The following is an insult to all American tax payers who are funding this greed and inhumane madness with many billions of dollars. Please tell your politicians that medicare, education and assistance fo the poor and elderly would be a better place for your taxes.

Germany seizes Israeli military equipment on way to Iran

By Amnon Barzilai and Yossi Melman, Ha'aretz Correspondents, Ha'aretz Service and Agencies

German customs officials impounded a private Israeli ship carrying military equipment thought to be headed for Iran, the Defense Minstry said Wednesday.

A statement released by the ministry said the cargo included some 3,000 Israeli-made rubber treads for armored personnel carriers. It was authorised for export on the premise that the cargo was headed for Thailand, the statement said.

"The shipment sent by a private company from Israel to Germany was seized by the German customs authorities," the statement said, adding that the firm received permission to export the items based on a declaration that its final destination was Thailand.

"The Defense Ministry prohibits the sale of weapons and spare part of military equipment of any kind to Iran," the statement said. The ship, with a crew made up of Israelis and foreigners, had been docking for several days at the Hamburg port.

Channel Two Television quoted the German authorities as saying that a German company bought the equipment and that it intended to ship the cargo to Iran. It is unclear whether the Israeli company, P.A.D., ownned by Avihai Weinstein, knew that the equipment would end up in Iran.

Weinstein is related to Eli Cohen, who three years ago was suspected of trying to sell tank engines to Iran, Channel One's news program reported Wednesday. Cohen was never indicted, but the Defense Ministry suspended contacts with his company and cancelled Cohen's permit to export military equipment.

Since Ayatollah Humeini set up the Islamic republic, which hastened to sever ties with Israel, the covert relations between the two states, especially in arms sales, never really stopped. These ties were maintained despite the international sanctions imposed on Iran, despite the ban on selling it weapons, and despite the rift they caused more than once in the relations with the United States.

During the trial of businessman Nahum Manbar, who was sentenced to 16 years in prison for selling to Iran chemicals and providing it with know-how and equipment to set up plants for chemical warfare, the judges rejected his claim that he was not alone in trading with Iran, and that Israeli companies were also selling arms to the Islamic republic.

4 Palestinians killed by IDF tank shell in Gaza Strip

By Jonathan Lis, Ha'aretz Correspondent, Ha'aretz Service and Agencies

Four Palestinians, a mother and her three sons, were killed early Thursday when Israeli tank shells landed in a Bedouin encampment in the Gaza Strip, residents and doctors said, as Israeli troops searched the seacoast for the second night in a row.

Five others were wounded, including a 4-year-old boy, said doctors at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where the casualties were taken. The acting director of the hospital. Dr. Nafez Shalach, charged that Israeli forces prevented ambulances from reaching the wounded for more than 40 minutes.

IDF tanks moved into Palestinian territory near the settlement of Netzarim, cutting a main road, residents said, as five IDF gunboats patrolled the shore, where a day earlier, Israeli forces fired at objects in the water, suspected to be packets of smuggled arms, which turned out to be refrigerators.

Residents said the tanks fired machine guns and shells. Red Crescent rescue workers said six shells fell in a Bedouin encampment west of the settlement, hitting two houses.

The Israeli military had no immediate comment.

Earlier Wednesday a Palestinian man was killed after approaching the IDF's Tel Katifa outpost in the Gaza Strip Gush Katif settlement bloc. It is not clear whether the man was killed by IDF soldiers or Palestinians, as gunfights were taking place there at the time.

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Free Palestine

Two years into the Intifada, a groundbreaking survey, commissioned by Search For Common Ground, reveals:

* 80% of Palestinians would support a large-scale non-violent protest movement and 56% would participate in its activities.

* 78% of Israeli Jews believe that the Palestinians have a legitimate right to seek a Palestinian state, provided they use non-violent means.

* A strong majority (62%) of Palestinians thinks that a new approach is needed in the Intifada and overwhelming majorities (73-92%) approve of Palestinians using various methods of non-violent action.

* Both Palestinians and Israeli Jews are unsure about the feasibility of a large-scale nonviolent movement. While Palestinian support for mass nonviolent action is strong, majorities have doubts about whether is would be effective. Among Israeli Jews, an overwhelming majority thinks it unlikely that a nonviolent movement will emerge.

"We believe these findings reflect the real, but unrealized, potential that nonviolence can play in ending the vicious cycle of bloodshed," says John Marks, President SFCG. "While nonviolence can provide a possible way out, unfortunately, it is not yet seen by most people in both societies as feasible.

All documents are in PDF format and require Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free here:

http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

News Release

English: http://www.sfcg.org/News/082802.pdf

Arabic: http://www.sfcg.org/News/PollingPressFinal-Arabic.pdf

Hebrew: http://www.sfcg.org/News/PollingPressFinal-Hebrew.pdf

Full Survey Report

English: http://www.sfcg.org/Documents/SFCGPoll.pdf

Arabic: http://www.sfcg.org/Documents/SFCGPoll-Arabic.pdf

Hebrew: http://www.sfcg.org/Documents/SFCGPoll-Hebrew.pdf



Search for Common Ground is a non-profit, non-governmental organization devoted to conflict prevention and resolution. It is based in Washington, DC, with programs in fourteen countries around the world, and works with the European Centre for Common Ground in Brussels.

http://www.sfcg.org/

According to rational human being: “* 80% of Palestinians would support a large-scale non-violent protest movement and 56% would participate in its activities.

* 78% of Israeli Jews believe that the Palestinians have a legitimate right to seek a Palestinian state, provided they use non-violent means. “

It seems that violence Is only bad when it comes from Palestinians. Most of the killing and terrorism, most of the UN and Geneva Convention violations comes from Israeli Jews. That does not seem to trouble rational human being.

Peace