|
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:
Head of IDF Research: Iran Seeks to Change World Order - Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
Israelis Urged to Leave Sinai Immediately - Ronny Sofer (Ynet News)
Non-Recognition of Israel a Hamas Founding Principle (MEMRI)
Iraqi Insurgents Using "Hizballah Bombs" to Kill U.S. and British Troops - Toby Harnden (Telegraph-UK)
Television Journalist Beheaded in Iraq - Hala Jaber (Sunday Times-UK)
Morgan Stanley: Israel Almost Perfect - Gil Shlomo (Globes)
Search Key Links Media Contacts Back Issues Fair Use
|
News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
The Quartet of Middle East peace brokers meet on Tuesday in New York to hammer out how to deal with a Hamas government, with pressure growing to pay beleaguered PA workers and Washington trying to hold its tough line on direct aid. The Bush administration says it is unlikely to stray from its strategy of isolating Hamas until the militant group renounces violence, recognizes Israel, and agrees to previous deals between Palestinians and Israelis. "We want to address the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people, but we are not going to provide money to a terrorist organization," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. (Reuters) Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, should bear in mind that his own country could also be destroyed, Israeli elder statesman Shimon Peres said on Monday. "They want to wipe out Israel....Now when it comes to destruction, Iran too can be destroyed," he said. "Israel would defend itself under any condition, but we don't look upon it as an Iranian-Israeli conflict exclusively....(Iran) is basically a danger to the world, not just to us." "If Iran becomes nuclear, many other countries will follow suit...and finally some bombs will reach the hands of terror," Peres warned. (Reuters) See also Peres' Threat to Iran Not Accidental "The statement by Shimon Peres highlights the basis of Israeli deterrence and hints to Tehran that it too has a soft underbelly," Col. (Ret.) Shimon Boyarsky, a former head of the Iran department in military intelligence, told Israel's Army Radio Tuesday. "A statement that was repeated three times was not said accidentally." (AP/China Post-Taiwan) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
At least ten Palestinians were hurt Tuesday in exchanges of fire between Hamas and Fatah members in Gaza. Most of those hurt were children on their way to school. A leaflet published Tuesday on behalf of the Islamic "al-Quds" army said its cells, which belong to al-Qaeda, will "start operating in Palestine." The group threatened suicide attacks again "Zionist and Crusader targets." (Ynet News) Nasser Abiaat, 33, a senior al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades member responsible for the deaths of three IDF soldiers, a police officer, and an Israeli civilian, was apprehended Monday in the West Bank. (Ynet News) The Hamas-led Palestinian government has refused a Jordanian request to send a delegation to Amman to examine evidence against Hamas members who allegedly smuggled weapons, Palestinian and Jordanian officials said Sunday. Jordanian government spokesman Nasser Judeh said Jordanian authorities would reveal details on the seized weapons and the detained militants, as well as expose violations by Hamas elements in Jordan over a long period of time. The government said two weeks ago that the Hamas militants were in the final phase of planning an attack on targets in the kingdom under orders from a Hamas official in Syria. (AP/Ha'aretz) See also Hamas Weapons in Jordan: Implications for Islamists on the East Bank - David Schenker The discovery of the weapons cache, announced on April 18, underscores Hamas' continuing efforts to prepare for terrorist acts even while it proclaims a tahdiya (period of calm), and it has important implications for internal Jordanian politics and the rising influence of Jordan's own Islamist movement. Hamas was expelled from Jordan in October 1999, less than a year after King Abdullah II took power. At the time, Jordanian authorities claimed that Hamas cells in Jordan were stockpiling weapons, recruiting personnel, and "building a large base for extremism" in the kingdom. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
The European Union's latest weapon in the war on terror is a "non-emotive lexicon...to avoid linking Islam and terrorism." The idea of drawing up politically correct guidelines for official EU parlance as part of the counter-terrorism strategy was endorsed by member governments in December. And so, "Islamic terrorists" could soon become "those who have an abusive interpretation of Islam," European Commission spokesman Friso Roscam Abbing said. The word "jihad" might be banned too because it "can also mean the internal struggle to become a better man," the spokesman explained. We're fairly sure that's not what bin Laden means by the word. (Wall Street Journal, 9May06) The largest university and college lecturers union in Britain is likely to decide shortly to recommend that its 67,000 members boycott Israeli lecturers and academic institutions that do not publicly declare their opposition to Israeli policy in the territories. The boycott motion will be brought to a vote at the annual conference of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) to be held May 27-29. (Ha'aretz) See also The Need to Boycott Israel - Bradley Burston Specifics aside, the new boycott proposal tells us more than we want to know about the people who feel the need to propose it. More than anything, it tells us that for them, it doesn't really matter what Israel is, or does. There's now a democratically elected Palestinian government whose ruling party's platform endorses the extermination of the Jewish state and continued terrorism against Israeli civilians. The Palestinians are still shelling Israel with Kassam rockets, up to eight a day. They're still blowing up innocent people at felafel stands in Tel Aviv. But Israel must be punished. (Ha'aretz) Since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to power last June, life for Iran's 25,000 Jews has become even more precarious as the president defiantly pursues a nuclear policy while declaring Israel should be "wiped off the world map." "Every Iranian Jew who had the financial possibility or courage has already left, but there's still a small but flourishing community," said Israeli broadcaster Menashe Amir, who moved to Israel in 1959 and has been broadcasting for 46 years in Farsi for Israeli state radio. "While there are Jewish schools, the principals and most of the teachers are Muslim, the Bible is taught in Farsi, not in Hebrew, and the schools are forced to open on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath," Amir said. "So while the regime declares that there is freedom of religion, it is all just for the sake of appearances." (Scotland on Sunday) In its 58th year, Israel is still facing serious threats to its very existence. The president of Iran has threatened to "wipe Israel off the map." Palestinian terrorism is still a daily threat to Israeli citizens as the Palestinian Authority headed by Hamas refuses to accept Israel's right to exist. Yet despite these dangers, America's embattled ally, Israel, serves as a model of democracy. Joseph Bauer is a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame and Bob Feferman teaches history at The Montessori Academy. (South Bend Tribune) Observations: The Perils of Engagement with Iran - Amir Taheri (Wall Street Journal)
To subscribe to the Daily Alert, send a blank email message to: [email protected] To unsubscribe, send a blank email message to: [email protected] |
||||