Sunday, October 29, 2006
Jimmy Carter chimes in with an anti-Israel book
"Carter Book Slaps Israel With ‘Apartheid’ Tag, Provides Ammo to GOP
Jennifer Siegel
http://www.forward.com/
Tue. Oct 17, 2006
As Republicans step up their efforts to paint Democrats as increasingly hostile toward Israel, former President Jimmy Carter is releasing a book on the Middle East, titled “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”
Judging from an advance review manuscript of the new work, published by Simon & Schuster and set for release November 14, Carter places the bulk of the blame on Israel for its continuing conflict with the Palestinians. But critics of the former president probably will be most offended by his use of the word “apartheid” in the book’s title and text.
Israel’s current policy in the territories, Carter writes in the book’s summary, is “a system of apartheid, with two peoples occupying the same land but completely separated from each other, with Israelis totally dominant and suppressing violence by depriving Palestinians of their basic human rights.” In a separate passage in the advance draft, the former president stated that “Israel’s continued control and colonization of Palestinian land have been the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land.”
In addition, Carter takes what is being interpreted by some critics as a swipe at the pro-Israel lobby. “Because of powerful political, economic, and religious forces in the United States, Israeli government decisions are rarely questioned or condemned,” the former president writes.
Carter’s book comes as the Republican Jewish Coalition is already waging a nationwide media campaign to convince Jewish voters that the Democratic Party no longer can be counted on to provide unflinching support for Israel. (See story on Page A6.) One of the recent RJC ads features a large image of Carter and quotes the former president as saying, “I don’t think Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon.”
Simon & Schuster spokeswoman Elizabeth Hayes confirmed the substance of the quotes from Carter’s book, but said that the wording could change in the final edition.
With less than three weeks left before Election Day, Jewish Democrats have been quick both to disavow Carter’s views and to assert that Carter is a marginal figure within the party on the issue, despite being a former president and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. At the same time, however, the Democratic National Committee included him in a list of past pro-Israel presidents in an advertisement this week that was aimed at shoring up support among Jewish voters. The ad features a 1977 quote from Carter describing the “special relationship” between the United States and Israel, and saying that “it’s absolutely crucial that no one in our country or around the world ever doubt that our number one commitment in the Middle East is to protect the right of Israel to exist, to exist permanently, and to exist in peace.”
The RJC’s executive director, Matt Brooks, told the Forward that he has yet to see Carter’s new book; however, he seemed confident that it would provide additional ammunition for his organization’s campaign to woo Jewish voters.
“We certainly have not shied away from shining a light on some of his misguided and outrageous comments about Israel in the past, so we certainly have to see what this book holds,” Brooks said. “Obviously we will look to key Democratic leaders and hear what they have to say about it. So far, there’s been nothing but silence on the part of the Democratic establishment in terms of holding Carter accountable.”
The book was originally slated to be released November 1 — six days prior to this year’s congressional elections — but now it will be available in stores November 14, according to Hayes, the Simon & Schuster spokeswoman.
Jewish Democrats say that they were pushing for a later release date. But, according to Hayes, the date was pushed back to allow Carter time to work in more material from last summer’s conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Democrats involved in efforts to boost Jewish support were quick to criticize Carter’s views. “I disagree with President Carter fundamentally,” said Rep. Steve Israel, a New York Democrat who is leading the efforts of House Democrats to reach out to Jewish voters and donors. “The reason for the Palestinian plight is the Palestinians. Their leadership has no regard for the quality of life for their people and no capability of providing security or enforcing peace, and they have no one to blame but themselves.”
Israel added that the “book clearly does not reflect the direction of the party; it reflects the opinion of one man.”
“Democrats who support Jimmy Carter’s views on Israel? Now that’s a convention you could hold in a phone booth,” wrote Ira Forman, executive director of the National Democratic Jewish Council, in an e-mail to the Forward. “Jimmy Carter is out of the mainstream of the Democratic Party when it comes to his views on Israel.” Aaron Miller, a former State Department official who has consistently advocated a greater American role in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, said that Carter’s book would not influence key decision makers in the administration. But he added, “the one thing that I assure you is that Carter’s book will be read” by a wider audience.
Carter has a “demonstrated track record of success,” said Miller, now a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, referring to the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty that the former president helped broker at Camp David in 1978. “He’s the only American president that’s succeeded in brokering a permanent status agreement between Arabs and Israelis, the only one, and you know, he deserves an enormous amount of credit for that, whatever his current and latest views are — and I don’t agree with a lot of them, on the Israel-Arab issue".”
Jennifer Siegel
http://www.forward.com/
Tue. Oct 17, 2006
As Republicans step up their efforts to paint Democrats as increasingly hostile toward Israel, former President Jimmy Carter is releasing a book on the Middle East, titled “Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.”
Judging from an advance review manuscript of the new work, published by Simon & Schuster and set for release November 14, Carter places the bulk of the blame on Israel for its continuing conflict with the Palestinians. But critics of the former president probably will be most offended by his use of the word “apartheid” in the book’s title and text.
Israel’s current policy in the territories, Carter writes in the book’s summary, is “a system of apartheid, with two peoples occupying the same land but completely separated from each other, with Israelis totally dominant and suppressing violence by depriving Palestinians of their basic human rights.” In a separate passage in the advance draft, the former president stated that “Israel’s continued control and colonization of Palestinian land have been the primary obstacles to a comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land.”
In addition, Carter takes what is being interpreted by some critics as a swipe at the pro-Israel lobby. “Because of powerful political, economic, and religious forces in the United States, Israeli government decisions are rarely questioned or condemned,” the former president writes.
Carter’s book comes as the Republican Jewish Coalition is already waging a nationwide media campaign to convince Jewish voters that the Democratic Party no longer can be counted on to provide unflinching support for Israel. (See story on Page A6.) One of the recent RJC ads features a large image of Carter and quotes the former president as saying, “I don’t think Israel has any legal or moral justification for their massive bombing of the entire nation of Lebanon.”
Simon & Schuster spokeswoman Elizabeth Hayes confirmed the substance of the quotes from Carter’s book, but said that the wording could change in the final edition.
With less than three weeks left before Election Day, Jewish Democrats have been quick both to disavow Carter’s views and to assert that Carter is a marginal figure within the party on the issue, despite being a former president and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. At the same time, however, the Democratic National Committee included him in a list of past pro-Israel presidents in an advertisement this week that was aimed at shoring up support among Jewish voters. The ad features a 1977 quote from Carter describing the “special relationship” between the United States and Israel, and saying that “it’s absolutely crucial that no one in our country or around the world ever doubt that our number one commitment in the Middle East is to protect the right of Israel to exist, to exist permanently, and to exist in peace.”
The RJC’s executive director, Matt Brooks, told the Forward that he has yet to see Carter’s new book; however, he seemed confident that it would provide additional ammunition for his organization’s campaign to woo Jewish voters.
“We certainly have not shied away from shining a light on some of his misguided and outrageous comments about Israel in the past, so we certainly have to see what this book holds,” Brooks said. “Obviously we will look to key Democratic leaders and hear what they have to say about it. So far, there’s been nothing but silence on the part of the Democratic establishment in terms of holding Carter accountable.”
The book was originally slated to be released November 1 — six days prior to this year’s congressional elections — but now it will be available in stores November 14, according to Hayes, the Simon & Schuster spokeswoman.
Jewish Democrats say that they were pushing for a later release date. But, according to Hayes, the date was pushed back to allow Carter time to work in more material from last summer’s conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Democrats involved in efforts to boost Jewish support were quick to criticize Carter’s views. “I disagree with President Carter fundamentally,” said Rep. Steve Israel, a New York Democrat who is leading the efforts of House Democrats to reach out to Jewish voters and donors. “The reason for the Palestinian plight is the Palestinians. Their leadership has no regard for the quality of life for their people and no capability of providing security or enforcing peace, and they have no one to blame but themselves.”
Israel added that the “book clearly does not reflect the direction of the party; it reflects the opinion of one man.”
“Democrats who support Jimmy Carter’s views on Israel? Now that’s a convention you could hold in a phone booth,” wrote Ira Forman, executive director of the National Democratic Jewish Council, in an e-mail to the Forward. “Jimmy Carter is out of the mainstream of the Democratic Party when it comes to his views on Israel.” Aaron Miller, a former State Department official who has consistently advocated a greater American role in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, said that Carter’s book would not influence key decision makers in the administration. But he added, “the one thing that I assure you is that Carter’s book will be read” by a wider audience.
Carter has a “demonstrated track record of success,” said Miller, now a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, referring to the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty that the former president helped broker at Camp David in 1978. “He’s the only American president that’s succeeded in brokering a permanent status agreement between Arabs and Israelis, the only one, and you know, he deserves an enormous amount of credit for that, whatever his current and latest views are — and I don’t agree with a lot of them, on the Israel-Arab issue".”
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Iranian anti-Holocaust news videos
How crazy can they get in Iran?
Click on these links to watch videos on YouTube of official Iranian "news" (provided by MEMRI), with English sub-titles:
About:
(1) Video about an official display of anti-Holocaust cartoons.
(2) Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman: Holocaust Exaggerated.
(3) Watch this compilation of anti-Semitism, with a touch of Arab self-rebuke.
Click on these links to watch videos on YouTube of official Iranian "news" (provided by MEMRI), with English sub-titles:
About:
(1) Video about an official display of anti-Holocaust cartoons.
(2) Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman: Holocaust Exaggerated.
(3) Watch this compilation of anti-Semitism, with a touch of Arab self-rebuke.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Islamic anti-Semitism rises in modern Germany
German Turk takes on 'anti-Semitic Islamic propaganda'
By Ofri Ilani
http://www.haaretz.com/
Thu., October 12, 2006 Tishrei 20, 5767
BERLIN - When Aycan Demirel looks out his office window onto the main street of the Kreuzberg neighborhood, center of the Turkish community in Germany's capital, he is unimpressed by the diverse human mosaic for which "Little Istanbul" is famous. Businesses along Oranienstrasse are populated by young Germans eating shwarma to the sounds of Turkish music, but Demirel pointedly recalled the darker side of the neighborhood experience. "The residents here love to treat this neighborhood as a model of multiculturalism and tolerance, but that image is fraudulent," he said.
"The Jews have no place in this multiculturalism," Demirel said. "If you wear a kippa or a Magen David, there's a big chance you'll be cursed at and even assaulted. Anti-Semitism is rearing its head in Germany, only now the anti-Semites are young Muslims."
Demirel, 38, is not Jewish; he emigrated from Turkey 16 years ago. In today's Germany, his decision to confront radical Islam places him on the frontlines of one of the stormiest social debates the country has known.
Last month, a storm erupted over statements about Islam made by the pope, himself a German. Conservative politicians hastened to his defense in what was presented as a struggle over freedom of expression. Shortly afterward came the controversial cancelation of a Mozart opera because of a scene in which the severed head of the Prophet Mohammed is displayed. This self-censorship due to "fear of Islam" aroused protests across nearly the entire political spectrum.
According to Demirel, the recent expressions of anger by radical Muslims in Germany are just the tip of the iceberg of what he terms the "culture of hate" in Muslim communities. Daily exposure to a "barrage of anti-Semitic Islamist propaganda" led him two years ago to found KIGA (Kreuzberger Initiative gegen Antisemitismus), whose local activists - of German, Turkish and Arab origin - work with schools and youth centers to fight anti-Semitism, primarily in Muslim communities.
Some say criticism of immigrant communities is too harsh, and connected to essential hostility toward the Muslim faith. "I actually think this phenomenon should be examined within a more defined context, of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and not seen as ingrained anti-Semitism," said Tzafrir Cohen, an Israeli journalist and founder of the Berlin Jewish Film Festival, who has lived in Kreuzberg for 20 years. "To say that there is a racist atmosphere in Kreuzberg is an outright lie. It's true you see graffiti here along the lines of 'Fight Zionist Fascism' and similar slogans, mostly among Palestinians who live here. But I never heard of a Jew being attacked for being a Jew, and if such incidents occur, they come from the radical right."
Oguz Ucuncu, Secretary General of Milli Gorus - a major Islamic organization that runs 300 mosques in Germany - denied allegations of anti-Semitism in Muslim communities. "We do not have hostility toward the West, nor hostility toward Jews," he said. "But there is of course frustration with the international community's double standard when it comes to Muslim countries.."
Demirel rejected the claim that fear of anti-Semitism prevents any criticism of Israel. "There is room for criticism of certain matters in Israel," he said, "for instance, the attitude toward Arab Israelis and certain actions by the Israeli army. But what interests us is how the criticism is worded, and whether hatred of Jews isn't hiding behind 'Israel.'"
Dr. Juliane Wetzel, chair of the Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism at the Technical University of Berlin, agreed that anti-Semitism among young Muslims in Germany has been rising in the past five years. "Since the Muslim community in Germany is largely of Turkish origin, there is a lot less hatred toward Israelis and Jews than in comparable communities in Europe," she said. "But in recent years, the youth here have apparently been influenced by Islamic Internet sites and satellite channels, and absorbed certain anti-Semitic stereotypes that they did not have in the past."
By Ofri Ilani
http://www.haaretz.com/
Thu., October 12, 2006 Tishrei 20, 5767
BERLIN - When Aycan Demirel looks out his office window onto the main street of the Kreuzberg neighborhood, center of the Turkish community in Germany's capital, he is unimpressed by the diverse human mosaic for which "Little Istanbul" is famous. Businesses along Oranienstrasse are populated by young Germans eating shwarma to the sounds of Turkish music, but Demirel pointedly recalled the darker side of the neighborhood experience. "The residents here love to treat this neighborhood as a model of multiculturalism and tolerance, but that image is fraudulent," he said.
"The Jews have no place in this multiculturalism," Demirel said. "If you wear a kippa or a Magen David, there's a big chance you'll be cursed at and even assaulted. Anti-Semitism is rearing its head in Germany, only now the anti-Semites are young Muslims."
Demirel, 38, is not Jewish; he emigrated from Turkey 16 years ago. In today's Germany, his decision to confront radical Islam places him on the frontlines of one of the stormiest social debates the country has known.
Last month, a storm erupted over statements about Islam made by the pope, himself a German. Conservative politicians hastened to his defense in what was presented as a struggle over freedom of expression. Shortly afterward came the controversial cancelation of a Mozart opera because of a scene in which the severed head of the Prophet Mohammed is displayed. This self-censorship due to "fear of Islam" aroused protests across nearly the entire political spectrum.
According to Demirel, the recent expressions of anger by radical Muslims in Germany are just the tip of the iceberg of what he terms the "culture of hate" in Muslim communities. Daily exposure to a "barrage of anti-Semitic Islamist propaganda" led him two years ago to found KIGA (Kreuzberger Initiative gegen Antisemitismus), whose local activists - of German, Turkish and Arab origin - work with schools and youth centers to fight anti-Semitism, primarily in Muslim communities.
Some say criticism of immigrant communities is too harsh, and connected to essential hostility toward the Muslim faith. "I actually think this phenomenon should be examined within a more defined context, of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and not seen as ingrained anti-Semitism," said Tzafrir Cohen, an Israeli journalist and founder of the Berlin Jewish Film Festival, who has lived in Kreuzberg for 20 years. "To say that there is a racist atmosphere in Kreuzberg is an outright lie. It's true you see graffiti here along the lines of 'Fight Zionist Fascism' and similar slogans, mostly among Palestinians who live here. But I never heard of a Jew being attacked for being a Jew, and if such incidents occur, they come from the radical right."
Oguz Ucuncu, Secretary General of Milli Gorus - a major Islamic organization that runs 300 mosques in Germany - denied allegations of anti-Semitism in Muslim communities. "We do not have hostility toward the West, nor hostility toward Jews," he said. "But there is of course frustration with the international community's double standard when it comes to Muslim countries.."
Demirel rejected the claim that fear of anti-Semitism prevents any criticism of Israel. "There is room for criticism of certain matters in Israel," he said, "for instance, the attitude toward Arab Israelis and certain actions by the Israeli army. But what interests us is how the criticism is worded, and whether hatred of Jews isn't hiding behind 'Israel.'"
Dr. Juliane Wetzel, chair of the Center for the Study of Anti-Semitism at the Technical University of Berlin, agreed that anti-Semitism among young Muslims in Germany has been rising in the past five years. "Since the Muslim community in Germany is largely of Turkish origin, there is a lot less hatred toward Israelis and Jews than in comparable communities in Europe," she said. "But in recent years, the youth here have apparently been influenced by Islamic Internet sites and satellite channels, and absorbed certain anti-Semitic stereotypes that they did not have in the past."
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Blood libels never die, they just get digitized.
The great blood libel of Sept. 11
By Bradley Burston, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/
Wed., October 11, 2006 Tishrei 19, 5767
Blood libels never die, they just get digitized.
Thanks to new media, ancient prejudices need never fade away. So it is that Jew hate, nothing if not adaptable, has become easier to disseminate than ever before. Bigotry as old as time can now be downloaded, podcast, cable cast, sat-phoned, text-messaged, downloaded, YouTubed across state lines, oceans, and all continental borders at the touch of a grimy button.
At this point, you never quite know where you're going to find it next, or what form it will take.
This year, I found it at Ground Zero.
I was handed a complimentary DVD by a 9/11 conspiracist. It was a newly enhanced version of the Protocols of the new millennium, the theory - simultaneously promulgated by elements of the far left, the far right, and fundamentalist Islam, people who in every other respect hate each others' guts and each others' every opinion - that it was Israel and the Mossad that brought down the World Trade Center.
The Anti-Defamation League and other groups have labored mightily to combat the theories. Reviewing five years of intensive activity, however, the ADL said last month that "Today, those theories are even more widespread and some have taken their anti-Semitic allegations even farther by claiming that it was specifically Jewish members of the Bush Administration who directed the government in planning the attacks for the benefit of Israel."
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the great blood libel of the new millennium - and its most striking parallel to the Protocols of the elders of Zion - is its adaptability to today's headlines.
Look no further than the case of Kobi Alexander, the one-time software guru who made it to the FBI's Most Wanted list on the strength of alleged stock option book-cooking and other allegations.
Writer Christopher Bollyn, one of the more prolific conspiracists, calls Alexander "the Israeli crook who owned the Mossad companies who had clear foreknowledge of the terror attacks of 9/11."
According to Bollyn, employees of an Israeli-based software firm called Odigo received word of the 9/11 attacks some two hours before they took place.
"Odigo had its U.S. headquarters two blocks from the WTC. The Odigo employees, however, did not pass the warning on to the authorities in New York City, a move that could have saved thousands of lives."
He goes on to state that Odigo, "like many Israeli software companies, is based and has its Research and Development (R&D) center in Herzliya, Israel, the small town north of Tel Aviv, which happens to be where Mossad's headquarters are located" and that "shortly after 9/11, Odigo was taken over by Comverse Technology," Kobi Alexander's flagship concern.
The examples are endless, the conclusion one: The Jews did it. The Jew media covered it up. The Jews did it so that America would have to go to war, shedding the blood of Christian boys in a fight against Israel's Muslim enemies.
"Never in the history of the Jewish people has one terrible lie about 'Jewish control' spread so quickly and with such power, captivating not only those on the extreme fringe but the educated elite, particularly in the Muslim and Arab word," ADL National Director Foxman said in 2003.
"The Big Lie has been repeated by imams, the press and government officials in the Arab world, and is contributing to disturbing and dangerous mutations in global anti-Semitism."
Perhaps it was only inevitable, given the low purposes to which high-technology has been adapted, that the ADL found that one of the mutations is none other than that the one once spread by direct priest-peasant contact: the idea that the key ingredient in Passover matzo dough is the lifeblood of a Christian boy.
By Bradley Burston, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/
Wed., October 11, 2006 Tishrei 19, 5767
Blood libels never die, they just get digitized.
Thanks to new media, ancient prejudices need never fade away. So it is that Jew hate, nothing if not adaptable, has become easier to disseminate than ever before. Bigotry as old as time can now be downloaded, podcast, cable cast, sat-phoned, text-messaged, downloaded, YouTubed across state lines, oceans, and all continental borders at the touch of a grimy button.
At this point, you never quite know where you're going to find it next, or what form it will take.
This year, I found it at Ground Zero.
I was handed a complimentary DVD by a 9/11 conspiracist. It was a newly enhanced version of the Protocols of the new millennium, the theory - simultaneously promulgated by elements of the far left, the far right, and fundamentalist Islam, people who in every other respect hate each others' guts and each others' every opinion - that it was Israel and the Mossad that brought down the World Trade Center.
The Anti-Defamation League and other groups have labored mightily to combat the theories. Reviewing five years of intensive activity, however, the ADL said last month that "Today, those theories are even more widespread and some have taken their anti-Semitic allegations even farther by claiming that it was specifically Jewish members of the Bush Administration who directed the government in planning the attacks for the benefit of Israel."
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the great blood libel of the new millennium - and its most striking parallel to the Protocols of the elders of Zion - is its adaptability to today's headlines.
Look no further than the case of Kobi Alexander, the one-time software guru who made it to the FBI's Most Wanted list on the strength of alleged stock option book-cooking and other allegations.
Writer Christopher Bollyn, one of the more prolific conspiracists, calls Alexander "the Israeli crook who owned the Mossad companies who had clear foreknowledge of the terror attacks of 9/11."
According to Bollyn, employees of an Israeli-based software firm called Odigo received word of the 9/11 attacks some two hours before they took place.
"Odigo had its U.S. headquarters two blocks from the WTC. The Odigo employees, however, did not pass the warning on to the authorities in New York City, a move that could have saved thousands of lives."
He goes on to state that Odigo, "like many Israeli software companies, is based and has its Research and Development (R&D) center in Herzliya, Israel, the small town north of Tel Aviv, which happens to be where Mossad's headquarters are located" and that "shortly after 9/11, Odigo was taken over by Comverse Technology," Kobi Alexander's flagship concern.
The examples are endless, the conclusion one: The Jews did it. The Jew media covered it up. The Jews did it so that America would have to go to war, shedding the blood of Christian boys in a fight against Israel's Muslim enemies.
"Never in the history of the Jewish people has one terrible lie about 'Jewish control' spread so quickly and with such power, captivating not only those on the extreme fringe but the educated elite, particularly in the Muslim and Arab word," ADL National Director Foxman said in 2003.
"The Big Lie has been repeated by imams, the press and government officials in the Arab world, and is contributing to disturbing and dangerous mutations in global anti-Semitism."
Perhaps it was only inevitable, given the low purposes to which high-technology has been adapted, that the ADL found that one of the mutations is none other than that the one once spread by direct priest-peasant contact: the idea that the key ingredient in Passover matzo dough is the lifeblood of a Christian boy.
Friday, October 06, 2006
Czech Jews in danger
Report: Islamists in Prague had planned mass murder of Jews
By Haaretz Service and Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/
Fri., October 06, 2006 Tishrei 14, 5767
PRAGUE - Islamic extremists planned to kidnap dozens of Jews in Prague and hold them hostage before murdering them, the daily Mlada Fronta Dnes reported on Friday.
The Czech Republic's leading newspaper quoted unidentified sources close to intelligence agencies as saying the captives would have been held in a Prague synagogue while the captors made broad demands that they knew could not be fulfilled.
When those demands - which were not specified by the sources - were not met, the extremists would blow up the building, killing all who were inside, the paper added.
The paper, which gave other few details, did not say whether any arrests were made and did not specify the identities of the extremists.
Czech Chief Rabbi Ephraim Sidon said that the attack had been planned against the Jerusalem Synagogue in central Prague, and not against the highly-concentrated tourist attractions in the old Jewish Quarter.
On September 23 the government deployed armed guards around dozens of buildings and on the streets in the Czech capital after security services issued a warning that an unspecified attack was imminent.
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and government officials have since refused to divulge details of what kind of attack they feared in Prague.
"I am not authorized to provide any information in this case," the paper quoted Topolanek as saying when asked about the information given by the sources.
"Concurrent with the government decision, I only continue to insist that the measures and the extent of information supplied to the public were, and are in proportion to the information obtained [by intelligence officials] and to the threat."
The Czech Republic has a small military unit in Afghanistan and military police instructors in Iraq.
Prague has not been a target of terrorist attacks in the past, although strict security precautions were taken several years ago to protect the downtown headquarters of U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe.
The country's once-flourishing Jewish community was decimated during World War Two.
By Haaretz Service and Reuters
http://www.haaretz.com/
Fri., October 06, 2006 Tishrei 14, 5767
PRAGUE - Islamic extremists planned to kidnap dozens of Jews in Prague and hold them hostage before murdering them, the daily Mlada Fronta Dnes reported on Friday.
The Czech Republic's leading newspaper quoted unidentified sources close to intelligence agencies as saying the captives would have been held in a Prague synagogue while the captors made broad demands that they knew could not be fulfilled.
When those demands - which were not specified by the sources - were not met, the extremists would blow up the building, killing all who were inside, the paper added.
The paper, which gave other few details, did not say whether any arrests were made and did not specify the identities of the extremists.
Czech Chief Rabbi Ephraim Sidon said that the attack had been planned against the Jerusalem Synagogue in central Prague, and not against the highly-concentrated tourist attractions in the old Jewish Quarter.
On September 23 the government deployed armed guards around dozens of buildings and on the streets in the Czech capital after security services issued a warning that an unspecified attack was imminent.
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek and government officials have since refused to divulge details of what kind of attack they feared in Prague.
"I am not authorized to provide any information in this case," the paper quoted Topolanek as saying when asked about the information given by the sources.
"Concurrent with the government decision, I only continue to insist that the measures and the extent of information supplied to the public were, and are in proportion to the information obtained [by intelligence officials] and to the threat."
The Czech Republic has a small military unit in Afghanistan and military police instructors in Iraq.
Prague has not been a target of terrorist attacks in the past, although strict security precautions were taken several years ago to protect the downtown headquarters of U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe.
The country's once-flourishing Jewish community was decimated during World War Two.
