During talks yesterday in Brussels, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband demanded full cooperation from Israel with a British inquiry into the use of bogus passports.
The Serious and Organized Crime Agency (who I guess are serious and organized -ed.) or SOCA is investigating how the identities of British citizens were stolen.
“He made clear that we were concerned about the implications of the killing of Mr. al-Mabhouh on stability in the region, and he stressed that we require full cooperation from the Israeli authorities with the SOCA investigation,” Bryant told lawmakers.
The minister said Miliband told Lieberman that Britain and Israel can only cooperate on “the basis of trust and mutual transparency.”
Miliband said Lieberman “had no information to give me.”
The Israeli FM, for his part, said in a statement there was no proof Israel was involved in the killing, and later told reporters: “I think you have all seen too many James Bond movies.”
He said while petting his white cat…
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
10:00PM: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman introduces Prime Minister Avatar! (hat tip: Joe)
9:50PM: It looks as though the Prime Minister has developed somewhat of a backbone.
At least when it comes to the following issue.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said Israel is obligated to ensure the freedom of religion for all faiths at all holy sites, in a response to allegations from Palestinian leaders that Israel’s heritage sites could spark a religious war.
“We are talking about a campaign of lies and hypocrisy,” read a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, issued after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas called Israel’s addition of two West Bank sites to its national heritage list a dangerous provocation, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh called for a new uprising against Israel.
“Rachel’s Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs are burial sites dating from more than 3,500 years ago of Israel’s forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and the nation’s foremothers, Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel – and are worthy of preservation and renovation,” said the statement from Netanyahu’s office.
8:16PM: Quote of the day:
“The entire world must support those fighting terrorism: an American, British or Israeli soldier regardless if he is in Gaza or Dubai. The fact that a terrorist was killed, and it doesn’t matter if it was in Dubai or Gaza, is good news to those fighting terrorism.”
– Israeli Opposition leader and Kadima chairwoman Tzipi Livni
4:10PM: In case you thought the Knesset was a boring place..
A heated debated arose in the Knesset House Committee on Tuesday, following a request to hold a plenum session on the “forged passports affair”. Member of Knesset Talab El-Sana (United Arab List – Ta’al) asked if the Knesset was run by the Mossad, while MK Carmel Shama (Likud) called the assassination of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh a “mitzvah”.
The Knesset House Committee session was held following a decision by the Knesset presidency not to authorize the matter for discussion on the Knesset plenum’s agenda. El-Sana filed an appeal to the committee, which was also rejected.
“Why isn’t the Israeli Knesset holding a discussion?” El-Sana asked the committee. “Anyone trying not to hold a discussion has a reason not to hold a discussion… Does (Mossad chief) Meir Dagan decide which matters are discussed in the Knesset?”
El-Sana added, “There is no doubt that this is a matter of public concern and that the Knesset should discuss the issue.”
Regarding the alleged forged passports reportedly used by the Hamas commander’s killers in Dubai, he asked: “Is assassinating in another country using mafia methods a victory? It was an act of terror. As in the attempt on (Hamas politburo chief) Khaled Mashaal, they were caught red-handed in Dubai, every movement, including the glasses, was captured. Whoever is behind this should be prosecuted. Don’t be surprised when arrest warrants are issued against Meir Dagan.”
In response MK Shama said, “If my passport could help in the assassination of Mabhouh, I would be willing to give it to you. I would be willing to give you my regular passport as well as my diplomatic passport.”
MK Yariv Levin (Likud) sarcastically added, “Firing rockets at kindergartens – that’s heroism. Don’t threaten us. Don’t sit here and threaten us.” Shama then said, “I would be very sorry if the State of Israel did not carry out this mitzvah.”
MK Ahen asked, “Why do the MKs feel threatened by having the matter discussed? A matter that has been spread over pages, down to the smallest detail. The media had a field day, almost like Carmel Shama’s euphoric spirit.”
Tibi and Shama then exchanged words, and a number of MKs chimed in. Shama said: “Meir Dagan did good work quietly. He is dear to Israel.” Tibi said he does not agree with Shama and named a different hero: “The real hero in this story is the Dubai police commander, who exposed the assassins.”
Shama asked: “That clown?” In response, Tibi said, “That clown caught you with your pants down.” At this point MK Levin intervened and told Shama: “Let Dubai’s ambassador in Israel speak.”
MK Meir Sheetrit of Kadima tried to calm his comrades and said the debate was unnecessary. Tibi had the last work and said, “I fear for Shama, he has an Arab name, he could also be assassinated tomorrow.”
1:08PM: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi reportedly avoided meeting PA President Mahmoud Abbas while the latter was visiting Tripoli despite his explicit requests.
9:35AM: Spot the grave of the airline hijacker:
Palestinians recite Koranic verses over the grave of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a former Hamas commander, at the tombs of Palestinians who were killed during conflicts Israel, at al-Yarmouk camp near Damascus February 22, 2010. Dubai has accused Israel of involvement in the killing of Al-Mabhouh in a hotel in Dubai last month. Israel has declined to confirm or deny it had any role. REUTERS/Khaled al-Hariri (SYRIA – Tags: CRIME LAW POLITICS)
6:20AM: More on our latest Zionist Death DroneTM (reported by someone who sounds a bit like a drone herself).
6:15AM: Yet another Israeli ethnic cleansing fail of large proportions.
Ibrahim, a 20-year-old Galilee Muslim whose failed circumcision two years earlier left him with too little penile skin to perform his matrimonial duties, was abandoned by his fiancee prior to their wedding. But plastic surgeon Prof. Yaron Har-Shai eventually enabled Ibrahim to get engaged to another woman by adapting – for the first time in the world – a technique used on hand and facial burns to rehabilitate his penis, restoring normal function.
Har-Shai and colleagues at Haifa’s Carmel Medical Center and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology’s Rappaport Faculty of Medicine have just published their report on the highly unusual case in the British Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery, which presents not only the details of the procedure but also ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos. The doctors’ careful search of the Medline database showed that the technique had not been used previously to correct such a problem.
The man, now 21, is due to wed a different woman who accepted his marriage proposal after hearing about the normal appearance and functioning of his penis.
That’s some grape vine.
Upon hearing the news, the Carmel staff who treated him sent the couple a huge bouquet of flowers and wishes for good luck and many children.
Instead of undergoing a ritual circumcision at the conventional age for Muslims – 13 years – the man waited until 18, apparently because he comes from a secular family and didn’t think it was important, Har-Shai told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
The procedure was performed by an overzealous traditional practitioner, who botched the job. Instead of removing just the foreskin, he also cut off ventral penile skin, a complication that occurs in 0.2 percent of circumcisions.
Although able to have erections before the accident, the unfortunate man found that the error shortened his organ by causing the development of scar tissue that prevented the skin from expanding with increased blood supply. Skin webbing developed from the sub-coronal groove to the anterior scrotal base. Intercourse was impossible, and when his first fiancee learned about his condition, the wedding was off.
An anesthesiologist who knew the family turned to Har-Shai, a Technion graduate who worked at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center until he was invited to head the plastic surgery department at Carmel.
Surgeons abroad trying to treat similar injuries in the past took skin from other parts of the patient’s body and transplanted it onto the penis; the result, however, was not only of a different color but the penis also sometimes developed a web texture and became too small to allow for intercourse.
First, Har-Shai performed a known procedure called Z-plasty, a technique used to improve the functional and cosmetic appearance of scars. It can elongate a contracted scar or rotate the scar tension line. The procedure, however, was unsuccessful.
Har-Shai’s father, Prof. Bernard Hirshowitz, was a pioneer in plastic surgery at Rambam before his retirement and years ago developed the “flap technique-5” procedure to enable webbed skin between fingers to become flexible after suffering a burn and shrinking, as well as for treating facial skin injuries. But it had never been used to rehabilitate a shrunken penis.
Har-Shai decided to adapt his father’s innovation – for the first time in the world – to the young man’s problem. He created five flaps from small bits of skin left on the man’s penis itself so they were not rejected and did not turn into webbing.
“Although previous surgery had been executed at the surgical site, uneventful healing of the skin flaps and complete relaxation and elongation of the skin web [was] achieved,” the team wrote.
The man’s penile length measured 11 centimeters after the procedure – eight centimeters longer than it was after the complications from the circumcision set in. Two months after the operation, the patient had functional erections, Har-Shai told The Post.
“It also looks great, very aesthetic,” he enthused. He added that his father’s flap technique-5 could also be used on baby boys if they have a shortage of skin.
There have been no previous reports of such a complication in circumcisions in Israel, even though some 50,000 ritual procedures are performed here each year. Har-Shai said he saw references to the complication occurring in Iran.
“I would have no problem treating Iranians who need it,” he said, though there are no diplomatic relations between the two countries.
6:08AM: The latest Turkey-Jerkey:
Israel is turning a blind eye to a huge poster showing President Shimon Peres seemingly bowing to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that was unfurled from a crane in an Ankara suburb on Sunday.
Neither the President’s Residence nor the Foreign Minister would comment on the poster, which superimposed an image of a bowing Peres in front of Erdogan, over the caption “Erdogan, a leader whom the world bows down to.”
While at first glance this seemed to be Turkish retribution for the public hazing of Turkey’s ambassador to Israel in January, when Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon sat him on a lower chair and reprimanded him over an anti-Semitic television show broadcast in Turkey, the Turkish press reported that Erdogan’s office had the poster taken down before Erdogan appeared at the site to inaugurate a new road network.
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the poster, with some diplomatic officials in Jerusalem saying it obviously came from the top, while others said it was quite possible that this was an independent act of protest that was not choreographed by the government.
A leader bowing down to another leader? As if that really happens.
