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Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in association with Access/Middle East by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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To contact the Presidents Conference: [email protected]
In-Depth Issue:
June Attack on Americans in Gaza Blew Door Off Armored Vehicle - Greg Myre (New York Times)
Report: Dahlan Involved in Gaza Missile Smuggling - Aluf Benn, Baruch Kra, and Arnon Regular (Ha'aretz)
PA Blames Israel for Gaza Bombing - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
Journalist Flees as Palestinian Anger in Gaza Turns on Her - Rebecca Santana (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Terror Fund Trail Leads To Liechtenstein - Marc Perelman (Forward)
Iraq War Spurs Demand for Israeli Protective Gear - Ran Dagoni (Globes)
IAI Unveils New Spy Radar-Satellite - Amnon Barzilai (Ha'aretz)
U.S., Israel Join in Missile Protection System for Aircraft - Ron Colman (PR Newswire/Finanz Nachrichten.de-Germany)
Israeli UAVs Guard U.S.-Owned Oilfields in Angola - Dror Marom (Globes)
Useful Reference:
From Palestinian Media Watch:
Examples of Hate-America Indoctrination Broadcast on PA TV
Examples of Hate-America Cartoons in the PA Press
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News Resources - North America and Europe:
Palestinian police arrested several members of the Popular Resistance Committees, a group responsible for planting massive roadside bombs in the Gaza Strip that blew up three of Israel's Merkava tanks. A senior Israeli military official said that "all the lines point to the Popular Resistance Committees." He said the bomb used in Wednesday's attack probably contained more than 200 pounds of explosives. "This is their expertise. This is what they do all the time. These huge explosive charges come from their lines of production," he said. "I have no doubt that [the attackers] knew exactly what they were doing," he said. "I am sure some people in the Palestinian police knew in advance that this car was coming. Its arrival was coordinated through the Palestinian Authority...so there may have been some leakage from the Palestinian police." (Washington Post) Opening the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Malaysia Thursday, Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mohamad Mahathir urged Muslims to unite against Jews who, he says, ruled the world. "We are actually very strong, 1.3 billion people cannot be simply wiped out. The Europeans killed six million Jews out of 12 million. But today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them," he said. (CNN) See also Reaction of the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs It is a shame that in the course of his speech, ostensibly dedicated to solving problems in the Muslim world in the 21st century, Dr. Mohamad Mahathir could not restrain himself from resurrecting vile invective, innuendoes, and outright lies taken straight from classic anti-Semitic propaganda. The civilized world has seen the results of such violent rhetoric in the past. In this regard, Dr. Mahathir's reference to the Holocaust was a desecration of the memory of six million innocent victims of anti-Semitism. Dr. Mahathir's speech brought no honor to himself nor to those in attendance. We call on right-thinking people and countries, both in the Muslim world and outside of it, to utterly condemn the invocation of the same anti-Semitic ideas which led to the worst case of mass murder in human history. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Israel is trying to block the sale by the U.S. to Saudi Arabia and Egypt of satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munition bombs, which can accurately hit a target even in adverse weather conditions, saying such sales would put a dent in the IDF's qualitative military edge over other Middle East armies. Israel also expressed unease with the sale of missiles and Apache helicopters to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Army radio reported Thursday. (UPI/Washington Times) News Resources - Israel, the Mideast, and Asia:
Shin Bet and police investigators at first refused to believe that the female suicide bomber, Hanadi Jaradat, who murdered 21 people at Maxim restaurant in Haifa on Oct. 4, sat wearing an explosive belt while she ate lunch, looked at those serving her and those seated around her, and decided to murder them in cold blood. A cash register receipt proves that she got up, paid the bill, then went back inside and exploded. Investigators believe that the restaurant was not the original target, but that Jaradat had stopped there to eat before implementing a major terror attack at Haifa's Rambam Hospital. Before reaching Haifa, Jaradat had stopped at Hillel Yafe Hospital in Hadera where she bought candy at a nearby snack bar. She had entered Israel in a vehicle with Israeli license plates that was ordered in advance, and no one checked her at the crossing since soldiers do not check women riding in Israeli vehicles. (Yediot Ahronot-Hebrew) A large group of Jewish worshipers who visited Joseph's Tomb near Nablus Thursday was evacuated by the IDF moments before a Palestinian attack on the site. The tomb, which the Oslo Accords had left in Israeli hands, was almost totally destroyed by the Palestinians. Thursday, an unusually large group - some 500 people - was allowed to visit in honor of the Sukkot holiday. In Jewish tradition, a different biblical figure is honored on each day of the week-long holiday, and Thursday was Joseph's day of honor. (Ha'aretz) See also Palestinians Set Fire to Jewish Shrine (Reuters) See photo: Palestinian Children Search Debris in Joseph's Tomb (Reuters) Highlights of a public opinion poll of 1,318 adults conducted in the West Bank and Gaza on October 7-14, 2003: Only 33% believe Abu Ala and his government will be able to control the security situation and enforce a ceasefire. 82% believe there is corruption in the PA and 71% believe that corruption will increase or remain the same in the future. 75% support the suicide attack at Maxim Restaurant in Haifa leading to the death of 21 Israelis. 68% believe the roadmap is dead, while 28% believe that it can still be implemented. 59% believe that current armed confrontations have helped the Palestinians achieve national rights in ways that negotiations could not, down from 65% last June. (Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research) 3,000 Christians from more than 80 countries came to Israel this week for the 24th annual celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles organized by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem. Event organizers say the individuals all came to show their support for the State of Israel and its people, while helping to pump $8-10 million into the economy through hotel stays and purchases. (Ha'aretz) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
The Gaza Bombing
In the split-second that it took to trigger the bomb in Gaza, the assailants succeeded in putting America's War on Terror squarely on the Israeli side of the conflict with the Palestinians. A total of 49 American citizens have been killed during the past three years of violence, most of them dual nationals caught in the crossfire. This is the first time that American officials appear to have been specifically targeted by Palestinians. Reports of street celebrations in Gaza after the attack appear to confirm that in the militant Palestinian strongholds the U.S. is regarded every bit as much as the enemy as Israel. (London Times) The largest terrorist base in the world has been harbored, coordinated, financed, and incited by the Palestinian Authority/PLO since 1993. The PA/PLO has tolerated/encouraged terrorism, perpetrated by its own "security organizations," Abu-Mazen's and Abu-Ala's Fatah organization, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hizballah, al-Qaeda, Democratic Front, Popular Front, etc. The murder of the three Americans has been the direct result of a 10-year, sustained anti-U.S. incitement campaign, orchestrated by the PA/PLO-controlled education, clergy, and media systems. U.S. taxpayers should stop financing this incitement, as has been the case since 1994, when the U.S. initiated $100M in annual (fungible) foreign aid to the PA/PLO. It is formally channeled via Palestinian NGOs, whose "independence" is identical to that of Iraqi NGOs under Saddam. Egyptian culpability is underscored by Mubarak's tolerance of the smuggling of explosives, missiles, and other military hardware from Sinai into Gaza. The State Department should not constrain Israel into a low-intensity war against terrorism. Israel should implement Powell's Doctrine of disproportional response. (Ariel Center for Policy Research) Tempting the wrath of the superpower has not been considered a prudent political course even among the radical Islamist Palestinians. After the Gaza bombing, the pressure on the likes of Hamas and Islamic Jihad will be overwhelming. The PA has vowed to investigate the attack with the help of the FBI. Such a probe could prove uncomfortable, given the fact that the attackers appear to have been aware of the schedule of the American convoy. The U.S. will now brook no further excuses from the PA for failing to go to war on the radical groups. But with Palestinian politics is disarray, the ability of the PA to carry out an effective crackdown is far from certain. Washington's call for all U.S. personnel to leave Gaza suggests an expectation that there may be more to come, and that Gaza, and possibly the West Bank, may become a new front in America's war on terrorism. (Time)
President Bush's characteristically blunt assignment of responsibility for the Gaza strip bombing that killed three Americans Wednesday - he blamed Yasser Arafat - was right on the mark. There is no doubt that Arafat's policy has been one of sheltering and encouraging fellow terrorists. Israel defends the security barrier it is building by pointing out that next to no suicide bombers emerge from Gaza, which is already contained. But surely the more salient fact is that next to no suicide bombers emerged from anywhere before Arafat's arrival in 1994. In fact, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians worked in Israel without incident. Arafat is the problem; getting rid of him should be the solution of first resort. If Israel is going to run the risk of martyring Arafat, it might as well stand Europe's cynical posturing about the rule of law on its head by indicting and trying the man in an Israeli courtroom. Imagine it: the world's attention focused on decades' worth of documents and communications intercepts linking Arafat to numerous and horrific acts of murder. And what better way for Israel to make the point that "international law" does not oblige it to let the Palestinians bomb their way to a state? (Wall Street Journal; 17 Oct 03) Israel has at least as much justification to oust Yasser Arafat as the U.S. did to oust Saddam Hussein. Some foolishly argue that Arafat cannot control the "radicals." Barry Rubin, co-author of a new biography of him, points out: "What many foreign observers have failed to understand is that for more than two years Arafat himself has been firmly in the radical camp." Arafat received more than $2.5 billion in aid, yet Palestinian standards declined. Michael Kelly, a brilliant Washington journalist who died in Iraq, commented: "Arafat has established in Gaza and the West Bank a nasty, thuggish little kleptocracy run by and for the benefit of President Arafat and his gunsels and cronies." (Chicago Sun-Times) OPEC's oil policy in the wake of the 1973 Yom Kippur War led to the largest transfer of wealth in the annals of nations. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger wrote in his memoirs, "Never before in history has a group of such relatively weak nations been able to impose with so little protest such a dramatic change in the way of life of the overwhelming majority of the rest of mankind." There was a diminishment of Beirut, Damascus, Cairo, Tunis, and a new ascendancy of the oil states. A fault line opened between those who fell into riches and those left behind. This second group soon fell back on an aggrieved nativism. The new wealth had a new nemesis: Americanization was overtaken by a fierce anti-Americanism. The shah of Iran, Muhammad Reza Pahlavi, had been one of the chief architects of OPEC's policy; he had wanted to turn his country into an Asian Germany and to herd his people into the modern age. A bare five years after he engineered the big price hike, he gathered a handful of soil and left his country for exile. That wayward son of Arabia, Osama bin Laden, is a child of the oil revolution. He came of age amid the new wealth; it was petromoney that he took to Afghanistan. And it was petromoney that brought about the demographic explosion that has swamped and unsettled Arabia. The writer is professor of Middle Eastern studies at Johns Hopkins University and author of Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation's Odyssey. (New York Times) Israel will continue to build the fence to protect its citizens. It has no other choice. Images abound of the U.S. putting fences and walls in the Southwest to prevent the illegal entry of Central Americans. But it is suicide bombers that Israel has to contend with, not illegal immigrants. If Israel were forced to build the fence along the 1967 borders, the clear message would be that the Palestinians had succeeded in forcing Israel out of the territories without ending the conflict. Any future negotiation will invariably begin with the view that Israel had already conceded the entire West Bank. The notion that building the fence forecloses future negotiations is bogus. Whatever fence Israel is building could and would come down if the Palestinians were to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure and negotiate peace in good faith. The writer is National Director of the Anti-Defamation League. (Washington Times) Many students from Pakistan's madrassas, or radical Islamist schools, are leaving to avoid arrest in a government crackdown on Islamic extremism. Some are going to Saudi Arabia, but hundreds are heading to Africa. Islamic extremists in Somalia, Kenya, and Tanzania have turned to terrorism. More alarming is the spread of rigid forms of Islam, historically rare south of the Sahara, which are creating division, chaos, and violence in both East and West Africa. Mohammed Madi, a fundamentalist activist in Tanzania, told Time magazine last month, "We get our funds from Yemen and Saudi Arabia....Officially the money is used to buy medicine, but in reality the money is given to us to support our work and buy guns." In Zambia this summer, police raided an Islamic school and found 280 students confined in cages, where they were forced to study military tactics and Arabic. Senegal, Gambia, Niger, Mauritania, Chad, and Mali are also experiencing Islamist unrest, with riots and, in some cases, coup attempts. This Islamization is being pushed by Sudan and Saudi Arabia, with Libya's Moammar Gaddafi also a major player. The U.S. should demand that Tripoli, Khartoum and Riyadh cease their export of radicalism to Africa. (Washington Post) The Syrians still do not get it. Human Rights Watch says nothing can justify "crimes against humanity," but Syria maintains that "resistance to occupation" - by which Palestinian terrorists mean Israel's mere existence - justified the suicide bombing of a Haifa restaurant on Oct. 4, which in turn provoked the Israeli raid on Syria the next day. (Toronto Globe and Mail) A countdown has started for war between the United States and Iran. The evidence against the ayatollahs is much more damning than the evidence was against Saddam Hussein. Iranians are better able to produce The Bomb with each passing day. If there'd been this much evidence about Saddam, his zero hour would have come a lot sooner. (Newsweek) Weekend Features:
The Ford Foundation, with an estimated $10 billion in assets, disburses approximately $500 million annually. The overwhelming majority of Ford's monies for the Middle East are granted to pro-Palestinian and Islamic rights groups, and Ford funds several Israeli-based dissident and human rights groups. B'Tselem currently receives $250,000 for what Ford reports describe as "monitoring human rights in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, documenting violations, and advocating for policy changes." Rabbis for Human Rights has been granted more than $250,000 to develop a Web site, place newspaper advertising, and bring other rabbis to Israel to learn about human rights. Last year, Hamoked was granted $300,000 for "advocacy and legal action to promote human rights of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories facing human rights violations by Israeli authorities." Last year, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza received $100,000 for what Ford describes as "community-based advocacy work on economic, social, and cultural rights in Gaza." The Al Mezan Center works closely with the International Solidarity Movement, which stages civil disobedience actions to obstruct Israeli security forces operating in the territories. The Jerusalem Media and Communication Center recently received $365,000 to create "media services for the foreign press and a weekly electronic magazine." The center publishes The Palestine Report, which employs dramatic imagery and testimony to portray Israel as an apartheid state guilty of war crimes, violations of international law, and repeated massacres. A State Department spokesman for the Near East Affairs bureau who viewed The Palestine Report and its link pages to terrorist sites declared, "I am uncomfortable with the funding of this site and especially these links - very uncomfortable." Yehudit Barsky, director of the American Jewish Committee's division on Middle East and international terrorism, added, "We in the U.S. have not paid attention - foundations can be used in a way no one can imagine. Here we see a Web site promoting terrorist organizations. The Ford Foundation just did not care." (JTA) Recent hearings by the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security have exposed the growing dominance of a radical sect of Islam in the United States. This sect, commonly referred to as Wahhabism, preaches jihad against Christian, Jews, and Muslims who don't toe the Wahhabi line. On Tuesday, I chaired a hearing that analyzed the procedures used by the military and prison system to recruit Muslims, particularly focusing on the cleric program. We also examined whether the instances of Wahhabi infiltration at key U.S. institutions may be part of a larger pattern. We heard from government witnesses on steps they are taking to confront these challenges and outside experts attesting to terrorists' efforts to exploit a free society to conduct the wide range of activities necessary for effective terror operations. (National Review) Tony Judt, who runs an institute of European politics at New York University, has just published a lengthy article titled "The Alternative" that proposes to solve the problems of the Middle East by destroying the State of Israel. Judt's views and attitudes represent a growing consensus within the European center left for an alternative to a Zionist Israel - a binational state of Jews and Arabs. One must hate Israel very much indeed to prefer such an outcome to the reality of the liberal democracy that exists in Israel today. (National Review) Nearly 900,000 Jews left Arab nations amid an anti-Semitic backlash after the creation of Israel in 1948. Advocacy on behalf of these Jewish refugees has grown markedly in the last several years, seeking to bring both historical attention and financial compensation. "This is not a campaign against Palestinian refugees," said Stanley A. Urman, executive director of Justice for Jews From Arab Countries, a coalition of 27 groups that includes the powerful Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. "We've got to make sure Palestinian refugees receive rights and redress, and Jewish refugees receive rights and redress," he said. (New York Times) A year ago, our media were filled with images of Naima el-Abed, a Palestinian mother who sent her son to carry out a suicide terrorist attack. She proudly detailed the support and encouragement she gave her son and described how, as a mother, his act was a source of great pride. As I tried to understand her comments, I was filled with a mother's questions, and now I want to ask them. I know how the will to live is the most powerful force in the universe and I think about the money you have been paid for the life of your son, and I weep for how twisted your mothering has become. We both know children want to please their parents. Was your son forfeiting his life to enrich his family and to please you? A year ago, I watched Naima el-Abed carefully, looking for some sign of grief at the loss of her son. Instead I saw something far more chilling. I saw her pleasure. As if the death of this boy was a victory. I know I will never understand the mother who encourages her child to suicide, who views her son as a legitimate weapon of war. (New Zealand Herald) Observations: Sharon: No Chance for Peace with Arafat - Gil Hoffman, Amotz Asa-El, and Calev Ben-David (Jerusalem Post) Prime Minister Sharon said in an interview published Friday:
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