crying and shooting: RULE OF LAW!!! RULE OF LAW!! they cried, while shooting

1. Israel fury over British war crimes warrant for Livni

"We reject the court's cynical legal move against Opposition Chairwoman Tzipi Livni, which was initiated by radical elements," the Ministry said in a statement.

"Israel calls on the British government to fulfill, once and for all, its promises and prevent an abuse of the British legal system against Israel and its citizens by anti-Israel elements."

The statement warned that relations between Israel and Britain would be damaged unless the UK took quick action to put things right.

“If Israeli leaders cannot visit Britain in a proper and honorable manner, this will naturally serve as a real obstacle to Britain's desire to take an active part in the peace process in the Middle East," it said.

The Israeli Ambassador to London, Ron Prossor, also criticised the arrest warrant. "The current situation has become intolerable, it is time that it change," he said. "I am convinced that the British government will understand that it is time to react and not content itself with declarations."

read more @ times online

2. Israeli officials at risk for civil lawsuits in the US?????

“Kadima Party leader Tzipi Livni is not the only one, or even one of a select few, who face the near-certainty of arrest should they make the mistake of visiting England.” According to former Israeli Foreign Ministry legal adviser Allan Baker, two of every three ministers in the cabinet would also likely be arrested in a British jail if they did the same.

Britain is one of several west European countries that have passed laws granting it international jurisdiction - that is, the right to try anyone suspected of violating various provisions of international law, no matter where the alleged crimes were committed or the citizenship of the suspect.

Meanwhile, four American Jewish groups are urging the US Supreme Court to reverse a lower court decision that could lead to Israeli officials being slammed with civil lawsuits in the United States.

Coinciding with a British judge's decision to sign an arrest warrant for Livni for "war crimes" during the Israeli aggression against Gaza, the brief seeks to overturn a Fourth Circuit decision to strip foreign Israeli officials from immunity in American civil lawsuits.

Written by Washington attorney Nathan Lewin on behalf of the Zionist Organization of America, the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, Agudath Israel of America and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, the "friend of court" brief warns against a "torrent of unfounded lawsuits against Israeli government officials" in the absence of absolute immunity.

"Public officials should have the same immunity as their governments have under federal law in order to enable them to act in accordance with their best judgment in their roles," Lewin said.

In the US, only prosecutors can pursue criminal charges against an individual, unlike in Britain, where a private party can initiate such proceedings.

Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Wednesday that the arrest warrant against Livni in Britain was one of the country's biggest political mistakes in recent years. Peres said before heading for the Copenhagen climate conference that London has pledged to remedy this situation, and it is high time they did it.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday blasted the UK judge's decision to issue an arrest warrant against Livni, who at a Tuesday conference in Tel Aviv called the operation a "necessary option" to defend “Israeli citizens”.

"We will not agree to a situation in which [former prime minister] Ehud Olmert, [Defense Minister] Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni are sitting on the defendants' bench," Netanyahu said.

The American Jewish groups' brief argues that immunity is necessary for “foreign officials” to make decisions without fear of being punished later on. Without legal protection, Israeli officials will not visit the US and American Jews will be deprived of a First Amendment right to hear free speech and receive information.

"Israel's adversaries are ready to pursue all possible means to hinder measures that duly elected Israeli leaders feel are necessary for Israel's self-defense," the brief argues.

The brief cites at least 15 present and former Israeli officials who could face civil or criminal legal actions. "We'd be rather shocked to see that happen in the US, but nonetheless because of a potential concern of a situation arising, that's what motivated us to file this brief with the Supreme Court," said Nathan Diament, director of the OU's Institute for Public Affairs, when asked about the British warrant for Livni's arrest. He said it was “hard to imagine a US prosecutor filing charges against an Israeli official, but an individual filing a civil lawsuit against an Israeli official is possible.”

read more @ al manar tv

3. Brown tells Livni: you're welcome in Britian anytime -- Quickly!! OPEN THE PARACHUTES CONFLATE!!! CONFLATE!!! the threat to Tzipi threatens the WHOLE WIDE WORLD PLUS PLUS.


British Prime Minister Gordon Brown telephoned opposition leader Tzipi Livni on Wednesday afternoon, and expressed his total objection to the arrest warrant a UK court issued against her. The call came a day after British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called Livni in an apparent effort to prevent a diplomatic crisis sparked by a British arrest warrant issued against the former foreign minister from spinning completely out of control.
According to an announcement released by Kadima's spokesman, Brown told Livni that she is welcome in Britain at any time, and said that he intended on acting to change the current legal situation.

Livni said that there is an immediate need to change the situation, not for her sake, but for every decision-maker, commander and soldier in Israel and the world, who are forced to battle terror.

Earlier Wednesday, the former foreign minister spoke out against the "abuse" of legal systems, which constitute a threat not only to Israel but to all democracies. "These days, Israel is facing something that no democracy can accept. Legal systems are being abused for lawsuits against soldiers and officials," Livni said during a meeting at the Knesset with Lithuania's Minister of Foreign Affairs Vygaudas Ušackas, who is in Jerusalem on an official visit.

"This is not just against Israel but against all democracies," Livni said. "Lawsuits are needed against terrorists and not against those who fight terror. It's not against me personally, but is against the free world and its war against terrorist. It's a challenge for the free world to meet. [The legal systems] are being abused by those who don't care about civilians and we must confront them together," she added.

more @ jpost

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1260930878555

4. Avigdor Lieberman: "NEW" anti-semitism directed at Israel -- QUICKLY REDEFINE!!! REDEFINE!!!!! DENY DENY DENY!!!! ACCUSE ACCUSE ACCUSE!!! NO IOF soldiers ever killed no babies or pregnant women!

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman warned Wednesday that "new anti-Semitism" was aimed at undermining Israel, as well as a hatred of the Jewish people.

Certain elements are "using anti-Semitism to incite hatred of Jews and to delegitimize Israel," Lieberman told a conference on anti-Semitism in Jerusalem.

The foreign minister said that new anti-Semitism had its roots in the 2001 anti-racism Durban conference, with its harsh condemnation of Israel at the height of a bloody conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Lieberman condemned the recent arrest warrant issued in Britain against former foreign minister and current opposition leader Tzipi Livni.

"There is no other independent nation in the world whose right to exist is constantly questioned the way Israel's is," Lieberman said.

"The people behind the [global] assault against Israel have crossed the line," he said. "They seek to destroy the Jewish state and take away the right of the Jewish people to define themselves."

The British court issued an arrest warrant against Livni for her role in orchestrating Israel's military offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip nearly a year ago. Lieberman remarked, half-joking, that soon Britain would issue arrest warrants against NATO forces over warfare in Afghanistan and in Iran. "It is in Britain's interest, not Israel's, to make a change," he said.

In his address, Lieberman also addressed the issue of Iran's controversial nuclear program, expressing concern over Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's calls for Israel's destruction, coupled with Tehran's nuclear program.

"It is frightening that just 60 years after the horrors of the Holocaust, today we see examples of anti-Semitism funded by Iran. [Iran] denies the Holocaust even happened, calls for the destruction of Israel and tries to obtain nuclear weapons. All these facts are reminiscent of what happened 70 years ago."

Addressing the conference, Diaspora Affairs and Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein echoed Lieberman's comments that new anti-Semitism was directed at Israel.

"It is no longer the individual Jew or a Council of Jewish Elders who has led the world into war and economic collapse - it is Israel, the state of the Jews, who have brought war and tragedy to the globe," Edelstein said.

"Where Jews were once depicted as blood thirsty, stingy, morally corrupt baby killers, after the horrors of World War Two, these depictions of Jews are hard for many to stomach. So the attack has been reframed and reworded. There are no more Jews. Instead there are Israelis. Israeli soldiers kill babies. Israeli soldiers attack pregnant mothers. Israelis started wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," he continued.

"Israel as a nation was not put through a Holocaust. Israelis have not been expelled, converted, exiled and enslaved. So if you attack Israel, you are not picking on the weak. Anti-Semites have warped tiny Israel into Goliath. This way you can hate Israel, you can hate Israelis, and you are not called anti-Semitic," he said.

haaretz

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1135505.html