Thousands Call for Peace at Tel Aviv Rally as Israel Bars Amnesty and Human Rights Watch from Entering Gaza

Demonstrators hold up placards reading in Hebrew: “One justice for all” (L) and “when there is no peace war comes (R)” as thousands of Israelis protest during a left-wing peace rally in the coastal city of Tel Aviv calling for the Israeli government to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority on August 16, 2014. (AFP Photo / Gali Tibbon)

Stephen: Forget governments and the military war machines, THIS is the people speaking and they want peace.

From RT.com – August 18, 2014 – http://tinyurl.com/kzflqy5

Thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square over the weekend to encourage an end to hostilities through peace negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian unity government.

The protest’s organizers said that the turnout Saturday night was as high as 10,000 people, while Israeli media said that just “thousands” were involved in the protest, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Participants rallied under the slogan: “Changing direction: toward peace, away from war.” Several protesters were chanting, “Bibi go home,” according to JPost.

The left-wing Meretz party’s leader, member of the Knesset Zehava Gal-On, called for the resignation of Netanyahu, saying he had failed to ensure peace in the south despite having the capacity and authority to act over the course of the past five years.

Israeli author David Grossman speaks as thousands of Israelis protest during a left-wing peace rally in the coastal city of Tel Aviv calling for the Israeli government to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority on August 16, 2014. (AFP Photo / Gali Tibbon)

“You could have achieved the framework you are willing to accept now without paying the price of 64 dead soldiers and the deaths of civilians,” she told the crowd.

Other protesters marched under signs stating, “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies,” and “When there is no peace, war comes,” according to the JPost. In addition to Meretz, Hadash, Peace Now and other left-wing organizations participated in the rally.

A demonstrator holds up placards reading in Hebrew: “When there is no peace war comes” (top) and “Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies” (bottom) as thousands of Israelis protest during a left-wing peace rally in the coastal city of Tel Aviv calling for the Israeli government to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority on August 16, 2014. (AFP Photo / Gali Tibbon)

The protest had originally been scheduled for the previous week. However, it was postponed after its permit was revoked by the Home Front Command and the police at a point when authorities were trying to prevent large-scale gatherings while missiles were still being fired and there was still a threat of Hamas rockets falling on Tel Aviv.

In contravention of the ban, 500 people still materialized at the time for which it was originally scheduled.

Among the more high-profile marchers on Saturday night was author David Grossman, who said that a military solution was not possible in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. “There is still a critical mass who want peace,” he said.

“Certain phenomena and processes that have become apparent lately might transform Israel into an extremist, militant sect, xenophobic, isolated and ostracized,” Grossman added.

Meretz activist Ofer Prag told JPost that he had attended to make sure the left was given a voice.

Demonstrators hold a placard reading in Hebrew: “Agreement with Abbas not with Hamas” as thousands of Israelis protest during a left-wing peace rally in the coastal city of Tel Aviv calling for the Israeli government to negotiate with the Palestinian Authority on August 16, 2014. (AFP Photo / Gali Tibbon)

“We could have gone down the political path before this war started and averted 64 Israeli deaths and nearly 2,000 Palestinian ones,” he said.

On August 14, an estimated 10,000 also rallied in Tel Aviv to show support for the IDF’s military campaign in Gaza, urging the government forces to stop Hamas rocket attacks on Israel once and for all.

The expiration of a five-day ceasefire loomed on Monday night.

More than 2,000 civilians and military personnel have been killed since the conflict began five weeks ago.

Palestinians walk next to the ruins of houses, which witnesses said were destroyed during the Israeli offensive, on the fifth day of ceasefire in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip August 18, 2014. (Reuters / Ibraheem Abu Mustafa)

Israel Bars Amnesty and Human Rights Watch from Entering Gaza

Russia Today, August 19, 2014 – http://tinyurl.com/pwc7bwj

Israel has been preventing Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch workers from entering Gaza to investigate allegations of war crimes and human rights violations, claims a media report backed by group members’ statements.

Both human rights organizations have been unsuccessfully trying to get permission from the regional Civil Administration to enter Gaza since July 7, Israeli outlet Haaretz reports.

Israeli authorities cited two reasons for their refusal to grant appropriate permits: the closure of the Erez border crossing, located between Israel and the Gaza Strip, and that neither group is part of a list of aid groups approved by the Israeli Ministry of Social Affairs.

However, an Israeli newspaper pointed out that the Erez border crossing was in fact opened to “journalists, UN employees and Palestinians in need of medical care” during Operation Protective Edge, which began on July 8.

It also noted that, according to Israel’s COGAT (coordinator of government activity in the territories) guidelines, exceptions can be made for organizations that are not included on the list. The authority states that unrecognized groups “may submit an exceptional request that will be considered in light of the prevailing policy based on the political-security situation”.

HRW representatives have been barred from entering Gaza through the Erez crossing since 2006, while Amnesty’s representatives have been refused entry since June 2012. The two were able to use Egypt’s Rafah border crossing to enter Gaza until Mohamed Morsi’s government was brought down by the country’s armed forces in 2013. Since then, Egypt has not issued a clear response as to why it has closed its own border, though its military has been active in the Sinai.

While both HRW and Amnesty International have been actively trying to obtain permission from Israel to enter the Gaza Strip, their requests have been turned down on seemingly bureaucratic grounds.

Amnesty was told that it could not be registered with the Israeli Foreign Ministry, and the Social Affairs Ministry stated that the group does not qualify under the aid or humanitarian organizations category, according to Amnesty International’s Executive Director in Israel Yonatan Gher.

Reportedly, only UN agencies are included in the list, which is approved by Israeli authorities.

Both groups have criticized Israel, arguing that the ban has been hindering investigations into the human rights violations and war crimes on behalf of Israel’s military and Hamas.

“We’re doing everything we can, both Human Rights Watch and us, to do all the documentation we can, both on the ground in Gaza and remotely. But not being able to have researchers there does create difficulties,” Amnesty worker Deborah Hyams told Reuters, adding that the group had only one local worker on the ground.

At the same time, HRW Middle East researcher Bill Van Esveld stated his group had two representatives in Gaza.

“They’re overwhelmed. There’s so much to look into … and physical evidence about the events there is disappearing as time goes by,” he said.

In response, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told Haaretz he was not aware of complaints by HRW, but noted that Amnesty’s representatives could not enter Gaza because the organization is not registered with the Social Affairs Ministry.

“Entrance to the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing is permitted primarily to humanitarian and aid organizations, journalists, diplomats, and international political officials. This is government policy and the criteria that the government set. I am not aware of any effort to withhold entry permits or registration from Amnesty for any political reason. As noted, the organization, by its own admission, does not meet the criterion set [humanitarian aid],” the spokesman said.

The entry bans come amid international criticism against Israel for allegedly violating war and humanitarian laws.

Last month, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said Israel may be committing war crimes in Gaza. Speaking in Geneva, Navi Pillay said house demolitions and the killing of children raise the “strong possibility” that Israel is violating international law.

This was followed by the UN’s decision to investigate possible war crimes committed by both Israelis and Palestinians during the two-month conflict in the Gaza Strip.

The team will look at “all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law … in the context of the military operations conducted since 13 June 2014,” and present a report in March 2015, according to a statement by the UN.

Meanwhile, Egypt has officially announced a 24-hour extension in talks between Israel and Hamas on permanent Gaza truce.

“Palestinians and Israelis agreed on extending the cease-fire by 24 hours to continue current negotiations,” the Egyptian government said in a statement.

According to a Palestinian delegation source quoted by AP, the sides had exchanged draft proposals for a long-term truce that were to be addressed during the 24-hour extension in talks. The agreement came minutes before the five-day ceasefire was due to expire at midnight on Monday.

Six weeks of fighting in the Gaza Strip has killed over 2,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, as well as 64 Israeli soldiers and three civilians.

The Islamic State is vowing retribution should U.S. airstrikes hit their militants.

According to Reuters, a newly released video by the Islamic State shows a picture of an American man who had been beheaded in Iraq during the initial U.S. invasion with a caption that translated into English reads, "we will drown all of you in blood."

The Islamic State has focused on its goal of establishing a caliphate by seizing land in Iraq in Syria before launching any potential attacks on the West. Osama Bin Laden famously warned of the risks of establishing a caliphate too early, writing in a document seized in the raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan that an Islamic State could have the adverse affect of dividing the Sunni population.

While Sunnis alienated by the Shia government of Nouri al-Maliki have actually helped the Islamic State's swift march through the northern part of the country, many suggest that defeating the Islamic State will only come with Sunni support.

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In the meantime U.S. airstrikes have helped Kurdish and Iraqi Army forces take back some territory in the northern part of the country that had been seized by ISIL. On Monday, the Iraqis regained control of the strategically important Mosul Dam, which has previously been referred to as "the most dangerous dam in the world."

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A fighter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) holds an Isis flag and a weapon on a st …

Part of the U.S. offensive in Iraq involves targeting millions of dollars of its own equipment given to the Iraqi Army during the U.S. occupation and later seized by Islamic State militants after they seized two Iraqi military bases this summer.According to Reuters, some of the hardware the U.S. is attempting to destroy includes M1 Abrams tanks (about $6 million per), Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (about $1 million per), and 53 M198 Howitzer cannons ($527,337 per).

Reuters estimates that the U.S. spends somewhere between $84,000 and $104,000 to destroy between $1 and $12 million of its own military hardware per airstrike.

This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/global/2014/08/islamic-state-promises-to-drown-all-of-you-in-blood/378753/

In a newly released video, ISIL vows retribution if more of its militants are killed in American airstrikes.
U.S. targets own equipment

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Warnings from an international research group and the Federal Aviation Administration underscore the rising threat to commercial aircraft posed by hundreds of anti-aircraft weapons that are now in the arsenals of armed groups in Syria and could easily be diverted to extremist factions.

Armed groups opposing the Assad regime in Syria have already amassed an estimated several hundred portable anti-aircraft missiles that are highly mobile, difficult to track and accurate enough to destroy low-flying passenger planes, according to a new report by Small Arms Survey, a respected Switzerland-based research organization that analyzes the global flow of weapons.

The report was released Tuesday, hours after the Federal Aviation Administration issued a notice Monday to U.S. airlines banning all flights in Syrian airspace. The agency said armed extremists in Syria are "known to be equipped with a variety of anti-aircraft weapons which have the capability to threaten civilian aircraft." The agency had previously warned against flights over Syria, but had not prohibited them.

The separate warnings highlighted the growing concerns about the proliferation of anti-aircraft missiles in the wake of last month's lethal attack on a passenger jet flying over Ukraine. While the missile used to attack the Malaysia Airlines jet was a long-range surface-to-air missile, the new warnings focus on smaller launchers and missiles known as "man-portable air defense systems," or MANPADS, which target aircraft flying at lower altitudes, taking off or landing.

The Small Arms Survey report said that several hundred anti-aircraft missile systems in rebel arsenals are mostly Russian and Chinese in origin and were either seized from government forces or smuggled in from nations sympathetic to the insurgents. The most immediate danger comes from newer, sophisticated models that could easily be diverted to extremist groups outside Syria.

"In the hands of trained terrorists with global reach, even a few missiles pose a potentially catastrophic threat to commercial aviation," wrote Matthew Schroeder, the report's author. The analysis is based on government and media reports and video footage of anti-aircraft weapons posted online from inside Syria.

The extremist Islamic State group that has overrun much of northern and western Iraq also operates inside Syria. The militants, who have drawn fire from U.S. drones and fighter jets, recently posted an online propaganda video showing one fighter appearing to fire an older-model, Russian-made SA-7 anti-missile system.

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This undated photo obtained by The Associated Press from the Small Arms Survey shows a launch tube f …

Most American and other commercial airlines already have halted flights over and into Syria. Citing the threat of MANPADS strikes, the FAA warned American carriers in May 2013 to avoid Syrian airspace, a move heightened Monday to a total ban.

"Opposition groups have successfully shot down Syrian military aircraft using these anti-aircraft weapon systems during the course of the conflict," the FAA said in its "notice to airmen." The agency added that the presence of anti-aircraft weapons creates a "continuing significant potential threat to civil aviation operating in Syrian airspace."

FAA spokeswoman Laura J. Brown said the flight ban was based on an "updated assessment of the risk" as well as the lack of any requests from U.S. airlines to fly into Syrian airspace since the May 2013 warning.

Russia earlier halted all of its civilian flights to Syria in April after officials in Moscow said a Russian charter plane flying from Egypt into Syrian air space was targeted by two surface-to-air missiles but escaped damage.

The destruction of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 last month was a clear signal that civilian aircraft could be exposed to anti-aircraft missiles at both high and low altitudes, Schroeder said. "The shoot-down on Flight MH17 underscores the importance of reining in the black market trade in all anti-aircraft missiles," he said.

The Malaysian jet was struck at 33,000 feet, well beyond the range of portable anti-aircraft missiles, killing all 298 people on board. U.S. officials said the Boeing 777 jet was struck by a long-range surface-to-air missile fired by pro-Russian separatists inside eastern Ukraine. Russia has denied any role in the attack.

Schroeder said eight different MANPADS models have turned up in Syria. At least two varieties, the Chinese-made FN-6 and the Russian SA-24 Grinch, are newer and more sophisticated models with longer ranges than older varieties — up to 20,000 feet altitude— and are harder to repel by aircraft electronic jamming systems. A third new model spotted inside Syria has yet to be identified, Schroeder said.

The report names Sudan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia as likely sources for MANPADS systems smuggled to insurgents inside Syria but cautions there still is no certainty about their origins. Rebel groups have also boasted of seizing anti-aircraft launchers and missiles from Syrian forces.

U.S. officials have estimated the Syrian government had amassed as many as 20,000 MANPADS units before the civil war erupted in 2011.

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Online:

Small Arms Survey report: http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/about-us/highlights/highlights-2014/ib09-fire-and-forget.html

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Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Israel and Palestinian militants resumed fighting across the Gaza border on Tuesday, ending a ceasefire, sparking panic across the war-torn enclave and halting truce talks.

Gaza emergency services said that three people, including a woman and a two-year-old child were killed and 45 people injured in one Israeli air strike in Gaza City.

Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said Israel had "opened the gates of hell on itself" by carrying out that attack and warned that the Jewish state would "pay the price for its crimes."

Another eight people were hurt in earlier air raids across the strip, the emergency services said.

The al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement that it fired 34 rockets into Israel on Tuesday, hitting Tel Aviv and the southern city of Beersheva.

An Israeli military statement put the number fired at "about 50" but reported no casualties.

"A rocket hit an open area in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area," an army statement said. Earlier the army said two rockets landed near Beersheva, which is home to around 200,000 Israelis.

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Light trails made by rockets fired from the Gaza Strip mark the night sky from the Israel Gaza Borde …

Air raid sirens were also heard in Jerusalem, with Hamas claiming a rocket attack on the city.

Police said it appeared that a rocket fell on empty ground in the occupied West Bank, outside Jerusalem.

The rocket fire began several hours before the end of an agreed 24-hour truce, which expired without being renewed at midnight (2100 GMT).

It prompted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to launch a new round of air strikes on Gaza.and order his negotiators back from Egyptian-mediated ceasefire talks in Cairo.

"The rocket fire which broke the ceasefire also destroyed the foundation on which the talks in Cairo were based," Netanyahu spokesman Mark Regev told AFP early Wednesday.

"The Egyptian initiative is based on a total and unconditional cessation of hostilities, which was clearly broken when rockets were fired into Israel."

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Palestinian rescuers clear the rubble of a destroyed house following an Israeli air strike in Gaza C …

Palestinian delegation head Azzam al-Ahmed said that his team would leave Cairo on Wednesday.

"We are leaving...but we have not pulled out of negotiations," he told AFP, adding the Palestinians were waiting for Israel to respond to their truce proposal.

"We will not come back (to Cairo) until Israel responds," he said.

The fighting shattered nine days of relative quiet in the skies over Gaza.

A senior Hamas official, Ezzat al-Rishq, warned Israel it would "not enjoy security so long as the Palestinian people do not".

But Israel's US ally put the blame squarely on the group itself.

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Palestinian rescuers search for victims in rubble following an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza …

"Hamas has security responsibility for Gaza... Rocket fire came from Gaza," State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.

"As of right now, with today's developments, we are very concerned and it is our understanding the ceasefire has broken down."

The renewal of Israeli air strikes spread panic among Gaza residents.

An AFP reporter saw hundreds of Palestinians streaming out of Shejaiya, an eastern area of Gaza City which has been devastated by more than a month of fighting between Israel and the militant Islamist Hamas movement.

More poured out of the Zeitun and Shaaf areas, alarmed by a series of explosions and heading to shelter in UN schools, local witnesses said.

- Amnesty appeals for Gaza access -

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A bird flying over the Gaza strip is seen from the Israeli side of the Israel Gaza Border on August …

An Israeli official said the country's negotiating team had been ordered back from Cairo where after a succession of temporary ceasefires Egypt is pushing for a decisive end to the Gaza bloodshed, which has killed more than 2,000 Palestinians and 67 on the Israeli side.

The army said that it has ordered that public bomb shelters within 80 kilometres (50 miles) of the Gaza border, be opened ready for use.

Israel has vowed not to negotiate under fire, and Netanyahu has warned there would be "a very strong response" to any resumption of rocket attacks.

The Cairo talks centre on an Egyptian proposal that meets some of the Palestinian demands, such as easing Israel's eight-year blockade on Gaza, but puts off debate on other thorny issues until later.

Amnesty International renewed an appeal for access to Gaza.

"Valuable time has already been lost and it is essential that human rights organisations are now able to begin the vital job of examining allegations of war crimes," it said.

- Hamas shift -

Hamas had repeatedly warned it would not extend the latest temporary ceasefire, pressing for immediate gains that would allow it to claim concessions from Israel after the devastating war which began on July 8.

Egypt's proposal calls for both sides to immediately stop shooting and includes provisions relating to opening the borders to allow for free movement of people, goods and construction materials, as well as a clause on regulating the economic crisis within the impoverished enclave.

But crucially, it postpones discussions on issues such as a port and airport for another month, until "after calm and stability returns," along with talks over exchanging the remains of two Israeli soldiers for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Jordan's national carrier, Royal Jordanian, announced it had resumed flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday, after suspending them for a month due to rocket fire hitting near the runway of Israel's main airport.

Israel leaves peace talks after cease-fire broken

Long-term negotiations are jeopardized after Palestinian militants fire rockets into Israel.
Retaliatory airstrikes

KABC – Los Angeles
Unconfirmed video: US journalist beheaded by ISIS terrorist

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BAGHDAD/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Islamic State insurgents released a video on Tuesday purportedly showing the beheading of U.S. journalist James Foley, who had gone missing in Syria nearly two years ago, and images of another U.S. journalist whose life they said depended on U.S. action in Iraq.

The video, titled "A Message To America," was posted on social media sites. It was not immediately possible to verify its authenticity.

Foley, who has reported in the Middle East for five years, was kidnapped on Nov. 22, 2012, by unidentified gunmen. Steven Sotloff, who appeared at the end of the video, went missing in northern Syria while he was reporting in July 2013.

A Twitter account set up by his family to help find him said early on Wednesday: "We know that many of you are looking for confirmation or answers. Please be patient until we all have more information, and keep the Foleys in your thoughts and prayers."

The White House said that U.S. intelligence agents were working to verify the authenticity of a video.

The Islamic State had not previously executed American citizens publicly. The video was posted after the United States resumed air strikes in Iraq for the first time since the end of the U.S. occupation in 2011.

Zaid Benjamin @zaidbenjamin Follow Foley's beheading video came from Furqan Media, which is the official outlet for #ISIS. Twitter suspended account. 4:14 PM - 19 Aug 2014 102 RETWEETS 35 FAVORITES

The Sunni militant group has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria in areas it controls.

The video opened with a clip of U.S. President Barack Obama saying he had authorized strikes in Iraq.

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This photo posted on the website freejamesfoley.org shows journalist James Foley in Aleppo, Syria, i …

"Obama authorizes military operations against the Islamic State effectively placing America upon a slippery slope towards a new war front against Muslims," words appear in English and Arabic on the screen.

It showed black and white aerial footage of air strikes with text saying "American aggression against the Islamic State"

A person identified as James Foley and wearing an orange outfit is seen kneeling in the desert as a man in black dress with a black mask stands beside him, holding a knife.

"I call on my friends family and loved ones to rise up against my real killers, the U.S. government, for what will happen to me is only a result of their complacency and criminality," the kneeling man says.

The man in the mask speaks in a British accent and says: "This is James Wright Foley, an American citizen, of your country. As a government, you have been at the forefront of the aggression towards the Islamic State."

"Today your military air force is attacking us daily in Iraq. Your strikes have caused casualties amongst Muslims. You are no longer fighting an insurgency. We are an Islamic army, and a state that has been accepted by a large number of Muslims worldwide."

Following his statement he beheads the kneeling man.

At the end of the video, words on the side of the screen say "Steven Joel Sotloff" as another prisoner in an orange jumpsuit is shown on screen.

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U.S. journalist James Foley in Libya in September 2011 (Aris Messinis/AFP

"The life of this American citizen, Obama, depends on your next decision," the masked man says.

Foley, a freelance reporter, had been covering Syria’s civil war for GlobalPost. In 2011, he was held for 45 days by forces loyal to former Libyan leader Muammar Gadaafi.

Sotloff is also a freelancer journalist with published stories in Time Magazine and Foreign Policy. He has worked in Syria, Libya and Yemen.

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White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said: "We have seen a video that purports to be the murder of U.S. citizen James Foley by ISIL. The intelligence community is working as quickly as possible to determine its authenticity.

"If genuine, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American journalist and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends."

Islamic State also released another video on Tuesday that gave the strongest indication yet it might attempt to strike American targets.

The video with the theme "breaking of the American cross" boasts Islamic State will emerge victorious over "crusader" America.

It follows a video posted on Monday, warning of attacks on American targets if Washington struck against its fighters in Iraq and Syria.

The latest footage spoke of a holy war between the al-Qaeda offshoot and the United States, which occupied Iraq for nearly a decade and faced stiff resistance from al-Qaeda.

Islamic State's sweep through northern Iraq, bringing it close to Baghdad and in control of the second city, Mosul, drew U.S. air strikes on the country for the first time since the end of the American occupation in 2011.

U.S. air strikes have helped Kurdish peshmerga fighters who held parts of the north regain some territory captured by the Sunni militants.

Unlike al-Qaeda, Islamic State has so far focused on territorial gains designed to eventually establish a full-blown Islamic empire.

Tuesday's video shows an American soldier crying over the death of a comrade as the Christian hymn Amazing Grace can be heard.

(Reporting by Alexander Dziadosz in Baghdad and Oliver Holmes in Beirut; Editing by Chris Reese, Ken Wills and Andrew Hay)

ISIL claims to have beheaded U.S. journalist

Militants post video purporting to show execution of American James Foley in response to U.S. airstrikes in Iraq.
2nd journalist threatened