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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:
Hamas: Long Truce Impossible
(Palestine-Info-UK)
Pressuring Mothers to Celebrate Sons' Martyrdom
Key to Promoting Suicide Terrorism -
Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook (Palestinian Media Watch)
Saudi Prince Against Islamist Ideology
- Aluma Dankowitz (MEMRI)
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
The symbols of Syrian power began coming down in parts of Lebanon on Tuesday, as Syrian military intelligence agents emptied their offices in Beirut and Tripoli and workers took down an imposing portrait of Syria's president in Beirut's seaside boulevard. Lebanese citizens quickly hoisted their national flag near the sites. (AP/New York Times) After meeting King Abdullah of Jordan in Washington Tuesday, President Bush said: "We view Hizballah as a terrorist organization, and I would hope that Hizballah would prove that they're not by laying down arms and not threatening peace. One of our concerns...is that Hizballah may try to derail the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians." (White House) World leaders from 40 countries inaugurated the Holocaust History Museum at Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial on Tuesday, in a show of international resolve to keep alive the memory of 6 million Jews slain by the Nazis. (AP/MSNBC) See also UN Has Sacred Responsibility to Combat Hatred, Intolerance - Secretary-General Kofi Annan (United Nations) See also Voices from the Yad Vashem Museum Inauguration Ceremony (Ha'aretz) See also New Museum Puts a Human Face on the Holocaust - Steven Erlanger (New York Times) See also Photo Gallery: Bearing Witness (Washington Post) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Israel began handing over security control of Jericho to the PA Wednesday. Palestinian sources informed Israeli counterparts Tuesday night that there was no plan to free PFLP leader Ahmed Saadat, accused of ordering the assassination of Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Zeevi, or Fuad Shobaki, the chief financier of the Karine A weapons ship, as Reuters had reported. (Ha'aretz) A resident of Kiryat Arba was injured in a gunfire attack near the entrance to the Tomb of the Patriarchs on Tuesday, Army Radio reported. This is the second gunfire attack near Hebron in the last week. (Jerusalem Post) In an interview with al-Arabiya television Tuesday, Lebanese opposition leader Walid Jumblatt said the Israeli-controlled Shaba Farms in the Mount Dov region do not belong to Lebanon. Jumblatt's statement is unprecedented, as Lebanon has repeatedly claimed the land as its own since Israel's withdrawal in 2000. Hizballah refers to the area as one of the reasons it is continuing its armed struggle against Israel. "We are tired of this political game that nobody believes in anymore and is designed to preserve the tense atmosphere," Jumblatt said. (Yediot Ahronot-Ynet) Amid concerns that the EU may divide Hizballah into a political and military wing, blacklisting the military wing but rendering the political wing legitimate, Prime Minister Sharon urged European leaders Wednesday not to make an artificial distinction that would only embolden the group. His call - made in meetings with the prime ministers of Sweden, France, and Belgium, as well as with the president of Poland, all here for the dedication of the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum - came as an EU task force met in Brussels Tuesday to draw up recommendations on the matter. (Jerusalem Post) Saudi Arabia is planning a normalization of relations with Israel some time after next week's Arab summit in Algeria. During meetings with European officials in Jerusalem for the dedication of the new Holocaust Museum, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom heard that the Europeans believe Saudi Arabia is planning to make moves toward Israel, as part of the general trend in the Middle East to improve the atmosphere. Government sources in Jerusalem also said that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan took a firm line on Hizballah and how it must disarm, as stated by UN Security Council Resolution 1559. (Ha'aretz) A senior Palestinian security official told a group of activists from the military wing of Fatah in the Ramallah area that they could either give up their weapons and go home after the Israeli withdrawal from West Bank cities, or they could join the Palestinian security services. He warned that those who did not accept either of these options would find themselves in jail. The official's statement was made in the context of understandings that Israel will cease its efforts to seek out wanted Palestinians from any of the terror organizations in the West Bank. An arrangement will apply to each city with regard to a specific list of wanted men in that city. Palestinian sources say most of the wanted men have already signed up for the PA security services. (Ha'aretz) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Outside of Lebanon, Hizballah's priority in recent years has been its work in collaboration with Iran and Syria to destroy any possibility of Israeli-Palestinian peace. Hizballah's history of killing Americans, collaborating with al-Qaeda, and setting up terrorist cells in the U.S. makes it one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world today. It would be dangerous for Western policy-makers to ignore the reality that Hizballah has been consistent in its hostility toward Western democracies and its support of terrorism and violence. (Washington Times) "Enough," or "kifaya" in Arabic, has become the slogan and informal moniker of the Egyptian Movement for Change, which has been holding groundbreaking demonstrations in Cairo. The word is an all-purpose message to Mubarak: enough of dictatorship; enough of a presidency that has endured 24 years and that would be extended by six if Mubarak chooses to present himself for reelection; enough of the president's maneuvering to place his son Gamal in position to succeed him. (Washington Post) A quarter-century after its first traumatic confrontation with the Shiite world, when the U.S. Embassy was seized in Iran, the U.S. is moving on several fronts to support, recognize, or hold out the prospect of engagement with Islam's increasingly powerful minority. The tentative U.S. moves to engage Shiite leaders are often not by choice or design, but rather a reflection of realities on the ground, including the fact that Shiites are the largest sects in countries where the U.S. has enormous stakes, U.S. officials and regional experts say. "We've come a long way since the 1980s in recognizing their growing role in the region. It's not a new principle but a practicality," a senior State Department official said. (Washington Post) Observations: "Israel Is Paying a Heavy Price for Its Restraint" - Maj.-Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash (Yediot Ahronot-Ynet) In the first interview of its kind, Head of IDF Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Aharon Zeevi-Farkash answered questions from ArabYnet surfers throughout the Arab world.
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