Tag Archive for Israel

Israel, Palestine, United Nations

United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs West Bank Access Restrictions January 2017

A complex series of concrete walls, electronic fences, and other obstacles to control Palestinian pedestrian and vehicular movement. Palestinian access to land and communities located behind the Barrier is subject to a permit or prior coordination regime. In its 2004 Advisory Opinion, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) established that the sections of the Barrier which run inside the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, together with the associated gate and permit regime, violate Israel’s obligations under international law.

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Israel, United Nations

UN Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza Conflict

On 23 July 2014, the Human Rights Council, by resolution S-21/1, decided to urgently dispatch an independent, international commission of inquiry to investigate all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, in the context of the military operations conducted since 13 June 2014, whether before, during or after. Pursuant to resolution S-21/1, the President of the Council appointed three experts to the commission: William Schabas (Chair), Mary McGowan Davis and Doudou Diène.

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Federal Bureau of Investigation

FBI Cyber Division Private Industry Notification on #OpIsrael

As of early March 2015, several extremist hacking groups indicated they would participate in a forthcoming operation, #OpIsrael, which will target Israeli and Jewish Web sites. The FBI assesses members of at least two extremist hacking groups are currently recruiting participants for the second anniversary of the operation, which started on 7 April 2013, and coincides with Holocaust Remembrance Day. These groups, typically located in the Middle East and North Africa, routinely conduct pro-extremist, anti-Israeli, and anti-Western cyber operations.

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News

DHS and FBI Call for Increased Vigilance in Jewish Communities Following Israel’s Recent Military Actions

Last Friday, officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) hosted a teleconference with the directors of fusion centers around the country as well as the Major City Intelligence Commanders across to discuss the “heightened tensions in the Middle East due to the on-going military actions between Israel and Hamas.” A bulletin from the New York State Intelligence Center (NYSIC) described the conference call, stating that the DHS and FBI representatives emphasized that there is “currently no credible or specific information suggesting any violent actions in the United States as a result of these tensions” but requested increased vigilance from “law enforcement in regions where Jewish consulates or large Jewish populations exist was encouraged, and law enforcement officials on the teleconference from those areas discussed measures being taken to ensure the safety and security of their local communities, which included increased law enforcement presence, community outreach and encouraging reporting of suspicious activities.”

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Palestine, United Nations

Mahmoud Abbas Speech to the U.N. General Assembly Transcript September 23, 2011

It is no longer possible to redress the issue of the blockage of the horizon of the peace talks with the same means and methods that have been repeatedly tried and proven unsuccessful over the past years. The crisis is far too deep to be neglected, and what is more dangerous are attempts to simply circumvent it or postpone its explosion. It is neither possible, nor practical, nor acceptable to return to conducting business as usual, as if everything is fine. It is futile to go into negotiations without clear parameters and in the absence of credibility and a specific timetable. Negotiations will be meaningless as long as the occupation army on the ground continues to entrench its occupation, instead of rolling it back, and continues to change the demography of our country in order to create a new basis on which to alter the borders.

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Iran, United Nations

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Speech to UN General Assembly Transcript September 22, 2011

Who used the mysterious September 11 incident as a pretext to attack Afghanistan and Iraq, killing, injuring, and displacing millions in two countries with the ultimate goal of bringing into its domination the Middle East and its oil resources? Who nullified the Breton Woods system by printing trillions of dollars without the backing of gold reserves or equivalent currency? A move that triggered inflation worldwide and was intended to prey on the economic gains of other nations. Which country’s military spending exceeds annually a thousand billion dollars, more than the military budgets of all countries of the world combined? Which governments are the most indebted ones in the world?

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Israel, United Nations

UN Report on Gaza Flotilla Incident of May 2010

On 31 May 2010 at 4.26 a.m. a flotilla of six vessels was boarded and taken over by Israeli Defense Forces 72 nautical miles from land. The vessels were carrying people and humanitarian supplies. The flotilla had been directed to change course by the Israeli forces who stated that the coast of Gaza was under a naval blockade. Nine passengers lost their lives and many others were wounded as a result of the use of force during the take-over operation by Israeli forces.

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Department of Defense, Israel

(U//FOUO) RAND Corporation Study: Israeli Warfare After the Second Lebanon War

The Armored Corps Association hosted its inaugural conference on November 13–14, 2007, as a forum for discussion of Israeli operations during the July–August 2006 Second Lebanon War. Attendees sought to identify both challenges meriting particular attention due to their implications for the country’s future security and solutions to those challenges. The event drew some 200 active and retired members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in addition to representatives from the commercial sector, the United States, and the United Kingdom. A list of speakers and brief biographical sketches appear in Appendixes A and B, respectively. Note, however, that selected materials do not appear herein due to some speakers’ requests that they not be included in either the Hebrew or English version of these proceedings.

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement

ICE List of Specially Designated Countries (SDCs) that Promote or Protect Terrorism

The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General issued a report in May 2011 titled “Supervision of Aliens Commensurate with Risk” that details Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) detention and supervision of aliens. The report includes a list of Specially Designated Countries (SDCs) that are said to “promote, produce, or protect terrorist organizations or their members”. The report states that ICE uses a Third Agency Check (TAC) to screen aliens from specially designated countries (SDCs) that have shown a tendency to promote, produce, or protect terrorist organizations or their members and that the purpose of the additional screening is to determine whether other agencies have an interest in the alien. ICE’s policy requires officers to conduct TAC screenings only for aliens from SDCs if the aliens are in ICE custody.

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Headline

Israeli Security Barrier Occupation Checkpoint Photos

jenniferlisa – http://www.flickr.com/photos/jenniferlisa/ delayed gratification – http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshhough/ chris yunker – http://www.flickr.com/photos/chris-yunker/ david ortmann – http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidortmann/ justincgio – http://www.flickr.com/photos/51479356@N05/ Michael Loadenthal – http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelimage/ izahorsky – http://www.flickr.com/photos/ingmar/ taimambi – http://www.flickr.com/photos/taimambi/ hoyasmeg – http://www.flickr.com/photos/emeryjl/

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Open Source Center

(U//FOUO) Open Source Center Israeli Government Uses Social Media to Counter Flotilla Criticism

Against the backdrop of widespread international criticism and muted senior official comment regarding Israel’s actions in the Free Gaza flotilla raid, the IDF and some ministries, as well as individual volunteers, turned to social media to counter bad publicity over the incident. While IDF YouTube videos apparently succeeded in attracting attention to Israel’s message, the government’s overall social networking effort appears to have been hastily and clumsily organized compared to a more effective effort at the time of the Gaza incursion from December 2008 to January 2009. Several prominent commentators rebuked the government for what they perceived as a tardy and unprofessional public diplomacy campaign during the incident.

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Congressional Research Service

Hezbollah: Background and Issues for Congress

Lebanon’s Hezbollah is a Shiite Islamist militia, political party, social welfare organization, and U.S. State Department-designated terrorist organization. Its armed element receives support from Iran and Syria and possesses significant paramilitary and unconventional warfare capabilities. In the wake of the summer 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah and an armed domestic confrontation between Hezbollah and rival Lebanese groups in May 2008, Lebanon’s political process is now intensely focused on Hezbollah’s future role in the country. Lebanese factions are working to define Hezbollah’s role through a series of “National Dialogue” discussions.

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Israel

Reut Institute Report on Gaza Flotilla and Israel’s “Political Firewall”

This case-study deals with a strategic political strike against the State of Israel that was planned without interruption since February 2009 and materialized on May 31, 2010. Known as the Gaza Flotilla, this effort exceeded the expectations of its organizers in causing tangible and significant damage to Israel. Planning of the Gaza Flotilla was carried out over the internet and in public conferences by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) primarily operating from major cities of countries friendly to Israel, including London, Dublin or San Francisco. In the broader context, the Gaza Flotilla was just the tip of the iceberg. It is one incident out of many in a campaign entitled ‘Lifeline to Gaza’ designed to break the ‘siege’ of Gaza. The campaign itself is one of several being waged against Israel. Others include the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement, the ‘lawfare’ strategy, and the Durban conferences.

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Corporate, Pennsylvania

Complete Pennsylvania Homeland Security Intelligence Bulletins October 2009-September 2010

This archive file contains 137 bulletins that were produced by the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, an American-Israeli company under contract to the Pennsylvania Department of Homeland Security, from October 2009-Setember 2010. We believe this represents the complete collection of reports produced by the company for the State of Pennsylvania.

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News

FBI Takes Down 73,000 Blogs Over Al-Qaeda Magazine

Earlier this week, the owner of a Wordpress-based blogging platform Blogetery.com was informed by the site’s hosting provider Burst.net that their servers had been deactivated following a request from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Although preliminary reports attributed this takedown to copyrighted content, it has since been discovered that the removal was due to “terrorist materials”. A press release from BurstNet explains “Upon review, Burst.net determined that the posted material, in addition to potentially inciting dangerous activities, specifically violated the BurstNet Acceptable Use Policy. This policy strictly prohibits the posting of ‘terrorist propaganda, racist material, or bomb/weapon instructions’. Due to this violation and the fact that the site had a history of previous abuse, BurstNet elected to immediately disable the system.” Burst.net later posted comments to a forum indicating that they would not allow the customer access to his data. “We cannot give him his data nor can we provide any other details. By stating this, most would recognize that something serious is afoot.”

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Israel

Erez Crossing

The Erez Crossing (מעבר ארז‎) is a civilian entry point into the Gaza Strip. It consists of a series of large concrete building and caged corridors which function as a pedestrian/cargo terminal on the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier, located in the northern end of the Gaza Strip. It is part of a complex formerly including the Erez Industrial Park. The crossing is currently restricted to Arab residents under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority and to Egyptian nationals or international aid officials only. The complex reportedly cost more than $35 million to construct.

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