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 1. Canadian MP: Mahmoud Abbas Purveys Anti-Jewish Incitementby Nissan Ratzlav-Katz  Canadian Member of Parliament Irwin Cotler, a Liberal party representative, has stated that the Palestinian Authority, including its Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, is guilty of purveying hatred of Jews. He also lamented that the official PA incitement is being ignored by Western governments and media outlets. MP Cotler said that Hamas, with their charter's "genocidal objective, anti-Semitic ideology and terrorist instrumentality," is not alone in its incitement in the PA public sphere. "I'm talking about the Palestinian Authority," said the Mount-Royal MP at a press conference this week. He added that the "culture of incitement" harms not only Israel, the PA Arabs themselves. Cotler recently returned from a fact-finding mission to Israel, where he also met with PA officials and told them that "hate breeds hate. If you have a culture of incitement and hate, you're going to create a culture of hate that is pervasive in the Palestinian society itself." Cotler cited several examples of anti-Jewish incitement in the PA. Among the most egregious offenses, he noted, were those promoted by official PA government outlets and officials, as well as by Arab academics. "People don't realize that Abbas signed a law, on the very day there was a suicide terrorist attack in December 2005 against Israel, providing monthly stipends for the families of suicide bombers. In January 2007, Abbas addressed a large crowd that was estimated as being over 100,000, in which he said 'the sons of Israel are mentioned in the Koran as those who are corrupting humanity on Earth.'" According to the Canadian MP, "Abbas has never recognized Israel's legitimacy as a Jewish state." The official PA media, meanwhile promotes anti-Israeli libels and "breeds hatred and contempt for Jews." The PA leader's anti-Israel statements and the hatred promoted by his official outlets, Cotler charged, has been judiciously ignored by the West and those involved in promoting Middle East peace. Yet, that incitement, Cotler concluded, is "the greatest threat to a just and lasting peace." MP Cotler also noted in passing that other parts of the Arab world have bred a similar hatred. The recent ransom agreement between Israel and the Hizbullah, in which the Lebanese terror organization released the bodies of two MP Cotler, a former Canadian Minister of Justice and Attorney General, is currently official Opposition Critic for Human Rights, a member of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Human Rights, and a member of the House of Commons Committee on Public Safety and National Security. He is also a well-known advocate for the rights of Jews expelled from Arab and Muslim countries in the years following Israel's establishment. Earlier this month, Cotler said that he was working on a draft legal indictment of Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, which he'd like to present to the United Nations on September 22 of this year. He would like to see Canada, the United States, the U.K., Australia, France and Israel, among others, work together to bring Ahmadinejad to an international court for Iran's domestic human rights abuses, support of international terrorism, and incitement to genocide against Israel.  2. Air Force Moves Base from Ben Gurion to Negevby Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu  The Israel Air Force's large Base 27 at Ben Gurion Airport will be shut down and transferred to the Negev next week, in a move that will feature a massive air salute to the Negev. The airport area has been home to the IAF's cargo and transportation aircraft for 49 years. Its new home will be at the Nevatim base, located between Be'er Sheva and Arad. One of the reasons for the move is to improve the environment in the Gush Dan area that surrounds the airport. The move is expected to give an economic boost to the Negev, providing nearby Arad, Dimona and Be'er Sheva with a larger market. The Israel Air Force's new infrastructure in the base will advance and improve its heavy cargo and transportation capabilities. During the aerial transfer next week IAF Commander Major-General Ido Nechushtan will lead a salute flight in which cargo planes will fly over Negev and Gaza Belt communities. The base is to be inaugurated next Wednesday in the presence of President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi.  3. Police Say They Lack Manpower to Evict Arabsby Hillel Fendel 
Herskovitz, a septuagenarian formerly of Los Angeles and now of Kiryat Arba in Judea, bought property in southern Jerusalem in 1992. He has never been able to take possession of it, however, because of Arab squatters living there. The police have turned down the most recent court order to evict the Arabs because of riots they expect will result. They promise to carry it out within several weeks - but Herskovitz is not optimistic. Though the feisty and colorful Mr. Herskovitz has legal title to the property, located near the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Gilo (Jewish) and Beit Tsafafa (Arab), a clan of Arab squatters says it is theirs. Their claims have alternated between "we received it when the original owner defaulted on a loan" and "we bought it from him." Courts Rule in Herskovitz's Favor Arabs Didn't Pay, Court OKs Eviction, Police Say Not Now Adv. Yaakov Golbert, representing Herskovitz's interests in the foreclosure and reclamation of the party, told IsraelNationalNews what happened: "A police lawyer called me yesterday [Tuesday], and said that the police simply don't have the manpower for the job. They're afraid of riots, and soon [U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza] Rice is coming to the region, and soon it will be Ramadan, etc. etc. But she promised over and over that for sure before the High Holidays [nearly six weeks from now -ed.], they will do it." Police Ask for Long Delay "Not only are they refusing to do it now," an astounded Herskovitz said, "but they even want to put it off for several months! ... And how can the police lawyer make a promise [to Golbert] that they will do it before Rosh HaShanah, when the days before Rosh HaShanah are still in the month of Ramadan?! How can I believe them?" Asked if he has any recourse against the police position, Golbert said, "Most unfortunately, no. If the police explain that they can't carry it out, then the court will believe them, and that's that." Herskovitz sees it differently. "The police are simply bucking a court order," he said. "They have made this into a soap opera and a circus. I would like to believe them when they say they will do it in a month - but it's very hard for me to do so because of how they have stalled and pushed this off so many times in the past, and because of what they are 'promising' now." Jewish People Could Lose Sovereignty 4. Unions May Shut Down Country Over Budgetby Hana Levi Julian  National Histadrut labor union leader Ofir Eini has threatened to shut down the country with a strike if the Cabinet approves the proposed 2009 budget at its next meeting on Sunday. The Finance Ministry proposal includes widespread cuts in spending on defense and social service programs. "I intend to warn the Cabinet ministers on the danger inherent in approving the budget," he said. "I hope the ministers will not raise their hands in favor of the proposal because it will cause a layoff of workers and instability in the economy." A Histadrut strike could affect the Prime Minister's Office, as well as the Interior, Transportation, Education, Foreign, Welfare, Defense and Health Ministries, the Tax Authority, the Israel Land Administration and Bank of Israel offices. The effects also would be felt at government hospitals, the Israel Broadcasting Authority, the National Insurance Institute, the Postal Authority, the Electric Company and Ben-Gurion Airport, among other government institutions. The Histadrut had threatened in June to walk out if the Finance Ministry carried out a plan to eliminate a tax exemption on an employees' savings fund. The exemption on the health fund (kupat kholim) tax and National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi) tax would not have been affected. Ultimately, the tax, which was part of Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On's proposed tax reform package, was scrapped. Under the plan, income tax would be slashed from 16 percent to 11 percent for Israelis in the lowest income bracket, earning NIS 4,390-7,810 per month. Those who earn NIS 7,810-11,720 would pay 17 percent income tax, instead of 26 percent. Those who earn NIS 11,720-16,480 per month would pay income tax of 25 percent, instead of 33 percent. The top tenth percentile would pay 46 percent, instead of 47 percent income taxes, in 2009. By the year 2015, under Bar-On's tax reform plan, the maximum income tax would be 42 percent.  5. Hamas to Harm Shalit If Olmert Doesn't Give In To Demandsby Zeev Ben Yechiel and Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu  Hamas has threatened to harm kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit if Prime Minister Ehud Olmert does not free Gaza-based Hamas terrorists. The demand comes in the wake of plans to release 199 Palestinian Authority (PA) terrorists from Judea and Samaria on Friday. The Prime Minister agreed to free them as part of continuing series of "goodwill" measures to bolster the popularity of Fatah party leader and PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The PA is planning a hero's welcome in Ramallah for terrorist Sa'id Atba, followed by a large hometown welcoming in Shechem. Atba has been in jail for 32 years for leading a cell of terrorists who attacked a Petach Tikva market, killing immigrant from the former Soviet Union Tzila Galil and wounding dozens of others. Galil's son, violinist Zinovi Kaplan, said that the government should have killed the terrorist instead of jailing him. "Those who elected such a government shouldn't be surprised that terrorists are being freed," he added. Hamas has demanded that Prime Minister Olmert offer it the same overture he is giving Abbas by freeing Fatah terrorists. "If the enemy continues with its stubborn attitude, Gilad Shalit will become a second Ron Arad," warned a spokesman for Hamas's armed wing Izzadin Kassam. The statements came after the group held a drill simulating their kidnapping another soldier. They used as staging ground for that drill the site of the ruins of the Jewish Gaza community of Netzarim, which was destroyed in the expulsion of Gaza's Jews in 2005 in exchange for a hoped-for peace with Gaza's Arab terrorists. Other groups have held similar abduction drills recently, following threats to kidnap more soldiers in order to secure the release of their terrorists from Israeli prisons. Expecting an assault on Gaza, Islamic Jihad's Al Quds Brigades and the Sallah a-Din Brigades of the Popular Resistance Committees have held large-scale abduction exercises. On Saturday, 50 Sallah a-Din terrorists are reported to have participated in their own group's drill at the Netzarim ruins. Shalit was kidnapped in 2006 in a cross-border raid by Hamas in Gaza just prior to the Second Lebanon war, while Arad, an Israeli Air Force navigator who went missing after he was forced to eject from his plane over Lebanon in 1986, was subsequently kidnapped by a Shi'ite Lebanese terror group. Neither the fate of Shalit nor that of Arad is known for certain, although Arad is widely believed to be dead and Shalit still alive. According to a report recently released to Israel by Hizbullah, Arad apparently was killed by his terrorist captors when he attempted to escape in 1988. Abu Obeida, spokesman for Izzadin Kassam, has accused PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad of hindering a deal to free Shalit. "Abbas and Fayyad do not want the Resistance to achieve a respectable deal as they do not believe in the way of resistance. They only believe in the way of negotiations and begging to the enemy and succeed only in releasing prisoners who were anyway approaching their release date," said Obeida. The terrorist spokesman continued that his group would continue to kidnap IDF soldiers as long as Israel continued to hold PA terrorists. 6. Jordan Releases 4 Murderers of Israelisby Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel  The Kingdom of Jordan has released four terrorists convicted of murdering two IDF soldiers, including an officer, according to a Wednesday report from a Jordanian news agency. The four Jordanian nationals were captured and sentenced to life in Israeli prisons for their 1990 murder of an IDF soldier and an officer, but were handed over to Jordan as a "gesture" of goodwill to King Abdullah II. In the report by the Petra agency, the Jordanian king released the four as the result of mounting pressure from his constituents, in the wake of the recent prisoner swap in which Israel released terrorist murderers to Hizbullah, and most recently after this week's news that Israel was prepared to release 200 Palestinian Authority terrorists as yet another "gesture" to PA President Mahmoud Abbas. As part of the 2007 prisoner return deal with Jordan, Israel agreed to hand over the four murderers on the condition that they would not be released until they served at least 18 months in Jordan's prisons. This means they were supposed to have remained in prison until December 2009, despite the fact that their original sentences mandated life behind bars. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert commented on the decision in 2007 to release the four terrorists in a statement he issued, saying: "We received a personal request in the matter from the king, who is one of my friends... This move was considered very carefully. We are not releasing (these) prisoners; we are remanding them to a Jordanian prison for the rest of their sentence." In related news, Jordan has resumed official ties with Hamas. This follows a period of tensions surrounding political disputes. Jordanian newspapers report of "positive meetings" between the terrorist group and the kingdom, and Hamas released a statement Friday proclaiming the restoration of its ties with Jordan. The announcements followed a series of meetings held over the past weeks between a Hamas delegation and representatives of the Jordanian government, including Jordan's Intelligence Director Mohammed Zahabi. Among the items on the agenda were restrictions on the terror group's activity in Jordan, suggesting that the kingdom that signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994 plans to become the latest haven for Israel's sworn enemies.  7. Kadima Party To Target Russian Voters in New Moscow Branchby Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu  The Kadima party, headed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, is opening a branch in Moscow while Russian President Vladimir Putin will place his Yadina Russia party's first foreign office in Israel. Kadima is hoping to attract Russian voters who are eligible to cast ballots in Russian elections and who generally vote for Putin's party. Several party leaders fear the mutual opening of branches will create a poor image for Kadima because of its forming a relationship with a Russian party that is considered by many to be totalitarian, according to the Hebrew daily Haaretz. The recent hostilities between Georgia and Russia have made Russia appear to be returning to old Soviet Union policies of using military power to expand influence. Russia has recently also threatened it will attack Poland. Kadima official Nada Chozoy flew to Russia last week to finalize the opening up of the offices, the newspaper said. Likud and other parties have offices in other countries, but none of them have opened branches in Russia. 8. War Stress During Pregnancy Linked to Schizophrenia in Offspringby Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel  Children born to women exposed to extreme stress or trauma during pregnancy are at a significantly greater risk of becoming schizophrenic later in life, according to a study published Thursday on mothers pregnant in Jerusalem during the Six Day War. The study, conducted by the New York University School of Medicine, concluded that women exposed to the severe psychological stress of war or other traumatic conditions in the second month of their pregnancy are several times more likely to give birth to children that will ultimately develop the devastating mental illness. The findings of the study, published online in an open-access and peer-reviewed medical journal from the BioMed Central Publishing house (www.biomedcentral.com) supported the conclusions of other recent studies showing a correlation between exposure to severe stress in pregnant women and a higher rate of severe psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia. Additional factors found in medical studies to be linked to schizophrenia risk are low birth weight and premature birth. The disease, considered the most frightening and complex of all psychiatric disturbances, affects about 1% of the Israeli population. The authors of the study said that their findings are not conclusive and said that their research should not be cause for alarm among expecting mothers. Psychiatrists Dolores Malaspina and Anita and Joseph Steckler stressed that their research "only supports but does not prove" their hypothesis that the second month of fetal development is the one in which the child is most vulnerable to schizophrenia-inducing stress, citing the narrow sample base: 88,829 Jerusalemites born in the capital between 1964 and 1976, collected from the Jerusalem Perinatal Study, linked to birth records from the Israel's Psychiatric Registry. They said that the study also did not take into account the length of pregnancy, as premature babies have been found to have a higher risk of developing the disease. Natural disasters, terrorist attacks or the sudden death of a loved one could have the same effect on the child's risk of contracting the mental illness as a war zone, say the three doctors, but they also said that pregnant women should "not be alarmed about handling daily stressors during pregnancy. A developing fetus requires some exposure to maternal stress, as it normalizes their stress functioning. But women experiencing anxiety or excessive stress would do well to address it before a planned pregnancy and to have good social support systems." The battle for Jerusalem, which was won in the third day of the war, endangered the lives of many residents of the capital. The children of Jerusalemite women in their second month of pregnancy at the time were found to have developed a higher incidence of schizophrenia over the following 21 to 33 years. The NYU study found that girls born from that sample were 4.3 times more likely to develop schizophrenia as young adults than those born at other times between 1964 and 1976. Meanwhile, boys were only 1.2 times more likely to do so. The reasons for the vast gender discrepancy are not clear. Traditionally it was believed that men are at a slightly higher risk for schizophrenia than women, but a study by a group in Germany found that data supporting this conclusion could be skewed by data they found: men tend to develop the disorder three to four years earlier than women. Commenting on the findings of their study, Dr. Malaspina said, "It's a very striking confirmation of something that has been suspected for quite some time. The placenta is very sensitive to stress hormones in the mother. These hormones were probably amplified during the time of the war." The findings of the study have been well-received in the Israeli medical community. One senior Israeli psychiatrist said that the study was a very interesting one that "confirms previous reports of an excess incidence of schizophrenia in offspring born to mothers who experienced stress in early pregnancy." Prof. Avi Weizman, a senior psychiatrist at Petah Tikva's Geha Mental Health Center, went on to add that the research "suggests a relatively narrow window of vulnerability in the second month.... It deserves to be replicated in a larger sample," he said in an interview with the Jerusalem Post. The range of birth years for the children in the sample include 1973, which saw the most intensive war Israel fought since its independence, the Yom Kippur War. That war lasted much longer than the one in 1967, saw higher casualty rates, and was arguably the most stressful one nationwide as it put the country in its greatest risk of defeat since 1948. Prof. Arieh Shalev, chief of the psychiatric division at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center, thinks this war, along with other periods of conflict in Israel, should be the focus of additional studies and repeated the researchers' advice for pregnant women not to be overly concerned. "Even if the increased risk of schizophrenia is a few times higher, it is still very low; it can still mean a small minority. Women should not be frightened. Severe stress in pregnant women during the Yom Kippur War, the Lebanon wars and the intifada should also be studied to see if there is support for their hypothesis," said Shalev. Another expert on mental illness expressed qualified approval of the research, pointing out that it is not the stress itself that creates the risk for pregnant women, but rather the subjective factor of their reaction to it. "The study is important. The authors are clearly on to something, but what is really still missing is a subjective perception of the stress by the mothers," said Dr. Danny Brom, psychologist and director of the Temmy and Albert Latner Israel Center for the Treatment of Psychotrauma at Herzog Hospital in Jerusalem. "One of the most important effects of stress/trauma happens when the person experiences severe helplessness and horror. The study, therefore, as the authors suggest, creates a hypothesis but not proof. This is an interesting direction, but the evidence so far is not very convincing evidence." Dr. Brom criticized the researchers for what he considered to be premature publishing of the article. "Although they state that mothers should not be worried, I think that their article creates too much anxiety and possibly guilt feelings in parents without a stable basis for it," he said.  9. 'Free Gaza' Attempts to Rip Open American-Israeli Battle Scarsby Hana Levi Julian  The pro-Arab 'Free Gaza' organization tried Thursday to reopen old battle wounds with a "memorial service" for "forgotten" Gaza fishermen and American sailors killed by Israeli soldiers. The passengers and crew of the two converted fishing boats, which are planning Thursday night to set sail for Gaza from Cyprus at midnight, announced the service on the group's website. The 46 left-wing activists include Jeff Halper (founder of "The Israeli Committee against House Demolitions"), Lauren Booth, sister-in-law of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, several Palestinian Authority Arab activists and dozens of foreign nationals. Thursday's post described the service as a memorial to "commemorate the 14 fishermen of Gaza who have been killed by the Israeli Navy over the past four years as they were fishing off their coast." The group also managed to involve the United States in their "mission," adding in the announcement that it would "also be held for the 34 American sailors killed aboard the USS LIBERTY by Israeli forces in 1967." The posting went on to explain that activists would "lay flowers in the water for these forgotten seamen from two countries, the Palestinians killed while trying to feed their families and the American sailors who were attacked by Israeli fighter jets and submarines for 75 minutes on June 8, 1967." Gone, but Hardly Forgotten The incident, which the Israeli government said had occurred in error, was investigated by IDF Col. Ram Ron, who concluded that it was indeed the result of a series of mistakes in the IDF chain of command. The IDF said it had asked the US to inform them of any American ships in the area but was not told about the presence of the Liberty, leading Israeli forces to misidentify it. Israel paid nearly $13 million in humanitarian reparations to the US government and in compensation to the families of the victims. With regard to the "forgotten fishermen," many of the "catches" harvested along the Gaza coast have been weapon and have had little to do with fish or food. According to senior Israeli defense officials, Iran has continued its attempts to smuggle weapons into Gaza by using floatable devices dropped into the water off the coast, which are then picked up by PA Arab "fishermen" from Gaza. The sources have described "catches" that include rockets and other advanced weaponry safely wrapped in the floatable devices. Arrival at Gaza Coastal Waters Expected Early Saturday The voyage to Gaza is expected to take around 30 hours, and Israel has warned that Navy boats will try to prevent the boats from landing and declaring Gaza sovereignty over waters off the Gaza coast. As part of a large publicity stunt, the activists are carrying with them balloons and hearing aids for children. Israeli officials said the gifts can be distributed via Israeli port landings.
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Huckabee Visits Sderot 
U.S. VP Hopeful Huckabee Visits Sderot 
