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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:
Turkey Terrorists Nabbed (JTA)
French Intelligence Predicted July 7 Attacks in Britain - Adam Sage (Times-UK)
Top Egyptian Professor: Muslims Had Nothing to Do with 9/11 (MEMRI)
Two Plead Guilty to Hizballah Aid Attempt - David Hammer (AP/Guardian-UK)
Useful Reference: History of the Israeli Settlements to be Dismantled (AP/Newsday) Search
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
Iran on Tuesday rejected calls by European leaders to halt its renewed nuclear activities, but indicated a willingness to continue negotiations over its program. "There is no reason to suspend this activity," Sirus Naser, Iran's chief delegate to the International Atomic Energy Agency, said after an emergency meeting of the agency in Vienna. Diplomats from 35 countries sought consensus on a resolution condemning Iran's move to restart the conversion of uranium on Monday. But the developing nations, represented by Malaysia, issued a joint statement affirming the "basic and inalienable right of all member states to develop atomic energy for peaceful purposes." President Bush said that if Iran did not cooperate, UN sanctions were "a potential consequence." In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry also issued a toughly worded statement that called on Iran to "stop work that has begun on uranium conversion without delay." (New York Times ) See also Report: Tehran Has 4,000 Centrifuges Iran has manufactured about 4,000 centrifuges capable of enriching uranium to weapons grade, Alireza Jafarzadeh, an exiled Iranian dissident who helped uncover nearly two decades of covert nuclear activity in 2002, said Tuesday. He said the centrifuges are ready to be installed at Iran's nuclear facility in Natanz. The UN nuclear watchdog agency IAEA previously said it was aware of the existence of 164 centrifuges at Natanz. "The [Iranian] regime has kept the production of these machines hidden from the inspectors while the negotiations with the EU have been going on over the past 21 months," Jafarzadeh said. (AP/USA Today) See also Iran Must be Forced to Give Up Nuclear Weapons - Editorial (Telegraph-UK) Palestinian Chairman Abbas told the Palestinian Legislative Council Tuesday, "We want the Israelis to leave [Gaza]....They want to leave - so let us let them leave." According to Abbas, Palestinians are responsible for maintaining security during the transition. "This will be a prerequisite to ensure that the withdrawal will take place in a civilized manner," he said. Abbas called the pullout "only the first withdrawal" and warned Palestinians not to celebrate too much. (CNN) Few Palestinian refugees want to return to lands lost in the 1948 war of Israel's creation. Karen Koning AbuZayd, who became commissioner of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in June, said Tuesday, "I am really convinced that most of the people would not want to return. Perhaps there are a few old people who dream about going back to their houses, but no more than that." "Most refugees do not think about it at all. The right to return to their homes is much more important to them than the act of returning," she said. Asked about AbuZayd's remarks, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said, "I think everyone in the international community understands that the so-called right of return is diametrically opposed to the principles of a two-state solution in which both peoples have national self-determination." (ABC News/Reuters) FBI agent Gary Schaaf told an immigration judge on Tuesday that Pakistani imam Shabbir Ahmed, 39, planned to set up a religious school in Lodi, California, where recruits could be trained to kill Americans. Ahmed is one of five men being held in connection with a federal investigation that the authorities say ties him and perhaps the others to the Taliban and al-Qaeda. (New York Times) See also Briton Accused of Planning Terrorist Camp in Oregon - Jerry Seper Haroon Rashid Aswat, 30, a British-born resident of Indian descent detained in the London bombings, was accused Monday by U.S. authorities of conspiring to set up a terrorist training camp in Oregon for Islamic extremists to "fight jihad in Afghanistan." (Washington Times) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
The upcoming withdrawal from Gaza would not take place under fire, as all Palestinian terror groups, aside from marginal factions, are committed to ensuring the pullout is completed quietly, a senior IDF intelligence official said Tuesday. "There are groups, such as those who were behind Sunday's shooting attack north of Jerusalem, which are not committed to a peaceful pullout, so it cannot be guaranteed, but all the major players understand this is what the public wants," the official said. "No group will want to be depicted as being responsible for delaying the pullout." "Hamas believes that following the pullout the Palestinian public will be disappointed in such a way that will renew the support for the organization and the resumption of the armed resistance," the official said. (Ynet News) Israel will retain overall security responsibility in northern Samaria after disengagement, a senior diplomatic official said Tuesday. "We reserve the option to go into those areas and conduct searches," the official said. "This area is within jogging distance of Afula, and is a major stronghold for renegade groups, such as the Aksa Martyrs Brigades. No one can expect us to leave completely. Overall security responsibility will remain in our hands." He said the situation would be reevaluated if the PA proved able to control northern Samaria. (Jerusalem Post) Palestinian Chairman Abbas pledged on Tuesday to hold parliamentary elections in January 2006. (Palestine Media Center-PA) Global Commentary: Disengagement
The dispiriting fact is that no negotiated two-state agreement is likely in the near future. The end of the conflict requires a changed relationship and mutual trust between Israelis and Palestinians. As an Israeli analyst, Dan Schueftan, says: "At this stage, it is extremely difficult to imagine how any amount of European funding or sponsorship could produce a mega-gimmick convincing enough to persuade Jews, except in the hard-core Left, to consider a refurbished version of the Oslo act of faith after that failed so miserably." Sharon knows that Israeli security is ill-served by the diversion of effort to protect 8,000 Jewish settlers among 1.3 million Palestinians. To the settlers' anguish, he is evicting them as part of a wider plan to create the conditions for dialogue. The wisest course for politicians outside the region is to cease attacking Mr. Sharon for not being able to create peace by fiat. The cause of confidence-building and direct negotiations has never wanted for meddlesome outsiders; it should be given a chance to flourish unaided. (Times-UK) This unilateral withdrawal from the Jewish sections of Gaza and northern Samaria, and the forced uprooting of some 10,000 Jewish men, women, and children from their homes, schools, synagogues, farms, and businesses, sends a clear message that terrorism pays and pays well, and only encourages more terrorism. The Oslo experiment made it clear that no concessions should ever be made without receiving something concrete in return. There are many vital issues still on the table - Jerusalem; the "refugees"; the future of Jewish communities and land in Judea-Samaria. At a minimum, you don't make major concessions, like uprooting whole Jewish communities, without removing at least one of these issues from the table. Furthermore, with Israeli forces out of Gaza, Palestinian terrorists will be even closer to Israeli towns like Ashdod and Ashkelon, enabling them to launch rockets capable of inflicting serious damage to these places. (Ha'aretz) While the idea goes against the grain of a long history of liberal thought, disengagement and separation are the best hope for the sort of economic development that will give Palestinians a powerful stake in an enduring peace. Development of an economic infrastructure for a Palestinian state must precede any final political status agreements. By creating such an infrastructure and delivering private investment and job creation now, we have the opportunity to transform a constituency for violence into a constituency for growth and economic viability. Goods transport, free capital flows, and access to markets for Palestinian goods and services will be necessary, but not an integration of labor markets or free movement across borders that create dependency with Israel or threaten its security. (Wall Street Journal, 10Aug05) Observations: The Future of the Gaza-Egyptian Border
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