Turkey probes Gaza 'war crimes'

Aljazeera
Friday, February 06, 2009
18:33 Mecca time, 15:33 GMT
Turkey probes Gaza 'war crimes'

A Turkish prosecutor has launched an investigation into whether Israel committed genocide and crimes against humanity in its offensive in Gaza, his office has said.

The investigation follows a complaint lodged by the human rights association Mazlum-Der against several top Israeli officials.

The officials against whom allegations have been levelled are Shimon Peres, the Israeli president, Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, Ehud Barak, the defence minister, and Gabi Ashkenazi, the army chief of staff.

"Every complaint merits an investigation," the spokesman told AFP news agency on Friday when asked whether a probe had been launched into Mazlum-Der's complaint.

Under Turkish law, prosecutors are obliged to look into all complaints to determine whether there are grounds to initiate a full-scale investigation that could lead to formal charges.

If the prosecutor decides the complaint does not merit a case, it will be dismissed.

'Genocide'

In its petition, Mazlum-Der accused Israel of carrying out "direct attacks on civilians with the aim of annihilating them" and employing internationally-banned weapons in the process.

"The suspects, who wanted to wipe out the Palestinian people through systematic attacks, have committed genocide and crimes against humanity," it said, demanding that the suspects be detained if they enter Turkey.

Turkish law allows for the trial of people accused of genocide or crimes against humanity even if the crimes were committed abroad.

Israel's 22-day offensive last month on Hamas-controlled Gaza left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead and injured 5,300 others.

Turkey, one of the few Muslim allies of Israel, strongly criticised the assault on Gaza amid almost daily anti-Israel demonstrations across the country.

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Perbatasan Rafah Tutup

[JP Online, Jum'at, 06 Februari 2009]
Perbatasan Rafah Tutup, Empat Relawan WNI Bertahan
Laporan Kardono Setyo

Dari Kairo Mesir

KAIRO - Mesir akhirnya betul-betul menutup pintu perbatasan Rafah yang menghubungkan wilayahnya dengan Gaza, Palestina. Dari hasil pertemuan Kementerian Luar Negeri dengan kantor perwakilan di Kairo, pintu perbatasan tak sepenuhnya ditutup. Pemerintah Mesir masih memperbolehkan pasien rumah sakit di Gaza dibawa keluar untuk dirawat di negaranya.

''Tapi, arus bantuan maupun manusia yang masuk ke Gaza tetap harus melalui Kareem Shalom dan El Auga (wilayah Israel),'' kata Mas Danang Waskito, sekretaris II bidang Penerangan Sosial Budaya Kedutaan Besar RI di Kairo, kemarin.

Menurut Danang, pihak KBRI sempat mempertanyakan soal penutupan itu ke Kemlu Mesir. Namun, Kemlu Mesir mengelak menutup pintu perbatasannya. Alasannya, Palestina yang menutup pintu perbatasan. ''Mau tak mau, kami akhirnya menerima keputusan sepihak itu,'' tuturnya.

Hingga kemarin, tercatat enam relawan medis Indonesia masih berada di Gaza. Dua orang dari BSMI (Bulan Sabit Merah Indonesia) dan empat lainnya dari Mer-C (Medical Emergency Rescue Committee) Indonesia.

Berdasar kabar terakhir, dua relawan dari BSMI keluar petang ini (sekitar pukul 23.00 WIB), sementara empat relawan Mer-C memilih bertahan. Danang mengatakan, pihaknya sudah mengimbau WNI untuk segera keluar dari Gaza. ''Tapi, kami tak bisa memaksa mereka. Yang jelas, sudah kami sampaikan imbauan dan mereka memilih keputusan itu sendiri,'' tuturnya.

Danang menegaskan, KBRI akan terus berkoordinasi dengan keempat orang relawan medis tersebut. ''Sebagai langkah antisipasi saja. Sebab, gencatan senjata yang terjadi (antara Israel dan Palestina) masih sangat rentan. Tidak ada yang bisa menjamin keadaan bisa damai terus,'' tuturnya.

Selain itu, kemarin Surya M. Sastra, anggota Komisi I DPR, bersama-sama sejumlah petugas KBRI berangkat ke Sinai Utara. Selain menjemput petugas BSMI, Surya akan melihat langsung kondisi Rafah. Rombongan KBRI dan Surya juga dijadwalkan bertemu dengan wakil gubernur Sinai Utara untuk mengetahui secara langsung perkembangan terkini dan juga untuk penjajakan masuknya bantuan melalui Mesir.

Pada bagian lain, upaya Mesir untuk menjembatani kesepakatan gencatan senjata setahun antara Israel dan Hamas masih tersendat. Sebab, masih ada sejumlah masalah yang belum ditemukan penyelesaiannya. Perundingan itu unik karena pihak Mesir menemui Israel, menanyakan apa maunya, kemudian disampaikan ke Hamas sekalian menanyakan apa kemauan Hamas.

Informasi yang dihimpun Jawa Pos menyebutkan, ada sejumlah poin yang masih mengganjal. Yang pertama adalah Israel menuntut segera dibebaskannya Kopral Gilad Shalit, tentara Israel yang dua tahun lalu ditangkap Hamas. Sementara Hamas meminta Israel segera membuka blokade ke Jalur Gaza. Menurut Juru Bicara Hamas Fauzi Barhoum, pembebasan Shalit tak ada yang berkaitan dengan gencatan senjata atau blokade ekonomi.

''Itu upaya licik Israel kepada kami,'' ucapnya ketika dihubungi via sambungan internasional. Menurut Fauzi, sejak awal pihaknya menegaskan bahwa bila ingin Shalit bebas, Israel juga harus membebaskan puluhan anggota parlemen dan anggota Hamas yang kini ditahan.

Bagaimana soal gencatan senjata? Fauzi mengatakan, semua tergantung kepada Israel. ''Kami akan terus melawan apabila kami terus-terusan direpresi seperti ini (diblokade dan dibombardir). Sudah sejak awal kami meragukan niat Israel. Mereka (Israel, Red) terkesan ingin menghabisi kami, baik secara pelan-pelan (melalui blokade) maupun terang-terangan (serangan masif),'' katanya. ''Kami tak akan takut'' tambahnya.(el)


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Girls' Killing 'Reasonable'

Aljazeera
Thursday, February 05, 2009
05:09 Mecca time, 02:09 GMT

Israel: Girls' killing 'reasonable'

The Israeli military has admitted shelling the home of a Palestinian doctor during its Gaza offensive and killing three of his daughters, but said its soldiers' actions were "reasonable" considering the circumstances.

Dr Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish, a 55-year-old gynaecologist trained in Israeli hospitals, was giving Israel's Channel 10 his daily phone account from inside the war zone in Gaza when three of his daughters were killed in the attack.

The military said on Wednesday that an inquiry into the January 16 incident found that troops fired two shells at the doctor's home after fighters fired from the area.

The report said soldiers came under fire from a building close to Abu
al-Aish's, and then ''suspicious figures were identified in the upper level of Dr Abu al-Aish's house and were thought to be spotters who directed the Hamas sniper and mortar fire".

Abu al-Aish, who has worked for years in Israeli hospitals, has denied there were any fighters at his house.

The report said soldiers stopped firing after hearing screams from the shelled building.

The military expressed sadness at the deaths but did not admit to a mistake in identification.

Instead, it said in the report, ''considering the constraints of the battle scene, the amount of threats that endangered the force, and the intensity of fighting in the area, the forces' action and the decision to fire toward the building were reasonable".[]

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Obama to Cap US Executive Pay

Aljazeera
Thursday, February 05, 2009
06:43 Mecca time, 03:43 GMT

Obama to cap US Executive Pay
Barack Obama, the US president, has said his government will impose a salary cap of $500,000 for senior executives at companies receiving federal economic bailout funds.

Obama said the government would also cap "golden parachute" severance payments for executives leaving Wall Street firms receiving government aid.

"For top executives to award themselves these kinds of compensation packages in the midst of this economic crisis isn't only in bad taste – it's bad strategy – and I will not tolerate it as president" Obama said at the White House on Wednesday.

The administration of George Bush, Obama's predecessor, agreed a $700bn bailout of financial firms in October last year and about $350bn of the money has been used.

Al Jazeera's John Terrett reporting from New York said the Bush administration had imposed some rules on how firms spent bailout payments but that they had been considered to be quite lax.

Terrett said Obama's move was about honesty and openness and telling the American people that company executives would no longer be rewarded using taxpayers money.

The move comes on the same day that the US's main oversight committee, the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission, was accused of ignoring a $50bn fraud scheme allegedly committed by finacnier Bernard Madoff.

Harry Markopolos, a former investment manager turned "whistleblower", told politicians on the House Financial Services Subcommittee that he had tried to warn US regulators about Madoff as far back as 2000 but that he had been ignored.

Five senior members of the SEC appeared in front of the committee but angered those on the panel by refusing to answer specific questions on the Madoff scandal, citing the ongoing investigation.

'Taking responsibility'

Obama has repeatedly criticised Wall Street executives over reports that they accepted billions of dollars in bonuses last year as they received government aid during the global financial crisis.

"We all need to take responsibility. And this includes executives at major financial firms who turned to the American people, hat in hand, when they were in trouble, even as they paid themselves their customary lavish bonuses,'' Obama said.

Obama also said that any payments beyond $500,000 to executives would have to be in stock options and could only be made after government aid had been repaid.

The US president also announced that limits would be set on severance packages.

"We're putting a stop to these kinds of massive severance packages we've all read about with disgust - we're taking the air out of golden parachutes," Obama said with Timothy Geithner, the US treasury secretary, at his side.

However, some Wall Street analysts criticised the move, saying it could lead to talented executives leaving to seek better pay elsewhere.

David Kotok, the chief investment officer at the Cumberland financial advice firm, said: "This is pure political grandstanding. If the limit has bite, it will be counterproductive and the unintended consequences will hurt the US as skilled and bright senior managers make choices."

Job loss

The US president also promised a new series of measures to spark economic activity amid what many say is the nation's worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Two reports by private analysts released on Wednesday said thousands of jobs had been lost in the the US in the first month of the year alone.

Non-agricultural private jobs fell by 522,000 in January, according to a report by Automatic Data Processing, a payroll firm.

A separate report by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, a consultancy firm, said 241,749 planned job cuts were announced in January, the largest monthly total since January 2002, when 248,475 jobs were cut.

The US senate is currently debating a massive economic stimulus plan that could be worth up to $900bn.

The plan is the first major attempt by Obama's administration to tackle the ailing US economy.[]

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Obama Batasi Gaji

Presiden AS Barack Obama Batasi Gaji CEO Wall Street
[JP Online, Kamis, 05 Februari 2009]

WASHINGTON - Presiden AS Barack Obama membuat terobosan dramatis pada hari ke-16 pemerintahannya kemarin. Jengkel dengan kelakuan para petinggi korporat di Wall Street yang bergelimang bonus di tengah krisis ekonomi yang memburuk, Obama menetapkan aturan yang membatasi gaji eksekutif senior perusahaan yang menerima dana talangan (bailout) pemerintah maksimal USD 500.000 (Rp 5,75 miliar) per tahun.

Keputusan Obama ini menandai intervensi pemerintah AS paling jauh terhadap kebijakan perusahaan. Dalam jumpa pers bersama menteri keuangan Timothy Geithner, Obama menyebut keputusan membatasi gaji eksekutif untuk pertama kali itu sebagai "pembalasan yang setimpal atas kegagalan" mereka. "Kita semua harus bertanggung jawab atas krisis ini, dan itu harus melibatkan para top eksekutif yang membuat kehidupan rakyat menderita," ujarnya. (AP/kim).


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Three-week War on Gaza

Aljazeera
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
21:09 Mecca time, 18:09 GMT
Three-week War on Gaza

Israel's three-week war on Gaza caused billions of dollars in damage and left the already-tattered local economy on the verge of collapse.

Some of the world's richest countries - including the US which has promised a $20-million aid package - have pledged monies to rebuild the Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera's Zeina Awad reports that rivalry between Hamas, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and other Palestinian factions threatens to scuttle efforts to rebuild Gaza and rehabilitate its people.

We came across Tayseer Jneed, a father of four, as he waited in queue outside a post office in Gaza City to cash a cheque Hamas had distributed to many Palestinians who, like him, had lost family and homes during Israel's recent war.

But Jneed was already disappointed.

"I am unhappy because Hamas promised me 6,000 euros but I am getting 4,f000 euros," he told Al Jazeera.

Jneed's home was destroyed during the Israeli offensive in Gaza and he has been forced to live in a tent donated by the UN.

Like many of the makeshift tents housing hundreds of Palestinians who have recently lost their home, there is no water and the family of six are forced to resort to a makeshift toilet constructed by one of their neighbours.

The financial handout is meant to help his family survive until real reconstruction gets under way in Gaza.

"I need more money, I need a home, I need to be able to pay for my children's education, food, and clothes."

Cash-strapped

Others at the post office told us that they also did not get all the cash they had been promised. They took whatever they could from Hamas, because it may be the only money they will be receiving for a while.

The Hamas authorities in Gaza said this was a one-time emergency payment and have no concrete plans beyond that.

Cash has been in short supply in Gaza ever since Israel imposed its siege in 2007, following Hamas wresting control of Gaza from its rival, Fatah, after a unity government collapsed.

However, many Palestinians living in Gaza see the rivalry as posing a serious threat to any reconstruction initiatives the territory so desperately needs today.

Hamas maintains that it was democratically elected and therefore carries the mandate of the people. Hamas officials say they should play a key role in reconstruction efforts.

The Fatah-led PA, however, says it is the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

For their part, international donors say they will not recognise Hamas because the Islamist movement refuses to recognise Israel and does not honour previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

They say they will only deal with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and chairman of Fatah.

But Fatah has no authority in Gaza.

All-encompassing damage

The damage from the war is all encompassing and cannot be carried out without the hundreds of millions of dollars pledged by the international community.

Omar Shaban, a Gaza-based independent economist, says: "We are not talking about delivering some assistance here and there. We are talking about building 5,000 flats and rehabilitating another 20,000, rebuilding around 500 institutions, rehabilitating the roads."
"All of this needs a very strong government and close coordination with that government," he said.

A strong government is something the Palestinians do not have. Instead, the Gaza Strip is run by the deposed Hamas government, while the West Bank is under the PA – led by Abbas.

Hamas and the PA have held reconciliation talks on numerous occasions, but instead of uniting, their rivalry has become more entrenched.

"If the division between Fatah and Hamas continues, then I do not know how the reconstruction process can happen," Shaban says.

He told Al Jazeera that reconstruction programmes require close coordination between the local municipalities and land authorities on the one hand and Hamas, the power in Gaza, on the other.

Embargo on material

For its part, Israel refuses to allow glass, cement, and other desperately needed building material into the Gaza Strip as long as Hamas is in control.

For many in Gaza, every day without reconstruction means another day of living in makeshift shacks and tents, without electricity, water, or basic services.

That is the reality of daily life for Jneed and his family.

The 4,000 euros will make life easier for him now but in the long-run he sees no way out.

He blames Israel first and foremost for the carnage in Gaza but acknowledges that he will not get his home back until Palestinian politicians stop bickering and start proper planning.[]

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Putus Hubungan Dengan Israel

Qatar Putus Hubungan Dagang, Gerak Al Jazirah Dibatasi
Larang Wartawannya Meliput di Israel
[JP Online, Rabu, 04 Februari 2009]

DOHA - Sikap tegas pemerintah Qatar memutus hubungan dagang dengan Israel pada 16 Januari lalu berbuntut buruk bagi stasiun berita internasional Al Jazirah. Jaringan berita terbesar dan berpengaruh milik Qatar itu menjadi objek pelampiasan sakit hati Israel. Bila selama ini mereka bebas meliput di negara Zionis, kini kebebasan itu berbatas. Menurut seorang pejabat Israel, dilema bagi Al Jazirah tersebut tercipta akibat ulah pemerintah Qatar.

''Qatar sendiri yang membuat masalah karena sudah merusak hubungan dengan Israel. Qatar sendiri yang menciptakan masalah buat Al Jazirah,'' ujar sumber dari lingkungan pemerintah Israel kepada Agence France Presse kemarin (3/2).

Israel, tampaknya, benar-benar berusaha melumpuhkan biro Al Jazirah di Israel. Berdasar catatan BBC, negara yang mengagresi Palestina itu tidak akan memperpanjang visa dan surat izin para pekerja dan jurnalis Al Jazirah di Israel. Selain itu, akses jurnalis Al Jazirah untuk meliput konferensi pers atau pertemuan-pertemuan bakal dibatasi.

Selain persoalan politis, tersimpan misi di balik aksi menghalang-halangi stasiun Al Jazirah tersebut. Rupanya, Israel merasa kian terpojok oleh berita-berita Al Jazirah yang kritis dan pedas. Sampai-sampai mereka menjuluki stasiun berita tersebut sebagai corong Hamas.

Pada 16 Januari lalu, pemerintah Qatar mengumumkan pembekuan hubungan ekonomi dengan Israel. Tindakan itu sebagai bentuk protes terhadap invasi 22 hari Israel ke Jalur Gaza yang menewaskan lebih dari 1.300 jiwa dan memorak-porandakan wilayah terkucil itu.

Sikap tersebut diputuskan saat pertemuan puncak politikus Arab dan muslim di Doha. Dalam pertemuan darurat tersebut, di antara 22 negara anggota negara Arab, yang hadir hanya 13 negara. Arab Saudi dan Mesir menolak hadir. Pertemuan itu menghasilkan kesepakatan bersama yang mengimbau semua negara Arab menghentikan semua upaya damai dan memutus hubungan dengan Israel.

Selain Qatar, negara yang memutuskan hubungan dengan Israel adalah Republik Islam Mauritania, negara yang berada di barat laut Afrika.

Pemutusan hubungan itu menyusul tindakan Venezuela dan Bolivia yang juga membekukan hubungan diplomatik dengan Israel dua minggu sebelumnya. Qatar dan Israel memang tak pernah menjalin hubungan diplomatik, tetapi hanya hubungan dagang. Perwakilan kedua negara selalu menggelar rapat dan pertemuan tiap tahun. Qatar juga satu-satunya negara kawasan Teluk yang menjalin hubungan dagang dengan Israel. Biro dagang Israel-Qatar terbentuk pada 1996. Sementara itu, Mauritania telah menjalin hubungan diplomatik penuh dengan Israel sejak 1999. (ape/ami)


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Einstein Tak Menemukan Tuhan

Einstein Tak Menemukan Tuhan
[JP Online, Minggu, 01 Februari 2009]

Albert Einstein adalah salah satu sosok pemikir yang sangat dikagumi sekaligus sangat dibenci di pengujung abad 20 dan bahkan hingga kini. Kenapa demikian? Karena selain penemuan-penemuan spektakulernya di bidang sains dan teknonogi yang sulit ditandingi oleh para ilmuan pada masanya, Einstein kerap melancarkan kritik pedas pada gereja dan doktrin-doktrinnya yang dianggap tidak rasional. Menurut Einstein, gereja telah melakukan ''pembodohan massal'' dengan konsep ketuhanan yang tidak masuk akal.

Kritik yang disampaikan Einstein tersebut sebenarnya berangkat dari kegelisahannya ihwal eksistensi Tuhan yang tak kunjung ditemukan. Ia tidak puas dengan sosok Tuhan yang dipersonalkan atau digambarkan mirip manusia (antropomorfisme) dalam Kitab Injil. Selain itu, ia juga mengkritik filsafat ketuhanan yang dikembangkan oleh gereja yang terkenal dengan istilah Trinitas: Tuhan Bapak, Tuhan Anak, dan Roh Kudus. Sampai akhir hayatnya, Einstein belum menemukan jawaban yang rasional terkait dengan filsafat ketuhanan tersebut.

Dalam logika Einstein yang mendasarkan pikirannya pada fisika dan matematika, Tuhan yang dipersonalkan jelas tidak masuk akal. Karena itu, dengan tegas ia menolak: ''Tentang Tuhan saya tidak dapat menerima suatu konsep apa pun yang berdasarkan otoritas gereja. Sepanjang yang saya ingat, saya membenci indoktrinasi massal. Saya tidak mengimani karena takut akan kehidupan, takut akan kematian, maupun iman yang buta...'' (hal. 153).

Pernyataan Einstein tersebut tak pelak membuat panas telinga para pemuka agama Nasrani. Ia dianggap mengingkari Al-Kitab yang seharusnya diimani tanpa harus diperdebatkan lagi. Einstein memang cukup berani membongkar sekian ayat yang terdapat dalam kitab Injil yang tidak sesuai dengan nalar logikanya. Ia sama sekali tidak mengimani Injil sebagai sabda Tuhan karena sepanjang penelitiannya terdapat pertentangan antara Injil yang satu dengan lainnya. Dalam Injil Yohanes, misalnya, Eisntein melihat ada pertentangan ayat yang sangat mendasar dengan Injil Barnabas (The Gospel of Barnabas) yang naskah aslinya ditemukan di The Emperial Library Wina, Austria. Atas dasar inilah Einstein semakin tidak yakin akan kebenaran Injil. Apalagi fakta sejarah menunjukkan bahwa ketika Paus St. Glasius I bertahta pada 492-496, Vatikan secara resmi melarang Injil Barnabas beredar dan dibaca oleh umat Kristiani.

Einstein menilai keputusan tersebut sangat paradoks dan sulit diterima oleh akal sehat. Sehingga dengan lantang ia menuduh Paus telah melakukan campur tangan dalam penulisan Injil.

Kritik pedas inilah yang membuat vatikan kegerahan. Einstein dianggap terlalu berlebihan dan mengada-ada. Pihak gereja kemudian bergerak lebih cepat untuk menyikapi apa yang telah dikemukakan pemikir yang berpengaruh itu agar tidak mereduksi keimanan umat Kristiani di seluruh dunia.

Seorang pemuka Nasrani yang berasal dari Lutheran Church of Our Savior, yakni pendeta Carl F. Weldman menanggapi dengan keras pendapat Einstein yang menolak Tuhan dipersonalkan: ''Tidak ada Tuhan selain Tuhan personal! Einstein tidak mengetahui apa yang sedang diucapkannya. Dia salah total!'' (hal. 165). Dalam pandangan Carl F. Weldman, pernyataan Einstein bukanlah termasuk bagian dari pencarian hakiki akan eksistensiNya. Akan tetapi hanyalah sebentuk provokasi yang tidak didasari oleh iman yang kuat.

Sri Paus Yohanes Paulus II yang bertahta di Vatikan juga ikut menyerang Einstein: ''Menginginkan bukti-bukti ilmiah tentang Tuhan sama dengan merendahkan Tuhan ke derajad wujud-wujud dunia kita dan karenanya kita akan keliru secara metodologis berkenaan dengan apa itu Tuhan. Sains harus mengakui batas-batasnya serta ketidakmampuannya untuk mencapai eksistensi Tuhan, ia tidak bisa mengukuhkan ataupun mengingkari eksistensiNya...'' (hal.169).

Semua umat Kristiani yang menerima filsafat ketuhanan dengan modal iman jelas menganggap Einstein sebagai pengingkar (kafir). Ilmuan peraih nobel yang pada akhir hayatnya kedua bola matanya dijugil untuk diawetkan itu dituduh atheis karena logika berpikirnya tidak sejalan dengan Al-Kitab.

Tuduhan yang sama sebenarnya juga dilancarkan oleh para pemuka agama Yahudi yang menganggap Einstein anti-Tuhan karena telah berani menolak untuk menjalani bar mitzvah, yaitu upacara untuk menjadi komunitas orang Yahudi. Sebagaimana diulas oleh Wisnu Arya Wardhana dalam buku ini, sejak kecil Einstein memang hidup dengan ''dua agama'': Yahudi dan Katholik. Jika pada pagi hari ia belajar agama Katholik di Katholik Petersschule, sedangkan sorenya ia menerima pelajaran agama Yahudi dari Alexander Moszkowski, guru privat yang sengaja didatangkan oleh orang tuanya (hal.45).

Dengan demikian, Einstein sudah mempelajari dengan cukup cermat isi Kitab Talmud (Taurat) dan isi Al-Kitab (Injil) sejak ia masih kecil, yakni saat masih berumur tujuh tahun. Walaupun pada saat itu ia belum berani melakukan koreksi terkait beberapa ayat yang tidak sesuai dengan jalan pikirannya.

Hidup dengan dua agama bukanlah sesuatu yang aneh bagi Einstein. Ia belajar agama Yahudi karena termasuk agama leluhurnya, sedangkan pelajaran Katholik ia dalami tak lain karena pencariannya akan eksistensi Tuhan. Namun sepanjang yang dipelajari Einstein dari kedua Kitab Suci tersebut, yakni Taurat dan Injil, sosok Tuhan yang sesuai dengan jalan pikirannya tak juga ditemukan. (*)

A. Yusrianto Elga, tim penulis Kronik Seabad Kebangkitan Indonesia: 1908-2008
Judul Buku : Einstein Membantah Taurat & Injil
Penulis : Wisnu Arya Wardhana
Penerbit : Pustaka Pelajar, Jogjakarta
Cetakan : 1, 2008
Tebal : xxxiv + 258 Halaman


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Arab Talks Focus on Palestinians

Aljazeera
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
15:34 Mecca time, 12:34 GMT
Arab talks focus on Palestinians

Foreign ministers from nine Arab countries are meeting in Abu Dhabi for talks on the division between Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas.

Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have signalled their support for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president and leader of Fatah, Hamas' main rival.

The meeting on Tuesday comes as Khaled Meshaal, the exiled leader of Hamas, met Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, in Tehran.
In recent weeks the three countries have stayed away from meetings attended by Ahmadinejad in protest against Iranian support for armed groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Arab influences

Marwan Bishara, Al Jazeera's senior political analyst, said the talks in Abu Dhabi show that the Arab landscape is being "reconfigured".
"There are outside influences, whether they be American, European, Turkish or Iranian, which are adding to the pressure on the Arab world," he said on Tuesday.

"There are those who support accommodation with Israel and the United States and those who support resisting Israeli occupation and American influence in the region."

The Abu Dhabi talks come amid continuing differences between Hamas and Fatah, with the Palestinian parties as far away from a national unity government as ever.

Meshaal said earlier this week that the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which is designated the sole legitimate voice of the Palestinian people, is obsolete and should be replaced.

But Abbas, whose Fatah movement has the backing of the US and Israel, has said he will not talk with any group that fails to recognise the legitimacy of the PLO.

Hamas support

Iranian support for Hamas shows how far the Shia state has sought to distance itself from countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Bishara said.

"Since the American invasion and occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, Iran has felt that it is surrounded by American bases, as well as an American attempt to change its regime," Bishara said.

"Arab countries hosting American bases have supported regime change in Iran. So Iran lashed back ... it used all the tools possible to spread its influence around the region."

The fact that groups such as Hamas adhere to Sunni Islam has not prevented Iran from forming an alliegance with them, Bishara said.

"The Sunni groups that Iran is supporting are so-called Islamic Brotherhood groups that came about in the 1930s. Those groups do not look favourably to Shia Islam as a religious view. Yet Iran supports them, not for religious reasons, but for geo-political reasons."

"Talk of the Shia crescent is more of an American-Israeli view of things, rather than the reality in the region," he said.[]

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