CAIRO’S ‘AL-AHRAM’ newspaper makes the outrageous claim that ‘Israel
is putting foundations and deep tunnels directly under the Aksa mosque so if an earthquake happens, the collapse of the mosque will look natural.’
By COMPILEDTHE MEDIA LINESnow-covered Dome of the Rock 370(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)DRAFTING ARABS IN THE ISRAELI ARMYAl Sharq Al Awsat, London, May 25 Israeli Construction and Housing Minister Uri Ariel said his party Habayit Hayehudi insists on recruiting minorities, a reference to the Palestinian Arabs in Israel, for military service in order to have equality in the burden. Arabs reject enlistment in the Israeli army, and along with the haredim (ultra-Orthodox Jews) have in recent years remained outside the military.Since the founding of Israel, haredim were exempted from service on the grounds that they were attending private religious schools, but secular groups appealed to the Supreme Court last year demanding equality in army service and the court decided to change the status quo.The religious parties, however, demanded that Arabs serve as well. The Arab members of the Knesset reject the idea completely, though some Arabs voluntarily perform military service. Compulsory recruitment for Arabs is expected to create problems. Other ministers linked Arabs’ service to that of the haredim.As Israel debates Arab enlistment, more voices are demanding to let the army use more military force against Palestinians in the West Bank.ISRAEL SYSTEMATICALLY PLANS TO DEMOLISH AL-AKSA Al Ahram, Cairo, May 25 Jerusalem has been almost lost to us as a result of our conflicts. Israel is putting foundations and deep tunnels directly under the Aksa Mosque so if an earthquake happens, the collapse of the mosque will look natural.The second plan is to divide al-Aksa Mosque into Jewish and Muslim areas, just as happened at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. The third phase, God forbid, is the demolition of the mosque and construction of the claimed third temple.We all know that Israel has a plan to Judaize Jerusalem by the end of the year 2020, a plan that will expel the largest number of Arab Jerusalemites from Jerusalem and bring in a large number of settlers.It’s important to know that 70% of Palestinian land in the city of Jerusalem, specifically west Jerusalem, was built by the Palestinians. So eastern and western Jerusalem are Palestinian, and now the occupation forces consider that all Jerusalem is Jewish and change the names of streets and history, declaring it the unified capital of Israel.The occupation has raised big budgets for Jerusalem, but we as an Arab nation failed to provide the minimum of the Jerusalemites’ needs.DANCING ON PALESTINIAN BLOOD Al Hayat Al Jadeeda, Ramallah, May 27 Thirteen years after the killing of Muhammad al- Dura, who was assassinated by soldiers in cold blood as he tried to hide with his father, Jamal, in September 2000, Israel is making him spin in his grave. A non-formal, non-neutral commission, some of whose members are ultra-right Zionist extremists, said that the France 2 television report about the killing of al- Dura and the wounding of his father is not accurate.Not only that; the Israeli report went further when it claimed al-Dura wasn’t shot by Israeli soldiers and is still alive. This report is not just a news item but rather a new chapter of the Zionist narrative that is based on falsification of facts and history.This distasteful dancing on Palestinian blood is aimed at stirring up a scandal before Israeli and world public opinion. However, the Israeli leadership’s attempt failed because the empty claims once again exposed Israeli violations against Palestinians. It also weakened Israeli credibility, because the lens of French journalist Charles Enderlin and his network France 2 didn’t fake the blood of the martyr Dura.DOES THE UNITED STATES WANT PEACE? Al Quds, Jerusalem May 23 The majority of diplomatic, academic and media representatives in the US, the Arab countries and Israel agree that unless the United States brings its full weight to bear in order to resolve the conflict, current efforts to achieve peace will fail.Of course the responsibility lies with the Israelis and Palestinians to demonstrate their will to engage in serious peace negotiations that the United States will gladly facilitate. There are, however, many obstacles to achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians, including a lack of trust on both sides and each party feeling domestic pressures due to extremist ideologies.At the same time, the majority on both sides wants peace and President Obama really wants a peace that invests resources and political capital lacking in previous efforts. Current efforts by US Secretary of State John Kerry are extremely important to Israel’s security, America’s Arab allies and regional stability.In addition to the use of force, which is inevitable, Obama must use other political players who are able to influence the Israelis and Palestinians to come to terms with each other. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been going on for the past 65 years and can now come to an end, but only if the United States wants it.
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