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Click on the above links to English language sites and read the stories that interest you. Information I find interesting is posted and archived on my Middle East Notebook blog.
Daily blog notes from international media on events pertaining to the Middle East in the past week.
Thursday, 2 September
Ground Zero Mosque: A split at the top?
Increasing questions about the character and qualifications of the primary figures in “Ground Zero mosque,” as well as personal rivalries between them, may have accomplished as much for the mosque’s opponents as have protests and disapproving poll results. An offensive concept was presented to Americans by flawed and self-interested individuals; the combination may well guarantee its eventual collapse.
Lee Smith: The Arab Lobby
But there is an Arab lobby in the United States—one as old as, if not older than, the Israel lobby, and it has helped to shape U.S. foreign policy and economic life since the end of World War II. Mitchell Bard’s The Arab Lobby: The Invisible Alliance That Undermines America’s Interests in the Middle East describes how this Arab lobby—from U.S. foreign service officers, oil companies, Christian anti-Zionists, and Ivy League universities to Gulf Arab states, Arab-American activists and Islamist ideologues—exercises its influence in U.S. politics. The book is already being dismissed by critics as a slapdash attempt by a former AIPAC employee to answer Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer’s 2007 book, The Israel Lobby. But those who actually read the new book will find a serious and timely look at a powerful and remarkably under-studied influence on U.S. foreign policy.
Are Saudi dissidents preparing to overthrow the king?
It’s an allegation almost too surreal to be real.
In a claim reminiscent of the most elaborate Middle East conspiracy theories known to date, a “reliable” source in the beleaguered Yemeni government has told the Yemeni news site Al Watan that a group of Saudi dissidents are secretly being trained by separatist Yemeni rebels in military warfare and covert communications so as to overthrow the Saudi king.
In Iraq, publishing a magazine with the word Israel on its cover is a risky business, considering the generally negative attitude toward Israel and those in the Arab world who seek rapprochement with the Jewish state.
Transparent, credible and solid
The three words represented the true nature of a process, the essence and objective of which have been bent, stretched and twisted by those threatened by it or suspicious of it, but which for Lebanon represents a watershed in legal accountability. In fact, these three words that Bellemare used to argue that he was not a political puppet are precisely the qualities that are lacking in modern Lebanese society. No wonder then that a court that has been assembled at considerable cost and with the backing of the international community finds itself at odds with many of the people it genuinely seeks to represent. In this situation, Bellemare must be credited with setting the record straight, while maintaining the judicial and investigative integrity of his mission.
Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Ali Moqdad told OTV on Friday that Hezbollah’s arms are “legitimate and necessary to prevent treason in Lebanon.” While we should all applaud any initiative that seeks to curb activities that undermine the state, no one told us that Hezbollah had extended its remit to include fighting subversion. The last time we looked, Hezbollah’s weapons existed to protect Lebanon from the ever-present Israeli threat, a 24/7 deterrent to thwart the stated expansionist ambitions of the Zionist state. This it has done with a degree of success, despite the misery and destruction Lebanon has suffered in the process.
Abbas, Netanyahu relaunch peace talks
Israeli and Palestinian leaders launched their first direct talks in 20 months Wednesday, starting the clock on a daunting one-year deadline to flesh out a Palestinian state to live in peace with Israel.
Netanyahu: Israel prepared to go long way for real peace
"We are prepared to walk down this road, to go a long way to achieve peace," said Netanyahu. He added, that Israel wished to help "shape a new reality" and to have "good neighbors" along its borders.
Israeli peace effort rests on Netanyahu
Even more than his own aides, Mr. Netanyahu seems to believe that a deal can be reached under his guidance. He does not want to hand the negotiations over to committees of experts but to meet personally with Mr. Abbas every two weeks.
With Mahmoud Abbas, it is an entirely different story. He does not have the backing of all Palestinians, not even of most of them. As far as Hamas is concerned, he has no right to represent the Palestinians in the upcoming negotiations. Even in Judea and Samaria, the extent of the support he enjoys among Palestinians is questionable. But most important, he does not have the authority to carry out any agreement he might arrive at with Netanyahu. He is fully aware of this, and that is probably the explanation for his reluctance to enter the negotiations, to which he has been dragged, kicking and screaming every inch of the way, by the president of the United States.
Iran to stage anti-Israel rallies amid peace talks in Washington
The late supreme leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, grand ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, had declared the last Friday of the fasting month of Ramadan as Quds (Jerusalem) Day and called for mass rallies against Israel and in support of the Palestinians.
IDF warns of wave of violence as Hamas vows to sink peace talks
The warning follows two drive-by shootings on Israeli targets in the West Bank this week, which killed four Israeli civilians and wounded two more. Hamas militants claimed responsibility for both attacks.
'Hamas won't let the PA reach a peace agreement'
"Let's say [Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas] makes an agreement with us, where we make painful sacrifices. Hamas and all the other terror organizations will start attacking again - so what did we do?" Yishai said. "We must stand up for our principles and never give up on them: Stop terror, recognize Israel as a Jewish state, stop provoking violence, and start negotiations without conditions. Certainly not the condition of a building freeze."
Hamas throws down gauntlet in West Bank
The armed wing of the Islamist group threw down the gauntlet to President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday by killing four Israelis in the occupied territory where his security forces, retrained with US support, have worked to prevent such violence. The attack was proof Hamas has survived what it describes as Abbas’ efforts to “uproot” it from the West Bank.
Hamas police proceeded to close a water park in Gaza due to the presence of "degrading and unethical gender mixing" according to the justification reported in the news. Subsequent information about this incident revealed that the citizens who were removed from the water park, following the Hamas decisions, had just sat down to break their fast [during the holy month of Ramadan], and those evicted from this water park included a charity organization that looked after orphans.
Lebanon, a country built on its religious and ethnic diversity, has largely steered clear of government-imposed morality, and as such, has gained a reputation for being a bastion of tolerance in the Arab world, with Muslims and Christians living side by side. So when the author of the An-Nahar article, who is a Lebanese Christian, went to a high-end hotel in downtown Beirut, she was surprised to find that the waiter did not want to serve her wine, due to the fact that it is the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. When she insisted, saying that she was Christian and that the restaurant should respect her beliefs too, the waiter offered to disguise the wine by putting it in an opaque glass. In the end, she left the restaurant, but to her and to many other Lebanese, the incident was just one indication of how the country is becoming less tolerant, or at least appearing to be so, in order to cater to business interests.
3,000-year-old Moabite temple unearthed near Dhiban
Archaeologists on Wednesday unveiled what they described as one of the most important Iron Age discoveries in the region, including a 3,000-year-old Moabite temple.
Wednesday, 1 September
Some thoughts about last night’s speech
What was also notable in the speech is how Obama — apart from one perfunctory paragraph (he devoted four to the economy) — failed to appropriately acknowledge many of the estimable things that have been achieved by the Iraq war, including deposing a malevolent and aggressive dictator, helping plant a representative (if imperfect) democracy in the heart of the Middle East, and administering a military defeat to al-Qaeda on the ground of its own choosing. Obama hinted at some of this, but it was said without passion or conviction. And we all know why: for Obama, this was a war without purpose, a nihilistic misadventure whose only good result is its end. This is not only wrong; it is a disfigurement of history and a failure to acknowledge what a remarkable thing our combat troops in Iraq achieved.
3. On the most important matter before us, Afghanistan, Obama did substantial damage. The reason can be found in this paragraph:
Obama's unsatisfactory Iraq speech
By neglecting the importance of the surge, Obama was free to ignore President Bush’s decision to order it in the first place. Nearly everyone in Bush’s orbit—Obama, the vast majority of Democrats and many Republicans, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the State Department, the foreign policy establishment, the media, the Washington echo chamber—was against the surge (initially, at any rate). Bush’s decision to go ahead with it was an act of courage.
Obama exaggerated his role in winding down the war in Iraq, citing his “pledge to the American people as a candidate.” Then, “last February, I announced a plan that would bring our combat brigades out of Iraq…That is what we have now done.”
This is true as far it goes. But the overall pullout from Iraq was put in place before Obama arrived in the White House. It was established by the “status of forces” agreement between the governments of the United States and Iraq that was negotiated by the Bush administration and set the end of 2011 as the date by which all American forces are to be gone from Iraq.
Historian Victor Davis Hanson: Iraq through the looking glass
A few added thoughts: a) Obama warns against “open-ended wars,” as if they are almost animate things. But wars end, not when they reach a rational, previously agreed-upon expiration date, but usually when tough, specific wartime choices are made that lead to victory or end in defeat. One party must decide – for good or bad reasons – that it doesn’t want to fight to win, or simply doesn’t believe it has the resources for victory. To say that “open-ended wars” are undesirable is a banality that offers no guidance for these real-life choices. A better truism is that America should not fight wars it does not intend to win.
Last night, at a moment he called “historic,” Obama gracelessly refused to acknowledge his predecessor’s contribution to progress on the war, vouching simply for his patriotism. He was palpably anxious to “turn the page” on Iraq, where the book may in fact not yet be closed, and to start turning it next year in Afghanistan — where the “pace” will be “condition-based” but, “make no mistake,” we’re leaving starting in July. It was not the steadfast commitment to victory that marked George W. Bush’s approach to war, and which is necessary if a leader wants to win one.
Top Russian spy’s body washes up 'after swimming accident’
The circumstances of his death are reminiscent of a John Le Carre novel and have therefore fuelled theories that he may have been murdered in Syria and his body then thrown into the Mediterranean where it drifted for days.
Armed militias: a quandary for Lebanon
It started with a dispute over a parking space and erupted into a four-hour street war between Hizbollah and a rival militia, with masked snipers running through alleyways and rocket-propelled grenades exploding in the middle of a Beirut neighbourhood.
Obama: 'senseless slaughter' will not thwart peace talks
On the eve of the first direct Israel-Palestinian talks for 20 months, Mr Obama gathered regional power brokers for one-to-one sessions and a joint dinner at the White House, putting his personal credibility on the line.
Hamas leader rejects compromise with Israel, resists peace
The top Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip rejected compromise with Israel in a fiery speech Wednesday, a day after gunmen killed four Israelis.
Terror attack achieved its goal - embarrassing the PA
The shooting attack in the Hebron Hills on Tuesday could not have been a surprise. Palestinian opposition groups, especially Hamas, were highly motivated to embarrass the Palestinian Authority on the eve of the start of direct talks in Washington. A short conversation with the members of the Palestinian delegation to Washington Tuesday night shows that the mission was indeed accomplished.
PA nabs over 200 Hamas suspects ...
Palestinian Authority security forces arrested over two hundred Hamas-affiliated suspects in the Hebron area overnight Tuesday and early Wednesday morning, on suspicion of connection with a shooting attack in Kiryat Arba which left four Israelis dead hours earlier.
Barry Rubin: Terror attack near Hebron: not an incident but a revelation about what is happening
An isolated fragment of news, a tragic story, or just another act of terrorism? What's necessary, however, is to fit events into a broader picture and so it is with the latest attack by Hamas, killing four Israelis driving near Hebron.
Mubarak calls for int'l security force in West Bank
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak suggested that an international peacekeeping force be stationed in the West Bank as a compromise between Israel's security concerns and the Palestinian's desire for a complete Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Mubarak's comments came in an op-ed piece published in Wednesday's New York Times.
Netanyahu to tell Abbas: I came to Washington to reach historic compromise
"Our goal is to forge a secure and durable peace between Israelis and Palestinians," Netanyahu is expected to say. "We do not seek a brief interlude between two wars. We do not seek a temporary respite between outbursts of terror. We seek a peace that will end the conflict between us once and for all. We seek a peace that will last for generations. This is the peace my people want. This is the peace we all deserve."
Netanyahu rules out extension on settlement freeze
“It is impossible to take the issue of settlements in the West Bank, which is an issue for the permanent agreement and deal with it separately at the beginning of the direct talks,” a statement from his office quoted Mr Netanyahu as telling Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State during their meeting on Tuesday.
Obama peace talks for Israel, Palestine will fail
If there were even the slightest chance of the talks succeeding, I would say it was worth making one more attempt. However, in this situation, there is almost no such chance, whereas the grave implications of failure are both clear and painful. I call upon the U.S. administration to hurry up and change the goal of the talks. They should deal with what the parties are prepared to implement, and not with what they are forced to do as a result of American pressure: open negotiations on a partial and temporary agreement.
Analysis: What happens when the peace talks fail?
Before noon on Wednesday, hundreds of Palestinians crowded around a main square in the West Bank city of Ramallah to show their opposition to the direct Israeli Palestinian peace talks being launched this week at the White House.
What happens when the talks fail?
It is a measure of how badly the Obami’s approach to the Middle East has failed and how little the Israelis trust Obama when, as Josh Rogin reports, the Israelis make it crystal clear how little they regard the president’s positions:
As a sitting member of a democratic government, it might appear strange to declare that I am a refugee. However, my father, his parents and family were just a few of the almost one million Jews who were expelled or forced out of Arab lands. My father and his family were Algerian, from a Jewish community thousands of years old that predated the Arab conquest of North Africa and even Islam. Upon receiving independence, Algeria allowed only Muslims to become citizens and drove the indigenous Jewish community and the rest of my family out.
Archaeologists unearth 3,000-year-old Iron Age temple in Jordan
The head of the Jordanian Antiquities Department, Ziad al-Saad, said the sanctuary dates to the eighth century B.C. and was discovered at Khirbat 'Ataroz near the town of Mabada, some 20 miles (32 kilometers) southwest of the capital Amman.
Tuesday, 31 August
Stuck in the Middle (East) with you
Events in Iraq offer the latest example of two important processes seen elsewhere in the Arab world. The first is the phenomenon of relatively free and fair elections, which then fail to have any effect on the real political and security balance of power in the country in question.
The second is the thorough penetration of Arab states and movements by non- Arab regional forces.
With the formal end of US combat operations at midnight, Iraqis know the world’s attention will be leaving them just as these different sides hover between peace and a return to vicious conflict.
Iraq premier hails US troop withdrawal
Iraq’s prime minister said the end of US combat operations on Tuesday restored Iraq’s sovereignty and meant it stood as an equal to the United States, despite political deadlock and persistent violence.
Former national security adviser Stephen Hadley provides some much needed perspective on the Iraq war:
From a national security perspective, the U.S. objective for a post-Saddam Iraq was an Iraqi government that would not pursue weapons of mass destruction, invade its neighbors, support terror, or oppress its people. That objective has been achieved. The governments that have followed Saddam—and those that are likely to govern going forward—have and will continue to meet these criteria because the Iraqi people have concluded that doing so is in their interest.
Iraq needs U.S. engagement, and a slower clock
The list goes on. It is not a record of failure but an illustration of the enormity of the challenges in Iraq. How successfully Iraqis deal with these challenges has a great deal to do with the level of U.S. engagement going forward, including the process of government formation. For the time being, we remain the indispensable broker, mediator and catalyst. But we also face the persistent problem of a Washington clock that runs much faster than the Baghdad clock. Recent polling in both countries reveals an Iraqi public fearful of the consequences of a U.S. departure, while American opinion leans toward doing just that. Regional realities and American expectations seldom coincide. Our lack of strategic patience is something that, over time, our adversaries have come to count on and our allies to fear -- in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Here’s an idea: if Obama really wants to preserve our gains, why not send Crocker back to Iraq for a couple of more years? That would be a signal of support that the Iraqis would surely appreciate. And it would indicate that the president finally understands the strategic smarts of the Bush team, which snatched Iraq from the jaws of defeat.
Previewing Obama Iraq speech, Gibbs won't credit surge
Since Gibbs says it is important to examine Obama's old statements on the surge, there is this, from January 2007: "We cannot impose a military solution on what has effectively become a civil war," Obama said on CBS' Face the Nation. "And until we acknowledge that reality, we can send 15,000 more troops, 20,000 more troops, 30,000 more troops. I don't know any expert on the region or any military officer that I've spoken to privately that believe that that is going to make a substantial difference on the situation on the ground."
Gibbs vs. the historical record
That statement is false. As I pointed out in this COMMENTARY essay, on the night of President Bush’s “surge” announcement, then-Senator Obama proclaimed: “I am not persuaded that 20,000 additional troops in Iraq are going to solve the sectarian violence there. In fact, I think it will do the reverse” [emphasis added]. It’s worth pointing out as well that in January 2007 then-Senator Joseph Biden declared: “If he surges another 20, 30 [thousand], or whatever number he’s going to, into Baghdad, it’ll be a tragic mistake.”
Afghan bomb attacks kill 21 US soldiers in 48 hours
A series of bomb attacks have badly hit US troops in eastern and southern Afghanistan in the past 48 hours.
Taliban footprint 'spreading': Petraeus
The US commander of the Afghan war acknowledged Tuesday that the Taliban were expanding their footprint across the country even as foreign forces close in on their traditional southern strongholds.But US General David Petraeus said a sharp rise in attacks on international troops showed that the hardline Islamist militia were feeling threatened in their safe havens after almost nine years of war.
Bellemare: No indictment in September
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) will not file an indictment in the case of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in September, said Daniel Bellemare in an exclusive interview with NOW Lebanon. The Canadian prosecutor, who has not spoken to the media for almost a year, reacts to some recent rumors that have been circulating in the Lebanese media and states clearly that he never said he would file the indictment next month.
Israel braces for difficult month
As Israeli and Palestinian negotiators prepare for the first direct negotiations since 2008, the Jewish state is braced for one of the most difficult diplomatic months in its history.
Time for Israeli answers - Fayyad
The Palestinian prime minister on Monday forecast a "moment of reckoning" in the coming weeks when the Israeli prime minister is forced to explain what kind of state he has in mind for the Palestinians.
Obama's year of living peacefully
President Obama is taking a high-profile role, seeking to justify his paid-in-advance Nobel Peace Prize. Exactly what he will bring to the process is unclear. "The president's engagement and involvement in the future in these talks will be determined by developments as we move forward," according to John Brennan, the president's counterterrorism muse. This places Mr. Obama in a position where if things are working out, he can step in to take credit - and if not, he can rise above the process and call for mutual understanding, letting Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton take the blame.
Caroline Glick: Washington’s Israeli allies
US may give Israel arms in exchange for concessions
Israel is looking into the possibility that it will receive an arms package as compensation from the United States in the event that it reaches a peace agreement with the Palestinians that entails significant concessions, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
Mubarak signals Egypt succession by taking son to Washington
Gamal Mubarak, son of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, will accompany his father to this week's Washington peace summit in what may be the clearest sign yet that he is being groomed for the succession.
Central Israel in range of Hamas rockets
Hamas has completed a series of experiments on its advanced Fajar rocket, which has a range of almost 80 kilometers (roughly 50 miles) and can as far Kfar Saba, northeast of Tel Aviv, experts say.
Israeli Arab MK Zuabi: IDF boarded Gaza flotilla ships with intent to kill
A UN inquiry team began hearings on Monday with Jordanian activists about the May 31 Israeli raid on a Turkish ship trying to break an Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip. Nine Turkish activists were killed in the raid.
IDF general: 'No justification for Gaza aid flotilla'
Dangot said that the aid flotilla which was intercepted by the IDF in May was unnecessary because "those who wanted to help the population of Gaza were invited to deliver supplies via land, as it was always possible to do."
The long history of anti-Semitism in Muslim lands
Amrozi was remembering an event 1,375 years in the past, when Muhammad attacked Jewish farmers living in the oasis community of Khaibar, in what is now Saudi Arabia. More than 600 Jews were killed and the survivors lost all their property and had to pledge half of their future crops to Muhammad.
Today, few Jews know the word Khaibar. But among certain Muslims it has permanent resonance. Khaibar set a precedent, endorsed by the actions of the Prophet. After Khaibar, non-Muslims who were conquered had to give up their property and pay heavy permanent tribute to their Muslim overseers. That form of discrimination lasted for centuries. It was this incident and its aftermath that nourished Amrozi’s homicidal ambition.
Monday, 30 August
Rami Khouri: The Arab world, sick man of the globe
Looking around the Arab world this week, it is hard to know what are the region’s real priority challenges, because multiple issues stand out as problems, vulnerabilities, weaknesses or threats. Most of the problems in our region can be traced to local incompetence, or, in the worst cases, criminality and irresponsibility in the seats of power – though everywhere there is also an element of foreign involvement or manipulation that should not be ignored. The regional picture is not pretty.
Seven US troops killed in Afghanistan
Violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the Taliban were overthrown by US-backed forces in late 2001, with soaring casualty rates among foreign and Afghan troops as well as among civilians who are caught up in the conflict.
So my sincere hope—and it is sincere, with no political agenda (for what it's worth, I think following the advice I'm about to give would help you politically)—is that you don't begin your remarks tomorrow night, as you did your weekly address Saturday, by taking credit for fulfilling a campaign promise. Your oath as president was to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States," and it is in that capacity that you now make foreign policy judgments, not as a former candidate keeping well- or ill-considered campaign promises.
None of this is controversial, none of it is partisan. But it is remarkable that the advice need be given at all and that Obama to date hasn’t explained what we have accomplished or the importance of establishing a stable, non-despotic, non-terror supporting state in the Middle East. He perpetually focuses on the draw-down, the fulfillment of a promise by a candidate who opposed the winning strategy.
As US military bases close, Iraqis left behind
But now, as the American military winds down its time in Iraq, the Iraqis who once worked so closely with US forces are starting to wonder what will happen to them.
Did Iran really do so well out of the Iraq war?
Proponents of this argument are forgetting one vital ingredient that Iraq has and Iran lacks. Democracy. Iran can arm and fund militias till kingdom come, but at the end of the day, in Iraq, it is ballot papers, not bullets, that decide who stays in power and who gets the boot. Of course, security issues can destabilise the political process, as we have seen time and time again, but now the Iraqi people have the last say. It is true that the recent election results have been indecisive, and no clear winner has emerged, but a closer look at the numbers proves one thing: Iran did not win.
'Iran will hit Dimona if attacked'
"Teheran is aware that Israel and the United States want to target Iran, but we are also aware that while they actually have the option to launch war, they do not have the option to end it. This is America's and Israel's point of weakness. We know that there is no solution to this point of weakness, thanks to the importance of the Gulf region, America's problems in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the (geographically) small area of the Zionist entity," the anonymous official was quoted by the paper as saying. He also specified that the Dimona reactor would be on the top of Iran's target list in a potential war.
Ahmadinejad: Iran, Lebanon militants can stand up to 'enemies of humanity'
Lebanon's resistance groups, along with Iran must stand together to thwart what he called foreign aggressors, Iranian ISNA news agency quoted Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying on Monday, adding that such an alliance would work against the "enemies of humanity."
Russia honors commitments to Syria
Moscow is fully compliant in its agreements with Syria in the sphere of the military and technological co-operation, Russian presidential aide Sergey Prikhodko said.
Barak to visit Russia amid concern over arms sale to Syria
Israel is worried by Iranian and Syrian efforts to acquire Russian anti-aircraft missile systems and has long lobbied Moscow to support UN Security Council sanctions targeting Tehran's disputed nuclear program.
Report: Hezbollah, Syria to join forces in future clash with Israel
The Lebanon-based Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah and the Syrian army have initiated a significant military cooperation in joint preparation for the possibility of a future armed conflict with Israel, the Kuwaiti daily al-Rai reported on Monday.
Assad asks Lebanon to support Hizbullah
Sources told the newspaper that Hizbullah and Syria now have joint headquarters from which they can coordinate any operations pooling resources and information, to be jointly commanded by officers from the two groups.
Scant hope in Lebanon for Mideast “peace talks”For six decades, Palestinians have been forced by Arab governments to live in often squalid conditions so that they could serve as propaganda tools against Israel, even as millions of refugees elsewhere have been repatriated and absorbed by their host countries. This month's vote still falls short of giving Palestinian Lebanese the rights they deserve, including citizenship. But it's a reminder of the cynicism of so much Arab pro-Palestinian propaganda, and the credulity of those who fall for it.
On September 2, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will sit down together in Washington DC to begin a series of direct talks aimed at reigniting the Middle East peace process. The summit, which was arranged by the US, the Middle East Quartet and the European Union, will mark the first face-to-face talks between Israeli and Palestinian heads of state in 20 months. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Hussein have also been invited to join. Lebanon has not.
“Lebanon is in the same position as other host countries [to Palestinian refugees] like Syria and Jordan, where they are not party to discussion, but they do have a presence at the table,” said Nadim Shehadi, a fellow at the UK-based think tank Chatham House. “And [the Lebanese] have to face the result, whenever it comes out, and make up their minds whether to accept it or not.”
'PA expects prerequisites for statehood within year'
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad announced his intention to continue moving forward with the second year of a two-year program of institutional capacity-building to lay the groundwork for a future Palestinian state at a cabinet meeting held in Ramallah on Monday.
Fayyad: Netanyahu must explain his definition of 'Palestinian state'
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Monday forecast a "moment of reckoning" in the coming weeks when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is forced to explain what kind of state he has in mind for the Palestinians.
Where the negotiations could be useful
Where the negotiations could conceivably be useful (and safer) for all concerned is if the American sponsors steer them toward reinforcing and facilitating the one success story they can point to: the Palestinian state-building effort in the West Bank. But this means precisely not seeking to resolve all final status issues in this round and, instead, focusing on confidence-building measures and gestures that narrow the gap on borders and security.
Khaled Abu Toameh: Abbas wants talks according to Quartet
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced on Sunday that the Palestinians were going to the direct talks with Israel on the basis of the Quartet’s declaration in Moscow from March, which calls for the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state and a halt to settlement construction.
Abbas is a man in exile, even among his own
“The direct talks will lead to direct failure,” Ms Buttu said. “Failure could lead to another intifada, but not necessarily one against Israel. This one might well be directed against the Palestinian Authority.”
Simulators try to gauge peace talks
If a simulation game played on Sunday by a group of former IDF brass is any guide, the chances for success are not great and the key ultimately rests in the hands of one man – US President Barack Obama.
Netanyahu: I never promised to extend West Bank settlement construction freeze
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Likud ministers on Sunday that he had not made any promises to U.S. President Barack Obama or any other American government official regarding an extension of the settlement construction freeze in the West Bank.
IDF preparing for more settler violence if freeze extended
The IDF is gearing up for a possible increase in settler violence late next month amid reports that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is mulling an extension of the freeze on housing starts in isolated West Bank settlements.
Iraq: ‘Give us back the Torah’
Iraq is demanding Israeli authorities return an antique Torah scroll smuggled into Israel in the early 1950s.
Sunday, 29 August
For Obama, steep learning curve as Chief in time of war
Where George W. Bush saw the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan as his central mission and opportunities to transform critical regions, Mr. Obama sees them as “problems that need managing,” as one adviser put it, while he pursues his mission of transforming America. The result, according to interviews with three dozen administration officials, military leaders and national security experts, is an uneasy balance between a president wary of endless commitment and a military worried he is not fully invested in the cause.
He really doesn’t want to be Commander In Chief
He simply doesn’t want to do the things that are expected of the commander in chief, and the military’s ire is profound:
Iraq on highest alert for terror attacks
Iraq’s prime minister put his nation on its highest level of alert for terror attacks, warning of plots to sow fear and chaos as the US combat mission in the country formally ends on Tuesday.
Afghan, Iraqi passports deemed world's worst
Citizens of the Arab world still have the hardest time of anyone on earth getting visas for international travel, a new survey has found.
No final decision on woman’s stoning - Iran
Iran said on Saturday that it has yet to take a final decision on the stoning of a woman convicted of adultery and complicity in her husband's murder in a case that has sparked an international outcry.
It is ironic that while Hezbollah militants were fighting in the streets, Nasrallah said that Hezbollah fears foreign intelligence services would use the electricity protests to trigger clashes to drag the country into “a situation it cannot handle.” He called on the Lebanese people to remain calm and not be dragged into fights, and yet that’s exactly what his party members failed to do in Bourj Abi Haidar.
Egyptian forces find 5 more missile,TNT cashes in Sinai
Egyptian forces find additional missile, TNT caches in Sinai
Egyptian police raided three arms depots in the central Sinai Peninsula Saturday containing nearly 200 surface-to-air missiles apparently headed for Gaza, the Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported.
'Israel will bear blame for failure of talks if settlements expand'
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the upcoming resumption of direct peace talks with Israel in a televised speech on Sunday, saying that "Israel will be held accountable for the failure of the talks if settlement construction should continue."
Arab League chief: Peace talks will likely be unsuccessful
Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Sunday he had little hope that direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, which are due to start on Thursday, will be successful.
The F-35 and the Israel-Obama relationship
Ironically, however, the purchase also illuminates the nadir to which the relationship has fallen under the current administration. Barack Obama’s aides have tried to divert attention from their boss’s efforts to put “daylight” between America and Israel by insisting that on the all-important issue of security, “President Obama has taken what was already a strong U.S.-Israel defense relationship, and broadened and deepened it across the board,” as Dan Shapiro of the National Security Council told the Anti-Defamation League in May.
But in reality, Washington has attached unprecedented restrictions to the F-35 sale — restrictions so severe that Israel’s defense establishment agonized for months over whether to sign the deal, and ultimately opted to buy only 20 planes instead of the 75 the Israel Air Force originally sought.
RE: The F-35 and the Israel-Obama relationship
But this situation is tailor-made for Team Obama’s unique methods. In negotiations with one of our closest allies, the administration has simply left a known sticking point to fester. From the standpoint of professionalism, there is no good excuse for this: the issue has been recognized in the halls of government and industry for some time. But as Evelyn Gordon observes, it’s something the public knows little about. Obama pays no real price for his administration’s behavior.
Barry Rubin: The real world versus fantasy land
There’s nothing more tedious than sitting in a panel where the presentations have interesting titles but are otherwise disappointing. Or listening to a speaker who may be very good but says absolutely nothing you don’t know already.
However, sometimes you have fascinating experiences which are not exactly on the agenda. Here are three from a conference I attended in Prague a few years ago, each of which contains its own lessons.
Friday, 27 August
Administration halts prosecution of alleged USS Cole bomber
The Obama administration has shelved the planned prosecution of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged coordinator of the Oct. 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, according to a court filing.
Ground Zero Mosque developer: Mosque could accommodate 1,000 worshippers
Thus Al-Gamal disclosed that, contrary to what Frank Rich and friends say, the real intent of the project was that for which it was questioned: an ambitious mosque, capable of drawing a large crowd of believers, close to the former World Trade Center.
Cliff May’s must-read column documents the mainstream media’s abysmal failure (even hostility) to explore the views and plans of the Ground Zero mosque builders. Instead of sharp questioning about their funding and justification for their provocative act, they have been granted platforms to impugn America and to claim they are the victims of smears. May responds:
And now the mosque near Ground Zero. The intelligentsia is near unanimous that the only possible grounds for opposition is bigotry toward Muslims. This smug attribution of bigotry to two-thirds of the population hinges on the insistence on a complete lack of connection between Islam and radical Islam, a proposition that dovetails perfectly with the Obama administration's pretense that we are at war with nothing more than "violent extremists" of inscrutable motive and indiscernible belief. Those who reject this as both ridiculous and politically correct (an admitted redundancy) are declared Islamophobes, the ad hominem du jour.
Historian Victor Davis Hanson: Beware the wars of late summer
We should keep such bothersome late-summer history in mind this August. The world is once again heating up with the weather. Iran boasts of its new nuclear reactor -- with more to come. A nuclear North Korean keeps threatening South Korea. Hezbollah and Syria are arming to the teeth with new missiles. And an assurgent Turkey is seeking an updated version of its Ottoman imperial past.
Karzai: Afghan withdrawal plans have boosted Taliban
Mr Karzai’s comments came amid ongoing debate about whether the July 2011 milestone outlined by Washington was feasible or had encouraged rebels to believe they could outlast the coalition.
Michael Rubin: Why Najaf matters in post-war Iraq
The last U.S. brigade combat team departed Iraq on Aug. 18. While President Obama says 50,000 U.S. troops will remain there through December 2011 to train the Iraqi army, in reality the U.S. units are focused more on packing up tons of equipment. This is so, as one colonel explained to me this month, "we can shut the lights out and close the door behind us."
The State Department is now the lead agency shaping the future of U.S.-Iraqi relations. "We are fully prepared to assume our responsibilities," spokesman P.J. Crowley declared on Aug. 19. Beyond operating the largest U.S. embassy in the world, in Baghdad, U.S. diplomats will also open consulates in Iraqi Kurdistan and Basra. Missing in the post-occupation plan, however, is any permanent U.S. representation in Najaf, perhaps the most important city in the new Iraq.
Caroline Glick: Accepting the unacceptable
Before going into the question of whether Israel’s decision-makers were correct in opting out of attacking the Bushehr reactor to prevent it from being fueled, it is worth considering where “the Americans” stand on Iran as it declares itself a nuclear power and tests new, advanced weapons systems on a daily basis.
'France to sell HOT missiles to LAF'
Israel and the US are attempting to prevent a French-Lebanese arms deal that could lead to increased Israeli casualties in any future confrontation, Channel 10 cited from a Friday report by Arabic daily Asharq al-Awsat.
David Schenker: Reassessing U.S. military assistance to Lebanon
Since 2005, Washington has obligated more than $700 million in military assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces. In the aftermath of the LAF's August 3 cross-border shooting of two Israeli officers, one fatal, this funding has come under increasing scrutiny. Not coincidentally, the shooting followed a series of setbacks for Washington's allies in Beirut, which in turn fundamentally altered the conditions that had spurred the 2005 spike in U.S. funding. It is unclear how this new dynamic is affecting the military, but many infer from the shooting that the LAF is shifting away from neutrality and toward Hizballah. More broadly, the incident has resurrected questions as to whether Washington's main policy objective for the LAF -- establishing state sovereignty throughout Lebanese territory -- is ultimately achievable.
What’s next for Fatah al-Islam?
Fatah al-Islam, the group of militants who fought an arduous summer-long battle with the Lebanese army in 2007, has always evoked more questions than answers, and the queries keep coming. Earlier this month, Lebanese security forces killed the group’s leader, Abdul Rahman Awad, prompting the obvious question: Who will step in to head the organization if, of course, there is even an organization left to lead.
Obama 'to visit Jerusalem to press for peace'
President Barack Obama will visit Jerusalem in coming months to press for a Middle East peace deal to be signed this year and implemented within a decade, according to a leaked White House report.
US wants agreement now, peace later
White House document reveals American preparations for Israeli-Palestinian talks: President Obama to visit Jerusalem and Ramallah, call for painful concessions; permanent agreement to be signed within one year, implemented within 10 years.
The president and the peace process
Whether Mr Obama is trying to solve the conflict or simply to manage it is hard to say, since the secret of “managing” is to maintain the pretence that the peace process will indeed one day produce. Either way, it cannot be a bad thing to get old enemies to talk, and this Mr Obama has now done. After the dinner he intends to host at the White House on September 1st for Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin “Bibi” Netanyahu, and Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, the two sides are supposed to start talking directly again, relieving George Mitchell, Mr Obama’s envoy, of the need to shuttle between them. That is progress of a sort, albeit not the sort that poses the slightest danger of raising high expectations. It merely restores matters to where they stood after Mr Bush inaugurated a previous set of direct talks in Annapolis at the end of 2007. These were expected to fail, and lived up to expectations.
Why do some US officials believe talks will succeed?
On the other hand, one Israeli diplomatic source said the problem with extremely low expectations is that they have a tendency to turn into self-fulfilling prophecies. If the sides don’t think anything will work out, if they don’t expect anything at all, then they won’t necessarily put themselves on the line –make the painful concession – to get things to work out, knowing failure is expected anyhow.
But the Palestinians, often much better at reading Israel’s politics than the Americans, are betting against it. They’re betting that, come September 26, the freeze will melt, and the pressure – the pressure, that is, for progress at the direct peace talks they are so reluctantly about to enter with Israel – will be off them.
They’ve only got to stall for another few weeks, and Israel will be in the dock again.
Hamas: PA can't give up Jerusalem in direct Mideast peace talks
Palestinian negotiators are not mandated to surrender Jerusalem or any part of Palestine, the Palestinian Ma'an news agency quoted Gaza's Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh as saying on Friday, with the Hamas strongman dubbing upcoming direct peace talks as the latest in a string of Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people.
When direct talks begin next week between Israelis and Palestinians, the fate of Jewish settlers in the West Bank – tens of thousands of them – will be a major issue in the negotiations. But the settlers themselves won’t be part of the discussion. Nor have American officials involved in the talks been willing to meet with them.
Arabic is an essential part of being Israeli
The Education Ministry's decision to have the Arabic language taught in 179 elementary schools in the north of the country is both important and to be commended. As the Arab minority comprises about one-fifth of Israel's population and Arabic is an official language, teaching the indigenous language is not merely a practical necessity but should be part of our concept of citizenship.