Israellycool

Last week we reported on an Islamic Jihad rocket-maker who was also a UNRWA employee.

Now, Reuters has an “exclusive”:

By day, Awad al-Qiq was a respected science teacher and headmaster at a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip. By night, Palestinian militants say, he built rockets for Islamic Jihad.

The Israeli air strike that killed the 33-year-old last week also laid bare his apparent double life and embarrassed a U.N. agency which has long had to rebuff Israeli accusations that it has aided and abetted guerrillas fighting the Jewish state.

In interviews with Reuters, students and colleagues, as well as U.N. officials, denied any knowledge of Qiq’s work with explosives. And his family denied he had any militant links at all, despite a profusion of Islamic Jihad posters at his home.

But militant leaders allied to the enclave’s ruling Hamas group hailed him as a martyr who led Islamic Jihad’s “engineering unit” — its bomb makers. They fired a salvo of improvised rockets into Israel in response to his death.

Qiq’s body was wrapped in an Islamic Jihad flag at his funeral, pictorial posters in his honour still bedeck his family home this week, and a handwritten notice posted on the metal gate at the entrance to the school declared that Qiq, “the chief leader of the engineering unit”, would now find “paradise”.

That poster was removed soon after Reuters visited the Rafah Prep Boys School, run by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees. Staff there said on Monday that UNRWA officials had told them not to discuss Qiq’s activities.

Spokesman Christopher Gunness said UNRWA, which spelled its teacher’s surname al-Geeg, was looking into the matter.

It is amazing that the UNRWA cannot confirm whether a person was an employee five days after the fact. (My email to them asking for confirmation has not been answered.) And it is obvious that this poster at the school was there for a number of days until reporters started asking questions.

Here is where Reuters shows how it takes Palestinian Arab lies at face value:

While many in Gaza are open about political allegiances, the threat of the kind of Israeli action that cost him his life on April 30 meant Qiq’s double role was kept very secret indeed.

Surrounded by Islamic Jihad mourning posters at the family home, his sister Naima insisted: “He’s only a teacher and head of the school. School was his life. He had no time to work with Islamic Jihad.” Other family members nodded in agreement.

At the school, a 17-year-old who gave his name as Shadi read a poster for his former teacher and said simply: “Nobody knew.”

How many 33-year old teachers would decorate their houses with heroic Islamic Jihad posters? His family knows what to say to the press, and they are ever-mindful of the UNRWA pension.

The UN seemed to have a “flying pig” moment last Saturday when a top humanitarian representative condemned rocket attacks against Israel:

The United Nations humanitarian chief today voiced his concern at the impact of indiscriminate rocket attacks against Israel during a visit to the town of Sderot, an area severely affected by bombardments from the Gaza Strip. “The people of Sderot and the surrounding area have had to live with these unacceptable and indiscriminate rocket attacks for seven years now. There is no doubt about the physical and psychological suffering these attacks are causing,” said John Holmes, who is on a five-day trip to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, his first as Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs.

“I condemn them utterly and call on those responsible to stop them now without conditions,” added Mr. Holmes, who is also UN Emergency Relief Coordinator.

While in Sderot, Mr. Holmes met with the city officials, including the Mayor, who briefed him on the difficulties faced by local civilians as a result of almost daily rocket attacks. Over the past seven years, a number of houses in the area have been damaged, the local economy has suffered, and some 12 per cent of the city’s 22,000 residents have left.

“There are no military targets in this city. These victims here are innocent civilians. There is no time to lose in putting an end to this vicious circle of violence. More violence will not bring peace to the people of Sderot,” Mr. Holmes said.

A couple of things are interesting about this UN press release.Firstly, it didn’t bother to mention that many residents of the Negev have been injured or killed by Qassams - only that there has been property and economic damage. Even as Holmes condemns the rockets, he is minimizing their actual effect.

Secondly, notice what is missing from this - and essentially all - UN statements on Gaza?

There is no mention of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PFLP, the Al Aqsa Brigades, or any of the other groups who actually fire them. The UN just mouths words condemning the attacks themselves without saying a single critical word about any specific group.

The UN has no problem condemning Israel explicitly, but when it comes to criticizing any Palestinian Arab group by name, the UN becomes mute. It is as if the United Nations is either too stupid to know who is responsible or too scared to say their names in fear of retribution.

The mere mention of Hamas would guarantee that UN statements get taken seriously by Hamas and the other terror groups as they would be forced to respond and show their own hypocrisy to the world. As it is, the UN seems to be only placating its critics with a worthless “condemnation” while staying away from any real criticism of the groups who take explicit responsibility - and pride - in shooting these rockets at civilians.

(cross-posted to Elder of Ziyon)

After decades of being treated as a pariah, Israel finally managed to get a resolution approved by the UN:

The resolution encourages able nations of the world to develop farming technology for developing countries.The resolution was passed by the UN General Assembly’s Second Committee, dealing with development issues. There were 118 votes in favor and 29 abstentions, with no opposing votes. The resolution will be brought before the full General Assembly next week.

“For Israel, this is a very dramatic development, and an historic day at the UN,” Ambassador Dan Gillerman told reporters. “It is the very first time that Israel initiates and authors and submits a resolution which has nothing to do with the conflict. It is not easy for Israel to have its resolutions and its points of view adopted,” he added. “This makes Israel a much more normal and acceptable member of the UN. One of our main aims is to not be a one issue country and to bring awareness of Israel’s excellence to the world.”

Who can argue with helping poor countries farm?

A look at the countries that abstained from this vote is instructive:

Included in the 29 abstentions were South Africa and 19 Arab states present – though not including Muslim Afghanistan and Pakistan, who voted in favor. Iran did not take part in the vote. The abstentions came from Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, Darussalam, Djibouti, Egypt, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

So what do the Arab nations have against helping third-world farmers?

Palestinian Authority United Nations representative Riyad Mansour criticized the move, telling Reuters that Israel was “trying to score political points” and had rejected a move that would have obscured the Jewish state as the author of the resolution in favor of its presentation as a “consensus resolution.”

OK, so it is not that the Arab nations - even the ones supposedly at peace with Israel - have anything against the resolution.

They just cannot stand to agree with anything Israel says, no matter how innocuous. It is easier to abstain than to even give the appearance of being on the same side as the hated Zionists on any issue.

This is beyond politics - this is just a seething hatred for anything that Israel does; this is misoziony. The very idea of agreeing with the Jewish state on anything sticks in the throats of the Arab world. For them, emotion trumps logic, and visceral hate makes real peace impossible.

(cross-posted on Elder of Ziyon)

While Israel is taking its charity seriously…

The Foreign Ministry intends to implement a $5 million-aid plan for Darfur refugees in the near future.

The recommendations for aid where submitted to Foreign Ministry Director General Aharon Abramovitch, and they must be approved by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. The aid will consist of budget funds as well as contributions.

Abramovitch recently instructed several departments in the ministry to prepare a plan to increase Israeli aid to the victims of genocide in Darfur.

The ministry’s team in charge of the issue of aid to Darfur refugees, headed by Daniel Miron, head of the Human Rights department, presented a detailed report with its recommendations. The report consisted of a plan to significantly increase aid by official Israeli bodies to refugees in Darfur.

The document said Israel could not operate officially within Chad, due to the lack of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and warned that “Israeli experts sent there could become targets for violence.” As an alternative, the plan recommends Israel “join the existing international effort” in Chad by donating substantial funds.

According to the plan, Israel will transmit $4 million to four aid organizations - the United Nations Refugee Agency, the UN Children’s Fund, the World Food Program, and the Red Cross.

The report states that such a contribution will place Israel among the “10 largest donators to Chad refugees in the world in 2007.”

The Foreign Ministry also intends to increase its activity in the Central African Republic, with which Israel maintains diplomatic relations and which also absorbs refugees. The ministry will acquire $800,000-worth of medicine and water purifying supplies from Israeli companies and distribute them to refugee camps. The ministry will also purchase food products in Africa and distribute them to refugees.

The plan also includes the establishment of an eye clinic in Kenya, about 50 km from the border with Sudan, in which two Israeli doctors will be stationed to treat hundreds of patients. This portion of the plan is supposed to be implemented in the coming days.

The Foreign Ministry will also donate $150,000 to the organization Israaid - The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid, which serves as an umbrella organization for Israeli non-governmental organizations operating in counties neighboring Sudan that absorb Darfur refugees.

The report also includes a recommendation to “enlist the Israeli public” in efforts for Darfur through fundraising.

..it is also a burning issue for the palestinians:

Unknown gunmen have burnt a charitable association affiliated to the fundamentalist ‘Salafi’ Islamic group in Rafah refugee camp in the south of the Gaza Strip.

One of the Salafi group’s spokesmen said in a phone call with Ma’an that the association had been totally burnt down with no injuries.

At the same time, the condemnations continue of the attack on a school run by the United Nations agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, in Rafah on Sunday. Armed men opened fire on the school during a celebration, attended by high-level UNRWA staff, which the Salafi group considered to be contrary to Islamic traditions.

More news from the Apartheid state of Israel:

Nabila Abu Dabai considers herself a strong woman who loves a good challenge.

When she married, she was prepared for life as a housewife and full time mother, but a harsh reality struck her soon after, changing her plans entirely.

Abu Dabai, a 31-year-old Arab resident of Nazareth, suffered years of violence at the hand of her husband, until the couple divorced two years ago, giving her and her 8-year-old son a chance at a new life.

Abu Dabai now looks forward to a new and uncharacteristic chapter in her life; she and 21 others will participate in a bus driving course. One-third of the course’s participants are Arab women.

In the meantime, she is working as an assistant at a daycare center, a position she found with the help of From the Heart, a project run by the Wisconsin Program, which helps unemployed people to find work.

The Wisconsin Program operates in four regions throughout the country that were chosen as those which reflect Israeli society – Nazareth and Upper Nazareth, Hadera, Jerusalem, and Ashkelon.

Tirza Ben-Haim, project manager of From the Heart in the north, said that about 80 percent of the program’s participants in Nazareth and Upper Nazareth were Arab, including many single mothers.

The program has a total of 6,000 participants, of which 60 percent are women. Since the program began operating in the north a year and a half ago, it has found work for about 2,000 participants in professions such as nursing, security, cleaning services, education, and others.

“Every unemployed person in the program goes through a process. Arab women, for example, go through changes after having never needed to work, and we are here to help them.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, women cannot even drive in Saudi Arabia, and one cannot even imagine a palestinian woman being encouraged to go on a bus sans bomb belt.

Israellycool reader Seraphya is one of the organizers of the Save Darfur Rally in Israel, scheduled for Monday November 20th.

PRESS RELEASE
Save Darfur Rally at 8pm on November 20 at Kikar Zion, Jerusalem
Organized by HAeD (Hatzilu et Amei Darfur – Save the Nations of Darfur).

The current humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan erupted in February 2003.  In response to rebel attacks on military installations, the government of Sudan, using proxy Arab militias, started a campaign of genocide. The actions of these militias (called the Janjaweed), coupled with air attacks by the Sudanese Army, have resulted in the deaths of half a million people, including children and infants.  Over 3 million Sudanese have been forced to flee their homes and have been subjected to gang rapes, the burning of their homes and religious buildings, and other atrocities (which occur even in the purported shelter of refugee camps). 

Currently there is an African Union ‚Äúpeacekeeping‚Äù force, which has no official authority to protect civilians and which lacks the resources to render any meaningful form of assistance. The non-governmental organizations attempting to operate in Sudan are forced to submit to impossible bureaucratic requirements by the Khartoum government, which is perpetuating the genocide.  News outlets are prevented from reporting on the situation, and journalists who try to publicize the full extent of the horrors are being arrested.  In a similar vein, the United Nations envoy to Sudan was forced to leave the country because the Khartoum government disapproved of the factual accounts being disseminated through his personal web log. The U.S. congress has labelled Darfur a genocide, but the UN has proven reluctant to use its full power to put a real force on the ground to protect civilians, and the UN security council is refusing to act.

HaED was established earlier this year by a group of Yeshiva and Midrasha students from Chutz L’Aretz with the aims of:
1)    Raising awareness in Israel about the current genocide in Darfur, Sudan.
2)    Emphasizing the role of Jews, just 60 years after the Holocaust, in preventing genocide.
3)    Encouraging activism and the adoption of the official goals of www.savedarfur.org , which are:
I. Push for the immediate deployment of the already-authorized UN peacekeeping force.
II. Strengthen the understaffed African Union force already in Darfur until the UN force can be deployed.
III. Implement a fair and lasting Peace Agreement.
IV. Increase humanitarian aid and ensure access for delivery.

This rally, held in both Hebrew and English, which will take place on November 20, 2006 at 8:00 PM in Kikar Zion, Jerusalem, is intended to raise consciousness about the Darfur genocide in the state of Israel and to highlight that it is the responsibility of the Jewish people and the world at large to ensure that all possible measures are enacted to prevent genocide. No genocide may be countenanced, no government may be allowed to slaughter those citizens it is charged to protect, and no one may remain silent in the face of such a tragedy.

Contact details:

Seraphya Berrin
Ph: +972525988286
Email: seraphya@gmail.com

Arielle Perlow
Ph: +972525346257
Email: Arielle.perlow@gmail.com

Yedidya Schwartz
Ph:+972523383925
Email: yezrieli@gmail.com

Rachel  Kupferman
Ph: +9725690133
Email: rache488@aol.com

The same Jewish group who gave food assistance to underprivileged Jews during Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot is now turning to help an unlikely crowd: underprivileged Muslims who will celebrate the end of the holy month of Ramadan next week with the holiday of Eid Al-Fiter.

On Tuesday, 150 members of the Jewish Reform Movement, in cooperation with the “Kavod Foundation” gathered in Jerusalem to assist with the packing of canned goods and other provisions to be delivered during the holiday to needy Muslims in East Jerusalem.

Yoav Shprank, a member of the organization told Ynet that the Kavod Foundation is working all year to help Jews, Christians, and Muslims during the holidays. As an example, the Reform movement donated 2,000 food boxes to the welfare offices, and they are also planning a substantial food donation in preparation for Christmas.

 

The director of the youth movement who participated in the packaging of the goods Yaniv Gliksman said that as a part of their activities they always speak about pluralism which is one of their most central values. According to him, there is a need to help everyone who lives in Israel because there are sectors of the population nobody tends to. Despite their wishes, the youths who participated in the packing will not take part in the actual distribution of the packages because they do not have permission to enter East Jerusalem.

In addition to East Jerusalem, the food will be distributed to Muslim communities in Jaffa, Haifa, and Shfaram, and will total 250 packages worth NIS 100 (roughly USD 43) each.

The youth movement which participated in the drive is a part of the “Kol Haneshama” community who are active in the German Settlement and Bakaa neighborhoods of Jerusalem. Rabbi Gilad Kariv of the Reform movement explains that “one of the most important values of the movement is equality, and so they work in all sectors of Israeli society. Just as we have food drives before Rosh Hashanah and Passover, it is important for us as Jews to help non-Jewish families in Israel celebrate their holidays with respect.”

After posting this post about pets suffering along with civilians from Hezbollah terror attacks, a few people have asked me if I know of any charities or rescue organizations involved in saving dogs, cats, and other animals caught in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in Northern Israel.

Here’s one I saw on Fox News Dayside today:

Let The Animals Live a non-profit animal welfare organization, was founded in Israel in 1986 in an attempt to provide immediate aid to stray animals in distress. Rehabilitation and adoption of these abandoned animals are the goals of the organization. In addition the organization aims to educate the general public to understand and care for animals

Donations can be sent through a secure online form.

(And when they refer to Letting Animals Live, I think they don’t mean Hassan Nasrallah.)

Despite the fact that the IDF is not being underemployed in protecting the lives of Israel’s citizens (yours truly included), Israel has not hesitated to dispatch IDF personnel to Kenya, in an effort to rescue construction workers trapped inside a collapsed building.

Shortly after the Home Front Command’s rescue team arrived at the site of the collapsed building in Nairobi, Kenya on Tuesday morning, soldiers pulled two survivors out of the rubble and were in contact with two others, Brig.-Gen. Avraham Ben-David told The Jerusalem Post.

 

Two other survivors were pulled out by US and British rescue teams working at the site. The death toll on Tuesday rose to 14, despite the efforts of the international rescue teams who worked alongside the locals. Kenyan Army Maj. Gen. Paul Opiyo said rescuers had found four additional survivors still trapped in two locations, and had located a third site where survivors may be huddled.

 

“The first 72 hours are the most critical and all our efforts will focus on pulling out as many survivors as we can,” said Ben-David. Unwilling to estimate the chances of survival of those still trapped inside, Ben-David said that over 100 survivors have been pulled out of the ruins of the five story building, and locals estimate that approximately 200 workers were inside when it collapsed, he said.

 

According to local reports, the construction workers had just finished lunch Monday and many were taking a nap when the building began to sway, then quickly collapsed.

 

Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki told reporters at the site that everyone was praying that more survivors would be extracted from the rubble in the coming days. “We need courage and to work hard,” he said adding that he planned to purchase the necessary rescue equipment in order to be prepared for any such disasters in the future.

 

While this is not the first disaster the rescue unit has dealt with, there is a difference in the way the building collapsed compared with those destroyed in earthquakes or bomb blasts, said Ben-David. “Here the disaster was the result of a badly constructed, partially built building. All the large concrete slabs fell on top of each other pinning the workers between them. Our task will be to sift through each layer and search for survivors,” he said.

 

Unlike past disasters such as the suicide bomb attack at Egypt’s Taba Hotel in October 2004, and the Tsunami in the far east over a year ago, the site in Nairobi is a contained one and if all goes according to plan it will probably take four or five days to complete the mission, he said. “There have been instances where trapped people have survived up to three or four days and we have heard of instances where people held out a week or longer,” he said. On Tuesday morning, the IDF rescue teams were the only international representatives at the site aside from locals he said. “We are the only ones aside from many locals who lack the necessary equipment,” he said.

 

The Israeli team, said Ben-David, received a warm welcome. “To be involved in offering humanitarian assistance anywhere in the world gives us great satisfaction. Our goal is to save lives, regardless of religion, gender, or origin. That is the beauty of our work.”

 

The team led by Home Front Commander Maj.Gen. Gershon Yitzhak left Israel for Kenya early Tuesday morning after Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni agreed to Kenya’s Vice President Moody Awori’s request for assistance.

 

The delegation, which is comprised of 100 soldiers and officers assigned to rescue and medical units, teams flew in two planes to Kenya taking with them state of the art technological rescue equipment to the disaster area.

 

A statement released by the Foreign Ministry noted the longstanding ties of friendship that exist between Israel and Kenya. “Even during the period in which the two states did not have full diplomatic relations, Israel was allowed to maintain a presence in Kenya, in the form of an office of interests. Kenya also played an important role in the success of Operation Entebbe,” the statement said.

Israel has offered Pakistan assistance in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake that struck Pakistan, India and Afghanistan, Israeli officials said Sunday, as the death toll was estimated at more than 30,000.

 

Allowing Israelis into Pakistan to assist in the rescue efforts would the latest sign that relations between the two countries are warming.

 

Israel and Pakistan - the second-largest Muslim country - have no official relations, but the two countries’ foreign ministers met last month for the first time. 

 

“We’ve expressed a desire to help, and we’re hopeful that it will be possible to help,” said Mark Regev, a Foreign Ministry spokesman.

 

Israel - which has sent rescue teams to Turkey and Mexico to assist in evacuation efforts after earthquakes struck those countries - sent a message to Pakistan through “official channels” and the United Nations, said a senior government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Pakistan has yet to respond to the offer.