Kidnappings of foreigners are commonplace in Gaza. In the past year 14 such kidnappings have occurred. In each case the victim has been released after a short period of time and unharmed. The demands are not usually aimed at Hamas, however.

In Sufi and Shi'ite literature the term Salafi is interchangeable with the term Wahabi, but many Salafis reject the term as unfounded despite philosophical similarities. Wahabi Islam dominates the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and characterizes the philosophy of the al Qaeda international terrorist organization.

Both sects are a part of the Sunni orthodox mainstream. (IsraelNationalNews.com)

---

 

Christian Zionist settlers in Samaria?

Thursday, April 14, 2011 | Ryan Jones

 

The Jewish online media scene is abuzz with a story published by Israel’s Ynet news portal concerning a group of 1,000 American Christians who want to join the Israeli army and build a new settlement in Samaria. According to the article, the group has signed a document stating its intentions, and its members' willingness to convert to Judaism. The document was presented to Israeli lawmaker Leah Shemtov (Israel Beiteinu), who responded positively. Shemtov reportedly promised to help facilitate the initiative. If their plans come to fruition, the group plans to undergo an Orthodox conversion to Judaism, join the Israeli army, and then purchase and settle a large piece of land in Samaria (the northern “West Bank”). No details regarding the identity of the group were provided.

Israel: P.A. Statehood a 'Diplomatic Tsunami'

JERUSALEM, Israel -- The Palestinian Authority is now ready to function as a state, a new United Nations report concluded. The main obstacle to such a goal, the U.N. noted, is "Israeli occupation."

Palestinian leaders plan to ask the U.N. General Assembly in September for statehood recognition on all the territory Israel occupied in 1967, including Gaza.

If the P.A. is successful, Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak predicts a "diplomatic tsunami." 

"They are now refusing to sit to the table because they think -- and maybe rightly so -- that the support of almost two thirds of the countries that are represented at the General Assembly and they can get some kind of recognition of a state at the General Assembly," Gabriella Shalev, who served as Israel's U.N. ambassador for two years, told CBN News. 

Shalev is sounding the alarm that international recognition of a Palestinian state poses a grave threat to her country.

"Come September we are there - if nothing will happen in between - and there are still a few months that we can do many things, we are in for big trouble," she warned. 

Shalev says the Palestinians may well use an obscure U.N. resolution to bypass the Security Council where the U.S. holds veto power.      "According to this resolution 377, if there is not a consensus within the Security Council, then it goes to the General Assembly which can take collective measures," she explained. 

Collective measures could have profound consequences for Israel including sanctions, boycotts, an arms embargo and even the use of force.  The U.N. might impose a Palestinian State on Israel and isolate the Jewish State.  

"If this will happen, we can be considered an occupying power in a state which is working for its independence and then sanctions can be inflicted on Israel," Shalev said.

That's why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under enormous pressure.  The left in Israel wants him to make dramatic concessions to the Palestinians.  He's also under pressure from Washington, where he will visit next month to meet President Obama and address Congress. 

Meanwhile, a new poll shows most Americans may have already made up their mind on the issue. 

The survey by the Israel Project found that 51 percent of U.S. registered voters oppose the Palestinian Authority if it "unilaterally declare(s) an independent Palestinian state without a signed peace treaty with Israel."  Only 31 percent support it.

Shalev told CBN News she sees hope in the American people.  

"The people of the United States are so important for us because they have an influence on the government, on the president," she said. "And we know and the Americans know that still, after everything takes place in the Middle East, our values are very much like the values of your founders."

Agence-France Press characterized the conversions as a clear sign of an increase in the Iranian influence among the Gaza's Arabs.

Arab states have accused Iran of inciting hatred and igniting sectarian tensions throughout the region. These same states have frozen Hamas out in favor of its arch-rival Fatah.

As a result, Hamas leaders in Gaza find themselves forced to tread lightly with Shiite missionaries in order not to jeopardize their relationship with their closest ally, Tehran.

This, depsite Hamas' stridently fundamentalist brand of Sunni Islam.

Abdul Rahim Hamad, who lives in Jabalia, told the Associated Press he converted to the Shi'ite doctrine five years ago. Hamad attributed the growth of Shi'a in Gaza “to the influence of Iran and Lebanon's Hizbullah in the region.”

“We are now hundreds in Gaza," Hamad said. "We will start our political activities soon. Palestinian Shi'ites will play an important role in controlling this region in the future.”

Ahmed Youssef, adviser of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, denied any increase in Shi'ite Islam in Gaza, but added Gaza's Arabs “love Iran and Hizbullah.”

A Message For Iran Despite Haniyeh's lovey public rhetoric vis-a-vis Iran, Hamas is starting to show signs of displeasure with the ideological Trojan Horse Iranian aid represents in its bailiwick.

Security sources in Gaza intimated police forces last Thursday shut down the premises of the Shi'ite al-Baqeyat al-Salehat society, located in northern Gaza.

“We were surprised today by the shutdown of the society premises,” Hisham Salem, the society chairman, told the Ma'an News Agency.

Salem insisted al-Baqeyat al-Salehat was a charitable society that was given the municipal license four years ago.

“The society receives funds from several foreign states, including Iran,” he said.

Some observers have suggested the shutdown was a veiled message Hamas has little intention of allowing Gaza to become an Iranian satrapy.

But Hamas, messages aside, is in a proverbial catch-22. If Hamas leaders wish to retain control of Gaza they must stanch the spread of Shi'a. But doing so may come at the cost of Tehran's patronage, which serves as a vital life-line for a largely isolated Hamas.

Israel Leaving Door Open For Iran For their part, Israeli security officials have left the door open for Iran in Gaza.

In a batch of classified US Embassy Cables recently released by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin was quoted as having told US officials his agency possessed intelligence indicating Gaza Arabs were using the Rafah crossing to travel to and from Iran and Lebanon to increase Hamas' capabilities.

Diskin told the Americans: “If we want to approach this seriously, we need to start with the movements of people.”

Despite these comments, Diskin maintained that it was important to leave the Rafah crossing open.

When US officials asked about Egypt’s ability to influence matters in Gaza, Diskin replied, “The most important thing they can do is stop the smuggling which takes place between their borders with both Gaza and Israel.”

A Palestinian state by September?

Thursday, April 14, 2011 | Ryan Jones

Israelis are growing anxious over the international community’s renewed rush to impose a peace settlement on Israel and the Palestinian Arabs. And the world’s impatience is being fueled by Palestinian threats to unilaterally declare statehood in September, even in the absence of a final status peace deal. Palestinian leaders have publicly announced that they will declare independence in September and seek UN recognition of Palestine as a sovereign state. “The admission of Palestine as a member t the United Nations has become an inevitable reality in September next,” Israeli Arab lawmaker Ahmed Tibi told Palestinian Authority reporters on Tuesday. Before he became an Israeli Knesset member, Tibi was an advisor to former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The UN itself on Tuesday suggested Tibi’s assessment is more than wishful thinking when it declared that the Palestinian Authority is capable and ready to function as an independent state, and is only being held back by the “Israeli occupation.” At a donors meeting in Brussels a day later, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, together with representatives of nations that regularly finance the Palestinian Authority, agreed with the UN. “The PA is above the threshold for a functioning state in key sectors,” said the donor nations. They urged the Palestinians to achieve independence via a peace deal with Israel, but signalled they will not oppose a unilateral declaration of independence. With that kind of backing, Israeli offocials estimate that even America won’t be able to prevent the birth of Palestine in the halls of the UN later this year. “ Obama wants a Palestinian state and although the US is not interested in a unilateral declaration, it would be hard for it to stand alone in the General Assembly and vote against it,” an Israeli official told Israel’s Ynet news portal. Another official noted that the US had blocked previous attempts to advance a unilateral Palestinian declaration of independence, but that it had only slowed down what has now become an unstoppable trend. Meanwhile, the Palestinians see all of this and know they can now play hardball and stick to even their most outrageous demands. Compromise is off the table as far, as they are concerned. “The administration has started to realize the situation in the Mideast is dangerous,” Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeinah told Reuters. “It’s time for the American administration to move before September.” US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her government is already on the job, and that Obama can be expected to launch a new peace initiative in the coming weeks. Obama’s previous high-profile efforts to jump-start the Middle East peace process were foiled by the Palestinians' refusal to negotiate with Israel. At the same time, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly working on his own peace proposal, but it is expected to be rejected by the international community if it veers from established Arab demands.