I took last week off due to the speeches and so forth surrounding the U.N. appearences of Palestinian Authority (P.A.) President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. There was already substantial discussion going on regarding that so I felt it best to not do Fry'd Daze as I think it would simply have gotten lost in the "noise" of the events on that day. Anyhow we are back this week so please read and discuss.
Our first story is one of those that are "so strange it has to be true type stories". I will let the headline speak for itself: Al-Qaida slams Ahmadinejad for blaming 9/11 attacks on U.S.. It seems that Al Qaeda is pissed off because it feels that President Ahmadinejhad is not giving them the credit they feel they deserve for killing 3,000 innocent Americans during the September 11th Terror attacks.
"Why would Iran ascribe to such a ridiculous belief that stands in the face of all logic and evidence?" asked the article's author, Abu Suhail. He said Iran wanted to portray itself as a country that stands up to the U.S.
"For Iran, anti-Americanism is merely a game of politics. It is anti-American when its suits it and it is a collaborator with the U.S. when it suits it," Abu Suhail said.....
.....Abu Suhail said Iran is jealous of al-Qaida's "success" in the Sept. 11 attacks, saying that because Tehran couldn't strike at the U.S. itself, the Iranians want to "to discredit Sept. 11 and what better way to do so than conspiracy theories."
He said Iran and the Shiites opposed giving al-Qaida credit for the 9/11 attacks "because this would expose their lip-service to jihad (holy war) against the Great Satan," a term Iranian officials have used to describe the U.S.okie dokie.......
Our second story comes out of Syria: Tens of thousands take to the streets across Syria as Assad's army battles defectors A day after Syrian loyalists assaulted the U.S. Ambassador due to their anger at the U.S.' discussions with Opposition leaders:
Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets across Syria on Friday demanding the removal of President Bashar Assad, as fighting continued between loyalist forces and insurgents in the centre of the country, activists said.
Government troops have been fighting army defectors in the town of Rastan in the first prolonged armed confrontation since protests erupted against Assad six months ago....
....At the United Nations, European members of the Security Council softened a draft resolution condemning Syria's crackdown but Russia said it could not support the new text. The latest version of the resolution showed that drafters Britain, France, Germany and Portugal had deleted a reference to UN human rights chief Navi Pillay's recommendation that the council consider referring the Syrian government's crackdown to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.Our Next Story comes from Maan News: Fight for votes as UN meets on Palestine. In this fight the U.S. in an attempt NOT to use it's veto is trying to convince the majority of Security Council Nations to vote "NO" on the issue of Palestinian Statehood. Currently five Nations are definite yes': Russia, China, Lebanon, India, and Brazil. According to Yousef Munayyer, executive director of the Palestine Center think tank in Washington
Because of this exposure, he said the UN initiative “can be a game-changer because it makes returning to Washington-led negotiations for the Palestinian leadership that much more difficult.”
"We know that the United States is working really hard to try to make sure that they don’t get the nine votes, so they won’t have to use their veto, which in itself is a very interesting thing because the United States in the past has never shown a hesitation to be the only vote in the Security Council in support of Israel.”
He also said: “I think what that says to us is that the Palestinians truly hit a nerve with the United States and in the wake of the revolutions going on in the region is truly doing this (opposing the Palestinian bid) recognizing their waning influence in the region.”Related to this Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel strongly condemned the latest Israeli announcement that it would be adding on to the Gilo Settlement just outside the Green Line claiming that this building calls into serious question Israel's commitment to Peace talks and a Palestinian State in the West Bank (as if that were not a question at this point already).
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the decision to green-light new Jewish housing units in east Jerusalem has "raised doubts that the Israeli government is interested in starting serious negotiations" with the Palestinians, her spokesman said Friday.
Steffen Seibert said in a statement that Merkel called Netanyahu to tell him "it is now necessary to dispel those doubts."
The Prime Minister's Office responded in a statement, saying that "Gilo is not a settlement. It is a Jerusalem neighborhood that is located five minutes from the center of the city, and all of Israel's governments have built in it."Further related: PLO effectively rejects Quartet proposal to resume talks citing Israel's continued construction on settlement projects as reasons to reject the Quartet's call to resume negotiations.
RAMALLAH (Reuters) -- The PLO on Thursday effectively rejected a proposal by the European Union, the United States and Russia to resume suspended peace negotiations with Israel next month without preconditions.
The PLO executive committee, meeting in Ramallah, noted the proposal but said, as expected, that Israel must halt all settlement building in the occupied West Bank before they will restart talks, as President Mahmoud Abbas has insisted.
"The Palestinian leadership stresses clearly that it cannot accept holding negotiations that lack the minimum limits of responsibility and seriousness amid the continuation of settlements and stealing of land," said PLO official Yasser Abed Rabbo.Finally, we have more bad news coming from deteriorating relationships for Israel with former friends Turkey and Egypt. First, Report: Israel scrambles IAF warplanes toward Turkish ship. Apparently, Israeli F-15's and an Israeli helicopter flew a mission to check out a Turkish research ship. Eventually after repeated warnings two Turkish F-16's were scrambled to track the Israeli jets and the Israeli plans left the area
On September 23, Turkey dispatched its only research vessel, the Piri Reis, to the eastern Mediterranean.
"Piri Reis, escorted by warships, has started research in the same area where Greek Cypriots are exploring," Omer Celik, Vice Chairman of the ruling AK Party who oversees foreign affairs, said on Twitter.
"We have shown clearly to everyone that we will not allow the eastern Mediterranean to become a Greek Cyprus-Israel goal," he said in another message.Along with this Egypt's envoy to PA: Israel wants to retake Sinai
Egyptian envoy to the Palestinian Authority Yasser Othman said Friday that Israel's escalating rhetoric against Egypt's post-revolution security apparatus suggests of an Israeli plot to retake Sinai.
In an interview with Palestinian news agency Maan, Othman claimed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak's repeated incitement against the security situation in Sinai indicates of their plan to recapture the peninsula.
The Egyptian envoy noted that Israel has been acting tirelessly to tarnish the reputation of the new government, claiming Egypt is unable to secure its border with Israel in order to mount international pressure that will provide the Jewish State with the necessary pretext to occupy the area.
Othman's statement came days after Egyptian Foreign Minister Muhammed Amr said that Cairo intends to respect its peace treaty with Israel.The Israelis responded by saying that this is not true and that Israel recognizes and supports the Peace treaty with Egypt.
Anyway, please throw your thoughts into the mix and let's discuss.
India listed as a definite "yes" is surprising, geopolitically. They know that the US is very unhappy with, and worried about, Pakistan-- as are they. They know that the same radical Islam that shrieks "itbach el-Yahud" also conducts acts of mass murder in India. And they have been developing closer ties with Israel over the past few years.
ReplyDeleteI'd also expect Nigeria and Bosnia/Herzegovina (large Muslim populations) to vote yes, as well as South Africa (a pretty automatic vote for any anti-Israel effort).
To stop at 8 votes, that would require the US, UK, France (ha!), Portugal, Colombia, Germany and Gabon all to fail to vote yes. The Palestinians, according to YNet, think they have all the nonEuropean states lined up except for Colombia. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4129065,00.html
Heya Mike,
ReplyDeleteI guess what remains entirely unclear to me is just what all this is likely to mean, really, for Israel?
If Obama vetoes, as I assume he will, then what is the next move for the Palestinians?
One thing that we can definitely expect is that the western left will condemn the veto and spit hatred.
That much we know, for sure.
But can Israel's reputation be all that much more eroded on the European and progressive left?
I think the short answer is "no", Israel's reputation can't get worse among the so-called "progressive left". For them, the issue isn't even the 1949 armistice lines anyway, it's the existence of a Jewish state of Israel anywhere. Which led to the phenomenon of the most radical "pro-Palestinian" groups (at least in the Bay Area) condemning Abbas because they felt that it could lead to a two state solution.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that the SC has referred the matter to a "committee of experts" (presumably lawyers) who will try to find a way to twist themselves in knots justifying either 1. admitting a state that doesn't have defined borders or 2. trying to declare borders on its own (which is not within the power of the UN).