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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: click here In-Depth Issues:
Iraqi TV Airs Confession of Syrian Agent (AP/Ha'aretz)
Three Palestinians Killed by Palestinian Gunfire - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
Outcry in United Arab Emirates Over Official's Israel Visit - Taieb Mahjoub (AFP/Daily Star-Lebanon)
See also Qatar Welcomes Israeli Official - Gil Hoffman (Jerusalem Post)
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
Israeli Prime Minister Sharon Wednesday demanded the Palestinians take "real steps" to dismantle terror organizations and their infrastructure. "It must be clear to the new Palestinian leadership that a cease-fire can only be the first step and that they must take real steps to dismantle terrorist organizations and (their) infrastructure and advance sweeping governmental reforms," said a statement released by his office. (UPI/Washington Times) About 140 Syrian intellectuals and human rights activists Wednesday published an open letter urging Damascus to withdraw its estimated 14,000 troops from Lebanon to avoid further international censure. Accusations that Damascus was responsible for the assassination last week of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri have spurred an outpouring of anti-Syrian anger in Lebanon. A dormitory for Syrians in north Lebanon was burnt down last week and mobs in Sidon have attacked Syrian workers. Thousands of Syrian laborers have fled in the past week, fearing further reprisals. As many as one million Syrians work in Lebanon. (Times-UK) Nearly one-third of the 140 winning candidates on the Shiite parliamentary list are women. Moreover, those 45 women tend to be more educated, better informed, and more committed to change than are their male counterparts. Overall, 31% of Iraq's newly elected 275 parliamentarians are women. The example they have set cannot be lost on Arab women at large. (Washington Post) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
The ruling last year by the International Court of Justice on the separation fence between Israel and the Palestinians was based on erroneous and outdated information, the State Prosecution said in a document submitted to the High Court of Justice Wednesday. The World Court almost totally ignored the terror attacks that made it imperative to set up the fence, the considerations that led to planning its route, and the state's duty to protect its citizens. The document notes that the Hague court's ruling took the form of an advisory opinion and is not legally binding. According to the state, the Hague judges assumed that the fence would include 16% of the West Bank on the Israeli side, whereas the actual fence route includes just 3.3%. (Ha'aretz) Egypt insisted Wednesday on Israeli withdrawal from the corridor between Gaza and Egyptian territory, known to Israelis as the Philadelphi Road, as part of an agreement they are negotiating to complement an Israeli withdrawal from the rest of Gaza. "Israel must withdraw from the Salaheddin corridor before Egyptian forces move into the Egyptian-Palestinian border line," said Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. (Daily Star-Lebanon) Talks between Israel and the PA on handing over security responsibility for West Bank cities have run aground. Two meetings this week on the handing over of Tulkarm ended without agreement. As was the case with the talks on Jericho last week, the Palestinians demanded that Israel move its checkpoints back to the lines of September 28, 2000. (Ha'aretz) Egypt's largest Islamic group, the Muslim Brotherhood, has condemned the country's decision to appoint a new ambassador to Israel. Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohammed Habib said: "This move reflects the Egyptian government's keenness to normalize relations with the Zionist enemy...[and] to improve relations with the American administration." The Brotherhood is technically outlawed, but Brotherhood-aligned legislators form the largest opposition bloc in parliament. (AP/Jerusalem Post) See also How Egypt Molded Modern Radical Islam - Zvi Mazel (ICA/JCPA) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Some Lebanese are calling for their own peaceful intifada - the "shaking off" of foreign rule. The task for the Bush administration is to support this exercise in people power by raising the political, economic, and diplomatic price Syria must pay for the occupation. President Bush could do much merely by championing Lebanese freedom in every speech he delivers on the Middle East. Other effective and low-cost measures include freezing all diplomatic contacts with Syria until it complies with UN Resolution 1559, which calls for full Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, and calling attention to the plight of Syrian dissidents. Also, would it be asking too much of all our European partners - now that we're friends again - to designate the Syrian-sponsored Hizballah as a terrorist organization (France still refuses to do so) and treat prominent members of the Syrian regime as personae non gratae by denying them entry visas and investigating their ties to money laundering and drug trafficking? If there was ever a moment to make an ally of the Lebanese people in their quest for freedom, this is it. (Wall Street Journal) See also Syria, Lebanon, and Terrorism - Yossi Olmert Bashar Assad has followed the rigid anti-American, anti-Israel, and pro-Iranian policies of his father. He has also continued the unabated use of terrorism and the intensive involvement in Lebanon. An active American policy using overt and covert political and intelligence operations, backed by financial inducements, designed to approach the Sunnis of Syria, will pay America dividends, not just in Syria, but also in Iraq and in the rest of the Sunni Middle East. (Washington Times) On Monday President Bush again called on Egypt to "lead the way" toward democratic change in the Middle East. Ayman Nour, the head of the liberal Tomorrow Party, has been imprisoned because he offered a fresh democratic alternative in a Middle East stirred by the votes of Iraqis and Palestinians. Mubarak's answer to Bush's appeal has been to order a new wave of anti-American incitement in the state-run press and to have his goons rough up Nour, a man who proposes exactly the moderate, step-by-step change that Bush advocates - and that Egypt desperately needs. Mubarak is no longer testing Bush; he is spitting in his face. (Washington Post) Syria has been on the front lines resisting the move to bring democracy to Iraq since Operation Iraqi Freedom began. Marines fought Syrian nationals in the swamps southeast of Baghdad. A source who was on the scene at the time said the last-ditch defenders of Saddam Hussein's main palace were Syrians. Syria remains a major transit point for men, money, and material going into Iraq to support the insurgents. Bluntly, Damascus is helping kill Americans on the battlefield. (National Review) Observations:
Interpreting Abbas - Editorial
(New York Sun, 23Feb05)
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