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Prepared for the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in association with the Fairness Project by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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To contact the Presidents Conference: [email protected]
In-Depth Issue:
Iraq: Countdown to D-Day (Pravda)
In the United Kingdom, there is to be a mass mobilization of reservists in September. British forces are to pull out from NATO exercises. Defense sources have confirmed that reservists will make up shortages in pilots, medical staff, intelligence, and signals operations.
PA Leaders Trained to Resist Interrogation
According to the Shin Bet, the two-month interrogation of Fatah secretary general and Tanzim leader Marwan Barghouti is over. His questioning was mostly in Hebrew, which he speaks fluently, but, according to his interrogators, his jokes were in Arabic.
Time provides a photo portrait of Mr. and Mrs. Shehada in their military camouflage uniforms, equipped with assult rifles.
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News Resources - USA and Europe:
Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erakat: There was a serious internal Palestinian dialogue taking place over the last 20 days in the West Bank and Gaza, and I heard from my colleagues who were carrying out these meetings and this dialogue that a deal was done to declare a stoppage to suicide bombings and violence, to give the peace process a chance. Jim Clancy (CNN): Who had signed up to the deal? Erakat: The dialogue was going on between various political parties. I don't know the individuals who were involved in the deal. Dore Gold: All Israelis wish it was all true. But there is absolutely no indication that there was a deal - an internal Palestinian deal or an Israel-Palestinian deal - to stop Palestinian attacks against Israeli civilians. Clancy (CNN): Saeb Erakat said he just discussed it. Gold: He said he didn't even know who was involved in these negotiations. He also said he didn't even know who was involved in the negotiations that were reported in the London Times....As far as we're concerned, all these rumors are baseless. (CNN) According to Palestinian sources in the territories, responding to claims that the killing of Salah Shehada blocked an agreement that had nearly been reached between the Tanzim and the Palestinian Authority, "We are speaking only of contacts that never really advanced toward an actual agreement." In fact, just two days before Shehada's killing, Maariv published a call by Arafat's Fatah movement to continue the attacks: "We call on all groups...to increase their armed activities against targets of the military occupation." Security sources in Israel also said, "There was no serious process of internal Palestinian contacts toward an agreement on an end to attacks." A senior Israeli source said, "The Tanzim were not preparing any cease-fire, and the Hamas were not involved in any such contacts. These claims are fabrications and part of Palestinian psychological warfare." (Maariv) On July 14, the IDF dropped a quarter-ton bomb on a workshop in Khan Yunis used to manufacture mortar shells and Kassam rockets, but the building was only partially destroyed and the wanted Hamas operative who ran it escaped unscathed. (Ha'aretz) Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said his government would not be held hostage by trade threats, after warnings by the Iraqi Trade Minister that Baghdad would halve Australia's $829 million a year wheat imports. Iraq said it was responding to Downer's strong public criticism of Saddam Hussein's weapons program and his hints that Australia could support future U.S. military action. Although Iraq is Australia's second biggest market for wheat, "We don't support policies of appeasement," said Downer. (The Australian) Syria has shown a surprising openness in working with the United States against al Qaeda. When Saudi and other fighters began drifting through Syria after the collapse of Taliban rule in Afghanistan last fall, the government arrested more than 20 former fighters, intelligence officials said. U.S. officials confirmed that information provided by the Syrian government saved American lives by heading off an attack on U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf earlier this year. More recently, Syria has cooperated with U.S. officials in the arrest and interrogation of Mohammed Haydar Zammar, a Syrian-born German citizen who recruited Mohammed Atta and two other Sept. 11 hijackers into an al Qaeda cell based in Hamburg. (Washington Post) Rabbi Elimelech Shapira, 43, head of the pre-military academy at Peduel, was murdered near the Jewish community of Alei Zahav in northern Samaria when gunmen opened fire on his vehicle early Thursday morning. Paramedics who arrived at the scene came under heavy gunfire as they attempted to treat a wounded passenger. (Jerusalem Post) Responding to heavy U.S. pressure, Prime Minister Sharon and his top-level, ministerial political steering committee have decided to unconditionally hand over NIS 200 million in frozen Palestinian Authority assets to Palestinian Finance Minister Salim Fayad. Sharon had hesitated to transfer funds to the PA until an international mechanism was in place to guarantee that the money would not be used for terrorism. Israel will also forgive some NIS 140 million in PA debts for electricity and health services provided by Israel. The committee also decided to lift closures and open roads in Hebron, Bethlehem, and Jericho. (Ha'aretz)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis
(Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
The War on Terror scored a huge victory when an Israeli missile took out the operative head of a U.S.-certified terrorist group. Shehada's death moves the whole planet closer to victory over terror. Hats off to Israel for its good aim. As Washington and Jerusalem prosecute the war against those who attack innocents, everyone else better get out of the way. (New York Post) A burgeoning danger that is receiving scant attention is the constant supply from both the Iranians and Syrians of a formidable arsenal of highly mobile rockets to Hizballah. (Wall Street Journal) A fierce debate has broken out on whether Islam is a good religion that was hijacked or Islam is inherently violent. "I think we must drive Islam to have a Reformation, which is what Salman Rushdie is saying, that Islam unreformed will be brutal and barbaric," the Rev. Patrick Sookhdeo of the Institute for the Study of Islam and Christianity in London said in a talk earlier this year. Another U.S. official said "We have to find the moderates and encourage them. It's not easy." (Washington Times) The Targeting of Hamas's bin Laden - Uri Dan (Jerusalem Post) It's worth knowing how to reply to the ridiculous arguments that were heard immediately after Shehada's elimination:
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