Israel – Page 6 – praag.org

Apocalypse Blair

Mr Blair paid a singer to sing If I Ruled The World to him

While Gaza writhes in agony, Middle East Peace Envoy Tony Blair’s private jet last week was in Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Two months earlier Blair had certainly visited Las Vegas and Los Angeles on the same journey. In Las Vegas Blair was paid a large but undisclosed sum to attend a conference of hedge fund managers. His meetings in Los Angeles were “private”.

I have been unable to discover whether Blair was on his jet last week, or it was Cherie shopping or Alistair Campbell following up on the “business opportunities” for Blair from the July meetings. But he was evidently not in the Middle East. Just before the jet left for the USA he was in Britain hosting a lavish and deeply tasteless birthday party for his wife, two months before her birthday.

From the Daily Mail:

Guests sang Happy Birthday to Cherie, as waiters brought a garish pink-coloured cake into the marquee.

Mr Blair, whose role is to hammer out a ceasefire in times of conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, spent large sums of money to have celebrities perform to Ma Cherie Amour. Bobby Davro then impersonated a blushing Mr Blair, and sang If I Ruled The World, from the musical Pickwick.

Yesterday the Guardian announced Blair’s new role as adviser to the Government of Azerbaijan, to add to the money he gets from advising Sisi of Egypt, Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, numerous Gulf despots and any other dictator who does not realise that the Blair brand has become even more toxic than their own.

Blair’s attendance at the July conference of hedge fund managers was appropriate, as they are the epitome of the heartless irresponsibility and short term financial outlook of the new capitalism which Blair so heartily embraced. His fellow guest speaker at that conference was Francis Ford Coppola. I went to bed last night mulling this article and the aptness of combination of Tony Blair and Apocalypse Now.

Then I woke up this morning to the news that after twenty years of peace fighting had broken out between Blair’s brand new client, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. The man really is cursed. Perhaps once you voluntarily brought so much war and terrible death, there is no way to stop. Apocalypse Blair. He should rename that private jet The Four Horsemen.

Source: Craig Murray

When genocide is permissible by Yochanan Gordon

In this controversial text first published by Times of Israel, an American Jew argues that genocide of the Palestinians would be justified if that were the price of ‘restoring quiet’ in Israel

Judging by the numbers of casualties on both sides in this almost one-month old war one would be led to the conclusion that Israel has resorted to disproportionate means in fighting a far less- capable enemy. That is as far as what meets the eye. But, it’s now obvious that the US and the UN are completely out of touch with the nature of this foe and are therefore not qualified to dictate or enforce the rules of this war – because when it comes to terror there is much more than meets the eye.

I wasn’t aware of this, but it seems that the nature of warfare has undergone a major shift over the years. Where wars were usually waged to defeat the opposing side, today it seems – and judging by the number of foul calls it would indicate – that today’s wars are fought to a draw. I mean, whoever heard of a timeout in war? An NBA Basketball game allows six timeouts for each team during the course of a game, but last I checked this is a war! We are at war with an enemy whose charter calls for the annihilation of our people. Nothing, then, can be considered disproportionate when we are fighting for our very right to live.

The sad reality is that Israel gets it, but its hands are being tied by world leaders who over the past six years have insisted they are such good friends with the Jewish state, that they know more regarding its interests than even they do. But there’s going to have to come a time where Israel feels threatened enough where it has no other choice but to defy international warnings – because this is life or death.

Most of the reports coming from Gazan officials and leaders since the start of this operation have been either largely exaggerated or patently false. The truth is, it’s not their fault, falsehood and deceit is part of the very fabric of who they are and that will never change. Still however, despite their propensity to lie, when your enemy tells you that they are bent on your destruction you believe them. Similarly, when Khaled Meshal declares that no physical damage to Gaza will dampen their morale or weaken their resolve – they have to be believed. Our sage Gedalia the son of Achikam was given intelligence that Yishmael Ben Nesanyah was plotting to kill him. However, in his piety or rather naiveté Gedalia dismissed the report as a random act of gossip and paid no attention to it. To this day, the day following Rosh Hashana is commemorated as a fast day in the memory of Gedalia who was killed in cold blood on the second day of Rosh Hashana during the meal. They say the definition of insanity is repeating the same mistakes over and over. History is there to teach us lessons and the lesson here is that when your enemy swears to destroy you – you take him seriously.

Hamas has stated forthrightly that it idealizes death as much as Israel celebrates life. What other way then is there to deal with an enemy of this nature other than obliterate them completely?

News anchors such as those from CNN, BBC and Al-Jazeera have not missed an opportunity to point out the majority of innocent civilians who have lost their lives as a result of this war. But anyone who lives with rocket launchers installed or terror tunnels burrowed in or around the vicinity of their home cannot be considered an innocent civilian. If you’ll counter, that Hamas has been seen abusing civilians who have attempted to leave their homes in response to Israeli warnings to leave – well then, your beginning to come to terms with the nature of this enemy which should automatically cause the rules of standard warfare to be suspended.

Everyone agrees that Israel has the right to defend itself as well as the right to exercise that right. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has declared it, Obama and Kerry have clearly stated that no one could be expected to sit idle as thousands of rockets rain down on the heads of its citizens, placing them in clear and present danger. It seems then that the only point of contention is regarding the measure of punishment meted out in this situation.

I will conclude with a question for all the humanitarians out there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clearly stated at the outset of this incursion that his objective is to restore a sustainable quiet for the citizens of Israel. We have already established that it is the responsibility of every government to ensure the safety and security of its people. If political leaders and military experts determine that the only way to achieve its goal of sustaining quiet is through genocide is it then permissible to achieve those responsible goals?

What happened in Argentina

Vulture funds buy insolvent debts for a song and later try to cash in on them by force. Billionaire Paul Singer has made it his specialty. Today he is intent on consolidating his fortune at the expense of the Argentinian people, while already setting his sights on Spain

By Jérome Duval, Fatima Fafatale.

The vulture fund NML Capital that, together with others, has Argentina on the edge of suspending payments, is already devouring the rotting flesh of the Spanish market. Elliott Management, the opportunistic fund of the serial U.S. speculator Paul Singer, has already pocketed a billion euros of Bankia’s failed credit and 300 million euros of Santander. It is estimated that it has paid hardly 50 million for both these portfolios, according to Auraree.com.

In March 2013, the Spanish financial press informed that Elliott had acquired from the Santander Group a portfolio of 300 million euros of defaulting credit of Santander Consumer Finance with a discount approaching 96%. The price that was paid was laughable: about 12 million euros, according to Cinco Dias.

Elliott had acquired from the Santander Group a portfolio of 300 million euros as defaulting consumer credit of Santander Consumer Finance.

In August of the same year, 2013, Bankia, the nationalised entity that most benefited from the rescue of the Spanish banks, which had considerably raised the public debt, informed that three portfolios of bad credit had been sold for a total debt volume of 1,353.9 million euros. In the relevant communication to the CNMV (National Stock Market Commission), it was not mentioned to whom the loans had been sold to or at what price. Despite the evident lack of transparency, the financial press has put names and numbers to the operation, which it is estimated “may have a discount of 95%”. The buyers of the three portfolios were the vulture fund Cerberus, which is advised by José Maria Aznar Jr, the son of the former President, Elliott and the Norwegian recovery business, Lindorff. “The portfolio was valued at 1,354 million but only forked out 68,” according to Finanzas.com. We have been in contact with Bankia for confirmation from the other side and its response has been that “for confidentiality” they never give the number and “the buyers who do not want to be identified”.

A few months later, it emerged that Elliott bought the household debt recovery firm Gesif to convert it into his operational base for the Spanish market. Its director-general was Melania Sebastián, who was in charge of information management at the Banca Comercial de Caja Madrid, who will continue with the moneylenders of Gesif. It is worth noting how a former director of Caja Madrid acts as the intermediary between the nationalised Bankia and Elliott’s vulture fund.

What happened in Argentina

The vulture funds make money taking advantage of countries in difficulties, like Argentina during the crisis of 2001, to buy debts cheap. Later they wait for an opportune moment to oblige them to buy them back at a much higher price with court orders, including deferred interests and judicial costs.

This is how they speculate on public debts, endangering the social spending that benefits the great majority of the population. These vultures went for lawsuits after having refused to form a part of the 93% of creditors who accepted the exchange with the government. Now the New York district judge, Thomas Griesa, has prioritised the payment of the vulture funds, which opens the door to an avalanche of demands that could result in the suspension of payments in Argentina on July 30. As Julio C. Gambina puts it so well, “nobody precisely knows where the demands of the creditors could reach of the unpayable debt”, but we know that the cost for the Argentinean people could be catastrophic.

Who are behind these vulture funds? NML Capital is a subsidiary of the inversion fund, Elliott Management Corporation, registered in the fiscal paradise Cayman Islands. It is the empire of Paul Singer, the multimillionaire champion of the gay rights and neo-conservative aggression.

Elliott speculates, among other things, with public debts, violating the sovereignty of the states and its peoples. But he also speculates with private debts and in 2011 came to possess two million dollars of Lehman Brothers.

Singer was the major financier of the presidential campaign of George W. Bush in 2004; he also contributed to Mitt Romney’s campaign in 2012 and to that of the New York mayor, Rudolph Giuliani. Moreover, he is the major private financier of the New York police. As one of the principal financiers of the Republican Party, he plays an important part in the U.S. politics and, therefore, also in international politics.

The foundation that bears his name, The Paul E. Singer Foundation, praises him for his philanthropy, his leadership in the expansion of free trade, his contribution to U.S. national security and the “future of Israel”. Moreover, Singer is president of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.

The frigate is not for handing over or for sale

Regarding the Argentinean case, NML is the principal financier of the organisation, American Task Force Argentina (AFTA), a lobby that influences the Congress and the U.S. justice, harming Argentina. To give ourselves an idea of the power of these vultures, NML could even embargo the Argentinean frigate, Liberty, in Ghana in October 2012, demanding the Argentinean state for about $370 million for unpaid bonds.

Enough of vultures: Argentina united for a national cause

What is happening in Argentina is emblematic of what Greece is starting to feel where vultures like Dart Management operate, with its headquarters in Cayman Island and which also operates in Latin American countries. In 1999, NML achieved, through a ruling in the United States, the payment from Peru of $58 million for a debt that the fund had bought for $11 million. It also did business with the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Source: voltairenet.org

Israel declares ceasefire over and kills 50 Palestinians

Israel declared a Gaza ceasefire over on Friday and killed more than 50 Palestinians in renewed shelling, saying militants had breached the truce shortly after it began and apparently captured an Israeli soldier.

The 72-hour break announced by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was the most ambitious attempt so far to end more than three weeks of fighting, and followed mounting international alarm over a rising Palestinian civilian death toll.

The ceasefire, which began at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT), had prompted Palestinian families to trek back to battle-devastated neighbourhoods where rows of homes have been reduced to rubble. It was to be followed by Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in Cairo on a longer-term solution.

The Israeli military said that 90 minutes into the truce, militants attacked soldiers searching for tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip.

Asked if the ceasefire was over, Lerner replied: “Yes. We are continuing our activities on the ground.” He said Israeli forces were mounting an “extensive effort” to locate the soldier.

The Gaza Health Ministry said more than 50 people were killed and 220 wounded by Israeli shelling after the incident near the southern town of Rafah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a special meeting of his security cabinet for later on Friday. A statement from his office said the Israeli leader spoke by telephone with Kerry and told him “the Palestinians had blatantly breached the humanitarian ceasefire and attacked our soldiers”.

Source: Reuters

Bolivia declares Israel a ‘terrorist state’

Bolivia has declared Israel to be a “terrorist state” and renounced a visa exemption agreement with the country in protest over the ongoing Israeli military offense in Gaza which already killed more than 1,300 dead and left over 7,000 wounded.

Canceling the 1972 agreement which allowed Israelis to travel freely to Bolivia “means, in other words, we are declaring (Israel) a terrorist state,” the country’s President Evo Morales announced.

Morales explained that Operation Protective edge clearly shows that “Israel is not a guarantor of the principles of respect for life and the elementary precepts of rights that govern the peaceful and harmonious coexistence of our international community.”

The announcement came after a cabinet meeting of the government of Evo Morales which decided that; “The Bolivian state and people have made a firm decision to terminate the agreement on visas to Israel, from August 17, 1972, signed under a regime of dictatorship in Bolivia and that allowed Israeli citizens to enter Bolivia freely without even entry visa.”

Bolivia broke off diplomatic relations with Israel in 2009 over a previous military operation in Gaza.

Just on Wednesday morning shelling of a UN School in Gaza, left at least 20 dead. The incident has brought worldwide condemnation.

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned a deadly attack by Israel against a UN school in the besieged Gaza Strip.

“It is outrageous. It is unjustifiable. And it demands accountability and justice,” said the UN chief in Costa Rica on Wednesday.

The IDF military campaign which began July 8, so far has left more than 1,300 dead and over 7,000 wounded.

Source: RT

Five Latin American countries recall ambassadors form Israel

El Salvador has joined four Latin American countries in recalling its Israel ambassador from Tel Aviv in protest at the military’s ground and air offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru have all recalled their diplomatic representatives to Israel.

The Chilean foreign ministry in Santiago said its ambassador was being brought back to the country because of “the escalation of Israeli military operations in Gaza”.

“Chile notes with great concern and dismay that such military operations, which at this stage of development are subject to a collective punishment against the Palestinian civilian population in Gaza, do not respect fundamental rules of international humanitarian law.”

Brazil had earlier denounced the “disproportionate use of force by Israel” before recalling the Ambassador of Brazil in Tel Aviv to Brasilia.

The United Nations Human Rights Council, consisting of 46 members, also voted unanimously to investigate potential Israeli ‘war crimes’ in the territory. The only member to vote against the resolution was the United States while many European Union nations abstained.

US restocks Israel with ammunition hours after condemning UN school attack

The United States confirmed it had restocked Israel’s supplies of ammunition, hours after issuing a strong condemnation of an attack on a United Nations school in Gaza, AFP reported.

The Israeli military requested additional ammunition to restock its dwindling supplies on July 20, the Pentagon said. The US Defense Department approved the sale just three days later.

“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said in a statement.

“This defense sale is consistent with those objectives.”

Two of the requested munitions came from a little-known stockpile of ammunition stored by the US military on the ground in Israel for emergency use by the Jewish state. The War Reserve Stockpile Ammunition-Israel is estimated to be worth $1 billion.

The decision to provide ammunition to Israel could fuel controversy, coming just as Washington expresses growing concern about the deaths of more than 1,300 Palestinians, most of them civilians, since the Israeli operation began on July 8.

Woolworths will continue stocking Israeli goods

After Julius Malema and the EFF’s calls for a boycott of Woolworths, there was some consternation in South Africa’s Jewish community as to whether they should not boycott Woolworths too: for acceding to Malema’s demands!

However, according to the South African Jewish Report, this is not the case and “Woolworths hadn’t given the ‘demands’ a second thought.”

“Less than 0.1 per cent of our food is sourced from Israel,” says Woolworths. That’s a far cry from the percentage of their business they do with SA Jewry, although that never factored into their decision. “Woolworths has no political affiliations,” they stated emphatically.

And, as a sign of good faith to the Jewish community, Woolies have posted the following statement on their corporate website:

‘Sourcing from Israel’

“We can confirm that we have not stopped stocking Israeli products in Woolworths stores.

“Woolworths has no political affiliations. We respect our customers’ right to make individual purchasing choices, which is why we clearly label every product’s country of origin and fully comply with government guidelines on product from Israel.

“Less than 0.1% of our food is sourced from Israel,” reads their notice.

Panic set in community

Woolworths confirmed to Jewish Report that their customer support lines were inundated with calls from Jewish customers – although they have no idea where the rumours started.

So rattled was SA Jewry by the concerns that the SA Zionist Federation issued two statements to their mailing lists and the media reaffirming Woolworths’ position.

Letter to the South African Jewish Report

The SAJR published the following “letter from reader Joane Frank, which is representative of the numerous enquiries that SAJR received”:

This morning my daughter reported to me that she heard the DJ on the Morning Mayhem show of ChaiFM [Jewish community radio station in Johannesburg – editor’s note] state that Woolworths will no longer be stocking Israeli goods.

This naturally upset me and I called the Woolworths loyalty card department to ask them what their records reflect that I spend. I didn’t hear the name of the person who took my call, but he happily stated that my average spend is some R8 000 per year. This was then the amount, I informed him, that I will no longer be spending. I stated that I have been shopping at Woolworths for over thirty years and if it is indeed true that Woolworths will no longer stock Israeli goods then I will return my loyalty card and never set foot in the store again.

Now I may not have the conversation word perfect because I wasn’t taking notes, but the following was clear: the Woolworths man on the phone spoke with knowledge of the issue and responded that Israeli goods only make up about 1% of Woolworths stock and that Woolworths are considering the position. Considering the position?

Does this mean that Woolworths are just contemplating not stocking Israeli goods? And why? My daughter called the Woolworths Customer Service line to be told that the issue is “under review” which infers a decision was already taken or that they are indeed contemplating such a decision.

Following my inquiries to the Chevrah Kadisha, Tania at the Chev called me back to say she had spoken to a Woolworths “PR” at the head office who said this is all just a rumour.

Well was it?

As ChaiFM had broadcast the news I assumed this wasn’t just on rumour and requested their comment. Kathy Kaler responded that she spoke to the head of Woolworths marketing who put her on to the Woolworths Media liaison who confirmed that in fact Woolworths will no longer be stocking produce from Israel, and that they may overturn this when they see the reaction from the community but as it stands, there is no Israeli produce in the stores.

I’m still not shopping at Woolworths any more until I hear the company’s satisfactory stance on the matter, especially in view of the overt hostilities being expressed towards the Jewish community during this latest Israeli ordeal. Whether we hear it as crude threats or masterful public relations, we should take care to understand the underlying sentiment.

There are a growing number of distressing anecdotes about local commercial entities who are now refusing to sell or give services to Jews. Could the Jewish Report encourage members of the community to report these incidents for publication so that the safety implications could register on the communal scale? This would also help give the lie to the we’re-not-anti-Semitic-we’re-only-anti-Israel agenda.

Johannesburg Jews are going to protest on Saturday 3 August to show their support for Israel at Huddle Park, in the north-east of Johannesburg, close to where most Jews live.

‘Anti-Semitism and far-right correlate’

Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky warned last week that “we are seeing the beginning of the end of Jewish history in Europe,” in an op-ed published in the U.K.’s Jewish Chronicle last week.

Sharansky joins a number of European figures, including French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, to warn about the alarming rise of anti-Semitism on the continent since the beginning of Israel’s military operation in Gaza on July 8.

In Britain alone, the number of anti-Jewish incidents has more than doubled in the past month. According to a report in the Daily Mail, more than 100 events have been recorded since the beginning of Operation Protective Edge, the second-highest total since Israel’s Operation Pillar of Defense in 2008.

Newsweek’s upcoming cover story on rising European anti-Semitism highlights the rise in far-right political parties as directly correlated to rising numbers of anti-Semitism throughout European countries.

Sharansky himself estimated in June that between 5,000 and 6,000 Jews were expected to leave France for Israel this year because of anti-Semitism.

“Never in the history of the State of Israel has there been a Jewish community in the free world that has sent such a large proportion of its Jews to Israel,” Sharansky said at the time.

Sharansky has been an outspoken critic of European anti-Semitism since the early 1970s, when he became the symbol of Soviet Jewry’s struggle for human rights.

Israel shells Gaza’s only power plant

Over a million people in Gaza could be without electricity after Israeli tank shells hit the fuel depot of the enclave’s only power station, causing it to shut down. Its director, Mohammed al-Sharif, said, “The power plant is finished.”

A thick column of black smoke rose from the facility, which supplies the territory with two-thirds of its energy needs, and the fuel containers were in flames. Al-Sharif added that the local fire brigade was not equipped to extinguish the blaze.

The deputy director of the energy authority in the Palestinian territory, Fathi al-Sheikh Khalil, told AFP: “Gaza’s sole power plant has stopped working due to Israeli shelling last night, which damaged the steam generator and later hit the fuel tanks which set them on fire.”

Gaza’s power plant was forced to shut down after two tank shells hit one of three fuel tanks, said Jamal Dardasawi, a spokesman for Gaza’s electricity distribution company. The shelling sparked a large fire and a huge column of smoke was seen rising from the site. Dardasawi said 15 workers were trapped inside by the fire and that the damage would take months to repair. There was no immediate word on casualties, AP reported.

Source: RT

Campaign to support Gaza launched outside Parliament

A coalition of grassroots activists have launched a daily picket campaign outside Parliament, to protest against events unfolding in Gaza.

The campaign is organised by the Action Forum in Support of Palestine, based in Cape Town, which has also run a boycott of Israeli goods at various supermarkets.

One of the forum organisers, Shaheed Mahomed, said their meetings have comprised “50 people linked to various organisations and activist networks”.

“People are very clear that this is not a religious movement, and all religions are welcome.”

Mahomed said they would meet outside Parliament from 12pm to 2pm. From Tuesday, they would gather at the Grand Parade daily from 4pm to “turn it into a Tahrir Square, mimicking protests in Cairo”.

“There is a genocide in Gaza. We feel there needs to be more pressure put on the government to act. We are going into a daily picket mode until our government expels the Israeli ambassador,” said Mahomed.

“We also want any South African citizen who is in the Israeli army to be prosecuted immediately. Our government must cut trade links with Israel.”

The forum has called on locals to boycott local retailers that “continue to import food products from Israel”.

This involves “filling trolleys with Israeli goods and goods from companies that support Israel, have the tills ring up the goods, call the manager and speak about removing all these goods from the shelves”.

Other local NGOs have assisted Palestinians in Gaza with medical and food supplies.

Imtiaz Sooliman, founder of Gift of the Givers, said their “teams have already delivered much needed aid to various hospitals in Gaza”.

“We are preparing a humanitarian aid flight for Gaza, with specialist medical teams, emergency equipment and medical supplies. Medical personnel specific to the situation are being selected from the overwhelming response of 120 volunteers who have responded for this dangerous and high risk mission,” said Sooliman.

He said there was a “lack of medical equipment, medicines, general medical supplies and a shortage of skilled trauma specialists” in Gaza.

Sooliman said they were in contact with the Egyptian government via the South Africa department of international relations and cooperation.

“We are just waiting for the go-ahead from Egypt so we can enter Gaza through the Rafah border crossing. We depend now only on diplomatic support,” he said.

The Cape Town-based South African National Zakah Fund this week sent R1-million to assist Palestinians in Gaza with food. It said the funds was handed to an international NGO that has offices in Palestine and it had purchased and distributed food this week, ahead of Eid ul-Fitr celebrations.

Israel follows American expert’s public-relations rules

Israeli spokesmen have their work cut out explaining how they have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them civilians, compared with just three civilians killed in Israel by Hamas rocket and mortar fire. But on television and radio and in newspapers, Israeli government spokesmen such as Mark Regev appear slicker and less aggressive than their predecessors, who were often visibly indifferent to how many Palestinians were killed.

There is a reason for this enhancement of the PR skills of Israeli spokesmen. Going by what they say, the playbook they are using is a professional, well-researched and confidential study on how to influence the media and public opinion in America and Europe. Written by the expert Republican pollster and political strategist Dr Frank Luntz, the study was commissioned five years ago by a group called The Israel Project, with offices in the US and Israel, for use by those “who are on the front lines of fighting the media war for Israel”.

Every one of the 112 pages in the booklet is marked “not for distribution or publication” and it is easy to see why. The Luntz report, officially entitled “The Israel project’s 2009 Global Language Dictionary, was leaked almost immediately to Newsweek Online, but its true importance has seldom been appreciated. It should be required reading for everybody, especially journalists, interested in any aspect of Israeli policy because of its “dos and don’ts” for Israeli spokesmen.

These are highly illuminating about the gap between what Israeli officials and politicians really believe, and what they say, the latter shaped in minute detail by polling to determine what Americans want to hear. Certainly, no journalist interviewing an Israeli spokesman should do so without reading this preview of many of the themes and phrases employed by Mr Regev and his colleagues.

The booklet is full of meaty advice about how they should shape their answers for different audiences. For example, the study says that “Americans agree that Israel ‘has a right to defensible borders’. But it does you no good to define exactly what those borders should be. Avoid talking about borders in terms of pre- or post-1967, because it only serves to remind Americans of Israel’s military history. Particularly on the left this does you harm. For instance, support for Israel’s right to defensible borders drops from a heady 89 per cent to under 60 per cent when you talk about it in terms of 1967.”

How about the right of return for Palestinian refugees who were expelled or fled in 1948 and in the following years, and who are not allowed to go back to their homes? Here Dr Luntz has subtle advice for spokesmen, saying that “the right of return is a tough issue for Israelis to communicate effectively because much of Israeli language sounds like the ‘separate but equal’ words of the 1950s segregationists and the 1980s advocates of Apartheid. The fact is, Americans don’t like, don’t believe and don’t accept the concept of ‘separate but equal’.”

So how should spokesmen deal with what the booklet admits is a tough question? They should call it a “demand”, on the grounds that Americans don’t like people who make demands. “Then say ‘Palestinians aren’t content with their own state. Now they’re demanding territory inside Israel’.” Other suggestions for an effective Israeli response include saying that the right of return might become part of a final settlement “at some point in the future”.

Dr Luntz notes that Americans as a whole are fearful of mass immigration into the US, so mention of “mass Palestinian immigration” into Israel will not go down well with them. If nothing else works, say that the return of Palestinians would “derail the effort to achieve peace”.

The Luntz report was written in the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 and January 2009, when 1,387 Palestinians and nine Israelis were killed.

There is a whole chapter on “isolating Iran-backed Hamas as an obstacle to peace”. Unfortunately, come the current Operation Protective Edge, which began on 6 July, there was a problem for Israeli propagandists because Hamas had quarrelled with Iran over the war in Syria and had no contact with Tehran. Friendly relations have been resumed only in the past few days – thanks to the Israeli invasion.

Much of Dr Luntz’s advice is about the tone and presentation of the Israeli case. He says it is absolutely crucial to exude empathy for Palestinians: “Persuadables [sic] won’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Show Empathy for BOTH sides!” This may explain why a number of Israeli spokesman are almost lachrymose about the plight of Palestinians being pounded by Israeli bombs and shells.

In a sentence in bold type, underlined and with capitalisation, Dr Luntz says that Israeli spokesmen or political leaders must never, ever justify “the deliberate slaughter of innocent women and children” and they must aggressively challenge those who accuse Israel of such a crime. Israeli spokesmen struggled to be true to this prescription when 16 Palestinians were killed in a UN shelter in Gaza last Thursday.

There is a list of words and phrases to be used and a list of those to be avoided. Schmaltz is at a premium: “The best way, the only way, to achieve lasting peace is to achieve mutual respect.” Above all, Israel’s desire for peace with the Palestinians should be emphasised at all times because this what Americans overwhelmingly want to happen. But any pressure on Israel to actually make peace can be reduced by saying “one step at a time, one day at a time”, which will be accepted as “a commonsense approach to the land-for-peace equation”.

Dr Luntz cites as an example of an “effective Israeli sound bite” one which reads: “I particularly want to reach out to Palestinian mothers who have lost their children. No parent should have to bury their child.”

The study admits that the Israeli government does not really want a two-state solution, but says this should be masked because 78 per cent of Americans do. Hopes for the economic betterment of Palestinians should be emphasised.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is quoted with approval for saying that it is “time for someone to ask Hamas: what exactly are YOU doing to bring prosperity to your people”. The hypocrisy of this beggars belief: it is the seven-year-old Israeli economic siege that has reduced the Gaza to poverty and misery.

On every occasion, the presentation of events by Israeli spokesmen is geared to giving Americans and Europeans the impression that Israel wants peace with the Palestinians and is prepared to compromise to achieve this, when all the evidence is that it does not. Though it was not intended as such, few more revealing studies have been written about modern Israel in times of war and peace. – UK Independent

Ban Ki-Moon condemns Israeli attack on UN school in Gaza

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned Israeli attack on one of the UN-run schools in Beit Hanoun, serving as a shelter to Palestinian refugees.

“I am appalled by the news of an attack on an UNRWA school in Northern Gaza where hundreds of people had taken refuge,” Ban Ki-moon said Thursday.

Speaking from Erbil, Ban stated that “many have been killed – including women and children, as well as UN staff. Circumstances are still unclear. I strongly condemn this act.”

UN Secretary General noted that “more than 100,000 Gazans – that’s five percent of the total population – have sought refuge in UNRWA facilities. I once again stress to all sides that they must abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law to respect the sanctity of civilian life, the inviolability of UN premises and to honor their obligations to humanitarian workers.”

The deaths increased to 788 killed in total in Gaza and more than 5 000 wounded. The numbers do not include more than a dozen Palestins killed in southern Israel since the conflict began on 8 July.

Joe Biden’s son, oligarch fingered in MH17 crash

NATO held an exercise code named «BREEZE 2014» that ended in Black Sea. The exercise, which included the use of electronic warfare and electronic intelligence aircraft such as the Boeing EA-18G Growler and the Boeing E3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), coincided with the shootdown of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine, some 40 miles from the Russian border.

NATO ships and aircraft had the Donetsk and Lugansk regions under total radar and electronic surveillance.

MH-17 was shot down over a region where Russian-speaking separatist forces have been battling against the alliance of the Ukrainian armed forces and a private mercenary force answerable to a Ukrainian-Israeli billionaire oligarch.

About 200 U.S. Army personnel normally assigned to bases in Germany were in Ukraine during the time of the MH-17 fly-over. They were participating in NATO exercise RAPID TRIDENT II. Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense led the exercise.

BREEZE included the AEGIS-class guided missile cruiser USS Vela Gulf. AEGIS cruisers’ AN/SPY 1 radar has the ability to track all aircraft over a large region.

The USS Vela Gulf was able to track Malaysian Airlines 17 over the Black Sea and any missiles fired at the plane. U.S. AWACS electronic intelligence (ELINT) aircraft were also flying over the Black Sea region at the time of the MH-17 flyover of Ukraine. Growler aircraft have the capability to jam radar systems in all surface-to-air threats.

The announcement of U.S. BREEZE and RAPID TRIDENT II military maneuvers came on May 21, 2014, and were announced on the website operated by Vice President Joe Biden’s office. Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, is a newly-named director of the Ukrainian natural gas and oil company Burisma Holdings, Ltd., owned by Kolomoisky, an Ukrainian-Israeli.

Kolomoisky has raised his own private mercenary army, and some say they even own the BUK missiles allegedly used in the shootdown of MH-17. Kolomoisky is the Governor of Dnipropetrovsk oblast in eastern Ukraine.

Burisma is part of Kolomoisky’s large umbrella corporation called Privat Group. He is estimated to be the second-richest person in Ukraine, also has strong connections inside Kiev’s Borispol International Airport, where it has been reported that Ukrainian Interior Ministry troops stormed the air traffic control tower shortly before MH-17 was shot down.

A Spanish air traffic controller, who possessed knowledge of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s involvement in the shootdown of MH-17, has reportedly had his life threatened. The Spanish controller, identified only as «Carlos,» understood that the shootdown of MH-17 was carried out by supporters of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Interior Minister Arsen Avakov. Kolomoisky is a political ally of both Tymoshenko and Avakov.

Kolomoisky’s forces are armed with advanced weaponry, obtained both from Ukrainian weapons inventories and from purchases on the black market. Kolomoisky’s forces, comprising Ukrainian regular military personnel; neo-Nazi units from west Ukraine, and foreign mercenaries, including Georgians, Romanians, and mercenaries from Sweden and Germany.

His troops were also responsible for the deadly May 1 fire-bombing of the trade union building in Odessa and burning people alive inside the Mariupol Police Station on May 9.

Georgians who serve in Kolomoisky’s Army have reportedly been trained in the use of BUK missile systems previously sold by Ukraine to Georgia under the presidency of Mikheil Saakashvili. Kolomoisky has utilized ex-President Saakashvili’s «consulting services» in Dnipropetrovsk in the military and political campaign against the breakaway people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.

Kolomoisky chooses to «command» his army from the safety of Switzerland.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and Kolomoyskyi will bear responsibility for their crimes, Russian Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin said Thursday.

“Avakov and Kolomoyskyi aren’t going anywhere. Sooner or later they will be held accountable for their criminal responsibility according to the norms of international law,” Bastrykin said.

As events in Ukraine continue to unravel, Russia is launching criminal cases against both individuals. The Russian Investigative Committee identified 2,700 victims in the criminal cases in the Ukrainian crisis, accusing Avakov and Kolomoyskyi of organizing unlawful massacres.

The testimonies came shortly after Russia issued arrest warrants for Avakov and Kolomoyskyi on charges of organizing murders and abductions, using banned means and methods of warfare, and preventing journalists from entering in the country.

Russian courts sentenced both Avakov and Kolomoyskyi in absentia in early July with the decision driven by the threat the two pose to regional security.

The shooting down of MH-17 drew the attention of the world’s media away from a ground invasion of Gaza.