TeakDoor.com - The Thailand Forum - Middle East Issues http://teakdoor.com Topics about Iraq, Afghanistan and issues focusing on Middle East politics or its cultures. en Sat, 21 Nov 2009 01:30:54 GMT vBulletin 60 http://teakdoor.com/images/td_default/misc/rss.jpg TeakDoor.com - The Thailand Forum - Middle East Issues http://teakdoor.com Israel moves to expand settlement http://teakdoor.com/middle-east-issues/60329-israel-moves-to-expand-settlement.html Wed, 18 Nov 2009 03:55:28 GMT I watched the Amanpour program the other night on CNN and heard a statement by a strong supporter of Israeli rights to expand settlements. He said... I watched the Amanpour program the other night on CNN and heard a statement by a strong supporter of Israeli rights to expand settlements. He said Israeli expansion is justified because they need room to accommodate natural population growth so it's citizens have "room to live".

How ironic his words and those of the Isreali government are exactly what a certain mustachioed German fellow used in justifying his invasions of neighboring nations.

Lebensraum - literally "living space".

"Israel moves to expand settlement

Israel has given the go ahead for the construction of 900 housing units in occupied East Jerusalem, rebuffing a reported US request that it block construction at the Gilo settlement, officials have said.

Israeli officials had earlier on Tuesday declined to comment on a report in the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that said George Mitchell , the US envoy to the Middle East, had asked an aide to Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to halt the process.
Gilo sits on land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed to its Jerusalem municipality.

A spokesman for Nir Barkat, the Israeli mayor of Jerusalem, issued a statement that seemed to confirm the report, saying the mayor "strongly objects to the American demand to halt construction in Jerusalem".
But Mark Regev, the Israeli government spokesman, declined comment on the report, which also said Netanyahu's negotiator had rejected Mitchell's request at a meeting in London on Monday."


Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Israel moves to expand settlement ]]> Middle East Issues Norton http://teakdoor.com/middle-east-issues/60329-israel-moves-to-expand-settlement.html The Israeli Right http://teakdoor.com/middle-east-issues/59768-the-israeli-right.html Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:26:35 GMT There is probably no uglier face to the Israeli Right than the extremists of the settler movement.

"For many Israelis who live inside the borders determined before 1967 - the year Israel occupied Palestinian territory - Teitel's confessions reinforce the perception that the settler movement has become a liability that threatens Israel's stability." :-


Man of hatred shocks the land he calls home


Yaakov Teitel is the new face of Israel's extreme right-wing religious movement. A fanatical Jewish settler from the tiny outpost of Shvut Rahel in the northern West Bank, Teitel flashed the peace sign as he was led from an Israeli courtroom this week.

But after confessing to a string of murders and hate crimes over the past 12 years, Teitel has emerged as anything but a peacemaker.

Branded a ''Jewish terrorist'', the 37-year-old father of four has already admitted to the murders of two Palestinians in 1997 and the pipe-bombing of the left-wing Israeli academic Zeev Sternhell this year.

Police also suspect Teitel of the shooting murder of two Israeli police officers on a West Bank highway nine months ago, a crime initially blamed on Palestinian terrorists. ''If the wheel were to turn back I would do it all again,'' Teitel told investigators after his arrest.

He told his lawyer: ''I am God's emissary in Israel.''

Gay Jews and others he perceived as betraying Jewish religious principles, such as the the group Jews for Jesus, also became the target of his hatred.

Teitel was arrested early last month after police spotted him putting up posters celebrating the murders in August of two gay teenagers at a community centre in Tel Aviv. ''Two months ago one of the holy knights of God, the black bear, killed two sodomites and saved our sacred people from the wrath of God,'' the poster read.

Since a gag on Teitel's arrest was lifted this week, his confessions have shaken the settler movement, shocked the public, and raised questions about the efficacy of Israel's internal security services.

Not only was Teitel able to roam the country over 12 years, allegedly committing acts of terrorism and terrorist training, and building bombs, he was also able to smuggle weapons into Israel through its ports and airports, police say.

Man of hatred shocks the land he calls home


]]> Middle East Issues sabang http://teakdoor.com/middle-east-issues/59768-the-israeli-right.html Five British soldiers killed http://teakdoor.com/middle-east-issues/59675-five-british-soldiers-killed.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:50:59 GMT *UK Soldiers Killed By Policeman Are Named * David Williams, Sky News Online *Five British soldiers shot dead by a rogue Afghan policeman they... UK Soldiers Killed By Policeman Are Named


David Williams, Sky News Online
Five British soldiers shot dead by a rogue Afghan policeman they were training have been named by the Ministry of Defence.


The victims were Warrant Officer Darren Chant, Sergeant Matthew Telford, Guardsman James Major, Acting Corporal Steven Boote and Corporal Nicholas Webster-Smith.
The Taliban have said they were behind the killings inside a military compound in Helmand province.
A spokesman said the police officer, who fled the scene and has yet to be found, was a member of their rebel organisation.
"It's a new Taliban tactic," he said. "We have more Taliban who have infiltrated into the police and army."
Warrant Officer Chant, Sergeant Telford and Guardsman Major were from the Grenadier Guards, while Acting Corporal Boote and Corporal Webster-Smith were from the Royal Military Police.


Guardsman James Major was one of the victims



They were fatally injured in an attack following a patrol in the Nad-e'Ali district.
Six soldiers wounded in the incident are being treated at Camp Bastion, the Army's main Afghan base.
Sergeant Telford, from Grimsby, leaves a wife, Kerry, and two sons aged nine and four.
His uncle, William Ferrand, said he died doing the job he loved.
"It was his job and he absolutely loved it. Everybody knows what a wonderful lad he was," he said.
"His two sons are going to be devastated and will miss their father.
"We're a military family, but he was the first one to join at the age of 16." ]]> Middle East Issues Sdigit http://teakdoor.com/middle-east-issues/59675-five-british-soldiers-killed.html