IDF protecting my tent on Israel Lebanon border

Good Morning Israel

Heavy Rains Threaten Homeless In Haiti

Heavy Rains Threaten Camps Holding Haiti’s Homeless

By Associated Press
Friday, March 19, 2010


PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — One of the heaviest rainfalls since Haiti’s Jan. 12 earthquake swamped homeless camps Friday, sweeping screaming residents into eddies of water, overflowing latrines and panicking thousands.

The overnight downpour sent water coursing down the slopes of a former golf course that now serves as a temporary home for about 45,000 people.

There were no reports of deaths in the camp, a town-size maze of blue, orange and silver tarps located behind the country club used by the U.S. Army 82nd Airborne as a forward-operating base.

But the deluge terrified families who just two months ago survived the collapse of their homes in the magnitude-7 earthquake and are now struggling to make do in tent-and-tarp camps that officials have repeatedly said must be relocated.

"I was on one side (of the tarp), the children were on the other side and I was trying to push the water out," Jackquine Exama, a 34-year-old mother of seven, said through tears.

"I’m not used to this," she said.

Aid workers said people were swept screaming into eddies of water and flows ripped down tents an Israeli aid group is using to teach school.

"They were crying. There was just fear down there. It was chaos," said Jim Wilson of the aid group Praecipio, who came running from his own shelter up the hill when he heard the screams.

After the sun rose Friday, people used sticks and their bare hands to dig drainage ditches around their tarps and shanties.

Marie Elba Sylvie, 50, could not decide whether it was worth repairing damage to her lean-to of scrap wood and plastic.

"It could be fixed but when it rains again it will be the same problem," said the 50-year-old mother of four.

Standing water and mud also pervaded a tarp-and-tent city on the outskirts of Cite Soleil, several miles away. Residents waded through the shallow flood collecting their belongings.

Officials know they must move many of the 1.3 million people displaced by the earthquake before the rainy season starts in earnest in April. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters at the golf-course camp Sunday that the people living there were in particular danger.

But after two months of searching and wrangling with landowners, the government has still not opened any of the five promised relocation sites that are better able to withstand rain and aftershocks on the capital’s northeastern outskirts.

Aid groups are also struggling to open their own camps.

"It’s been frustrating to us because we need to have those sites in order to build something ... better. Until we can do that people have no incentive to move," U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes told The Associated Press during Ban’s visit.

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Park Ra'anana, Israel

Ra'anana Israel Marathon

Israel Research Center: UN Goldstone Report Ignored Facts

Israel Research Center: UN Goldstone Report Ignored Facts

By Joel Leyden, Larry Butchins
Israel News Agency
http://www.israelnewsagency.com/israelungoldstonereportmalamgazaresearchidfhamascastleadhumanshieldsterrorismcivilianswarcrimes48031510.html

Jerusalem ---- March 15, 2010 …. . A year after the Israel Defense Forces Operation Cast Lead confronted the terror group Hamas in Gaza a well respected, Israel intelligence research center finally gets to tell its side of the story.

According to a news report in today’s Jerusalem Post by Military Correspondent Ya’akov Katz, a 500-page report authored by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (Malam) is the first, objective Israel response to the UN Goldstone Report, analyzing it piece-by-piece and explaining the true nature of the conflict against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The objective, non governmental Israel research report contains chapters on Hamas’s unethical and immoral use of mosques, hospitals, ambulances and schools. An entire section is dedicated to illustrating how the Palestinian police force in the Gaza Strip, which the UN Goldstone Report claimed was a civilian force, was incorporated into the military wing of Hamas.

Another section explains the events that led Israel to launch the defensive Operation Cast Lead in December 2008 – a time period which was almost completely ignored by Judge Richard Goldstone. An issue illustrated most recently by the interview given by Col. Desmond Travers, the Irish officer who was a member of the panel, in which he claimed only two rockets were fired into Israel in the month preceding the IDF Operation – when in reality, there were close to 200 terror rockets.

What comes to light about the Malam report is that it does not focus on the Israel Defense Forces and the manner in which it operated inside the Gaza Strip. Instead the Israel research report focuses strictly on Hamas, its tactics and the way it cynically used civilians as well as the civilian infrastructure to hide behind and launch rockets against Israel.

“The results are astounding," Katz says.

While Hamas’s immoral use of mosques was known, the Israel Malam research report clearly illustrates that it was extensive and was a center piece of Hamas’s overall military strategy. Over 100 mosques were used to conceal weapons and from which to launch Kassam rockets at Israel civilian cities and towns. While the news about how Hamas terror chiefs hid in the basement of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City has been widely reported, the Malam research report illustrates how the UN Goldstone Report did not reveal maps of other hospitals, surrounded by land mines, Hamas military posts and tunnels.

“While Malam and its director, Col. (res.) Reuven Erlich, should be applauded for their work, the question needs to be asked why a non-profit organization operated by former Military Intelligence officers, is doing what the Israel Foreign Ministry, IDF Spokesman’s Office and Prime Minister’s Office should have been doing immediately after the air force launched its first missile into downtown Gaza City on the first day of the operation," Katz comments.

“The radio has been full of ads from Israel Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein’s new PR campaign to get Israelis, during their travels abroad, to explain that they don’t ride on camels or eat only barbecued foods."

“Instead of wasting Israel taxpayer’s money, Edelstein’s budget should have gone to establishing an official Israel crisis communications response team that would be responsible for writing such reports and disseminating them to the media, not a year after the operation but as the fighting is going on," the IDF Gaza Hamas Report from the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (Malam) states.

“Until this happens, Israel has only itself to blame for the amount and severity of criticism it faces after every war and operation. And if not for Erlich and his professional team of expert researchers, Israel wouldn’t even have the report that Malam released on Monday. Instead we would be focused on camels and barbecues.”

The Malam Research Report which refutes the UN Goldstone Report states that Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and almost all of the Hamas leadership slept inside a children’s hospital in Gaza City the night of December 27, 2008, to hide from Israel targeted killings after the IDF launched Operation Cast Lead.

According to the Malam Research Report compiled by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Hamas used more than 10 hospitals to hide behind during last year’s IDF defensive operation to stop the launch of rockets at Israel towns and to attack IDF troops operating inside the Gaza Strip.

The UN Goldstone Commission Report concluded it could not confirm Israel’s claims that Hamas used hospitals for military purposes during the operation.

“The mission did not find any evidence to support the allegations that hospital facilities were used by the Gaza authorities or by Palestinian armed groups to shield military activities or that medical ambulances were used to transport combatants or for other military purposes,” Judge Richard Goldstone wrote in his UN report.

The Malam report discredits Goldstone’s conclusion and provides declassified intelligence information together with Palestinian testimonies, that Hamas concealed weapons and established command and control centers inside hospitals - even firing rockets and setting up military positions adjacent to these medical centers.

One of the more known cases took place at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, which Israel said was used during the Gaza operation as a hideout for top Hamas terrorists. According to the Malam report, intelligence obtained by Israel showed that Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas Foreign Minister Mohammed Zahar and Hamas Interior Minister Said Siam were situated inside a bunker under one of the hospital’s wards.

Terrorists also set up military posts next to the hospital, from which they fired mortars at IDF troops who discovered a tunnel underneath a mosque located next to the hospital. This Hamas weapons tunnel led to the maternity ward and was used by Hamas terrorists to move undetected between the buildings.

Hamas also set up a control and command center inside one of the children’s hospitals in the Nasser neighborhood of Gaza City, where Hamas leaders slept the night of December 27.

Another Gaza hospital which was extensively used by Hamas was the Al-Fahoura Medical Center in the northern Gaza Strip, next to which Hamas built a training camp and military base.

IDF aerial photographs, revealed in the Malam research report, illustrate that the area around the hospital was heavily mined and that tunnels were dug around the building as well as under the medical center. Hamas rockets were also launched against Israel in close proximity to the medical facilities.

“Hamas did this in its assumption, correctly so, that the Israel Defense Forces would refrain from attacking hospitals and that terrorists would receive so-called immunity by operating there,” the Malam report states.

According to the Jerusalem Post article, Hamas terrorists used Palestinian children as human shields, and established command centers and Qassam launch pads in and near more than 100 mosques and hospitals during IDF Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip last year.

The detailed Malam report stated that the IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) cooperated with the report’s authors and declassified hundreds of IDF photographs, videos, prisoner interrogations and Hamas-drawn sketches.

Work on the Malam report began immediately after former Judge Richard Goldstone issued his biased UN report on Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip in September of 2009.

One example of the material revealed in the Malam report is a recently classified sketch of the village of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza. The Hamas sketch, discovered in the home of a Hamas operative together with several improvised explosive bombs (IEDs) and Kalashnikov rifles by IDF troops during the operation, details the extensive deployment of IEDs and snipers inside and adjacent to civilian homes.

“The UN Goldstone Report is a one-sided, biased, selective and deceptive report, since it simply accepts Hamas claims at face value and presents everything through Hamas’s eyes,” stated Malam’s director, Dr. Reuven Erlich, a former IDF colonel in Military Intelligence.

The Malam report also provides an analysis of other sketches found during the IDF defensive operation in the Atatra neighborhood in northern Gaza City. Erlich said this sketch proves Hamas’s culpability for the ensuing death and destruction.

“By placing all of their weapons next to civilian homes, by operating out of homes, mosques and hospitals, by firing rockets next to schools and by using human shields, Hamas is the one responsible for the civilian deaths during the IDF Gaza operation,” Erlich concludes.

The UN Goldstone Report says that its authors “found no evidence that Palestinian combatants mingled with the civilian Gaza population with the intention of shielding themselves from attack.”

The Malam report, however, presents declassified IDF videos that illustrate how Hamas used civilians as human shields and deployed its weapons and command centers inside civilian homes.

In one home, the IDF found a message, written in Arabic that read: “We are your brothers, fighters in this holy war, and we used your home and some of your possessions. We are sorry.”

This note, the Malam’s report states, clearly indicates how Hamas took over civilian homes in Gaza from which to attack Israel forces.

According to a previously undisclosed interrogation of a Hamas terrorist, a Hamas unit transported rockets on the back of a wagon on which children were also sitting. In other cases, the operative revealed, Hamas fighters disguised themselves as women carrying babies to make sure that they would not be attacked by IDF troops.

The intelligence information is documented by videos, including one declassified IDF air force video from January 6, 2009, which illustrates a terrorist shooting at IDF soldiers from the roof of a building. After spotting an Israel aircraft, the terrorist goes to the building’s entrance and calls to nearby civilians to help him escape. A few seconds later, a group of children arrive at the entrance to the home and the Hamas terrorist walks out escorted by the children.

Another video from January 13 clearly illustrates a senior Hamas terrorist, spotted by an aircraft, walking by himself down a street. After seeing the IDF aircraft, the terrorist runs over to an elderly woman walking nearby and continues walking next to her. Later, the IDF discovered that the “elderly woman” was in fact a Hamas terrorist in disguise.

Malam also confronts the UN Goldstone Report for its claim that “the mission found no evidence that members of Palestinian armed groups engaged in combat in civilian dress,” and as a result could “not find a violation of the obligation not to endanger the civilian population in this respect.”

In response, Malam spoke with several IDF officers who provided testimony that the vast majority of Hamas fighters were dressed as civilians. Hamas videos showed fighters – during IDF Operation Cast Lead – wearing civilian clothing while firing mortars and rocket-propelled grenades at Israel Defense Forces solders.

The Malam Research report has an entire section dedicated to Hamas’s use of mosques, revealing intelligence information that Hamas used almost 100 mosques inside Gaza from which to hide from and attack the IDF.

“Hamas systematically used mosques as part of its combat doctrine,” the Malam report states, in contrast to the UN Goldstone Report, which claims that the mission was unable to make a determination about the issue.

The Malam report presents countless videos and photographs of dozens of mosques used by Hamas to store weapons, function as command centers or whose grounds were used as “launching pads” from which to fire rockets into Israel.

The report also details Hamas’s use of hospitals during the offensive, providing evidence that Hamas fired at IDF troops adjacent to such hospitals. They also hid weaponry and senior operatives inside at least eight hospitals in the Gaza Strip.’

The Malam report has an entire section illustrating how Hamas’s police and internal security forces were involved in terrorist activities and were not, as Richard Goldstone claimed, civilian entities whose only duty was enforcing law and order.

In contrast to the internal Israel Defense Forces report which focuses on IDF operations and is prepared for release in the coming months, Malam’s report is about Hamas, its combat tactics and the way it operated from within densely populated urban centers in Gaza, as well as the events that led up to IDF Cast Lead in late December 2008 that Malam says were disregarded by the UN Goldstone Report.

The report highlights four basic flaws in the Goldstone Report: The UN Goldstone Report does not deal with the nature of Hamas – its terrorist aspects and ideology. The UN Goldstone Report minimizes the gravity of the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel, focusing on rocket fire during the six months before IDF Operation Cast Lead while devoting little space to the rocket and mortar fire that began in 2001. The UN Goldstone Report does not deal with the Hamas military buildup in the Gaza Strip in the year preceding Cast Lead, but at the same time did provide extensive historical coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The UN Goldstone Report ignored the role Iran and Syria activity in Gaza by aiding Hamas and supplying it with explosives and weaponry.

The Malam report states that Hamas used over 100 mosques throughout the Gaza Strip for military purposes during IDF Operation Cast Lead, according to IDF intelligence information revealed in the Malam report which contradicts the UN Goldstone Commission Report.

Malam dedicates an entire chapter to Hamas use of mosques before and during last winter’s IDF defensive operation in the Gaza Strip. This chapter discredits the UN Goldstone Report, whose authors conclude that they could not confirm Israel’s claims that Hamas used mosques for military purposes during the operation.

“The mission was unable to make a determination regarding the [Israeli] allegation,” Judge Richard Goldstone wrote in the UN report.

The Malam report states that the extensive use of mosques in which to conceal weapons and use as launching pads for rocket attacks on Israel, was part of a Hamas strategy based on the knowledge that the IDF would not target civilian infrastructure including mosques. These became perfect storehouses for Hamas weapons and as launching pads for rocket attacks against Israel.

The Malam Cast Lead Report analysis is based on Hamas sketches of neighborhoods that clearly portray that mosques were used as sniper positions, Israel Air Force videos showing massive secondary explosions after mosques were hit as well as reports from IDF soldiers.

One mosque in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City was raided by Israel Defense Forces troops who discovered a warehouse full of rockets and mortar shells. During the IDF operation, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at Israel troops from the mosque.

On January 13, 2009, Israel Defense Forces troops entered a mosque in Jabalya in northern Gaza. The mosque was full of Hamas weapons including an anti-aircraft cannon. In a mosque in the Atatra neighborhood in northern Gaza City, IDF troops found a secret warehouse built directly under the podium from where the Imam leads Islamic prayers, which was full of weapons and bombs.

“The Goldstone Report uses obscure language and twists and turns with regard to the military use of mosques,” the Malam Report states. “The UN Goldstone Report refrained from determining that Hamas is responsible for the military use of the mosques, in gross violation of international law, which provides protection for houses of prayer.”

In several aerial photographs, the Malam IDF Gaza research report shows the location of rocket launchers and IEDs that were discovered in immediately next to mosques. In a video taken by the Israel Air Force on January 7, 2009, a rocket was filmed being fired from the courtyard of the Altakua Mosque in Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood. The launcher was attacked and destroyed by the IDF.

In another case, the Israel Defense Forces discovered a bomb along a road in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. The bomb was attached to a cable leading to a detonator in a mosque across the street, where Hamas terrorists were waiting to set off the device.

In the southern Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces secured the testimonies of civilians, claiming that Hamas forbade them from entering a mosque in the village of Khirbat Haza several days before the IDF’s ground operation. The Gaza civilians said they later saw Hamas operatives carrying large crates of weapons into the mosque.

The Malam report also quotes testimony obtained from three Hamas terrorists captured during IDF Operation Cast Lead. They show the existence of weapons in mosques; one operative, Sabhi Majad Atar, said he received training on how to use an RPG and fire rockets inside the Balal ben Rabah Mosque in Atatra.

A Fatah terrorist, Hamed Farji Abed Raboo Salah, said that, fearing for their lives, civilians in Gaza stopped praying at the Salah Aldin Mosque in Jabalya after learning that Hamas had stored massive amounts of explosives on the top floors.

Malam was established in 2001 as a non-governmental, private branch of the Israel Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center dedicated to the memory of members of Israel’s intelligence community.

Malam publishes weekly reports on a number of subjects, including Hamas, the Palestinian Authority, Hezbollah, and Iran as well as anti-Jewish and anti-Israel incitement and propaganda.

The head of the Malam is former Mossad chief Ephraim Halevi. Dr. Reuven Erlich, a former colonel in Military Intelligence who served in a number of positions in the MI’s Research Directorate, heads the think tank's Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. Erlich also served as the deputy coordinator of government activities in Lebanon during the 1980s. In addition to Erlich, Malam employs seven researchers, mostly former MI officers, who gather the information used to write the weekly reports. These can be found at www.intelligence.org.il

“We started writing reports in 2001 but got a real boost during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002, based on the documents that were discovered there by the IDF,” Erlich said.

After the release of the UN Goldstone Report in September, Erlich and his staff decided to create a report that would respond to the accusations placed against Israel but particularly, what he called “the distorted presentation of Hamas” in the report.

The Israel News Agency, which is accredited by Israel Government Press Office, was the first on line news organization in Israel. The INA reaches up to 60 million readers through Google News and Internet social networking channels such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube from New York, London, Moscow and Paris to Toronto, Los Angeles, China and India. Leyden is presently launching the United States News Agency using the INA as a successful working model.

The above news content was edited and SEO optimized in New York, London and Israel for the Internet by the Leyden Communications Internet Marketing PR SEO Group London SEO Pr New York SEO Pr Israel SEO Pr Israel, London, New York.

How To Win Friends and Influence People!

Clothes certainly make the man but charm renders you immortal.

Just think of the world’s most charming people such as J.F.K., George Clooney, Bill Clinton or the late Princess Diana or Joanna Lumley. All people for whom grace and charisma outshines the brittle beauty of Angelina or Victoria Beckham.

So how can you access your charm gene?

Here are a few simple steps that will take your from lack lustre to legend and will raise your profile from floor to soar.

• Smile

Whether we’re pleasant to be around depends less on the situation than on our behavior. Rapport in business is fueled by seemingly minor considerations, such as a friendly, accessible demeanor and a welcoming smile.

• Act "as if" you are charming.

Shoulders back, smile in place, walk as though you know you light up the room. Let your body language be warm and welcoming. Others will believe it and pretty soon your psyche will do too. This tactic in body language is known as "echoing".

• Make an impact.

Shake hands warmly and look your contact directly in the eye, smiling broadly. State generously how pleased you are to meet them saying their name, (which you instantly make a point of remembering), as you do so. Break the ice with a pleasant observation – “isn’t this great? I also like ….” - this is bonding.
Remember that a person’s name is to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.

• Look really interested.

Most people are starved of being listened to, of being heard. It is the biggest honor to show genuine interest in another person. Dare to be rapt in what they say and ask interested, leading questions – “How interesting, so tell me how you exactly fricassee Spam?” You will be very well thought of.

• Be generous.

Give things away; introduce people to each other, share information and your time. Be sure to be the person who talks 20% to allow others to speak 80%.

• Give compliments

Find excuses to praise others – “Oh I can imagine you would be so good at that” – “that color is made for you” but never tell lies or be obsequious. There is a fine line between smarm and charm so beware.

• Accept compliments.

Be gracious when others wish to compliment you. Don’t assume the flattery was someone’s throwaway remark to make you feel better. It is meant with genuine intent so thank the giver and say kindly (even if you feel uncomfortable) “how kind of you to have noticed” which acknowledges the other person thoughtfully.

• Be well read.

It doesn’t mean you have to have complete in-depth knowledge of the Greek tragedies or a Harvard degree but be up on current affairs, pop culture and latest trends so you have a store of relevant issues to discuss with people. Be sure to include others and orient the conversations around the topics which interest them.

• Don’t argue.

Learn to disagree in a way that shows respect. Being pedantic or being “right” about everything is not attractive. Needless to say swearing, cursing, be-littling or gossiping are also off limits.

A caveat- all of the above must be conducted from the heart or it won’t work. It’s not about manipulation but treating others with savoir faire and aplomb. The rewards are abundant as Beyonce once sighed: “I’m just a sucker for a charming person”.

• Be sincere. Do not use the above to con or deceive others.

Book a professional consultation with Joel Leyden @ ReputationManagementPr.com

Syria

Banias Israel

Banias Israel

Israel, Mossad, CIA, Mi6 - An Intelligence Agency misused passports: OMG!

An Intelligence Agency misused passports: OMG!

by Alan M. Dershowitz

The complaints leveled against Israel by European countries and Australia, regarding the alleged misuse of passports by the Mossad in the assassination of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, ring hollow and smack of blatant hypocrisy. Whoever did kill Mahmoud al-Mabhouh -- whether it was the Israeli Mossad or someone else -- clearly did have their agents use stolen or forged passports. Big deal.

Every good intelligence agency uses stolen and forged passports. The British have been especially adept at this means of spycraft. No country that uses fake passports in their intelligence operations has the moral authority to complain about the alleged misuse of passports in this case. The only ones that have a legitimate grievance are those individuals whose passports may have been misused without their knowledge.

I guess it’s the job of foreign ministries to complain publicly when other nations do what they themselves do secretly. Hypocrisy is, after all, the homage that vice pays to virtue. I’m reminded of the famous scene in Casablanca, when officer Renault declares, “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!” A croupier then approaches Renault, and hands him a roll of currency: “Your winnings, sir.”

The hypocrisy in this case seems even more blatant than usual. Is it because Israel is the alleged offender, and the world has gotten accustomed to singling out Israel for double standard condemnation?

Shortly after the terrorist attacks in Bali, which killed a large number of Australian tourists, I had the opportunity to meet with the Australian Prime Minister. I was writing a book at the time on preemption, and I asked him whether he would have authorized a preemptive attack on the terrorist who killed Australian citizens, if such an attack would have saved their lives. His response was that Australia would have done anything it could, to prevent these terrorist attacks. Anything, I guess, except misusing passports? Is there anybody who believes that Australia would not have used forged or stolen passports to prevent the Bali massacres?

If Great Britain could have stopped the London subway attack by misusing passports, would M6 have allowed the terrorism to go forward in the name of preserving passport integrity? Of course not. The same is true of Spain with regard to the Madrid bombing and to every other country in the world that seeks to prevent terrorism. Well, if the Mossad did in fact kill al-Mabhouh, they too did it to prevent the killing of their innocent civilians.

The Israelis are always accused by their enemies, and sometimes even by their friends, of taking “disproportionate” action to stop terrorists. But what could be more proportionate than a carefully planned and specifically targeted attack on an admitted terrorist who boasted of being an active combatant? Whoops! I guess I forgot about those darn passports. That must be the disproportionate action complained about. Saving innocent lives, on the one hand—misusing passports on the other. I guess the right moral resolution, according to some foreign ministries, is to let innocent victims die -- at least as long as its only Israeli victims.

It’s interesting, and disturbing, that more criticism is being directed against Israel for allegedly using stolen passports than for allegedly killing a terrorist. That’s because no Western country wants to appear to be sympathetic to a terrorist. The “victims” of passport fraud are innocent civilians, but the injury they have suffered pales in comparison to the injuries – deaths -- prevented by the well-deserved death of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

If the deaths of a small number of innocent civilians is deemed “proportional” to the killing of a terrorist combatant, than surely the discomfort of a small number of innocent victims of passport fraud is proportional.

The high dudgeon expressed by foreign ministries over stolen passports is worse than hypocritical. It undercuts the war against terrorism.

There ought to be concern, among Western democracies, about how easy it is to use forged or stolen passports. Dubai should be conducting an investigation, but the focus should be on how simple it was for those carrying these phony passports to get into their country. The misuse of passports is, after all, a primary tool used by terrorists to smuggle themselves into Western countries, from which they can engage in worldwide terrorism. There are thousands of forged and fraudulent British passports circulating around the world today. Many are in the hands of terrorists. That should be the focus of any investigation, not the occasional and controlled misuse of passports by Western intelligence agencies to combat terrorism.

Whoever sneaked into Dubai using fake passports may have done that country a service in warning them to tighten up their passport procedures. Next time it may be a terrorist who tries to enter the country. Wait! Isn’t that exactly what happened when al-Mabhouh walked through security using a real passport with his real name? I guess in Dubai you don’t have to use a fake passport if you’re a terrorist, but you do if you’re trying to stop terrorists -- at least if the terrorism is directed only against Israel. I guess Dubai is less concerned about letting terrorists into their country with real passports than in letting those who would stop terrorism into their country with fake passports. It’s a topsy turvy world out there.

Published: Sunday, March 07, 2010

Israel Ad, PR Agencies Use Mossad Pride To Promote Supermarkets

Israel Ad, PR Agencies Use Mossad Pride To Promote Supermarkets

Islamic terrorists will now have to think twice
every time they see a baseball hat and sunglasses.

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem ---- March 11, 2010 …. . You never say the word. At least, before Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed in Dubai by an assassination team, widely believed to be the Mossad, one would never even mutter the word Mossad.

One learns this basic perspective living in Israel, serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) or the Israel police. You learn that even the Mossad never even says the word Mossad, except for that one time when new recruits are welcomed to Mossad headquarters and their new commander states: "Welcome to the Institute. You are the best of the best. Very few make it here. And in being here, at the Mossad, you will never hear nor mutter that word again."

One would refer to the Mossad as either "Misrad Bitachon" meaning the Israel Ministry of Defense or "Misrad Rosh Menshlach" - the Israel Prime Minister's Office, the only office that the Mossad answers to.

But now, with one Hamas military commander who also was the founder of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, killed and an abundance of CCTV tape circulating about YouTube provided by the Dubai police as if it was an out take from the TV shows U.N.C.L.E., The Avengers, or perhaps as a trailer from Avatar, the word Mossad is popping up everywhere. In fact, as a journalist, one is not even authorized to use the word Mossad without getting clearance from the Israel Government Censors Office. Journalists in Israel usually get around this by quoting foreign news sources.

Only recently has the Mossad come out of the closet. It truly began with the launch of their Website in May 2004 and publicly naming the director of the Mossad. Today, one will find a dozen groups on Facebook in support of the Mossad and its legendary activities.

Now we have the Inspector Clouseau of the Dubai Police Department dripping out bits of information and footage almost on a daily basis. His calculated efforts to embarrass Israel through keeping the assassination in the public light have only had a reverse effect. Yes, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of a few countries whose passports were used or forged yelled and screamed for a couple of days. Two nations even sent their police to Tel Aviv to investigate. One can be sure that their Ministries of Defense objected, just wanting to bury this successful episode of eliminating a terrorist, one who has openly declared war on all global democracies.

But beyond a few barks and not so confident growls by the UK and Australia, that were primary staged to placate their Islamic friends, the operation to kill a Hamas leader in Dubai has proven to be a double victory for Israel.

One, it reassures the Israel public that the Mossad, if it was the Mossad, is still ranked higher than Google. Two, it reminds every Islamic terrorist that there is no place in the world for them to hide, to eat or to even urinate without Israel intelligence knowing about it.

What the Dubai police have achieved in working diligently and attempting to coordinate an effective investigation has only served Israel. For as every day that passes that Dubai mentions the words Mossad or Israel, it reminds those who believe in Islamic Jihad to think twice.

Most Arabs today perceive the acts of the Mossad as nothing less than "miracles".

The once forbidden word and activities of the Mossad have now prompted a proud, public outcry in Israel of Kol Hakavoud - meaning with the greatest respect to you. So much that a highly creative advertising firm in Tel Aviv has now imitated the covert operation in Dubai and translated it into drawing worldwide attraction to a supermarket chain in Israel.

Photo: Ariel Schalit/Associated Press

The ads for the Mahsaney Kimat Hinam (Almost Free Warehouse) supermarket chain illustrates actors carrying tennis rackets and wearing baseball hats, glasses and wigs. Using the same disguises worn by the alleged killers in CCTV (closed circuit TV) surveillance images being released by the Dubai police as they stroll down store aisles.

Dubai police have released extensive but fuzzy off color surveillance camera footage which they say shows the team of 27 suspects from the assassination squad that they believe is to the Mossad, the Israel spy agency.

The advertisement even uses the slogans “Eliminate the prices" and “We offer killer prices”.

Tel Aviv, Israel advertising executive Sefi Shaked, said that the ad campaign was inspired by the footage released by Dubai police. He said that the company hoped to capitalize on the huge amount of media attention generated by the Dubai killing."

Israel has always been known for its highly creative and competitive domestic advertising and PR industries. Given the small size of the market, Israel domestic PR and advertising executives must demand only very best creative juice, even if that means pushing the envelope and using the sacred cow Mossad as sex appeal. Then again if the Mossad can allegedly use an attractive female agent who became famous in 1986 when, under the name "Cindy," seduced Mordechai Vanunu to go with her to Rome, where he was captured, drugged, and transported to Israel, then why can't Israel ad agencies follow in these highly inspired foot steps.

Recently, Israel launched an international ad campaign aimed at attracting tourists to the country using the racy slogan “Size Doesn’t Matter” to improve the country’s image. And while that ad gains attention in the US and Canada, another new ad campaign was launched by Israel Information and Diaspora Ministry.

Israel Information and Diaspora Minister Yuli Edelstein says that the international PR campaign is succeeding, having stirred public discussion and has brought 150,000 Israelis to visit its Web site. The campaign not only features information about Israel supermodel Bar Refaeli but also highlights Israel successes in high tech and medical research. The campaign provides answers to challenging questions about Israel's policy's i.e.- the Palestinians, he added. The ad campaign's mission is to motivate Israelis traveling abroad to speak up on behalf of Israel. Labeled Masbirim Israel, or Explaining Israel, the PR campaign advises citizens on how to speak politely - with hard and documented facts.

“It's a funny take of this event,” Shaked said of the Dubai Hamas assassination. “We were fascinated by the technique of using surveillance cameras instead of high-production commercial cameras, and the latest events in Dubai gave us a great opportunity."

The Israeli Mossad supermarket ads are expected to air by the Passover holiday, which begins at the end of March.

One only wonders now if the Mossad will ask for the creative Intellectual Property rights and demand a commission.

The Israel News Agency, which is accredited by Israel Government Press Office, was the first on line news organization in Israel. The INA reaches up to 60 million readers through Google News and Internet social networking channels such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube from New York, London, Moscow and Paris to Toronto, Los Angeles, China and India. Leyden is presently launching the United States News Agency using the INA as a successful working model.

The above news content was edited and SEO optimized in New York, London and Israel for the Internet by the Leyden Communications Internet Marketing PR SEO Group London SEO Pr New York SEO Pr Israel SEO Pr Israel, London, New York.

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How Social Networking, Web 2.0, New Media, SEO Is Changing PR

How Social Networking, Web 2.0, New Media, SEO Is Changing PR

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency
http://www.israelnewsagency.com/newmediaweb20networksocialnetworkingprpublicrelationsbrandingmarketingconsultantseosearchengineoptimizationgooglenewsyahoofacebooktwitterlinkedinmeetupcomyoutubereleasesjoelleydennews44030910.html

Jerusalem ---- March 9, 2010 …. . Classic, professional public relations (PR) is about to go through a revolutionary change. The days of faxing out and or emailing multiple press releases with glossy photos attached to journalists are numbered.

For decades, when one had a special message to deliver to a B2B, B2C, governmental or non-profit market, they would type up a news release, mail it, messenger it and or fax it out. Today, email has become the weapon of choice, unless the news release is especially sensitive and or time dated.

But even these practices will soon become extinct due to social networking, Web 2.0 and SEO optimized new media Blogs and Websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, MySpace and Meetup.com.

One of my high tech clients asked me to explain today exactly why he needed to be on Facebook.
I responded: "When TIME Magazine, CNN and FOX News try to contact me - it is no longer through email - they are tracking me down through Facebook or LinkedIn and using Facebook and or LinkedIn mail."

This speaks volumes for how governments, corporations and non-profits are now contacting the media today. Working in reverse, if one is seeking to get news out, especially with regard to crisis communications management and reputation public relations, online social media has become the potent channel to use with Facebook and LinkedIn leading the pack.

Using embedded video with your PR news releases and or
news stories increases both interest and traffic.

Facebook today has over 350 million members and is climbing fast in reaching up 500 million people from the US, Canada, UK, Australia and France to Israel, Germany, Japan, India and China within the very near future. What once started out as a Website from a Harvard dorm room as a means to meet girls, has grown to become the Web's number two ranked entity, behind search engine Google.

And Facebook is no longer limited to those under 25. The number of Americans over 35, 45, and 55 on Facebook is growing at a rapid pace. In the last 60 days alone, the number of members over 35 on Facebook has nearly doubled.

The PR professional needs not only to be on Facebook but to learn how Facebook works. He or she needs to spend perhaps months learning Facebook culture and Facebook terms of service. If one does not respect the rules of Facebook, they will find that their Facebook account and the account of their client disabled within days.

One can also get disabled from Facebook by revealing too much information to the masses, giving hackers an opportunity to attack your hard drive or thieves breaking into your office to deactivate or redirect your Facebook, email and or other Web 2.0 accounts pretending to be you.

New media, social networking, Web 2.0 Websites and Blogs are now killing conventional print media with average daily circulation falling more than 10 percent in the April-September 2009 period compared with the same period last year, accelerating a slide that has led to thousands of bankruptcies, closures and cutbacks in newsrooms from New York, Washington and Los Angeles to London, Paris and Tel Aviv.

Average Sunday circulation for 562 US newspapers was down by more than 7.49 percent.

When seeking to reach the masses today through established, accredited media outlets which have online news departments, the new form of public relations or NPR (New Public Relations) is found on social networking sites where one only needs one news release sent out into a viral marketing spin. Rather than advertising an upcoming special event, trade show or exhibition with 3 or 4 news releases, one only needs one SEO - search engine optimization - PR news release to create a group on Facebook, an announcement on LinkedIn, Twitter and a paid announcement on MeetUp.com.

This news release (or PR) should contain all of the 5 w's - who, what, where, when and how. It should contain as many relevant keywords in it as possible which associates to the event. And one should strive to get this news release placed on Google News as a news release or as a news story. In the hierarchy of Google News - aim for a news story, rather than a news release which is not considered as a prime source.

For those who are seasoned, professional journalists and PR, media consultants, this represents major changes to what you have learned and practiced from the AP Stylebook!

Not all SEO PRs are created equally. There are many inexperienced, so-called SEO PR experts who have nothing more than training in hair dressing, cosmetics or construction who have found SEO as quick and convenient means to make money, as most people and companies do not understand anything about HTML, page titles and META tags. But the truly successful PR professionals today will take their journalism experience, push the envelope and integrate his or her creative writing skills with SEO to reach the largest possible audience.

In addition, you may find a really good PR consultant who has recently taken SEO, new media, social networking, Web 2.0 courses or an SEO consultant who has just spent three months learning creative writing and media placement but they will not always get all they need from an academic course or 2 hour seminar.

Getting the PR message out today demands having a news and or PR channel that was established years ago and has an abundance of back links coming into it. It must have the organic ears and the eyes of Google News and backed-up with paid for Google Adwords and Facebook ads.

Lastly, as soon as that story appears on Google News, the PR pro now needs to push that story out through social media, Web 2.0 outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Blogs. What we are looking at here is integrating professional creative writing with SEO HTML optimized copy with online news aggregators such as Google News, Yahoo News and DIGG.

News distribution, targeting, monitoring and online PR, branding and marketing solutions today demand an ocean of knowledge in several new digital disciplines. Without knowing the new social networking, Web 2.0 forest, one will never find the trees that they are seeking to target.

So how can you tell if your PR news release is truly reaching millions for real estate, politics, entertainment, food, high tech, sports and or reputation crisis communications management rather than just a few dozen people?

Copy and paste the headline of the news release into Google Web and place quotation marks at the beginning and end of the head. Click on search and then count on how many Websites are carrying your story. The higher the number that the PR organization can secure for you becomes the real acid test of which PR SEO firm of 2010 that you want to retain for you and your organization.

The author of this news story, Joel Leyden, is an Israel public relations, new media, social networking SEO pioneer. He is credited for having co-created Israel's first commercial Website - NetKing in 1995, the first Website for an Israeli prime minister, co-created the Israel Defense Forces Website, was the first SEO - search engine optimizer in Israel and serves today as both commercial and crisis communications PR / SEO consultant and publisher of the Israel News Agency, Israel's first on-line news organization which is indexed by Google News.

Leyden, who is now opening offices in New York, recently returned from Haiti where he was responsible for demonstrating the humanitarian efforts of the Israel Defense Forces, and several Israel humanitarian aid relief organizations including Israel Flying Aid. Leyden has worked as an international media, branding and social networking consultant for the Israel Prime Minister's Office, the US State Department, the Israel Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the IDF, Mayor's Office of New York and hundreds of commercial and nonprofit organizations.

The Israel News Agency, which is accredited by Israel Government Press Office, was the first on line news organization in Israel. The INA reaches up to 60 million readers through Google News and Internet social networking channels such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube from New York, London, Moscow and Paris to Toronto, Los Angeles, China and India. Leyden is presently launching the United States News Agency using the INA as a successful working model.

The above news content was edited and SEO optimized in New York, London and Israel for the Internet by the Leyden Communications Internet Marketing PR SEO Group London SEO Pr New York SEO Pr Israel SEO Pr Israel, London, New York.

Donate Now to support the ISRAEL NEWS AGENCY, the global news source of the Jewish people.

Internet Marketing SEO Professionals ask:
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