Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
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Israel has accused Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan of inciting "anti-Semitism" by making remarks on the
war crimes committed against the Palestinians in the Gaza
Strip.
A new report prepared by the foreign ministry in Tel Aviv
charges that although Erdogan has stresses that anti-
Semitism is "a crime against humanity," he "indirectly
incites and encourages" it in Turkey, the Israeli daily
Haaretz reported.
"In our estimate, ever since his party took power, Erdogan
has conducted an ongoing process of ... fashioning a
negative view of Israel in Turkish public opinion," through
endless talks of Palestinian suffering, repeatedly accusing
Israel of war crimes and even "anti-Semitic expressions and
incitement," read the report.
The seven-page report written by the Center for Political
Research has already been distributed to Israeli embassies
and consulates abroad.
"For Erdogan and some of those around him," the report
claimed, "there is no distinction between 'Israeli' and
'Jewish,' and therefore, [their] anti-Israel fervor and
criticism become anti-Jewish."
"Turkey today, under the leadership of the AKP [Erdogan's
Justice and Development Party], is different from the Turkey
with which Israel forged a strategic relationship in the
early 1990s," the report concluded.
Relations between Israel and Turkey began to deteriorate
after Erdogan publicly slammed Israel over its late 2008
incursion into Gaza and charged the regime with committing
"barbarian" acts against the Palestinian civilians.
SB/MB
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Blockade threatens students' future in Gaza
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117096§ionid=351020202
Turkey says Israel threatening global peace
Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:05:11 GMT
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
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Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has lashed out
at Israel over the violation of Lebanese airspace through
which it threatens peace in the region.
Speaking at a joint press conference with his Lebanese
counterpart Saad Hariri, Erdogan said Israel has to stop
violating Lebanon's airspace and its territorial waters, the
Associated Press reported on Monday.
"We can never remain silent in the face of Israel's
attitude. ... It has disproportionate power and it is using
that at will while refusing to abide by UN resolutions. We
can never accept this picture," Erdogan said.
"These steps threaten global peace," he warned.
Hariri also described Israel as an enemy that threatens his
country's security through "its violation of our airspace
and waters."
Lebanese army said earlier in the day that its anti-aircraft
artillery fired at Israeli fighter jets flying over the
country's southern airspace.
The Lebanese army reports almost every day violations of its
airspace by Israeli warplanes.
SB/HGH/MMN
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http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=115893
Israel's Information and Diaspora Minister Yuli Edelstein
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Israel has disdained international calls to conduct an
independent probe into the war crimes its forces have been
charged with during its 2008 Gaza offensive.
The call for an internal investigation of the alleged - and
documented - war crimes is part of a damning report by a UN
fact-finding mission led by the South African Judge Richard
Goldstone.
The 575-page report mostly highlighted Israeli war crimes
such as deliberately targeting centers known to be holding
Palestinian civilians and shooting civilians on the run,
including some that were waving white flags.
"Israel has no intention of creating a verification
commission," Tel Aviv's Information and Diaspora Minister
Yuli Edelstein said in New York on Tuesday, a day after
meeting the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. He added that
he had informed Ban of the Israeli intentions during their
Monday meeting.
The refusal came two days before the Israeli minister
submits Tel Aviv's official response to charges of war
crimes over the three-week war the regime's forces waged
against the densely-populated coastal strip, killing more
than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and leaving tens
of thousands more injured.
Meanwhile, the Israeli media have suggested the possibility
of a limited inquiry to help Tel Aviv deflect a portion of
the widespread international condemnation it is facing over
the Gaza offensive.
In his report, Mr. Goldstone suggested that its conclusions
be referred to the Hague-based International Criminal Court
if Israel and Hamas fail to carry out convincing probes into
their actions within six months.
The UN General Assembly overwhelmingly endorsed the report
in November, in the face of fierce opposition from Israel
and the United States, who pledged to take a stance against
the report in support of its closest Middle East ally.
The General Assembly consequently called on both sides to
carry out investigations "that are independent, credible and
in conformity with international standards" by February 5.
Israel has been striving to suppress the Goldstone report
since it was released in September, vowing to fight any
efforts to bring the Israeli initiators of the 22-day
aggression to trial.
On Tuesday, Edelstein made the claim that the report is
stirring up "anti-Semitism" and "reinforcing Holocaust
deniers," despite the fact that its South African author is
Jewish himself.
MRS/TG/MB
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117093§ionid=3510203
Mubarak condones Gaza starvation, Hamas suggests
Tue, 26 Jan 2010 02:25:43 GMT
Lebanese leftist activists carry an Israeli flag with a
defaced image of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak (Reuters photo).
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Egypt's defense of the sealing its border with Gaza amounts
to condoning of the Palestinian suffering, the Palestinian
resistance movement Hamas suggests.
Hamas Spokesman Mushir al-Masri on Monday offered the
group's reaction to the argument of the Egyptian President
Hosni Mubarak calling the borderline fortification a matter
of 'sovereignty,' the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported.
Mubarak said Sunday that "fortifications along our eastern
border are a work of Egyptian sovereignty, and we refuse to
enter into a debate with anyone [about them]."
Al-Masri said the Egyptian leader's statements "contradict
his earlier remarks that he would not allow the starvation
of the Palestinian people in Gaza."
He added that "Mubarak's remarks defending the steel wall
are an address on the blockade of 1.5 million Palestinians
in the Gaza Strip."
The densely-populated coastal sliver continues to suffer
from an all-out Israeli-imposed blockade which has deprived
the territory of basic necessities for over two years.
Cairo has also kept shut the Rafah border crossing - the
Gaza Strip's only border that bypasses Israel - claiming
that the border post is an Egyptian-Israeli crossing and
should not be used without Tel Aviv's permission.
The Egyptian government is additionally building a steel
wall along the Gaza border to prevent the trafficking of any
goods to the strip.
"Egypt's steel wall does not serve the interests of any Arab
party....The Israeli occupation benefits from it, because it
has killed the last lifeline keeping the Gaza Strip alive
after two and a half years of siege," al-Masri added.
The Human Rights Watch once again criticized Cairo on Sunday
for its role in "collectively punishing" Gazans by keeping
the Rafah border closed.
The organization primarily pointed its finger at Israel for
refusing Gazans their basic living requirements, while
arguing that Egypt's role in the deadly siege "cannot be
denied."
"If Cairo wanted to, it could end the siege of Gaza
tomorrow," said Sarah Leah Whitson, the director of the
group's Middle East and North Africa division.
HN/MB
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117049§ionid=351020202
Israel rules out independant probe of Gaza war
Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:07:14 GMT
Blockade threatens students' future in Gaza
Tue, 26 Jan 2010 09:17:28 GMT
Many students in the Gaza Strip aspire to a higher education
abroad but the Israeli-Egyptian blockade deprives them of
setting out on their journey.
Hundreds of Gaza graduates receive scholarship to attend
universities abroad, but they are trapped in the
impoverished coastal enclave. They are going to lose their
scholarships according to a report by Press TV correspondent
Ayman Quader is one of these students. He has finished his
bachelor's degree and was awarded a scholarship yet he
cannot leave Gaza. The first term of his scholarship begins
in February.
Quader told our correspondent that he is being prevented
from going out by the complete siege of the Gaza Strip.
Quader calls on all those who are concerned with
humanitarian conditions in Gaza to support him and his peers
who seek a brighter future in schools abroad.
Israel has imposed crippling restrictions on the Gaza Strip
since 2007, preventing the shipment of food, fuel and other
essentials into the populated region, pushing its
impoverished population to the verge of starvation.
The condition has been further worsened by Egypt's refusal
to open the Rafah crossing - the only alternative which is a
border terminal not controlled by Israel -.
Along with the other residents of the Gaza Strip, students
must wait until the next opening of the Rafah crossing. But
there are no scheduled openings of the only gate for the 1.5
million Palestinians in the blockaded region.
Academicians in Gaza argue that traveling abroad is one of
the fundamental rights of students which must not be
violated by political disputes.
"I'm disappointed and frustrated as a teacher because my
students are losing golden opportunities to pursue their
studies abroad," said a Gaza University teacher, Akreem
Habeeb.
Habeeb expressed regret that many of his students with
scholarships from European and American universities lost
their chance because they have not been allowed to leave the
Gaza Strip.
"These students are living in a great fear of losing their
seats and universities," Gaza Education Minister Ahmad al-
Najjar told Press TV, warning "their future is in a great
danger."
Students in the Gaza Strip have held several protests
against the enclosure of their homeland, calling upon
Egyptian authorities to facilitate their traveling abroad,
requests that appear to fall on deaf ears in Cairo.
MRS/JG/DT
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117076§ionid=351020202
Larijani visiting Kuwait, rejects Israeli bombing threats
Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:41:43 GMT
Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani
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Iran's Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani, in Kuwait
on an official visit, dismissed Israeli public threats of
bombing Iranian nuclear sites.
Speaking at a press conference upon his arrival in Kuwait
Monday, Larijani responded to a question on the possibility
of an Israeli attack against Iranian nuclear facilities by
rejecting the notion and stating that Iranians do not take
such threats serious.
Larijani reiterated that enemies have been trying to sow
seeds of discord among Muslim countries noting that when the
former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein attacked Iran in 1979,
some countries tried to fish in the troubled waters by
making efforts to intimidate Iranians against Saddam.
Before his departure for an official nine-day tour of
Kuwait, Uganda and Kenya, leading a high-ranking delegation,
the Majlis Speaker announced that the charter of the Islamic
Inter-parliamentary Union may be amended during its upcoming
summit in Uganda.
He said several member countries have proposed amendments to
the charter which will be addressed at the meeting.
The proposals, according to Larijani, will see a more active
role and cooperation by the union in regional issues. The
proposed changes, he said, have already been discussed with
Egyptian officials.
Egypt is currently heading the union's general assembly and
Iran serves as the head of the executive committee.
The Speaker added that the summit is due to examine problems
facing the Muslim world.
On his trip to Kuwait, the Majlis Speaker noted that he will
discuss political, economic and cultural issues with Kuwaiti
officials.
HSH/ DB/MB
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117040§ionid=351020205
--
A government, of Israel, by Israel, and, for: Israel.
But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light:
for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. The light shineth in darkness;
and the darkness comprehended it not. The light of the body is the eye:
if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.
If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!
Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee light. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.