Statistics on Gaza Crossing points

The Ministry of Defense (MOD) Crossing Authority, responsible for operating the Kerem Shalom and Erez crossing points on the Israel-Gaza border as well as border crossings in Yehuda and Shomron, has completed another record year. In 2017, 15 million Palestinians entered Israel through MOD crossing points, compared to 13 million in 2016 (marking an increase of roughly 15%). On average, over 60,000 people per day entered Israel for work, medical treatment, humanitarian assistance or commerce.

Kerem Shalom Crossing:

Combatting Smuggling:The movement of Israeli goods that entered Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing was consistent with the year before, reaching roughly 160,000 trucks. The peak of the year was reached in April when more than 1,000 trucks of goods passed through on one day of activity.

In 2017, security inspectors at the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings thwarted hundreds of attempts to smuggle contraband materials into Gaza. Among the key discoveries this year were an attempt to smuggle explosive material from Gaza through the Erez Crossing, and the prevented transfer of several tons of dangerous materials into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing. Security officials also prevented the smuggling of laser sights and other tactical optics, military uniforms, military boots hidden inside slippers, iron and aluminum rods, professional wet suits and diving equipment en route to Hamas naval commandos, and valuable archaeological artifacts. Many of these items were purchased through popular websites such as Ali Express, and sent via traditional postal routes.

The Ministry of Defense Crossings Authority and the Shin Bet (ISA/Israeli Security Agency), together with COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), Israeli Police and Israel Tax Authority, continued in their mission to prevent further such smuggling attempts through the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. In this regard, it is important to note the tireless efforts of Kerem Shalom’s chemical testing lab to inspect suspected dual-use materials that could be used by Hamas’s terror network within Gaza.

During 2017, construction of a dedicated conveyor belt for transporting bulk materials at the Kerem Shalom crossing was completed at the cost of millions of shekels. Additionally, the Crossing Authority together with COGAT advanced the upgrading of infrastructure of the Shar Ephraim and Gilboa Crossings as part of improvements for the crossings in Yehuda and Shomron. In May 2017, the Te’enim Crossing was transferred from IDF to MOD civilian control.

“The Crossing Authority at the Ministry of Defense, in cooperation with others, works day and night to combat the intensification of terror elements in Gaza and the West Bank,” said the Crossing Authority’s Brigadier-General (res.) Kamil Abu Rokun. “At the same time, the Crossing Authority is working to maintain high service and security norms at the crossings in Yehuda and Shomron in order to help stabilize the civilian security situation in the West Bank”, he added.

Stats defy the BBC’s repeated portrayal of a ‘siege’ on Gaza

The full posting is from Hadar Sela  and can be read at BBC Watch

When, in the summer of 2014, the BBC began describing the counter-terrorism measures employed by Israel along its border with the Gaza Strip as a “siege” we noted that the definition of that term is “a military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling those inside to surrender” and commented:

“A besieging army does not ensure and facilitate the provision of humanitarian aid including food and medical supplies to those it surrounds. It does not supply them with 50% of their electricity supply, with oil and diesel or with cooking gas. It does not help them export their produce and give their farmers agricultural training. It does not evacuate their sick and treat them […] in its own hospitals.”

The use of that inaccurate terminology is however still evident in BBC content – both by unchallenged interviewees and by BBC journalists. For example:

“Gaza’s economy is definitely not able to support a population of 1.7 million people but that’s because of the siege imposed by Israel and Egypt.” (Jeremy Bowen, BBC Radio 4, 19/7/14)

“And I have to say – and this is one of the oddest things – from the decrepit heart of a half-destroyed city in a besieged and blockaded enclave, sometimes described as the biggest open air prison in the world, comes the best ice cream I have ever tasted.” (Roger Hearing, BBC Radio 4, 18/6/15)

“I had attended the war in Gaza in 2012. I’ve been working there for about the last five years and while I was there we had patients coming in – no equipment because the siege has gotten so bad even though it’s medical equipment – and we had to listen to patients’ chests by putting our ears to their chests…” (Tarek Loubani on ‘Newshour‘, 16/8/15)

“These people who suffered these wars and siege are now in rows having popcorn and watching [a movie that] reflects the Palestinian situation,” Mr Abu Saleh said. […] ‘The project is very important… because it is considered as one of the ways to break through the siege that has been forced on Gaza for 10 years’.” (Hugo Bachega, BBC News website, 8/4/16)

“‘The war’s over but the war-like situation is still going on’ he tells me. ‘The siege goes on, we’re still prisoners. The quality of life gets worse’.” (Yolande Knell, ‘From Our Own Correspondent’, 22/7/17)

“The siege for a long time destroyed our medical, our social, our economic life and nobody is interested about human rights where 2 million Palestinian people are living in this area.” (Mahmoud Zahar on ‘Hardtalk‘, 8/1/18)

On January 24th Israel’s Ministry of Defence published a summary of its Crossings Authority’s activity during 2017. In the section relating to the Kerem Shalom crossing the report states:

“The movement of Israeli goods that entered Gaza via the Kerem Shalom crossing grew and reached some 160 thousand lorries. The peak of the year was recorded in April when in one day over 1,000 lorries carrying goods crossed the crossing.”

The report also states that in 2017 there was a rise of 15% in the amount of goods transported and in the number of people using the various crossings to the Gaza Strip and Judea & Samaria administered by the authority, with 15 million crossings by Palestinians recorded.

Obviously a media organisation seriously committed to accurate and impartial reporting would not portray, or facilitate portrayal of, 160,000 truckloads of supplies in one year as a “siege”. The BBC, however, continues to do just that.

Now the Left are Accusing Abbas!!

It is interesting to note that since Abbas’s controversial speech on Jan. 14 many left wing activists organisations are expressing views that his speech disqualifies him as a negotiating partner.

In a two-hour address to the Palestinian Central Council (PCC), Abbas called Israel “a colonialist enterprise that has nothing to do with Judaism.” He also claimed Jews from Arab countries did not want to come to Israel when the state was established, but were forced to do so by Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion.

The PA leader also said he “categorically rejects” American and Israeli appeals to stop paying salaries to imprisoned terrorists and the families of dead terrorists. “We are proud of them, and we will pay them before we pay the living,” Abbas vowed. Regarding the use of violence against Israel, Abbas said he himself would not declare war on Israel, then added, “If you have weapons, go ahead; I’m with you, and I will help you. Anyone who has weapons can go ahead.”

a) The Israel Policy Forum (IPF), a leading dovish group, declared that Abbas’s “unhinged screed” makes it “impossible to view Abbas as a viable negotiating partner, when he continues to deny the right of the Jewish people to their own national movement and when he continues to insist that the basic recognition of a Jewish homeland is the original sin of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

b) Rabbi Eric Yoffie, a longtime peace activist and former president of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), told JNS that while he still wants the international community “to keep the possibility of a two-state solution alive,” Abbas’s statements “were outrageous, ignorant and insulting to Jews and civilized people everywhere,” and demonstrate “that progress on the peace front is not possible at the moment.”

c) Jane Eisner, editor-in-chief of The Forward and a strong proponent of Palestinian statehood, blasted Abbas in a Jan. 17 editorial. Regarding Abbas’s claims about Israel’s nature and its founding, Eisner wrote, “If Abbas really thinks that is what happened, then he has no business pretending to be a partner for peace. And if he is repeating ugly rhetoric only to please his ever-thinning crowds, then such irresponsibility also disqualifies him.”

d) Investigative journalist and author Gary Weiss, a former activist in the New Israel Fund, told JNS, “I do not agree that [President Donald] Trump is to blame. That’s absurd. While I disagree with Trump on a great many things, he is simply speaking the truth on Jerusalem. If that causes Abbas to go bananas, that’s a reflection on Abbas, not Trump.”

e) Rabbi Charles A. Kroloff, a member of the J Street Rabbinic Cabinet and vice president for special projects at Hebrew Union College, said that while he hopes “Israeli-Palestinian discussions and cooperation” will continue, Abbas’s statement was “a despicable expression of hatred for Israel and for Jews and a disgusting statement of support for terrorists and their families.” As a result, “he has effectively removed himself near-term as a player in future negotiations,” said Kroloff.

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Bedouin Women Become Emergency Responders in Israel’s Galilee

An Israeli  medical emergency organization has trained Bedouin men and women as EMTs, thus providing fast and professional emergency medical response in their hometowns. 

A new team of 13 Bedouin women and four men from the towns of Shibli and Umm al-Ghanam have recently completed their training to become EMS first responders and have begun to provide emergency medical services in their vicinity.

The new graduates volunteer as medical first responders in their hometowns as well as the Arab and Jewish towns in their environs, as part of the national Israeli EMS volunteer organization United Hatzalah.

“The new group of volunteers are very close-knit and very excited to learn these new skills and be able to provide EMS services in their communities,” said EMS instructor Samara Allah, the United Hatzalah instructor who taught the group of new EMTs. “The women in the group are especially excited as it allows them to help those in need around them, something which they all have a strong desire to do”

United Hatzalah Founder and President Eli Beer expressed his appreciation for the new volunteers.

“One of the main reasons why we felt that this project was important is because the women who make up the crux of this course often stay at home or work in their towns during the day, much more than the men do. Thus, these new volunteers will be able to provide an emergency medical response in their towns during the daytime hours something which has been lacking thus far,” Beer stated.

Beer added that United Hatzalah is working to increase the number of volunteers in the Galileeand Israel’s periphery in an effort to reduce EMS response times across the area, and especially in outlying Bedouin villages that often have long waits for ambulances.

“It is important to us to provide fast and professional emergency medical response to all of Israel’s citizens, regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity or gender,” Beer said.

Female Terrorists Are ‘National Symbols,’ Palestinian Women’s Union Leader

The Director of the Palestinian Women’s Union in Gaza praised the female terrorists responsible for some of the most lethal attacks on Israelis.

The Director of the Palestinian Women’s Union in Gaza, Amal Hamad, praised female terrorists Dalal Mughrabi, Shadia Abu Ghazaleh, and Fatima Barnawi referring to them as “national symbols.”

Dalal Mughrabi led the most lethal terror attack on Israelis, known as the Coastal Road Massacre, murdering 37 civilians, 12 of them children, and wounding over 70.

Shadia Abu Ghazaleh was active in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) terror organization and prepared bombs for many attacks against Israel. While she was preparing a bomb for an attack in Tel Aviv in 1968, it accidentally detonated and killed her.

Fatima Barnawi placed a bomb in a movie theater in Jerusalem in 1967. The bomb failed to explode. She was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released in 1977 after serving 10 years. In 2015, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas honored Barnawi with the Military Star of Honor.

How is Israel supposed to make peace with the Palestinians when their national “heroes” commit the most evil, sick and twisted atrocities?

See interview at https://youtu.be/VS4J59cnhQM

"The Independent” Op-Ed on Tamimi- Simply Wrong

Last month, a video of 16 year old Palestinian Ahed Tamimi hitting IDF soldiers went viral:

If you don’t already know the full story, you can read it here.

Hiba Khan’s column in UK “The independent” entitled “Everything wrong with the reaction to Ahed Tamimi’s prosecution for slapping an Israeli soldier, ” takes a defensive position toward Tamimi, which is permissible in a column: it is after all, an opinion piece.

However, even an opinion columnist may not cross the line into statements that are factually untrue, nor may a publisher allow it.

Dishonesty

If you have to be dishonest to support your opinion, isn’t it possible that you’re just plain wrong?

For example, Khan claims:  …the sad reality for Palestinians is a life deprived of healthcare, an economy, a justice system, living in abject poverty with no food or water security and military violence against them and their children. (Just plain untrue).

Water:

·       West Bank has modern water infrastructure, and coordinates with Israel on regular improvements.

Food:

·       The West Bank produces and even exports olives, citrus fruit, vegetables, beef, and dairy products.

·       The travel web site Trip Advisor lists “The 10 Best West Bank Restaurants.” You can see the review, or even come see the restaurants, for yourself.

·       Two percent of West Bank residents are “food insecure,” an impressively low figure. For context, 7% of Americans are food insecure, over three times more than the West Bank,  by percent.

Healthcare:

·       The West Bank has healthcare: with among the highest birth rates, lowest death rates and longest life expectancy rates  in the world.

Justice:

·       There is indeed a Palestinian justice system.  Depending on the matter, Palestinian courts or Israeli military courts may have jurisdiction, as required under the international Hague Convention.

·       Tamimi’s case is before the Israeli military juvenile court, where Tamimi is represented by a prominent, influential and highly experienced attorney, who is also the former director of Peace Now and sits on the Tel Aviv city council.

Violence

According to the indictment and the viral video, Tamimi was actually punching, kicking, biting and screaming at the soldiers. In addition, last week Ahed publicly called for stabbing attacks and suicide bombings against Israelis which can be seen in this video below:

Khan wasn’t wrong when she wrote that, “violence is the norm” where the Tamimis live. She just didn’t bother to say how much of that violence is being done, and encouraged, by the Tamimis themselves.

Israel (all of it) is “occupation”

Just so we’re clear on the reason for these protests and riots: the Tamimi family objects not merely to Israel’s presence in the West Bank, but to Israel’s very existence.

When Honest Reporting Managing Editor, Simon Plosker, visited the Tamimi home in 2012:

…references were made to the occupation of 1948. Not 1967 — when Nabi Saleh fell under Israeli control, having formerly been occupied by Jordan — but the year of Israel’s rebirth. “Non-violent resistance” was a strategic choice while it was stressed that under international law, the Palestinians were entitled to use “all necessary means” to resist occupation. I remembered hearing similar sentiments from Palestinian terrorists after Israeli buses and cafes had been targeted by suicide bombers.

Indeed, as seen in the video above, Ahed Tamimi herself called for exactly that sort of horrific violence.

Even so, op er author Hiba Khan is entitled to defend Tamimi and to criticize Israel in an opinion column. But she’s not allowed to misstate facts in order to do it, and “The Independent” must take corrective action.

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UN to Blacklist IDF for Child Abuse

Is this a joke or not?  Yes, the earth is flat, right is wrong, left is right. Who is prepared around the world to say "the emperor has no clothes?" It seems only Trump for all his twisting and weaving is calling a spade a bl---dy shovel.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is spearheading a campaign to have Israel included on a UN blacklist of “grave” violators of children’s rights.

NGO Monitor, the watchdog that exposed this scandal, explained that this political agenda is a primary facet of UNICEF’s activities relating to Israel, completely inconsistent with its mandate of “child protection” and its guidelines for neutrality and impartiality.

NGO Monitor said that UNICEF’s partners for this campaign are radical “advocacy” non-governmental organizations (NGOs)., which play an integral role in carrying out UNICEF’s anti-Israel campaign and receive substantial funding from UNICEF to do so.

The UN blacklist consists almost entirely of terror groups and militias from failed states.

“In essence, by pushing for the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) inclusion on the list, UNICEF and its NGO partners are claiming that Israel’s army is equivalent to ISIS [Islamic State], Boko Haram, the Taliban, and Al Qaeda,” 

Several UNICEF partners recommended inclusion of the IDF on the UN blacklist, but absurdly claimed they lacked sufficient evidence to recommend inclusion of the PFLP or the Hamas terror group.

While seeking to besmirch the IDF, UNICEF is simultaneously ignoring real crime committed by the Palestinians.

A key component of the UN’s Children and Armed Conflict campaign is to end the exploitation and use of children as combatants and child soldiers. Although Palestinian armed groups routinely use children in this way, there is little evidence that UNICEF funding is devoted towards exposing or ending this practice.

For more on this nonsense see https://unitedwithisrael.org/un-body-launches-campaign-to-blacklist-idf-for-child-abuse/?