When did Israel start arming Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah?

DEBKAfile’s military sources report Israel is already giving Fatah arms, has been for the last six months and has sent ammo this week to keep Mahmoud Abbas’ met supplied for the escalating Palestinian factional violence. The hardware goes to the Fatah-Al Aqsa Brigades which are fighting the Hamas Executive Force, but Israel is also aware that the Brigades are firing missiles against Israeli villages, though not Sderot.

A member of the Israeli cabinet told the London Daily Telegraph Friday: “Time is of the essence… when it comes to Hamas influence in the Gaza Strip – to sit and do nothing… is something we cannot afford.”

According to our military sources, Israeli military aid to Mahmoud Abbas does not end there. Even more important are Israeli Air Force raids against Hamas troops massed to attack Abu Mazen’s men. The objective of one such strike Thursday, May 17, was to thwart a Hamas assault on the Palestinian Presidential Guard base at the Karni goods crossing into Israel; another, Friday night, May 18, bombed a girls’ school in Gaza City occupied by Hamas troops. DEBKAfile’s sources report that, to escape Israeli attacks, Hamas has emptied its bases across the Gaza Strip and moved fighting contingents into mosques and schools shut down by the ubiquitous violence.

Gaza streets are deserted because, in the last day or two, Hamas and Fatah have moved their war to the rooftops. They are fighting for control of Gaza’s highest rooftops for command of the surrounding districts. The Israeli military has not been directed to strike these vulnerable Hamas units. Israel’s military aid to Abu Mazen is measured at this point.

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas called the UN Secretary, Condoleezza Rice and the German foreign minister Friday. Palestinian sources report he asked them to stop Israeli air raids over Gaza. DEBKAfile discloses that, on the contrary, he asked for the Israeli attacks on Hamas to be redoubled.

http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=4207

US- “Anti-Muslim slurs pepper students at Blaine middle school, rights group alleges”

 

A girl who wears an Islamic head scarf says a fellow student at Blaine’s Westwood Middle School called her a terrorist.

Two other Muslim students say food and milk were thrown at them in the cafeteria. And an assistant principal who talked with a Muslim student about the lunchroom spat allegedly made inappropriate references to Islam.

CAIR-Minnesota, a civil rights group, raised the allegations Thursday and asked the school to investigate. The request got a swift reply from Don Helmstetter, superintendent of the Spring Lake Park School District, who called the allegations “serious” and said an investigation began minutes after he got a copy of CAIR’s letter.

According to CAIR chairwoman Lori Saroya, on Sept. 11, 2006, a student who wears the hijab was told by a boy she didn’t know that “Muslims are terrorists.” She reported the incident to a counselor but no action was taken, Saroya said. Westwood Principal Paula Hoff and a counselor met with the girl’s parents and told them that it was an isolated incident and that sensitivity training would be considered.

“The kids are friends now, but the boy told the girl that he hadn’t been disciplined,” Saroya said. The girl’s parents also had asked to meet with the boy and his parents. No meeting or sensitivity training took place, Saroya said.

Two other Muslim students say they have been taunted about their religion through the school year, and last month had food and milk thrown at them in the cafeteria, Saroya said. When a confrontation followed, only one student — a Muslim who had “tried to defend her friend” — was sent to the office, Saroya said.

There, “the assistant principal said, ‘Do Islam and the Qur’an say it’s OK to call people bad names?’ ” Saroya said. “It’s hard to imagine a Christian kid hearing that about the Bible.”

When parents complained to CAIR, Saroya wrote to Hoff seeking an investigation and sensitivity training for students and staff.

Hoff was unavailable for comment Thursday. But Helmstetter said the allegations would be “actively investigated,” with “appropriate action against any pupil, teacher, administrator or other school personnel” who has violated district policy calling for religious tolerance.

He said the district’s Muslim population has grown during the past 10 years but had no numbers because districts do not track students by religion.

“It would be folly to say that there haven’t been racial and cultural tensions that come up from time to time, because the kids are representative of a broader population,” Helmstetter said. “But we take something like this seriously.”

Saroya said she was “very pleased” with his response. She said that although CAIR has received no similar complaints, she suspects Muslim students statewide are occasionally harassed.

“Some sensitivity training at schools could really help head off this kind of thing,” she said.

Source:http://www.startribune.com/614/story/1162348.html

Two internationals hospitalized after Israeli settlers attack

A group of 6 Israeli settlers, aged 15-17, attacked a group of Palestinian children and two human rights workers (HRWs), one from Germany and one from Greece.

The settlers were walking from the illegal Israeli settlement of Tel Rumeida towards Shuhadda St. When they crossed a group of Palestinian children, the settlers started to harass the children and push them around. The HRWs followed the settlers further down onto Shuhadda St., near the illegal settlement of Beit Hadassah.

The settlers then started to throw rocks at the HRWs. When George, from Greece, opened up his camera to start filming, the settlers attacked him from behind.

George said, “They hit me several times in my head and then I fell to the ground. Then, the settlers started to kick me while I was on the ground. They broke my camera and tried to steal it. The Israeli soldier who was standing right in front of me yelled at the settlers but did not stop the attack from happening.”

Trudy, from Germany, said, “I went to go and help George when the settlers kicked him to the ground, then 2 settlers started to attack me. The settlers kicked me in the stomach. They were big boys, 15-17 years old. I started to scream. The settlers didn’t leave when the soldier yelled. They left when they saw the police arriving.

The Israeli police took Geroge and Trudy to the police station to file a report. George, however, was very dizzy and in pain and asked that the police escort the two of them to the hospital. The police, however, refused to do so and let them outside of the police station where the two HRWs took a taxi to the hospital.

At 15:00, George and Trudy arrived at Al Ahli hospital, where they are currently receiving treatment.

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led non-violent resistance movement committed to ending Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian land. We call for full compliance with all relevant UN resolutions and international law.

Source: http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=12766