|
Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
| |||||
|
To contact the Presidents Conference: click here In-Depth Issues:
Israeli Satellite Launched to Spy on Iran - Ora Coren (Ha'aretz)
U.S. Army Rejects Israel's Armor Protection System Despite Successful Test - Ran Dagoni (Globes)
Report: Iran Could Not Close Oil Route (Middle East Newsline)
U.S. Teen Injured in Tel Aviv Blast Regains Consciousness - Ashley Fantz (Miami Herald/Ha'aretz)
Search Key Links Media Contacts Back Issues Fair Use
|
News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
Jordan said on Tuesday a group of Hamas militants arrested last week were close to staging attacks inside the kingdom on orders from the Palestinian group's Syrian-based leadership. "Security interrogations with the detained suspects had proven they received instructions to execute operations from leaders of Hamas and specifically one of the military officials of Hamas currently based in Syria," government spokesperson Nasser Joudeh said. Joudeh said one of the detainees had led security officials to a hideout near the border with Syria in northern Jordan where large quantities of weapons and rocket launchers had been found. (Reuters/Washington Post) An explosion Wednesday rocked an area just outside a Sinai Peninsula base that houses a multinational peacekeeping force. One New Zealander, one Norwegian, and two Egyptian policemen were reported wounded. (AP/FOX News) See also Death Toll Reduced in Sinai Bombing - Daniel Williams Egyptian government officials said the three bombs on Monday in the Red Sea resort of Dahab killed at least 18 people, 12 of them Egyptian, and wounded 85. It is still unclear whether the blasts were caused by time bombs or suicide bombers. (Washington Post) In a video posted Tuesday on the Internet, al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said that while fighters are in Iraq, "our eyes are on Jerusalem, which cannot be regained without a guiding Koran and a triumphant sword.'' Zarqawi also accused the West and the U.S. of waging a "crusader'' war against Islam, but said Muslim holy warriors were standing firm. (AP/Guardian-UK) Iranian President Ahmadinejad told a press conference Monday: "We say that this fake regime [Israel] cannot logically continue to live." (Independent-UK) Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday at a meeting in Tehran with Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir that Iran was ready to share its nuclear technology with other countries. "Iran's nuclear capability is one example of various scientific capabilities in the country," said Khamenei. "The Islamic Republic of Iran is prepared to transfer the experience, knowledge, and technology of its scientists." Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said Tuesday that in the event of Security Council sanctions, Iran would suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear agency. If there is a military strike aimed at destroying its facilities, Iran will simply hide its nuclear program. (New York Times) FBI agents last month sought the identities of pro-Israel reporters who had worked for columnist Jack Anderson or were close to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) when they asked to look through the late journalist's files, according to Mark Feldstein, director of the journalism program at George Washington University. When the FBI interview took place at his home on March 3, Feldstein said, he was surprised that the agents mentioned that they were looking into the Rosen-Weissman case and possible espionage "going back to the early 1980s." (Washington Post) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
The U.S. will not recognize a border created after a unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank as Israel's permanent frontier, senior U.S. administration members said. A number of sources said unofficially that they believed the administration would not recognize such a withdrawal as one "after which there would be no more need for negotiation," said one source. Sources in Washington said they believed the U.S. would want to maintain a united European-American front on the issue. "We need them for too many things; we won't get into a conflict with them over this issue," an administration source said. (Ha'aretz) "We are surrounded," a senior security official said Tuesday, describing the aftermath of Monday's deadly attack on the Sinai beach resort of Dahab. For months, security officials have warned that al-Qaeda and global Jihad were slowly closing in on Israel and were attempting to establish cells in the Palestinian territories. Military Intelligence believes Sinai has turned into an al-Qaeda hotbed whose cells were behind all of the latest Sinai terror attacks. (Jerusalem Post) Palestinian police on Wednesday foiled an attempt by militants to drive a bomb-laden vehicle into the Karni crossing, the main cargo passage between Israel and Gaza. Palestinian security officials said three Palestinian officers were wounded in exchanges of fire. (Ha'aretz) Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar had $450,000 stolen from his hotel room during his current fundraising visit to Kuwait, Itim news agency quoting the Kuwaiti media reported Wednesday. The incident was confirmed by a security official at his hotel. (Ha'aretz) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Former political prisoners, torture victims, and human rights groups are asking Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to help prevent a UN official with a "long and notorious record of supporting dictators" from becoming an advisor to the new UN Human Rights Council. Canada condemned former Swiss politician Jean Ziegler's remarks last year when he compared Israelis to concentration camp guards, and he has also made headlines defending countries frequently cited for human rights abuses including Cuba, Libya, and Sudan. A letter signed by UN Watch and 14 other organizations, including human rights activists from Cuba, Libya, Vietnam, African and Asian development organizations, and two U.S. women's rights groups, said: "Jean Ziegler almost never criticizes any government other than the U.S. and Israel....Hence, the Sudanese atrocities in Darfur for Ziegler are merely a 'cause for concern,' the role of the Khartoum regime in atrocities only alleged. By contrast, the United States is an 'imperialist dictatorship' responsible for all the world's misery, the U.S. is committing 'genocide' in Cuba, and Israel commits 'state terror' and 'war crimes' with the U.S.'s blessing." (National Post-Canada/UN Watch-Switzerland) The local Bedouin people, who have lived on the Sinai Peninsula for centuries and have come to enjoy the economic fruits as tourism has ripened over the past 15 years, are fearful that Monday's devastating triple bombing, the third massive terror attack in the Sinai Peninsula in the past 18 months, will spell the end of their livelihood and heighten tensions between the government and their people. The Bedouin in Dahab are quick to point out that "southern Bedouin" were never arrested. "We are nicer and richer," said Hmeid Ismail, 27, manager of the Mohammed Ali Hotel, explaining, "We have tourists, they [northern Bedouin] have nothing." Most of the Bedouin living along the western and eastern coasts of the peninsula make their living from tourism by working as hotel waiters, mountain guides, fishermen, and taxi drivers. In the north, however, tourism is practically non-existent, unemployment is high, and drug smuggling is a major source of income. It is these impoverished types who are desperate for money and know their way through the mountains that fill the peninsula. It's thought that they offer support to al-Qaeda or like-minded terrorists. (Globe and Mail-Canada) Observations: Philosophy of Death - Nazir Majali (Ha'aretz)
To subscribe to the Daily Alert, send a blank email message to: [email protected] To unsubscribe, send a blank email message to: [email protected] |
||||