|
Prepared for the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in association with the Fairness Project by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
|
|||||
|
To contact the Presidents Conference: [email protected] In-Depth Issue:
Focus on the PFLP
Key Links: Israel Key Links: USA Key Links: Media Lists Daily Alert Back Issues
|
News Resources - USA and Europe:
Vice President Cheney compared the challenge of protecting Americans from terror attacks to the crisis in the Middle East -- which claimed more lives even as he spoke. Cheney cited Israel as evidence that even the best government efforts to track terror sometimes fail. "So after you've done everything you can, you still have to assume you may get hit." (Washington Post) Israel recently sank a ship laden with arms on its way from Lebanon to Gaza, according to Jane's Foreign Report and the New York Post. Israel had planned to capture the boat and publicly display its contents, but decided to sink it when it was learned that the ship was defended by 20 armed men. (JTA) An alleged offer by the Palestinian militant group Hamas to stop suicide bombings in Israeli territory may be part of a plan to position itself as a workable replacement for Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority. (Strategic Forecasting)
News Resources - Israel and Mideast:
On Sunday a Palestinian suicide bomber wearing an IDF uniform attacked the Netanya market. One of the victims, Arkadi Weizelman, 39, had survived the Park Hotel bombing in Netanya during Pesach. Israeli security sources believe the attack was planned by Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) chief Ahmad Sa'adat, who was also behind the murder of Israeli cabinet minister Rehavam Ze'evi last year. After the recent lifting of the Israeli siege of Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah, Sa'adat, who originally was to be held in a Jericho prison under British guard, was instead provided an office in Jericho with full freedom of movement and unrestricted communications - including telephone. (Jerusalem Post/Yediot Ahronot/IMRA) On Monday another bomber blew himself up while being checked by border policemen in northern Israel. No injuries were reported. Documents seized in the Ramallah office of Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti suggest the Palestinian Authority rechanneled funds from its official budget to Fatah and Tanzim groups in the territories. Copies of 60 checks were found indicating that funds were taken out of a PA bank account and paid to Fatah and Tanzim operatives. (Ha'aretz)
Global Commentary and Think Tank Analysis
(Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
The Palestinians' attempts to smuggle weapons and ammunition have not ceased. If the Palestinians had the control at international border crossings that they are demanding, they would be able to stockpile far larger quantities of arms. Therefore, when the talks on the final settlement arrangements resume, it will be of vital importance to strenuously oppose granting the Palestinians full authority at these crossings. (Ha'aretz) The Palestinian Authority is being asked to do something that American administrations have not asked of any established Arab state: to create a true democracy. Though it is far from clear they will stand up to Mr. Arafat, many Palestinians are yearning for democracy. (New York Times) "Bush is naive if he thinks Arafat is the man to clean the mess," one Palestinian journalist said privately. "Arafat is at the center of a system of corruption. There can be no reform unless Arafat goes." (LA Times) Includes statements by Yasser Arafat, Hanan Ashrawi, Jibril Rajoub, Nabil Amr, George W. Bush, Ariel Sharon, Muhammad Hourani, Mustafa Barghouti, Saeb Erakat, Daniel Ayalon, and Ari Fleischer. (CNN) External intervention would not only be hazardous, but would also likely do more harm than good in the fight against terrorism. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Israelis are not driven to the sea by suicide bombs; they are driven to the right. Terror ultimately is a strategy of suicide for the Palestinians. (Washington Post) A mother lovingly dresses her 12-year-old son in the homemade costume of a suicide bomber, complete with small kaffiyeh, a belt of electrical tape and fake explosives made of plywood. (Washington Times) Stop by enough Middle East "peace" rallies these days and you�ll feel like Churchill in the late 1930s, who wondered how much longer his countrymen would be swept up in pathetic attempts to rationalize Hitler�s behavior. (Boston Phoenix) Scorecard on Operation Defensive Shield
To subscribe to the Daily Alert, please send a blank email message to: [email protected] To unsubscribe to the Daily Alert, please send a blank email message to: [email protected]
|
||||
