There are innumerable varieties of flowers in all countries of the world. They are grown in different ways according to a particular country’s climate in order to produce high-quality flowers for export as well as for sale in the local market. In some countries, the weather is more extreme, which means that growing flowers is more difficult than in other nations. One such country is israel.

Israel is a country located east of the Mediterranean Sea surrounded by Lebanon to the north, Syria to the Northeast, Jordan to the east and Egypt to the southwest. It’s a fairly small, landlocked country in the Middle East that has several unique geographical features. To the north of Israel are majestic mountain ranges such as Galilee, Carmel, and Golan. To the south is the Negev Desert which covers more than half of the country’s land area.

The weather tends to be erratic. Summers are long, hot and rainless. Winters, on the other hand, tend to be short, rainy, and cold. During the rainy season, thunderstorms and hail are common. In an environment like this, growing beautiful and export-quality flowers would indeed be a very challenging task. Good thing is that the Israelis are up to the challenge.

Growing flowers in Israel demands a lot of work and dedication from all the people involved. Flowers are grown in a moshav, which is a sort of cooperative agricultural community consisting of farmers. All members are levied a tax in order to pay for a more efficient production of goods, in this case, flowers. Labor and resources are pooled together in order to produce better products. The moshav also receives help from researchers so that their technology is up-to-date, making for a better harvest.

The Philippines and Israel are very similar when it comes to cultivating flowers. For one, both countries have extreme weather conditions; the temperature can shoot up to very high and rain is unpredictable and severe. In the Philippines, the summers can be very hot and the wet season usually brings catastrophic typhoons and floods. Thus, both the Philippines and Israel makes use of greenhouse technology in order to produce beautiful and high-quality flowers. Using greenhouses counteracts the extreme and unpredictable weather of both countries.

Flowers are enduring symbols of love and peace all over the world. It doesn’t matter where or how they are grown—they will grow, and more beautifully than ever. However, a bit of help from ingenious human hands wouldn’t hurt, especially in extreme conditions.

Timothy Spencer
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/growing-flowers-in-israel-716986.html

The last years investments of property and real estate is growing up in Israel. Investors go up with real estate appreciating in Jerusalem. People from all the world is buying luxury and brand new developments in the center of this city.

Something is diferent in this country if we compare prices of Jerusalem apartments and prices of properties in the world: A significant appreciation of the land at the beginning of the year and going on.

The Mamilla brand new shopping center brought lots of French jewish people to buy luxury and brand new properties, villas, apartments, douplex, houses, lands, hotels, restaurants, kosher supermarkets, bars, and more. Most of the apartments are rented by tourists from all around the world for long or short period of time.

Jerusalem is known primarily for its religious significance, but it is also home to many artistic and cultural venues. The Israel Museum attracts nearly one million visitors a year, approximately one-third of them tourists.

Today, hi-tech is so important in the israeli economics that businessmans from Italy, China, Argentina, Brazil, United States and more are opening offices in this small but beautyfull country.

For those who thought the Israel real estate sector was heading for a bubble in 2006 had better re-think the property scene again. The fact is share prices of real estate developers has gone up 20%.

Rent prices continue to increase. In many areas population levels has stabled close to 100%. This stability indicates lack in properties for rent and not on a change in demands. Return rates has not significantly changed. The Sub prime has not yet influenced demand for investments in properties. Currency fluctuations of the USD have not effected, realistically, on real estate prices in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Eilat.

“Properties in israel are good investment. The most exclusive properties in Israel are in the desirable locations of Central Israel.

Israel estates cater to people of distinct tastes and backgrounds. There are huge array of Israel real estate companies that help buyers to get the Israel estate transactions in Israel that includes estates, penthouses and villas.” Say Marcia, from a real estate agency in Israel.

But, to be honest, one feels a correction in real estate stocks is needed in the long term, meanwhile, short-term wise, anything can happen, and the sky’s the limit for real estate! Always, a good buy, if you have the money or the bank will loan you some, buy a house or two, throw in a commercial property.

If you are interested on a property in Israel Real Estate market, apartments and New Developments in Israel Real Estate, Israel property sales, Brand new apartments, Luxury Apartments, oportunities visit: Israel Real Estate and Apartments Jerusalem and you will find properties like houses, villas, condos, apartments, lands in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Eilat, Haifa, and more cities in Israel.

pablo
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/helpful-information-about-israel-real-estate-746490.html

Israel decided to encourage foreign investors and from the beginning of the year a number of changes were made in the Income Tax Ordinance for the benefit of foreign residents. Amongst the main benefits one can find: a tax exemption on dividends that a company receives from foreign companies in which it invested and an exemption from capital gains tax from the sale of shares in those companies. In this way, the company may move revenues from abroad to Israel without any tax liability. A foreign resident shareholder would pay on dividends that he receives from the Israeli holding company a reduced tax of only 5%. Regarding capital gains from the sale of the company’s shares, he will be entitled to a full tax exemption.

An international investment company (holding company) will be tax exempt from dividends that it receives from investee companies. As mentioned, the benefits are not intended for Israeli residents and the main aim of the arrangement is to attract foreign residents to invest in Israel. Nevertheless, the new arrangement will not prevent Israeli residents from establishing holding companies. Israeli residents will be liable for tax, on their proportional share in the profits of the holding company (including exemptions), as if they received an imputed dividend (the tax rate on the imputed dividend will be determined according to the specific characteristics of the shareholder: if he is an individual controlling shareholder – 25%; and if he is an individual who is not a controlling shareholder – 20%). Israeli residents do not have any advantage to establish such a company because the Tax Authority will carry out a comprehensive examination to ensure that Israeli residents are not behind the founders of the company who are foreign residents (either an individual or a company).

What are the conditions that an Israeli holding company will be required to meet?

The company was incorporated and managed from Israel. For a period of at least 300 days during the tax year (from the year after the year of incorporation), the following conditions existed:

1. An investment of a minimum amount of NIS 50 million in shares and loans in foreign investee companies whose main income is business income produced abroad. The cost of the shares and the balance of the loans in investee companies comprise at least 75% of its total assets.

2. The israeli holding company will have a minimum holding (10%) during a period of at least 12 months.

3. The company will not have income from business, excluding income from services or the management of investee companies.

4. An important technical detail – the company must submit an application to the assessing officer, to be considered “an Israeli holding company”, within 90 days from the date of its establishment.

Which investments abroad will entitle Israeli investment companies to benefit?

1. 75% and more of the income whose source is from business operations.

2. The investee company is a resident of the country with which there is a tax treaty with Israel; alternatively, that the tax rate on business profits by the company in that country is 15% or more. The object of this qualification is to prevent a tax regime which encourages tax haven activities. For example, Cyprus has a company tax rate of 10% up to a taxable amount equal in value to $1,200,000, and over this amount an additional 5% is paid. An investee company must submit tax returns in the country where it operates.

3. The cost of foreign company assets in Israel does not exceed 20% of all its assets in every tax year. In addition, the investee company’s income in Israel does not exceed 20% of its total income in the tax year.

A new immigrant will be entitled to tax benefits, which are given to each new immigrant, due on income from dividends or capital gains that the holding companies had and which will be considered as an imputed dividend. In addition, on the dividend that he actually receives from a holding company during the first five years after his immigration, he will be liable to tax at a rate of 5% as if he was a foreign resident.

Proposal for the structure of offshore-type of company

A foreign resident or even a Cypriot company establishes in Israel a holding company which purchases shares of companies operating in countries of the former Soviet Union and is engaged in managing an active business. The company pays the local company tax (e.g.: in Russia 24%).

An Israeli holding company receives its dividends less tax paid in Russia – a maximum of 10% (compared to an Israeli resident company which complements the tax on the dividend received from abroad to 25%).

Globes – Financial Consumer Supplement, April 3, 2006. ___________________

For additional details regarding the specific requirements of every client, send us your query and we will gladly get back to you with a response regarding your specific needs.

Alex Sutovsky
http://www.articlesbase.com/strategic-planning-articles/tax-advantages-in-managing-multinational-operations-from-israel-106399.html

What do American Jews think about Israel’s negotiations with the Palestinians? A late September survey of 800 self-identified Jewish voters from around the United States, carried out by John McLaughlin and Associates, produced interesting results with important implications.

By an almost 3-to-1 margin (60 to 22 percent, with an accuracy of ± 3.5% at a 95% confidence interval), American Jews say that Israel should not sign a treaty with the Palestinians if this requires an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Then, given a choice – whether the Arab world sincerely accepts Israel’s right to exist, or whether it seeks the eventual destruction of Israel – the respondents by a similar 3-to-1 margin (60 to 19%) find that the Arabs still want to eliminate Israel. After a quarter-century of Israel turning land over to the Arabs, this is a very significant number, one resulting from a deep-seated Arab reluctance to accept Israel’s permanence.

By an overwhelming 6-to-1 margin (76 to 13%), American Jews say that President obama promise of $900 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority over five years should be paid only if the PA removes all antisemitic and anti-Israel statements from its school books. An even larger 8-to-1 margin (78 to 10%) wants to hold back on the money until Yasser Arafat fulfills his Oslo obligations to outlaw and disarm terrorist groups and to extradite terrorists to Israel.

In contrast to these decisive stands, moving the US embassy to Jerusalem has less backing. Asked whether they agree with the Congressional legislation to move the embassy (in recognition of Israel’s claim that Jerusalem is its capital) or with President obama’s opposition to the legislation (on the grounds that the city’s status should be negotiated between israel and the Palestinians), the respondents by a nearly 2-to-1 margin (57 to 30%) agree with Congress. The sample also strongly endorses the prime ministry of Ehud Barak: asked if he is headed in the right direction or is off track, it approved of him by an 8-to-1 margin (63 to 8%).

Finally, the poll finds that American Jews are not much focused on Israel. In a question asking about the issues that most concern them, an overwhelming 87% pointed to domestic issues and only 5% to foreign policy ones. This helps explain the not very high level of interest about Israel and the Middle East, with 34% saying they read a “great deal” on these subjects and 58% saying “only somewhat” about them.

This profusion of opinions has four major implications. First, it confirms polling done by the American Jewish Committee since 1993 that points to a toughening of attitudes on the question of the palestinians. As Yale Zussman concluded in his Middle East Quarterly study of six years of AJC polling, “American Jewry is increasingly wary of a negotiation process that it worries may be a trap for Israel.” Second, there is a seeming contradiction between the overwhelming support for Barak himself and for positions that he does not endorse (such as withholding money to the PA). This suggests that while American Jews have high regard for the Israeli prime minister, they are generally not aware of the steps he is taking quite contrary to their own views – a conclusion supported by the fact that only one third of them say they are well-informed about Israel.

Third, these results raise questions about an Israel Policy Forum poll commissioned in July 1999 that found American Jews “supporting] the Israeli-Palestinian peace process” by a 11-to-1 margin (88 to 8%). Well, yes, they do strongly support in principle the idea of Israel finding a way to end Palestinian hostilities against it, but our survey shows they also have strong ideas about how this should be done – and these ideas are much more skeptical than those promoted by the current Israeli leadership.

Fourth, American Jews appear to be less engaged with Israel. Yes, a committed minority continues to follow the news intensely, travel to Israel, lobby Congress, and give money, but growing numbers of American Jews have other things on their minds.

For Israel, this has the utmost importance, given the vital role American Jews have had in the formulation of US policy toward the Middle East. This decline in interest has particular importance at a time when – as shown by the recent Burger King, Sprint, and Disney episodes – Arab and Moslem groups in the United States are finding their voice.

tatar job
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/american-jews-thinks-about-the-future-of-israel-and-palestine-as-in-president-office-barack-obama-waits-681776.html

The earliest settlement of Lebanon is believed to stretch back earlier than 5,000 BC, indeed Byblos is generally considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. The coastal plain of Lebanon was home to the Phoenicians whose maritime culture flourished for over 2,000 years. Their most famous colonies included Cadiz in Spain and Carthage in modern day Tunisia. Phoenicia was eventually conquered by the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia, then added to the empire of Alexandra the Great, then the Seleucid Empire and conquered by the Romans in the first century. It remained Roman until the advent of the Caliphate, Christianity was introduced into Phoenicia soon after the time of Jesus of Nazareth and Islam soon after the death of Muhammad.

During the Middle Ages, Lebanon found itself embroiled in the Crusades, although Saladin routed the Crusaders around 1190, Muslim control of Lebanon was only re-established in the late thirteenth century by the Mamluk sultans of Egypt. Control was contested by a series of Muslim rulers until the Ottoman Empire took control of the area until well into the middle of the nineteenth century. Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War One, the League of Nations mandated the five provinces that make up present day Lebanon to the direct control of France. Lebanon gained independence in 1943 while France was embroiled in World War Two. In the aftermath of the Arab-Israeli War in 1948, 110,000 Palestinian refugees poured into Lebanon after being expelled from newly formed israel and Jordan.

During the 1960s, Lebanon enjoyed a period of relative calm, as it enjoyed prosperity derived from tourism and banking. The country was perceived as a bastion of economic progress by the oil rich Gulf states, their funds transformed Lebanon’s economy into one of the fastest growing in the world. However this period of economic success was dragged to an abrupt halt with the collapse of Yousef Beidas’ Intra Bank, the country’s largest bank in 1966. Further floods of Palestinian refugees arrived after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, also following their defeat in the Jordanian civil war, thousands of Palestinian militiamen regrouped in Lebanon led by Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Liberation Organisation, they began using South Lebanon as a launching pad for attacking Israel. Egyptian leader Gamal Abd al-Nasser helped to negotiate the 1969 Cairo Agreement between Arafat and the Lebanese government , which granted the PLO autonomy over Palestinian refugee camps and access to northern Israel in return for PLO recognition of Lebanese sovereignty. The agreement incited Maronites and led to the formation of the Phalange, a Maronite militia, led by members of the Gemayel family. Lebanese society was polarised into pro-Palestinian and anti-Palestinian factions, it reflected the tensions between the Christian and Muslim communities in Lebanon that existed over the distribution of political power, it would eventually lead to the outbreak of civil war in 1975. The Maronite leadership called for Syrian intervention in 1976, leading to the presence of Syrian troops in Syria. Israel allied itself with the South Lebanon Army in an attempt to establish a buffer along Israel’s fragile northern frontier.

Israel eventually invaded Lebanon in 1978 in response to a wave of Fatah attacks, occupying most of the area south of the Litani River. The UN Security Council called for an immediate Israeli withdrawal and created the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) charged with maintaining peace. Israeli forces withdrew leaving an SLA-controlled border strip as a protective against PLO incursions. A consequence of all this re-shuffling and the subsequent tension between Syria and Phalange led the Israel to increase support for the Maronite group.

After continued Israel/PLO exchanges, Israel invaded Lebanon on 6 June 1982. By 15 June, Israeli units were entrenched outside Beirut, Arafat negotiated for evacuation of PLO militants. Lebanese President Gemayel agreed to send troops into refugee camps to clear out PLO militants. Gemayel was assassinated on Sept 16, on Sept 19, Phalange militia entered the camps and massacred 700-800 palestinians. On 17 May 1983, an agreement was reached by Lebanon, Israel and the United States for Israeli troops to leave on condition that Syrian troops also withdrew. However, Syria refused to agree and progress staggered. High profile attacks against US forces, led to their withdrawal.

The years 1985-1989 were marked by heavy fighting between The Shi’a Muslim Amal militia and Palestinian militia. Lebanon became divided by a Christian government in East Beirut and a Muslim government in West Beirut.

In February 1989, General Aoun launched the ’Harb El Tahrir’, a war against the Syrian forces in Lebanon, he was defeated with Syria bringing an end to the civil war. Since the end of the war, most of the militias have being weakened or disbanded and the Lebanese Armed Forces have implemented central authority over two thirds of the country. Only Hezbollah retained it’s weapons and was allowed to do so by the Lebanese parliament because it was defending Lebanon against the ongoing Israel occupation of the south of the country.

On 25 May, 2000. Israel completed its withdrawal from the south of Lebanon, only a fifty acre piece of Lebanese terrain, known as the Shebaa Farms remains under Israeli control. The UN has certified Israel’s withdrawal and regards the Shebaa Farms as occupied Syrian territory, while Lebanon and Syria regard it as occupied Lebanese territory.

On 20 October 2004, Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri resigned; the next day former Prime Minister and loyal supporter of Syria, Omar Karami was appointed Prime Minister. On 14 February 2005, Hariri was assassinated, this marked the second killing in a four month period of a Lebanese Parliament member that opposed Syria. Hariri’s murder had the result of heaping international pressure on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon. In addition, massive protests occurred in Lebanon demanding that Syrian forces to leave, in February the pro-Syrian Karami resigned. Weeks of international and local pressure followed, culminating in an anti-Syrian rally in Martyr’s Square in Beirut which numbered almost a million. On April 26, 2005, the final batch of Syrian troops left Lebanon.

Hezbollah had continued attacks on Israel citing the continued occupation of the Shebaa Farms by Israel as the reason. In July 2006, Hezbollah launched an attack on Israeli territory and capturing two Israeli soldiers. Israel described the attack as an ’act of war’ and launched an immediate attack upon Lebanon, thus commencing the Second Lebanon War. The conflict killed over a thousand people and displaced more than a million.

In May 2007, militants in the Nahr al Bared Palestinian refugee camp, allied with Al Qaeda began a struggle against Lebanese government forces located outside the camp, the camp fell to government forces in September.

Russell Shortt
http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/a-history-of-lebanon-721814.html

BIBLICAL PERIOD

2000 BCE Patriarchs and Matriarchs: settlement of the Land of Israel

1250 BCE Moses, desert wanderings; receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai; conquest of Land of Israel by Joshua; rule by Judges

1st TEMPLE PERIOD

1000 BCE Jerusalem becomes King David’s capital; Solomon builds First Temple; division of kingdom into Israel and Judah

586 BCE Destruction of First Temple; Babylonian Exile

2ND TEMPLE PERIOD

Return to Zion; Ezra and Nechemia; construction of Second Temple

332 BCE Jerusalem comes under Greek domination

166 BCE Maccabean Revolt; restoration of Jewish autonomy;
Hasmonean Empire

63 BCE Roman invasion of Israel [Kingdom of Herod; Hillel and Shammai leaders of rabbinic thought]

70 CE Destruction of Jerusalem and Second Temple

EXILE AND DIASPORA (Beginning of rabbinic period)

73 CE Destruction of Masada

132 CE Bar Kochba Revolt; compilation of Mishna by Rabbi Yehuda
Hanassi

324 CE Talmudic period; decline of Israel as Jewish center; rise of Jewish academies in Babylonia

638 CE Arab conquest of Jerusalem; construction of the Dome of the Rock and Al Aksa mosques; renewal of Jewish settling

1100 CE Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (1099); in France, Rashi writes commentary on the Bible; Ramban’s settlement marks return of Jews to Jerusalem and worship at the

Western Wall (1267)
1492 CE Jews expelled from Spain
1517 CE Ottoman Empire rules Jerusalem; Sephardic synagogues established; Shulchan Aruch published in Zfat
1789 CE Napoleon In Eretz Yisrael
1860 CE Yemin Moshe was founded as first settlement outside Old City walls
1880 CE Pogroms in Russia; Dreyfus trial; Theodore Herzl; First Aliyah; First Zionist Congress; Tel Aviv founded
1917 CE British Mandate in Palestine; Jewish population increases; rise of Arab nationalism
1938 CE Kristallnacht; British White paper restricts Jewish immigration to Palestine; beginning of Holocaust

MODERN STATE OF ISRAEL

1947 CE Partition Plan

1948 CE State of israel proclaimed; War of Independence; beginning of waves of immigration from Europe, Yemen and Iraq

1967 CE Six Day War; reunification of Jerusalem

In the last 30 years, we have seen the Yom Kippur war and the War in Lebanon, peace agreements with Egypt, Jordan and the palestinians, terrorist attacks, the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin. You will learn about these events on your trip. Which of these might appear on the timeline 500 years from now?

Domino

What if I told you that I am acquainted with a person of a certain nationality that is automatically and thoroughly searched at a particular airport, said airport being in the same country mentioned in the cover of the very passport he carries? What is I told you as well this country calls itself tolerant? What if I told you that this happens only because of the name on his passport, and his native language? And… what if I told you that this country, on a yearly basis, indiscriminately kills thousands of people fitting my acquaintance’s profile? Anybody can already assume, arriving at this country’s airport, that they are entering a nation which preaches one thing and does another. A nation based on discrimination, injustice and violence. Sadly, this place exists, and it is called Israel.
This was not always so. Israel has a long history and tradition, with a few splatterings of war and violence here and there. It can be agreed that they generally have no differences with other countries’ trajectories. What sets them apart, started almost half a century ago, and has yet to finish: the end of tolerance and the beginning of violence against their neighbors, the palestinians. At this point, compared with other nations that carry a history of thousands of years such as them, they have stepped back into an underdeveloped mindset, strewn with ignorance and malice. Such a society could possibly not be self-sufficient economically: only look at the state the US is in after waging war, for a much shorter time, against Afghanistan and Iraq. So what keeps Israel going? The forceful influx of money from Germany, and the voluntary donations from the US. While the Palestinian nation receives world-wide moral support for their cause, Israel is a financially supported terrorist state. In today’s world, sadly money is stronger than morals.
Basically, they are an undercover based-on-donations economy. Germany, to this day, has given to Israel more than 70 billion dollars in reparations for the Third Reich. Then, they must turn their backs and pretend they are not seeing how their money is reinvested in a holocaust against the Palestinians. Of course that, after what they did to Israel, they have no right to say anything. Oh, wait. They DID NOT do anything to israel. To my knowledge, being a Jew and being an Israeli are two completely different things. Being one, does not necessarily make you the other. And, most Jewish victims of the holocaust, to my knowledge, where of German, Polish, Austrian, Czech and other European nationalities: NOT Israeli. Of course that everybody forgets about the “other” victims, such as homosexuals, catholics, or even the roma (gypsy) population. Perhaps, their lives just don’t matter as much. Otherwise, why isn’t Germany paying reparations to the Vatican for all the catholics they also exterminated? Or the gay rights organizations? Or the roma? Opportunistic Israel just could not pass up the chance to cash in the situation, by taking advantage of money that could have been used to provide survivors of the holocaust with more income, or maybe even provide “reparation” to all the other victims. That would just involve them attempting to be fair and do good, and would just drive them away from their path to repeating a holocaust against the Palestinians. Does anybody remember how it started in the Third Reich? Small, almost unnoticeable. Israel is already at a medium-sized indiscriminate extermination. You want torture? How about creating ghettos and camps for the Palestinians to live under their watchful eye, and cutting off the water, gas or other basic public services when Palestinians “misbehave?” You want suffering? How about digging out your family’s remains after a bomb destroyed your home? This sounds faintly familiar to what we all learned in history class. The questions is: Who will stop this?
Definitely not the US. According to the 2008 US budget “Israel, long since the US’ top recipient of foreign aid, will receive USD 2.4 billion. Since 1979 and the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, Israel has annually received up to USD 3 billion in aid. As part of with an initiative by then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the civilian aid has been steadily decreased over the course of the past 10 years, going from USD 1.2 million to being completely canceled this year. At the same time military aid to Israel has increased from USD 1.8 billion to USD 2.4 billion.” The blame for the availability of bombs, weapons and soldiers ready to threaten Palestinian lives can easily be pinpointed to the US, and their attempts to take diplomatic steps to stop the situation have been amazingly fruitless. The US is doing nothing more than playing the role of “mediator” to reflect a certain image in the international realm, caring little about a solution. Their main goal is to protect their image, and to keep the only “friend” they have in the Middle East, as a stepping stone for them to wage war against their chosen victims. Otherwise, they would simply cut off the aid and, although Israel might not be very happy with them, they would have no more mediums to wage this unfair war.
Unfair? Well, yes. Still, one cannot pretend that both parties are not at fault in their own ways. Yet, in the case of two children, when you find them fighting, what do you say? You tell the bigger one to stop picking on the little one, because 1) It’s not fair, they’re smaller and less capable of fighting at the big one’s level 2) The big one should stop it first, even if the little one started, and set an example. With the obvious recent display of Israel’s military capabilities, and the aforementioned “free money” they receive, it is obvious to see who the big one is.
As a retort to this and the matter of all the civilian lives sacrificed in the conflict, I was recently told that “There are no rules when in war”. Since when is this so? Actually, in the 7th century it was the Muslim army which decided to set rules for law, involving fairness and the protection of civilian lives. Nowadays we have humanitarian and international law dictating the proceedings for war. But, since the Israel-Palestine situation is a “conflict” and not an all-out “war”, apparently there are no rules to abide by.
Now, let us see the other side of the matter concerning the last (but most likely not “the last”) Israeli attack. According to Israel, the last campaign in Gaza (that mysteriously ended days before the US presidential inauguration. Suspicious? I daresay) was started to make the Palestinians stop launching rockets and other such weaponry into Israel, and to restore Israel’s “image” in the world after their failed campaign with the Lebanon incident and other international power struggles. Since when is it a solution to kill thousands of civilians, and yes, children and women at that? Through their actions they prove they are not more than a third-world country in serious need of development, exhibiting tremendous ignorance, in particular in the social, educational and international relations spheres.
Israel has become a self-righteous, oppressive and violent nation, with a superiority complex and forgetting their own original values and morals in an aim to demonstrate their power, and by doing so, repeating a holocaust against the Palestinians. A flashback of the Third Reich? Certainly.
Have we all learned nothing from history? Why is it repeating itself? If Germany is repaying Israel only because they are the cradle of Judaism, believers having been the main target during the WWII holocaust, and if Judaism is a religion that encourages kindness and forgiveness and Israel is supposed to be the very reflection of it: Why we cannot find a solution? And, if Israel can make peace with Germany, why not with the Palestinian nation?
Maybe the Palestinians should learn from the Germans, and pay the harlot’s fees.

Carla C. Avenia Koency
http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/repeating-history-again-734828.html

They haven’t done it yet. But some things are just inevitable and I sense that the odds of Israel attacking Iran’s nuclear plants is about a 9.9 on a scale of 10.0! Iran wants to wipe Israel off the face of the earth and the only thing that keeps that from happening is a nuclear capability. So, while the rest of world twiddles its collective thumbs, Israel is preparing- to save their nation.

And Isreal is no longer waiting for America’s blessings either.

While its preference is to coordinate with the US, defense officials have said Israel is preparing a wide range of options for such an operation. “It is always better to coordinate,” one top Defense Ministry official explained last week. “But we are also preparing options that do not include coordination.” Israeli officials have said it would be difficult, but not impossible, to launch a strike against Iran without receiving codes from the US Air Force, which controls Iraqi airspace. Israel also asked for the codes in 1991 during the First Gulf War, but the US refused.

History hs shown, the last war notwithstanding, that Israel can take care of its own!

In September, a Defense News article on an early warning radar system the US recently sent to Israel quoted a US government source who said the X-band deployment and other bilateral alliance-bolstering activities send parallel messages: “First, we want to put Iran on notice that we’re bolstering our capabilities throughout the region, and especially in Israel. But just as important, we’re telling the israelis, ‘Calm down, behave. We’re doing all we can to stand by your side and strengthen defenses, because at this time, we don’t want you rushing into the military option.’”

Easy for us to say as we sit outside the distance of their long range missles.

The IAF was preparing for a wide range of options, OC Air Force Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan recently said, adding that all it would take to launch an operation was a decision by the political echelon. “The air force is a very robust and flexible force,” he told Der Spiegel. “We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us.”  That they will- one day!

Ernie Fitzpatrick
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/israel-attacks-iran-671036.html

POWER AND WOMAN

By Alejandro Guevara Onofre

INTRODUCTION:

From my perspective, I think that democracy is synonymous of equality between women and men in the civil society and government. Ironically, there are more women voters, but fewer women candidates. However, From my point of view I think that “Parity Democracy” is the big difference between democracies and dictatorships. I remembered that the Taliban’s regime –the worst dictatorship in the modern history- prohibited women from participating in Afghanistan’s National Government. In 1990 Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a pro-democracy activist, won the elections in Myanmar (ex-Burma), but she was arrested and the results were cancelled abruptly by dictator Saw Maung.

Certainly, international organizations reports that 10 democracies have the highest proportion of women in its governmental structures: Sweden, Denmark, Finland, The Netherlands, Iceland, Germany, New Zealand, Mozambique, South Africa and Spain. Another example: under the Administration of Bill Clinton, Madeleine Albright was the first female Secretary of State.

Sri Lanka, formerly named Ceylon, is the home to Sirimavo Ratwate Dias Bandaranaike. She was often described as one of the most important females in the history: Mrs. Bandaranaike became World’s first female Prime Minister. She influenced Prime Minister from Janet Jagan to Gro Harlem Brundtland with her leadership for women’s rights and democracy.

Inspired by example of the “Women Revolution” in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India and Bangla Desh, Chandrika Kumaratunga, Bandaraike’s daughter, was elected Head of State in 1994.Her government was very similar that of her mother.

Certainly, there were fewer governments by women’s leaders as Violeta Barrios de Chamorro, who has fought for the democracy and women’s rights in Nicaragua, one of the most poorest countries in Latin America.

Finally I would like to finish my article with my favorite personal motto: “The future is for those people who believe in the beauty of their dreams”, by Anna Eleanor Roosevelt. Roosevelt, who was First Lady of the United States between 1933 and 1945.

ARGENTINA: In 1974 Maria Estela Martinez de Peron, best known as “Isabel Peron”, became the first woman President in the modern history. She is the widow of former President Juan Domingo Peron (1946-1955 and 1973-1974). After his death in 1974, Juan Domingo Peron was replaced by Vice President Isabel Peron. On March, 1976, after 2 years in power, she was ousted in a military coup led by Jorge Rafael Videla. She was forced into exile.

BANGLADESH: The country, an ex-British colony, has had two women in the national power. Begum Khaleda Zia was Prime Minister from 1991 to 1996. Khaleda was an advocate for the environment. She escaped assassination in 1995. However, she was reelected without opposition, but Khaleda Zia was succeeded by other woman: Sheik Hassina Wajed, anti-governmental activist. Sheik Hassina Wajed was as unpopularity as her predecessor. Bangladesh was one of the few states in the world whose government has been successively held by women.

BOLIVIA: Lydia Gueiler Tejada, former accountant, served as interim President of Bolivia from 16 November 1979 to 17 July 1980.She was elected President by Parliament. Mrs. Gueiler Tejada was overthrown by General Luis Garcia Meza Tejada, who was one of the worst dictators in the Latin American history.

CANADA: Dame Kimberley Campbell was ephemeral Prime Minister from 25 June 1993 to November 1993. But she was not the only one in power. Jeanne Sauce was Governor General from 1984 to 1989. Furthermore, Adrienne Clarkson was elected also GG in 1999. Currently, Michaelle Jean, was born in Haiti, has been elected GG in 2005.

DOMINICA: Dominica, a small country in the Caribbean, has been an independent State since 1978. Mary Eugenia Charles governed from 1980 to 1995. During her government Dominica had one of the most highest rate of human development in Latin America. In 1983, Mary Eugenia Charles, an admirer of Great Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, established diplomatic relations with Republic of China (ROC) or Taiwan. She was apparently supported by the United States and Taiwan for its anti-communism.

ICELAND: Vidis Finnbogadottir was Head of State of Iceland from 1980 to 1996.Vigdis was a key interlocutor between the Soviet Bloc and the United States. She was the first woman democratically elected President in the world.

INDIA: Indira Ghandi was one of the greatest politicians of the history. She served as Prime Minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 to 1984. In the 1970s her government was marked by corruption, human rights abuses and pro-Soviet politics. In 1984, Mrs. Gandhi was assassinated by her bodyguards. During her government, she was an anti-Apartheid leader. Many people loved her and others hated her. Currently, she is a symbol of the India.

IRELAND: Mary Robinson was elected Head of State of Ireland from 1990 to 1997. She was a forceful campaigner for women’s rights in the world. The fruits of her efforts continue to flourish: On November 11, 1997, Mary McAleese was elected President. The world recognized Ireland’s Mary Robinson for her fight against abuses of refuges.

ISRAEL: Golda Meir governed as Prime Minister from 1969 to 1974. She is remembered as one of the most important women in the Israeli history. During her government, Israel and Egypt, Syria and Iraq went to war. After her death, israel is the birthplace of important women as Leah Rabin and Shulamith Katznelson.

NEW ZEALAND: Jenny Shipley had an ephemeral government. She became the NZ’s first female Prime Minister. In 1999 Helen Clark was elected Prime Minister of NZ. Historically, New Zealand is the birthplace of the “Woman Suffrage”. The country´s name in the local dialect means “Land of the Woman Suffrage”.

NORWAY: Gro Harlem Brundtland served as Prime Minister for 11 years. She has been described as a “great Prime Minister”. She is equally admired as an ecologist and diplomatic. Under her leadership, Norway was an example of human development in the world.

PHILIPPINES: Corazon “Cory” Aquino was the fourth women in Asia to assume the position of President. After her victory, Aquino said that among her political projects were the anti-poverty and human rights. She was Benigno Aquino’s wife. She helped win more representation for women in the Parliament. It was under her government that full democratization began.

SRI LANKA: Sririmavo Bandaraike was the first woman who became Prime Minister in the history. Historically, she has been the first woman with real power in the 20th Century. Under her government, the Island, an ex- British colony, became a democratic republic. Mrs. Bandaranaike had taken a prominent role in national affairs during the government of her daughter, President Chandrika Kumaratunga Bandaranaike (1994-2000).

UNITED KINGDOM: Margaret Hilda Roberts Thatcher, best known worldwide as the “Iron Lady”, was Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990. She was the most powerful woman in the industrialized world. Mrs. Thatcher does not herself as a feminist. Thatcher was reelected Prime Minister in the 1980s and she was an active anti-communist leader. Her economical philosophy provided a model for many countries as Hungary, Czech Republic, Mauritius, Botswana, El Salvador, Chile and Cyprus. Under her leadership, the UK’s economy witnessed the most rapid growth in the 1980s.Ironically, she has not made campaigns for women’s rights, but she is an advocate for the ecology. Europe has produced many leaders, but none as Margaret Thatcher…

UNITED STATES: In 1996 Maria Jana Korbelova or Marie Hana Korbel, best known as Madeleine Albright, made history when she was elected Secretary of State of the United States. She was born in Czech Republic, former Czechoslovakia, but Madeleine became American citizen in the 1950s.She gained international recognition for her efforts on behalf of human rights and democracy. She was one of the few American leaders to balance good relations with North Korea…

Did you know that an American woman was Head of State?

Janet Jagan became President of Guyana, an ex-British colony and South American country. Mrs. Jagan, a naturalized Guyanan citizen who was born in Chicago, Illinois, came to power from December 1997 to 11 August 1999.

REFERENCES:

-ENCICLOPEDIA UNIVERSAL ILUSTRADA EUROPEO-AMERICANO SUPLEMENTO ANUAL 1934-2006, ESPASA-CALPE, BARCELONA

2-GUEVARA ONOFRE, ALEJANDRO. ENCICLOPEDIA MUNDOTOTAL 1999, SAN MARCOS, LIMA, 1998.

3———————- MUJER Y PODER, CECOSAMI, LIMA, 2001

4———————- NORTEAMERICANAS UNIVERSALES, CECOSAMI, LIMA, 2002

5———————- HISTORIA DE LA MUJER DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, CECOSAMI, LIMA, 2002

6-INFORME SOBRE DESARROLLO HUMANO 1995: GENERO Y DESARROLLO HUMANO, PNUD, NUEVA YORK, 1995

7-NOTES FOR SPEAKERS ONTHE ADVANCEMENT OF WOMEN, NACIONES UNIDAS, NUEVA YORK, 1995

8-THE WOMEN’S BOOK WORLD RECORDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS, LOUIS DECKER O’NEILL-ANCHOR BOOKS, ANCHOR PRESS, 1979

9-THE WORLD ALMANAC AND BOOK OF FACTS 1980-2000, WORLD ALMANAC BOOKS, NEW JERSEY

10-UGLOW, JENNIFER. THE MACMILLAN DICTIONARY OF WOMEN’S BIOGRAPHY, THE MACMILLAN, LONDON, 1982

Alejandro Guevara Onofre
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/power-and-women-115077.html

It’s the number one topic on the world’s political agenda. It’s considered more important than the Iranian nuclear threat or the Iraqi war. The drive for a State in Palestine gains constant momentum, propelled by the iron will of the international community. The Palestine issue is entrenched in the collective conciousness as the single most urgent obstacle to peace in the Middle East, and, by proxy, the world.

And yet, even as road maps and initiatives fly, there seems to be a need to get back to the basic fundamentals of the issue at hand. Since we are talking about a specific people (Palestinians) and a specific geographic landmass (Palestine), these obvious details should surely at this point be redundant. That would be the case, except for the fact that the negotiators are still debating “Israel’s right to exist”. Since there is clearly some doubt cast over the basic geographic realities on the ground, there is a growing, urgent need to set the record straight.

So where is Palestine?

Well, it depends who you ask. You may be given any number of the folowing answers: Israel, Judea and Samaria, The West Bank and Gaza, Jerusalem, somewhere in the Middle East….. These are the vague responses offered by the world’s major media outlets, political delegations, United Nations, Arab experts and even, sadly, some marginal israeli public doctrine.

The correct answer is, all of the above, and Jordan. That is: Jordan, Israel’s neighbour, with whom they share their modern beginnings, a peace treaty, a border, and a common problem: the palestinians.

Formal use of the term ‘Palestine” returned after WWI. The 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement to divide the remains of the Ottoman Empire between the British and French rapidly paved the way for the San Remo Conference and then League of Nations approval of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1922. That geographic area included what is Israel and Jordan today. During the intervening years the British had meanwhile handed over 77% of Palestine, the land east of the jordan river, to Emir Abdullah for administration: Transjordan, today known as Jordan. The other 23%, via the Balfour Declaration, formally accepted by the League of Nations, was slated for a Jewish national homeland, today known as Israel.

By the time the British Mandate for Palestine was formally signed, the area formerly known singularly as Palestine had come to be known as Palestine and Transjordan. Palestine had now legally and officially been divided between Jew and Arab, into 2 sovereign states, 23% for the Jews and 77% for the Arabs, in an international agreement.

From this point onward, history seems to have been frozen in time. Due to an administrative slip of the tongue, the world’s collective memory has forgotten that Palestine comprised both Israel and Jordan. The world has forgotten that for decades both Jews and Arabs were known as Palestinians. At no time was there ever a single sovereign nation, or people, of Palestine. In fact, Jordan today comprises over 65% of Palestinians. Israel (including all territories) comprises less than 50%.

What is patently obvious is that trying to solve a geographic problem with the wrong map is bound for disaster. What is not so clear is why such a simple historical fact has been forgotten, or far more sinister, ignored. What is required today is a fresh start. Let’s call it the Trio, since the world seems to respond to classical music these days.

The Trio would be comprised of Israel, Jordan, and the British. The 2 successor sovereign states of the British Mandate for Palestine, guided by their original benefactor. Whether there need be a third state in Palestine or not, let the original sovereign signatories expand or contract their own borders to solve both their growing demographic crises. Following that initiative, the Trio could become a new Quartet, to include the deserving Americans. Or a Quintet, say, if the Palestinians were to renounce terror.

The ultimate success would be the revival of history as an international orchestration. That’s when we might see real peace in the Middle East.

JODI LEVY
http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/where-is-palestine-117891.html