ma’alot Tarshiha” and “Kiryat Tivon”, while another small fire broke out east of Shfa Amr Arab city and Neve Yosef neighborhood in Haifa.

On Friday, approximately at 5 in the evening, another bushfire started near a Moshav on the side of the Mount Carmel. Around 6 in the evening, two bushfires broke out in the Nazareth area. Arson is suspected.

Approximately at 8 P.M. on Friday, a fire was reported close to Tel-Al area in the Western Galilee, and another fire broke out in the industrial area of Nesher town, near Haifa.

Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that the parties responsible for the fire did not expect an outcome this large, and called for an immediate investigation.

Israeli Interior Minister, Elie Yishai, also called for an investigation into the incident, and stated that he repeatedly warned in the past that Israel’s Firefighting capabilities are the worst in the world, and that Israel is not equipped to deal with urgent situations.

Several countries sent equipment and rescue teams to Israel after Netanyahu urged the international community to help Israel counter this disaster.
Planes and helicopters sent by Greece, Cyprus and Britain landed in Israel on Friday and joined Israeli firefighting planes.

On Thursday, Bulgaria sent 90 firefighters who joined their Israeli counterparts, while New York Municipality sent materials needed to counter the fires.

Also, Jordan and France donated similar materials and equipment, while the Turkish Red Crescent donated 10.000 tents to house the residents who were evacuated from their towns.

Local and International rescue teams are still trying to combat the raging fires in the north, while the latest casualty count stands at 41 dead and dozens wounded. At least 12.000 residents were evacuated from areas close to the fire.

Rashif Lev, spokesperson of Israel’s Firefighters Department, said that for the first time since the fires started, a sign of hope appeared in the Carmel after the flames in two main areas, Nir Etzion and north east of Kibbutz Been Oren, were controlled but added that extinguishing them requires more time.

Zio=Nazi soldiers open machinegun fire at civilians in Gaza, wound three

 

December 4, 2010 – Zio=Nazi occupation forces (ZNOF) stationed north and east of Gaza Strip opened machinegun fire at Palestinian citizens at dawn Saturday wounding three of them including two workers who were collecting gravel, medical sources reported. Adham Abu Salmiya, the coordinator of medical services in the Strip, told the PIC reporter that a 22-year-old youth was hit with a bullet in his right foot after the IOF soldiers opened machinegun fire at citizens’ homes east of Deir Al-Balah, in central Gaza, at dawn Saturday.

US university yanks Helen Thomas diversity award

 

 

Pro-Zionist Wayne State University says it’ll no longer offer the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity Award, citing recent comments made by the longtime journalist.

In a statement Friday, the Detroit school says it “encourages free speech and open dialogue,” but strongly condemns what it says are “anti-Semitic remarks” made by Thomas on Thursday.

According to The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press, the Wayne State alumna said during a speech in Dearborn that Congress, the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street are owned by Zionists.

Thomas resigned in June as a Hearst Newspaper columnist over comments she made calling on Zionist’s to get “out of Palestine.”

Thomas was born to Lebanese immigrants in Kentucky and raised in Detroit. She worked much of her career as a United Press International reporter.

 

NY rabbi, sons accused of sexually abusing girls

 

(AP) A Hasidic rabbi and three of his sons are suspected of sexually abusing at least four female relatives, after the rabbi’s eldest victim — his daughter — confided in a co-worker at a Jewish school, police said Friday.

The 58-year-old father and his 21-year-old son fled to Israel two days ago and are wanted for questioning in the case, police said. They were apparently driven to the airport by the mother.

Two other sons, a 24-year-old and a 15-year-old, were arrested on sexual abuse and rape charges. It was unclear whether they had attorneys, and a message left at the home wasn’t immediately returned.

The suspects’ names are being withheld by The Associated Press to avoid identification of victims.

Police say the abuse came to light after the oldest victim, now 20, who worked as a teacher’s aide at a yeshiva, a religious school, in Brooklyn, told a teacher there she had been abused. Authorities believe she was assaulted by her father repeatedly for 15 years. The other victims range in age from 8 to 19, and investigators believe the abuse was also repeated.

Police say the father is suspected of abusing at least two of his daughters. The brothers were accused of rape and other crimes for abusing their sisters. The youngest suspect was accused of sexually assaulting the 8-year-old.

Hasidism, a form of mystical ultra-Orthodox Judaism, traces its roots to 18th-century Eastern Europe. Followers live in tight-knit communities nearly closed off to modern society and wear traditional dress — for men, dark clothing that includes a long coat and a fedora-type hat. Men often have long beards and ear locks.

Most of the 165,000 members in the New York City the area live in neighborhoods in Brooklyn neighborhoods are part of three different major sects.

Isaac Abraham, an activist in the Hasidic community who often speaks publicly for the different sects, said the family was not known in the community and he couldn’t comment.

The family lived in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Midwood in a two-story frame house and the father and mother, who are first cousins, had 14 children, police said. All but two live in the home.

The 24-year-old suspect was married and lived elsewhere, as did the oldest child. There are seven girls and seven boys in the family.

New York Police Department chief department spokesman Paul Browne said the investigation was ongoing and it’s possible there could be additional victims. The father and son, who is legally blind, left for Israel from Kennedy International Airport on Nov. 29, Browne said. An NYPD detective assigned as a liaison in Jerusalem will assist officers there in the search, Browne said.

The father was a teacher at a yeshiva until about three months ago, when he resigned for unknown reasons. There was no answer at the school Friday; police would not say if it was the same school where the oldest victim worked.

State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, whose districts include many of the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, discussed sexual abuse among members of the insular world of ultra-Orthodox Jews on a radio show in 2008, prompting dozens of listeners to come forward with stories of abuse. Critics have said sex abuse claims are sometimes handled quietly in Orthodox rabbinical courts, rather than being reported to authorities.

As a result, the state earmarked about $1 million to fund Hikind’s plans to teach Hasidic Jews to speak up against child molestation. Prosecutors, counselors and religious leaders in Brooklyn banded together last year to form a program to combat sexual abuse in the community. A hot line was established where victims can call and speak with a “culturally sensitive” social worker.

 

Zio=Nazi Netanyahu tries to warm up to Turkey after getting aid for Carmel fire

Zio=Nazi PM sends Zionist representative to Geneva to meet with Turkish foreign ministry official and try to draw a draft agreement that would end Zionist-Turkey diplomatic crisis.

Netanyahu sent Zionist representative on the United Nations committee investigating the Gaza flotilla incident, Yosef Ciechanover, to Geneva to meet with Ambassador Feridun Sinirlioglu, an undersecretary at the Turkish Foreign Ministry.

A senior Zionist source said the two would try to draw up a draft agreement that would put and end to the crisis.

The Turks are demanding that Zionist apologize for the killing of Turkish civilians and compensate the families of the victims in the attack on the flotilla earlier this year.

Sources at the Prime Minister’s Bureau acknowledged that contacts were being made with Turkey on the issue but declined to offer further details.

For his part, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said yesterday that despite the fire aid and his conversation with Netanyahu, Turkey continues to expect an apology from Zionist regime on the flotilla incident and compensation for the victims. “We do not confuse this issue with other issues,” he said.

As foreign help arrives, ZAF plans fire squadron

The Zionist Air Force has begun unofficial staff work to create a firefighting squadron ahead of a likely government decision on the matter in the coming days. The ZAF has gotten to work as aircraft continue to arrive from foreign countries, playing a key role in battling the fire on the Carmel.

Over the weekend, foreign firefighting aircraft were in operation including seaplanes from Greece and Turkey that landed in Haifa Bay, loaded their tanks and dumped the water on the Carmel. Large Russian planes and a French aircraft also took part.

More planes are due to arrive from France, Russia and the United States, including two Air National Guard planes equipped with special foam tanks. The largest firefighting aircraft in the world, a reconfigured 747 belonging to the private firm Evergreen, will also arrive. The aircraft is capable of carrying more than 90,000 liters of water.

Firefighting sources said the foreign aircraft have played a major role in efforts to put out the blaze.

The foreign aircraft have been joined by 12 from the company Chim-Nir; their operations have been coordinated by the air force, which established a special control center near the University of Haifa.

The aircraft operate out of air force bases at Ramat David and Tel Nof, as well as Haifa Airport. An overall picture of the situation on the ground is being provided by air force drones.

The air force once provided a firefighting capability using its heavy-lift helicopters, but they are old and less effective than the small planes in the Chim-Nir fleet.

The air force expects the government to fund a firefighting squadron. Air force officers are examining the equipment coming in from other countries with an eye to the future.

Clinton charm falls flat with Iran foreign minister

 

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki turned away from the U.S. Secretary of State, after she approached him at a Bahrain security conference.

Hillary Clinton lost him at “hello.”

The U.S. secretary of state had a rare chance to interact with Iran’s foreign minister at a Bahrain security conference, which Clinton used to deliver a message to Tehran on the need to engage with the international community over its nuclear program at next week’s talks in Geneva.

But while Clinton’s keynote speech from the podium directly addressed the Iranian team led by Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, her attempt at a more personal diplomacy with Mottaki fell distinctly flat.

“I got up to leave and he was sitting a couple of seats down from me and shaking people’s hands and he saw me and he stopped and began to turn away,” Clinton told reporters on her plane returning to Washington on Saturday.

“I said ‘Hello, minister.’ He just turned away.”

Clinton’s Bahrain speech on Friday came ahead of next week’s Geneva meeting between Iran and six big powers — the United States, France, Russia, Britain, China and Germany — their first such encounter in more than a year.

The big powers insist that the talks must focus on Iran’s nuclear program, which they fear is aimed at producing nuclear weapons. Iranian officials have indicated that they are not eager to discuss their atomic work, which they say is entirely peaceful, leaving prospects for the Geneva meeting in doubt.

Clinton said she hoped her speech — which described a clear choice for Iran on whether or not to rejoin the international community — was aimed at setting the stage for the Geneva meeting and demonstrating that real dialogue was still possible.

Her aim, she said, was “to do it in a way that they couldn’t claim was accusatory, condemnatory, everything that they always claim about us.”

“We offer to engage, and still have an open door on engagement, but they’ve got to show up in Geneva and negotiate on the nuclear program because it is causing legitimate concern,” Clinton said. “If they proceed it will be profoundly destabilizing.”

Mottaki, for one, didn’t seem destabilized in the least by Clinton’s entreaties. While the U.S. secretary of state laid out her case for broader Iranian engagement, Mottaki concentrated on his dinner — giving no sign that Washington’s latest message to Tehran had been heard.

 
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