A right-wing group announced a campaign Sunday ahead of the Passover festival calling for the construction of the Jewish Temple on the location of the existing temple mount mosques.

The extreme right-wing Our Land of Israel party (Eretz Israel Shelanu) said it intended to mount an extensive bus campaign, with the slogan “May the Temple be built in our lifetime,” along with an artist’s rendition of the completed temple.

One of the party’s leaders, Baruch Marzel, said that it was “a legitimate campaign meant to convey a message to the Arabs.” 

“The mosque on the temple mount is temporary,” Marzel continued, referring to the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosques, “and it’s only a matter of time before the Temple which the entire people of Israel are waiting for will be built.”

The Our Land of Israel party was formed in late 2008 by Marzel and Rabbi Shalom Wolpe as a reaction to what they saw as a weakening of more traditional right-wing parties such as Habayit Hayehudi.

“Habayit Hayehudi, which fancies itself as representing the right, has turned into a left-wing party that placed at its head an anonymous professor who is not ready to commit himself to the minimum – maintaining the settlements and Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria,” Wolpe said at the time.

Wolpe and Marzel claimed at the party’s formation that the Likud party had turned into a party that is persecuting all Jews loyal to the Land of Israel. They cited the efforts by the Likud party leadership to marginalize Moshe Feiglin as an example.

Wolpe added that the Israeli government has turned into “an enemy of the people.

“This government collaborates with the enemy and helps it during a time of war,” he said. “Everyone should check the Even Shushan dictionary, in an effort to understand the definition of such behavior,” Wolpe said.

Tapping your forearm or hand with a finger could soon be the way you interact with gadgets.

US researchers have found a way to work out where the tap touches and use that to control phones and music players.

Coupled with a tiny projector the system can use the skin as a surface on which to display menu choices, a number pad or a screen.

Early work suggests the system, called Skinput, can be learned with about 20 minutes of training.

“The human body is the ultimate input device,” Chris Harrison, Skinput’s creator, told BBC News.

Sound solution

He came up with the skin-based input system to overcome the problems of interacting with the gadgets we increasingly tote around.

Gadgets cannot shrink much further, said Mr Harrison, and their miniaturisation was being held back by the way people are forced to interact with them.

The size of human fingers dictates, to a great degree, how small portable devices can get. “We are becoming the bottleneck,” said Mr Harrison.

To get around this Mr Harrison, a PhD student in computer science at Carnegie Mellon and colleagues Desney Tan and Dan Morris from Microsoft Research, use sensors on the arm to listen for input.

A tap with a finger on the skin scatters useful acoustic signals throughout the arm, he said. Some waves travel along the skin surface and others propagate through the body. Even better, he said, the physiology of the arm makes it straightforward to work out where the skin was touched.

Differences in bone density, arm mass as well as the “filtering” effects that occur when sound waves travel through soft tissue and joints make many of the locations on the arm distinct.

Software coupled with the sensors can be taught which sound means which location. Different functions, start, stop, louder, softer, can be bound to different locations. The system can even be used to pick up very subtle movements such as a pinch or muscle twitch.

“The wonderful thing about the human body is that we are familiar with it,” said Mr Harrison. “Proprioception means that even if I spin you around in circles and tell you to touch your fingertips behind your back, you’ll be able to do it.”

“That gives people a lot more accuracy then we have ever had with a mouse,” he said.

Early trials show that after a short amount of training the sensor/software system can pick up a five-location system with accuracy in excess of 95%.

Accuracy does drop when 10 or more locations are used, said Mr Harrison, but having 10 means being able to dial numbers and use the text prediction system that comes as standard on many mobile phones.

The prototype developed by the research team sees the sensors enclosed in a bulky cuff. However, said Mr Harrison, it would be easy to scale them down and put them in a gadget little bigger than a wrist watch.

Mr Harrison said he envisages the device being used in three distinct ways.

The sensors could be coupled with Bluetooth to control a gadget, such as a mobile phone, in a pocket. It could be used to control a music player strapped to the upper arm.

Finally, he said, the sensors could work with a pico-projector that uses the forearm or hand as a display surface. This could show buttons, a hierarchical menu, a number pad or a small screen. Skinput can even be used to play games such as Tetris by tapping on fingers to rotate blocks.

Mr Harrison would not be drawn on how long it might take Skinput to get from the lab to a commercial product. “But,” he said, “in the future your hand could be your iPhone and your handset could be watch-sized on your wrist.”

By: – Col. Bob Maginnis

American-Israeli relations will remain in the tank until either Jerusalem’s government crumbles or President Obama changes his mind about the peace process. In either case Obama has linked that process to American action to stop Iran from acquiring atomic weapons — an existential threat to Israel — while Tehran undermines the process to keep America off-balance. These actions doom Mideast peace and guarantee Iran becomes a nuclear power.

In 2008, then-presidential candidate Obama promised that once elected he would make Israeli-Palestinian peace a priority. Until two weeks ago, team Obama was moving the peace process to indirect talks. Then the Israeli government announced its intention to build 1,600 homes in East Jerusalem, an area the Palestinians claim belongs to them.

That announcement, which corresponded with a state visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, embarrassed the Obama Administration and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas immediately called off the talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to Washington to repair the damage. Obama hosted Netanyahu in the Oval Office without the normal fanfare associated with head of state visits — no photo opportunities, press briefing or statement following the session. The President demanded Netanyahu grant dramatic concessions to win back the Palestinians. But Netanyahu knows satisfying Obama’s demands would destroy his right-leaning government.

But this crisis is also about stopping Iran before it has atomic weapons. Last year, Obama linked the peace process to stopping Tehran’s atomic weapons program. At the time Obama told Netanyahu to cooperate on Mideast peace, which he did, and then Obama would in time take the necessary actions against Iran. But Obama has made no progress stopping Iran’s atomic program in part because Iran is destabilizing the peace process.

Tehran is aiding the Palestinians with arms and training to prevent the Americans, already tied down in Iraq and Afghanistan, from taking action to stop its atomic program. Specifically, Tehran encouraged the recent meeting between Abbas agents and Palestinian Hamas to mend their differences and launch a third intifada, an uprising against Israel, to de-legitimize efforts to restart negotiations with Israel.

Consider what the five key peace-process players hope to accomplish and why their cross purposes doom the process.

First, Obama wants Mideast peace to relieve pressure on other crises. That view came to a head last week when U.S. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of American forces in the Mideast, explained that Arab leaders “claim that because there is no progress diplomatically [on the Palestinian issue], the only way to get progress is through violence.”

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates agrees with Petraeus. “The lack of progress toward Middle East peace is clearly an issue that’s exploited by our adversaries in the region,” Gates said.

Obama shares that view but it’s wishful thinking that Mideast peace will translate into help on other fronts. Perhaps Obama believes peace will buy Arab cooperation in places like Iraq, where U.S. forces plan to withdraw by December 2011. Or Arabs could help in Afghanistan by defunding the Taliban and al Qaeda, which would help America’s troubled strategy. Or more wishful thinking: Arab oil producing nations could use their economic leverage to persuade China and Russia to cooperate on sanctions against Iran and pressure Tehran to abandon atomic weapons.

Second, Israel’s government is in a bind because Netanyahu has competing policy objectives. He wants to resolve the Palestinian problem and ensure Iran doesn’t acquire atomic weapons. But realizing both objectives may be impossible because if he concedes to Obama’s peace demands to secure America’s action against Iran, his coalition government would crumble, yet there is no guarantee peace is possible or Iran can be stopped.

Reportedly, Obama listed 13 demands for Netanyahu to kick-start the peace process. That list includes freezing all building in East Jerusalem, reducing Israeli checkpoints in the West Bank, releasing 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, and agreeing to address core issues — such as the fate of millions of Palestinian refugees — early in any talks.

But even if Netanyahu delivers these concessions less than one-in-ten Israelis believe Obama is trustworthy, according to a poll conducted for the Jerusalem Post. That explains their deep skepticism that Obama will be equitable in the peace process or take the necessary action to prevent Iran from acquiring atomic weapons.

Third, Palestinians, despite their public pronouncements to the contrary, are the first to destroy any advance toward peace and are the primary initiators of conflict in the region. After all, they used the Jerusalem construction announcement as an excuse to walk out of negotiations yet Obama shows no understanding the Palestinians are the major factor blocking the peace process.

Maybe that’s why Netanyahu asked Obama to put the same kind of pressure on the Palestinians that he is putting on Israel. Where is the “reciprocity,” asked the prime minister.

That lack of “reciprocity” shows Obama’s hypocrisy. Consider this recent illustration: Obama held Netanyahu responsible for the construction announcement which was made by an underling. But during Biden’s recent visit, Obama didn’t hold President Abbas responsible when his government, the Palestinian Authority, presided over the naming of a square in Ramallah, their capitol, for Dalal Mughrabi, a Fatah woman who led the 1978 “Coastal Road” massacre in which 38 Israeli civilians, including 13 children, were butchered.

Fourth, the Arabs routinely use the Palestinians as a lightening rod to draw domestic attention away from their own totalitarian abuses. But they divide themselves into two camps regarding the solution: the “Resistance Camp,” which includes Iran, Syria and Qatar — supports violence against Israel, and the “Moderate Camp,” — led by Saudi Arabia — supports a political solution.

Those camps came together over the weekend at the 22-member Arab League summit in Libya. The “Resistance Camp” promoted intifada and rescinding the Arab Peace Initiative — a 2002 initiative that normalizes Arab-Israeli relations in exchange for complete withdrawal from the occupied territories. But the “Moderate Camp” rejected violence, believing that would lead to a Hamas takeover of the West Bank and serve Iran’s radical interests.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said Arab states should prepare for the possibility that the peace process may be a total failure and should have alternatives in place. The summit did adopt “an action plan for saving” Jerusalem and committed $500 million “to counter Israel’s moves in the city.” It also announced a plan to appeal to the International Court of Justice to demand a stop to settlement construction.

Finally, the mullahs in Tehran seek to destabilize the peace process, dominate the Mideast, and field atomic-tipped ballistic missiles to intimidate the world.

Iran destabilizes the peace process by encouraging intifada among Palestinians but just as serious are its hegemonic actions that evoke fear among moderate Arab states.

It holds great sway over Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan, northern Yemen and growing influence in Turkey. Recently the National Iraqi Alliance, a political party dominated by Tehran proxy and radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, won 70 seats in the new Baghdad parliament. Sadr is expected to join Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of the Law party to form a pro-Iran government. Last week, Gen. Petraeus confirmed Tehran is arming Afghan Taliban and harbors al Qaeda operatives. Iran also aids the al-Houthi Shia rebels in Yemen and has growing influence with the more Islamic-leaning government in Ankara.

It is tempting to lay out the conditions under which peace will come — in favor of Israel, the Arabs or the U.S. However, history shows that since 1948 all “logical” attempts have failed and this one, which is so clearly biased in favor of the Palestinians, is also doomed. The kicker is Iran will become an atomic power due to Obama’s neglect, which will completely destabilize the region.

* Jerusalem posters call for 3rd Temple Posters leaving out Al Aksa mosque plastered on buses with east Jerusalem routes.

* Obama resigned to nuclear Iran Bolton says Washington pressuring Israel not to strike nuke facilities.

* Israel won’t change nuclear policy Defense official: No plan to offer concessions regarding purported capability.

* Moscow Metro hit by deadly suicide bombings At least 38 people have been killed after two female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Moscow Metro trains in the morning rush hour, officials say.

* Barack Obama rallies forces on visit to Afghanistan Barack Obama has told US forces on his first visit to Afghanistan as US president that they are there to help Afghans to forge a “hard-won peace”.

* Passover Closure to Lift for Easter The IDF will impose a closure on Judea, Samaria, and Gaza during the Passover holiday, meaning that Palestinian Authority Arabs will not be allowed to enter Israel during that time.

* Arab League Summit Focused on Jerusalem, “Resistance” The Arab League concluded its 22nd summit in Libya on Sunday without any changes from its longstanding policies.

* Sensors turn skin into gadget control pad Tapping your forearm or hand with a finger could soon be the way you interact with gadgets.

* Erdogan and Merkel spar ahead of Turkey visit The integration of the three million Turkish nationals in Germany has once again emerged as a source of discord between Berlin and Ankara ahead of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Turkey.

* Israeli minister says U.S. boosts Arab hardliners The Obama administration’s pressure on Israel to curb settlement activity will bolster Palestinian hardliners and hinder peace efforts.