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Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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To contact the Presidents Conference: [email protected]
In-Depth Issue:
Zarkawi and the Syrians - Smadar Peri (Yediot Ahronot-Hebrew, 18 June 04)
See also France Detains al-Qaeda Suspect Extradited from Syria (AFP/Yahoo)
British Contractors Flee Jenin after Threats - Douglas Davis (Jerusalem Post)
Druze Appointed to Command Border Police - Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
Israeli Hospital Saves Two Gaza Children - Judy Siegel-Itzkovich (Jerusalem Post)
El Al Employing Female Sky Marshals (Jerusalem Post)
Number of Israeli Millionaires Up 20% - Yigal Grayeff (Jerusalem Post)
Christians Want a Birthright Program Too - Daphna Berman (Ha'aretz)
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
At 8:37 a.m. on Sept. 11, Norad officials in Rome, N.Y., responsible for defending the Northeast, were notified. "We need someone to scramble some F-16s or something up there," an FAA manager said. "Is this real-world or exercise?" a military official asked. "No, this is not an exercise, not a test," came the response. Two F-15 jets at Otis Air Force Base, some 150 miles from New York City, were airborne at 8:53. But American Airlines Flight 11 had crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center six minutes earlier. At 9:36 a.m., military air defense officials learned that American Airlines Flight 77 was just six miles - and little more than a minute - away from the White House. An air defense commander in upstate New York ordered three Air Force fighter jets to intercept the third airliner hijacked that morning. Secret Service agents were hustling Vice President Dick Cheney to a secure underground White House bunker, while in Sarasota, Fla., President Bush's motorcade was speeding away from an elementary school to rush the president to the airport - and up into the sky, to safety. The staff report released Thursday by the independent commission investigating the attacks offers the harrowing detail and minute-by-minute drama of the first 149 minutes. (New York Times) See also Highlights of 9/11 Panel Report (Washington Post) Saudi authorities say Abdulaziz Muqrin is the chief organizer of the recent attacks on Westerners in Saudi Arabia. Muqrin is a graduate of jihadi training camps in Afghanistan and a veteran of conflicts in Somalia and Bosnia, as well as Algeria, where he was part of a group known for dismembering the bodies of its enemies on videotape. When a small cell loyal to him carried out a suicide bombing last November at a residential compound in Riyadh that housed mostly Westerners, killing 17 people and injuring 122, Muqrin landed on a most-wanted list of 26 terrorist leaders named by the Saudi government. Muqrin's group, known as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, has asserted responsibility for kidnapping Paul M. Johnson Jr., 49, an employee of the Lockheed Martin Corp. Investigators believe the group plotted a series of assassinations and other attacks that have killed more than 40 people since November, most of them Westerners. (Washington Post) A preparedness plan to alert Jewish leaders and facilities about imminent terrorist threats is now operational and is being coordinated with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Secure Community Alert Network, or SCAN, was created earlier this year by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and the United Jewish Communities federation umbrella group to help prepare the Jewish community for threats it faces as a possible target of terrorism. (JTA) Fawaz Damra, the Palestinian-born leader of the Islamic Center of Cleveland, Ohio's largest mosque, was convicted Thursday of lying about his connections to terrorist organizations when he applied for U.S. citizenship. Prosecutors showed video footage of Damra raising money for an arm of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which has been listed as a major terrorist group by the State Department since 1989. Jurors also were shown footage in which Damra called Jews "the sons of monkeys and pigs" during a 1991 speech and said "terrorism and terrorism alone is the path to liberation" in a 1989 speech. (AP/Newsday) See also Defense Seeks to Impugn Witness's Jewish Background Matthew Levitt, senior fellow in terrorism studies at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, testified that the Palestinian Islamic Jihad is "bent on the destruction of Israel." In her cross examination of Levitt, defense attorney Nancy Hollander tried to show bias on Levitt's part by asking him about his education at a Jewish high school and college and his upbringing as an Orthodox Jew. (AP/Newark Advocate-Ohio) See also Middle East Studies on Trial - Daniel Pipes and Teri Blumenfeld (FrontPageMagazine) Israeli Ambassador to Russia Arkady Milman has expressed concern over what he calls recent instances of xenophobia in Russia. "How can it be that in a country where people from almost every family took part in World War II, people can calmly watch their children walk around on the streets with their heads shaved, drawing swastikas and holding up their right hand in salute?" Milman said at a conference dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the dismantling of ghettos and concentration camps built by the Germans during World War II on the territory of the former Soviet Union. (Moscow News-Russia) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Palestinians fired a new, advanced type of Kassam rocket at a residential area of Sderot in Israel's western Negev Friday. The more sophisticated Nasser 3 rocket carries more explosive material and has a longer range than those previously fired by Palestinians. (Ha'aretz) "We were all in bed when it landed....All of the windows exploded and the shattered glass flew all over, including on my daughters - one of them is four and the other is a year and a half old. There were screams, and my wife went into shock. We're all traumatized. It's a miracle that nothing worse happened," said Eyal, after the rocket landed his backyard. (Maariv International) See also Palestinian Rockets Will Reach Ashkelon - Shmulik Hadad Lachish region police commander Nissim Mor said, "Today's explosion was much stronger than previous ones, as was the damage....The Palestinians are improving their rockets all the time, and they will reach other cities in the future, such as Ashkelon." (Yediot Ahronot-Hebrew) The Defense Ministry announced Thursday a tender for the construction of a moat along the Philadelphia route on the Egypt-Gaza border, aimed at deterring the smuggling of weapons into Palestinian areas. A senior army source said that once the 4 km ditch is completed, serious consideration will be given to expanding it to the full length of the route, a total of nine kilometers. Much of the cost will be defrayed by the sale of dug-up sand, a profitable commodity. (Ha'aretz) Minister for Diaspora Affairs Natan Sharansky has proposed a change in U.S. policy to financially reward Arab nations fighting anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment in the Middle East. At the Congressional Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, he encouraged Congress to pursue a linkage policy similar to the one in 1976 establishing a linkage between human rights and economic aid to the Soviet Union. Sharansky hopes to quell global attacks on Jews by linking opposition to the new anti-Semitism with economic aid. "Today, linkage can be used to marginalize the extremists in the Arab world and to encourage and support the moderate Muslims who can and should be our partners in bringing understanding and peace between people and religions. I believe that combating anti-Semitism ought to become a much more prominent issue in the bilateral relations between America and the Arab and Muslim worlds," Sharansky said. (Jerusalem Post) Hungary has resigned from the UN Committee for the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, best known for promoting the Palestinian cause and denouncing Israel. Israel's deputy permanent representative, Ambassador Arye Mekel, described the committee as "probably the most anti-Israel body at the UN." Two additional EU nations, Malta and Cyprus, remain on the committee, as well as several former Soviet bloc states, including Romania, Ukraine, and Belarus. Mekel said he hopes that Hungary's resignation will inspire a "domino effect that will bring about the resignation of others." (Jerusalem Post) Since the completion of the security fence in their areas, many Israeli Arab communities have enjoyed a spike in both security and economic activity, as Arabs who once shopped in the West Bank now shop locally. "God be blessed, the fence ended the parade of terrorists through this city and gave us an economic boom and increased security," says Umm el-Fahm City Manager Tawfiq Karaman. In that city, Palestinians casually filtering through from the territories had harassed schoolgirls, stolen cars, and even snatched laundry. "They stole from us as they did from the rest of Israelis," says Karaman. Karaman sees signs of progress: "There are new stores opening up everywhere. We have security, and it is improving relations with our Jewish neighbors." "This phenomenon is occurring across the Arab sector," says Bassam Jabber, editor-in-chief of the Israeli Arab weekly Panorama, including in Nazareth and Taiba. (Jerusalem Post) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Washington's decision that Arafat is not a partner for negotiations has no connection to Israel's position. Its antagonism is related to the murder of three Americans in October 2003, in a diplomatic convoy in the Gaza Strip. The Americans concluded that Arafat was personally responsible for the lack of a proper investigation into the incident to find the killers. As a result, American contractors are not allowed to take part in aid programs in the Gaza Strip. Washington is trying to prove to the Palestinian public that it is possible to make progress even without Arafat. Arafat has lost a great measure of international support, but he is still strong, especially when he wants to interfere with any processes and prove that without him nothing will move. The Egyptians can't do anything to him (Ha'aretz) I am a Jewish Palestinian. My father was born and raised in Palestine as was his father, grandfather, great grandfather, and so on for many generations. In fact the Bregmans have lived on this land - first Palestine then Israel - since around 1754. Other Jewish families as well have lived in Palestine for decades, mainly in Jerusalem, Tiberias, Safed, and Hebron, among other places. But Arab and Palestinian propaganda would not accept that. Mixing facts and fiction and rewriting the history of the Holy Land is part of the Palestinians' struggle against Israel and part of their negotiating tactics. Although Palestinians have legitimate grievances, there is absolutely no historical basis to their claims that Palestine is exclusively theirs and that the Jews "stole" their land. The Jews did not "rob" the Arabs or "steal" their land, but rather they bought it from them. As for the Arab aristocracy of landowners who had sold the land to the Jews, they did so voluntarily and with open eyes. (Newsday) Anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism, and anti-Americanism are becoming linked and ever more rabid in today's Europe. Millions of Europeans resist seeing Israel as a country fighting for its survival. Israel cannot afford to lose one major war, as it would mean the end of the Jewish state. But huge numbers of Europeans believe that something is fundamentally wrong with the Israelis. The writer is a former deputy prime minister of Sweden. (Taipei Times) Reports of armament deals between Israel and France, China, and India shed light on the ever-increasing technological gap between Israel and the Arab countries put together. The latter should carefully consider the news about such deals. In fact, they should discuss the issue of technological and scientific backwardness in the Arab world. Should we abstain from asking these questions, we would not have the right to be surprised with more defeats in the coming decades. (Dar Al-Hayat-Lebanon) Since the establishment of modern Egypt under Mohammed Ali, all of the intelligentsia have become government or ruling party employees in one way or another, such as working for a newspaper controlled by the ruling party. When Westerners look at the Middle East, they have to remember they are looking at a closed circle. The rulers refuse to give any concessions to the people, protecting themselves with the law, police, and government contacts, fortified by support from religious leaders. The writer is president of the National Progressive Party and a member of the upper house of parliament in Egypt. (bitterlemons-international.org) Weekend Features:
The Uighurs (pronounced "Weeghers") are a Turkic people in the region of northwestern China that Beijing calls Xinjiang and the Uighurs call Eastern Turkestan. There are reportedly 22 Uighurs among those interned at Guantanamo Bay. China probably has more Muslims living outside a Muslim-ruled state than any other country. In addition to the Uighurs, a Chinese-speaking Muslim community of up to 20 million called the Hui also live in the northwest, who have been the object of extensive evangelism, going back a century, by Wahhabis from Arabia. Wahhabism in Chinese dress enjoys the backing of the Communist authorities. While ethnic suppression has driven some Uighurs toward al-Qaeda, official Chinese Islam promotes the Wahhabi ideology from which al-Qaeda sprang. (Weekly Standard-FrontPageMagazine) A new Israeli exhibit gives visitors a disturbing view of nearly four years of violence with the Palestinians: a female mannequin strapped with an explosives belt, alongside piles of confiscated weapons and documents showing how Palestinian militant groups operate. The museum at the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, just outside Tel Aviv, shows that support for the militants runs deep throughout Palestinian society. In one corner, a light flashes on a wall covered with a picture of the aftermath of a suicide bombing in an Israeli shopping mall. Across the room, Palestinian school notebooks full of praise for suicide bombers and colorful drawings of M-16 assault rifles fill a display case. One wall is covered with official Palestinian maps with "Palestine" written over the area where Israel is located. On another wall, recordings of Palestinian TV broadcasts show Muslim clerics calling for expulsion of the Jews. (AP/Baltimore Sun) Watershed events such as the Palestinian uprising in 2000, the 9/11 attacks on the U.S., and the war in Iraq created major new challenges to the American Jewish leadership. The great majority of those who identify most with the Jewish community have become more supportive due to these events. The new challenges are superimposed on the structural problems of American Jewry, that include a high rate of intermarriage, low fertility, assimilation, reduced voluntarism, the high cost of Jewish living, and a declining percentage of Jewish philanthropy for Jewish causes. (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Observations: Israel's Intifada Victory - Charles Krauthammer (Washington Post)
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