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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: click here In-Depth Issues:
Defector Reveals Some of Iran's Nuclear Secrets - Ronen Bergman (Ynet News)
Mullahs Gone Wild - John Mauldin (Forbes)
In Morocco's "Chemist," a Glimpse of Al-Qaeda - Craig Whitlock (Washington Post)
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
The mastermind behind the kidnapping of BBC correspondent Alan Johnston is Qattab al-Maqdesy, a native of Gaza and an experienced terrorist who fought with al-Qaeda alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan. (Sunday Times-UK) At least one of the suspects being quizzed over the plot to set off car bombs in Britain was in recent contact with Al-Qaeda in Iraq, senior security officials said Saturday. Scotland Yard's Counter Terrorism Command SO15 has uncovered evidence that in the months leading up to the attacks one or more of the suspects communicated by telephone or e-mail with terrorist leaders in Iraq. (Sunday Times-UK) The sudden flurry of digging seen in recent satellite photos of a mountainside in the back yard of Iran's Natanz nuclear facility appears to be the start of a major tunnel complex inside the mountain. The construction has raised concerns at the International Atomic Energy Agency. "The tunnel complex certainly appears to be related to Natanz," said David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector. In a report analyzing the photos, officials of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) compared the new Natanz construction with a tunnel built by Iran inside a mountain near Esfahan, home to a major nuclear research center and a factory that converts uranium to a form that can be enriched at Natanz. Iran began the work at Esfahan in 2004, digging a large, two-entrance mountain tunnel that it later acknowledged was meant for nuclear storage. "Such a tunnel inside a mountain would offer excellent protection from an aerial attack," said the ISIS report. (Washington Post) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
The Israeli Cabinet approved the release of 250 Fatah security prisoners on Sunday. Those released will be members of Fatah who do not have "blood on their hands," i.e., prisoners who had not personally participated in lethal terrorist attacks. (Jerusalem Post) See also Fatah Official: Prisoner Release Will Make Things Worse for Abbas - Khaled Abu Toameh The release of 250 Palestinian security prisoners from Israeli jails is unlikely to boost the standing of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Fatah. All the freed prisoners are expected to belong to Fatah. A senior Fatah official admitted on Sunday, "The release of the Fatah prisoners could only make matters worse for us, because it will look as if Israel is rewarding Fatah for agreeing to collaborate with the Israelis and Americans." (Jerusalem Post) The Al Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah movement, released a statement Friday demanding that Mahmoud Abbas remove Prime Minister Salam Fayyad from his post. Fayyad said he will not allow the existence of "armed militias" in the Palestinian territories. The Brigades stated that Fayyad told CNN that the resistance brought misery to the Palestinian people, and added that "Fayyad is America's man in Palestine, he is the first Palestinian prime minister who carries American citizenship." (IMEMC-PA) See also Al Aqsa Brigades Members Resign from PA Security Forces The leader of the Fatah-affiliated Al Aqsa Brigades in Nablus, Alaa Sanaqra, along with several other brigades' members, submitted their resignation from the PA security forces on Thursday, as a result of what they called "internal differences." In recent years, many Brigades' members have been employed in the security forces in order to be protected against the Israelis and prevent Brigades' members being targeted by Israeli forces. (Maan News-PA) The IDF uncovered seven Kassam launchers near Beit Hanun in Gaza during operations on Friday. All seven launchers were connected to stopwatches, including one that had a rocket already in place. (Jerusalem Post) Palestinians in Gaza fired five Kassam rockets at Israel on Sunday, two of which damaged a construction site. On Saturday, three rockets landed in the western Negev. Israel Defense Forces troops moving along the fence separating Israel from Gaza came under fire twice. (Ha'aretz) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
We've had an exercise in good-cop, bad-cop with our Islamist friends in the past week. In London and Glasgow, the nutters tried the explosive, take-no-prisoners approach to persuading the West to do their bidding. Over in Gaza, at least when it comes to Europeans rather than Israelis, Hamas prefers the take-prisoners-and-then-generously-let-them-go approach. Hamas' worldview and geopolitical ambitions, however, are exactly the same as those fireball physicians. Funny isn't it, how, when the U.S. or British governments do anything they claim is good we always assume there's some ulterior motive? But when Hamas pulls a stunt like the one it managed this week, we're all lost in innocent admiration at the sheer humanity of these people. We really ought to know that this latest incident is straight from the Hamas playbook - doing little works of charity and economic efficiency in Gaza and the West Bank, the Palestinian equivalent of making the trains run on time, to further their bloodcurdling big objectives. We need to be much less naive about Hamas. Its members want to destroy Israel and wage war on the West. (Times-UK) In the past few years, hundreds of Muslims have committed suicide amid innocent civilians - without making any concrete political demands and without generating any vigorous, sustained condemnation in the Muslim world. Not all Muslims are terrorists. But virtually all suicide terrorists today are Muslims. Angry Norwegians aren't doing this - nor are starving Africans or unemployed Mexicans. Muslims have got to understand that a death cult has taken root in the bosom of their religion. (New York Times) See also Islam's "Death Cult" - Michael Hirsh There are many people, in many different societies and cultures, who are angry about many things. Would any other culture or religion produce a group of doctors and professionals who apparently deemed it morally correct to kill innocent people in large numbers? Muslims must find a way to remove this modern cancer - this fundamentalist death cult - that has infected their religion. None of us on the outside can do it for them. (Newsweek) In totalitarian regimes there are no human rights. Period. The media do not criticize the government. Parliaments do not check executive power. Courts do not uphold due process. And human rights groups don't file reports. For most people, life under totalitarianism is slavery with no possibility of escape. In a national poll of Iraqis conducted this spring by a British market-research firm, nearly 2 to 1 (49% to 26%) said they preferred life under their new government to life under the old tyranny. By consistently ignoring the fundamental moral divide that separates societies in which people are slaves from societies in which people are free, some human rights groups undermine the very cause they claim to champion. (Washington Post) Observations: It's Hard to Be an Arab - Barry Rubin (Global Politician)
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