The
Sunday Independent has now established from senior sources that Irish
soldiers would have been killed or taken hostage by Islamist extremists
if it wasn't for the military intervention of the Israeli army during
last week's battle to save besieged UN soldiers.
...
Senior
sources said that there would "almost certainly" have been UN
casualties or deaths if it wasn't for the help given by the Israeli
military, which has posts on high ground overlooking the UN observer
bases in Quneitra. The Israeli assistance was described as "decisive" in
the success of the mission.
The Israelis were able to guide the
Irish-led rescue troops and help it avoid concentrations of the more
heavily armed al-Nusra force. There are also unconfirmed reports that
the Israelis directed fire at the Islamists to stop them from attacking
the Filipino and Irish soldiers.
And the entire UNDOF enterprise now appears to be in danger.
A replacement contingent for the 130 Irish troops in the Golan Heights is still preparing to travel before the end of the month.
However, that could change if the government of the Philippines carries out its threat to withdraw its 331 troops from early next month.
The
Filipino military is enraged at the UN, and has claimed that it ordered
the troops to surrender to the Islamists, endangering their lives.
The Philippines government and military allege that a detachment of 41 Fijian soldiers who did surrender to the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Brigade were only captured after they obeyed a UN order to surrender. Their whereabouts are unknown.
In a statement on Friday, al-Nusra, which has carried out atrocities in Syria, said it was going to try the Fijian soldiers before a Sharia court.
The
Filipinos refused to surrender and after a gun battle with the
Islamists, and supported by the Irish troops, they managed to break the
siege with no loss of life.
Islamist Nusra Front kidnaps UN peacekeepers on Golan Heights
Syrian rebels from the al-Nusra front in the Golan Heights have kidnapped 40 Philippine peacekeepers from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force between Israel and Syria.
The al-Arabiya network
reported that militants fighting with Jabhat al-Nusra, affiliated with
al-Qaeda, kidnapped soldiers of the UN Disengagement Observer Force
(UNDOF) in the Golan Heights. According to reports, those abducted
include 40 soldiers of Philippine origin.
Meanwhile, Irish forces in the same group are reported to be hunkered down, but safe.
Irish soldiers with #UNDOF on Golan Heights in 'Groundhog' over fierce clashes in their AO. All personnel safe, but it's clearly hairy.
— Michael O'Toole (@mickthehack) August 27, 2014
And this is really likely to convince other countries to send their troops to this area as 'peacekeeping forces'....
Watch these BDS bullies try to break up an anti-boycott meeting on the
campus of National University of Ireland Galway, 5 March 2014.
Disgraceful, but typical. Defend free speech on campus! At the lectern
is Professor Alan Johnson, editor of the pro-’two states for two
peoples’ journal ‘Fathom: for a deeper understanding of Israel and the
region’. The anti-Israel fanatic shouting vile abuse, threatening the
students, and trying to break up the meeting is Joseph Loughnane.
But see, I'm confused. If encouraging greater trade and academic ties
and "person to person" interaction is so great for forging human rights
dialogue, then why is Israel, seemingly alone of all countries in the
world, singled out for no-holds-barred censure and boycott?
If
academic and cultural communication is good, then why did the TUI become
the first trade union involved with education and academia in the EU to
adopt a resolution calling on its members to "cease all cultural and
academic collaboration with Israel"?
'Doing business with a country strengthens your ability to have dialogue on human rights'
If
Eamon Gilmore has repeatedly said he is against cultural boycotts (and
he showed admirable support for the Israeli Film Festival last year in
the face of thuggish intimidation), why does Labour Youth call Israel an
"apartheid state" (an insult to all people who have suffered under one)
and profess support for BDS (Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions)?
"Duh", says everyone I speak to, "it's because of Palestine!"
Really?
...
Disturbingly, the truth is that a study conducted in May
2011 revealed that, of those Irish citizens questioned, over 1/5th would
deny citizenship to Israelis, with 11.5 per cent stating they would
deny Irish citizenship to all Jews, and less than 60 per cent saying
they would accept a Jewish person into their family.
Bloody hell – what did the Jews ever do to us? As I said, answers on a postcard please.
In an unusual step, unnamed Israeli government officials have accused Ireland of leading the charge in the European Union to prevent even the 'militant wing' of Hezbullah from being declared a designated terror organization.
According to the officials,
Ireland – which holds the EU’s rotating presidency – was supported in this
position by Sweden and Finland at a working group on Tuesday that debated the
issue.
...
A spokesman at Ireland’s embassy in Tel Aviv,
when asked if his country was indeed spearheading opposition to the move, said
that a formal proposal to designate the “military wing” of Hezbollah had been
made by one member state “and is currently being considered within the relevant
working group known as CP931, which Ireland chairs as the current EU
president.”
The spokesman said that an initial discussion was held on
Tuesday, and that further discussions would be required to see whether the
working group “can arrive at an agreed position on the proposal.”
That
meeting, the spokesman said, was scheduled to take place within the next couple
of weeks.
He did not reveal Ireland’s stand on the
matter.
However, one Israeli government official who said Dublin was
leading the opposition charged that this position was “unusual,” given that
Germany, France and Spain – which all have large contingents in UNIFIL – now
back the move.
Media outside Israel have claimed that there are other countries trying to save Hezbullah's fundraising sources.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Austria was also
opposed, while Lebanon’s Daily Star reported that Italy was leading European
opposition.
The claim of Italian opposition was dismissed by Israeli
government officials as “unsubstantiated rumors.” A formal request to the
Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv for a response went unanswered.
The Europeans' total lack of courage is hair-raising. They cannot even agree to declare Hezbullah's fake 'military wing' a terrorist organization. What could go wrong?
Euroweenies spend three pages condemning Israel over E-1, remember Meshaal's genocidal statement in last paragraph
At the last minute, Germany and the Czech Republic managed to push through an amendment to a three-page condemnation of Israel building in E-1 that inserted one paragraph condemning Khaled Meshaal's call for genocide in Gaza on Saturday. And even that was nearly foiled by Denmark, Finland, Portugal and Ireland.
According to an Israel Radio report
Wednesday, Denmark, Finland, Portugal and Ireland pressured European
foreign ministers to condemn Israel solely for its E1 settlement
construction plan at a meeting of the body’s foreign council Monday.
In the end, the statement included a brief
rebuke of Hamas’s call for Israel’s destruction, after an 11th-hour
intervention by Germany and the Czech Republic, Israel Radio reported.
Israeli leaders slammed the EU statement, with
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that Europe’s lack of a strong
condemnation of Hamas was a “deafening silence.”
“We can’t accept that, when Jews build homes
in [Israel's] ancient capital, the international community has no
problem finding its voice, but when Palestinian leaders openly call for
the destruction of Israel, the one and only Jewish state, the world is
silent,” Netanyahu said.
...
The three-page EU statement was almost solely
concentrated on condemnation for Israel’s plan to expand settlement
building, including in the sensitive E1 corridor east of the capital.
“The European Union is deeply dismayed by and
strongly opposes Israeli plans to expand settlements in the West Bank,
including in East Jerusalem, and in particular plans to develop the E1
area,” the union’s Foreign Affairs Council said after the Monday
meeting.
In the penultimate paragraph
of its condemnation of Israel, the group said that “The EU finds
inflammatory statements by Hamas leaders that deny Israel’s right to
exist unacceptable. The European Union will never cease its efforts to
combat terrorism which seeks to undermine the openness and tolerance of
societies through indiscriminate acts of violence against civilians.”
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on
Wednesday acknowledged that his country was responsible for inserting
the condemnation of Hamas into the EU statement. “We absolutely condemn
the statements by Hamas leader Mashaal. Anyone who questions the right
of Israel to exist can not be a partner for peace talks. Mashaal’s
public pronouncements demonstrate to the world how justified Israel’s
security concerns are,” he said.
The French Foreign Ministry on Wednesday
further condemned Israel’s publication of a tender for the construction
of an additional 92 apartment units in the West Bank settlement of
Ma’aleh Adumim.
Things have changed a little in Germany, which for now, at least, will not lead an anti-Semitic charge. And the Czech Republic has now assumed the role of our one true friend in Europe. But things haven't changed much at all in the rest of Europe since the Middle Ages. Europe is as Jew-hating as always and judges Jews by the same double standard as always.
If you had asked me who is the most hostile country to Israel in the European Union, I would have bet on Sweden. Maybe France. But it's neither of those. Two and a half years ago, my friend Dymphna posted a lengthy post about anti-Semitism in Ireland. And since then it has only gotten worse.
An outrageous anti-Israel display was held over the weekend on Dublin's main pedestrian street, presenting IDF soldiers as Nazi troops.
As part of the display, sponsored by the Dublin City Council, a group of pro-Palestinian activists set up a model of the separation fence and an IDF roadblock.
The activists dressed up as soldiers and beat, humiliated and pointed their weapons at other activists dressed as Palestinians, in front of thousands of Irish citizens and tourists.
The display joins accusations voiced against Israel at the Irish parliament last week, on the backdrop of claims that Israel "kidnapped", abused and undressed Irish nationals who took part in a Gaza-bound flotilla stopped by the Israeli army recently.
Israel has strongly denied the accusations.
But that's not all. A Facebook group launched about two months ago called for heavy rocks to be thrown at the Israeli Embassy building in Dublin. Anti-Israel elements recently vandalized a Dublin auditorium slated to host a concert by Israeli singer Izhar Ashdot.
The Facebook accounts of Israeli Embassy officials have been attacked by Irish hackers and, in addition, anti-Israeli elements are attempting to disrupt an Israeli film festival organized by the embassy in Dublin next week.
"The Irish government is feeding its people with anti-Israel hatred," an Israeli official argued. "What we are seeing here is clear anti-Semitism."
Another country to cross off your summer vacation list. Dymphna reports that Ireland has a long history of this kind of behavior.
When you read these awful Israel-condemning debates in the Irish Senate, remember that Ireland is a country that was neutral during the Holocaust, that sent condolences to Germany on the death of Hitler, and that refused to allow almost any Jewish refugees in, either before, during or after the war. I don’t at all think the Irish politicians are anti-semitic. Rather, they have a range of trendy reasons for their views. But I think Ireland - like most of Europe - should shut up about Jews for a few hundred years.
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
