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Friday,
November 28, 2008
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In-Depth Issues:
Behind Mumbai's Terrorist Attacks - Fareed Zakaria (Newsweek)
One misconception is the assumption that these attacks were aimed primarily at foreigners. Look at their targets.
The two hotels they attacked - the Taj and the Oberoi - are old, iconic Indian hotels. It used to be true that these places were affordable only by Westerners, but today they are filled with Indian businessmen.
If the aim was to hit Americans or other Westerners, the big American chains all have hotels there, and there are many more distinctly American targets.
One of the untold stories of India is that the Muslim population has not shared in the boom the country has enjoyed over the last ten years. There's enough alienation out there that there are locals who can be drawn in to plots.
That tends to be a pattern, from Madrid to Casablanca to Bali - some hard-core jihadis who indoctrinate alienated locals they can seduce.
The writer, a Mumbai native, is editor of Newsweek International.
Syria and the Nuclear Cops - Editorial (Wall Street Journal)
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed last week that it had discovered a "significant number" of chemically processed uranium particles at a suspected Syrian nuclear site destroyed last year by Israel.
The IAEA also reported that satellite images of the site taken prior to its destruction had the markings of a nuclear reactor.
So what did IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei do with this information? Why, urge the approval of a Syrian request for a $350,000 feasibility study for a new reactor.
See also IAEA Chief: Will Confront Syria with Imagery of Suspect Site (AFP)
The UN atomic watchdog hopes to confront Syria soon with satellite imagery of a suspect nuclear site bombed by Israeli planes last year, International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Thursday.
The UN says the remote desert site, Al-Kibar, had been a covert nuclear reactor close to completion.
See also Nuclear Chief "Baffled" as Syria Site Photos Disappear (Irish Examiner)
Israeli Surgeons Weld Wounds Shut with Surgical Laser - Judy Siegel (Jerusalem Post)
A team of applied physicists at Tel Aviv University led by Prof. Abraham Katzir have developed an efficient and safe way to close incisions.
Katzir and his team use a technique called "laser welding" in which biological glue is smeared on the two sides of the incision.
Then a laser warms it at the correct temperature to create a hard "shell" that protects the wound and allows it to heal.
They use a temperature-controlled carbon dioxide laser and special silver halide optical fibers to prevent overheating and burns.
Introducing Israel Studies in U.S. Universities - Interview with Mitchell Bard by Manfred Gerstenfeld (Institute for Global Jewish Affairs)
The anti-Israeli activism on college campuses during the Second Intifada created the incentive among the American Jewish philanthropic community to promote education and scholarship on Israel at universities.
The first two centers for Israel Studies were established in 1998, their initiators driven by the concept that it was important to teach American students about modern Israel.
Israel Studies remained largely neglected, however, until 2004. Since then it has rapidly grown.
There are at present nine Israel Studies centers throughout the U.S. By the end of 2008 about 15 chairs in Israel Studies will have been endowed.
The program for visiting professors from Israel started in 2004-2005 and, in the current academic year, has 27 such scholars teaching on 26 campuses.
See also U. of California to Reopen Study-Abroad Program in Israel - Josh Keller (Chronicle of Higher Education)
The University of California announced on Tuesday that it would end its six-year suspension of study-abroad programs in Israel, and would reopen a program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem next year.
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Fair Use News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
* Indian Commandos Storm Jewish Center in Mumbai - Keith Bradsher and Somini Sengupta
Indian commandos Friday morning stormed the Habad Jewish center that had been seized by terrorists during a coordinated series of attacks on Mumbai. While many of the targets seemed to indicate a focus on tourists and Westerners, most of the victims were Indians. The gunmen appear to have come ashore at the Sassoon Docks, not far from the Leopold Cafe, one of the first places struck Wednesday night. They moved on to the train station, then opened fire on Cama and Albless Hospital. At one point, the gunmen hijacked a police vehicle and opened fire near the Metro Cinema. (New York Times)
See also Cool and Composed, They Killed and Killed - Randeep Ramesh, Duncan Campbell and Paul Lewis (Guardian-UK)
* 10-20 Israelis Among Mumbai Hostages
"There are between 10 to 20 Israeli nationals being held hostage, but it could be more," said Eli Belotsercovsky, deputy chief of mission at the Israeli embassy in New Delhi. (AFP)
See also Brooklyn Rabbi and Israeli Wife Caught in Attacks - Fernanda Santos
In 2003, Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg and his wife, Rivka, moved from Brooklyn to Mumbai, India, to manage a mix of educational center, synagogue and social hall known as a Habad house, one of about 3,500 outposts around the world run by the Lubavitch Hasidic movement. The place soon became a year-round magnet for Israeli backpackers, Jewish businessmen and tourists, as well as for the Iraqi and Indian Jews who live there. Mrs. Holtzberg served visitors coffee and homemade kosher delicacies. Rabbi Holtzberg always offered a helping hand to someone who was sick or stranded. On Wednesday, the Holtzbergs' Habad house became the target of terrorist gunmen. Firing grenades and automatic weapons, the men took the Holtzbergs and at least six other people hostage. (New York Times)
See also India: Holtzberg Toddler Reunites with Grandparents - Hagai Einav
Shimon and Yehudit Rosenberg, the parents of Rivka Holtzberg, who with her husband Gavriel run the Habad center in Mumbai, arrived in India from Israel on Friday morning and were reunited with their two-year-old grandson, Moshe Tzvi, who was rescued from the house the day before by Sandra Samuel, an Indian cook at Habad house. (Ynet News)
* Canada Leads in Pushing UN Censure of Iran - Paul Lungen
A resolution that Canada spearheaded censuring Iran for violations of human rights passed in a UN General Assembly committee last week. The resolution accuses Iran of "torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, including flogging and amputations." It criticizes Iran for executing juveniles, killing people by stoning, and discriminating against women and girls. It also calls on Iran to end human rights violations affecting religious and ethnic minorities, among them Jews, Christians, Kurds, Arabs, Sunni Muslims and, in particular, Baha'is. The resolution was co-sponsored by 42 mostly European and North American democracies, plus Israel, Fiji and Micronesia. Seventy members of the General Assembly's Third Committee voted in favor of the motion. (Canadian Jewish News)
See also Iran Furious at Peace Plan Advert Bearing Its Flag and Israel's - Ian Black
Iran has angrily dissociated itself from Arab and Islamic attempts to publicize an offer to make peace with and recognize Israel. Officials in Tehran are furious that the Iranian flag appeared on an advertisement, published in the Guardian and other papers, promoting the Saudi-brokered initiative. The Iranian embassy in London protested that the Islamic Republic objects "to any move taken by some Arab countries to push the recognition of the occupying Zionist regime in any manner." (Guardian-UK)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
* Palestinian Rocket Hits House on Kibbutz - Shmulik Hadad
Palestinians in Gaza fired a Kassam rocket Thursday evening that damaged a house in a kibbutz in southern Israel. Tami Tuchman, 61, whose home was damaged, said she had fled with her dog to their family's bomb shelter when the Color Red rocket alert system sounded at the kibbutz. (Ynet News)
* Hamas Weakening in West Bank - Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel
The achievements of Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad over the past year and a half, in making the West Bank a much more bearable place to live, cannot be ignored. In Jenin, Nablus and Hebron, armed militants are no longer on the streets, and the general atmosphere of anarchy has faded. And while the economic situation isn't great, it's immeasurably better than in Gaza, under Hamas. Israeli defense sources confirm that PA security forces are close to crushing Hamas' military infrastructure in the West Bank. Hamas has also drastically reduced its money transfers to its charity organizations in the West Bank, fearing the PA will get its hands on the money. (Ha'aretz)
* Jerusalem Symposium Discusses Scandinavian Anti-Semitism - Cnaan Liphshiz
"Norway is the most anti-Semitic country in Scandinavia," Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, a scholar of Western European anti-Semitism, told a discussion on Scandinavian anti-Semitism and Israel-hatred hosted on Tuesday by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Gerstenfeld presented cartoons from the Norwegian mainstream press and noted, "There is something wrong with a society which is willing to accept these Nazi cartoons. With a Jewish population of only 1,300, Norway has led the pack in anti-Semitism before, during and after WWII." Zvi Mazel, a former ambassador to Sweden, spoke of a "deep-rooted" anti-Semitism in Sweden, while Dr. Efraim Zuroff, director of the Wiesenthal Center in Israel - which co-sponsored the event - addressed Norway and Sweden's failure to prosecute Nazi war criminals. (Ha'aretz)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Terror Attacks in India
* Mumbai Attacks Suggest Outside Help - Craig Whitlock and Karen DeYoung
Counterterrorism officials and experts said the scale, sophistication and targets involved in the Mumbai attacks were markedly different from previous terrorist plots in India and suggested the gunmen had received training from outside the country. "This is a new, horrific milestone in the global jihad," said Bruce Riedel, a former analyst for the CIA and National Security Council. "No indigenous Indian group has this level of capability." Several analysts and officials said the attacks bore the hallmarks of Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jaish-i-Muhammad, two networks of Muslim extremists from Pakistan that have targeted India before. The Hindu newspaper reported Friday that at least three of the suspects held by police were members of Lashkar-i-Taiba. (Washington Post)
* India: Homegrown Terror or International Jihad? - Benedetta Berti
India is reeling from the worst series of terrorist attacks in its history. The Deccan Mujahideen, which claimed responsibility, is apparently linked with the Indian Mujahideen (IM), a splinter group of the outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). In the past six months, four IM attacks in major Indian cities claimed the lives of over 140 people. IM's previous attacks consisted of a series of coordinated, simultaneous blasts aimed at causing the highest number of casualties. A senior officer of the Indian Police Service, briefing parliament on the group's September 2008 attack in Delhi, stated: "This group...doesn't attack parliament or police stations. They go directly for maximum chaos and maximum financial damage." Following the Delhi blasts, the IM threatened to hit Mumbai in its next operation.
The highly coordinated and planned nature of the attacks, as well as the terrorists' modus operandi, also suggest the existence of a strong international connection between IM and international as well as regional terrorist groups. The Mumbai operation was qualitatively more sophisticated and deadly and shared several characteristics of al-Qaeda's operational strategy: the choice of targets, the deliberate decision to kill the maximum number of Western citizens, the simultaneous use of suicide missions, as well as hostage-taking. Thus, it is clear that the terrorist organization has received assistance and backing from al-Qaeda-affiliated organizations and has adopted an international jihadist agenda. The writer is a Neubauer Doctoral Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University. (Jerusalem Post)
* How Not to Deal with Militant Islam - Sadanand Dhume
Over the past four years, Islamist groups have struck in New Delhi, Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad, among other places. The death toll from terrorism - not counting those killed in Mumbai - stands at over 4,000. India's failure to protect Mumbai offers a textbook example for fellow democracies on how not to deal with militant Islam. The country's antiterrorism effort is reactive and episodic rather than proactive and sustained. Its public discourse on Islam oscillates between crude, anti-Muslim bigotry and mindless sympathy for largely unjustified Muslim grievance-mongering. Finally, India's inability to modernize its 150-million strong Muslim population has spawned a community susceptible to militant Islam's faith-based appeal. (Wall Street Journal)
Other Issues
* Sanctions? What Sanctions? German-Iranian Trade Booms - Matthias Kuntzel
While the U.S. reacts to reports that Iran had enriched enough uranium for a nuclear weapon with concern and calls for tighter sanctions, in Germany it is business as usual. On Thursday, many of the leading lights of German-Iranian trade gathered at a conference in Hamburg on "Iran Sanctions: Practical Consequence for German Firms" to discuss how further to promote German business with Iran. "Even in these difficult times" the conference announcement states, the Chamber of Commerce wants to "support" German firms "developing markets in Iran." "We would be delighted if we could thus contribute to the success of your business with Iran."
One speaker was Norbert Eisenmenger, managing director of the European-Iranian Commerce Bank. As its latest report notes, the bank closed out 2007 "with record earnings yet again." "Net profit doubled...the volume of transactions increased by 35%." The topic "Financing Iranian Business Deals" was covered by Sabine Hummerich, representing Bank Melli Iran, which is fully-owned by the Iranian regime. The 2007-2008 report of Bank Melli's German subsidiary in Hamburg notes that net income increased by 33% over the previous year. In June 2008, the EU placed sanctions on Bank Melli. (Pajamas Media)
See also Berlin Loves Iran - Editorial
As Europe's largest exporter to Iran, Germany has unique leverage over that regime. But Berlin refuses to use it, unwilling to go beyond the relatively soft UN trade restrictions. German exports to Iran are up 14% in the first seven months of this year, according to Germany's Federal Statistical Office. (Wall Street Journal)
* Terrorists Feel Exempt from International Law - David Altman
At the end of the Vietnam War, visiting PLO representatives congratulated the commander of the North Vietnamese army, General Vo Nguyen Giap, on his victory over the American superpower and asked him when he predicted terror organizations would be victorious over Israel. Gen. Giap answered: "Never! You will never be victorious due to lack of determination." Some believe this meeting represented a turning point in the development of Islamic terrorism, which began to educate its society in the sanctity of suicide and initiated the era of suicide terrorism, believing that the more people willing to prove their readiness to die for a cause, the greater the determination and the closer the victory.
Today, a new, different terror army is being developed, one that enjoys the advantages of feeling exempt from any international law or accountability. In addition, they handicap the power of their opponent through exploitation of the claims of internationally accepted values of human rights, correct treatment of prisoners of war, and prevention of harm to civilian populations - though none of these values apply to them, but only to their opponent. The writer is the senior vice president of Netanya Academic College and the deputy chair of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue. (Jerusalem Post)
* Security Fence Makes Vast Difference to Life in Israel - Licia Corbella
Since the security fence was built, there have been no more suicide murders and no more sniping at children walking to and from school in Jerusalem. Khaled Abu Toameh, an Arab Muslim journalist who lives in Israel and writes for the Jerusalem Post, says life was unbearable and extremely dangerous before the fence was erected.
"It's very simple," explains the reporter who once worked for a PLO newspaper. "I live in Jerusalem. I have three children and I can tell you that for three years I was afraid to take my children to the shopping malls here in Jerusalem. For three years if you asked me to meet you in downtown Jerusalem, I would have refused and for three years I was afraid to stop my car at a red traffic light next to a bus because I didn't want to die in a suicide bombing. The suicide bombers killed both Jews and Arabs."
Today, Abu Toameh says he feels much safer and Jerusalem is a bustling city again, instead of the veritable ghost town it became for three years until the barrier was built. "Look, the wall is bad. I don't like walls....But let's be honest, what other choice did the Israelis have?" he asks. "If I were the Israeli authorities, I would write on the wall that this wall was made by Yasser Arafat and Hamas," said Abu Toameh. (Calgary Herald-Canada)
Observations:
The Starting Point for Peace - Lior Ben Dor (Guardian-UK)
* I read with great interest the Guardian's suggestion that president-elect Obama should "tear up" the 2004 letter from President Bush to Ariel Sharon regarding Israel's major settlement blocs within the West Bank (Editorial, Nov. 24). The future borders of the state of Israel will not be determined on the pages of this newspaper. Instead, they will be determined by negotiations between Israel and the legitimate leadership of the Palestinians.
* In 2005 Israel took the initiative as regards peace with the Palestinians by evacuating nearly 30 settlements, including every Jewish settlement in Gaza and more in the northern part of the West Bank. This process cost the Israeli taxpayer $2.5 billion and risked heightening tensions within Israeli society. However, Gaza became a launch pad for rocket attacks against Israeli citizens and terrorist action at our borders. This reality worsened still further after Hamas seized total control of Gaza in a bloody coup in 2007.
* The Israeli public overwhelmingly supports the concept of land for peace, if it brings the reward of greater security with a pragmatic, peaceful neighbor. Evacuation of settlements would be less popular, however, if the consequences are likely to be increased violence against Israel's citizens and the creation of a vacuum to be filled with extremist terror. The precedent of Gaza has increased the skepticism of the Israeli public towards similar arrangements in the West Bank.
* Thus while the 1967 borders are the natural starting point for negotiations, the demographic realities of Israel's population, and the understandable security concerns of the Israeli public, will need to be taken into account. These issues are on the agenda for any negotiated settlement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Syrian strike
Report: IAF strike in Syria also targeted radar station
Aviation Week reports Israel's September strike on Syria targeted radar
station near Syrian-Turkish border. US supplied strategic information
but was not actively involved, says magazine
News Agencies
The United States provided Israel with strategic information about
the Syrian air defense systems prior to the Israeli Air Force strike on
a suspected nuclear site in Syria, the US based Aviation Week & Space
Technology magazine reported Thursday.
According to aerospace industry officials quoted in the report, the US
was monitoring the electronic emissions coming from Syria during the
IAF strike.
Tensions
'IDF aircraft didn't attack' / Ronny Sofer
Syrian minister admits it's unclear whether Israeli planes did anything
more than intervene in Syrian airspace; nonethless, another minister
warns of 'response to Israeli aggression'
Full story
The strike, said Aviation Week, targeted not only the suspected nuclear
reactor being developed at Dayr az-Zawr, but also a Syrian radar
station located at Tall al-Abuad, near the Syrian-Turkish border.
The Israeli fighter jets, reported the magazine, flew over Syria
without alerting Syrian air defenses.
The radar site was apparently hit with both precision bombs and an
electronic signal, which allowed IAF jets to fly through Syrian
airspace undetected.
The report stressed that there was "no active US engagement other than
consulting on potential target vulnerabilities."
The analysts quoted in the magazine said they didn't believe that any
part of Syria's electrical grid was shut down, but did contend that
network penetration involved both remote air-to-ground electronic
attack as well as penetration through computer-to-computer links.
"Offensive and defensive network warfare is one of the most interesting
new areas," said Pinchas Buchris, director-general of the Israeli
Defense Ministry. "I can only say we're following this technology
closely. I doubted this field five years ago, but we did it. Now
everything's changed.
"You need this kind of capability," added Buchris. "You're not being
responsible if you're not dealing with it; and if you can have this
kind of capability, than the sky's the limit."
Aviation Week reports Israel's September strike on Syria targeted radar
station near Syrian-Turkish border. US supplied strategic information
but was not actively involved, says magazine
News Agencies
The United States provided Israel with strategic information about
the Syrian air defense systems prior to the Israeli Air Force strike on
a suspected nuclear site in Syria, the US based Aviation Week & Space
Technology magazine reported Thursday.
According to aerospace industry officials quoted in the report, the US
was monitoring the electronic emissions coming from Syria during the
IAF strike.
Tensions
'IDF aircraft didn't attack' / Ronny Sofer
Syrian minister admits it's unclear whether Israeli planes did anything
more than intervene in Syrian airspace; nonethless, another minister
warns of 'response to Israeli aggression'
Full story
The strike, said Aviation Week, targeted not only the suspected nuclear
reactor being developed at Dayr az-Zawr, but also a Syrian radar
station located at Tall al-Abuad, near the Syrian-Turkish border.
The Israeli fighter jets, reported the magazine, flew over Syria
without alerting Syrian air defenses.
The radar site was apparently hit with both precision bombs and an
electronic signal, which allowed IAF jets to fly through Syrian
airspace undetected.
The report stressed that there was "no active US engagement other than
consulting on potential target vulnerabilities."
The analysts quoted in the magazine said they didn't believe that any
part of Syria's electrical grid was shut down, but did contend that
network penetration involved both remote air-to-ground electronic
attack as well as penetration through computer-to-computer links.
"Offensive and defensive network warfare is one of the most interesting
new areas," said Pinchas Buchris, director-general of the Israeli
Defense Ministry. "I can only say we're following this technology
closely. I doubted this field five years ago, but we did it. Now
everything's changed.
"You need this kind of capability," added Buchris. "You're not being
responsible if you're not dealing with it; and if you can have this
kind of capability, than the sky's the limit."
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
DAILY ALERT Wednesday, Presidents Conference:
DAILY ALERT Wednesday,
November 21, 2007
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To contact the Presidents Conference:
click here
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In-Depth Issues:
What Happened to Saddam's WMD? - Caroline Glick (Jerusalem Post)
Former federal prosecutor and the head of the non-governmental International Intelligence Summit, John Loftus, has released a report on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program, based on a private study of captured Iraqi documents.
As Loftus summarized, "Roughly one-quarter of Saddam's WMD was destroyed under UN pressure during the early to mid-1990s. Saddam sold approximately another quarter of his weapons stockpile to his Arab neighbors during the mid-to-late-1990s. The Russians insisted on removing another quarter in the last few months before the war."
"The last remaining WMD, the contents of Saddam's nuclear weapons labs, were still inside Iraq on the day when the coalition forces arrived in 2003. His nuclear weapons equipment was hidden in enormous underwater warehouses beneath the Euphrates River. Saddam's entire nuclear inventory was later stolen from these warehouses."
Loftus then cites Israeli sources who claim that the Iraqi nuclear program was transferred to Deir az Zour province in Syria. Israel reportedly destroyed a Syrian nuclear installation at Deir az Zour.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Israel Wants U.S. Security Coordinator Replaced - Herb Keinon and Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
Senior Israeli government sources said Sunday that Lt.-Gen. Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator with the Palestinians, is ineffective and should be replaced.
Defense officials said that in June - when Hamas took over Gaza - Dayton had already proven that he had "failed" in his mission to strengthen the security forces loyal to Abbas.
"Fatah was overrun in Gaza within a matter of hours, despite having more men and weapons than Hamas," a senior defense official said. "Dayton was supposed to prevent that from happening."
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NGO Calls to Investigate Torture by Palestinian Police in Gaza (Palestinian Center for Human Rights-Gaza)
A Fatah activist from Beit Hanoun, who was arrested on Nov. 13, stated: "A number of policemen... handcuffed me and covered my head with a sack. They... violently beat me using sticks, especially on my feet, for nearly half an hour. [At] Beit Hanoun Hospital... doctors asserted that I had sustained fractures to the feet."
An activist from Khan Yunis, who was arrested on Nov. 13, stated: "Policemen took me to the interrogation center. They handcuffed and blindfolded me. They then violently beat me."
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West Bank University Halts Classes over Infighting - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
The Bir Zeit University administration decided Tuesday to suspend studies following clashes on campus between supporters of Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Students said four men from the PFLP attacked a Fatah student in the dorms, wounding him seriously. The assailants used charcoal to burn the student's face. They also hammered nails into the victim's feet.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Useful Reference:
Text: UN Security Council Resolution 242 (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
Forty years ago, on November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, which has provided the main agreed basis for all of Israel's peace agreements with Egypt, Jordan, and the PA.
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
49 Parties Invited to Mideast Peace Talks Tuesday in Annapolis - Glenn Kessler
The State Department formally announced Tuesday that the U.S. has invited representatives of 49 countries and institutions - including Saudi Arabia and Syria - to sit down with Israelis and Palestinians in Annapolis on Tuesday in a conference designed to kick-start substantive peace talks in the region. The conference at the U.S. Naval Academy will be "a signal opportunity" to launch bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Assistant Secretary C. David Welch said, after "a long period in which there have been no such negotiations."
The central goal is to persuade Saudi Arabia to send its foreign minister to Annapolis, the first time such a senior Saudi official would have joined in a gathering with Israelis. Bush weighed in with his own call to Saudi King Abdullah Tuesday. As a way to entice Saudi participation, diplomatic sources said, the formal invitation also drew on language from the 2003 Roadmap plan for peace that mentions an Arab League initiative promoted by Abdullah. That plan offers diplomatic relations with Israel if it withdraws to the 1967 borders and provides a "just solution" to the demands of Palestinian refugees. (Washington Post)
Russia Agrees to Provide Nuclear Know-How to Egypt
Russia has agreed to provide nuclear know-how and technical expertise to Egypt to help Cairo with plans to build civilian nuclear power stations to meet growing energy needs, Egyptian state media said on Tuesday. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said last month Egypt would build several nuclear power stations. (Reuters)
Tony Blair's Plan for Palestinian Jobs - Tim Butcher
Tony Blair has given the "green light" to initiatives designed to create thousands of jobs for Palestinians in his first major policy announcement as special envoy to the Middle East. In reality, the creation of two industrial zones in the West Bank, one at Jericho and the other near Hebron, were going ahead without the involvement of Blair's new committee, fully funded by Japan and Turkey. Industrial zones have been tried before several times. Millions of dollars in private investment were attracted to two zones in Gaza, but today the one at Erez lies in ruins and the other at Karni has been mothballed after local investors made huge losses. (Telegraph-UK)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Israel Approves Provision of 25 Armored Vehicles to PA Security Forces - Hanan Greenberg
Prime Minister Olmert has approved the supply of 25 armored vehicles to the Palestinian security services in the West Bank as a goodwill gesture to Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the Annapolis peace conference. The Palestinians will also receive from Israel two million bullets supplied by Jordan. The Prime Minister's Office denied previous reports that Israel would supply 50 armored vehicles and 1,000 rifles to the Palestinians. (Ynet News)
Israel previously opposed supplying Abbas' forces with armored vehicles, in part because of concern that they might fall into the hands of Hamas or other violent groups. (AP/Ha'aretz)
See also Israel to Allow Gaza to Export Produce to Europe (Jerusalem Post)
Iran, Syria Stepping Up Support of Terrorists - Yaakov Katz
A day after Ido Zoldan, a young father, was gunned down in a Palestinian shooting attack near Kedumim, IDF officers warned Tuesday that Palestinian terrorist groups would continue trying to perpetrate terror attacks in an effort to derail peace talks ahead of the Annapolis meeting. Fatah's Aksa Martyrs Brigades took responsibility for the West Bank shooting attack, saying it was "a protest against the Annapolis conference." Defense officials said there was growing Iranian and Syrian involvement in motivating Hamas and Islamic Jihad to carry out terrorist attacks, including the transfer of funds and instructions. (Jerusalem Post)
Poll: Palestinians in Gaza Support Early Elections, Peace Settlement with Israel
According to a survey of Palestinians in Gaza conducted by Near East Consulting on Nov. 12-14: 77% support early legislative elections (Hamas supporters, 23% vs. Fatah supporters, 99%). If legislative elections were held next week, 54% of Gazans would vote for Fatah, 15% would vote for Hamas. 74% of Gazans support a peace settlement with Israel (Hamas supporters, 33% vs. Fatah supporters, 91%). However, 31% of Gazans believe that Hamas should maintain its position on the elimination of Israel. (Near East Consulting/IMRA)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Confidence Building after Annapolis - David Makovsky
The Annapolis launch of a "Roadmap Plus" strategy is likely to put domestic pressure on both Israelis and Palestinians as each side undertakes more obligations. As the parties take on this greater burden, Arab states need to reinforce the progress. For example, when Israel negotiates on core issues, the Arab states must also negotiate with Israel over normalization of relations, as suggested by the third phase of the roadmap. Also, Arab economic assistance to the Palestinians could buffer Abbas and Fayad against any Hamas countermeasures. "Roadmap Plus" obligations should not fall just on Israel; after Annapolis, Arab states could be crucial in protecting both parties from potential backlash. The writer is a senior fellow and director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
Level of Representation at Annapolis Offers Leverage to Arab Leaders - Zvi Bar'el
In addition to the question of which Arab states will attend the Annapolis meeting, everyone is waiting to hear about the level of the delegations the Arab states will send. Abbas will find it difficult to present a conciliatory stance if around the table he sees Arab ambassadors and not foreign ministers. This will not only be an insult - it will ensure that he does not diverge one iota from the historical principles of the Palestinian struggle and insist on discussing the conflict's core issues.
The U.S. and Israel are holding two sets of negotiations: one with Abbas, the guest of honor, and the other with the Arab leaders, in an effort to convince them to show up. As such, the Arab leaders are given the legitimacy to present their own preconditions for actually holding a meeting. (Ha'aretz)
Deepening China-Iran Ties Weaken Bid to Isolate Iran - Robin Wright
The rapidly growing relationship between Iran and China has begun to undermine international efforts to ensure that Iran cannot convert a peaceful energy program to develop a nuclear arsenal. At the UN, U.S. and European officials now worry more about a Chinese veto than about opposition from Russia. U.S. and European officials charged Friday that Beijing is deliberately stalling to protect its economic interests. China now gets at least 14% of its imported oil from Iran, making it China's largest supplier. Tehran in turn gets major arms systems from Beijing, including ballistic and cruise missiles and technical assistance for Tehran's indigenous missile program.
"We're presenting China with an untenable proposition," said Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council. "We're asking them to unilaterally divest from Iran and not offering them energy alternatives. This is not sustainable for policy-makers whose predominant priority is to maintain and expand their country's growth....It's not that we shouldn't ask them to scale back their relationship, but China has put a lot of its eggs in Iran's economic basket, and a sophisticated American strategy would provide alternatives." (Washington Post)
See also British Aid Mocks Sanctions Threat Against Iran - Jonathan Leake and Sarah Baxter
The British government faces a diplomatic row with America over disclosures that it has provided the Iranian regime with financial support worth about £290m while at the same time calling for sanctions. The money was offered by the Export Credits Guarantee Department to support British firms exporting to Iran, mainly to the country's petrochemical industry. (Sunday Times-UK)
Observations:
The Perils of Engagement - Jeff Robbins (Wall Street Journal)
If history is any guide, next week's meeting in Annapolis will yield unsatisfactory results, Israel will be blamed for failing to make the requisite concessions, and the Bush administration will be criticized for its "failure to engage." The problem is that all too often, those who blame the U.S. for failing to deliver Mideast peace are some of the world's most culpable enablers of Mideast violence - and those who are themselves actually responsible for erecting the fundamental roadblocks to a resolution of the conflict.
It was the Arab bloc, including the Palestinian leadership, that decided to reject the UN's 1947 partition of Palestine into two states, Arab and Jewish, living side by side. Instead it invaded the nascent Jewish state rather than coexist with it, spawning the conflict that has so burdened the world for the last 60 years.
We are also not responsible for the Arab world's choice not to create a Palestinian Arab state in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank from 1948 to 1967, when it easily could have done so - before there were any Jewish settlements there to serve as the public object of Arab grievance.
Nor can the U.S. government under President Clinton be criticized for failing to pursue Yasser Arafat with sufficient solicitude between 1993 and late 2000. The Clinton administration was, after all, the most ardent of suitors of the Palestinian leader - only to be forced to watch Arafat reject an independent Palestinian state in all of Gaza and virtually all of the West Bank.
It was the Palestinian leadership, not the U.S., that decided in the fall of 2000 that, rather than accept an independent Palestinian state, its wiser course was to launch a four-year bombing campaign against Israel's civilian population. The result was not merely over 1,100 Israeli civilians killed, but several thousand Palestinians dead, as well as a shattered Palestinian economy and the decision by Israel to begin construction of a security barrier in July 2002.
When Israel withdrew from all of Gaza in 2005, the Arab world had the opportunity for a fresh start there - to create a measure of hope for a population whose suffering long predated any Israeli presence. Instead, the Hamas-dominated Palestinian leadership opted to begin and then intensify an aggressive missile-launching campaign against Israeli civilian centers.
Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, whose treasuries overflow with petrodollars, are in a position to invest heavily in Gaza, create economic opportunities for its destitute population, and dilute the toxin-filled atmosphere there. They have not done so. The Egyptians are in a position to act decisively to stop the flow of rockets, bombs and other arms from Egypt into Gaza, where they are used to attack Israeli civilians. They have not done so.
The writer was a U.S. Delegate to the UN Human Rights Commission during the Clinton administration.
November 21, 2007
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In-Depth Issues:
What Happened to Saddam's WMD? - Caroline Glick (Jerusalem Post)
Former federal prosecutor and the head of the non-governmental International Intelligence Summit, John Loftus, has released a report on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program, based on a private study of captured Iraqi documents.
As Loftus summarized, "Roughly one-quarter of Saddam's WMD was destroyed under UN pressure during the early to mid-1990s. Saddam sold approximately another quarter of his weapons stockpile to his Arab neighbors during the mid-to-late-1990s. The Russians insisted on removing another quarter in the last few months before the war."
"The last remaining WMD, the contents of Saddam's nuclear weapons labs, were still inside Iraq on the day when the coalition forces arrived in 2003. His nuclear weapons equipment was hidden in enormous underwater warehouses beneath the Euphrates River. Saddam's entire nuclear inventory was later stolen from these warehouses."
Loftus then cites Israeli sources who claim that the Iraqi nuclear program was transferred to Deir az Zour province in Syria. Israel reportedly destroyed a Syrian nuclear installation at Deir az Zour.
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Israel Wants U.S. Security Coordinator Replaced - Herb Keinon and Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
Senior Israeli government sources said Sunday that Lt.-Gen. Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator with the Palestinians, is ineffective and should be replaced.
Defense officials said that in June - when Hamas took over Gaza - Dayton had already proven that he had "failed" in his mission to strengthen the security forces loyal to Abbas.
"Fatah was overrun in Gaza within a matter of hours, despite having more men and weapons than Hamas," a senior defense official said. "Dayton was supposed to prevent that from happening."
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NGO Calls to Investigate Torture by Palestinian Police in Gaza (Palestinian Center for Human Rights-Gaza)
A Fatah activist from Beit Hanoun, who was arrested on Nov. 13, stated: "A number of policemen... handcuffed me and covered my head with a sack. They... violently beat me using sticks, especially on my feet, for nearly half an hour. [At] Beit Hanoun Hospital... doctors asserted that I had sustained fractures to the feet."
An activist from Khan Yunis, who was arrested on Nov. 13, stated: "Policemen took me to the interrogation center. They handcuffed and blindfolded me. They then violently beat me."
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West Bank University Halts Classes over Infighting - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
The Bir Zeit University administration decided Tuesday to suspend studies following clashes on campus between supporters of Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
Students said four men from the PFLP attacked a Fatah student in the dorms, wounding him seriously. The assailants used charcoal to burn the student's face. They also hammered nails into the victim's feet.
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Useful Reference:
Text: UN Security Council Resolution 242 (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs)
Forty years ago, on November 22, 1967, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 242, which has provided the main agreed basis for all of Israel's peace agreements with Egypt, Jordan, and the PA.
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
49 Parties Invited to Mideast Peace Talks Tuesday in Annapolis - Glenn Kessler
The State Department formally announced Tuesday that the U.S. has invited representatives of 49 countries and institutions - including Saudi Arabia and Syria - to sit down with Israelis and Palestinians in Annapolis on Tuesday in a conference designed to kick-start substantive peace talks in the region. The conference at the U.S. Naval Academy will be "a signal opportunity" to launch bilateral negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Assistant Secretary C. David Welch said, after "a long period in which there have been no such negotiations."
The central goal is to persuade Saudi Arabia to send its foreign minister to Annapolis, the first time such a senior Saudi official would have joined in a gathering with Israelis. Bush weighed in with his own call to Saudi King Abdullah Tuesday. As a way to entice Saudi participation, diplomatic sources said, the formal invitation also drew on language from the 2003 Roadmap plan for peace that mentions an Arab League initiative promoted by Abdullah. That plan offers diplomatic relations with Israel if it withdraws to the 1967 borders and provides a "just solution" to the demands of Palestinian refugees. (Washington Post)
Russia Agrees to Provide Nuclear Know-How to Egypt
Russia has agreed to provide nuclear know-how and technical expertise to Egypt to help Cairo with plans to build civilian nuclear power stations to meet growing energy needs, Egyptian state media said on Tuesday. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said last month Egypt would build several nuclear power stations. (Reuters)
Tony Blair's Plan for Palestinian Jobs - Tim Butcher
Tony Blair has given the "green light" to initiatives designed to create thousands of jobs for Palestinians in his first major policy announcement as special envoy to the Middle East. In reality, the creation of two industrial zones in the West Bank, one at Jericho and the other near Hebron, were going ahead without the involvement of Blair's new committee, fully funded by Japan and Turkey. Industrial zones have been tried before several times. Millions of dollars in private investment were attracted to two zones in Gaza, but today the one at Erez lies in ruins and the other at Karni has been mothballed after local investors made huge losses. (Telegraph-UK)
News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Israel Approves Provision of 25 Armored Vehicles to PA Security Forces - Hanan Greenberg
Prime Minister Olmert has approved the supply of 25 armored vehicles to the Palestinian security services in the West Bank as a goodwill gesture to Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the Annapolis peace conference. The Palestinians will also receive from Israel two million bullets supplied by Jordan. The Prime Minister's Office denied previous reports that Israel would supply 50 armored vehicles and 1,000 rifles to the Palestinians. (Ynet News)
Israel previously opposed supplying Abbas' forces with armored vehicles, in part because of concern that they might fall into the hands of Hamas or other violent groups. (AP/Ha'aretz)
See also Israel to Allow Gaza to Export Produce to Europe (Jerusalem Post)
Iran, Syria Stepping Up Support of Terrorists - Yaakov Katz
A day after Ido Zoldan, a young father, was gunned down in a Palestinian shooting attack near Kedumim, IDF officers warned Tuesday that Palestinian terrorist groups would continue trying to perpetrate terror attacks in an effort to derail peace talks ahead of the Annapolis meeting. Fatah's Aksa Martyrs Brigades took responsibility for the West Bank shooting attack, saying it was "a protest against the Annapolis conference." Defense officials said there was growing Iranian and Syrian involvement in motivating Hamas and Islamic Jihad to carry out terrorist attacks, including the transfer of funds and instructions. (Jerusalem Post)
Poll: Palestinians in Gaza Support Early Elections, Peace Settlement with Israel
According to a survey of Palestinians in Gaza conducted by Near East Consulting on Nov. 12-14: 77% support early legislative elections (Hamas supporters, 23% vs. Fatah supporters, 99%). If legislative elections were held next week, 54% of Gazans would vote for Fatah, 15% would vote for Hamas. 74% of Gazans support a peace settlement with Israel (Hamas supporters, 33% vs. Fatah supporters, 91%). However, 31% of Gazans believe that Hamas should maintain its position on the elimination of Israel. (Near East Consulting/IMRA)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Confidence Building after Annapolis - David Makovsky
The Annapolis launch of a "Roadmap Plus" strategy is likely to put domestic pressure on both Israelis and Palestinians as each side undertakes more obligations. As the parties take on this greater burden, Arab states need to reinforce the progress. For example, when Israel negotiates on core issues, the Arab states must also negotiate with Israel over normalization of relations, as suggested by the third phase of the roadmap. Also, Arab economic assistance to the Palestinians could buffer Abbas and Fayad against any Hamas countermeasures. "Roadmap Plus" obligations should not fall just on Israel; after Annapolis, Arab states could be crucial in protecting both parties from potential backlash. The writer is a senior fellow and director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at the Washington Institute. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
Level of Representation at Annapolis Offers Leverage to Arab Leaders - Zvi Bar'el
In addition to the question of which Arab states will attend the Annapolis meeting, everyone is waiting to hear about the level of the delegations the Arab states will send. Abbas will find it difficult to present a conciliatory stance if around the table he sees Arab ambassadors and not foreign ministers. This will not only be an insult - it will ensure that he does not diverge one iota from the historical principles of the Palestinian struggle and insist on discussing the conflict's core issues.
The U.S. and Israel are holding two sets of negotiations: one with Abbas, the guest of honor, and the other with the Arab leaders, in an effort to convince them to show up. As such, the Arab leaders are given the legitimacy to present their own preconditions for actually holding a meeting. (Ha'aretz)
Deepening China-Iran Ties Weaken Bid to Isolate Iran - Robin Wright
The rapidly growing relationship between Iran and China has begun to undermine international efforts to ensure that Iran cannot convert a peaceful energy program to develop a nuclear arsenal. At the UN, U.S. and European officials now worry more about a Chinese veto than about opposition from Russia. U.S. and European officials charged Friday that Beijing is deliberately stalling to protect its economic interests. China now gets at least 14% of its imported oil from Iran, making it China's largest supplier. Tehran in turn gets major arms systems from Beijing, including ballistic and cruise missiles and technical assistance for Tehran's indigenous missile program.
"We're presenting China with an untenable proposition," said Ilan Berman, vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council. "We're asking them to unilaterally divest from Iran and not offering them energy alternatives. This is not sustainable for policy-makers whose predominant priority is to maintain and expand their country's growth....It's not that we shouldn't ask them to scale back their relationship, but China has put a lot of its eggs in Iran's economic basket, and a sophisticated American strategy would provide alternatives." (Washington Post)
See also British Aid Mocks Sanctions Threat Against Iran - Jonathan Leake and Sarah Baxter
The British government faces a diplomatic row with America over disclosures that it has provided the Iranian regime with financial support worth about £290m while at the same time calling for sanctions. The money was offered by the Export Credits Guarantee Department to support British firms exporting to Iran, mainly to the country's petrochemical industry. (Sunday Times-UK)
Observations:
The Perils of Engagement - Jeff Robbins (Wall Street Journal)
If history is any guide, next week's meeting in Annapolis will yield unsatisfactory results, Israel will be blamed for failing to make the requisite concessions, and the Bush administration will be criticized for its "failure to engage." The problem is that all too often, those who blame the U.S. for failing to deliver Mideast peace are some of the world's most culpable enablers of Mideast violence - and those who are themselves actually responsible for erecting the fundamental roadblocks to a resolution of the conflict.
It was the Arab bloc, including the Palestinian leadership, that decided to reject the UN's 1947 partition of Palestine into two states, Arab and Jewish, living side by side. Instead it invaded the nascent Jewish state rather than coexist with it, spawning the conflict that has so burdened the world for the last 60 years.
We are also not responsible for the Arab world's choice not to create a Palestinian Arab state in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank from 1948 to 1967, when it easily could have done so - before there were any Jewish settlements there to serve as the public object of Arab grievance.
Nor can the U.S. government under President Clinton be criticized for failing to pursue Yasser Arafat with sufficient solicitude between 1993 and late 2000. The Clinton administration was, after all, the most ardent of suitors of the Palestinian leader - only to be forced to watch Arafat reject an independent Palestinian state in all of Gaza and virtually all of the West Bank.
It was the Palestinian leadership, not the U.S., that decided in the fall of 2000 that, rather than accept an independent Palestinian state, its wiser course was to launch a four-year bombing campaign against Israel's civilian population. The result was not merely over 1,100 Israeli civilians killed, but several thousand Palestinians dead, as well as a shattered Palestinian economy and the decision by Israel to begin construction of a security barrier in July 2002.
When Israel withdrew from all of Gaza in 2005, the Arab world had the opportunity for a fresh start there - to create a measure of hope for a population whose suffering long predated any Israeli presence. Instead, the Hamas-dominated Palestinian leadership opted to begin and then intensify an aggressive missile-launching campaign against Israeli civilian centers.
Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, whose treasuries overflow with petrodollars, are in a position to invest heavily in Gaza, create economic opportunities for its destitute population, and dilute the toxin-filled atmosphere there. They have not done so. The Egyptians are in a position to act decisively to stop the flow of rockets, bombs and other arms from Egypt into Gaza, where they are used to attack Israeli civilians. They have not done so.
The writer was a U.S. Delegate to the UN Human Rights Commission during the Clinton administration.
Selected items from Richard Baehr
2. China and Britain put mercantilism first, when it comes to Iran. And Ahmadinejad is not the only lranian who wants the great infidel destroyed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/17/AR2007111701680.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2890957.ece
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1614.htm
3. This is almost funny. The US has invited 49 parties to the Annapolis summit, which may last a day or two. Can they get all the photos taken in that time? More important, does Ehud Olmert have the spine to resist pressure from the 47 (let us hope it is only 47) or 48 participating in the pile on? Then again, Olmert seems to be leading the concession charge himself. Jeff Robbins provides some history on Palestinian and Arab missed opportunities for peace. Of course if peace was never the goal, then there were no missed opportunities. Hillel Halkin and Frank Gaffney weigh in on the trap set for Israel.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112000932.html
http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010889
http://www.nysun.com/article/66755
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FrankJGaffneyJr/2007/11/20/staticidal_zealotry
6. Ralph Peters on what went right in Iraq. And the New York Times (!) publishes a second solid article on the improving situation in Iraq. What is going on? Did Pinch Sulzberger leave early for the Thanksgiving holiday?
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11212007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/iraq__what_went_right_407604.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/world/middleeast/20surge.html?ei=5065&en=7e7d43064c067b63&ex=1196226000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
8. An Israeli man ( a young father of two) was murdered in the West Bank two days ago in a terrorist hit. If Iran and Syia have their way, he will have lots of company soon. I am sure Syria will now behave responsibly since they have been invited to Annapolis. And Egypt has a funny way of showing their interest in peace- with calls to abrogate the 1979 agreement with Israel. Ehud Olmert has a solution to the West Bank violence - a "good will" gesture of 25 armored vehicles ,and 2 million bullets to be given to the PA.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195546682609&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1611.htm
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3473864,00.html
9. New advances in womens' right in Saudi Arabia, our ally in the fight against terror (as their PR ads claim). A rape victim gets 200 lashes.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/20/saudi.rape.victim/index.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/17/AR2007111701680.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article2890957.ece
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1614.htm
3. This is almost funny. The US has invited 49 parties to the Annapolis summit, which may last a day or two. Can they get all the photos taken in that time? More important, does Ehud Olmert have the spine to resist pressure from the 47 (let us hope it is only 47) or 48 participating in the pile on? Then again, Olmert seems to be leading the concession charge himself. Jeff Robbins provides some history on Palestinian and Arab missed opportunities for peace. Of course if peace was never the goal, then there were no missed opportunities. Hillel Halkin and Frank Gaffney weigh in on the trap set for Israel.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112000932.html
http://opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010889
http://www.nysun.com/article/66755
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/FrankJGaffneyJr/2007/11/20/staticidal_zealotry
6. Ralph Peters on what went right in Iraq. And the New York Times (!) publishes a second solid article on the improving situation in Iraq. What is going on? Did Pinch Sulzberger leave early for the Thanksgiving holiday?
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11212007/postopinion/opedcolumnists/iraq__what_went_right_407604.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/world/middleeast/20surge.html?ei=5065&en=7e7d43064c067b63&ex=1196226000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print
8. An Israeli man ( a young father of two) was murdered in the West Bank two days ago in a terrorist hit. If Iran and Syia have their way, he will have lots of company soon. I am sure Syria will now behave responsibly since they have been invited to Annapolis. And Egypt has a funny way of showing their interest in peace- with calls to abrogate the 1979 agreement with Israel. Ehud Olmert has a solution to the West Bank violence - a "good will" gesture of 25 armored vehicles ,and 2 million bullets to be given to the PA.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1195546682609&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1611.htm
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3473864,00.html
9. New advances in womens' right in Saudi Arabia, our ally in the fight against terror (as their PR ads claim). A rape victim gets 200 lashes.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/meast/11/20/saudi.rape.victim/index.html
Between the West Bank and a Hard Place
Between the West Bank and a Hard Place
by Richard Baehr
inFocus
Fall 2007
After Hamas gunmen routed Fatah forces to seize control of Gaza in early June, Washington became convinced that propping up Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas offered the best hope for Israeli-Palestinian peace. While the West releases funds (U.S. and European primarily, plus funds held by Israel) to Abbas for use in the West Bank, now that Hamas is no longer part of his government, Israel is expected to improve the living conditions of West Bank Palestinians. Abbas and new Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, a man Washington sees as a genuine reformer, are also working to regain control of the West Bank's militias, and to change the PA's corrupt and ossified image among Palestinians.
The current strategy further aims to isolate Hamas in Gaza by limiting assistance to basic humanitarian aid. It is hoped that Hamas will stew in its own juices, and that, over time, Gazans will demand new leadership. In an ideal scenario, Gazans would seek a return to the PA.
In the Middle East, however, ideal scenarios rarely materialize. Several tough choices and potential roadblocks for America and Israel lie ahead.
Assessing Olmert's Mandate
Working with Abbas has been the strategy of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his Kadima party since Olmert assumed power in early 2006 (following Ariel Sharon's debilitating stroke). Indeed, this has been Israeli policy ever since Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasir Arafat died in November 2004. When Hamas won majority control of the PA legislature three weeks after Olmert became acting prime minister, that strategy was stymied; it was impossible to provide financial assistance to Abbas without also funding Hamas. With the Hamas-Fatah split, Israel can again attempt to work with Abbas.
Rather than inventing a new strategy, the United States is following Olmert's lead, shoring up Abbas, and preventing a Hamas takeover of the West Bank. Olmert's mandate, however, should be a red flag for Washington. The embattled prime minister suffers from abysmal approval ratings (3 percent, according to a June 2007 survey, which also indicated that Kadima would suffer a crushing defeat if new elections were held). There is significant risk that America and Europe are backing a prime minister who is well past his prime. This was the case when President Bill Clinton worked with Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 2000 and 2001 to secure a peace deal with Arafat, even as Barak's approval numbers plummeted and his defeat in the February 2001 election appeared certain (Barak subsequently won less than 38 percent of the votes in that election). Washington must avoid mistakes of the past.
Is Abbas Our Man?
While there is general agreement about the dangers of Hamas rule in Gaza, and the potential for even greater danger were Hamas to rule in the West Bank, many high-profile Israeli analysts, notably Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post, and Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, doubt that Abbas is the answer. The loss of Gaza may be an indication that the PA is crumbling. Abbas does not have a solid grip on the West Bank, either. If he loses control, the IDF will be forced to intervene to prevent a Hamas takeover there, too.
Currently, Israel is allowing Abbas time to consolidate his rule, rather than reinforce its positions in the territories. The wisdom of this strategy—waiting for Abbas to succeed—remains to be seen. The longer Israel waits, the more difficult a military intervention could become.
There is also the question of whether American or Israeli support for Abbas would hurt him. In the perverse world of Palestinian politics, the more a leader cooperates with Israel and America, the less he is trusted on the Palestinian street. Thus, Washington and Jerusalem must mute their public support for Abbas, while privately providing him the tools to succeed.
Terror Finance Concerns
Critics charge that funds sent to bolster Abbas will almost certainly meet the same fate as the previous billions in foreign aid to the PA: stolen, or diverted to militias, such as the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a Fatah-linked terror organization. During the second intifada, the al-Aqsa Martyrs launched some of the bloodiest terror attacks against Israel. Notably, the group carried out a suicide bombing at Jerusalem's Moment Café, which killed 11 Israelis in March 2002.
Even as the West and Israel got behind Abbas in July, no less than 200 members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs announced they would continue "resistance to Israeli occupation." When these fighters were denied amnesty (Israel released some 179 other al-Aqsa Martyrs as a gesture of goodwill), they formed the new Yasir Arafat Brigade. Will Abbas and Fayyad fund this new squad? Prime Minister Salam Fayyad specifically endorsed the concept of continued "resistance" to Israeli occupation in late July. That terminology has always been understood among Palestinians to mean "violence."
Clearly, a more transparent record of aid expenditures is crucial. It would also ensure that the new PA does not behave as Arafat did with regard to supporting or condoning violence against Israel. Can the West demand these things while also propping up Abbas?
Can Abbas Change Long-Held Perceptions?
Arab-Israeli violence has continued for nearly 60 years because the Palestinians have always refused to accept the very existence of the state of Israel. Generations of Palestinians have been taught to despise Israel, and that hatred is deeply entrenched. While the exact percentage of West Bankers who feel this way is not known, 70 percent of all Palestinians polled in a recent Pew Global Attitudes Project survey (July 2007) said they approve of suicide bombing attacks against Israel. These views are reinforced by Palestinian Authority-funded imams in West Bank mosques who continue to preach hatred and war against Israel, and in the PA-controlled media.
Can Israel overlook this culture of hate — a culture Abbas cannot reverse overnight, even if he wanted to — in the interest of a stable regime in the West Bank? Israel can take little comfort in the fact that the culture of hate is far worse in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Concessions
Israel has already released 256 Palestinian prisoners, and is considering other gestures of good will for Abbas. This could include removal of West Bank roadblocks, further prisoner releases, and providing weapons to the PA. These gestures could undermine Israeli security if Abbas fails to gain popular support or reform the PA. The IDF might later find it more difficult to retake certain military positions, in the event that Hamas attempts a West Bank takeover. On the other hand, if Israel does not ease some restrictions, West Bankers may challenge Abbas over his inability to get results.
Can Gaza Be Isolated?
Despite the recent Fatah-Hamas battle leading to the creation of two Palestinian proto-states, both West Bankers and Gazans still identify as Palestinian. According to a July 2007 survey by a Norwegian polling organization, no less than 85 percent of all Palestinians seek rapprochement between the two factions. Thus, the two-pronged Western strategy of isolating Hamas in Gaza while jumpstarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in the West Bank may run counter to popular Palestinian sentiment.
Looking forward, a contingency strategy will be necessary, should the Gaza isolation policy fail. What happens if Hamas manages to govern capably in Gaza, despite the aid freeze and border shut down? Successful governance by Hamas could persuade West Bankers in a future election that they are better off under Hamas rule than under the PA, especially if the PA is unable to successfully reform itself in the West Bank. Both Washington and Jerusalem must be prepared for this possibility.
Similarly, a plan must be in place for the eventuality that Hamas will not go quietly into the night in Gaza. Islamist movements do not relinquish power willingly. If there were new elections in both Gaza and the West Bank that both parties agreed to, and the PA won a decisive victory, it is highly unlikely that Hamas would cede military control of Gaza and disarm. Thus, even if Abbas manages a successful turnaround of the PA, Hamas will likely retain a strong military presence in Gaza, and perhaps a weaker presence in the West Bank. This will be an Israeli security concern, particularly if rocket fire from Gaza continues. Short of invasion, there is little Israel can do to neutralize this threat.
What Happens If Gaza Gets Worse?
Since the Israeli unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, Gaza has been awash in weapons smuggled from Egypt. Terrorists from various organizations, both Sunni and Shiite, are lining up to assist and train Hamas for violent confrontation with Israel. Numerous reports indicate that operatives from al-Qaeda, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Hizbullah may have nestled in Gaza, or are training Hamas fighters outside of Gaza.
Can the influence of other rogue regimes and terrorist organizations make the tensions between Hamas-ruled Gaza and Israel any worse? Hamas does not hide the fact that it seeks the destruction of Israel, rather than negotiated peace in any form. By allowing additional terrorist elements into Gaza, Hamas has all but guaranteed future violence, perhaps at levels never before seen.
Regardless of which elements launch attacks against Israel—be they al-Qaeda, Hizbullah, or Hamas—Israeli reprisals against the Gaza Strip will almost certainly inspire sympathy in the West Bank and the rest of the Muslim world. At worst, this could lead to an outbreak of fresh violence in the West Bank, Gaza, and Lebanon, forcing Israel into a multi-front conflict. If either the U.S. or Israel launched strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, a similar multi-front conflict seems assured.
The Way Forward
The consensus following the Hamas victory in Gaza was that a new clarifying moment had arrived for Israel, the PA, and the West. In reality, the situation remains unclear and volatile. The choices will be difficult to navigate. Washington seeks to help foster peace in the region, but is still grasping for a way forward. Israel's current options must include a combination of caution and military readiness, along with help to the PA.
The Gaza crisis has put both Israel and the West between the West Bank and a hard place. Patience, wisdom, and deterrence will be necessary as Washington and Jerusalem venture forward.
Richard Baehr is co-founder and political director of The American Thinker, a web-based policy journal.
Rabbi Jonathan ginsburg
by Richard Baehr
inFocus
Fall 2007
After Hamas gunmen routed Fatah forces to seize control of Gaza in early June, Washington became convinced that propping up Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas offered the best hope for Israeli-Palestinian peace. While the West releases funds (U.S. and European primarily, plus funds held by Israel) to Abbas for use in the West Bank, now that Hamas is no longer part of his government, Israel is expected to improve the living conditions of West Bank Palestinians. Abbas and new Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, a man Washington sees as a genuine reformer, are also working to regain control of the West Bank's militias, and to change the PA's corrupt and ossified image among Palestinians.
The current strategy further aims to isolate Hamas in Gaza by limiting assistance to basic humanitarian aid. It is hoped that Hamas will stew in its own juices, and that, over time, Gazans will demand new leadership. In an ideal scenario, Gazans would seek a return to the PA.
In the Middle East, however, ideal scenarios rarely materialize. Several tough choices and potential roadblocks for America and Israel lie ahead.
Assessing Olmert's Mandate
Working with Abbas has been the strategy of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his Kadima party since Olmert assumed power in early 2006 (following Ariel Sharon's debilitating stroke). Indeed, this has been Israeli policy ever since Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasir Arafat died in November 2004. When Hamas won majority control of the PA legislature three weeks after Olmert became acting prime minister, that strategy was stymied; it was impossible to provide financial assistance to Abbas without also funding Hamas. With the Hamas-Fatah split, Israel can again attempt to work with Abbas.
Rather than inventing a new strategy, the United States is following Olmert's lead, shoring up Abbas, and preventing a Hamas takeover of the West Bank. Olmert's mandate, however, should be a red flag for Washington. The embattled prime minister suffers from abysmal approval ratings (3 percent, according to a June 2007 survey, which also indicated that Kadima would suffer a crushing defeat if new elections were held). There is significant risk that America and Europe are backing a prime minister who is well past his prime. This was the case when President Bill Clinton worked with Prime Minister Ehud Barak in 2000 and 2001 to secure a peace deal with Arafat, even as Barak's approval numbers plummeted and his defeat in the February 2001 election appeared certain (Barak subsequently won less than 38 percent of the votes in that election). Washington must avoid mistakes of the past.
Is Abbas Our Man?
While there is general agreement about the dangers of Hamas rule in Gaza, and the potential for even greater danger were Hamas to rule in the West Bank, many high-profile Israeli analysts, notably Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post, and Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, doubt that Abbas is the answer. The loss of Gaza may be an indication that the PA is crumbling. Abbas does not have a solid grip on the West Bank, either. If he loses control, the IDF will be forced to intervene to prevent a Hamas takeover there, too.
Currently, Israel is allowing Abbas time to consolidate his rule, rather than reinforce its positions in the territories. The wisdom of this strategy—waiting for Abbas to succeed—remains to be seen. The longer Israel waits, the more difficult a military intervention could become.
There is also the question of whether American or Israeli support for Abbas would hurt him. In the perverse world of Palestinian politics, the more a leader cooperates with Israel and America, the less he is trusted on the Palestinian street. Thus, Washington and Jerusalem must mute their public support for Abbas, while privately providing him the tools to succeed.
Terror Finance Concerns
Critics charge that funds sent to bolster Abbas will almost certainly meet the same fate as the previous billions in foreign aid to the PA: stolen, or diverted to militias, such as the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a Fatah-linked terror organization. During the second intifada, the al-Aqsa Martyrs launched some of the bloodiest terror attacks against Israel. Notably, the group carried out a suicide bombing at Jerusalem's Moment Café, which killed 11 Israelis in March 2002.
Even as the West and Israel got behind Abbas in July, no less than 200 members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs announced they would continue "resistance to Israeli occupation." When these fighters were denied amnesty (Israel released some 179 other al-Aqsa Martyrs as a gesture of goodwill), they formed the new Yasir Arafat Brigade. Will Abbas and Fayyad fund this new squad? Prime Minister Salam Fayyad specifically endorsed the concept of continued "resistance" to Israeli occupation in late July. That terminology has always been understood among Palestinians to mean "violence."
Clearly, a more transparent record of aid expenditures is crucial. It would also ensure that the new PA does not behave as Arafat did with regard to supporting or condoning violence against Israel. Can the West demand these things while also propping up Abbas?
Can Abbas Change Long-Held Perceptions?
Arab-Israeli violence has continued for nearly 60 years because the Palestinians have always refused to accept the very existence of the state of Israel. Generations of Palestinians have been taught to despise Israel, and that hatred is deeply entrenched. While the exact percentage of West Bankers who feel this way is not known, 70 percent of all Palestinians polled in a recent Pew Global Attitudes Project survey (July 2007) said they approve of suicide bombing attacks against Israel. These views are reinforced by Palestinian Authority-funded imams in West Bank mosques who continue to preach hatred and war against Israel, and in the PA-controlled media.
Can Israel overlook this culture of hate — a culture Abbas cannot reverse overnight, even if he wanted to — in the interest of a stable regime in the West Bank? Israel can take little comfort in the fact that the culture of hate is far worse in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli Concessions
Israel has already released 256 Palestinian prisoners, and is considering other gestures of good will for Abbas. This could include removal of West Bank roadblocks, further prisoner releases, and providing weapons to the PA. These gestures could undermine Israeli security if Abbas fails to gain popular support or reform the PA. The IDF might later find it more difficult to retake certain military positions, in the event that Hamas attempts a West Bank takeover. On the other hand, if Israel does not ease some restrictions, West Bankers may challenge Abbas over his inability to get results.
Can Gaza Be Isolated?
Despite the recent Fatah-Hamas battle leading to the creation of two Palestinian proto-states, both West Bankers and Gazans still identify as Palestinian. According to a July 2007 survey by a Norwegian polling organization, no less than 85 percent of all Palestinians seek rapprochement between the two factions. Thus, the two-pronged Western strategy of isolating Hamas in Gaza while jumpstarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in the West Bank may run counter to popular Palestinian sentiment.
Looking forward, a contingency strategy will be necessary, should the Gaza isolation policy fail. What happens if Hamas manages to govern capably in Gaza, despite the aid freeze and border shut down? Successful governance by Hamas could persuade West Bankers in a future election that they are better off under Hamas rule than under the PA, especially if the PA is unable to successfully reform itself in the West Bank. Both Washington and Jerusalem must be prepared for this possibility.
Similarly, a plan must be in place for the eventuality that Hamas will not go quietly into the night in Gaza. Islamist movements do not relinquish power willingly. If there were new elections in both Gaza and the West Bank that both parties agreed to, and the PA won a decisive victory, it is highly unlikely that Hamas would cede military control of Gaza and disarm. Thus, even if Abbas manages a successful turnaround of the PA, Hamas will likely retain a strong military presence in Gaza, and perhaps a weaker presence in the West Bank. This will be an Israeli security concern, particularly if rocket fire from Gaza continues. Short of invasion, there is little Israel can do to neutralize this threat.
What Happens If Gaza Gets Worse?
Since the Israeli unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip in August 2005, Gaza has been awash in weapons smuggled from Egypt. Terrorists from various organizations, both Sunni and Shiite, are lining up to assist and train Hamas for violent confrontation with Israel. Numerous reports indicate that operatives from al-Qaeda, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Hizbullah may have nestled in Gaza, or are training Hamas fighters outside of Gaza.
Can the influence of other rogue regimes and terrorist organizations make the tensions between Hamas-ruled Gaza and Israel any worse? Hamas does not hide the fact that it seeks the destruction of Israel, rather than negotiated peace in any form. By allowing additional terrorist elements into Gaza, Hamas has all but guaranteed future violence, perhaps at levels never before seen.
Regardless of which elements launch attacks against Israel—be they al-Qaeda, Hizbullah, or Hamas—Israeli reprisals against the Gaza Strip will almost certainly inspire sympathy in the West Bank and the rest of the Muslim world. At worst, this could lead to an outbreak of fresh violence in the West Bank, Gaza, and Lebanon, forcing Israel into a multi-front conflict. If either the U.S. or Israel launched strikes against Iranian nuclear sites, a similar multi-front conflict seems assured.
The Way Forward
The consensus following the Hamas victory in Gaza was that a new clarifying moment had arrived for Israel, the PA, and the West. In reality, the situation remains unclear and volatile. The choices will be difficult to navigate. Washington seeks to help foster peace in the region, but is still grasping for a way forward. Israel's current options must include a combination of caution and military readiness, along with help to the PA.
The Gaza crisis has put both Israel and the West between the West Bank and a hard place. Patience, wisdom, and deterrence will be necessary as Washington and Jerusalem venture forward.
Richard Baehr is co-founder and political director of The American Thinker, a web-based policy journal.
Rabbi Jonathan ginsburg
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Items from Richard Baehr
1. Olivier Guitta on Iran's Syrian plan. Caroline Glick sees some
connections between Iran, Syria and Iraq's WMDs. And the sometimes
controversial John Loftus also weighs in on what may have happened to
Saddam's WMDs.
http://www.metimes.com/International/2007/11/19/
analysis_irans_secret_syrian_plan/7451/
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?
cid=1195127544177&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.israpundit.com/2007/?p=6535
2. Danielle Pletka thinks Condi Rice is buying into diplomacy with
the devil (s). Caroline Glick says the Olmert government (let it
fall) is too.
http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.27120,filter.all/pub_detail.asp
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?
cid=1195127516829&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
3. Egypt is not a moderate Arab state. It is part of the problem in
the region, not the solution. I guess trying to bribe them with $2
billion a year in foreign aid has been a bad bet (kind of like taking
the Bears and 5 and a half points yesterday)
http://www.www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?
GUID=05C1C31E-1F8B-4096-A41E-4C5F5EB64618
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?
GUID=56E2A983-895F-4A10-905D-5F3263C7A7D8
http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10147681
4. Steve Emerson on the FBI mole case
http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=1176
5. Even the New York Times is reporting that attacks in Iraq are way
down. Does this mean the surge is working? What would Frank Rich
say? How about better late (to get it right) than never (for both US
strategy and Times reporting).
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/world/middleeast/19iraq.html?
_r=2&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
6. Hugo Chavez' slapdown by King Juan Carlos of Spain is big news in
the Latin press. This is the way to treat a bully. And by the way,
Chavez now says Venezuela needs to have its own nuclear program (for
peaceful uses of course).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/18/
AR2007111800945.html
7. Mark Silverberg on the end of the Bush doctrine
http://web.israelinsider.com/views/12365.htm
8. Hamas is looking to move up in class (as far as its military
capability.) I still do not see them as BCS material. Perhaps the
Fighting Illini are.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124289
9. David Frum with a good summary of the Al Dura affair. Augean
Stables weighs in on same subject.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=877a8d56-
eda5-4b86-96c6-9e1ab9a07880
http://www.theaugeanstables.com/2007/11/14/gambling-with-a-lie-
enderlin-pulls-a-rosemary-woods/
10. Lots of good stuff in the latest issue of Outpost, put out by
Ruth King and AFSI. In particular I liked the Moshe Sharon article
on the Arab negotiating style. Offer meeaningless promises (to be
broken every time) in return for real things. Israel has fallen for
this, as has Dennis Ross (repeatedly).
http://www.afsi.org/OUTPOST/2007/Outpost_2007_11.pdf
11. A few documentaries worth seeing:
http://www.godandcountry.tv/
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/challenges.php?id=1385550
12. Are any of Paul Revere's descendants around? One if by land, two
if by sea. The British are coming. The British are coming. Or at
least they are leaving Britain. And the Dutch (50,000 to 100,000 a
year) are leaving Holland. In fact, the population transfer going on
in Europe is accelerating.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2007/11/16/
noindex/nemi116.xml
13. CAMERA has more on the Jews who left Arab lands after the 48 war.
Joan Peters devoted two chapters of her book " From Time Immemorial"
to this subject.
http://blog.camera.org/archives/2007/11/
jews_from_arab_lands_forced_to.html
14. Abbas calls for an overthrow of Hamas in Gaza. And who exactly
will do the job? Would not bet on this one happening soon. Tom
Bevan would not bet on the Patriots getting beaten anytime soon.
Has Tom Brady gotten that much better since he started dating Giselle
Bundchen?
http://voanews.com/english/2007-11-15-voa14.cfm
http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/11/watching_greatness.html
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
connections between Iran, Syria and Iraq's WMDs. And the sometimes
controversial John Loftus also weighs in on what may have happened to
Saddam's WMDs.
http://www.metimes.com/International/2007/11/19/
analysis_irans_secret_syrian_plan/7451/
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?
cid=1195127544177&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
http://www.israpundit.com/2007/?p=6535
2. Danielle Pletka thinks Condi Rice is buying into diplomacy with
the devil (s). Caroline Glick says the Olmert government (let it
fall) is too.
http://www.aei.org/publications/pubID.27120,filter.all/pub_detail.asp
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?
cid=1195127516829&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
3. Egypt is not a moderate Arab state. It is part of the problem in
the region, not the solution. I guess trying to bribe them with $2
billion a year in foreign aid has been a bad bet (kind of like taking
the Bears and 5 and a half points yesterday)
http://www.www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?
GUID=05C1C31E-1F8B-4096-A41E-4C5F5EB64618
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?
GUID=56E2A983-895F-4A10-905D-5F3263C7A7D8
http://www.economist.com/world/africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10147681
4. Steve Emerson on the FBI mole case
http://www.analyst-network.com/article.php?art_id=1176
5. Even the New York Times is reporting that attacks in Iraq are way
down. Does this mean the surge is working? What would Frank Rich
say? How about better late (to get it right) than never (for both US
strategy and Times reporting).
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/19/world/middleeast/19iraq.html?
_r=2&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
6. Hugo Chavez' slapdown by King Juan Carlos of Spain is big news in
the Latin press. This is the way to treat a bully. And by the way,
Chavez now says Venezuela needs to have its own nuclear program (for
peaceful uses of course).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/18/
AR2007111800945.html
7. Mark Silverberg on the end of the Bush doctrine
http://web.israelinsider.com/views/12365.htm
8. Hamas is looking to move up in class (as far as its military
capability.) I still do not see them as BCS material. Perhaps the
Fighting Illini are.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124289
9. David Frum with a good summary of the Al Dura affair. Augean
Stables weighs in on same subject.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=877a8d56-
eda5-4b86-96c6-9e1ab9a07880
http://www.theaugeanstables.com/2007/11/14/gambling-with-a-lie-
enderlin-pulls-a-rosemary-woods/
10. Lots of good stuff in the latest issue of Outpost, put out by
Ruth King and AFSI. In particular I liked the Moshe Sharon article
on the Arab negotiating style. Offer meeaningless promises (to be
broken every time) in return for real things. Israel has fallen for
this, as has Dennis Ross (repeatedly).
http://www.afsi.org/OUTPOST/2007/Outpost_2007_11.pdf
11. A few documentaries worth seeing:
http://www.godandcountry.tv/
http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/challenges.php?id=1385550
12. Are any of Paul Revere's descendants around? One if by land, two
if by sea. The British are coming. The British are coming. Or at
least they are leaving Britain. And the Dutch (50,000 to 100,000 a
year) are leaving Holland. In fact, the population transfer going on
in Europe is accelerating.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/global/main.jhtml?xml=/global/2007/11/16/
noindex/nemi116.xml
13. CAMERA has more on the Jews who left Arab lands after the 48 war.
Joan Peters devoted two chapters of her book " From Time Immemorial"
to this subject.
http://blog.camera.org/archives/2007/11/
jews_from_arab_lands_forced_to.html
14. Abbas calls for an overthrow of Hamas in Gaza. And who exactly
will do the job? Would not bet on this one happening soon. Tom
Bevan would not bet on the Patriots getting beaten anytime soon.
Has Tom Brady gotten that much better since he started dating Giselle
Bundchen?
http://voanews.com/english/2007-11-15-voa14.cfm
http://time-blog.com/real_clear_politics/2007/11/watching_greatness.html
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
Monday, November 19, 2007
Unicef funds terror training?
Tricked by UNICEF
>> Financing of Palestinian terrorism makes for one scary Halloween.
>>
>> By Dave Kopel
>>
>> Americans mostly know UNICEF through the "trick or treat for UNICEF"
>> campaigns. The "trick" is on the donors who think that UNICEF is all
>> about helping
>> poor children.
>>
>> UNICEF has been a major financier of Palestinian "summer camps"
which
>> encourage children to become suicide bombers. One such camp is named
>> for Wafa Idris,
>> a female suicide bomber.
>>
>> During the late 1990s, UNICEF served as a propaganda organ of the
>> Saddam Hussein regime. Relying solely on Iraqi government
statistics,
>> UNICEF and the
>> Saddam government co-authored a report asserting that over a million
>> children in Iraq died because of U.N. sanctions. A map on the first
>> page of the report
>> depicted Kuwait as a province of Iraq.
>>
>> UNICEF is the primary funder for the "Palestinian Youth Association
>> for Leadership and Rights Activation" (PYALARA), which UNICEF calls
>> "a major strategic
>> partner in Palestine." Materials produced by the group are
frequently
>> used in schools operated by UNICEF.
>>
>> PYALARA publishes a 16-page newspaper for young people, The Youth
>> Times (TYT). It is distributed at Palestinian universities,
colleges,
>> community centers,
>> and in the many U.N.-operated schools in Palestinian areas.
>>
>> The organization claims that its mission is "expanding awareness of
>> one's roots and identity, environment and culture, as well as of
>> other countries and
>> the world at large." Yet PYALARA's products follow the typical line
>> of terrorist propaganda, in which nothing is the fault of the
>> Palestinians, everything
>> is the fault of the Jews, and there is never any effort to consider
>> the merits of Israel's position on anything.
>>
>> For example, one PYALARA article was admiring a biography of the
>> recently-deceased terrorist Abu Ali Mustafa.
>>
>> Mustafa was the head of the terrorist group the Popular Front for
the
>> Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a branch of Yassir Arafat's
Palestine
>> Liberation
>> Organization (PLO). Mustafa met his demise at the hands of Israeli
>> forces in 2001. In the months before Mustafa's death, his terrorist
>> group had assassinated
>> an Israeli Cabinet Minister, set off three car bombs in Jerusalem,
>> and carried out many other terrorist attacks.
>>
>> Earlier, Mustafa and the PLFP had worked with the Japanese Red Army
>> (a Communist terrorist group) and slaughtered 24 people at Israel's
>> Ben Gurion International
>> Airport. In 1976, the PFLP hijacked an Air France flight. After
>> refueling in Libya, they flew to Entebbe, Uganda, which was, at the
>> time, ruled by the
>> insane, genocidal tyrant Idi Amin.
>>
>> The PFLP hijackers, assisted by Amin's army, demanded that five
>> nations release 53 named, convicted terrorists, or else the plane
and
>> its passengers would
>> be blown up.
>>
>> The Israeli Defense Forces carried out a daring raid on the Entebbe
>> airport, killing the hijackers and their Ugandan accomplices, and
>> rescuing all the
>> hostages. The IDF rescue planes touched down at Ben Gurion Airport
on
>> July 4, 1976.
>>
>> One of the few Israeli casualties in the rescue was Lt. Col. Yoni
>> Netanyahu, whose brother Benjamin would later become Prime Minister
>> of Israel.
>>
>> So what did the UNICEF-funded PYALARA have to tell young people
about
>> the terrorist mastermind Abu Ali Mustafa? That he was "a political
>> leader...whose
>> history prides his nationalistic activism." Mourning the death of
the
>> terrorist, the magazine whined "this is a human being who has a
>> family that awaits
>> his arrival every day." Sympathy would have been better directed to
>> the many innocents who were murdered at Mustafa's direction.
>>
>> Then, in a lie typical of the Palestinian propaganda press, the
>> PYALARA claimed "the Israelis could have turned to Abu Ali Mustafa
to
>> talk peace if peace
>> were what they truly wanted." In truth, Mustafa was always an
adamant
>> foe of negotiations, opposed even to Arafat's strategy of going
>> through the motions
>> of peace negotiations in order to distract attention from his
>> devotion for war.
>>
>> Shortly before becoming head of the PFLP, Mustafa was interviewed by
>> Al-Jazeera. He stated: "We believe the conflict and the struggle
>> against Israel is
>> a strategic [principle] that is not subordinated to any
>> consideration." Thus, "We believe the Palestinian people, both in
the
>> Diaspora and under occupation,
>> have the right to struggle using all means, including the armed
>> struggle, because we think the conflict is the constant, while the
>> means and tactics are
>> the variables."
>>
>> Not that UNICEF blames Israel for everything. Bianca Jagger, in her
>> official capacity as "UNICEF ambassador," has toured the Middle East
>> telling audiences
>> that the United States is the source of evil in the modern world.
>>
>> As for the actual needs of children, UNICEF is sometimes an obstacle
>> to progress. For example, UNICEF has been pressuring Guatemala to
>> stop allowing inter-country
>> adoptions. That is, UNICEF would prefer a child to languish in a
>> Guatemalan orphanage rather than be adopted by a loving family in
the
>> United States.
>>
>> UNICEF's focus on politics and political correctness has come at the
>> expense of saving the lives of the approximately ten million
children
>> under the age
>> of five who die each year from preventable causes.
>>
>> According to UNICEF, the major cause of child poverty in the world
is
>> the free market-even though countries with free markets have vastly
>> lower levels
>> of child poverty than do the kleptocratic, statist economies
extolled
>> by UNICEF.
>>
>> A 2003 report praised the North Korean dictatorship:
>>
>> the particular strength of the DPRK's policy framework lies in its
>> comprehensiveness, integration and consistency in addressing the
>> interests of children
>> and women. It has been aligned with the collective production
system.
>> The Government has proactively broadened and updated its laws and
>> policies on an
>> ongoing basis, also making an effort to harmonize with international
>> innovations and standards.
>>
>> Given UNICEF's affinity for the extreme left, it should be no
>> surprise that UNICEF helps fund the gun- prohibition lobby in
Brazil.
>>
>> The Executive Director of UNICEF is traditionally chosen by the
>> United States (although nominally appointed by the U.N.
>> Secretary-General). All of the
>> abuses described above took place during the tenure of Executive
>> Director Carol Bellamy, who was selected by President Clinton in
>> 1995. In May 2005, President
>> Bush chose former Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman as executive
>> director.
>>
>> While there is no reason to believe that Veneman shares Bellamy's
>> extreme Left agenda, it would be fair to say that she has a long way
>> to go to fix UNICEF.
>> The organization today stills promotes the Brazilian gun prohibition
>> lobby Viva Rio, and funds the pro-terrorist Palestinian Youth
>> Association for Leadership
>> and Rights Activation as one of its "partners" in what it calls "
>> occupied Palestinian territory." UNICEF also "partners" with the
>> Palestinian Red Crescent
>> Society, which uses ambulances to transport terrorists and their
>> weapons, and whose personnel have participated in suicide bombings.
>>
>>
>> UNICEF's executive board includes China (whose forced abortion
policy
>> is neither pro-life, nor pro-choice, nor pro-child) and Bhutan
(where
>> children are
>> among the many victims of the regime's human rights abuses). UNICEF
>> has doled out unaccountable money to the North Korean regime.
>>
>> Under Veneman, UNICEF is not as bad as it was under Bellamy, and
even
>> under Bellamy, the organization performed some good works. However,
>> most people who
>> give money to groups which help children would prefer that none of
>> their donations be used to finance terrorism, the destruction of
>> civil liberties, or
>> tyranny.
>>
>> The good-hearted children who "trick or treat for UNICEF" don't know
>> about UNICEF's sordid allies, of course. So instead of simply
>> rejecting the requests
>> of the children, gently explain that you don't want to give money to
>> UNICEF because dictatorships like China help run the organization,
>> and some of UNICEF's
>> money helps pro-terrorism groups. Then, put a dollar (or five, or
>> ten) in a bag of your own, and tell the children that because of
>> their trick-or-treating,
>> you will be giving more money to a different charity (which you can
>> name for them) which uses all of it money to help children. And if
>> your child's school
>> is contemplating a UNICEF fundraiser, politely encourage the
>> administration to pick a better charity.
>>
>> Dave Kopel is research director of the Independence Institute, in
>> Golden, Colorado.
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
>> Financing of Palestinian terrorism makes for one scary Halloween.
>>
>> By Dave Kopel
>>
>> Americans mostly know UNICEF through the "trick or treat for UNICEF"
>> campaigns. The "trick" is on the donors who think that UNICEF is all
>> about helping
>> poor children.
>>
>> UNICEF has been a major financier of Palestinian "summer camps"
which
>> encourage children to become suicide bombers. One such camp is named
>> for Wafa Idris,
>> a female suicide bomber.
>>
>> During the late 1990s, UNICEF served as a propaganda organ of the
>> Saddam Hussein regime. Relying solely on Iraqi government
statistics,
>> UNICEF and the
>> Saddam government co-authored a report asserting that over a million
>> children in Iraq died because of U.N. sanctions. A map on the first
>> page of the report
>> depicted Kuwait as a province of Iraq.
>>
>> UNICEF is the primary funder for the "Palestinian Youth Association
>> for Leadership and Rights Activation" (PYALARA), which UNICEF calls
>> "a major strategic
>> partner in Palestine." Materials produced by the group are
frequently
>> used in schools operated by UNICEF.
>>
>> PYALARA publishes a 16-page newspaper for young people, The Youth
>> Times (TYT). It is distributed at Palestinian universities,
colleges,
>> community centers,
>> and in the many U.N.-operated schools in Palestinian areas.
>>
>> The organization claims that its mission is "expanding awareness of
>> one's roots and identity, environment and culture, as well as of
>> other countries and
>> the world at large." Yet PYALARA's products follow the typical line
>> of terrorist propaganda, in which nothing is the fault of the
>> Palestinians, everything
>> is the fault of the Jews, and there is never any effort to consider
>> the merits of Israel's position on anything.
>>
>> For example, one PYALARA article was admiring a biography of the
>> recently-deceased terrorist Abu Ali Mustafa.
>>
>> Mustafa was the head of the terrorist group the Popular Front for
the
>> Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a branch of Yassir Arafat's
Palestine
>> Liberation
>> Organization (PLO). Mustafa met his demise at the hands of Israeli
>> forces in 2001. In the months before Mustafa's death, his terrorist
>> group had assassinated
>> an Israeli Cabinet Minister, set off three car bombs in Jerusalem,
>> and carried out many other terrorist attacks.
>>
>> Earlier, Mustafa and the PLFP had worked with the Japanese Red Army
>> (a Communist terrorist group) and slaughtered 24 people at Israel's
>> Ben Gurion International
>> Airport. In 1976, the PFLP hijacked an Air France flight. After
>> refueling in Libya, they flew to Entebbe, Uganda, which was, at the
>> time, ruled by the
>> insane, genocidal tyrant Idi Amin.
>>
>> The PFLP hijackers, assisted by Amin's army, demanded that five
>> nations release 53 named, convicted terrorists, or else the plane
and
>> its passengers would
>> be blown up.
>>
>> The Israeli Defense Forces carried out a daring raid on the Entebbe
>> airport, killing the hijackers and their Ugandan accomplices, and
>> rescuing all the
>> hostages. The IDF rescue planes touched down at Ben Gurion Airport
on
>> July 4, 1976.
>>
>> One of the few Israeli casualties in the rescue was Lt. Col. Yoni
>> Netanyahu, whose brother Benjamin would later become Prime Minister
>> of Israel.
>>
>> So what did the UNICEF-funded PYALARA have to tell young people
about
>> the terrorist mastermind Abu Ali Mustafa? That he was "a political
>> leader...whose
>> history prides his nationalistic activism." Mourning the death of
the
>> terrorist, the magazine whined "this is a human being who has a
>> family that awaits
>> his arrival every day." Sympathy would have been better directed to
>> the many innocents who were murdered at Mustafa's direction.
>>
>> Then, in a lie typical of the Palestinian propaganda press, the
>> PYALARA claimed "the Israelis could have turned to Abu Ali Mustafa
to
>> talk peace if peace
>> were what they truly wanted." In truth, Mustafa was always an
adamant
>> foe of negotiations, opposed even to Arafat's strategy of going
>> through the motions
>> of peace negotiations in order to distract attention from his
>> devotion for war.
>>
>> Shortly before becoming head of the PFLP, Mustafa was interviewed by
>> Al-Jazeera. He stated: "We believe the conflict and the struggle
>> against Israel is
>> a strategic [principle] that is not subordinated to any
>> consideration." Thus, "We believe the Palestinian people, both in
the
>> Diaspora and under occupation,
>> have the right to struggle using all means, including the armed
>> struggle, because we think the conflict is the constant, while the
>> means and tactics are
>> the variables."
>>
>> Not that UNICEF blames Israel for everything. Bianca Jagger, in her
>> official capacity as "UNICEF ambassador," has toured the Middle East
>> telling audiences
>> that the United States is the source of evil in the modern world.
>>
>> As for the actual needs of children, UNICEF is sometimes an obstacle
>> to progress. For example, UNICEF has been pressuring Guatemala to
>> stop allowing inter-country
>> adoptions. That is, UNICEF would prefer a child to languish in a
>> Guatemalan orphanage rather than be adopted by a loving family in
the
>> United States.
>>
>> UNICEF's focus on politics and political correctness has come at the
>> expense of saving the lives of the approximately ten million
children
>> under the age
>> of five who die each year from preventable causes.
>>
>> According to UNICEF, the major cause of child poverty in the world
is
>> the free market-even though countries with free markets have vastly
>> lower levels
>> of child poverty than do the kleptocratic, statist economies
extolled
>> by UNICEF.
>>
>> A 2003 report praised the North Korean dictatorship:
>>
>> the particular strength of the DPRK's policy framework lies in its
>> comprehensiveness, integration and consistency in addressing the
>> interests of children
>> and women. It has been aligned with the collective production
system.
>> The Government has proactively broadened and updated its laws and
>> policies on an
>> ongoing basis, also making an effort to harmonize with international
>> innovations and standards.
>>
>> Given UNICEF's affinity for the extreme left, it should be no
>> surprise that UNICEF helps fund the gun- prohibition lobby in
Brazil.
>>
>> The Executive Director of UNICEF is traditionally chosen by the
>> United States (although nominally appointed by the U.N.
>> Secretary-General). All of the
>> abuses described above took place during the tenure of Executive
>> Director Carol Bellamy, who was selected by President Clinton in
>> 1995. In May 2005, President
>> Bush chose former Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman as executive
>> director.
>>
>> While there is no reason to believe that Veneman shares Bellamy's
>> extreme Left agenda, it would be fair to say that she has a long way
>> to go to fix UNICEF.
>> The organization today stills promotes the Brazilian gun prohibition
>> lobby Viva Rio, and funds the pro-terrorist Palestinian Youth
>> Association for Leadership
>> and Rights Activation as one of its "partners" in what it calls "
>> occupied Palestinian territory." UNICEF also "partners" with the
>> Palestinian Red Crescent
>> Society, which uses ambulances to transport terrorists and their
>> weapons, and whose personnel have participated in suicide bombings.
>>
>>
>> UNICEF's executive board includes China (whose forced abortion
policy
>> is neither pro-life, nor pro-choice, nor pro-child) and Bhutan
(where
>> children are
>> among the many victims of the regime's human rights abuses). UNICEF
>> has doled out unaccountable money to the North Korean regime.
>>
>> Under Veneman, UNICEF is not as bad as it was under Bellamy, and
even
>> under Bellamy, the organization performed some good works. However,
>> most people who
>> give money to groups which help children would prefer that none of
>> their donations be used to finance terrorism, the destruction of
>> civil liberties, or
>> tyranny.
>>
>> The good-hearted children who "trick or treat for UNICEF" don't know
>> about UNICEF's sordid allies, of course. So instead of simply
>> rejecting the requests
>> of the children, gently explain that you don't want to give money to
>> UNICEF because dictatorships like China help run the organization,
>> and some of UNICEF's
>> money helps pro-terrorism groups. Then, put a dollar (or five, or
>> ten) in a bag of your own, and tell the children that because of
>> their trick-or-treating,
>> you will be giving more money to a different charity (which you can
>> name for them) which uses all of it money to help children. And if
>> your child's school
>> is contemplating a UNICEF fundraiser, politely encourage the
>> administration to pick a better charity.
>>
>> Dave Kopel is research director of the Independence Institute, in
>> Golden, Colorado.
Rabbi Jonathan Ginsburg
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