106 For the first time in 18 years, Israel & US unable to stop IAEA calling on Israel to sign NPT

Re items 2-4: Why "18 years"? Why 1991? That's the year the USSR fell (in December).

(1) IAF wants Iran free of air defense for 'future operations'
(2) - (4) For the first time in 18 years, Israel & US unable to stop IAEA calling on Israel to sign NPT
(5) China against further sanctions on Iran
(6) Ahmadinedschad's speech at UN
(7) Plant proof Iran seeking nuclear weapons, says Israel
(8) Washington Post highlights statement that Leonard Cohen validates occupation
(9) Singer Leonard Cohen Performs in Israel, Against Backdrop of Criticism
(10) Palestinian TV airs daring satire
(11) Settlers break into the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron

(1) IAF wants Iran free of air defense for 'future operations'

By Press TV

Tuesday, Sep 22, 2009

http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_57001.shtml

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with air force chief Major-General Ido Nehushtan from the cockpit of a fighter jet. Nehushtan wants Iran free of S-300 defense system for future operations.

Amidst Iran's quest for acquiring the advanced S-300 air defense system, an Israeli military official says every effort should be made to stop the defense system from reaching countries where Israeli air force may need to operate.

With an escalation in Israeli rhetoric against Tehran, Iran has opted to acquire the sophisticated S-300 defense system -- which, according to Western experts, would rule out the possibility of an Israeli airstrike on Iranian nuclear sites.

While a deal has long been negotiated between Tehran and Moscow over the S-300 system, neither side has so far issued an official confirmation on the delivery of the system to Iran.

Speaking to Jerusalem Post, an Israeli Air Force (IAF) commander, Major General Ido Nehushtan, expressed alarm at the possibility that the system gets delivered to Iran.

"The S-300 is a Russian-made surface-to-air missile system that is very advanced, with long ranges and many capabilities," Nehushtan told the paper in the interview.

"We need to make every effort to stop this system from getting to places where the IAF needs to operate or may need to operate in the future," he added.

The S-300 surface-to-air missile system, which can track targets and fire at aircraft 120 km (75 miles) away, features high jamming immunity and is able to simultaneously engage up to 100 targets.

The Israeli official's word of warning comes as Israel -- the alleged sole possessor of a nuclear warhead in the Middle East -- accuses Iran of efforts to develop a nuclear bomb, maintaining that a "nuclear Iran" is the prime existential threat to its security.

Tehran, however, has denied seeking nuclear weapons and called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction from across the globe.

(2) IAEA passes resolution on Israeli nuclear issue

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-09/23/content_12100923.htm

www.chinaview.cn   2009-09-23 10:50:54       Print

by Xinhua writer Liu Gang

VIENNA, Sept. 22, (Xinhua) -- The recently concluded 53rd General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) passed a resolution that urged Israel to join the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and to put its entire nuclear program under IAEA inspection.

One senior official of the IAEA, who declined to be named, told Xinhua on Tuesday that it was the first time in nearly 20 years that the IAEA passed a resolution directly addressing Israel's nuclear program.

The non-binding resolution was passed by a 49-45 margin with 16 abstentions. It will lead people to pay more attention to the Israeli nuclear issue, on which views have long been divided in the international community.

Israel not only has conventional military superiority in the Middle East, but is widely suspected to possess nuclear weapons, including land, air and sea three-dimensional nuclear strike capability.

Israeli government neither confirms nor denies its military nuclear capacity as a matter of policy.

The Jewish state is also the only country in the region that is not a signatory to the NPT and therefore accepts only limited IAEA inspection.

Since 1991, there has been annual IAEA conferences attempting to address Israel's nuclear issue. However, until Sept.18, the West had lobbied successfully against a vote, and no resolution had been passed in the previous conferences.

At this year's IAEA general conference, countries that voted for the resolution included Arab countries, which have been wary of the Israel's nuclear program, developing countries, as well as permanent U.N. Security Council members such as Russia.

All of this indicates that, in addition to Arab countries, an increasing number of countries worldwide have become concerned over the possible threat of Israel's nuclear program.

On the question of whether there should be a resolution on the Israeli nuclear issue, some Western countries once again put forward the motion of "no-action."

If the majority of member states support the motion, relevant resolutions would not be submitted to the general conference to be voted.

But the motion lost by an eight-vote margin.

Western states nipped a resolution concerning Israel's nuclear issue by using the strategy of first voting on the "no-action" motion in several past IAEA general conferences.

Despite concerns of Arab countries on Israel's nuclear capabilities, the United States and its allies have insisted that Iran is the biggest threat of nuclear proliferation in the region and put constant pressure on it.

After the official resolution was passed, Iran's Ambassador AliAsghar Soltanieh said the vote was "a triumph, a glorious moment" which "made us see the hope that the West would adjust their policies."

Israel's delegate David Danieli said his country would not cooperate with this resolution.

"This resolution will only aggravate the political conflict and division in the Middle East region", he said.

Western countries, including the United States and the European Union, also opposed the resolution, arguing that after Thursday's resolution calling for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction was adopted, there was no need for a separate one on Israel.

They also said it was unfair and counterproductive to isolate one member state.

"Such an approach is highly politicized and does not truly address the complexities at play regarding crucial nuclear-related issues in the Middle East," chief U.S. delegate Glyn Davies said.

(3) For the first time in 18 years, Israel & US unable to stop IAEA calling on Israel to sign NPT

IAEA calls on Israel to sign Non-Proliferation Treaty

By Yossi Melman

Tue., September 22, 2009 Tishrei 4, 5770 | | Israel Time: 01:34 (EST+7)

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1115750.html

For the first time in 18 years, Israel, the United States and the Western powers were unsuccessful at preventing passage of a resolution calling on Israel to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The resolution, passed at the end of the annual general assembly of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna on Thursday, also demands that Israel open its nuclear reactor in Dimona to international inspectors.
The resolution was passed by a majority of 49 countries, among them the members of the Arab League and the bloc of developing nations; against 45 Western countries, including the European Union and the United States, and 16 abstentions.

The non-binding resolution mentions "Israeli nuclear capabilities."

In the past, the United States and other Western countries were able to persuade the developing countries not to join the resolution, thus thwarting its passage.

Another resolution, passed with the agreement of Israel and Egypt, calls for nuclear disarmament in the Middle East, and for dialogue among all nations in the region to this end.

Israel's representative at the conference, deputy chief of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, David Danieli, said the resolution was counterproductive, stressing that Middle Eastern countries such as Libya, Iran and Syria, and Iraq in the past, had contravened the IAEA's resolutions despite being signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. He said these countries were planning to develop or had already developed nuclear weapons.

Israel did, however, manage to thwart a proposal by Iran to prohibit any member of the IAEA from attacking the nuclear facilities of another member.

(4) IAEA conference criticizes Israel's nuclear program

By George Jahn ASSOCIATED PRESS

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/sep/19/iaea-conference-criticizes-israels-nuclear-program/

... Since the conference passed a harshly worded anti-Israel resolution in 1991, there has been annual Islamic criticism of Israel's nuclear program and its refusal to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. But - until Friday - the West had lobbied successfully against a vote, arguing it could damage hopes of a negotiated Middle East peace.

(5) China against further sanctions on Iran

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:04:57 GMT

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=107006&sectionid=351020404

Prior to the planned October talks with Tehran, China expresses opposition with imposing new sanctions on Iran in order to force it to abandon its nuclear program.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news briefing in Beijing on Thursday that piling up pressure on Iran could not be an effective measure in resolving the much disputed issue.

"We believe that sanctions and exerting pressure are not the way to solve problems and are not conducive for the current diplomatic efforts on the Iran nuclear issue," she said.

Jiang called on parties involved in the issue to 'redouble diplomatic efforts' to reach a lasting solution, instead of exerting pressure on the country.  ...

(6) Ahmadinedschad's speech at UN

From: Dr. Gunther Kümel <sapere--aude@web.de> Date: 25.09.2009 05:59 AM

The End Of Capitalism

Transcript: Ahmadinejad Speech at the UN General Assembly 9-23-09

By President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article22462.htm

September 24, 2009 "Information Clearing House" -- In the ‘Name of God, the Compassionate ...

Mr. (President, (Excellencies, Ladies and (gentlemen, I thank the Almighty God for granting me, once more, this opportunity to address this important international meeting. I wish to begin by congratulating you, Mr. President, for having assumed the presidency of the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly and wish you all the success. ...

Because of all these reasons most nations including the people of the Untied States are waiting for real and profound changes. They have welcomed and will continue to welcome changes. How can one imagine that the inhuman policies in Palestine may continue; to force the entire population of a country out of their homeland for more than 60 years by resorting to force and coercion; to attack them with all types of arms and even prohibited weapons; to deny them of their legitimate right of self-defense, while much to the chagrin of the international community calling the occupiers as the peacelovers, and portraying the victims as terrorists. How can the crimes of the occupiers against defenseless women and children and destruction of their homes, farms, hospitals and schools be supported unconditionally by certain governments, and at the same time, the oppressed men and women be subject to genocide and heaviest economic blockade being denied of their basic needs, food, water and medicine.

They are not even allowed to rebuild their homes which were destroyed during the 22-day barbaric attacks by the Zionist regime while the winter is approaching. Whereas the aggressors and their supporters deceitfully continue their rhetoric in defense of human rights in order to put others under pressure. It is no longer acceptable that a small minority would dominate the politics, economy and culture of major parts of the world by its complicated networks, and establish a new form of slavery, and harm the reputation of other nations, even European nations and the U.S., to attain its racist ambitions.

It is not acceptable that some who are several thousands of kilometers away from the Middle East would send their troops for military intervention and for spreading war, bloodshed, aggression, terror and intimidation in the whole region while blaming the protests of nations in the region, that are concerned about their fate and their national security, as a move against peace and as interference in others’ affairs. Look at the situations in Iraq and Afghanistan. ...

By the grace of God, Marxism is gone. It is now history. The expansionist Capitalism will certainly have the same fate. ... All problems existing in our world today emanate from the fact that rulers have distanced themselves from human values, morality and the teachings of divine messengers.

Regrettably, in the current international relations, selfishness and insatiable greed have taken the place of such humanitarian concepts as love, sacrifice, dignity, and justice. The belief in the One God has been replaced with selfishness. ...

The promised destiny for the mankind is the establishment of the humane pure life. Will come a time when justice will prevail across the globe and every single human being will enjoy respect and dignity. That will be the time when the Mankind’s path to moral and spiritual perfectness will be opened and his journey to God and the manifestation of the God’s Divine Names will come true. The mankind should excel to represent the God’s “knowledge and wisdom”, His “compassion and benevolence”, His “justice and fairness”, His “power and art”, and His “kindness and forgiveness”.

These will all come true under the rule of the Perfect Man, the last Divine Source on earth, Hazrat Mahdi (Peace be upon him); an offspring of the Prophet of Islam, who will re-emerge, and Jesus Christ (Peace be upon him) and other noble men will accompany him in the accomplishment of this, grand universal mission. And this is the belief in Entezar (Awaiting patiently for the Imam to return). ... Long live love and spirituality; long live peace and security; long live justice and freedom. God’s Peace and blessing be upon you all.

(7) Plant proof Iran seeking nuclear weapons, says Israel

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26129060-12377,00.html

By Charly Wegman in Jerusalem | September 26, 2009

Article from:  Agence France-Presse

ISRAEL said the disclosure of a second nuclear enrichment facility in Iran proved the country was seeking nuclear weapons and demanded an "unequivocal" Western response.

"The revelations of this second nuclear enrichment site in Iran prove beyond any doubt that this country wants to equip itself with nuclear weapons," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told public radio.

"We hope that an unequivocal answer is given on October 1," he added, referring to next week's meeting between Iran and six major world powers involved in negotiating over the the nuclear dispute.

"We are not surprised by the recent revelations, because we have been saying that Iran is developing its nuclear activities for military purposes, and the facts prove it now," Mr Lieberman said.

"Without wasting time, we must work towards the overthrow of the mad regime of Tehran," he added.

Israel, the region's sole if undeclared nuclear-armed state, has long accused Iran of pursuing atomic weapons under the guise of a peaceful energy programme, charges denied by Tehran.

Mr Lieberman's remarks came a day after US President Barack Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown demanded that Iran allow nuclear inspectors into the second secret site.

Russia, meanwhile, appeared to moving toward supporting new sanctions and China said it had taken note of the information and had urged Iran to cooperate with any probe by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The Western leaders made it clear that they did not believe the site had a civilian role, with one US official saying it was "the right size" to produce weapons-grade uranium but of no use for nuclear fuel production.

Iran has adamantly insisted its nuclear program is designed to generate energy and help in medical research, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said the plant was "perfectly legal".

The head of Tehran's nuclear program, Ali Akbar Salehi, said the mystery second plant had been built to ensure Iran could continue to refine uranium even the the event of foreign air raids on its other sites.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States had been holding intelligence information on the secret plant for "some time" and believes it houses 3000 centrifuge machines.

But he added the plant would not be operational for at least a few months.

The IAEA earlier said Iran had sent a letter on September 21 to inform the watchdog that a new pilot fuel enrichment plant is under construction in the country.

The revelation came just days before the October 1 meeting, where representatives from the United States, Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China are to hold direct talks with Iran over its nuclear program.

(8) Washington Post highlights statement that Leonard Cohen validates occupation

by Philip Weiss on September 24, 2009 · 3 comments

http://mondoweiss.net/2009/09/washington-post-highlights-statement-that-leonard-cohen-validates-occupation.html

Howard Schneider covers the Leonard Cohen concert and the controversy over boycott in the Washington Post. Says our canary:

    "Good quotes from Shir Hever, an economist with the Alternative Information Center. But why no quotes from Omar Barghouti? And no mention of Israel Discount Bank’s involvement in the concert, and  its funding of settlements.

    "Note that the only Palestinian quoted is a ‘good Arab,’ one of a tiny fraction who support the concert. Nothing about how Combatants for Peace gave up Leonard’s money & why. Or that Palestinian civil society wrote Amnesty & asked them to pull out.

    "Still, both the New York Times & Washington Post are writing about BDS, they’re noticing it."

(9) Singer Leonard Cohen Performs in Israel, Against Backdrop of Criticism

Pro-Palestinian activists have accused Leonard Cohen of betrayal. (By Evan Agostini -- Associated Press)

By Howard Schneider

Friday, September 25, 2009

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/24/AR2009092403384.html

RAMAT GAN, Israel, Sept. 24 -- Singer-poet Leonard Cohen's first concerts for Israelis weren't in Israel. They were for troops in the then-occupied Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, part of a morale-boosting tour that the Montreal native gave during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Thirty-six years later, for what has been billed as the Concert for Reconciliation, Tolerance and Peace, the 75-year-old grandfather of angst-pop is again embroiled in the Arab-Israeli conflict. This time he has been the target of a boycott campaign that aims to discourage artists, writers and others from performing or touring in Israel.

As he went onstage Thursday night in a 45,000-seat soccer stadium near Tel Aviv, it was amid accusations that he had betrayed his humanist and Buddhist principles. The concert was "a kind of validation" of Israel's occupation of the West Bank, said Shir Hever, an economist and activist with the Alternative Information Center, a group opposed to Israel's policies toward Palestinians.

The proceeds of the show were intended for a Palestinian-Israeli reconciliation fund started by Cohen, but the singer also decided over the summer to balance the schedule with a smaller companion concert in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "He was mindful of the conflict" when he decided to perform here after a long absence, said manager Roger Kory. The Ramallah concert came under fire as a "pity performance" and was canceled.

At a reception before Thursday's concert, members of the mainstream Israeli peace movement criticized what they regard as fringe groups trying to undercut cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians.

But it was Cohen who "missed the point," Hever said. "Palestinians don't want appeasement, they want recognition of their rights." Israelis "point out the willingness of people like Madonna and Leonard Cohen to give shows as a sign that Israel is normal, like a European country. It evades responsibility," he added.

"I had no idea it would be so difficult to do something simple and good," Kory said on the eve of the concert. The charity Cohen set up was designed around his desire to help Palestinians and Israelis who have lost family members in the conflict and are working toward reconciliation -- the type of "transcendence," Kory said, that Cohen often talks about in his songs and poetry.

Boycotts are nothing new in Israel. The Arab League has had one in place for decades, and even countries such as Egypt and Jordan, which have made peace with their neighbor, have been reluctant partners. But a scattered collection of grass-roots boycott efforts, organized here and abroad by Israelis, Palestinians and others, has scored enough recent successes that it has registered with Israeli businesses and politicians. Alongside a recent U.N. Human Rights Council report on last winter's war in the Gaza Strip, Israeli officials have stepped up diplomatic and other efforts to push back against what they see as a challenge to their country's international standing.

In the aftermath of the Gaza war, a survey by the Israeli Manufacturers Association found that about 20 percent of its members said their business had been affected by overseas efforts to boycott Israeli products. Norway recently ordered a government-held investment fund to sell about $5 million worth of stock in the Israeli high-tech company Elbit Systems because the firm has supplied surveillance equipment for the security barrier running around and through the West Bank. A college in the West Bank settlement of Ariel was kicked out of a solar-architecture competition in Spain.

Cohen was, going by the standards of such things, a significant target. A Jew but not an Israeli, his body of work is more deeply philosophical and his outlook more universalist than that of, say, Madonna, who blithely wrapped herself in the Star of David flag during her recent concerts here, dined with top Israeli politicians and kept the profits as well.

But Cohen has a special place, and Kory said the politics surrounding his show here registered deeply and almost forced a cancellation.

The singer is a bit of a national obsession. The counterculture favorite "First We Take Manhattan" and renditions of the anthemic "Hallelujah" are radio staples. Cohen's concert Thursday, which was part of an extensive world tour, sold out quickly.

There is no doubt, Kory said, that Cohen's Jewish heritage and connection with Israel have influenced his work, but his decision to perform meant to send a broader message.

"How can you boycott a good heart like Leonard Cohen?" said Ali Abu Awwad, a West Bank resident whose brother was killed by Israeli forces and who now works on reconciliation efforts. "We have loss and pain but still believe in peace and reconciliation. We come without labels to talk in one voice. It's not our destiny to keep dying."

(10) Palestinian TV airs daring satire

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0925/p09s01-wome.html

A rarity in the mideast, the political show spares no one – but even President Mahmoud Abbas is chuckling.

By Joshua Mitnick / Correspondent

from the September 20, 2009 edition

RAMALLAH, WEST BANK - On "Saturday Night Live," which has long parodied politicians ranging from Jimmy Carter to Sarah Palin, these characters would be well within bounds: An Islamist judge who is a latent homosexual. A negotiator who emerges from peace talks stripped to his boxers. A president who worries about his Israeli-issued checkpoint pass.

But this is Palestinian state TV.

Premièring during the holy month of Ramadan, the first-ever Palestinian political satire show turns national leaders and military strongmen into absurd protagonists on its nightly broadcasts, winning a growing viewership.

A rarity across the Middle East, the comedic production known as "Watan a la Wattar" marks a seminal experiment in self-mockery and free speech in a society torn by internal politics and hemmed in by Israel's military occupation.

"Through comedy you can reach the heart of the audience more quickly," says actor Manal Awad during a break in filming at an upscale Ramallah loft studio. "The Palestinian people deserve to laugh because we have enough drama. If you make people laugh at difficult topics, you force them to look at things with a different point of view."

PALESTINIAN INTROSPECTION

The show also holds potential to spark meaningful debate at a time when an easing of hostilities with Israel is allowing for greater introspection among Palestinians.

The title – "homeland on a string" – refers to the precarious state of the Palestinian national project, which has been split for two years between rival regimes: Hamas in Gaza and the Palestinian Authority (PA), headquartered in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Based on a stand-up routine by writer-actor Imad Farajeen, the show explores the Gaza-Ramallah divide – albeit with trepidation, initially.

"At first we were afraid people would not understand us, because this is new," says Mr. Farajeen, who, along with Ms. Awad, is one of three regulars in the show. "We are a very politicized society. They don't always like to talk about political problems."

Producers insist that no party, no politician, and no institution will be spared – even its sponsors. A recent episode skewered PA President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party.

The president reportedly chuckled despite an imitation of him as stiff and dour, and the suggestion that it will take another 500 years for Fatah to hold a new congress (a meeting held last month was the first in 20 years).

While some innuendo and curse words have been chopped by censors at the state-run channel, none of the political content has been altered, says producer Sami al-Jabber. The dissipation of the second Palestinian intifada (active resistance to occupation) and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from West Bank cities has allowed Palestinians to open up about their internal problems.

"No one was allowed to talk about local issues when the Palestinians were busy confronting an outside enemy," Mr. Jabber explains. "Now in the West Bank there's kind of a normal situation. This gives us a chance to say things."

Free speech was not respected when former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat established self-government in the West Bank and Gaza in the 1990s, and many journalists critical of the Palestinian government found themselves in jail.

TV OFFICIAL: SHOW SHOULD REFLECT 'GOOD TASTE'

Free expression is a work in progress, even under the reformist administration of Mr. Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Alleging bias, the PA shut down the Ramallah bureau of Qatar-based TV network Al Jazeera in July after a guest accused Abbas of collaborating with Israel in Mr. Arafat's death.

Faten al-Wan, a television reporter for the US-backed Al Hurra satellite television network, says the satire show airs criticism that would provoke government protests if presented in a news broadcast.

"They are giving [the government] a hard time in every possible way," she says. "This is incredible. We don't do that as journalists because if they don't like what you say, you get phone calls."

The decision to air the political satire is part of a broader move by the PA to transform itself into a more liberal and transparent government. Last month, Mr. Fayyad laid out a vision for the reform of public institutions and economic development aimed at laying the groundwork for statehood by 2011.

Yasser Abed Raboo, a peace negotiator who heads the Palestinian Broadcast Company, says he wants to overhaul the television and radio station along the more independent public broadcast model of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

"They have free rein. Nobody is excluded, alive or dead," says Mr. Abed Raboo. "We are seeking a healthy society where everything is open."

Still, the transition is a gradual one. Abed Raboo says the show should reflect "good taste" and shouldn't try to prove "how liberal" it can be. "We are part of a market, not outside the market."

While the airing of the show is "refreshing," the shock value of the criticism is only tepid, says Mohaned el-Hamid, a culture critic at the Al Ayyam newspaper. "It's not harmful to the regime. It's reflecting what people already think. The satire is saying what people cannot say, and that's important."

STUCK AND SEEKING ALTERNATIVES

Abed Raboo wants to make the show, currently being watched after iftar, the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during Ramadan, a weekly staple. Though some are skeptical, Palestinians say the show is one of the most talked-about programs on the state-run television.

"If we continue to criticize Hamas, they will be more extreme," worries Abu Kamal Bashi, a Ramallah shopkeeper.

Back at the studio, as the crew prepares to move to a new location for a shot, director Raed Hilu draws a link between the comedy and the tragedy of the Palestinian people's seeming political stagnation.

"We are laughing at our pain, which is a very sad state," he says. "We are trying to motivate people to look for alternatives because we are stuck."

(11) Settlers break into the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron

From: Kristoffer Larsson <kristoffer.larsson@sobernet.nu> Date: 26.09.2009 09:14 PM

http://www.imemc.org/article/61744

Thursday September 24, 2009 23:26 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Approximately 150 Jewish settlers broke on Thursday into the Ishakiyya area in the Ibrahimi Mosque, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron under the protection of the Israeli army.

Zeid Al Ja’bary, head of the Waqf and Endowment department, said that this is the first time that the settlers enter this specific area since the massacre carried out by Baroach Goldstein in 1994.

He added that the settlers, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, performed prayers in the area.

Meanwhile, the Waqf department in Hebron said that the Muslims reject the Israeli decision to partition the mosque between Muslims and Jewish settlers, and added that the Israeli Authorities prohibited the Muslims from using loud speakers to call for prayers since last week.

Al Ja’bary warned that extremist settlers are trying to bar the Muslims from entering the mosque, and are trying to transform it into a synagogue.

In 1994, Baroach Goldstein opened fire at Muslim worshipers killing 29 and wounding 150 before the worshipers managed to kill him. Israeli soldiers killed on the same day 21 Palestinians during clashes and after opening fire at funeral of Palestinians killed in the mosque.