Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Abbas’ advisor: All of “Palestine” will “return” to Palestinians through "resistance"
In his latest sermon, Mahmoud Abbas' advisor on Religious and Islamic Affairs stated that "all our occupied land, all our rights in Palestine... our ancestors' legacy - all of it will return to us even if it takes time." Since the Palestinian Authority claims historical rights to all of Israel, by referring to "our ancestors' legacy" returning, Abbas' advisor Mahmoud Al-Habbash is assuring Palestinians that Israel's demise is assured.Abbas advisor: "In terms of resistance, all options are on the table"
Palestinian Media Watch reported that Al-Habbash gave a speech about the same them in October, when he taught that accepting Israel's existence is "prohibited" under Islamic law:
"The entire land of Palestine (i.e., includes all of Israel) is waqf (an inalienable religious endowment in Islamic law) and is blessed land... It is prohibited to sell, bestow ownership or facilitate the occupation of even a millimeter of it."[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Oct. 22, 2014]
In the current sermon, he explained that violence is one of the tools that the PA will use against Israel: "In terms of resistance - all options are on the table."
Did Fatah call for assassination of Israeli minister?
Fatah’s military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, publicized a call “to respond in kind” to what they called the “assassination of [PA] Minister Ziad Abu Ein.” Calling to “respond in kind” to what Fatah calls an “assassination” of a Palestinian minister could be interpreted as a call to assassinate an Israeli minister.False Symmetries and “Cycle of Violence” Fantasies in the Middle East
Abu Ein collapsed and died of a heart attack during a demonstration against Israel last week. The Israeli coroner reported he died of a “stress-induced heart attack” while the Palestinian coroner said the heart attack “was caused by injury” a few minutes after a heated exchange with an Israeli soldier, in which the soldier had grabbed his neck.
Palestinian Media Watch has documented that the Palestinian Authority political establishment has decided to call his death “murder.”
Fatah’s military wing released this statement yesterday calling to “respond in kind”:
“Fatah’s military wing, the Al-Aqsa [Martyrs’] Brigades, called on its members in the West Bank to respond to the assassination of Minister Ziad Abu Ein.
In a statement, it said: ‘We call on the Al-Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank to respond in kind to the cowardly assassination crime,’ noting that Palestine would be liberated through the barrel of the rifle.
In addition, it demanded the cessation of all security cooperation with this treacherous enemy, and called on the masses of the Palestinian people to expand the Intifada and the resistance to the occupation.” [Ma'an (independent Palestinian news agency) Dec. 10, 2014]
Arab terrorism is not caused by Israeli “occupation” but rather by the removal of Israeli occupation. The “Palestinians” have about as legitimate a claim to statehood and independence as did the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia. Granting “Palestinians” independence will have precisely the same effect as did the granting “self-determination” to the Sudeten Germans. The only reason Arabs demand that the “Palestinians” be granted a state is in order to use it to launch an all-out war of annihilation and terror against what would be the rump Israel.
Israel is the only country in the Middle East that is NOT an apartheid regime. The only Arabs in the Middle East enjoying human rights are those living under Israeli rule. The treatment of Arabs by Israel is at least a thousand times better than the treatment of Arabs by Arab regimes. The “stateless Palestinians” are Arabs, and Arabs control 22 states. No one is stopping any Arabs uncomfortable about living in a Jewish state from moving to any of those 22 states and taking all their assets and wealth with them. The Middle East conflict is about injustices perpetrated by Arabs against Jews and not the other way around.
None of this belies the possibility that if one seeks hard enough one can find incidents in which some Jews behave badly towards some Arabs. Just as Hershel Grynszpan may have murdered the wrong German. But that hardly makes the Middle East conflict a symmetric cycle of violence and injustice. There were a handful of white slaves owned by slaveholders in the American south before the Civil War and there were small numbers of black slave-owners. Using that to paint pre-Emancipation slavery as a symmetry of black and white slaves with black and white slave-owners would of course by an obscenity. Use of the assassination of vom Rath to create fictional symmetry would be even worse. But nothing can compete with the malicious, repugnant, and perfidious distortion of the Middle East conflict by the media as a symmetric conflict and a cycle of violence. (h/t Elder of Lobby)
Ben-Dror Yemini: From Sydney to Rome, until Islam rules the world
The Israeli-Arab conflict, or Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is becoming more religious. This change has another aspect. The West is very biased against Israel when it comes to the national conflict, the settlements, the occupation. The overdone support for a nonexistent Palestinian state is proof of that.A UN Timetable for Israel’s Destruction
But on the other hand, as the conflict becomes more religious, there is much more solidarity with the Israeli side. Because then, the war is not against Israel. The war is against Sydney and Rome.
It's true that the delusional margins in the left will continue to understand jihad, offer explanations for it and blame Israel. But the majority in the West is beginning to show signs of repulsion. It is running out of patience.
"It's okay that they don’t want to be like us," a Norwegian journalist told me candidly, "but it's unacceptable that they want us to be like them."
But when we went back to talk about Israel, he returned to the old slogans.
What is happening in Australia won't wake the free world from its slumber. But another small alarm bell rang Monday. Let's just hope that the wake-up call won't arrive with a festival of bells.
The Obama administration is shamelessly outsourcing the United States’ historic leadership in facilitating negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel of a workable, secure two-state solution to the United Nations and European governments. In putting its trust in these two centers of anti-Israel sentiment, the Obama administration refuses to say categorically that it would veto a UN Security Council resolution setting some sort of deadline for the creation of a Palestinian state and Israeli withdrawal to the pre-June 1967 lines.Israel Should Quit The UN
In the words of an unnamed senior U.S. State Department official quoted by Reuters, “These things are all very much in flux, it’s not as if we’re being asked to take a position on any particular Security Council resolution right now. It would be premature for us to discuss documents that are of uncertain status right now.”
Any Security Council resolution the Obama administration would agree to, which imposes pressure only on Israel to make more unilateral concessions for an illusionary “peace,” will serve to legitimize a United Nations timetable for Israel’s surrender to forces that wish to destroy it. The Gaza debacle following Israel’s decision to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza in 2005 and give the Palestinians a chance to build a prototype Palestinian state illustrates the danger Israel would face from being pressured into more withdrawals at this time.
The Jews have survived for 4,500 years, with a state, without a state, with independence, without independence, one way or the other.Khaled Abu Toameh: Kerry to meet today with Arab League delegates over Palestinian UN statehood bid
The United Nations was founded in the aftermath of the the Second World War in a flush of idealism and guilt and one of its first acts was to recognize the re-establishment of the Jewish state.
Thank you very much and we needed that. But all they gave us were indefensible boundaries and the august body did not send troops to defend the beleaguered poorly armed settlers facing an invasion of five mechanized armies. It would send troops to Korea a few years later.
When all was said and done the state was put on the map thanks to the sacrifice of the Jews who took up arms against this array of enemies.
Ever since without respite the UN has turned into the world centre of anti-Semitic agitation, a veritable Reichstag-On-The-East-River.
On Tuesday morning, US Secretary of State John Kerry will convene with a delegation from the Arab League lead to discuss their UN Security Council resolution that sets a timeline for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines.Palestinian statehood push at UN puts US in tough spot
The move follows a decision by PLO and Fatah leaders on Sunday night to present the plan to the Security Council on Wednesday.
The Arab League ministers, lead by its secretary general Nabil El-Arabi, will demand that the US refrain from vetoing the proposed resolution at the Security Council, the official said. He said that Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elarabi has already voiced support for the Palestinian plan.
Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat, who is scheduled to meet with Kerry in London ahead of the Security Council vote, said that the Palestinian goal was to seek a timeline for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines, including east Jerusalem.
The United States has long opposed the idea of the UN Security Council imposing a framework for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. But for Washington, simply vetoing the plan could have pitfalls.Did Someone Stop Drinking the Palestinian Kool-Aid?
A veto would upset Palestinians and perhaps some Arab allies frustrated by years of diplomatic gridlock. Several are fighting alongside the US right now against the Islamic State group.
A veto would also risk angering France as well as other European countries that want to broaden peace efforts after countless US-led mediation failures. America’s credibility as a peace broker could be damaged as a result.
At a White House meeting last week, Obama’s top foreign policy aides were unable to agree on an approach to France’s potential resolution.
Kerry suggested steering away from the effort at a time of increased Mideast violence and with the Israeli election a couple of months away, according to a US official familiar with the discussion.
Susan Rice, Obama’s national security adviser, supported engaging allies to see if a compromise is possible, said the official, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
For now, the administration is trying to get an idea of what key countries are hoping to accomplish or avoid.
The world has grown accustomed to seeing Israel as the culprit for all the ills of the Middle East. As the 21st Century politically correct leitmotif, Israel’s guilt is even carried over to the global Jewish community. Let’s face it, those who come to Israel’s defense are also running the risk of being ostracized by a variety of anti-Israel protagonists going from academics to clerics to government officials. This is why we must applaud the resolution that the US Senate passed on December 9 under the leadership of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-New York, and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-West Virginia.In US spending bill, a warning to Palestinians on UN actions
It is unclear if this was due to the changing of the guard that took place as a result of last November’s elections, but this resolution sticks out like a sore thumb amidst the usual anti-Israel rhetoric. While a vast majority of the global community continues to ignore the facts, the US Senate sent a clear message to Hamas and other terrorist groups indicating that the game they were playing wasn’t fooling them anymore.
Just about every aspect of the crimes committed by Hamas was brought up in that resolution. The language used was bold and clearly unequivocal, to the point of risking some racist accusations from the more liberal factions. The resolution states that the Senate:
The US will eliminate funding to the Palestinian Authority should it move forward with a bid for statehood at the United Nations without Israeli consent, according to a new omnibus spending bill Congress that passed over the weekend.Jordan: No plan to push for quick UN vote on Palestine
That provision, theoretically, prevents the Obama administration from changing its long-held policy against unilateral Palestinian action, as the PA considers such moves this week.
PA officials suggested action would take place at the Security Council as early as Wednesday.
Jordan and France have drafted resolutions that would set a timeline for Israel to withdraw from the West Bank, without approval or acquiescence from Jerusalem.
Jordan’s UN ambassador said she was awaiting the outcome of meetings that US Secretary of State John Kerry is having with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and European governments on the next step at the United Nations.PA to consider revised European statehood bid
Jordan, which represents the Arab League at the council, had circulated the Palestinian text setting a deadline of November 2016 for a full Israeli withdrawal.
“Right now, I have no news,” Ambassador Dina Kawar told reporters. “Secretary Kerry is having meetings in Europe with a number of ministers, so we are waiting to see what happens.”
Palestinian official Wassel Abu Yussef told AFP on Sunday — following a meeting of the leadership — that the draft resolution would come up for a vote on Wednesday.
The Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister indicated Tuesday that the PA may slightly delay its submission of a statehood bid to the UN Security Council, and said it would be open to adopting a softened European draft resolution with some tweaking.Netanyahu tells Kerry Israel opposed to French UN bid
Earlier this week, the Palestinian leadership said Jordan would submit a bid on its behalf to the Security Council by Wednesday, but on Tuesday Riyad al-Maliki said it may be pushed off, though no later than the end of the month, according to the Israeli Ynet news outlet.
He said that the outcome of meeting to be held between chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and US Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday would likely drive that decision.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday rejected bids to impose a United Nations deadline on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amid a flurry of talks led by US Secretary of State John Kerry.Should Obama Care Who Wins Israel’s Knesset Elections?
Addressing a renewed drive to push the Israeli-Palestinian peace process to the top of the global agenda, Kerry and Netanyahu met for nearly three hours in the US ambassador’s sumptuous residence in Rome.
“The attempts by Palestinians and some European countries to impose conditions on Israel will only deteriorate regional security and endanger Israel, so we strongly oppose it,” Netanyahu said after rejecting the proposed withdrawal to Kerry.
The Obama era has seen the resort to a wave of Palestinian violence but no progress leading up to it. In fact, the two sides have been pushed by Obama and Kerry farther apart than they’ve been in decades. When Obama gets involved in the peace process, there is simply no upside, only downside. If Labor wins, there is no room right now for a renewed peace process, and Obama only has two years left in office anyway.Liberman hits EU support for unilateral PA moves then jabs Netanyahu for not presenting initiative
Additionally, Labor would have to do more than just win the election. They would have to put together a governing coalition, and the math is aligned against them. This also mitigates against the Obama agenda; any coalition Labor could put together would probably have to include Avigdor Lieberman and/or the ultra-Orthodox.
It is doubtful that anything significant will change after the Knesset elections in March. That may be disappointing to Obama, but it also might stop him from once again recklessly meddling in the messy world of Israeli politics.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman on Tuesday slammed European countries for backing unilateral Palestinian steps, while at the same time expressing lightly veiled criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by saying Israel needs to go on the diplomatic offensive.Poll: Most Israelis believe US-Israel ties in crisis
Liberman, widely seen as trying to position himself in the political center and a seasoned politician who has not ruled out the possibility of joining a coalition led by Labor's Isaac Herzog and Hatnua's Tzipi Livni, issued a statement that said Israel would not accept diktats from the Palestinians.
“European countries that cooperate with the Palestinians in these steps can be likened to a person who brings a match to someone else holding flammable material,” he said. “They are not helping anyone, and are only acting out of their own political and domestic interests.” He pointed out that the deleterious consequences of these actions will take place in the Middle East.
Liberman said that Palestinian unilateral steps will be met by Israeli ones “both on the ground, and in the international arena,” though he did not spell them out. He said that Palestinian efforts to enlist other international players to impose a solution will further deteriorate the situation and ultimately fail.
A poll commissioned by J Street, the liberal US Jewish Middle East policy group, and released Monday, found that 61.7 percent of respondents said “yes” when asked if there was a crisis in US-Israel relations, while 22.8 percent said the relations were “stable and good.”PA Envoy: We Want to Join ICC and Prosecute Israel
Asked whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has harmed the relationship or strengthened it, 60.4 percent opted for “harmed,” 9.8 percent said “strengthened” and 16.4 percent said Netanyahu’s government had no influence on relations.
Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama were statistically tied when respondents were asked who was mainly responsible for the crisis. Nearly one quarter each chose Netanyahu and Obama, while 26.4 percent blamed “everyone equally.”
The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) UN envoy, Riyad Mansour, told member-states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a first address on Monday that the Palestinians plan to join the ICC "at an appropriate time."More Motions Filed to Cancel Terrorists' Citizenship
Mansour made the address after the PA was given the status of observer state to the assembly of states parties to the ICC. The PA has yet to formally apply to join the 122-member court.
"The time to join will be decided by our leadership at an appropriate time," Mansour said, according to the AFP news agency.
"It is the court where the Palestinian people desire to seek justice for the war crimes and crimes against humanity being perpetrated against them by Israel, the occupying power, in the occupied Palestinian territory, including east Jerusalem," he charged.
Those three terrorists include Muhammed Faraj, who was involved in a Tel Aviv bus bombing in 2012; and arch-terrorists Dorgam Mahaj'na and Orsan Assad, who have been involved directly and indirectly in terrorist acts.Glick Files Complaint Against Al-Aqsa Hate Sheikh
"Anyone involved in terrorism and anyone who commits serious crimes against the people of Israel for nationalistic reasons cannot continue to carry Israeli citizenship and enjoy the rights that come with it," Erdan said. "Anyone who thinks to engage in terrorism should also know that he will not enjoy the benefits of the state and its citizens."
"It is important to clarify that Jewish citizens in similar cases will be exposed to these measures and sanctions," he added.
The Interior Minister announced recently that he was examining the possibility of expanding his powers to expel Arab terrorists from Jerusalem, precisely by revoking their residency permits.
Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick, who survived an assassination attempt on his life in October, has filed a complaint against an Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher Tuesday, after a viral video was released showing the preacher spewing hate speech against Jews.Palestinian shot dead after hurling bomb at IDF troops
Sheikh Omar Abu Sara is shown in the video claiming that the Jews are "master of their vile traits" and that "the time for your slaughter has come [. . .] the time to fight you has come, the time to kill you has come."
The complaint was filed by attorney Hor Uriel Nizri for the Honenu rights organization.
Glick filed the complaint on the basis that his survival of a terror attack against his life is direct proof that such incitement leads to terror against Jews.
Israeli troops shot and killed a Palestinian man in the Qalandiya refugee camp north of Jerusalem early Tuesday morning after he threw an improvised explosive device at them as they conducted an arrest operation.Israeli hurt by rocks thrown at car
No Israeli soldiers were wounded in the incident.
The dead Palestinian man was identified as 20-year-old Mahmoud Adwan, according to Reuters.
Another Palestinian man was wounded and detained by the Israel Defense Forces.
In total, seven wanted Palestinian terrorist suspects were arrested by Israeli security forces overnight in Judea and Samaria.
An Israeli man in his 40s was lightly wounded on Monday when rocks were thrown at his car as he was driving through Habitot Junction on Highway 60, near the Palestinian village of Hawara in Samaria.Border Police: IDF Cleared of Responsibility for Abu Ein's Death
The rocks broke the car's rear window and caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle and hit a boulder on the side of the road.
Immediately after the accident occurred, members of the Samaria Regional Council's security division and medics from Hatzolah Judea and Samaria scrambled to the scene and administered first aid until Magen David Adom paramedics arrived.
The paramedics continued to treat the man and took him to Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikva, where he was categorized as lightly wounded, with contusions to his lower limbs.
An autopsy conducted by a trilateral Israel-PA-Jordan committee of pathologists confirmed Thursday that Abu Ein - who suffered from multiple health conditions - indeed died from a heart attack.Why Do 80% of Palestinians Support Murder?
The conclusion of Monday's investigation is not the last inquiry into the incident, and the news outlet stressed that this is merely the first investigation and that the conclusion is being treated as an internal affair.
The report found unequivocally that Abu Ein provoked IDF officers - taunting them and cursing them to their faces - before rejecting medical assistance that could have saved his life.
Despite this, the full IDF investigation has yet to be published. The head of the Central Command, Nitzan Alon, will announce the full conclusions of internal reviews in the upcoming weeks.
Three reasons stand out.With friends like Jordan, Israel doesn’t need enemies
First, there is the general brutality of Palestinian Arab society. Violence by relatives against women suspected of immorality, violence by Muslim extremists against Christian Arabs, violence by the Palestinian Authority regime against dissidents—it’s all commonplace in the territories. That makes it easier for the average citizen to see violence as acceptable.
Second, there is a sense that violence works. Kidnapping Israelis led to the release of thousands of Palestinian terrorists from prison. Decades of bombings and hijackings led to widespread international support for Palestinian statehood. The recent attacks in Jerusalem have led to calls to redivide the city (including, most recently, by U.S. Mideast envoy Martin Indyk).
Third, and perhaps most important, is the influence of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement by the Palestinian leadership. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry correctly pointed out that the Jerusalem synagogue slaughter was “a pure result of incitement.” The constant incitement by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian leaders, including declarations praising terrorists as heroes and accusing Israel of desecrating Muslim religious sites, have created an atmosphere in which support for murdering Jews has become the norm.
Though the Jordanian government officially condemned the deadly terror attack, its parliament honoured the attackers.Saudi Arabia to Hamas: Stay Away from Iran
According to the Jerusalem Post, a Jordanian member of parliament rose during the proceedings and proclaimed, “In regards to the martyrs that smashed and murdered the Zionists, I am asking for this respected parliament to stand up and read the Al-Fatiha [the prayer at the beginning of the Koran] to glorify their pure souls and to glorify the souls of all the of the martyrs in the Arab and Islamic nation.” Following the motion, members of parliament stood for 60 seconds and venerated the terrorists.
To view this act as nothing short of a gesture of hostility would be an understatement. Imagine the inverse occurring. Heaven forbid that an Israeli would enter a mosque in the Palestinian territories and slaughter innocent Muslims at prayer. You would never see members of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, paying their respects to Israeli terrorists. In sharp contrast, their actions would be forcefully denounced.
And yet, two Jordanian MPs recently went on national Jordanian television praising the synagogue attacks and spewing vile antisemitism by referring to Jews as the “descendants of apes and pigs.” The Times of Israel notes that Jordanian “public figures regularly rebuke the Jewish state and voice anti-Semitic rhetoric on Jordanian media.”
The Hamas-affiliated Al-Rai website reported on Monday that Saudi Arabia recently sent an angry message to the Hamas leadership over the group’s rapprochement with Iran, which Riyadh considers to be an enemy of the Sunni Muslim world.Hamas's Mashaal Says Reconciliation is 'Not Satisfying'
According to the report, senior officials in the Saudi intelligence contacted Hamas leaders and asked them to stop all contact with the regime in Tehran, offering in exchange to place more significant pressure aimed at lifting the "blockade" of Gaza. Palestinian Arab sources who spoke to the website said that the Hamas leadership is considering the Saudi request and has yet to respond to it officially.
Just last week, a delegation from Hamas arrived for talks with Iranian officials on repairing ties between the two, local media reported.
In yet another sign that the Hamas-Fatah unity government is crumbling, the head of Hamas’s politburo, Khaled Mashaal, said Monday that the Palestinian reconciliation "scene" was not satisfying, reports the Ma’an news agency.Hezbollah claims to expose Mossad mega-spy in its ranks
Mashaal was quoted as having told the al-Risala newspaper that the "reconciliation scene is not satisfying and it is painful; this should prompt us and be a challenge to us because this is not a marginal subject."
"Recognizing the problem is necessary to push us toward the solution," Mashaal added.
He pointed out that the "external factor is basic in failing reconciliation, placing obstacles in its way and attempting to keep us in the division square; Israeli, external, international and some regional interventions work against Palestinian reconciliation."
As for internal politics, Mashaal said that "there is no rapture in relations with the Fatah movement; it is Hamas' partner in the fight and in the Palestinian political life."
Unnamed sources told the El-Nashra news outlet Tuesday that the “collaborator,” exposed a few weeks ago, was an official in unit 910, responsible for “external operations against specific Israeli targets.”Obama Falls For Iran’s ‘Good Cop’ Routine
A resident of southern Lebanon whose initials are M. Sh., the man worked as a traveling businessman and was recruited by the Mossad in a “western Asian country,” El-Nashra reported.
Lebanon’s security agencies periodically report the exposure of Israeli-recruited agents in the country, as well as of listening devices often planted in the south.
According to the report, the collaborator had been working for Israel for years and succeeded in thwarting a number of Hezbollah operations planned to avenge the assassination of movement official Imad Mughniyeh in February 2008, ostensibly by Israel.
Appeasing Iran sufficiently in order to allow Rouhani to tell his opponents that he had bested the U.S. would give President Obama an agreement that he could attempt to portray as a badly needed foreign-policy triumph. But what the president and his foreign-policy team miss in their zeal for a deal is that lifting sanctions and making Rouhani a hero in Iran won’t make that nation less murderous either at home or abroad. Iran’s failing economy and plunging oil prices give the president an opportunity to press the regime to make real concessions on the nuclear issue that would truly end the threat. But rather than risk a confrontation that would force it to give up their nuclear infrastructure, the president, with his press cheering section aiding his cause, seems more worried about helping Rouhani.Report: France Concerned U.S. Administration Too Eager for Iran Deal
The good Iranian cop may have his differences with the bad ones that are closer in many ways to Khamenei. But the U.S. ought to be indifferent as to which Islamist faction rules in Tehran. Rouhani won’t bring freedom to Iran or give up its deadly foreign ambitions to undermine moderate Arab governments and to destroy Israel. Rather than worrying about his factional fights, U.S. negotiators should not be fooled by this transparent charade. But so long as Rouhani can count on Obama and friendly outlets like the Times to make his case for him, the chances that any deal reached will actually prevent Iran from eventually getting a bomb seem small.
Behind the scenes of the P5+1 negotiations with Iran, France is emerging as a skeptic of the American approach to the negotiations. Specifically, France is “concerned the Obama administration … despite its assertions to the contrary wants an Iran deal at almost any price,” according to a report yesterday by Agence France-Presse.With Sanctions Relief Looming, Iran Prepares to Open for Business
One of France’s main concerns is the incomplete Arak heavy water reactor, which when it eventually comes online could be used to make plutonium for an atomic bomb.
Paris is said to have pushed for stringent inspections of Iran’s nuclear energy program, and a broad dismantling of facilities and centrifuges.
Iranian companies are not the only ones anticipating sanctions relief. “The flow of foreign delegations to Iran continues at a steady pace, bringing eager businessmen who in conferences laud Iran’s unique geographical position, its stability and its largely untapped market of middle-class consumers.”Analysts: Talk of a “Turkish Spring” Coming in Response to Corruption, Islamization
A European-Iranian business forum, which was held in London in October, “call[ed] into question the White House’s repeated insistence that sanctions against Iran are holding despite the financial relief granted by the Joint Plan of Action (JPA).” The ongoing increase in business contacts with Iran raises “concerns that the Iranian economy is steadily recovering amid a de-escalation in sanctions pressure on the Islamic republic.”
Turkey is on its way to a popular revolution and a “Turkish spring,” Arab analysts believe. Protests are increasing against the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, especially in light of new corruption scandals.Saudi woman held for watching soccer
Tens of thousands of people demonstrated over the last few days against low wages and rising prices, while the president is defending living in a deluxe new palace amid widespread public opposition.
In addition, thousands of Turks protested against the policies of the Ministry of Education, which recently sharpened the religious character of the school curriculum. Opposition officials and education experts blamed the Turkish government’s perceived attempt to Islamize the country’s education system and produce extreme generations that will be fertile ground for terrorist organizations.
A Saudi woman arrested while attending a soccer game in the kingdom claims she did not know women were prohibited from going to the male-only stadiums, the state-linked Okaz newspaper reported on Monday.Pakistan school attack ends, leaving over 100 children dead
Saudi Arabia enforces a strict segregation of the sexes and has no designated areas for women at soccer stadiums, though authorities have announced plans for “family” areas from where women can watch matches.
However, there have been exceptions for foreign women. In October, an Australian female supporter of Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club was permitted to attend a match at Riyadh’s main stadium. And in January, a group of American women traveling with members of US Congress watched a local soccer club match, also in Riyadh.
The assault on the school in the city of Peshawar killed at least 130 people, most of them students, according to officials.
“The combat operation is over, the security personnel are carrying out clearance operations and hopefully they will clear the building in a while,” police official Abdullah Khan told AFP.
“Dead bodies of six terrorists have been found in the building.”
Senior police official Shafqat Malik confirmed the combat phase of the response was over, while chief army spokesman General Asim Bajwa said on Twitter that the operation was “closing up.”
Bajwa said explosive devices planted in school buildings by the terrorists were slowing clearance efforts.
