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Showing posts sorted by date for query egypt explosives. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Sunday, March 16, 2014

From Ian:

Johansson hails SodaStream as a ‘model,’ slams politicized Oxfam
Johansson was vigorous in her response, however. “I stand behind that decision. I was aware of that particular factory before I signed it.”
“Really?” the interviewer interjected, apparently surprised or disbelieving.
“Yes, and… it still doesn’t seem like a problem,” Johansson said. “Until someone has a solution to the closing of that factory to leaving all those people destitute, that doesn’t seem like the solution to the problem.”
When the interviewer then put it to her that “the international community says that the settlements are illegal and shouldn’t be there,” Johansson said: “I think that’s something that’s very easily debatable. In that case, I was literally plunged into a conversation that’s way grander and larger than this one particular issue. And there’s no right side or wrong side leaning on this issue.”
Eight Crucial Questions for Abbas (and One for President Obama)
There seems to be a double-standard when it comes to how Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian Authority's erstwhile President, Mahmoud Abbas -- now in the tenth year of his four-year term -- are treated by the Obama White House, as well as by many journalists. While Netanyahu is humiliated, insulted, threatened, and told that he must make "painful concessions" for peace, such as releasing more than 100 terrorists merely to get the Palestinians to come to a negotiating table, Abbas – a facilitator and supporter of these terrorists – is treated with kid gloves, and with Obama virtually begging him to visit.
Eugene Kontorovich; "Israel's Borders in International Law"


Saturday, March 08, 2014

From Ian:

Chloe Valdary: A letter to the all-knowing Max Blumenthal: Co-written by Daniel Mael
Since you have found us out, we may as well list a few other things the Zionists are planning: We actually work for an organization called ‘The Elders of Zion.’ Perhaps you’ve heard of them? At any rate, we are two of their agents. As you can imagine, we are paid hefty sums of money, $4.6 billion a year to be exact. We are in charge of disseminating information around the globe, regulating U.N. meetings in New York, controlling seagull calls, and sending signals to sharks in the deep blue sea. We elders also work closely with Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and Cinderella’s stepsisters in controlling things that occur in the world. You see, we were the ones who made Cinderella’s glass slipper come off when the clock struck “12.”
We are also behind the misinformation campaign that mischaracterizes Iran’s regime as evil and sinister. The Iranian regime is actually a democracy ruled by angels and ponies. The images on television of Iranian civilians being persecuted and oppressed is actually a vast conspiracy, a television show put on by Zionist actors and directors. The Iranian people are actually treated with kindness and goodness by their leaders; They are even given cute little treats from Candy Crush every day, and some are even selected to visit Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory if they really behave.
Caroline Glick: Surviving Obama
In his speech at the AIPAC Conference on Tuesday, Netanyahu rebutted every position Obama has staked out on the Palestinians and Iran without ever mentioning Obama’s name. By doing so he energized Israel’s supporters while denying Obama the ability to claim that Netanyahu is unsupportive of his policies.
In other words, he humored the White House while staking out an independent Israeli policy for which he secured the support of Israel’s American backers.
But Netanyahu’s skill in maneuvering around Obama is not enough for Israel to safely weather his presidency. Israel needs an overall strategy for securing its interests.
Richard Millett: Bibi declared “most dangerous political world leader today” at Centre for Palestine Studies, SOAS.
Khalidi is the Godfather of “Palestine Studies”. Gilbert Achcar introduced him as “the founder of the scientific study on the question of Palestine”. But at the Centre for Palestine Studies on Wednesday night Ilan Pappe had referred to the “so-called scientific research” of Zionism as nothing more than “marketing” by Israel.
Hypocrisy doesn’t come bigger than that. While the study of “Palestine” is “scientific”, the study of Israel is mere “marketing”!
The glitterati of the Palestine Lobby, including “Ambassador” Manuel Hassassian, were present to hear Khalidi describe the Balfour Declaration as “the single most destructive political document on the Middle East in the twentieth century”. But the 16 million dead of WW1 were not even mentioned by Khalidi.

Wednesday, March 05, 2014

From Ian:

Without getting personal, Netanyahu hits back at Obama
Publicly savaged by President Barack Obama for his settlement policies on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday opted for a firmly non-personal response in a warmly received address to the AIPAC conference here. He argued extensively for several positions directly at odds with those held by the president, but did so without the direct targeting that Obama had employed in his incendiary Bloomberg conversation published two days earlier.
Obama, in the lengthy interview with Jeffrey Goldberg that was released precisely as Netanyahu was flying in to meet with him, had chosen to assail the prime minister for overseeing “aggressive settlement construction,” indicated that Netanyahu’s positions on the Palestinian conflict were threatening Israel’s wellbeing, and warned that the US would find it increasingly difficult to defend Israel from the international consequences.
Netanyahu, having since joined the president in their latest public dialogue of the deaf at the White House on Monday, opted to tell AIPAC Tuesday morning that he had held “very good meetings” with Obama and other senior American leaders (the only time he named Obama in the speech), insisted that he was ready to conclude “a historic peace” with the Palestinians, and hailed the uniquely “precious alliance” between the United States and Israel.
He also chose to heap praise on Secretary of State John Kerry, who must have been deeply dismayed by the president’s decision to so openly question the policies of a prime minister he has spent months gradually trying to win over, cosset and reassure.
No standing O for Obama
Citing two anonymous high-ranking sources in DC, one Israeli, and one American, the paper maintains that the US State Department is furious with President Barack Obama for his interview with Jeffrey Goldberg on Sunday — a move they say was deliberately done behind Secretary of State John Kerry’s back and threatens to derail peace talks.
“The interview Obama gave, unbeknownst to Kerry, in which he launched a personal attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a way that departs from any acceptable formulation, undermines Kerry’s sincere efforts,” an unnamed official told the paper.
The second source stressed that Kerry’s primary concern regarding the interview is that it “damaged Netanyahu’s and the Israeli public’s trust in the US efforts [to broker a peace agreement].”
Obama’s Settlement Construction Lie
According to Obama, “we have seen more aggressive settlement construction over the last couple years than we’ve seen in a very long time.” But in reality, as a simple glance at the annual data published by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reveals, there has been less settlement construction during Benjamin Netanyahu’s five years as Israeli premier (2009-13) than under any of his recent predecessors.
During those five years, housing starts in the settlements averaged 1,443 a year (all data is from the charts here, here and here plus this news report). That’s less than the 1,702 a year they averaged under Ehud Olmert in 2006-08, who is nevertheless internationally acclaimed as a peacemaker (having made the Palestinians an offer so generous that then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice couldn’t believe she was hearing it). It’s also less than the 1,652 per year they averaged under Ariel Sharon in 2001-05, who is similarly lauded internationally as a peacemaker (for having left Gaza); the fact that even Sharon out-built Netanyahu is particularly remarkable, because his term coincided with the second intifada, when demand for housing in the settlements plummeted. And it’s far less than under Ehud Barak, who is also internationally acclaimed as a peacemaker (for his generous offer at Camp David in 2000): One single year under Barak, 2000, produced more housing starts in the settlements (4,683) than the entire first four years of Netanyahu’s term (4,679).

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

From Ian:

Ex-Gitmo detainee latest to be suspected of terrorism
Western human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, promoted Begg's account of his experiences as a U.S. detainee but their association with him was controversial even among their own staffers.
Gita Sahgal, who headed Amnesty International's gender unit, was suspended by the organization in 2010 after objecting to Amnesty's association with Begg, whom she described as a leader of a pro-jihadi group and "Britain's most famous supporter of the Taliban," according to the London paper The Guardian.
The arrest of a former Guantanamo prisoner in England on suspicion of Syria-related terrorism is the latest example of a failed release program that is setting free unrepentant jihadists, an analyst says.
United Kingdom authorities on Tuesday arrested Moazzam Begg, a British citizen of Pakistani descent, on suspicion of attending a terrorist training camp and facilitating terrorism in Syria. Three others were arrested with him.
Guardian fails to reveal that Brit arrested for terror is ‘Comment is Free’ contributor
As we first learned from Guido Fawkes, Moazzam Begg, a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner who became a spokesman for the “human rights” group Cageprisoners, was arrested by British police on Tuesday morning for terror offences which he is alleged to have committed in Syria.
Begg is widely believed by American intelligence officials to have been a jihadist involved with Al-Qaida and reportedly attended terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the UK “so he could assist in waging jihad against enemies of Islam.” Begg reportedly assisted several prominent terrorists, recruited young operatives for jihad and provided financial support for terror camps.
Amnesty International Report Reflects Lack of Expertise and Methodology
Report based on faulty data calls for sanctions, coincides with annual BDS campaign
Jerusalem – A report scheduled to be released by Amnesty International tomorrow, Trigger-happy: Israel’s use of excessive force in the West Bank, falsely and maliciously accuses Israel of “callous disregard for human life,” according to analysis by NGO Monitor, a Jerusalem-based research organization. The report also repeats Amnesty’s calls for political warfare against Israel, in the form of an arms embargo.
“Amnesty International accusations are reckless, blatantly biased, and reflect the lack of a credible research fact-finding methodology,” said Prof. Gerald Steinberg, president of NGO Monitor. “Amnesty lacks the expertise and credibility to analyze or assign blame for deaths in the context of violent confrontations in the West Bank. As in the past, the allegations in this report repeat unverifiable Palestinian ‘testimony.’”

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

From Ian:

The BDS folly
There is, after all, something decent and intimate in the reciprocal relations imposed by the discipline of the market. The idea that businessmen produce tolerance as a by-product of their self-interested innovations might be an oversimplification of the situation. There are extremists – particularly on the Palestinian side but not only – who are bitterly opposed to any form of normalization between Palestinians and Israelis. And the conditions under which Palestinian businesses must operate are hardly conducive to economic growth.
BDS is not, however, the solution. If anything it is more economic cooperation and mutual development.
Any two-state solution will inevitably entail strong ties between Israel and Palestine. Fostering such ties could even be a means of moving toward a two-state solution organically, gradually and with mutual respect. BDS only hampers this process.
NGO Monitor: Why does the EU continue to fund anti-peace NGOs?
For years, the EU has been providing millions of euros to radical political advocacy non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that, as repeatedly demonstrated, promote the images of Palestinian victimization and Israeli oppression. In many cases, the reports and lobbying efforts of these NGO are central to EU policy formation, forming a closed circle in which biased anti-Israel narratives are reinforced.
Although claiming to support moral causes such as human rights, democracy and peace, these EU funding policies actively promote boycott and isolation of Israel.
And as a result, the Palestinians have an easy alternative to the “painful compromises” necessary for peace.
‘Nice country you’ve got there’ (UK FM) Hague gets a soft ride on BBC’s ‘Hardtalk’
Sackur also conveniently refrained from dissecting Hague’s cringingly transparent ‘equality’ chimera of EU or UK censure of the Palestinian Authority (the same body which was recently revealed to be holding explosives and weapons in a diplomatic mission on EU soil) should peace negotiations collapse. After all, as past experience shows, even when the PA actively sabotaged the Oslo Agreements by initiating and financing an unprecedented campaign of terror against Israeli civilians in 2000, the EU continued to fund that body and even raised its contributions to the tune of an annual average of 250 million Euros. Hence, there is little reason to anticipate an about-face this time around and just as little reason to anticipate any letting-up in EU and UK funding of anti-Israel NGOs or an end to the practice of paternalistic, diplomatically illiterate finger-wagging from the hand which still feeds sections of the BBC.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinian Authority Human Rights Violations Ignored by Media, West
That Hamas is responsible for human rights violations and assaults on freedom of expression should not come as a surprise to anyone.
But what is surprising is that the Palestinian Authority leadership, which often boasts that Palestinians living under its jurisdiction enjoy freedom of expression and democracy, is continuing to lie not only to its constituents, but also to the Western media and international donors about its human rights record.
The PA has been successful in diverting attention from these problems by putting all the blame on Israel. As far as the PA is concerned, Israel alone is responsible for human rights violations and assaults on freedom of expression and the media.
Evidently, most Western journalists, governments and human rights groups have chosen to endorse the Palestinian Authority's stance that the only evil-doers are the Israelis. And that is precisely why the ICHR report about the anarchy, lawlessness and human rights violations by the PA and Hamas will be completely ignored in the West.
The Palestinian Covenant Refutes the Palestinian Narrative
The Yishuv’s Jewish population in 1917 consisted of people from each of the three sources, but even if they all came from only one of them, the acknowledgement in the Palestine National Covenant that there were Jews there before 1917 disproves the current Palestinian narrative’s claim that the Land has been home “since time immemorial” to a thriving Palestinian culture. If the Jews are from the first source, then they predate the Palestinian arrival. The second source pre-supposes the existence of the first. The third source reflects Ottoman recognition that the Land was underpopulated and in need of a revival; i.e., whatever culture was there could hardly be described as flourishing.
The Palestinian narrative is thus hoist with its own petard: The Palestinian people’s founding document announces that its narrative isn’t true.
A reasonable alternative
In other words, a reasonable alternative will have to involve Arabs moving, not Jews.
It doesn’t have to be all the Arabs. Unlike them, we don’t require an ethnically pure state to live in. But we also don’t have to live alongside creatures committed to violence, as the members of the PLO and Hamas are.
We can hear the screaming of the Left, the Europeans, the academic community and of course the Muslim world all the way over here. How dare we suggest that Arabs might be displaced (of course, the idea that a ‘solution’ involves expelling every last Jew so ‘Palestine’ can be free of contamination is perfectly reasonable to them)! (h/t Bob Knot)

Saturday, February 08, 2014

From Ian:

Richard Millett: Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi apologises for comparing Gaza to the Holocaust
The response to Qureshi’s remarks from the Labour Party itself was an utter disgrace:
“These remarks were taken completely out of context. Yasmin Qureshi was not equating events in Gaza with the Holocaust. As an MP who has visited Auschwitz and has campaigned all her life against racism and anti-Semitism she would not do so.”
However, soon after, Qureshi must have had a pang of conscience and came out with this apology:
“The debate was about the plight of the Palestinian people and in no way did I mean to equate events in Gaza with the Holocaust. I apologise for any offence caused. I am also personally hurt if people thought I meant this. As someone who has visited the crematoria and gas chambers of Auschwitz I know the Holocaust was the most brutal act of genocide of the 20th Century and no-one should seek to underestimate its impact.”
So Qureshi is “personally hurt”? Poor her. Not as “personally hurt” as those who were in Auschwitz or Belsen etc or lost family there.
Truman, The Jewish State, and the Decline in New York Times Standards
The New York Times referred to this presidential statement twice in the past five years, and the way the did so exposes an unfortunate decline in the newspaper's standards. In both articles, reporters mentioned recent Palestinian attempts to cast a last minute change in the language of the statement — one of the letter's two references to "Jewish state" was changed to "State of Israel" — as supposedly showing that Truman did not support the idea of a Jewish state. But while the earlier article gave some clarifying context that suggested Palestinian leaders are misusing the letter, the more recent piece relayed the misinformation with no qualification, leaving New York Times readers severely misinformed about Truman's position.
Melanie Phillips: Scarlett, soda and Samaria
But, as the attacks on her by the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions crowd reached fever pitch, Ms Johansson stunned everyone by sacking Oxfam, on the grounds that she was a supporter of “economic co-operation and social interaction between a democratic Israel and Palestine”. Which, by implication, Oxfam was not.
With this put-down, she achieved more than all the anti-BDS activists put together (not to devalue their heroic efforts). For the first time that I can remember, a glamorous personality went on to the front foot against the peddlers of anti-Israel bigotry.
She did not adopt a cringing, defensive posture. She strode on to the moral high ground and, at long last, delegitimised the delegitimisers.
For Oxfam’s part, it dug itself further and further into its ridiculous hole. Its mantra that Israeli “settlements” such as Ma’ale Adumim – the city to which Mishor Adumim belongs — are illegal under international law is simply false.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

From Ian:

Confusing The World With the Facts on "Palestine"
Palestine is a geographical area, not a nationality.
Palestine was and is solely a geographic name. Therefore, it is not surprising that in modern times the name ‘Palestine’ or ‘Palestinian’ was applied as an adjective to all inhabitants of the area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River – Palestine Jews and Palestine Arabs alike. In fact, until the 1960s, most Arabs in Palestine preferred to identify themselves merely as part of the great Arab nation or citizens of “southern Syria.”
The term ‘Palestinian’ as a noun was usurped and co-opted by the Arabs in the 1960s as a tactic initiated by Yasser Arafat to brand Jews as intruders on someone else’s turf. He mendaciously presented Arab residents of Israel and the "Territories" as indigenous inhabitants since time immemorial. This fabrication of peoplehood allowed Palestinian Arabs to gain parity with the Jewish people as a nation deserving of an independent state.
UN Propaganda Campaign Against the Legitimacy of Israel Reaches Epidemic Proportions
The UN propaganda campaign against the legitimacy of Israel has now reached epidemic proportions. On January 20, 2014 the UN organized its first Solidarity Year event for "civil society." In one of the UN's main galleries, it conducted a public screening of the film "Where should the birds fly?" and sponsored a subsequent discussion with Palestinian filmmaker Fida Qishta and journalist Laila El-Haddad. Here is just some of what the film included: Mona Samouni (age 11 or 12): "The Israeli soldiers were shooting at the people, as if they were not human, as if they were chickens or mice. For the Israeli army this is something without meaning. But the victims were very precious to us, even though they didn't consider them human." Fida Qishta: "Even the presence of international observers does not prevent daily random Israeli gunfire. The Israelis seem to be playing a deadly game with Palestinians who are just trying to work and live, taunting them and intimidating them, sometimes killing them." At the close of the UN afternoon of portraying Israelis as Nazi-like wanton baby killers, the Chairman of the UN working group that organized the affair, Maltese diplomat Bernard Hamilton, asked the crowd to do their utmost to promote the film.
Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei Denied Holocaust
MEMRI Disproves Iranian FM Zarif's Claim To ABC That Khamenei's Statements About Holocaust 'Myth' Were 'A Bad Translation'; Khamenei Also Praised French Holocaust Denier Roger Garaudy
In a September 29, 2013 interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, in which Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was questioned about Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's statements that the Holocaust is a "myth," Zarif claimed that Khamenei is not a Holocaust denier and that the statements – which can be found in English on his official English-language website – were a "bad translation" and "out of context." Khamenei had made the statements in a February 2006 speech to Iranian Air Force officers.[1]
However, a MEMRI investigation reveals that FM Zarif's claim is false; in Khamenei's original statements, which can be accessed on Khamenei's official Persian-language website, Khamenei did indeed call the Holocaust a "myth."
SodaStream Scores Another Super Bowl Rejection
The fix is easy. SodaStream can just remove those four words. After all, having Johansson on board is too big an asset to squander on a banned commercial. Then again, knowing SodaStream, it couldn't have scripted things any better. SodaStream will be able to milk the publicity of another banned ad. The uncensored version will blow up on YouTube, just as last year's nixed spot did. Over the next few days it can argue that Fox doesn't care about the environment, favoring the promotion of Coke cans and Pepsi bottles. Other ads have called out the competition by name in the past, and SodaStream can rule by being the exception.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

From Ian:

134 House Members sign letter against academic boycott of Israel
A total of 134 Members of the House of Representatives have signed a letter, organized by the offices of Reps. Peter Roksam (R) and Ted Deutch (D) condeming the academic boycott of Israel passed by the American Studies Assoction. The effort was truly bipartisan, with 65 Republicans and 69 Democrarts signing. The full list of signatories is at the bottom of this post.
As previously reported, the congressional organizers were hoping for 50 signatures, so the response was better than expected. Gathering signatures on short notice was difficult, one of the staffers explained to me, because of the press of House business before members left today on break.
Report: Soccer Club Sponsor Delivers Ultimatum Over Anelka ‘Reverse Nazi Salute’
The shirt sponsor of British soccer club West Bromwich Albion (WBA) has threatened to immediately axe its multi-million pound deal with the club over the growing furor surrounding one of its star players, who recently used a quenelle “reverse Nazi salute” after scoring a goal, the UK’s Marketing Week reported.
Zoopla, an online property portal, which is concerned that its brand is being tarnished, reportedly told WBA that if the offending player, Nicolas Anelka, plays in an upcoming match against Everton on Monday its threat will go into immediate effect. Zoopla is co-owned by Jewish businessman Alex Chesterman.
British City of Liverpool Overwhelmingly Rejects Anti-Israel Motion
The city council of Liverpool, England, has rejected a motion that condemned Israel for “human rights violations,” voting it down 74 to two, the UK’s Jewish Chronicle reported on Friday.
The JC said the motion was tabled by two members of Britain’s Green Party ahead of the Liverpool International Festival for Business 2014, in June and July, when Israeli investors and businesses are expected to come to Liverpool to take part in the business networking event. The motion urged the council to “distance” the city from “condoning or tolerating the human rights violations, of some participating countries,” including Israel, Russia and China.

Tuesday, January 07, 2014

From Ian:

Caroline Glick: The long-term cost of releasing terrorists
One of the reasons that most Israelis now recognize that the peace process is a hoax is that the PLO continues to signal that a “final” accord will not settle all Palestinian claims against Israel. The PLO intends to use a “Palestine” in Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem and Gaza to threaten and weaken Israel’s sovereignty in its remaining territory. The PLO’s demand that Israel free its own citizens from prison for acts of treason and murder is a clear indication that this is in fact the group’s long-term plan.
Kerry’s support for the PLO’s demands on terrorists shows Israel two things.
First, at a minimum, Kerry doesn’t have a problem with the Palestinian claim that Israel’s sovereign rights over non- Jews – and hence Israel’s right to sovereignty generally – is limited at best. Second, it shows that there are no concessions that Netanyahu can make to Kerry that will not have dire long-term consequences for Israel.
Walking away from the phony negotiations will be painful. But as Kerry’s demands indicate, the price for remaining at the table gets higher by the day.
Khaled Abu Toameh: U.S. Fiddles while Palestinians in Syria Starve
The plight of the Palestinian refugees in Syria serves as a reminder to all Palestinians that their Arab brothers do not care about their suffering. In several Arab countries, especially Lebanon, Palestinians continue to be treated as a "fifth column" and an "enemy from within."
The Palestinians once again feel betrayed by their Arab brothers, who continue to pay lip service to the Palestinian cause while at the same time starving them to death, killing them and displacing them.
As for the international community, no one seems to be worried about the starving Palestinians in an Arab country. After all, this is not taking place in
Israel and no Israelis are involved.
Confidence Game: Losing American Support, the Gulf States Scramble
An increasing body of evidence has begun pointing to a major shift in American foreign policy in the Middle East. Over the course of the Obama Administration’s tenure, amid the turmoil of the Arab spring, the United States has shown itself unwilling to defend some of its traditional allies (such as the military in Egypt), or to stand by its own threats and red lines (such as punishing the Syrian regime for using chemical weapons); in many cases willing to cede significant influence to other outside powers (such as Russia); and to attempt to reach a nuclear agreement with Iran that is far more conciliatory to Iranian demands than had been the previous policy (such as allowing for uranium enrichment).

Thursday, December 26, 2013

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: No Christmas spirit in the West Bank: Israeli journalists banned from celebrations
The Palestinian Authority said on Tuesday that it expelled Israeli journalists who came to Bethlehem to cover Christmas celebrations.
The PA Ministry of Information said the decision was taken at the request of Palestinian journalists, who protested against the presence of their Israeli colleagues at Manger Square in the city.
The journalists who were kicked out of Bethlehem worked for Haaretz, i-24 News, Channel 1 and Arutz Sheva, the ministry said.
Palestinian journalists praised the PA police for ordering the Israelis out of the city.
Arafat died of natural causes, Russian experts say
The conclusion came was in line with findings by French experts who earlier this month ruled out the possibility that Arafat died of poisoning, as some had suspected.
“Yasser Arafat died not from the effects of radiation but of natural causes,” Vladimir Uiba, head of the Federal Medico-Biological Agency (FMBA), said according to the Russian Interfax news service. (Broken on EOZ first!)
Turkish Local Court Rejects Mavi Marmara Compensation Suit
A local Turkish court in the city of Kayseri rejected a compensation suit filed over the 2010 Mavi Marmara incident, the Herriyet Daily News reported Wednesday.
Relatives of Furkan DoÄŸan, one of the Turkish citizens killed in the raid, had requested 4 million Turkish Liras of compensation from Israel. However, the court rejected the claim, stating that Israel cannot be tried in a Turkish court.
Jerusalem plays down Turkish report that 'Mavi Marmara' compensation deal 'almost' complete
While there has been progress in talks to normalize relations with Turkey over the last few weeks, diplomatic officials stopped well short of confirming a Turkish newspaper report Wednesday that compensation talks between the countries over the Mavi Marmara incident were “nearly finalized.”
“There has been progress,” said one official informed of the talks, adding however that reports of an imminent deal were “premature.”
The daily Hurriyet quoted a Turkish diplomat Wednesday as saying that compensation talks for the Mavi Marmara have been “almost finalized” at a meeting last week in Istanbul.
None hurt after Kassam fired at Ashkelon area
Red alert sirens wailed through the region before the missile hit, for the second time this week.
The rocket came amid heightened tensions between Israel and the Palestinians following a string of attacks against Israeli civilians, police officers and soldiers, and Israeli retaliatory strikes against Gaza on Tuesday.
Earlier Wednesday, the IDF deployed an Iron Dome missile interception battery to the area near the southern cities of Beersheba and Sderot, and on Thursday put a third battery near Ashdod.
IDF commander: We know an attack from Gaza will involve multiple threats
Operating under the southern Gaza territorial division, the Company, established in 2003, is equipped with a range of heavy armored vehicles, such as D-9 armored bulldozers, armored personnel carriers, and drilling equipment.
Its members join infantry and armored units, and act as trailblazers for military forces, clearing paths in areas with bombs in them, exposing and destroying attack tunnels, and joining daily border patrols.
“We practiced all of the potential scenarios. We understand that if we come under attack, it will be a complex event involving multiple, combined threats, rather than one pinpoint attack,” Levi said. “We could be dealing with an explosives incident while coming under full attack from projectiles and gunfire. We could face an attempted kidnapping.”
Demonstration at Spot where Cop was Stabbed
Dozens of residents of the community of Adam, just north of Jerusalem, held a protest rally Tuesday night at Adam Roundabout, near the community of Adam, following the stabbing of a policeman there on Monday. The policeman, officer Rami Ravid, has lost a kidney as a result of the stabbing.
The head of the Binyamin Regional Council, Avi Roeh, said at the rally: “We call upon the government of Israel and the prime minister from here, to snap out of it and defeat the terrorism. This situation cannot go on. The government of Israel must bring back security to the residents.”
Gilad Shalit calls for release of Jonathan Pollard
Former captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit wrote in an open letter Wednesday that all Israelis should demand that the United States free jailed American-Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, joining 106 Knesset members in calling for his release after 28 years of incarceration.
“After Israel has released terrorists with blood on their hands as a gesture to the Palestinians, a return gesture is all that is being requested,” Shalit said in his open letter, published on Ynet.
Report: Hamas attack thwarted by Egyptian army
Egyptian security forces arrested "a Palestinian belonging to Hamas who illegally entered Egypt... in a car with North Sinai license plate," according to Ali.
He added that during interrogations, the suspect "confessed he planned to blow up (his car) in front of a strategic security building,"
Egypt's army says militants from the Hamas-run Gaza Strip have staged joint attacks with hardline Islamists in North Sinai, where the government has ramped up security operations after a surge of violence set off by deposed President Mohamed Morsi's ouster in July.
Explosion hits bus in Egyptian capital
Security officials said an explosion has hit a public bus in the Egyptian capital Cairo, wounding five people.
There were also unconfirmed reports of one death, according to Egyptian news site al-Ahram.
The officials said the blast went off Thursday morning as the bus passed through Cairo’s eastern Nasr City district. They said the cause was still uncertain but they suspected an explosive device was thrown at the bus or set nearby.
Pentagon to Israel: Sway Congress against Egypt cuts
An Israeli request to US legislators to restore all American military aid to Egypt was orchestrated at the behest of high-ranking US officials in the Pentagon and the US State Department.
According to a report in Maariv on Wednesday, the Israeli effort came about after US officials, including some who are close to US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, urged Jerusalem to help influence Congress against the cuts.
Former prime minister of Egypt arrested
Kandil was appointed prime minister in July 2012.
In July 2013 an appeals court endorsed a ruling that dismissed Kandil from office and sentenced him to a year in prison over a case concerning a state-owned textile company that was sold to a private investor. Morsi, who was president at the time, was removed by a military coup later the same day.
Obama Withdraws Egyptian Ambassador Nominee Under Pressure From Egypt Military
Sources familiar with the matter say that Robert Ford — the highly-respected, Arabic-speaking career diplomat and current ambassador to Syria — was withdrawn from consideration for the Cairo post after some representatives of Egypt’s military regime quietly indicated that they didn’t want him in the job because of his stated willingness to negotiate with some of Syria’s Islamist militants and political groups.
Israel tracks Syria's Western jihadis, worried about their return
Israel is working with allies abroad to track Westerners fighting in Syria, concerned that such militants could attack Israeli or Jewish targets once back home, a senior Israeli official said on Tuesday.
Of an estimated 10,000 foreign combatants among rebels battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, around 20 percent are from the West and that number is rising, the official said.
Syrian Jihadist Leader Targeted UN Workers
The leader of a powerful Al-Qaeda group fighting in Syria sought to kidnap United Nations workers and scrawled out plans for his aides to take over in the event of his death, The Associated Press (AP) reported on Wednesday.
The report is based on excerpts of letters obtained by the news agency. Iraqi intelligence officials offered AP the letters, as well as the first known photograph of the Al-Nusra Front leader, Abu Mohammed al-Golani.
Barry Rubin: Obama Administration Iran Deal Cannot Work
For example, revolutionary Islamists do not make concessions. That is not the way they bargain. Islamist Iran will never stop seeking nuclear weapons; it will be patient about it. The real danger to the Iranian regime is economic collapse from sanctions, and the potential gain would be for Iran to achieve its true ambitions–mainly, a Shi'a bloc made of Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq; and the destruction of Israel, which won't work.
Egypt played it tough and will probably be the only Arab state that has gained anything. Nevertheless, the Egyptians have so lost confidence with the United States that they just signed a 2 million dollar agreement to buy weapons from Russia. This takes the world back almost 60 years, to 1955, when Egypt was a Soviet client and was buying all its arms from the Soviet Union. Egypt then managed to obtain Russian arms deals for money and yet a U.S. arms deal for free!
Steinitz: Sunni-Shi’ite nuke race will result if Iranian program isn’t stopped
If Iran remains a nuclear threshold state, there will be a Sunni- Shi’ite nuclear arms race, Intelligence and Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said on Wednesday.
Any agreement with world powers must dismantle Iran’s nuclear program, he continued at a conference on Regional Upheavals, held by the Israel and Middle East studies department at Ariel University.
“The Middle East has gone mad,” said Steinitz, adding that nobody had expected what has happened in the Middle East over the past few years.
Iranians draft bill to up enrichment to 60 percent
Iranian parliamentarians have proposed a bill to increase uranium enrichment to 60 percent in the event of new Western sanctions, the Iranian Press TV reported Wednesday. In addition to raising the enrichment level significantly, the draft, signed by 100 legislators, would resume activity at the Arak heavy water reactor.
“If the bill is approved, the government will be obliged to complete nuclear infrastructure at the Fordo and Natanz [enrichment facilities] if sanctions [against Iran] are ratcheted up, new sanctions are imposed, the country’s nuclear rights are violated and the Islamic Republic of Iran’s peaceful nuclear rights are ignored by members of the P5+1,” Seyyed Mehdi Mousavinejad, an Iranian lawmaker, said on Wednesday, according to Press TV.
Turkey: Are ErdoÄŸan's Days Numbered?
Long-brewing political struggles within the ruling AK party have also surfaced. They boil down to two radically different views of Islam. In the first, Erdoğan's faction identifies and allies itself with the [Arab] Muslim Brotherhood. This faction was strongly supportive of the ousted Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood President Muhammad Morsi, and also of Syria's fundamentalists. In the second view, supporters of the Fethullah Gülen look down upon "Arab Islam." To them, "real" Islam is "the Islam of the Turks - meaning the people who live in Turkey, Central Asia, and Western China."
To the outsider, these differences might seem to be distinctions without differences: supporters of both views understandably want Islam to be a major part of the political order. But for Turks, these differences are seismic: the question is, do they belong to the Middle Eastern Arab and Muslim political camp, or do they belong to the wider Turkish world?
Erdogan replaces 10 ministers amid corruption scandal
Erdogan replaced Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, Interior Minister Muammer Guler and Erdogan Bayraktar, the minister for the environment and urban planning. All three men’s sons were detained as part of the corruption investigation. They all deny any wrongdoing.
Erdogan also replaced the minister in charge of relations with the European Union, who was also been implicated in the scandal, but has not resigned.
In all, Erdogan replaced 10 ministers, including three who will contest mayoral elections in March.
Turkey requests Santa Claus’ bones from Pope
The Turkey-based Santa Claus Peace Council has said it has written a letter to Pope Francis, requesting the return of the bones of Saint Nicholas.
Council Chairman Muammer Karabulut said they were expecting Pope Francis to give a positive response to their request to have a meeting on the bones, which are currently in Bari, Italy.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

From Ian:

Isi Leibler: Obama’s Munich reverberates, but Israel is no Czechoslovakia
The overview of recent events should nevertheless be viewed in perspective. While it is reasonable to suggest that the US and its allies are repeating the scenario of appeasement policies undertaken by Chamberlain, Israel today is not Czechoslovakia of 1938. It is not a vassal state and will not allow itself to be sacrificed in order to placate the successors of Nazism.
The IDF today is the most powerful military force in the region, capable of deterring an onslaught by all its adversaries combined. Its neighbors Egypt and Syria are beset by internal problems and the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist organizations are mired in their own crises. In relation to Iran, Saudi Arabia and Gulf states will quietly be supportive of Israel.
Analyst: Kerry's Jordan Valley Arrangements 'A Death-Trap'
Arutz Sheva analyst Mark Langfan has warned that US Secretary of State John Kerry's "security arrangement" proposals for Israel are an updated version of the 1967 "Allon Plan," and place the country in strategic danger.
In the arrangements Kerry has reportedly proposed in ongoing peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA), Israel would for 10 years partially retain the 15 kilometer (9 mile) wide strip of the Jordan Valley as a security zone.
The arrangements have been reportedly rejected by both sides; PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas opposed the plans for allowing Jews to remain in the area. Kerry's pressure on the PA to accept the plans by postponing terrorist prisoner releases led a senior PLO official to say Kerry's proposals for the Jordan Valley will lead to "total failure," after which Kerry announced he would return to Israel on Wednesday.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians to raise prisoner release issue with international forums
The government repeated its demand that the EU Parliament dispatch a commission of inquiry to look into the conditions of the Palestinian prisoners.
The new decision came following reports that US Secretary of State John Kerry has threatened to delay the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. The prisoners were supposed to be released later this month as part of a US-brokered agreement to persuade the PA leadership to agree to the resumption of peace talks with Israel.
Facebook Campaign: Where Are Pollard's Human Rights?
Ahead of Tuesday's International Human Rights Day, a Facebook post surfaced Monday on the Hebrew-language "Free Jonathan Pollard" page reminding readers around the world to act for the Israeli prisoners' release.
The poster (below) reads: "Where is Justice and Human Rights for Jonathan Pollard?" and compares the case with that of Iranian agent Motjaba Atarodi. Atarodi was detained in the US on allegations of acquiring knowledge and technology for Iran's nuclear program, but was released after just two years - as a humanitarian gesture to the Iranians.
Getting less out of the Red-Dead Sea deal
The Palestinians, whose sole contribution to the deal is to sign it, receive an addition 20 million cubic meters of water from the Kinneret (currently they receive 52 million).
Basically the story in a nutshell is that the Kinneret, which already suffers from low water levels, will be drained further to increase the PA and Jordan’s haul of Israeli water by 60%, so that the Jordanians can get a desalination plant in Akaba and Israel can then share some water from that plant and some water will be dumped into the Dead Sea, which benefits both Jordan and Israel.
Palestinian People Who Came Into Existence 50 Years Ago Plan Mural of Their 3,500 Year History
But the Canaanites were at least a people. Which is more than can be said for the Palestinians, which is, in the most optimistic pro-Palestinian take, is still a reference to another non-Arabic people.
The Palestinian Arabs claiming to be Canaanites is like Elizabeth Warren claiming to be Native American. It’s worse, because the Arab conquests took place at a much later date.
We’re talking about a bunch of invaders who started flocking to the area in Roman and Post-Roman times, a process that accelerated with the Mohammedan conquests, claiming to be an ancient people who were long extinct by the time they got there.(h/t NormanF)
Palestinians see worrisome trend in rise of 'honor killings'
Her murder brought to 27 the number of women slain in similar circumstances in Palestinian-run areas this year, according to rights groups - more than twice last year's victims.
The rise has led Palestinians to question hidebound laws they say are lax on killers, as well as a reluctance to name and shame in the media and society, which may contribute to a feeling of impunity among perpetrators.
"It feels like something that belongs to another time," said one young man in Aqqaba who refused to give his name, the first hints of a beard on his chin. "But, it's standard."
Canada: Palestinian Refugees - Fleeing Hamas
Three Palestinian residents of Ramallah, Mohammad Adawi and his two sons Naser and Nasim, arrived in Canada in 2010 requesting refugee status. According to Adawi, he was forced to flee Samaria following death threats from armed members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The three recently applied for a judicial review of a 2012 decision that refused them refugee status and claimed their story was likely fabricated, reports Shalom Toronto. The federal courts involved in the review cancelled the earlier decision and opened a new hearing of their case.
Analysis: Iran's warning to Congress
Speaking directly to US lawmakers and the American president, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif issued a warning on Monday that the deal that world powers cut with Iran over its nuclear program last month would be “entirely dead” if Congress passed additional sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
“We do not like to negotiate under duress,” the top Iranian diplomat said in an interview with TIME magazine. “And if Congress adopts sanctions, it shows lack of seriousness and a lack of desire to achieve a resolution on the part of the United States.”
No deal with Iran
It has failed to ratify and implement the Additional Protocol to the Safeguards' Agreement — additional verification and transparency procedures that would enable the international community to exert a higher level of scrutiny over the country's nuclear activities. Given Iran's past violations, only enhanced verification can re-establish trust over time. Iranian demurral strengthens legitimate suspicions about its noncompliance.
Finally, Iran refuses to apply the modified Code 3.1 of the Subsidiary Arrangements to IAEA Safeguards' Agreements. This norm, which the IAEA considers applicable to Iran, requires all NPT signatories to notify the IAEA of any new nuclear facility before building work begins. Iran has repeatedly violated this rule.
All its enrichment activities are thus in violation of the NPT, regardless of whether it has a right, in theory, to enrich uranium.
Alan Dershowitz Now Doubts Obama’s Promise to Prevent Iran From Gaining Nuclear Weapons
Speaking on the sidelines of Israel’s Globes 2013 Israel Business Conference, Dershowitz said, ”Obama promised me in a personal conversation that Iran would not develop a nuclear weapon on his watch, and I believed him. Nonetheless, I am not sure that he can keep this. Therefore, Israel cannot outsource its security.”
In an interview with Israeli television presenter Ya’akov Eilon, Dershowitz said, “There is the potential for disaster in the deal with Iran; too much was given for too little in return. The White House told me that this is not true. I was told that it will be possible to reapply the sanctions by the U.S. alone. I am afraid of the music not the lyrics. Iran hears this as the end of the sanctions regime in exchange for which they have to give up nothing. If this ends by stopping the nuclear development, I’ll applaud Obama.
John Bolton: Verification is the Elephant in the Room in the Iranian Nuke Deal
In fact, it is the utter absence of provision for stepped-up verification of undeclared Iranian sites that shows how deficient the joint plan is on verification. Amano’s Nov. 14 report to the IAEA board of governors makes plain that Iran continues to stall — as it has for well over two years — on providing information about its program’s military dimensions. Tehran continues blocking any access to the Parchin military base, where Iran has long worked on the weaponization aspects of nuclear weapons, particularly the shaping of high explosives to compress plutonium or enriched uranium into the critical mass necessary for an atomic explosion.
Obama’s joint plan is absolutely silent on verification at Parchin, other military and undeclared facilities and Iran’s active and growing ballistic-missile program. Indeed, like the entire agreement, the verification provisions rest entirely from Iran’s contention that its program is peaceful; only those aspects that Iran is prepared to open to IAEA inspection will be inspected. The real elephant in the room is simply ignored.
The Geneva deal is flawed throughout, and its flimsy verification provisions are not even its most grievous defects. The next time Obama quotes Ronald Reagan saying “trust but verify,” remember that Reagan actually meant what he said.
Iran dismisses Peres's offer to meet with Rouhani
The Iranian foreign ministry has dismissed President Shimon Peres's offer to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, AFP reported Tuesday.
Iranian foreign ministry spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, said her country would never recognize the Jewish state or change its stance, and claimed Peres's offer was aimed at easing Israeli isolation in the world.
Iran military chief says Rouhani government 'infected by Western doctrine'
The commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard force has criticized the government, saying it was under the influence of Western ideas and fundamental change was needed.
Major General Mohammad Jafari's comments are some of the sharpest to be made by a senior official in public since moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani took office as president in August pledging to improve Iran's relations with regional countries and the West.
Iran Unveils New Air Defense Radar System, Space Rocket
The announcements come as fruit of a sovereign weapons development program built upon what it had received in defense support from the U.S. from 1925 to the Islamic Revolution in 1979, which overthrew the U.S.-backed Shah. Its primary suppliers at the time included the United States, Britain, France, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), Italy, Israel, and the Soviet Union.
But the post-1979 embargo coupled with advanced needs for the Iran-Iraq war led to the domestic development program, with newer technology based on reverse engineering what it was able to buy from the Soviet Union, North Korea, Brazil, and China to meet its short term military requirements.
Syrian Opposition Marks 1,000 Days of Civil War, Says One Person Killed Every 11 Minutes
To date, the civil strife has resulted in the death of at least 128,000 Syrians, with more than 2 million citizens being injured. In addition, 16,000 Syrian civilians detained by the regime are currently listed as missing.
A report published by the United Nations Refugee Agency asserts that out of 2.2 million war refugees from Syria who are registered with UNHCR, 52 percent are children. Nearly 90 percent of the refugees have fled to neighboring countries, including Lebanon (385,000), Jordan (291,000) and Turkey (294,000).
Egyptian Author Attributes Involvement in Anti-Egyptian Subversive Schemes to Comedian Jon Stewart
His spiritual father is Jon Stewart, who is a Jewish-American author, journalist, producer, and media personality. Jon Stewart's ideology is based on Brzezinski's ideas. He is implementing Brzezinski's theory on the American people and media.
If you recall, when Jon Stewart visited here in Egypt, he was a guest on Bassem Youssef's show. Note what Jon Stewart said as a joke. He said: "I am sorry I am late. I wandered in the desert, but now I've found my homeland." That's what he said word for word – a Jew who wandered in the desert, but, thank God, found his homeland. This man says, in the heart of Egypt and on an Egyptian media outlet, that Egypt belongs to them, that it is his homeland."


OIC Blames Free Speech for "Islamophobia" in West
The report concludes with the transcript of a speech by OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, in which he thanks American and European political leaders for their help in advancing his efforts to restrict free speech in the West.
"The Istanbul Process initiated with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton to build further on the consensus building that went into Resolution 16/18 must be carried forward. While the resolution forms a triumph of multilateralism, Istanbul Process must also be seen as a poster child of OIC-US-EU cooperation… I appreciate that this Process has come to be recognized as the way forward by all stakeholders… We need to build on it," Ihsanoglu said.
Al Qaeda Theorist Tells Islamists Not to Emulate Mandela
The cleric, Eyad Qunaibi, is western-educated and regarded by U.S. officials as a prominent jihadist ideologue who supports the al Nusra Front, the main al Qaeda rebel group in Syria.
Qunaibi warned Muslims against viewing Mandela as a model, according to a partial translation of a 10-minute video posted to YouTube Saturday.
Qunaibi also criticized Arab news media for giving extensive coverage to Mandela, who died Nov. 5,

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

From Ian:

Khaled Abu Toameh: Palestinians: Abbas Cracks Down on Media, World Looks Other Way
These groups [human rights, media, Western donor governments] see only what the Israeli authorities do. On the side of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, or Hamas in the Gaza Strip, they "see no evil." For Western governments, so long as the Palestinian Authority leadership says it is committed to the peace process with Israel, its leaders are allowed to rule as a dictatorship.
The Palestinian Authority also apparently does not want the outside world, especially international donors, to hear about the financial corruption or violations of freedom of the media. It seems to want criticism to be directed only toward Israel in the hope that this will invite international pressure on the Israelis and force them to accept at the negotiating able all of Abbas's demands.
The UK is paying Palestinians to murder Jews
The following letter sent to my constituency MP is self-explantory:
The policy of the Palestinian Authority clearly encourages the terrorist murder of Jews, since the murderers are guaranteed not just wealth beyond the dreams of ordinary Palestinians, but also great adulation (it is standard for the PA to name roads, squares, and even soccer tournaments after convicted murderers). Since the Palestinian Authority is funded solely by the EU and USA perhaps you can assure me that you will ask the Foreign Secretary to:
a) immediately stop all payments to the Palestinian Authority, hence putting a stop to this incitement and direct support for terrorism; and
b) avoid pressuring Israel to release terrorist murderers (perhaps noting that this is the equivalent of expecting the UK to release people like the murderers of soldier Lee Rigby as a 'peace gesture').
CAIR's Ayloush Gives Dishonest, Bullying Answer to Hamas Question
Cornered by a straightforward question he did not want to answer, the head of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Los Angeles office chose instead to misrepresent his organization's actions and feign outrage that the question itself was bigoted.
"Will CAIR-Los Angeles or CAIR-National – will you condemn Hamas?" Hussam Ayloush was asked outside his chapter's annual fundraising banquet Saturday evening.
BBC’s Knell still can’t get Hamas terror designation right
Hamas is in fact defined as a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States, the European Union, Canada and Japan – as the BBC’s own profile of Hamas clearly states. In addition, Australia designates Hamas’ Izz al Din Al Qassam Brigades as a terrorist organization, as do New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
As also noted in the BBC’s profile, Hamas not only “refuses to recognise Israel”: its charter commits it to that country’s destruction.
Hamas: 'We'll Come to Your Homes, Your Schools'
Speaking on behalf of Hamas at the College for Science and Technology in Khan Yunis on Monday, al-Masri emphasized that the next conflict with Israel would be underground, and that "we will enter your homes, your schools, your positions and your strongholds."
Al-Masri also added that the terror organization now has missiles capable of a 100-km radius - capable of reaching Jerusalem and Tel Aviv - in its possession.
A strike on Iran: Complex, but possible
The number of facilities that would need to be hit to deal a fatal blow to Iran's nuclear infrastructure is generally overestimated. The essential ingredient for building a nuclear bomb is uranium enriched to a level of more than 90%, meaning that the enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordo must be taken care of. The reactor at Arak, designed to produce plutonium (another fissionable material suitable for building a nuclear bomb), is not yet active, but it is a worthy target, similar to the reactor that was destroyed in Iraq in 1981.
Netanyahu has nothing to lose except losing
What could save the deal is if the Iranians fake throwing up their hands. What could save the world from a bad deal is if the ayatollahs harden their positions. The level of doubt over Iran's behavior, to the point where even Washington, eager for a compromise with Tehran, could resist acquiescence, marked the core of Secretary of State John Kerry's decision to take a rain check on his visit to Jerusalem this week; he's not sure what might be in his hands come Friday.
No doubt, Israel is stuck in an inferior position. Even Hollande's visit could not change that, mainly because the French president would not give up mixing the Iran deal with the settlement-development issue. But, in light of the current situation, just as peace talks are set to resume on Wednesday, there's no reason Netanyahu should back off the process he has practically been leading himself. He's still got the chance to succeed. He's got nothing to lose by persevering. At least it shows integrity.
Netanyahu: 'Partial deals are bad deals'
“I don't advocate partial deals. I think partial deals are bad deals,” Netanyahu told host Candy Crowley in an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “If you want to do a partial deal, then decide what the final deal is, and then do one step. Decide that the final deal will actually implement the very terms that you, the P5+1, have put in the Security Council resolution.”
He said a final deal should include dismantling all centrifuges and plutonium reactors in Iran. But negotiations aren’t heading in that direction, and President Barack Obama has said some sanctions could be lifted in a deal and quickly reversed if Iran doesn’t stand by its promises.
Reducing any sanctions now, however, could bring an end to sanctions in the near future, Netanyahu said, warning that was “not a good idea.”
US Jewish leaders feel misled by White House over Iran deal
The US Jewish leaders feel that the administration showed a “lack of trust” in them, a source close to the contacts said.
Obama administration officials did not tell them that they had been secretly negotiating with Iran for the past year, and that the Geneva talks were really “precooked,” The Times of Israel was told, and thus it was an act of bad faith for the administration to ask the Jewish groups to hold off on pressure for more sanctions with the promise that they would meet again in 30-60 days to consider where the negotiations had led.
PM: Iran already has enough material for five bombs
“The Iranians already have five bombs’ worth of low-enriched uranium,” he told the German daily Bild. “If you press the sanctions now, you might actually get a better deal. If you have a bad diplomatic solution — what this appears to be — you actually may get the consequences you want to avoid. That is, you would have no choice but to exercise a military option in the future.”
In order to build a nuclear bomb, highly enriched uranium in necessary, yet it is possible to convert low-enriched material to weapons-grade level rather quickly. According to some experts, Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to build an atomic weapon within two weeks.
Steinitz: World willing to cheat itself over Iran
Warning that the "world is cheating itself" over the deal," Steinitz said, "Tomorrow, there will be a return to the negotiations table in Geneva, and in light of the agreement taking shape, I'd like to clarify that the government of Israel believes this is a bad deal. No one can force us to take part in the celebration, which could be a fake celebration. It's important to stress that if someone thinks that it is comfortable and pleasant to be the one who spoils the celebration, they are wrong. We would prefer to be part of the celebration, but on such a critical issue to our welfare and to world peace, we will not lie to ourselves," Steinitz said.
We’ll continue enriching, won’t shut nuclear sites, Iran lawmaker says
Speaking to Iran’s Arabic-language news station Al-Alam, Mohammad Hassan Asfari, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Affairs committee, reported on a meeting with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at Iran’s foreign ministry Sunday evening. Zarif updated the parliamentarians on the recent round of talks in Geneva and on Iran’s strategy for the upcoming round set to commence in Geneva this Wednesday.
According to Asfari, Iran’s halting of uranium enrichment and the closure of the nuclear plant in Fordo and the heavy water reactor in Arak are “not on the agenda of either side.” Iran, Asfari was told in the meeting, would negotiate based on “Iran’s pride.”
Iranian dissidents say Iran has built secret new nuclear site
An exiled Iranian opposition group said on Monday it had information about an underground nuclear site being built in Iran and that this was among a number of secret venues for an atomic bomb program.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran exposed Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz and a heavy-water facility at Arak in 2002. But analysts say the NCRI has a mixed track record and a clear agenda of regime change in Tehran.
23 killed in attack on Iran's embassy in Beirut
Two suicide bombings struck near the Iranian Embassy in the Lebanese capital of Beirut on Tuesday, killing 23 people, including the Iranian cultural attache.
The mid-morning blasts hit Beirut's upscale neighborhood of Janah, a stronghold of the Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim Hezbollah group. One explosion blew out the large black main gate of the Iranian mission, damaging the three-story facility.
Hanegbi shoots down Iranian claims that Israel behind Beirut blasts
Hanegbi said that it was quite humorous that a country that has perpetuated terror around the world, now is blaming others.
His comments came after Al Jazeera reported that "the Iranian ambassador in Lebanon, who escaped from the attack uninjured, is blaming Israel for the attack."
Beirut bombing sees Iran drawn deeper into Lebanon quagmire
Evidently, however, even such stringent security precautions — introduced at potential Iranian targets as well — could not thwart Tuesday’s bombings. The Iranians are themselves now learning the bitter lesson they taught Israel: the combination of explosives and a highly motivated terrorist make the suicide bomber a devastating and hard-to-stop weapon.
Group behind Beirut bombing has fired rockets at Israel
The Abdullah Azzam Brigade, the al-Qaeda-affiliated group that claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s deadly attack on the Iranian embassy in Beirut, has threatened in the past to launch an offensive against Israel.
Why Has the U.N. Given Assad a Free Pass on Mass Murder?
During the past year, the United Nations' chief relief agency has routinely withheld from the public vital details of the Bashar al-Assad regime's systematic campaign to block humanitarian assistance to Syrian civilians. This silence has infuriated human rights advocates, who believe that greater public exposure of Assad's actions would increase political pressure on the Syrian government to allow the international community to help hundreds of thousands of ordinary Syrians who are trapped in the line of fire.
Instead, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) -- which oversees international relief efforts in Syria -- has relied on low-key, behind-the-scenes diplomacy to quietly persuade the Syrian regime to open the aid floodgates. So far, critics say, the strategy has been ineffective. Worse, it provides a measure of political cover to the Assad regime as it carries out mass starvation and slaughter, these critics contend.
UN Watch: At UN, Syria's murderous regime compares Israelis to Nazis


Jews help Syria’s innocent victims in Bulgaria
Unable to handle the growing number of refugees, the Bulgarian authorities are helpless to offer anything more than overcrowded camps in poor condition with little medical care or food.
“We count on external assistance,” admitted Bulgarian Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski during a meeting with Jewish Canadian philanthropist, pop musician/jingle writer Yank Barry on November 13. Driven by personal ties to Bulgaria and his humanitarian mission, Barry is among the most recent contributors to join the relief effort to aid the Syrian refugees in Bulgaria, the European Union’s least wealthy member.
‘Egypt signs missile deal with Russia’
The head of Russia’s state-controlled industrial holding company says Moscow has signed a deal to provide Egypt with air defense missile systems.
Monday’s statement by Russian Technologies chief Sergei Chemezov followed last week’s trip to Egypt by Russia’s foreign and defense ministries.
US to Train Libyan Forces As Militias Ravage Tripoli
On Sunday, following heavy violence in Tripoli, a senior US military official revealed plans to train up to 7,000 members of Libya's security and special operations forces, according to Al Arabiya.
Aside from training thousands of conventional forces, special operations forces will be trained to conduct counter-terror operations, according to Admiral William McRaven, head of the U.S. military's Special Operations Command.
Turkey's secularists alarmed over rise of Islamic 'moralism'
Tension between religious and secular elites has long been one of the underlying fault lines in the predominantly Muslim but constitutionally secular republic, forged from the ruins of an Ottoman theocracy by Ataturk 90 years ago.
But a stream of provocative comments from Erdogan, who is expected to stand for president in elections next year, has heightened accusations of religiously-motivated interference in private life and exacerbated secularists' sense of siege.
Erdogan suggested this month that rules could be drawn up to stop male and female students living together, one ruling party official suggesting such unregulated cohabitation could be used to harbor criminals.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

From Ian:

Palestinian Corruption -- Again
If the Palestinian movement believes it lives outside the laws of politics, nature and economics, it may be right.
The PA and Hamas occupy a split territory with two feuding governments -- both dictatorships with all the arbitrariness and lack of accountability implied by that; multiple armed services that fight each other and, occasionally, kill Israelis; a school system that teaches children that the IDF ate Mickey Mouse and Jews have no history in the land of the Bible; a civic culture that venerates suicide bombers and the mothers who seem to revel in their children's bloody demise; and an economy that produces nothing of export value. Yet it operates on the principle that it will be bailed out by European and American political support and international largesse. And that Israel will be blamed for the Palestinian failure to thrive.
Two stories this week, however, may challenge endlessly naïve European and American fealty to the Palestinian narrative.
Al-Qaida, Muslim Brotherhood hold secret meeting in Jordan
The meeting focused on the conflict in Egypt and Syria and an altercation broke out between a Brotherhood member and jihadist leader Mohammad al-Miqdad, and the latter asked the Brotherhood not to publicly denounce the actions of the jihadists.
The jihadists discussed their plans to start moving Syrian and Iraqi jihadists into Egypt in order to carry out terror operations there after the Eid al-Adha festival, which falls on Tuesday.
Experts Warn of Al Qaeda Biological Weapons Threat
Experts from the Henry Jackson Society (HJS) have issued a stark warning over what they say is the "clear and present danger" of Al Qaeda gaining possession of the Assad regime's stockpile of biological weapons, claiming to have substantial evidence that Al Qaeda-linked groups may already have possession of toxic agents.
Unlike chemical weapons, which utilize chemical agents to poison victims, biological weapons make use of diseases, toxins and other contagious agents. Biological weapons have the potential to kill far greater numbers, and are also far harder to detect or protect against.
Visualizing anti-Zionism: Site used by Guardian data blog calls Haifa “Palestinian”
Yesterday, we posted about an extraordinarily misleading Guardian data blog entry on the Palestinian economy – a piece by Mona Chalabi titled ‘How does Palestine’s economy work?‘, Oct. 14 – which assigned blame for Palestinian economic woes almost entirely on Israel, and never once so much as mentioned the injurious economic impact of Palestinian terrorism.
Many of the claims made by Chalabi were quite specious, including her reference to a report which purported to quantify the number of olive trees “uprooted by Israeli authorities since 1967″. To illustrate the number of olive trees allegedly destroyed by “Israeli Authorities” – which Palestinians have evidently methodically been counting over the past 46 years – she referred readers to a site called ‘Visualizing Palestine‘.
Following CiF Watch post, Guardian amends ‘terrorist sperm’ story
We demonstrated, per Israeli court records, that Za’anin not only belonged to a terror organization, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but volunteered for their military wing (Al-Quds Brigades), and was convicted after pleading guilty to four counts of being an accessory to attempted murder, a plea bargain in which he admitted his active participation in several terror attacks.
Today, we noticed that the article was amended (on October 15) to include details of Za’anin’s criminal record.
CNN’s Holocaust-revisionism: It isn’t “piffle.”
NPR knows it. NBC knows it. Even Iran’s Fars News Agency knows it.
CNN seriously mistranslated its interview with new Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, and it’s turning into a scandal that won’t go away.
Brighton University lecturer calls for abolition of Sussex University’s Israel Studies course.
Tom Hickey, a Brighton University lecturer, speaking at the start of Sussex University’s Palestine Awareness Week on Monday night called for the abolition of Sussex University’s newly established Yossi Harel Chair in Modern Israel Studies until questions relating to its “external sources of funding” and the process that established it are “satisfactorily answered.”
He also attacked already established Israel Studies courses at SOAS, Leeds University, Manchester University and Oxford University.
Hickey is a senior member of University and College Union’s National Executive Committee and a member of BRICUP (British Committee for the Universities of Palestine).
World Bank Report on Palestinian Economy Full of Holes
Yet a close look at the report reveals that it makes numerous assumptions about Palestinian aspirations and behavior patterns, establishes a series of questionable multipliers, and downplays the significance of complex political factors and security realities, according to Steven Plaut, Professor of Economics at the University of Haifa.
“I think the World Bank doesn’t fully understand the Israeli economy or the Palestinian economy. What’s worse, they have a political agenda. They produce findings to match their political agenda,” Plaut told JNS.org.
“I think they are making it up as it goes along,” he said.
Is Hamas to mend ties with Assad?
Hamas' Deputy Politburo Chief Moussa Abu Marzouk interviewed for Assad affiliated channel Al Mayadeen on Monday, saying Khaled Mashal was wrong in raising the flag of Syrian opposition, and that Hamas had no official ties with any rebel organizations.
Last June a dramatically important meeting was held in Lebanon concerning the shaken relationship between Hamas and some of the Arab and Muslim world. Group senior Moussa Abu Marzouk conferred there with officials from Iran and from Hezbollah to work out differences that have occurred between Hamas and then in the past two years over the Syrian civil war.
Hamas TV Airs Cartoon Lauding its Military Wing, Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades


US says nuclear talks more substantive than ever; Israel mum
White House spokesman Jay Carney said the talks contained a “level of seriousness and substance that we have not seen before.”
While cautioning not to expect a prompt breakthrough, Carney said the US “found the Iranian presentation very useful.”
The sides released a statement at the end of two days of talks calling the meetings “substantive and forward looking.”
Who Let Iran Get So Close to a Nuke?
So far, we have little indication as to whether the U.S. is willing to accept the sort of “bad deal” that Secretary of State John Kerry, let alone Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, has warned against. But there is one thing that we know. The reason why the negotiations are so critical is that over the past several years Iran has made so much progress toward the completion of a bomb that there isn’t time for a long drawn out diplomatic process. As the New York Times reports:
On Monday, a senior American official said that the United States wanted Iran to take steps that were “transparent and verifiable” to constrain its program and to assure the West that it was not intending to produce a nuclear bomb.
Iran’s nuclear efforts had advanced so much, the American official added, that Iran needed to take stops now to halt or even reverse its nuclear program so there was time to negotiate a comprehensive agreement.
John Bolton: With Iran, We Can’t Verify or Trust
Tuesday’s opening of yet another round of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear-weapons program creates enormous risks for America’s anti-proliferation efforts. Tehran’s extensive propaganda campaign, stressing the “moderation” of its new president, Hassan Rouhani, seems to be working, softening up the gullible in the United States and Europe.
As in previous iterations of the charade now reopening in Geneva, Iran’s bargaining position benefits from our own repeated mistakes. The ayatollahs need only take advantage of these unforced errors, and success may well fall into their undeserving hands. Consider the most blatant errors that Iran is eager to exploit.
Russia: Lift Iran sanctions in exchange for int’l control of nuke program
Speaking in Geneva, after the wrap of a 2-day meeting between the P5+1 and Iran, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov alleged that sanctions “undermine” attempts to solve the diplomatic crisis, reported Russia Today.
“The beacon, the main arrangement that we follow is the proposal by [President] Vladimir Putin that the recognition of Iran’s right to [uranium] enrichment as part of its inseparable rights under the Non-proliferation Treaty should be accompanied by the introduction of full comprehensive international control over the Iranian nuclear program,” Ryabkov told reporters.
Taliban Assassinate Afghan Governor With Exploding Koran…
When someone in America mishandles a Koran the Islamic world riots for days.
Via Khaama Press:
"Afghan intelligence – National Directorate of Security (NDS) on Wednesday announced that militants had placed explosives inside the Holy Quran, which left Logar provincial governor Arsala Jamal dead."
Turkey and Israel: A ‘what next?’ mindset
As PM Netanyahu pointed out immediately after he initiated the US-brokered rapprochement, the most critical strategic priority would be Syria’s prolonged civil war. Within this context, Turkey and Israel have to get ready to secure the Baathist tyranny’s chemical and allegedly biological weapons arsenal along with other strategic weapons systems in case of an uncontrolled regime collapse. Furthermore, we also need to carefully watch for any mass transfer of game-changing weapon systems in asymmetric conflicts, such as man portable air defense systems (MANPADS), and antitank guided missiles (ATGM) into the hands of non-state groups that might target Turkey or Israel. In a moment of irrational shock, Assad or members of the elite surrounding him might attempt to ignite a regional war by provoking Turkish or Israeli administrations. In this case, the two nations need to be prepared to act in coordination, to nip the threat in the bud.
Erdogan’s Turkey: Less nationalism, more Islam
An op-ed published in the New York Times last week by Turkish researcher Halil M. Karaveli, claimed that far from helping Turkey’s minority, Erdogan was increasingly playing with sectarian fire.
“Erdogan is turning Turkey into a powder keg in an attempt to shore up his own political base,” Karaveli wrote. “He is intentionally activating the longstanding fault lines separating religious and secular Turks — and most dangerously the divide between the country’s Sunni majority and its Alevi minority. If he continues to do so, Turkish democracy itself could become a casualty of his confrontational policies.”
Greek ambassador: Despite apology, Turkey blocking Israel-NATO cooperation
Lampridis said he was surprised by the continued Turkish opposition, especially since practical cooperation between Turkey and Israel was taking place on a daily basis, “like where Turkey has an advantage, of course, and Israel is demonstrating goodwill.”
For example, since Turkish goods can no longer be transported overland through Syria to the Persian Gulf, every week hundreds of Turkish trucks arrive via ferry to the Haifa Port where they then proceed across the country to the Jordan border crossings, carrying millions of dollars worth of goods to Jordan and onward to the Gulf.
“If Israel behaved in the same negative way that Turkey was behaving, it could have said ‘no’ to Turkey, told them, ‘This is your problem. I don’t need these trucks blocking my highways.’ But Israel is cooperating, and Turkey is deriving great benefit from this.”

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

From Ian:

IDF finds, blows up explosives-laden tunnel from Gaza
The IDF on Tuesday discovered and detonated a Hamas-built tunnel running east from the Gaza Strip into Israel. The tunnel was a recently discovered part of an excavation that was first revealed in November 2012, and contained several barrels of explosives. This is the second terror tunnel to be found in as many weeks.
“Earlier this morning IDF forces detonated a tunnel exposed shortly before Operation Pillar of Defense in order to sabotage yet another terror infrastructure of Hamas,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Office said in a statement.
How Hamas dug its Gaza ‘terror tunnel,’ and how the IDF found it
All told, some 3,400 cubic meters of soil were excavated from the earth in carving the tunnel, the geologist estimated. A mountain of earth that size, even if carted away daily on trucks, leaves a traceable signature and is one way in which the IDF is able to spot the hallmarks of a tunnel. Other ways, according to an academic tunnel-detection expert, include devices that measure sub-surface sound, the strength and direction of a magnetic field, and the propagation or spread of radio and light waves.
The seismic method is the most intuitive and monitors the tremors created by people moving and digging underground. The downside of this method, the expert said, is that many actions create tremors, and in an agricultural area, where there is ample foot and vehicle traffic, the seismic method can often sound a false alarm.
Officials: Hamas Tunnel Part of Kindergarten Terror Attack Plot
Hamas has used more primitive tunnels in the past to conduct operations on Israeli soil, most notably the 2006 kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, which was followed by Israel’s 2006 Operation Summer Rains. Security officials estimate that this tunnel – which IDF Spokesman Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai described as “one of the most advanced terror tunnels to be uncovered in recent years” – was intended to facilitate an attack on the nearby kindergarten."
Cement to Gaza Used for Tunnels Instead of Schools and Houses
On September 26, Electronic Intifada published in its "human rights" section another of its endless depictions of Gazan deprivation caused by Israel's allegedly cruel policy of denying construction materials, mainly cement. The article states:
With the severe shortage of building supplies in Gaza, for example, construction has stopped on 13 government schools and tendering postponed on 26 others, the UN agency OCHA reported.
Rehabilitation of the 76 kindergartens that were damaged during Israel’s November 2012 attacks on Gaza was also likely to be delayed or postponed, and the construction of a new building at Al-Aqsa University has stopped, OCHA added...“There are hundreds of construction projects pending in Gaza,” including many badly needed housing projects...
Now we know the real reason why the cement was so desperately needed.
How much does terrorism cost the Palestinian economy?
To get a sense of how extraordinarily misleading this is, imagine a media report about the injurious effects of economic sanctions on Iran which didn’t even mention that the sanctions were enacted to influence Tehran into complying with U.N. Security Council demands that it halt its nuclear weapons development.
Similarly, Chalabi – as with most Guardian Left narratives about the economic toll of Israeli defensive measures on the Palestinian economy – is conflating cause with effect. It ignores the fact that the Israeli blockade of Gaza was prompted by thousands of rockets targeting Israeli civilians, and that the security fence was constructed in response to waves of deadly suicide bombings in the early 2000s which targeted cafes, markets, bus stops and other public areas where families and children congregate.
Guardian quickly changes its mind, decides Israel is NOT ‘choking Gaza’
The original title was classic Guardian, conveying an anti-Israel message not supported by the subsequent text. Indeed, we were prepared to focus on the extraordinary misleading title (and complain to Guardian editors) when, roughly an hour later, editors revised it on their own, omitting the word “Israel.”
Despite the fact that Egypt’s increased restrictions on Palestinians in Gaza is the focus of the story – in contrast with Israel’s eased restrictions – here is the original title per a cached page (before it was changed at the Guardian’s site).
Hamas tells Palestinians fleeing Syria to come to Gaza
The call, which was made by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, came after the Libyan coast guard opened fire at a boat carrying 374 Palestinian refugees from Syria.
Initial reports had suggested that nearly half of the refugees that had drowned died after the boat sank off Maltese waters.
Defense industry braces for U.S. halt in Egypt aid
The defense industry has remained tight-lipped about how Washington’s suspension of military assistance to Egypt might affect its production lines.
Three main players gave terse answers when asked about the Obama administration’s decision to “hold” deliveries of big-ticket weapons to Cairo in a bid to punish Egypt for last summer’s political crackdown — without breaking off the relationship altogether.
Egyptian FM: Cairo-Washington relations in turmoil
Nabil Fahmy told state-run Al-Ahram newspaper that Egypt had been dependent on US aid for too long but Washington was wrong to assume the Cairo government would always follow its line.
"We are now in a delicate state reflecting the turmoil in the relationship and anyone who says otherwise is not speaking honestly," he said in comments published on Wednesday.
Egypt May Look to Russia To Counter US Aid Reduction
While the Israeli government has refused to directly comment on the US move, Israeli Minister of Environmental Protection Gilad Ardenne said in an interview with public radio that he was bothered by how such a decision could be interpreted in Egypt and by how it may affect relations with Israel. Former Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said, “What’s strange in that move is that the Americans are effectively, albeit unintentionally, working against their own interests.”
Reuters news agency quoted an Israeli official as saying, “We are worried that if aid is stopped, the Egyptian people will press their government to abandon the treaty.” Another Israeli official was worried that Egypt may turn toward Russia.
Opinion: Hezbollah, why so silent?
Why hasn’t Hezbollah denied the authenticity of the video—uploaded onto YouTube—allegedly showing Hezbollah fighters executing gravely wounded Syrians in Al-Qusayr?… The video… clearly depicted Hezbollah fighters killing helpless wounded Syrians, as their commander had urged them. Some fighters were reluctant about killing the wounded so their commander told them to execute them as stated by the “religious order.”…
Some were sure that the party would immediately declare that those involved were not Hezbollah fighters and that the circulated images do not represent the party’s ethics…
Hours and days passed by and the party did not comment on the video.
Hezbollah’s video proves once again that the party’s involvement in Syria has trapped it into a tornado-like conflict that is unlike any other war. The party is now part of a machine that oppresses the Syrian people, its members are now classified as war criminals who should be prosecuted. This is now a crystal clear fact for the Arab and international community.
Irwin Cotler: Testing Iran’s Nuclear Charm Offensive
Given the Iranian track record of using negotiations as a delay tactic while uranium continues to be enriched and the centrifuges continue to spin, only Iran’s verifiable abandonment of its nuclear weapons pursuits – based on the above undertakings – should result in the easing of international sanctions. Negotiations must not serve as cover for denial, deception, and delay; rather, they must lead to full Iranian compliance with the regime’s international obligations, an outcome that would greatly advance the cause of international peace and security, and that would greatly benefit the Iranian people themselves.
Iran’s plan: Isolate US in P5+1 talks to gain advantage
The document describes the “short-medium-term operational strategy” for nuclear talks and says that as part of the strategy, Iran will “change the global security environment” by “breaking the coordination of major powers and neutralizing the Zionist-American efforts to build an international consensus against Iran.” The strategy specifically hopes to “neutralize the leverage of America and the Zionist regime with countries and multilateral institutions vis-a-vis Iran.”
Sending message ‘near and far,’ air force conducts massive drill
The Israeli Air Force conducted an unusually large exercise over the northern border and the Mediterranean Sea overnight. Military sources confirmed the exercise Tuesday morning.
“Recently, changes have taken place across the region,” a national security official told the Walla news site. “The IDF is deployed both near and far for these changes, and last night’s exercise was meant to signal the IDF’s serious intentions to deal with these problems and thwart them.”
On the eve of Iran talks, Mideast allies bewildered by US policy
On Sunday, the Saudi-owned newspaper a-Sharq al-Awsat published an editorial calling for Iran to be barred from enriching uranium altogether. Numerous WikiLeaks documents dealing with the Gulf States suggest that, with all due respect to the Palestinian question, what truly keeps Arab rulers awake at night is the fear that Iran will acquire a nuclear weapon, and will undermine their rule with terror attacks and orchestrated demonstrations. “Cut off the head of the snake,” as Saudi King Abdullah reportedly put it.
These are not paranoid visions or the brainchild of Netanyahu. These are real concerns of past and present American allies in the region, who gaze with wonder and bewilderment upon Washington’s foreign policy and struggle to understand why the US president rushes to telephone the president of Iran while almost simultaneously announcing that military aid to Egypt will be frozen.
France Covers Obama's Middle East Retreat
In an interview with the Associated Press on Oct. 4, Barack Obama depicted Iran as a country living with sanctions "put in place because Iran had not been following international guidelines, and had behaved in ways that made a lot of people feel they were pursuing a nuclear weapon."
For French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, that was a pastels-and-wispy-brushstrokes rendering of reality. Two days later, in an interview with Europe 1 radio, Mr. Fabius drew a darker, edgier picture. "As we speak," he said, Iran keeps the centrifuges turning that are needed to make enriched uranium for nuclear bombs. But Iran is also pursuing a second, separate track toward atomic weapons with the construction, at Arak, of a heavy-water reactor producing plutonium.
Libya's Grand Mufti Wants to Veil Female Teachers
A new fatwa by Libya’s top religious authority, the Grand Mufti, saying that all women teachers must veil their faces when instructing males who have reached puberty has prompted the anger of liberal activists, who fear this is the start of widespread educational gender segregation.
Libya’s Grand Mufti, Sheikh Sadik Al-Ghariani made the fatwa following a request from the Ministry of Education for advice on the issue as some schools had started to order women teachers to cover up.
Britain’s stated aim of getting Turkey to join the EU is mad
Of course now, whenever I raise the subject with people from government, I get told, sotto voce, that ‘it’s not going to happen’. Which makes you wonder about the coherence of a foreign policy where the stated and actual aims of government are so very much at odds. The trouble about Britain being so publicly and passionately in favour of Turkey in the EU is that eventually it may get what it wished for. The consequences for immigration, for social cohesiveness, for community relations, here and still more in Germany, really don’t bear thinking about.
NATO Defense Official: Turkey Plan to Purchase Chinese Weapons System Would Implant “Virus” Into NATO Command and Control System
The deal would see Turkey purchase missile defense assets from the China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC), a company that among other things is currently under U.S. sanctions for violations of the Iran, North Korea and Syria Nonproliferation Act. The systems would require integration with Turkey’s existing NATO assets, which would among other things require the Chinese systems to communicate with – and draw information from – NATO assets. Per an article published this morning by Turkey’s Hurriyet daily, Western defense officials are beside themselves with disbelief:
China's Mideast clout growing amid Turkey missile deal
China's likely sale of sophisticated missiles to Turkey over the objections of its NATO allies might have angered Washington and other capitals, but it should not have been a surprise.
Even as the US has spent billions of dollars and lost hundreds of lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, Beijing has been quietly upping its presence in the Middle East.
Militarily, the US - which maintains a permanent aircraft carrier presence near the Gulf as well as dozens of other warships and major bases in Turkey, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates - is by far the dominant regional power.

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