|
Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
| |||||
|
To contact the Presidents Conference: [email protected]
In-Depth Issue:
UK: Saudi Terrorist Attack Imminent - Matthew Taylor (Guardian-UK)
Grenade Accident Kills Palestinian in Gaza (Saudi Press Agency/ IMRA)
God's Got Mail
(AP/CTV-Canada)
Israel Shares Dairy Experience with Vietnam (Vietnam Economy) |
News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
Syria has launched a diplomatic campaign aimed at canceling its membership in the Bush administration's "rogue" nations club. But the U.S. and its key allies remain cool, unconvinced that the overtures amount to anything more than lip service from a government that remains fundamentally hostile to U.S. interests. "There's a lot of frustration with the Syrians," said one State Department official. "Basically, there's the feeling that the clock is ticking on Syria and they need to heed the wake-up call." "We have the feeling that [Assad] is...paralyzed by the apparatchiks who are around him," a French diplomat said. Assad has not realized the geopolitical implications of the Iraq war, he added. (Los Angeles Times) France and Israel sought on Monday to patch up ties frayed by discord over the Middle East and attacks on Jews in France, with Israel's visiting president praising host Jacques Chirac for his stance on anti-Semitism. President Moshe Katsav also urged France and other EU countries to demand Palestinians end attacks on Israelis as a condition for receiving EU aid. (Reuters) See also Sharon: Katsav's Visit to France Important (Jerusalem Post) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
The U.S. government is demanding that Israel coordinate its disengagement plan from the territories with the PA, so that the Palestinians will be able to accept responsibility for the territory that is evacuated. The U.S. also wants to present the disengagement as part of an overall arrangement, and not as a unilateral move by Israel. The U.S. position is therefore aimed at "coordinated unilateralism." (Ha'aretz) A special task force set up by Prime Minister Sharon and headed by Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, that is considering an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, is weighing the future of the "Philadelphia Road," a strategic strip of territory running along the Egyptian border. The Israeli presence there blocks the flow of weapons into Gaza, and security sources are weighing the possibility of maintaining control of this strip even after a withdrawal from Gaza. Minister Gideon Ezra, who supports the Gaza withdrawal, said: "We have to remain there [on the border]. Otherwise, weapons will be smuggled in freely. If 'Philadelphia' is left open, then Palestinians can go south along the Egyptian border and enter Israel from the Negev." "It's also not clear if Egypt wants an open border with Gaza," he said. "I'm not sure they are interested in the export of radical Islam." (Yediot Ahronot-Hebrew) Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom is scheduled to visit Egypt next month, though no date for the visit has been set. Senior Israeli diplomatic officials have said recently that Egypt has begun playing a "very positive role" in the diplomatic process, pressuring PA Prime Minister Qurei to meet with Prime Minister Sharon and to stabilize the security situation in the territories. The change in Egyptian attitude, according to Israeli officials, is due in part to concern that if Israel withdraws from Gaza, Hamas may come to power, something which Cairo is afraid would have an emboldening impact on Egypt's own Islamic fundamentalists. Yet there has not been a corresponding change in the Egyptian media, which continues to sharply attack Sharon and Israel. (Jerusalem Post) Israel has the right to live in secure and recognized borders, Moroccan Foreign Minister Taib Fassi Firhi told a delegation of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Rabat on Tuesday. But he stopped short of saying Morocco is ready to renew the diplomatic ties with Israel it broke off three years ago. Firhi defended Morocco's decision to participate with 55 other Islamic states in filing briefs to the International Court of Justice in The Hague against Israel's building of the West Bank security fence. "As a member of the Islamic Conference, and with our king's position as head of the Jerusalem Committee, we were obligated to join the debate over the fence," he said. (Jerusalem Post) German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said Monday in Israel that the EU objects to the Hague court debate on the legality of Israel’s security barrier. He said Israel has a right to protect its citizens from terror attacks. (Maariv) See also German FM: Israel Must "Substantially" Change Barrier Route (EU Business) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Sheik Jamal Said stood before the packed mosque in suburban Bridgeview and worked the crowd like an auctioneer. In less than five minutes, he raised $50,000 for Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian activist accused by the U.S. government of aiding terrorists, reflecting the ascendancy of Muslim hard-liners at the mosque. Among the leaders at the Bridgeview mosque are men who have condemned Western culture, praised Palestinian suicide bombers, and encouraged members to view society in stark terms: Muslims against the world. (Chicago Tribune) Over 15 years, Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan delivered his most sensitive secrets to Libya, Iran, and North Korea. Then President Musharraf granting Khan his "pardon." Sooner or later, we will come to the real secret: that of al-Qaeda; and of Khan's links to Lashkar-e-Toiba, the fundamentalist terrorist group at the heart of al-Qaeda; and the fact that this "mad scientist" is first of all mad about God, a fanatical Islamist who in his heart and soul believes that the bomb of which he is the father should belong, if not to the Umma itself, at least to its avant-garde, as incarnated by al-Qaeda. (Wall Street Journal) Palestinian society as well as PA leadership and security apparatuses are fragmented to the point of collapse. There is not one element or coalition that can bring about a complete cessation of terrorism and strip the armed groups of their weapons and explosive belts. In order to suppress terrorism, the aim should be to separate and if possible create a sharp rift between the terrorism activists and the non-combatant civilian population that supports them. (Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies) Observations:
Advancing Palestinian Society by Weakening Hamas - Zohar Palti
To subscribe to the Daily Alert, send a blank email message here. To unsubscribe, send a blank email message here. |
||||