DAILY ALERT

In-Depth Issues:

Terrorists Who Fought U.S. in Iraq Make Way to Gaza - Amos Harel (Ha'aretz)
    Dozens of Islamic terrorists have entered Gaza over the past year and are operating there in the framework of organizations identified with the "global jihad."
    Many of the terrorists have taken part in the fighting against American forces in Iraq. The flow of foreign terrorists to Gaza will gradually increase, Israeli defense officials forecast, as the friction with U.S. forces in Iraq diminishes.
    Hamas is finding it difficult to rein in the newer groups identified with al-Qaeda. The quiet since the IDF's Gaza operation has increased the number of those deserting Hamas in favor of global jihad.
    Hamas is interested in a long time-out, say defense officials, in order to rebuild its military capabilities and strengthen its control of Gaza.
    Hamas continues to send out dozens of fighters via Egypt for military training in foreign countries, particularly in Iran and Lebanon.

A Fifth of European Union Will Be Muslim by 2050 - Adrian Michaels (Telegraph-UK)
    Last year, 5% of the total population of the 27 EU countries was Muslim. But rising levels of immigration from Muslim countries and low birth rates among Europe's indigenous population mean that, by 2050, the figure will be 20%, according to forecasts.
    Data indicate that Britain, Spain and Holland will have an even higher proportion of Muslims in a shorter amount of time.

Hebron Massacre of Jews Remembered - Tovah Lazaroff (Jerusalem Post)
    One can still see the scar from the knife wound Shlomo Slonim sustained 80 years ago, when an Arab stabbed him as he huddled in his mother's arms in their Hebron home.
    He stood in the Hebron cemetery, at the end of a ceremony marking the Hebrew anniversary of the 1929 massacre of 67 Jewish residents of that city by an Arab mob.
    His father, Eliezer Dan Slonim, had been the director of the Anglo-Palestine Bank and a representative of the Jewish community in the Hebron Municipality.
    After bursting into the family home, the Arabs killed 24 people with knives and machetes. Among them were Slonim's father, his mother Hannah, her parents who were visiting, and his four-year-old brother.
    The massacre destroyed the Hebron Jewish community, whose roots go back to biblical times. Some Jews tried to return to Hebron after the massacre, but the British removed them in 1936.
    See also Survivor of Hebron Massacre Recounts Her Ordeal - Eli Ashkenazi (Ha'aretz)
    On August 24, 1929, as Yonah Molchadsky gave birth to her second daughter in the basement of a neighboring Arab family's house, the masses outside began looking for Jews.
    When the mob came to the home of the Arab family looking for the Molchadskys, their hosts and saviors told the mob, "We have already killed our Jews," and they believed them and departed.

Bar Mitzvah Boy Gives Sderot $40,000 Playground - Yanir Yagna (Ha'aretz)
    Benjamin Davis, 13, from New York has decided to give $40,000 he received from his parents for his bar mitzvah to the children of Sderot.
    The municipality says the money will go to build a park with recreational facilities.

News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:

Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):

Observations:

More U.S. PR Is Not the Answer - Jonathan Tobin (Jerusalem Post)

• After running into a dead end in its efforts to jump-start Middle East peace talks, the White House will begin a public relations program in Israel and Arab countries to better explain the president's intention to broker a comprehensive peace agreement. Officials say they hope to convince the majority of Israelis to support President Obama's stand on freezing building in Jewish settlements in the West Bank as well as in Jerusalem, rather than the policies of their own prime minister.
• However, the administration misunderstands the nature of its problem. Contrary to its belief, the Israeli people already understand Obama very well. His problem is that they don't buy what he's selling. The administration needs to win the trust of Israelis through more realistic policies, not a bigger megaphone. The ginned-up settlements squabble was a calculated decision on the part of Washington to pick a fight with its smaller ally.
• U.S. policy seems to be based on the notion that Israel's refusal to make new concessions on security and land is the primary obstacle to a peace breakthrough. But most Israelis know that neither the Fatah-ruled Palestinian Authority in the West Bank nor the Hamas mini-state in Gaza are interested in a peace that would recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state, no matter where the borders were drawn.
• The failure of the Oslo Accords, the July 2000 Camp David summit, the withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 and last year's effort by former prime minister Ehud Olmert to hand the PA a state on a silver platter all illustrate the Palestinians' lack of interest in signing such a deal. In the clear absence of a credible peace partner, what point is there in bullying Israel to make concessions?
• The idea that Israelis need to be convinced to "reflect" on their policies and change their tune is not only astoundingly arrogant, it's frankly wrong. Israelis already want peace, and have shown time and again they are ready to make sacrifices to achieve it. What is lacking is a similar commitment from the Palestinians.

  The writer is executive editor of Commentary magazine.