Tuesday 17 February 2009
IDF BOMBS SMUGGLING TUNNELS
IDF bombs smuggling tunnels in Gaza after 2 Qassams hit Negev
By Haaretz Service and The Associated Press
Tags: Hamas, Israel news, Qassam
IAF jets bombed the Philadelphi route, an area of smuggling tunnels near Gaza's border with Egypt, for a second time on Monday in response to Qassam rocket fire that hit the Negev earlier in the day.
Israel's military said the strikes targeted tunnels used to smuggle weapons in from Egypt and was retaliation for the rocket attacks.
Palestinian rockets hit Israel Monday morning, as talks dragged on over a long-term truce that would bring quiet to Israel's south and the coastal territory.
Two rockets fired from Gaza hit southern Israel Monday, one exploding in an open area in the Sha'ar Hanegev region and the other hitting inside a kibbutz in the Sdot Negev region. No injuries were reported in either incident, but some property sustained damage.
Two rockets fired from Gaza hit southern Israel Monday, one exploding in an open area in the Sha'ar Hanegev region and the other hitting inside a kibbutz in the Sdot Negev region. No injuries were reported in either incident, but some property sustained damage.
Gaza rockets are a near-daily occurrence in southern Israel, even after the devastating three-week Israeli offensive in Gaza that was meant to bring a halt to the fire.
Israel ended its military offensive in Gaza on Jan. 18, and the territory's Islamic Hamas rulers declared a cease-fire the same day. But sporadic violence has continued as Egypt tries to mediate a long-term truce.
Despite announcements from Hamas late last week that a truce deal was imminent, no agreement has been reached. Hamas is demanding that Israel open Gaza's blockaded border crossings, but Israel says it will open the crossings only after Hamas releases Gilad Shalit, an Israeli tank crewman held by the group in Gaza since June, 2006.
Hamas wants Israel to release hundreds of prisoners in return for Shalit, including high-ranking militants and the masterminds of deadly suicide bombings.
Israel's top leadership is scheduled to meet this week to formulate a response to Hamas' demands.
Gaza man killed in accidental scrap metal recycling blast
Palestinian hospital officials said Monday that a 25-year-old Gaza man has been killed and five people have been wounded in a blast along the border with Israel.
Palestinian security officials said the explosion in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya was caused when people who were melting down scrap metal for recycling inadvertently threw an explosive device into the fire.
Residents initially reported Monday that a shell exploded.
In other news, two rockets fired from Gaza in violation of an informal truce landed in Israel. No injuries were reported.
Israel ended a three-week military offensive in Gaza on Jan. 18, and the territory's Islamic Hamas rulers declared a cease-fire the same day. But sporadic violence has continued as Egypt tries to mediate a long-term truce.
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SUDAN REBEL LEADER MEETS TOP ISRAELI FEFENSE OFFICIAL
Sudan rebel leader meets top Israeli defense official
By Barak Ravid and Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondents
Tags: Israel News, Sudan, Darfur
The leader of one of the rebel groups in Sudan's Darfur region visited Israel to request its support in the rebels' fight against the Sudanese government.
Abdel Wahid al-Nur is the head of the Sudan Liberation Movement. While in Israel, he met with Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilad, who heads the Defense Ministry's political-security department. However, since he was not an official state guest, he did not meet with Foreign Ministry personnel.
Al-Nur came to Israel earlier this month at his own initiative, to attend the annual Herzliya Conference. He came with a group of European Jews, most of them French, who have been active on behalf of the Darfur refugees. He did not speak at any of the sessions, but did observe several.
At the conference, he was introduced to Gilad, and the two arranged a meeting, which took place a few days later at the Defense Ministry.
At the conference, he was introduced to Gilad, and the two arranged a meeting, which took place a few days later at the Defense Ministry.
The ministry responded, "In the interests of national security, various and sundry meetings are held. We are not in the habit of giving responses after each of these meetings."
The Sudan Liberation Movement was founded in 1992. It is a secular group that opposes the Islamist regime of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, and its official stated goal is to turn Sudan into a democracy that grants equal rights to all its citizens. However, it also has a military wing that has been fighting government forces in Darfur since 2001.
Al-Nur fled to France in 2007 and has not been back to Sudan since then. He has won support from international human rights organizations and is considered very close to French Jewish philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy. In the past, he has spoken in favor of establishing diplomatic ties between Sudan and Israel, and a year ago, he even announced that his movement was opening an office in Tel Aviv, staffed by Sudanese refugees who found asylum in Israel after fleeing the massacres committed by Bashir's forces in Darfur. However, this was his first visit here.
Israel currently has more than 600 Darfur refugees, and Ehud Olmert's government decided to grant them all asylum and work permits. This decision was made in part because Bashir's government announced that any Sudanese refugee who set foot in Israel would be considered a "Mossad agent" and would therefore be sentenced to death should he or she ever return to Sudan.
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PORTUGUESE CHEESE GETS KOSHER SEAL
For first time since Inquisition, Portuguese cheese gets kosher seal
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Tags: Israel news, Jewish World
For the first time since the Spanish Inquisition in Portugal, a dairy product has been given an official kosher certificate. The ground-breaking product is a hard, goat's milk cheese, manufactured by the descendant of Anusim (Jews who were forced to convert to Christianity).
Last year, Jose Braz, owner of the Queijos Braz factory, contacted Daniel Litwak, the chief rabbi of Portugal's second-largest city, Porto, and asked him to arrange a kashrut certificate for Serra da Estrela cheese, which Braz manufactures. Braz believes that his own family were members of Portugal's Jewish community in the 14th and 15th centuries, but like many others were forced to convert to escape persecution by the Inquisition.
"When I spoke to Jose, he told me he wanted to reconnect to his Jewish roots - this was the reason for contacting me," says Litwak, who was born in Argentina. "I was surprised because his brand was doing rather nicely all over Europe. He did not need the certificate to increase his turnover."
New York-born Michael Freund, the chairman of Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based organization that helps people with Jewish roots become more involved in their Jewish community, who immigrated to Israel some 10 years ago, told Haaretz that Portugal "is seeing a Jewish revival over the past few years."
New York-born Michael Freund, the chairman of Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based organization that helps people with Jewish roots become more involved in their Jewish community, who immigrated to Israel some 10 years ago, told Haaretz that Portugal "is seeing a Jewish revival over the past few years."
"Recently, the first kosher wine in Portugal since the Inquisition has become available, then the first olive oil and now the cheese," Freund says. "I see a definite connection between how many of the Anusim are rediscovering their roots and the increased interest."
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