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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: [email protected]
In-Depth Issue:
Arafat's Call for "Day of Rage"
Finds Little Favor - Toby Harnden (Telegraph-UK)
UK and Sweden Pay for Arafat's Hague Propagandists (IMRA)
Will the Jerusalem Fence Help? - Leslie Susser (JTA) |
News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
Israel was to stage its own alternative to the world court hearings on its West Bank barrier Tuesday. Two U.S. congressmen who are monitoring proceedings in The Hague will form a panel overseeing the "alternative hearing," where 17 members of families who are victims of terror will tell their stories, said Israeli foreign ministry spokesman David Saranga. (AFP) See also Pro-Fence Ads Being Shown on U.S. TV - Melissa Radler In an effort to garner public support for the security fence, a series of 30-second TV ads featuring mothers whose children were killed by suicide bombers began airing on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC in the Washington area last week, sponsored by The Israel Project (View the Ad). A new poll released last week by The Israel Project found that 74% of 800 likely voters in the U.S. agree that Israel has a right to build a security fence, and 69% agree, while 25% disagree, that "Israel, like any other country, should not be told by an international court how to protect its own citizens." (Jerusalem Post) After the suicide bombing on Sunday, the flesh and the bones were collected from the bus and the street, and delivered to Israel's forensic center where Dr. Jehuda Hiss carried out his grim duty of piecing together the broken bodies and tending to the raw emotions of the living. The police announced seven dead, but when Dr. Hiss and his team had developed genetic profiles on the remains, they discovered an eighth. "This person must have been sitting next to the bomber," Dr. Hiss said. The most awkward moment comes when families ask to see the victim. "I say it is better to remember them when they were living," Dr. Hiss said. About a quarter of the families insist. "I explain it's only part of the body. Still, they will hug a foot if that is all there is," he said. He used to reject such requests, but psychologists recommended otherwise. (New York Times) Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. defense secretary, arrived in Baghdad Monday to accuse Iran and Syria of complicity in the terrorist violence in Iraq. Rumsfeld was told by senior officers that the main threat to stability now came from terrorists rather than pro-Saddam fighters, and they were switching their attacks from Americans to Iraqis. "We know Iran has harbored al-Qaeda, we know they had people moving across the border....We know Syria has been a hospitable place for escaping Iraqis," said Rumsfeld. Asked if pressure should be put on Damascus and Teheran to cease their activities, he replied: "That wouldn't be a bad thing." (Telegraph-UK) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Sharon told the Likud faction Monday he intended to ask the U.S. to recognize the Israeli security line in the territories as "a long-term interim arrangement." He said: "We want to ensure there will be no diplomatic plan or demands on Israel from any source until a different Palestinian leadership is set up that fights terror and applies the road map. In the interim period, we shall fix the security line, and that is why the Palestinians are so worried about this." Sharon would like to see American commitments to Israel anchored in a written memorandum of understanding from the U.S. administration. He said the depth of the withdrawal would depend on what Israel received in return, and praised Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the list of proposals he had drawn up as possible compensation. Israel plans to ask the Americans to recognize the blocs of Ma'aleh Adumim, Ariel, and Gush Etzion and agree that they be excluded from the list of settlements where building is frozen. Israel will also request that Washington prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state in the territories after the Israeli withdrawal. (Ha'aretz) In his semi-annual briefing to members of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, General Security Services Director Avi Dichter said Tuesday that terror operations occur only in areas where the security barrier has yet to have been completed. "Ninety percent of terror cells operated from Samaria, but since the barrier was erected there, the terror activity came to a complete standstill," Dichter revealed. (Maarivenglish.com) In an interview with the Palestinian daily al-Quds, Muhammed Dahlan, former PA Minister of Security, said: "The Israeli withdrawal is a victory for us and we must celebrate it. Hizballah turned Israel's retreat from South Lebanon into victory. The withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip and some West Bank settlements is one of the most important achievements of the intifada. The withdrawal should take place without an agreement and with no political gains (for Israel). Sharon has decided to withdraw unilaterally, and this is cause for celebration." According to one PA official, Israel and the U.S. are demanding that Dahlan become the de facto commander of the Gaza Strip after the withdrawal. (Jerusalem Post) It's hard for the Palestinians to hide their satisfaction. Had Israel proposed an agreement on withdrawal from Gaza to them, they would have been required to give something in return. Now they are getting it for free. "For us, the withdrawal from Gaza will not come at the expense of anything else, and we certainly won't agree to give anything in exchange on the West Bank," said Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath. The PA, together with the various opposition organizations, will try to turn the withdrawal into a Palestinian victory campaign, the likes of which hasn't been seen for years. The situation is characterized by a feeling of success that is gradually coming to include almost all the political activists in the West Bank and in Gaza. (Ha'aretz) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
The Palestinians and their leaders in the Arab world - who created the whole tragedy by waging a war of extermination in the first place, second place, and third place - have shown no willingness to accept Israel, no matter what concessions are offered. Conflict management, not conflict resolution, is the only real option. Construction of the fence has been inaccurately described as some kind of major land grab. The opposite is true. Land is being yielded, and the fence constitutes only a minor modification of borders, one that can be adjusted to some degree by future negotiations of other Israeli territory. It is not a project conceived and supported by the Israeli right but by the Israeli center. (U.S. News) Sharon is a general, and when a general decides he is in for a long siege, he consolidates his lines. A long siege is what Israel must now prepare for. Israelis, the White House, and more or less all people with eyes in their heads now believe that, as David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy puts it, "So long as Yasser Arafat remains leader of the Palestinians, there is no hope for peace and no hope of partnership." By getting out of Gaza, Sharon can firm up his lines and redeploy his resources. More-defensible boundaries cannot exclude bombers entirely. Nor can they stop mortar shells and rockets. The Israeli army would continue to strike into Palestinian territory in both retaliation and pre-emption. There is no peace process. As Yossi Shain, the head of Tel Aviv University's government department, says, "A peace deal with a central authority that can command all the forces among the Palestinians is not attainable and is not likely to be established soon." So Israelis are digging in for a long wait. Americans may have to do the same. (National Journal) Observations: Egypt Asks Israel to Control Gaza Border - Yosef Goell (Jerusalem Post)
See also Israel Sounds Out Egypt on Gaza Plan - Aluf Benn (Ha'aretz)
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