Clinton Slams Israel for Evicting Arab Families from East Jerusalem
HAARETZ: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday criticized Israel for the eviction two Palestinian families from an Arab neighborhood in east Jerusalem, calling the move "deeply regrettable".

"The eviction of families and demolition of homes in east Jerusalem is not in keeping with Israeli obligations and I urge the government of Israel and municipal officials to refrain from such provocative actions," Clinton said.

The evictions came after the Supreme Court ruled that the houses belonged to Jews and that the Arab families had been living there illegally. Clinton's statements came during a meeting in Washington with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, who told Clinton that incremental confidence-building measures that the U.S. wants Arab states to take will not produce a resolution to the conflict.

Jordan rejects U.S. call for improved ties with Israel

Jordan on Monday joined Saudi Arabia in publicly rejecting U.S. appeals to improve relations with Israel to help restart Middle East peace talks, throwing a damper on the Obama administration's push for Arab support behind new negotiations. >>> Natasha Mozgovaya, Barak Ravid Haaretz Correspondents, and The Associated Press | Tuesday, August 04, 2009 Hillary Clinton

Le président a besoin de repos…et d’amour!
GALA.fr: Depuis vendredi, le couple présidentiel prend du bon temps au cap Nègre, dans la résidence de la famille de Carla… et ce, devant de nombreux photographes dont ils n’ont apparemment que faire.

Seuls au monde, caressés par les vagues, Nicolas Sarkozy et Carla sont en vacances. Et ils se fichent d’être surveillés par les photographes qui ont ignoré l’interdiction de s’approcher du château Faraghi, pour cause de «protection des hautes autorités». Ils s’embrassent, et s’enlacent, si heureux de retrouver leur «intimité[»] .

Depuis samedi, en effet, Carla et Nicolas s’accordent un bain quotidien dans la Méditerranée. Et ils se laissent bercer. Oublié le stress de la crise, Nicolas et Carla profitent de trois semaines de repos, en famille, dans la propriété Bruni-Tedeschi.

Le récent malaise de Nicolas Sarkozy lui impose une totale décompression, une extrême détente, et un complet abandon de ces footings qui l’épuisaient. Se baigner dans les bras de son épouse, ça, le médecin le permet… >>> | Lundi 03 Août 2009

L’EXPRESS.fr: Les blogueurs décryptent le Sarko "show" de l'été

Après son malaise, Nicolas Sarkozy se repose trois semaines au Cap Nègre, dans la résidence familiale de Carla Bruni. Ses premiers jours de vacances sont très médiatisés, sous l'oeil de blogueurs goguenards. Leurs commentaires. >>> Par Petitesphrases, Juan de Sarkofrance, Pierre-Alain (LePost.fr) | Lundi 03 Août 2009

EU-Statistik: Deutsche kriegen am wenigsten Babys
BERLINER ZEITUNG: Brüssel/Luxemburg - Beim Kinderkriegen sind die Deutschen europaweit Schlusslicht. Anders als in allen anderen EU-Ländern sei die Zahl der Geburten in Deutschland im vergangenen Jahr im Vergleich zu 2007 leicht rückläufig gewesen, teilte das europäische Statistikamt Eurostat in Brüssel mit.

Dabei lag Deutschland auch 2007 ohnehin schon auf dem letzten Platz unter den 27 Mitgliedsländern. Auf 1000 Einwohner kamen in Deutschland demnach 2008 nur noch 8,2 Geburten, statt 8,3 im Jahr davor. Europaweit stieg die durchschnittliche Zahl der Neugeborenen pro 1000 Einwohner im Vorjahresvergleich um 0,3 auf 10,9.

Insgesamt kamen im vergangenen Jahr EU-weit 5,4 Millionen Babys zur Welt, 4,8 Millionen Menschen starben. Den höchsten Geburtenanstieg gab es in Litauen, wo 10,4 Geburten pro 1000 Einwohner gezählt wurden - ein Anstieg um 0,8 im Vergleich zu 2007. >>> © dpa | Montag, 03. August 2009

Les enfants de Michael Jackson confiés définitivement à la mère du chanteur
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ÉTATS-UNIS | Le juge Mitchell Beckloff du tribunal de Los Angeles a confié lundi la garde permanente des trois enfants de Michael Jackson à sa mère Katherine, 79 ans.

Cette décision était attendue après l’accord intervenu la semaine dernière entre la mère du chanteur décédé le 25 juin à l’âge de 50 ans et Debbie Rowe, mère biologique des deux enfants aînés du «roi de la pop».


Les trois enfants de Michael Jackson, âgé de sept à 12 ans, resteront donc sous la garde de Katherine Jackson, comme le chanteur l’avait souhaité dans son testament rédigé en 2002. [Source: TDG] ap | Lundi 03 Août 2009

Les violences interethniques se multiplient dans le sud du Soudan
LE MONDE: La situation dans le sud du Soudan, où des violences tribales ont coûté la vie, dimanche, à près de cent soixante personnes, dont une grande majorité de femmes et d'enfants, commence à inquiéter sérieusement les Nations unies. Leur secrétaire général, Ban Ki-moon, s'est dit "très préoccupé" par ce dernier événement, survenu dans l'Etat de Jonglei. Selon les chiffres de l'ONU, plus d'un millier de personnes ont été tuées et des milliers d'autres ont été déplacées dans le sud du Soudan ces derniers mois. Un bilan humain qui dépasse celui enregistré dans la région du Darfour, dans l'ouest du pays. >>> LEMONDE.FR avec AFP | Lundi 03 Août 2009

Come Hither, Sweetie!
Photo: GoogleImages

Al Qaeda's Zawahri Says Wipe Israel from the Map
REUTERS: DUBAI - Al Qaeda's second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri said Israel should be wiped off the map and described the Jewish state as a crime against Muslims.

Zawahri also accused U.S. President Barack Obama of conducting a policy on Israeli-Palestinian issues that was bound to end in failure for the Palestinians, and said Obama wanted a Palestinian state that would serve as "an extension of the CIA."

"Israel is a crime that should be removed," Zawahri said in an interview with al Qaeda's media arm As-sahab, posted on an Islamist website on Monday.

Al Qaeda leaders have often said that they would focus their holy war on Israel after the creation of an Islamic state in Iraq.

Al Qaeda has no recognisable presence in Israel, or in the Palestinian Territories which are dominated by the Islamist group Hamas and the secular Fatah movement led by U.S.-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. [Source: Reuters] Reporting by Inal Ersan, editing by Tim Pearce | Monday, August 03, 2009

Rechtsgelehrte verbieten Jungfern-Test
TAGES ANZEIGER: Ein Spitzengremium islamischer Rechtsgelehrter hat in Jordanien medizinische Jungfräulichkeitstests an Frauen, die vor der Eheschliessung stehen, verboten. Eine Ausnahme aber gibts. >>> sam/sda | Montag, 03. August 2009

Rebel Boycott as Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Endorses Ahmadinejad Re-election
TIMES ONLINE: Iran’s supreme leader has formally endorsed President Ahmadinejad for a second term amid a boycott by leading opposition figures.

State television broadcast images of the ceremony today with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei giving the President his seal of approval.

The country’s opposition leaders and moderates boycotted the gathering in protest over the election they claim was fraudulent.

State media reported that the former presidents Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami as well as the defeated pro-reform candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi did not attend.

On Wednesday the President will take the oath of office before Iran’s parliament. Seven weeks after the election, however, the regime is still battling to crush the resistance of millions of Iranians who believe that the poll was rigged.

A new wave of protests linked is gathering over the “show trial” of more than 100 opposition figures detained in the crackdown that followed the ballot.

On Saturday, in an apparent effort to deter further protests, Iran put scores of opponents on trial in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, accusing them of conspiring with foreign powers to stage a revolution. Yesterday it added ten more defendants. >>> Martin Fletcher | Monday, August 03, 2009

In France, a New Generation of Women Says Non to Nude Sunbathing
TIME: For decades, the French have relished any opportunity to mock Americans for their supposed childish Yankee puritanism when it comes to matters of sex. These days, though, France is experiencing its own blush of youthful prudishness as an entire generation of younger French women says "Non, merci," to the summer tradition of topless sunbathing.

Since France's summer vacation season kicked off in early July, the French press has repeatedly sounded the alarm over the shrinking number of topless women on the nation's beaches. As eagle-eyed reporters have made quite clear, the prevailing trend among sun-loving women these days is to use both pieces of their bikini. Le Monokini, C'est Fini! , shouted Le Parisien in its report from a Mediterranean beach. "Nude Breasts Are Less Trendy" concurred free daily Metro France. "The practice has become common, and therefore less compelling as a fashion," says sociologist Jean-Claude Kaufmann. "When the local baker takes off her top despite her 60-year age and sagging breasts, the gesture loses its social distinction as one of youthful beauty." Some note that the return to more modest costumes is in part a response to rising concerns about skin cancer.

But the trend is also part of a wider social movement by younger French women who are shunning the less-inhibited habits of previous generations. If burning bras and going topless were the ways French women of the 1970s and '80s demonstrated their freedom, their daughters and grand-daughters seem less comfortable with exposed flesh. "The values of our time are more conservative, traditional and familial," says Kaufmann. >>> Bruce Crumley | Thursday, July 30, 2009

Related:
Topless Bathing on French Beaches? Forget It! It’s Out of Fashion! >>>| Saturday, August 30, 2008

Eight Christians Burnt to Death in Pakistan after Koran Is ‘Defiled’
TIMES ONLINE: Paramilitary troops patrolled the streets of a town in eastern Pakistan yesterday after Muslim radicals burnt to death eight members of a Christian family, raising fears of violence spreading to other areas.

Hundreds of armed supporters of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an outlawed Islamic militant group, set alight dozens of Christian homes in Gojra town at the weekend after allegations that a copy of the Koran had been defiled.

The mob opened fire indiscriminately, threw petrol bombs and looted houses as thousands of frightened Christians ran for safety. “They were shouting anti-Christian slogans and attacked our houses,” Rafiq Masih, a resident of the predominantly Christian colony, said. Residents said that police stood aside while the mob went on the rampage. “We kept begging for protection, but police did not take action,” Mr Masih said.

Police and local officials said that at least eight people, including four women and a child, were killed in the fires. Two others died of gunshot wounds. Residents said that the casualties were much higher; one claimed that the number of dead could be in the dozens as many bodies were still buried under the rubble.Shahbaz Bhatti, the Minister for Minorities, said that 40 Christian homes were torched in rioting. He said there was no truth to allegations that a Koran had been defiled, and accused the police of ignoring his appeal to provide protection to Christians. >>> Zahid Hussain in Islamabad | Monday, August 03, 2009

Related / Verwandt:
Ausschreitungen: Radikale Muslime in Pakistan töten sechs Christen >>> | Samstag, August 01, 2009

Saudi Man 'Faces Death' Over TV Sex Boast
THE TELEGRAPH: A Saudi Arabian man could face the death penalty for speaking about his sexual adventures on a talk show aired by a Lebanon-based television network, lawyers said.

Police arrested Mazen Abdul-Jawad, 32, for "publicising vice", a police spokesman in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah said.

The arrest came after 200 Saudi viewers filed complaints following his appearance on a tabloid talk show aired by the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation.

Abdul-Jawad spoke openly of his sexual experiences on the talk show, "In Bold Red" last month. Like many Arab countries Saudi Arabia prohibits sexual content on television, newspapers, magazines and books.

The divorced father of four children, filmed at his Jeddah apartment, said at the time that he first had sex at the age of 14 with a neighbour and displayed items related to his sex life including a sex guide which he said: "Has been very useful".

He led the television camera to his bedroom saying: "My friends always say that whoever enters this room has to personally bear responsibility ... I spend most of my life in this bedroom ... everything happens in this room".

Analysts expect the case of Abdul-Jawad to give fresh momentum to clerics' calls for strict curbs.

In an article published on Saturday, al-Watan newspaper, known for being a tribune for reformists, strongly criticised Abdul-Jawad's remarks and the Lebanese channel for airing them. [Source: The Telegraph] | Sunday, August 02, 2009

Police Hunt Israel Gay Club Shooter
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: Hundreds of police officers are scouring the streets of Tel Aviv today in a manhunt for a gunman who shot and killed two people at a youth club in the worst ever attack on homosexuals in Israel.

The Tel Aviv shooting shocked the Mediterranean city, which prides itself on its live-and-let-live attitude and boasts a thriving gay community. The brazen attack drew condemnations from the city's mayor, from Cabinet ministers, the country's chief rabbis and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We'll bring him to justice and exercise the full extent of the law against him," Netanyahu said of the killer, speaking at the Israeli Cabinet's weekly meeting. >>> AP | Sunday, August 02, 2009

Hundreds Turn Out in Tel Aviv to Protest Murders at Gay Center
HAARETZ: Hundreds of Israelis turned out in Tel Aviv on Sunday to protest an attack on the previous day in which a masked gunman opened fire inside a gay and lesbian youth center, killing two people and wounding 15.

A number of politicians spoke at the event, which took place at the intersection of Rothschild St. and Nachmani St., only meters away from the site of the shooting.

MK Shelly Yachimovich (Labor) told the crowd: "The pistol did not act on its own, the gunman did not act on his own - what stood behind him was incitement and hatred."

"The fact that there are wounded children lying in the hospital whose parents won't visit them says everything."

Nitzan Horowitz, Israel's only openly gay lawmaker, said: "If anybody thinks we'll be afraid, they are wrong. If anybody thinks we'll sit down and take this quietly, they are wrong."

Opposition leader Tzipi Livni also addressed the event, which had been billed as a protest against hate crime and homophobia.

"This should be a day of self reflection, not only for all of you but for all of us," she said. "This is not only a great day of pain for you but it is a day of pain for all of us."

The rally took place as hundreds of police officers scoured the streets of Tel Aviv on Sunday in a door-to-door manhunt for the gunman, who fled the center after the attack.

Outside the center, a bouquet of flowers rested on the curb near barricades erected by police and a sign reading, "Stop Homophobia."

MK Yuli Tamir (Labor), a former education minister, called on the school system to make efforts to fight homophobia.

"Teachers must open their doors and open their ears to these children who need them," she told the crowd.

MK Dov Khenin (Hadash) said the attack highlighted problems within Israeli society.

"A state that expels children should not be surprised when things like this happen... People shouldn't fool themselves to think they live in a protected bubble," he said, referring to a plan to deport migrant workers and their children from Israel. Peres: An enlightened people cannot accept this type of murder >>> Ben Hartman, Yuval Goren, Noah Kosharek and Barak Ravid | Sunday, August 02, 2009

TAGES ANZEIGER: Blutbad in Schwulentreff – drei Tote

Bei einem Angriff auf ein Homosexuellen-Zentrum in Tel Aviv sind gestern Abend drei Menschen getötet und mindestens zehn weitere verletzt worden.

Drei Tote, viele Verletzte: Schwulen-Feindlichkeit als mögliches Motiv.
Bild: Tages Anzeiger
Nach Angaben der israelischen Rettungsdienste starben ein junger Mann und eine junge Frau sofort. Ein drittes Opfer erlag im Spital seinen Verletzungen. Einer der Verletzten schwebte in der Nacht zum Sonntag in Lebensgefahr.

Der maskierte, ganz in schwarz gekleidete Täter konnte unerkannt fliehen. Er hatte mit einer Schnellfeuerwaffe in eine vor dem Treffpunkt stehende Menschengruppe gefeuert. Nach Angaben von Augenzeugen versuchte der Angreifer, auch noch eine nahegelegene Schwulenbar anzugreifen. Wachposten verwehrten ihm jedoch den Zutritt. >>> bru/sda | Sonntag, 02 August 2009

LE FIGARO.fr: Fusillade mortelle dans un centre gay de Tel-Aviv

Un inconnu a ouvert le feu samedi soir dans le sous-sol d'une association homosexuelle fréquentée par des adolescents, tuant deux personnes et en blessant quinze, avant de prendre la fuite. Les organisations gays dénoncent un crime homophobe.

La communauté homosexuelle est sous le choc en Israël après la fusillade mortelle qui a ciblé samedi soir une association gay et lesbienne de Tel-Aviv. Un inconnu a ouvert le feu à l'arme automatique dans le sous-sol de l'association, qui abritait la réunion de soutien hebdomadaire d'un groupe d'adolescents. Un jeune homme de 24 ans et une jeune femme de 17 ans ont été tués sur le coup. Quinze autres participants ont été blessés dont deux grièvement, précise le site du journal israélien Haaretz. Le tireur a pris la fuite à pied, immédiatement après l'attaque. La police le recherche activement et fait du porte-à-porte auprès des habitants de Tel-Aviv.

«Il était 22h40 lorsque quelqu'un, habillé en noir et le visage dissimulé par un masque de ski, est entré dans le sous sol. Au début j'ai pensé à une plaisanterie mais il a immédiatement tiré. Personne n'a crié. On s'est jeté sous les lits et les tables . La salle était petite, hormis la terrasse, on ne peut se cacher nulle part», confiait un des adolescents blessés au Haaretz. «Je suis horrifié de penser que mes parents vont découvrir mon homosexualité à cause de cette attaque», regrette le jeune homme de 16 ans touché au genou et à la poitrine. «Le centre était très convivial, on discutait et on écoutait de la musique».

Des représentants de la communauté homosexuelle se sont déclarés convaincus qu'il s'agissait d'une attaque homophobe, rappelant que dans le passé des croix gammées avaient été peintes à l'entrée du centre. La police israélienne a confirmé que ce club, situé à l'angle des rues Ahad Haam et Nachmani, en plein cœur de la ville, n'avait pas été attaqué par des terroristes. «Nous n'en sommes qu'au premier stade de l'enquête, le centre n'avait pas reçu récemment de menaces», a affirmé le chef de la police de Tel Aviv, le commandant Shahar Ayalon. Voulant éviter tout autre bain de sang, l'officier a décidé la fermeture samedi soir d'un des bars homosexuels voisins et demandé à tous ces établissements de se montrer particulièrement vigilants. >>> C.J. (lefigaro.fr) avec AP et AFP | Dimanche 02 Août 2009

Why Israel Is Nervous
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Tension is escalating between the U.S and Israel. The problem: The administration views the Israeli-Palestinian issue as the root of all problems, while Israel is focused on Iran’s nuclear threat, says Elliott Abrams.

The tension in U.S.-Israel relations was manifest this past week as an extraordinary troupe of Obama administration officials visited Jerusalem. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, National Security Advisor James Jones, special Middle East envoy George Mitchell and new White House adviser Dennis Ross all showed up in Israel’s capital in an effort to…well, to do something. It was not quite clear what.

Since President Obama came to office on Jan. 20 and then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 31, the main motif in relations between the two governments has been friction. While nearly 80% of American Jews voted for Mr. Obama, that friction has been visible enough to propel him to meet with American Jewish leaders recently to reassure them about his policies. But last month, despite those reassurances, both the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the Anti-Defamation League issued statements critical of the president’s handling of Israel. Given the warm relations during the Bush years and candidate Obama’s repeated statements of commitment to the very best relations with Israel, why have we fallen into this rut?

U.S.-Israel relations are often depicted as an extended honeymoon, but that’s a false image. Harry Truman, who was a Bible-believing Christian Zionist, defied the secretary of state he so admired, George C. Marshall, and won a place in Israel’s history by recognizing the new state 11 minutes after it declared its independence in 1948. Relations weren’t particularly warm under Eisenhower—who, after all, demanded that Israel, along with Britain and France, leave Suez in 1956. The real alliance began in 1967, after Israel’s smashing victory in the Six Day War, and it was American arms and Nixon’s warnings to the Soviet Union to stay out that allowed Israel to survive and prevail in the 1973 war. Israelis are no fans of President Carter and, as his more recent writings have revealed, his own view of Israel is very hostile. During the George H.W. Bush and Clinton years, there were moments of close cooperation, but also of great friction—as when Bush suspended loan guarantees to Israel, or when the Clinton administration butted heads with Mr. Netanyahu time after time during peace negotiations. Even during the George W. Bush years, when Israel’s struggle against the terrorist “intifada” and the U.S. “global war on terror” led to unprecedented closeness and cooperation, there was occasional friction over American pressure for what Israelis viewed as endless concessions to the Palestinians to enable the signing of a peace agreement before the president’s term ended. This “special relationship” has been marked by intense and frequent contact and often by extremely close (and often secret) collaboration, but not by the absence of discord. >>> Elliott Abrams | Saturday, August 01, 2009

Three American Tourists Held in Iran
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Two men and a woman apparently strayed across the Iranian border while on a hiking trip in Iraq's mountainous Kurdistan region. The State Department is seeking consular access.

Reporting from Baghdad -- Three Americans who apparently strayed across the Iranian border while on a hiking trip in the northern Iraqi region of Kurdistan are in Iranian custody, that country's state-run television reported Saturday.

The Arabic-language Al Alam station quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying the Americans, two men and a woman, were detained after they ignored warnings from border guards and crossed into Iran in a remote mountainous area about 55 miles northeast of the Kurdish town of Sulaymaniya.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said it was investigating reports that the three were missing and couldn't confirm any details. The State Department said in a statement that it had asked the Swiss government, which looks after U.S. interests in Iran, to confirm the reports with the Iranians and to seek consular access. >>> Liz Sly | Sunday, August 02, 2009

Ministre israélien au centre d'une affaire de corruption
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: SCANDALE | La police israélienne a recommandé dimanche l'inculpation du ministre ultranationaliste des Affaires étrangères, Avidgor Lieberman, pour corruption et blanchiment d'argent.

"Le département des fraudes de la police a recommandé l'inculpation du ministre des Affaires étrangères Avigdor Lieberman accusé de blanchiment d'argent, de pots-de-vin et d'entrave à la justice", a déclaré ce responsable sous couvert de l'anonymat. >>> AFP | Dimanche 02 Août 2009

Ausschreitungen: Radikale Muslime in Pakistan töten sechs Christen
WELT ONLINE: In der pakistanischen Provinz Punjab haben Extremisten sechs Angehörige der christlichen Minderheit getötet, darunter vier Frauen und ein Kind. Sie warfen ihren Opfern vor, eine Koran-Ausgabe entweiht zu haben. Am Samstag erreichten die religiösen Ausschreitungen ihren Höhepunkt, Medien berichten von Schießereien.

Radikale Muslime haben nach Angaben der pakistanischen Regierung bei Ausschreitungen in der östlichen Provinz Punjab sechs Angehörige der christlichen Minderheit getötet. Unter den Toten seien vier Frauen und ein Kind, sagte der für Minderheiten zuständige Minister Shahbaz Bhatti. Demnach hatten die Muslime den Christen vorgeworfen, einige Seiten einer Koran-Ausgabe entweiht zu haben. Bhatti nannte die Vorwürfe haltlos.

Die Ausschreitungen von Mitgliedern einer verbotenen muslimischen Extremistenorganisation gegen christliche Bewohner der Stadt Gojra begannen am Donnerstag und eskalierten am Samstag, wie Bhatti mitteilte. Das Fernsehen zeigte Bilder von brennenden Häusern und Straßen, auf denen Trümmerteile und verkohlte Möbel umherlagen. Medien berichteten auch von Schießereien zwischen Christen und Muslimen. >>> | Samstag, 01. August 2009

Nato-Generalsekretär: Rasmussen will Gespräche mit gemäßigten Taliban
WELT ONLINE: Der neue Nato-Generalsekretär Anders Fogh Rasmussen plädiert dafür, in Afghanistan Gespräche mit gemäßigten Vertretern der Taliban zu führen, um "auf eine Art Aussöhnung mit der afghanischen Gemeinschaft hinzuarbeiten". Für Überlegungen zu einer Ausstiegsstrategie sei es zu früh.

Der neue Nato-Generalsekretär Anders Fogh Rasmussen hat sich für Verhandlungen mit gemäßigten Vertretern der radikalislamischen Taliban in Afghanistan ausgesprochen. Zudem forderte er in einem Interview mit der dänischen Zeitung „Politiken“ die Europäer zu einer Truppenaufstockung auf. Bei Kämpfen und Anschlägen kamen am Wochenende mindestens sechs Nato-Soldaten ums Leben.

Es gebe in Afghanistan „Gruppen, mit denen man reden kann, um auf eine Art Aussöhnung mit der afghanischen Gemeinschaft hinzuarbeiten“, sagte Rasmussen. Er sehe aber keinen Grund für Vereinbarungen mit Taliban, „die unsere Soldaten töten“. „Wir reden hier über andere Gruppen, die am äußeren Rand der Taliban angesiedelt sind.“ >>> AFP/ks | Sonntag, 02. August 2009

Rabbis Condemn Anti-gay Shooting
YNET NEWS: Chief Rabbinate says appalled at 'unthinkable, vile crime' that left two dead. Gay Orthodox rabbi calls on public leaders to denounce attack

The Chief Rabbinate expressed shock and outrage at the Tel Aviv shooting at a gay youth center Saturday evening, calling it "an unthinkable, vile crime." In a statement published Sunday the Rabbinate said that, "When Moses saw a Jew beating another Jew he called him evil. This is all the more true when a Jew murders a Jew."

Meanwhile, the Hod organization for Orthodox gay men strongly condemned "the horrible massacre committed against the gay and lesbian community in Tel Aviv," conveyed its condolences to the victims' families and wished speedy recovery to those who were injured.

Rabbi Ron Yosef, a homosexual Orthodox rabbi who runs the organization, told Ynet that he has been receiving threats on his life in the last year. >>> Kobi Nahshoni | Sunday, August 02, 2009

YNET NEWS: Opinion: Pride and Prejudice

Despite liberal image, fear and hatred ever-present on Tel Aviv’s streets

Friday night on Tel Aviv’s beachfront promenade; two guys holding hands, standing at the shoreline, and kissing. Three men pass by and swear at them; one man spits. Tel Aviv, Israel’s liberalism capital, the city that openly celebrates pride parades and markets gay tourism packages worldwide; a city whose leaders inaugurate gay centers, but cannot defend us from our greatest enemy – fear and hatred.

This shooting attack, should it turn out it was indeed directed at the homo-lesbian community, is not a unique event; it’s merely an extreme one, but make no mistake about it, incidents like that take place on Tel Aviv’s streets time and again with no interruption. About two months ago, two guys were chased by a group armed with baseball bats; before that, two youngsters were stabbed outside a gay club. Meanwhile, numerous cases go unreported.

For those who arrive from the outside it sometimes appears as though the city is painted an especially bright shade of pink; here one can hold hands on Rothschild Boulevard, nonchalantly hop from one club to another, wed, adopt children, and run for city council. Yet for those who live here, the curses, hateful glares, spits, and hidden hostility are clearly felt. The double life: On the one hand one can feel open and safe, but on the other hand nothing is really safe here. Just ask the youngsters who showed up to the weekly meeting at the gay center last night; check who will return next week.

Once a year, spokespersons on behalf of the gay community are requested to explain why we insist on the pride parade; so here is the answer. There are those who fan the flames of hatred and homophobia, and the outcome may lead to gunfire. Here is your answer, this is the reason: Because they shoot at us. At times they use words, and other times they use bullets. >>> Shlomi Laufer | Sunday, August 02, 2009

YNET NEWS: Hundreds March in Tel Aviv Following Shooting

Photo: Ynet News
Spontaneous ceremony held in memory of two people killed in attack on gay youth center. 'This is an act of pure unfounded hatred, which leads to the murder of children for being gays and lesbians,' one of participants tells Ynet

Spontaneous memorial, hours after deadly attack: Hundreds of people marched silently Saturday night from the place where two people were murdered at a gay and lesbian youth center in central Tel Aviv, towards a gay center in Meir Park.

The marchers held gay community flags and signs reading "All together – without hatred and fear" and "Love – don't kill".

Revital, one of the participants, told Ynet, "The feeling is terrifying. We live in a bubble, believing that everything is fine. This is an act of pure unfounded hatred, which leads to the murder of children for being gays and lesbians. It's very sad knowing that it's still so." >>> Izzy Ein Dor | Sunday, August 02, 2009