GPL M/ EAST UPDATES FROM . NOV 27.. NO. 145

EGYPT PARLIAMENT: POLICE UNABLE TO CONTROL SMUGGLING TUNNELS: (AP/MSNBC)
The Egyptian parliament’s defense committee says the situation at the border with Israel is dangerous because of increased smuggling operations through the tunnels and the unrestricted spread of weapons among the Bedouin, the state-owned Al-Gomhuria daily reported Wednesday November 26

JORDAN SEALS NUCLEAR DEAL WITH CHINA : (Medialine-Jerusalem Post)
Jordan signed a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with China on Monday November 24. China will help Jordan mine and enrich uranium, as well as assist in training and studies to build a nuclear station, said Khalid Tuqan, head of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission Jordan is said to have large reserves of uranium, and a nuclear plant could supply nearly a third of the country’s energy requirements by 2030..

IRAN’S AYATOLLAH KHAMENEI ; UNITE AGAINST ISRAEL :
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told visiting Lebanese President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday November 25, that the Lebanese people should unite to confront Israel.

ISRAEL PROTESTS BOYCOTT CALL BY U.N. GEN. ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT: - Yitzhak Benhorin
Israel filed a formal complaint with the UN on Tuesday November 25, over statements made by General Assembly President Father Miguel Brockmann of Nicaragua, who called for an international boycott of Israel after accusing it of being an apartheid regime.

LIBYA TESTING ISRAEL IN GAZA : by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A Libyan ship with 3,000 tons of food and medicine is headed for the Gaza coast in a widening effort to break Israeli’s sovereignty over coastal waters. Israeli government spokesmen were not aware of the report, published by Afrique-Actualite, but said that a decision if and how to react “will be made when it becomes relevant.” The ship eventually turned back after facing Israeli Naval force.

OLMERT NOTIFIED OF COMING INDICTMENT IN ‘RISHON TOURS’ AFFAIR :
Already a caretaker prime minister of a defunct government, Israeli leader Ehud Olmert is being urged to suspend himself after Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz notified him on Wednesday November 26, of a planned indictment on several criminal charges relating to the Rishon Tours affair. Mazuz told Olmert to expect an indictment on charges of fraudulent receipt of goods under aggravated circumstances, fraud, breach of public trust, false registration in corporate documents and tax evasion. The prime minister is suspected of double billing the state and several non-profit organizations for trips abroad, skimming off around $110,000 that was then used for family vacations.

IAEA APPROVES NUCLEAR AID TO SYRIA OVER US OBJECTIONS:
After three days of deadlocked debate, the International Atomic Energy Agency at mid-week approved technical aid for a Syrian nuclear reactor despite suspicions that the country was building a secret plant that could have produced fissile material needed to make atomic weapons.

IRAN TESTS NEW ‘SPACE’ MISSILE WHILST INCREASING NUCLEAR PRODUCTION :
Iranian state media reported advances in the Islamic regime’s nuclear development and missile programs on Wednesday. In direct defiance of UN demands that Iran halt its nuclear program, the Islamic Republic announced that it now has 5,000 centrifuges operating at its uranium enrichment plant Later Wednesday November 26, state media reported the successful launch of the “Kavosh 2″ rocket, a ballistic missile designed to “create a basis for scientific and technological development in the field of space.” Israeli missile experts contend that Iran’s “space program” is really a cover for developing inter-continental ballistic missiles.

‘BIRTHRIGHT PROGRAM’ NOW SCREENING FOR MESSIANICS :
Organizers for birthright, a popular program offering one-time free trips to Israel for Jewish youths abroad, recently began screening American applicants in order to prevent Messianic Jews from participating. Candidates are now asked to declare that, “I do not subscribe to any beliefs or follow any practices which may be in any way associated with Messianic Judaism, Jews for Jesus or Hebrew Christians.”

AID AGENCIES SEEK $462 MILLION FOR PALESTINIANS: - Shawna Ohm (AP/Washington Post)
The UN and other aid agencies appealed to the international community Wednesday November 26, to send $462 million in emergency assistance to the Palestinian territories. It is the seventh annual request for emergency funds, besides hundreds of millions of dollars in normal operating budgets. Kuwait, the EU, and the U.S. were last year’s largest donors

RUSSIAN TOURISTS DESCEND ON EILAT : - Yanir Yagna, Irit Rosenblum and Zohar Blumenkrantz (Ha’aretz)
Between 25,000 and 30,000 Russian tourists are expected to fly directly to the Israeli resort city of Eilat by the end of April on seven weekly charter flights from Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The Russians began coming in large numbers last month, after the visa requirement for Russians visiting Israel was waived.

TERRORISTS TARGET WESTERNERS IN MUMBAI (BOMBAY) INDIA- Rama Lakshmi
Gunmen attacked three luxury hotels, a hospital, a train station, a movie theater and other buildings in Mumbai Wednesday, killing at least 100 people and wounding more than 300. The attackers took dozens of people hostage, and witnesses said they were seeking out Americans and Britons. It is suspected that about 5 of the terrorists escaped from the sites.
292 KIDS KILLED AS TERRORISTS: by Maayana Miskin
Almost 300 children have been killed while taking part in terrorist attacks over the past eight years, Aa Palestinian Authority researcher Mahdi Jaradat has revealed. A total of 3,973 PA Arabs died in the past eight years while committing acts of terrorism, he found. Fatah had the most fatalities, with a total of 1,437 terrorists, 128 of them children, killed since September 28, 2000. Hamas was in second place with 1,410 killed in the same time period, 96 of them minors. Fifty-three children were killed while taking part in Islamic Jihad operations.

ISRAELI SURGEONS WELD WOUNDS SHUT WITH SURGICAL LASER : - Judy Siegel (Jerusalem Post)
A team of applied physicists at Tel Aviv University led by Prof. Abraham Katzir have developed an efficient and safe way to close incisions using a technique called “laser welding” in which biological glue is smeared on the two sides of the incision. Then a laser warms it at the correct temperature to create a hard “shell” that protects the wound and allows it to heal. They use a temperature-controlled carbon dioxide laser and special silver halide optical fibers to prevent overheating and burns.

INDIAN COMMANDOS STORM JEWISH CENTRE IN MUMBAI : - Keith Bradsher and Somini Sengupta
Indian commandos Friday morning November 28, stormed the Habad Jewish center that had been seized by terrorists during a coordinated series of attacks on Mumbai. While many of the targets seemed to indicate a focus on tourists and Westerners, most of the victims were Indians. The gunmen appear to have come ashore at the Sassoon Docks, not far from the Leopold Cafe, one of the first places struck Wednesday night. They moved on to the railway station, then opened fire on Cama and Albless Hospital.

CANADA LEADS IN PUSHING UN CENSURE OF IRAN: - Paul Lungen
A resolution that Canada spearheaded censuring Iran for violations of human rights passed in a UN General Assembly committee last week. The resolution accuses Iran of “torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including flogging and amputations.” It criticizes Iran for executing juveniles, killing people by stoning, and discriminating against women and girls. It also calls on Iran to end human rights violations affecting religious and ethnic minorities, among them Jews, Christians, Kurds, Arabs, Sunni Muslims and, in particular, Baha’is. The resolution was co-sponsored by 42 mostly European and North American democracies, plus Israel, Fiji and Micronesia. Seventy members of the General Assembly’s Third Committee voted in favor of the motion. (Canadian Jewish News)

JERUSALEM SYMPOSIUM DISCUSSES SCANDINANIAN ANTI-SEMITISM : - Cnaan Liphshiz
“Norway is the most anti-Semitic country in Scandinavia,” Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, a scholar of Western European anti-Semitism, told a discussion on Scandinavian anti-Semitism and Israel-hatred hosted on Tuesday by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Gerstenfeld presented cartoons from the Norwegian mainstream press and noted, “There is something wrong with a society which is willing to accept these Nazi cartoons. With a Jewish population of only 1,300, Norway has led the pack in anti-Semitism before, during and after WWII.” Zvi Mazel, a former ambassador to Sweden, spoke of a “deep-rooted” anti-Semitism in Sweden, while Dr. Efraim Zuroff, director of the Wiesenthal Center in Israel - which co-sponsored the event - addressed Norway and Sweden’s failure to prosecute Nazi war criminals. (Ha’aretz)

SANCTIONS ? WHAT SANCTIONS ? GERMAN-IRANIAN TRADE BOOMS :- Matthias Kuntzel
While the U.S. reacts to reports that Iran had enriched enough uranium for a nuclear weapon with concern and calls for tighter sanctions, in Germany it is business as usual. On Thursday November 27, many of the leading lights of German-Iranian trade gathered at a conference in Hamburg on “Iran Sanctions: Practical Consequence for German Firms” to discuss how further to promote German business with Iran. German exports to Iran are reputed to be up 14% in the first seven months of this year.

SECURITY FENCE MAKES VAST DIFFERENCE TO LIFE IN ISRAE L : - Licia Corbella
Since the security fence was built, there have been no more suicide murders and no more sniping at children walking to and from school in Jerusalem. Khaled Abu Toameh, an Arab Muslim journalist who lives in Israel and writes for the Jerusalem Post, says life was unbearable and extremely dangerous before the fence was erected. But let’s be honest, what other choice did the Israelis have?” he asks. “If I were the Israeli authorities, I would write on the wall that this wall was made by Yasser Arafat and Hamas,” said Abu Toameh. (Calgary Herald-Canada)

PA SEEKS TO IMPOVERISH YESHA : by Maayana Miskin
The Palestinian Authority is planning a series of steps aimed at causing Jews in Judea and Samaria to lose their source of income by reducing or eliminating foreign sales of Judea and Samaria-made products. The plan was announced by PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Thursday November 27. Fayyad asked PA officials abroad to pressure foreign governments to ban Israeli goods from Judea and Samaria or tax them at a higher rate. Fayyad praised Britain, which has already taken steps to discriminate between Israeli goods and produce from west of the 1949 armistice and those from Judea and Samaria.

MAYOR ; OLMDERT IS DIVIDING JERUSALEM : by Hillel Fendel
Outgoing Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski says that Olmert’s policies in Jerusalem manifest his desire to split the city. “When we talk about keeping the city unified,” Lupolianski said, “it must be clear that this cannot be done in a city that has such wide gaps [between the Jewish and Arab sector. But the government is, de facto, dividing the city.”

GAZA TERRORISTS UPGRADE MORTARS : by Hana Levi Julian
Gaza terrorists have upgraded their mortars and changed their tactics, catching IDF troops by surprise over the Sabbath in an intense mortar attack on the Nahal Oz army base. The Hamas terrorist organization has acquired advanced 120-mm mortar shells that are more accurate and lethal than the previous models . Hamas has adopted a routine of planting bombs along the Gaza separation barrier, and using the provocation to draw counterterrorist fire by IDF soldiers. The terrorists then respond by firing mortar shells with a range that can reach as far as the nearby army bases

OBAMA NAMES HILLARY CLINTON AS SECRETARY OF STATE :
Saying he wanted to work with “strong personalities with strong opinions” to invigorate debate inside his White House, US president-elect Barack Obama on Monday December 1 appointed campaign rival Sen. Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state, while leaving current defense secretary Robert Gates in place for the time being . Obama’s national security team will also feature retired Marine Gen. James Jones - a former top commander of NATO who has been working of late to build Palestinian security forces - as White House national security adviser

ISRAELI CABINET VOTES TO RELEASE 250 MORE PALESTINIAN PRISONERS :
At the request of caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the Israeli cabinet on Sunday November 30, approved the release of 250 more Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to mark the upcoming Muslim holiday of Eid al-Afha. Olmert had promised the “confidence building measure” two weeks earlier during a meeting with Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas in order to bolster his popularity while weakening Hamas.

ARAB LEAGUE FMs URGE ABBAS TO STAY IN OFFICE :
The Arab League foreign ministers on Thursday November 27 called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, whose term expires on January 9, to stay in office until the dispute between Fatah and Hamas is resolved and until new elections are held in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

ISREAEL TURNS BACK LIBYAN SHIP BOUND FOR GAZA
The Israeli Navy on Monday December 1, turned away a Libyan boat heading to Gaza with 3,000 tons of humanitarian aid. Israel sent two navy ships, a fighter jet, and a submarine to prevent the ship from breaking Israel’s blockade of the Strip, according to the official Libyan news agency. Israeli defense official explained that, “Libya is a hostile state to Israel and what guarantees do we have that the boat is not carrying weapons and explosives for Hamas?”

BUSH TO OLMERT: WHY ARE YOU GIVING THE GOLAN TO SYRIA FOR NOTHING ?
In their last official meeting at the White House one week ago, U.S. President George Bush queried Israel’s caretaker prime minister Ehud Olmert on why he is offering Syria the Golan Heights without getting anything in exchange, according to Ha’aretz. Sources told the Israeli daily that after Olmert updated Bush on Israel’s indirect talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad, the outgoing US president demanded, “Why do you want to give Assad the Golan for nothing?” Olmert replied that, “It’s not for nothing. It’s in exchange for a change in the region’s strategic alignment.” Bush persisted: “Why should you believe him?”

ANTI-ISRAEL CHR ISTMAS CAROLING SERVICE SET FOR LONDON CHURCH :
Pro-Palestinian activists in the UK are organizing a special Christmas concert at a famous church in London this Wednesday December 3, that will feature traditional holiday carols which have been altered to include strong condemnations of Israel. Rather than bringing tidings of comfort and joy, the participants will instead sing about ‘war crimes’, ‘assassinations’ and the ‘oppression’ of Palestinians, according to the Daily Mail (UK).

IDF CLASH WITH PALESTINIAN GUNMEN IN THE GAZA STRIP :
IDF soldiers clashed with Palestinian gunmen along Israel’s border with Gaza on Friday November 28, injuring four of the Palestinian militants. The incident occurred when an IDF paratrooper unit identified a Gaza terrorist cell attempting to place an explosive device along the security fence. The soldiers were shot at as they approached the cell, forcing them to return fire. One member of the terror cell was initially thought to have been killed but it was later revealed that he had lain on the ground during the gun battle, later returning home unharmed.

ISRAEL ALARMED BY UN PLANS FOR MIDEAST PEACE :
Jerusalem is deeply concerned over a new European Union document that outlines possible plans for advancing an Israeli-Palestinian deal in 2009. Israeli officials are working feverously to get various elements of the proposal changed before EU foreign ministers discuss the official paper in a meeting slated for next week. The paper was written by the French Foreign Ministry, as currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency. The document proposes that the EU should encourage newly-elected American president Barack Obama to be actively engaged in Israeli-Palestinian talks. The document also states that Israel should be pressured to freeze settlement construction, remove roadblocks, and transfer large swathes of West Bank territory to Palestinian security control. The paper further calls on Israel to re-open PA institutions in east Jerusalem like Orient House, the PA’s de facto foreign ministry which was closed after the 2001 deadly bombing of Jerusalem’s Sbarro restaurant. The EU paper says such steps are needed to resolve the status of Jerusalem as the “future capital of two states.”

NINE JEWS AMONG SCROES OF DEAD I N MUMBAI TERROR RAMPAGE :
Nine Jews were among the 195 people known to be dead following the series of coordinated attacks carried out by ten Islamic terrorists in Mumbai that began last Wednesday November 26, and ended three days later. One of the first targets was the Chabad Jewish outreach center, The lone captured terrorist is of Pakistani descent and confirmed that the members of the terrorist cell had visited the Chabad center before, adding, “We were sent to kill Israelis.”