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Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in association with Access/Middle East by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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To contact the Presidents Conference: [email protected]
In-Depth Issue:
Boston Muslim Leader Tied to Radical Groups - Jonathan Wells, Jack Meyers, Maggie Mulvihill and Kevin Wisniewski (Boston Herald)
Saudi Government Grants Bin-Laden's Family Right to Operate Saudi Airport - Omer Carmon (News First Class-Hebrew)
Israeli Processor Computes at Speed of Light - Tova Cohen (Reuters/ABC News) |
News Resources - North America and Europe:
Iran said on Wednesday it will not share intelligence with the U.S. about al-Qaeda members held in Iran despite repeated requests from Washington for it to do so. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said Tuesday that Washington was prepared to resume limited contacts with the Iranian government but that relations would not improve until Tehran shared intelligence on al-Qaeda. (Reuters) See also State Department Retreats on Efforts to Free Iran The Bush administration is backing away from efforts to help free Iran, having concluded that the job is best left to Iranians themselves, who aren't yet ready. That's the message conveyed by the State Department's number two official in testimony on Oct. 28 to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Regime change in Iran - is that our policy?" asked Sen. Charles Hagel, Republican from Nebraska. "No sir," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said. (New York Sun; 29 Oct 03) More than 350 people have been arrested by police in Saudi Arabia this month for taking part in protest demonstrations inspired by the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia, a group of London-based Saudis headed by Saad al-Fagih, who represent the first opposition voice broadcasting into the kingdom. Al-Fagih believed the movement's Al-Islah network was reaching an audience in the millions because of the large number of individual satellite dishes in Saudi Arabia. People communicate with his service by cellphone and Internet chat rooms, and a device in the London studio can disguise voices if the callers want protection. (New York Times) Many people in Iraq see Israel as being behind the suicide bombings Monday at the International Committee of the Red Cross and three police stations, which killed at least 35 people and wounded more than 200 - an idea that seems farfetched to many Americans. (Los Angeles Times) News Resources - Israel, the Mideast, and Asia:
Valeri and Nelly Weissbrott, both doctors at Haemek Hospital in Afula, were wounded Wednesday when a terrorist opened fire at their vehicle as they drove to their home in Kadim near Jenin in the northern West Bank. It is the third time the couple has been shot at by terrorists in exactly the same location. The Fatah Al Aksa Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack. (Jerusalem Post) Syria's month-long Ramadan TV special, "Diaspora," has begun airing on Hizballah's Al-Manar satellite television channel. Episode 1 is preceded by the text: "Two thousand years ago, the Jewish sages established a global government, aimed at ruling the world." The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday that Washington complained to both the Lebanese and Syrian governments about the show. (Jerusalem Post) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Last week's announcement that Iran has vowed to suspend its effort to produce enriched uranium for nuclear weapons should be taken with a heavy dose of skepticism. Even if Iran formally agrees to do this, there is scant likelihood that the deal will do anything to dissuade the radical Islamic regime from its goal of obtaining nuclear weapons. The European deal with Iran will not prevent that government from building more centrifuges, which are needed to make weapons-grade uranium, and there is nothing in the agreement to prevent Iran from resuming uranium enrichment in the future. Gary Milhollin, director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, says the Iran deal buys time for a government that has no intention of halting its nuclear program. A more productive approach, Milhollin believes, would have Washington mobilize its Western European and Japanese allies to stop selling Iran dual-use items like machine tools, computers, and high-strength steel used to produce ballistic missiles unless Iran agrees to give international inspectors access sufficient to determine that it is really dismantling its nuclear weapons program. One thing should be crystal-clear when it comes to heading off this danger: Time is not on our side. (Washington Times) While Egypt may not be directly responsible for the attacks that take place in Gaza, it has indirectly allowed Gaza's terrorists to arm themselves using underground tunnels between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Over the last ten years, the Israelis have found 70 or more tunnels originating in Egypt. These tunnels are a crucial supply line of weapons - everything from armor-piercing weapons and automatic rifles to mines and rocket-propelled grenades - for groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad. The September arrest and subsequent interrogation of a PA security official revealed to Israeli intelligence that the PA had smuggled in eight anti-aircraft missiles through these tunnels that could threaten Israeli helicopters and commercial airliners. One high-ranking Israeli official reports that "in some cases, Egyptian soldiers are directly involved. They receive bribes or other incentives for keeping the tunnels open." Washington should ask the U.S. embassy in Egypt to undertake its own survey work along the Egypt-Gaza border to determine what assistance would be necessary to close the tunnels. If Egypt still does not see the light, a team of multinational forces and observers should be considered. The writer is a Soref Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. (National Review) Nearly everybody agrees that Libya has earned its Get Out Of Jail card. Britain agrees that Libya shows "genuine remorse," as an editorial in the London Evening Standard put it. So does Silvio Berlusconi's Italy, having already announced it would use its current presidency of the EU to lift the international embargo. Libyan remorse? To assess the quality of Libya's "remorse," listen to Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the 31-year-old son and probable heir of the Libyan dictator. Saif al-Islam (the name means "sword of Islam") runs the Qaddafi Foundation which moves vast sums of compensation money to individuals his father deems victims of worldwide terrorism. In a recent interview in Die Welt am Sonntag, Saif al-Islam warned Germany not to help the U.S. militarily against Taliban remnants in Afghanistan. "The attacks [of Sept. 11] were against America," he said. "That's very, very far from Europe. If Germany stands by America militarily, it could itself become the target of such attacks." Meanwhile, Libya has continued to supply weapons to combatants across Africa. The CIA, in an unclassified report, has confirmed Libya's "continued interest in nuclear weapons." Other senior adminstration officials say Qaddafi is still developing chemical and biological weapons programs. (American Spectator, Oct. '03) Observations: Iraq is No Vietnam - Thomas L. Friedman (New York Times)
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