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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:
Report: 11 Palestinians Disappear After Arrest by PA - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
Drive to Halt Spread of al-Qaeda in UK - Toby Helm (Telegraph-UK)
Nerve Gas Antidote Distributed to British Police - John Steele (Telegraph-UK)
China's Problem with Militant Islam and Pakistan - Bhaskar Dasgupta (Hindustan Times-UK)
Useful Reference:
Video: Palestinian Terrorists Use UN Ambulances (Access/Middle East)
A Perspective on Israeli Actions in Gaza (Los Angeles Times) |
News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
Saudi commandos stormed a compound in Khobar where Islamic extremists had seized foreign oil workers, after the gunmen began executing the hostages Sunday, Saudi officials said. About 50 hostages were rescued, but one American and 21 other people were killed. Saudi officials said they captured the ringleader, who was among the 25 most wanted terrorism suspects in the kingdom. Three gunmen escaped after they commandeered a car and used some of the hostages as shields, according to a Saudi security official. A group allied with al-Qaeda asserted responsibility for the attack. (Washington Post) See also Kidnappers "Cut Throats of Hostages" "Nine [hostages] had their throats cut by the kidnappers when they tried to escape," said Nijar Hijazin, a Jordanian computer engineer who had himself been taken hostage. (AFP/Sydney Morning Herald-Australia) The latest attack on foreign residential and office complexes in Saudi Arabia has ratcheted up concern over the nation's ability to increase oil production at a time when global petroleum supplies are becoming increasingly sensitive to any disruptions. The timing of the attack in Khobar also appears to have been intended to inflict damage on the credibility of Saudi officials in Beirut this week for an OPEC meeting. The Khobar attack was the second major violent incident in less than a month in Saudi Arabia, after an attack earlier this month in Yanbu, a petrochemical complex on the western Saudi coast. One of the buildings attacked in Khobar, called the Petroleum Center, held the offices for companies that had recently entered into gas exploration ventures with Saudi Aramco, including Total of France, Royal Dutch/Shell, Lukoil of Russia, and Sinopec of China. In a taped statement posted on Islamist websites, Abdulaziz al-Muqrin, a leader of al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, claimed responsibility for the Khobar attack and promised more violence in the months ahead. He repeated earlier calls to rid the Arabian peninsula of "infidels." (New York Times) A few days after Libya's historic pledge on Dec. 19 to abandon the quest for nuclear weapons, Libyan intelligence officials told visiting U.S. diplomats that a sizable quantity of nuclear equipment purchased by Libya appeared to be missing. The Libyans wanted to prepare the Americans for the possibility that more illicit nuclear shipments could suddenly appear on Tripoli's docks. Four months later, despite a search that has spanned the globe, U.S. and international investigators are still struggling to account for a number of sensitive parts Libya ordered for construction of its uranium enrichment plant - parts that potentially could be used by other countries or groups seeking nuclear weapons. (Washington Post) See also After Ending Arms Program, Libya Receives a Surprise The Libyans may have been as surprised as anybody when advanced centrifuge components for enriching uranium - a crucial step in making nuclear bombs - showed up in Tripoli's port in March. "The Libyans warned us that they had ordered a lot of additional stuff," said a senior American official, "and some of it hadn't shown up. Some might still show up in the future." (New York Times) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
A seven-hour cabinet meeting Sunday on the disengagement plan ended without a vote, and is to continue next Sunday. There is no guarantee that the debate will conclude next week, and the vote may not be held until the week after. Sharon is adamant about bringing the whole plan to the cabinet. Netanyahu indicated that he would vote for the evacuation of three settlements but not the entire plan. (Jerusalem Post) The Bush administration has asked Israel to try starting negotiations with some Palestinian empowered to take responsibility for areas in Gaza evacuated by Israel, to try to prevent a takeover by Islamic fundamentalists. Some American officials have expressed reservations about a unilateral withdrawal that does not involve an orderly transfer of security responsibility to Palestinians on the ground. If extremists take control of the area evacuated by Israel in the first stage, this will be regarded as an Israeli failure that will further damage America's standing in the region. (Ha'aretz) See also Egypt Fears Hamas Takeover in Gaza - Danny Rubinstein Egypt's readiness to take part in preserving security in Gaza derives, inter alia, from its fear that a Hamas-controlled Gaza would strengthen and encourage Islamic zealots in Egypt. Hamas in Gaza has always been a sort of Palestinian branch of the Moslem Brotherhood movement in Egypt. Most Hamas leaders studied in Egypt and maintained contacts with Islamic organizations there. Thus Hamas success in Gaza could influence and spur Egyptian Islamic organizations, which head the opposition in Cairo. (Ha'aretz) Following reports that Mohammed Dahlan, the former PA security minister, was holding secret talks with Israel and the U.S. about security arrangements in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli withdrawal from the area, PA national security advisor Jibril Rajoub over the weekend launched a scathing attack on Dahlan, calling him a traitor and an Israeli collaborator. Dahlan's critics in the PA talk about a U.S.-Israeli plot to turn him into the de facto ruler of Gaza. (Jerusalem Post) Capt. Shahar Ben-Yishai, 25, was killed Saturday by a Palestinian sniper during an IDF operation in Balata near Nablus. (Ha'aretz) In the northern Gaza Strip Saturday night, the IDF targeted a motorcycle carrying two senior Hamas terrorists responsible for numerous attacks and the death of Israeli citizens and soldiers. Wa'al Nasser, 31, directed the attack by a female suicide bomber on January 14, 2004, and was a leader of the Qassam rocket project. Muhamed Zarzur, 30, was personally involved in the recruitment of terrorists and in the financing and production of weaponry, and continued to direct explosive devices and rocket attacks against Israelis. (IDF) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
There are many, notably within the security community, who are mainly concerned lest the image of Israel fleeing the territories encourage more terrorism. The Rafah operation is intended not only to strike at terrorists, but primarily to enhance Israel's capacity to deal with them following its departure from the Gaza Strip. The byproduct of a resolute operation in Gaza is a message to the Palestinians that Israel is determined in its struggle against terrorism and is creating the conditions that will enable it to meet this challenge for as long as it takes. The offensive against Palestinian terrorism will persist, to demonstrate that terrorism has set Palestinian national objectives back rather than allowing Palestinians to dictate Israeli policy. The writer is a senior fellow at the National Security Studies Center at the University of Haifa. (bitterlemons.org) Ironically, it is the Palestinian terror that has kept Israel in Gaza, precisely because of the concern over repeating the Lebanon precedent and giving the Palestinians reason to believe they can bomb Israel out of Judea and Samaria as well. The Palestinians understand, however, that Judea and Samaria are different. Israel has no claim to Lebanon or Gaza, but it does have a very strong political, religious, psychological, and historical attachment to the West Bank. The Palestinians may still harbor the illusion that the international community will force Israel to the 1949 armistice lines, but they also understand Israel will not be terrorized into that kind of retreat. When Israel withdraws from Gaza, and/or parts of the West Bank, it will hardly be a victory for the Palestinians. Two years ago, Israel might have been seen as retreating, but now Israel controls all the territory and is making a strategic redeployment based on its own security needs, not the demands of terrorists. Let them declare victory, just as Arafat flashed the "V" sign as he was shipped off to Tunis from Lebanon. (Israelinsider.com) Earlier this month, Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-S.C.) penned a silly column asserting that the president went to war with Iraq to win the Jewish vote. While it's not easy to prove Hollings hates Jews, it is easy to prove he's a buffoon. The notion that Bush and Karl Rove are pinning their re-election hopes on winning 10% or 20% of the Jewish vote by getting America embroiled in a risky, dangerous, and costly war is batty. Jews make up only 4% of the national electorate and they're mostly in safely Democratic states. Yes, they're in some swing states like Ohio, Florida, and Missouri, but nobody thinks going after the Jewish vote in these states passes the cost-benefit test. (Tallahassee Democrat) Observations: Rules of War Enable Terror - Alan M. Dershowitz (Baltimore Sun)
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