LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
May 18/09
Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus
Christ according to Saint John 15:9-17. As the Father loves me, so I also love
you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my
love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and remain in his love. I
have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater
love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if
you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave
does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I
have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose
me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,
so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command
you: love one another.
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
10452 Km2 larger than life/Future
News 17.05.09
The “glory of skulls” /Future News
17.05.09
Netanyahu is capable of reaching
peace. By Aluf Benn/Haaretz 17.05.09
World Watches for U.S. Shift on
Mideast/By:Charles Dharapak 17.05.09
Kuwaiti Women Win First
Parliamentary Seats/AP 17.05.09
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for May
17/09
Israel recognition not up
for debate, says Hamas-AP
Top Shiite clergy says Lebanon has turned into intelligence center-Xinhua
March 14 Unveils Zahleh Ticket-Naharnet
Saniora: Recent Speeches Contradict Doha Agreement; Israel Is the Real Enemy-Naharnet
Opposition Announces Beirut 3 Ticket that Includes 10 Contenders-Naharnet
Israeli Prime Minister Heads to
Washington.VOM
Arab League chief tells all
states to call for halt to settlements/Israeli
News
Sfeir: True Democracy is
when Majority, Opposition Alternate in Power-Naharnet
Hariri: May 7 was an evil day, we
will reply to Nasrallah in the polls-Future
News
Siniora: We are always committed to
the Arab cause/Future News
Sayyed: I will Become Justice
Minister if Opposition Wants to Reward Me-Future
News
Hariri: The Lebanese Will Describe May 7 to Nasrallah During Polls-Naharnet
Israeli official says Syria's Assad insincere on
peace-Reuters
March 8, 14 Forces at Loggerheads Over Homsi's Arrest-Naharnet
Aoun: We Cannot Elect
Anyone Who Succumbed To Syrian Tutelage-Naharnet
UNIFIL: Israel's May
Maneuver Has Nothing to Do with Lebanon-Naharnet
Army Reopens Highway in
Saadnayel Following Arrest of Homsy-Naharnet
Azar Announces Jezzine
Electoral List-Naharnet
Sami Gemayel: We Don't
Want War with Hizbullah-Naharnet
Kanaan: No Fear of Tayyar
because it Favors Partnership-Naharnet
MP Houri: Nasrallah threatens to
destroy the state daily-Future
News
Aounists: We have sacrificed our
candidates to March 8-Future
News
Edde: Hizbullah’s ambitions stretch
to Wilayat al-Faqih-Future
News
Franjieh: the nation is run by all
Lebanese-Future
News
An-Nahar: polls indicate Nadim
Gemayel’s remarkable progress-Future
News
Azar annouces his list for Jezzine
today-Future News
Khoury slams
Aoun-iloubnan.info
The “glory of skulls”
Date: May 17th, 2009
Future News
Basically, glory isn’t built on human skulls, but unfortunately there is someone
insisting on having it that way. “Naivety” pushes you to believe that the
offender might suddenly get back to his sense and exonerate the violence and
treachery he has committed, and look forward to a democratic political life
instead of military authoritarianism. May 7 is the glory day of the remains of
the innocents in the streets of Beirut, Tripoli, Akkar, Sidon, Mount Lebanon and
the Bekaa. It’s the assassination day of the coexistence and the treachery to
human and national commons by all means. We should have been aware of this fact
since the day they “thanked Syria” for assassinating our martyr PM Rafic Hariri.
May 7 is a glory day for the ones patient though their wealth and properties
were bullied by militiamen who only know the culture and language of the arms.
May 7 is the day of Freedom that was oppressed by closing TV stations and
burning newspapers offices to silence the free voices and to turn the country
into a Syrian and Iranian model. May 7 is the day of all who were displaced from
their homes and do not dare retuning as they adopt a different position from
those arms holders and strongly believe that Democracy is the only guarantee for
the country and their fellow countrymen. May 7 is the day the political leaders
withdrew their fighters from the south to redeploy them in the city streets and
ordered them to occupy Riad el Solh square. May 7 is the day of sedition, plots
and glory based on the skulls of the Lebanese whom blood is a debt they will
have to pay.
10452 Km2 larger than life
Date: May 17th, 2009
Future News
As heads turn towards the ongoing electoral alliances and lists, Hizbullah
General Secretary, Hassan Nasrallah ascertained doubts concerning his team’s
“apparent” intent for calm. He has no room for the term “calm” in his beliefs
and that is why he believed he could cram his way out from his electoral jam by
making this outrageous speech.
But his speech implicated him further and its repercussions will not appear in
the near future. Still, the democracy of those he accused of treachery will
surface on the day of the elections.
Politicians protested the fallacies and “insults” declared in Nasrallah’s speech
last Friday, when he attempted to drag March 14 Forces to his most cherished
arena of contention, to renew May 7 and fails to. And yet, considering May 7 a
“glorious day” and implying that Lebanon is a square for foreign conflicts
generated much resentment.
We will never forget
From Koraytem, the heart of Beirut, the capital previously occupied by Hizbullah
which reiterates threat of a second invasion, came the comments of leader of
Future Movement, MP Saad Hariri. He promised “what will we forget? Will we
forget the assassination of President Hariri? No, we will never forget it. Will
we forget the martyrs of the Cedars Revolution? No, we will never forget it.
Will we forget about establishing the state? No will never. Will we forget what
happened in Beirut? Will the citizens of Beirut forget what happened to their
city? No, they will never ever forget.”
Hariri told Akkar delegations that “we will respond to all what we have been
hearing and seeing over the past four years and during the past ten days,
especially what was said yesterday by voting for the entire list on June 7.” He
added “excuse us, but no one is larger than the 10452 Km2. I ask you not to fear
this high tone of voice. Only fear God Almighty,” and stressed alliance with the
rest of the March 14 factions which base their programs on the Cedars Revolution
values.
The State comes first…
While security forces continue efforts to discover espionage networks, some of
the March 8 camp attempts to exploit the subject through fabricating tales
through media outlets for sheer electoral purposes.
Almustaqbal leader deemed the duties of security services, a protection from
Israeli violations and a continuation for the track of stability. He believed
that any attempt to abuse the matter for local political goals is a cheap
attempt. Hariri indicated “everyone knows that the security of our country
should not be disrupted,” commending the role of the army intelligence.
He asserted “only the state is entitled to preserve Lebanon’s sovereignty and
stability.”
Among those who denounced the “peculiar” escalation of Nasrallah who brags about
the Doha Accord, disregarding one of its main items which is preserving calm in
this pre-electoral phase, is Prime Minister Fouad Siniora who promised that
“conflicts are not settled through threats, but rather through dialogue and
communication.”
Siniora refused transforming Lebanon “into an arena to settle conflicts and
drifting further away from Lebanon to a non-Lebanese location that is trying to
score points with certain Lebanese factions.”Glories are not achieved through
killing innocents
In this context, Grand Mufti, Sheikh Mohammad Rachid Kabbani, discussed during
the 20th anniversary of the martyrdom of Mufti Hassan Khaled the notion that
“glories are not achieved through killing innocents on the streets of Beirut,
violating their dignities and crashing their institutes. What happened on May 7
was a sin against the Lebanese. No matter how high our voices were, it is
inappropriate to raise ours above the state’s.”
The Mufti cautioned the Lebanese “from the risks escalating on the internal
arena,” and advised them to “move away from threats and intimidation which
provoke people against each other, causing division and strife.”As for leader of
the Democratic Gathering, MP Walid Jumblatt who had his share of Friday’s
speech, he preferred considering “what we heard yesterday a slip of the tongue,”
stressing the importance of “patience, wisdom and calm at least until after the
elections.”
May 7…Crisis
Denouncements did not end here. President Najib Mikati believed that “in this
accurate stage Lebanon is passing through, we are in dire need for reinforcing
national solidarity and to move away from negative rhetoric.”
He added “if only May 7 was not dubbed ‘glorious’, what would we have described
May 25, 2000, the day Israel withdrew from Lebanon? What should we call the loss
of the Israeli enemy during and after the July war of 2006? If only the
substitute was a stand that strengthens national unity. We need words that bring
us together and not divide us. We should put the state’s interest first.”
President Salim el-Hoss considered May 7 a “painful day”. He pointed “we don’t
agree with Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah when he said that May 7 was a glorious day.
Fighting between brothers, the sons of one nation is something painful to
watch.”
Economy and Commerce Minsiter, Mohammad Safadi slammed the description of May 7
attacks as “glorious”, emphasizing that May 7 was “never a glorious day, but a
great crisis in Lebanon’s history and future. The repercussions of that day
threaten the Lebanese with division.”
He added “there may have been a mistake made on May 5, but the incidents of May
7 were a larger mistake.”
Leader of the National Bloc, Carlos Edde believed that “Hizbullah’s political
goals and points of view are starting to contradict the desires of the Lebanese
people,” wondering whether the “glory” of May 7 was represented in “undermining
the will of the Lebanese people through using violence and power if the demands
of Wilayat al-Faqih were not fulfilled.”
Aoun…and independents
Meantime, MP Michel Aoun resumed his campaign against opposers, so he
concentrated his next attack on independent Christian candidates. He said that
“efforts are not concentrating on penetrating the Change and Reform electoral
lists in Jbeil by MP Nazem al-Khoury, in Kesrouwas by MP Mansour al-Boun, in
Metn by Michel al-Murr, in Baabda by Edmond Gharious, in Beirut’s first district
by Nayla Tueini.”
Aoun believed that the target of this penetration is to “steal five seats from
the majority.”
Remarkably enough, Aoun tried to neutralize his attack on President Michel
Sleiman, forgetting that the attack he made was against candidates who
repeatedly declared loyalty to the President only.
This was expressed by candidate Nazem al-Khoury who assured that the President
“proposed the question of independence because Lebanon needs an independent bloc
and not because he wanted an affiliate bloc.”
Al-Khoury expressed remorse that “the opposition is launched by a fundamental
Christian team every time the idea of strengthening the post of the President is
suggested.”
Sfeir: True Democracy is when
Majority, Opposition Alternate in Power
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir said in his Sunday sermon that true
democracy comes when pro-government factions and the opposition alternate in
governing the country.
"There is true democracy when government loyalists and the opposition alternate"
in the rule, Sfeir said, adding not a single faction should govern the country
alone. "I hope that things go calmly" during the June 7 parliamentary elections,
he said. Beirut, 17 May 09, 10:37
Sayyed: I will Become Justice
Minister if Opposition Wants to Reward Me
Naharnet/Former head of the General Security Department Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed
said he is willing to become justice minister if the opposition wins the
elections and wants to award him with that post. "If the opposition wins in the
June parliamentary elections and wants to give me a post or reward me, I will
take charge of the justice ministry," Sayyed told al-Jazeera TV network late
Saturday. He also said that he and three other generals were arrested in 2005 in
connection with ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's murder for "political" purposes only
and not for the sake of "truth." Sayyed and the other officers were released
last month. He told al-Jazeera that a French court agreed to prosecute former
chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis and former Ambassador Johnny Abdo for
fabricating lies. "Witness Zuhair Siddiq was a prophet for (MP) Saad Hariri and
now he is an outcast in the United Arab Emirates and no one is demanding his
extradition," Sayyed said. "I have information that Syria asked for his
extradition and things will be unveiled and heads will role," he added. Beirut,
17 May 09, 10:09
Hariri: The Lebanese Will Describe May
7 to Nasrallah During Polls
Naharnet/Al-Mustaqbal movement leader Saad Hariri described last year's May 7
events as ill-fated and said Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's speech
was a threat not to "harm" his party. "I don't understand the reason behind the
nervousness of Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in his
speech," Hariri told Asharq al-Awsat daily in remarks published Sunday. "He
considered May 7 a glorious day which I consider a direct threat not to harm
Hizbullah," the Mustaqbal movement leader added.
"Those who threaten in this manner" are nothing but threats to themselves, he
said, adding that the Lebanese people will describe May 7 to Nasrallah when they
head to the polls next month.
"I describe it (May 7) an ill-fated day," Hariri told his interviewer. Asked if
he considered Nasrallah's speech an invitation to another May 7, the MP said:
"No … But it was clear that there was tension in his speech. But it was a
political and maybe electoral speech." Addressing those who criticize President
Michel Suleiman, Hariri said: "Neither Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel
Aoun, nor anyone from the opposition or March 14 (alliance) has the right to
attack the presidency." Hariri also stressed that the March 14 forces will win
the June 7 elections. "We will win and they will lose." Beirut, 17 May 09, 08:23
Aoun: We Cannot Elect Anyone Who Succumbed To Syrian Tutelage
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun on Saturday said he
cannot elect any parliamentary candidate who had succumbed to Syrian tutelage.
"We cannot elect anybody whose hands are soaked in corruption," Aoun said. "We
also cannot elect anyone who had yielded to Syrian tutelage," he stressed,
adding that he prefers to vote for people who "work, talk and think in one
direction."Aoun accused the majority March 14 coalition of attempting to
penetrate his electoral lists. "They are trying to penetrate the FPM lists in
Jbeil via Nazem al-Khoury, in Kesrouan via Mansour al-Bon, in Metn via Michel
Murr, in Baabda via Edmond Garious and in Beirut via Nayla Tueni," Aoun claimed.
Beirut, 16 May 09, 20:10
UNIFIL: Israel's May Maneuver Has
Nothing to Do with Lebanon
Naharnet/UNIFIL's spokesman stressed Saturday that Israel's military maneuver
scheduled for May 31 has nothing to do with Lebanon. The maneuver "is of
defensive nature that has been planned for a long time and will include the
entire (Israeli) internal front," the spokesman said. He said the Israeli
military exercise was "not related to any development or any future occurrences,
including Lebanon." Hizbullah MP Mohammad Raad had said Lebanon must go on high
alert in anticipation of Israel's largest-ever military maneuvers on May 31.
Beirut, 16 May 09, 17:08
Azar Announces Jezzine Electoral List
Naharnet/MP Samir Azar on Saturday announced his Jezzine electoral list which
includes Antoine Khoury and Camille Farid Serhal, the brother of MP Piero Serhal.
The announcement was made during celebrations Saturday afternoon outside
Jezzine's municipality building. Beirut, 16 May 09, 20:46
Sami Gemayel: We Don't Want War with
Hizbullah
Naharnet/Phalange Party northern Metn candidate Sami Gemayel stressed Saturday
that his political group does not intend to engage in war with Hizbullah.
"We don't want war Hizbullah because we realize that this is useless since the
Lebanese will be fighting each other," Gemayel said during a meeting with
Baabdat residents.
"The problem with the Free Patriotic Movement is in its covering up for
Hizbullah's acts when it should be taking a steadfast stance and not surrender
to reality," he said.
"Stances of young FPM supporters, however, should be similar to those taken
together during the Syrian occupation era – steadfast stances," Gemayel added.
eirut, 16 May 09, 17:08
Kanaan: No Fear of Tayyar because it
Favors Partnership
Naharnet/MP Ibrahim Kanaan on Saturday assured Lebanese that there is no fear of
the Free Patriotic Movement because "it calls for partnership" in government.
Kannan stressed that the FPM headed by Gen. Michel Aoun "knows the value of
independence and has paid a dear price for this independence." "One cannot
accuse the FPM of covering up Hizbullah weapons just because it chose to achieve
understanding, rather than collision, with this large segment of the Lebanese,"
he said. Beirut, 16 May 09, 16:08
Army Reopens Highway in Saadnayel
Following Arrest of Homsy
Naharnet/Lebanese army units reopened the international Zahle-Beirut highway on
Saturday following local protests by Saadnayel residents against the arrest of
their former Mayor Ziad Homsy. Sources told Agence France Presse (AFP)"the
military arrested Homsy at his home in Saadnayel on the basis of the ongoing
investigations regarding the Israeli espionage rings. Some residents did not
understand the meaning of the arrest and reacted." In an issued statement on
Saturday the army said that things are back to normal in the region. NBN TV
quoted military sources saying Homsy's home had high level technical satellite
equipment used for espionage. Homsy is a former mayor of Saadnayel and a current
deputy mayor of the town. He also publishes a local magazine. His attorney
Khaled al-Shihimi told LBC TV "he is a cadre in the al-Mustaqbal movement." AFP
quoted an Mustaqbal official who said the movement does not interfere in
security issues left exclusively to the judiciary. On Wednesday a military court
laid charges against six Lebanese individuals four of whom are under arrest on
espionage charges. This brings the number of arrested individuals to 13 [with 9
Lebanese, one Palestinian and three runaways] al charged with espionage for
Israel. Beirut, 16 May 09, 12:28
March 8, 14 Forces at Loggerheads Over
Homsi's Arrest
Naharnet/Reacting to the arrest of Saadnayel's former head of municipality Ziad
Homsi, March 14 sources said that the first Israel-linked cell uncovered in
Lebanon included three Hizbullah officials. The sources told An Nahar daily in
remarks published Sunday that at the time the majority did not exploit the
situation politically because those who coordinate with Israel are agents. The
army arrested Homsi at his home in Saadnayel on the basis of the ongoing
investigations regarding the Israeli espionage rings. Angry friends and
relatives briefly blocked the main international highway from Beirut to Damascus
that passes through the town. MP Saad Hariri denied that Homsi, now deputy to
the current mayor, is a Mustaqbal movement cadre.
"There are cheap attempts to associate him with Mustaqbal," Hariri told pan-Arab
daily Asharq al-Awsat. "We are sometimes referred to as terrorists and at other
times as traitors or seculars." "The problem of the opposition, or the March 8
forces, is that they want to fabricate anything on the Mustaqbal movement,"
Hariri added. Hizbullah's al-Manar TV station said in its evening newscast on
Saturday that Homsi is a top Mustaqbal cadre in the central Bekaa. The network
also drew question marks on his role in previous clashes between Saadnayel and
Taalbaya. Beirut, 17 May 09, 09:37
Israeli official says Syria's Assad insincere on
peace
Sat May 16, 2009
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad does not want a peace
accord with Israel, but rather, to parlay peace negotiations into rapprochement
with the West, a senior Israeli official said on Saturday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will discuss regional strategies
with U.S. President Barack Obama at their first summit next week, has been cool
to resuming talks with Damascus given its demand for a return of the Golan
Heights.
Assad held preliminary, Turkish-mediated contacts with the right-wing
Netanyahu's centrist predecessor, Ehud Olmert, and on Friday played down
prospects of pursuing them, saying: "We don't have a partner".
Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said in a speech on Saturday that
Assad, by blaming Israel for the deadlock, was "mistaken, or lying".
"Today's Syria is a police state, controlled by a small family," said Ayalon, a
former Israeli ambassador to Washington whose far-right Yisrael Beiteinu party
is junior partner in Netanyahu's Likud-led coalition government.
"In my opinion, he (Assad) does not really want peace with Israel. He wants a
peace process that will rescue him from his isolation and lift the pressure of
the international community."
The United States on Friday renewed sanctions against Syria saying it posed a
continuing threat to U.S. interests. Obama accused Damascus of supporting
terrorism, pursuing weapons of mass destruction and missile programmes, and
undermining U.S. and international efforts in trying to stabilise Iraq.
While the United States has made clear it wants better ties with Syria, the
renewal of the sanctions shows it is not yet ready for a dramatic improvement.
Israel is incensed at Syria's alliance with Iran and sponsorship of Palestinian
and Lebanese guerrillas sworn to fighting the Jewish state.
"The State of Israel should tell, and it does tell, Assad: Show us that you are
serious. First of all, no preconditions," Ayalon said, alluding to the demand
for the Golan, which Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed, a move not
recognised by the Security Council.
"Secondly, if you really want peace, you cannot ... also support and arm
Hezbollah, support and arm Hamas, support and arm Islamic Jihad, try to erode
all the processes in the Middle East and be Iran's most important ally."
Syria has ruled out a review of its alliances as part of the peace process with
Israel. It has also demanded that Israel commit to ceding the Golan for full
peace negotiations to proceed, something rejected by the Netanyahu government.
Kuwaiti Women Win First Parliamentary Seats
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: May 17, 2009
KUWAIT CITY (AP) -- Four Kuwaitis have become the first women elected to their
nation's parliament, a resounding victory in a conservative Persian Gulf country
where the legislature has been men-only for almost half a century. Women gained
the right to vote and run for office in 2005 but failed in two previous
elections to win seats in the 50-member parliament. Official results from
Saturday's vote were read out by judges on state-owned TV on Sunday. Kuwait, one
of the few democracies in the Gulf, has led the region in giving its people
political rights. Some critics, however, say the country's political stability
and economy have suffered due to the powerful parliament's frequent clashes with
Cabinets that are still selected and led by the ruling family. Saturday's
election was the outcome of one such confrontation, which prompted Kuwait's
ruler, or emir, to dissolve parliament and call the vote, the second time that
has happened in a year. One of the women elected, Massouma al-Mubarak, was also
the country's first female Cabinet minister. The other female winners were
women's rights activist Rola Dashti, education professor Salwa al-Jassar and
philosophy professor Aseel al-Awadhi. The election results also showed
fundamentalist Muslims losing ground. They won 16 seats on Saturday, down from
the 24 seats they held in the previous house. Kuwait has no officially
recognized parties. Candidates either belong to political groups, run
independently or represent their tribes. Voters casting ballots in Saturday's
polls said they were tired of years of clashes between lawmakers and Cabinet
members. Those clashes have sparked political crises that led to three elections
and five Cabinets in three years. The political upheaval has virtually frozen
development in the oil-rich nation at a time when it is grappling with the
global financial crisis and falling oil revenues, which account for 90 percent
of government income.
Netanyahu is capable of reaching peace
By Aluf Benn
Benjamin Netanyahu's victory trip to Washington after winning the 1996 elections
was the most surreal excursion by any Israeli prime minister to America.
Netanyahu took not only his wife and children on that trip, but also a large
group of Likud activists.
While Netanyahu visited the White House and Congress, his political advisor led
the party people on tour in a bus. Not impressed by the sites and architecture,
they demanded that he take them shopping.
Netanyahu's visit was only for two days, but he drew attention in every way
possible. He held a joint news conference with President Bill Clinton, gave a
speech to both Houses of Congress, in which he surprisingly renounced America's
financial assistance to Israel, made a heavily covered appearance in the
National Press Club, and held a large dinner at the embassy. He had good reason
to celebrate - he had defeated Shimon Peres, Clinton's favorite, in the
elections, and came to tell the Americans that they must change their attitude.
From Washington the entourage went to New York, where the Netanyahu family
stayed at the luxury Stanhope Hotel on Fifth Avenue, facing Central Park. The
media had a field day - newspapers sent correspondents to escort the "royal
family," including their walk in Central Park.
Today Netanyahu begins his first visit to Washington in a completely different
setting. The small entourage consists of Sara and a few aides - no politicians,
no party activists and no children. The timetable resembles Ariel Sharon and
Ehud Olmert's short work visits in Washington: No speeches, large dinners or
press conferences, except for a short standard photo-op with President Barack
Obama in the White House.
The prime minister has matured. He is less extroverted than when he first rose
to power. But despite the packaging difference, the content is similar. In 2009,
as in 1996, Netanyahu wants to show that he can come to the White House, voice
his known stances from his days in the opposition and campaign trail, and remain
in one piece. Again he will be hosted by a president who wants to accelerate the
peace process, while Netanyahu will ask him to slow down. In Clinton's days
Netanyahu spoke of "reciprocity" in relations with the Palestinians. Now he is
demanding that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish people's
nation-state.
Clinton didn't like Netanyahu, who he saw as an arrogant man and a political
rival. But despite the strained relations the Clinton administration led
Netanyahu to signing two agreements with Yaser Arafat - the Hebron agreement and
the Wye River Memorandum. The three Israeli prime ministers of the past decade
did not achieve such a crop of political agreements.
The lesson is clear: It's not what Netanyahu tells the cameras at the White
House tomorrow that matters, but what he does when he returns. His positions and
beliefs are no obstacle to his decisions. He is capable of renouncing things he
has said, as he showed in last week's budget debates. He will not jeopardize
Israel's relations with America by having a vociferous conflict with Obama.
Obama issued several firm messages before Netanyahu's visit, conveying
dissatisfaction with the new Israeli government's stances. He will make it clear
that he will not give up the "two-state solution" and Israel must to toe the
American line on the Iranian issue, not the other way around. Netanyahu will try
to convince Obama to adjust the process' pace to his coalition's absorption
ability. Their meeting tomorrow should be seen as the first step in a long
process, in which Obama will try to drag Netanyahu into a deal with the
Palestinians and dismantle West Bank settlements. Netanyahu will seek a hard
American line on Iran, and a resumption of political and security coordination
between Israel and the U.S.
Obama on Iran: All options on table
Ahead of Netanyahu's visit, US president tells Newsweek 'we want to offer Iran
an opportunity to align itself with international norms and international
rules,' but stresses he is 'not naďve about the difficulties of such a process.'
On possibility of unilateral Israeli strike: I understand very clearly that
Israel considers Iran an existential threat
Yitzhak Benhorin Published: 05.17.09, 08:03 / Israel News
WASHINGTON - "I've been very clear that I don't take any options off the table
with respect to Iran. I don't take options off the table when it comes to US
security, period," US President Barack Obama said.
'I asked him to sound his voice' against Iran's anti-Israel declarations, PM
says after private meeting
In an interview with Newsweek magazine, published Saturday ahead of Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington, Obama said "we want to
offer Iran an opportunity to align itself with international norms and
international rules. I think, ultimately, that will be better for the Iranian
people.
"I think that there is the ability of an Islamic Republic of Iran to maintain
its Islamic character while, at the same time, being a member in good standing
of the international community and not a threat to its neighbors. And we are
going to reach out to them and try to shift off of a pattern over the last 30
years that hasn't produced results in the region," the president said.
However, Obama stressed that he was "not naďve about the difficulties of such a
process."
"If it doesn't work, the fact that we have tried will strengthen our position in
mobilizing the international community, and Iran will have isolated itself, as
opposed to a perception that it seeks to advance that somehow it's being
victimized by a US government that doesn't respect Iran's sovereignty," he said.
sked whether he expects Israel to refrain from taking unilateral military action
against Iran, the American leader said, "I understand very clearly that Israel
considers Iran an existential threat, and given some of the statements that have
been made by President (Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad, you can understand why. So their
calculation of costs and benefits are going to be more acute. They're right
there in range and I don't think it's my place to determine for the Israelis
what their security needs are.
"I can make an argument to Israel as an ally that the approach we are taking is
one that has to be given a chance and offers the prospect of security, not just
for the United States but also for Israel, that is superior to some of the other
alternatives," Obama said.
Israeli Prime Minister Heads to Washington
By Robert Berger /VOM
Jerusalem/16 May 2009
Benjamin Netanyahu, 25 Mar 2009
Israel's new leader is heading for Washington amid mixed signals from his
government about the peace process. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet
with U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday at the White House. Mr. Netanyahu's
Defense Minister Ehud Barak says the Israeli leader could endorse the creation
of a Palestinian state. Barak told Israeli television that he believes the
government will accept a peace process based on two states living side by side
in peace and security. But Barak is from the Labor Party, the most dovish
faction in the right-wing coalition. And Mr. Netanyahu has not openly endorsed
the two-sate solution. He has warned that a Palestinian state in the West Bank
could come under control of the Islamic militant group Hamas that rules the Gaza
Strip. And that, he says, would pose a grave threat to Israel's security.Hawkish
members of Mr. Netanyahu's Likud party are trying to tie his hands.
Parliamentarian Israel Katz says he is convinced that Mr. Netanyahu will not
recognize an independent and armed Palestinian state. So Mr. Netanyahu faces a
dilemma. He wants to maintain Israel's all-important ties with the U.S., which
gives Israel political and financial support; but that will be hard to do
without endorsing the two-state solution. As U.S. Middle East envoy George
Mitchell put it: "The two-state solution is the only solution."
Arab League chief tells all states to call for halt to settlements
Amr Moussa urges Arab leaders not to meet with Netanyahu unless Israel freezes
West Bank construction, home demolitions in Arab villages
Roee Nahmias Published: 05.17.09, 11:01 / Israel News
JORDAN - Amr Moussa, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, urged leaders of
Arab states who plan to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call for
a cessation of Israeli settlement building. "They must not meet with him if
building in the settlements continues and if demolitions of (homes) in Arab
villages continue. This will change the demographic balance and undermine our
cause," he said Sunday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on the
Middle East. Since taking office a month-and-a-half ago, Netanyahu has met with
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah II, but has yet to
hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Moussa continued to say
that a halt to Israel's settlement construction "must be a precondition" to a
meeting between Netanyahu and any Arab leader."If they meet with him, they will
be publicly rejecting the two-state solution, and therefore the freezing of all
settlement building must be a prerequisite," he said, "otherwise we Arabs will
be undermining our own cause." President Shimon Peres is expected to meet
Abdullah later in the day to discuss the peace process as well as ways to boost
the economic cooperation between Israel and Jordan.
World Watches for U.S. Shift on Mideast
Charles Dharapak/Associated Press
Published: May 16, 2009
WASHINGTON — Five weeks ago, President Obama stood before the Turkish
legislature in Ankara and said many Americans had Muslims in their families or
had lived in a Muslim-majority country. “I know,” he said, “because I am one of
them.”
But will that exposure lead Mr. Obama to take a different tack from his
predecessors in his dealings with Israel?
That question, which has captivated a wide spectrum of people, from America’s
Israel lobby to Palestinian-Americans to the Muslim world, will take center
stage on Monday, when Israel’s hawkish prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has
his first face-to-face meeting with Mr. Obama since he became president.
In an interview broadcast Saturday on Israeli television, Israel’s defense
minister, Ehud Barak, said he believed that in the meeting, Mr. Netanyahu would
signal a significant policy shift for his new government and endorse the
creation of a Palestinian state — perhaps reflecting uncertainty about whether
Mr. Obama would accept an Israeli hard line.
“This is a piece of the cloud that’s hovering over this meeting: is this man
different?” said Aaron David Miller, a former Middle East negotiator at the
State Department and the author of “The Much Too Promised Land: America’s
Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace.” “The fact that he’s African-American.
The fact that his middle name is Hussein. The fact that the world for him is not
black or white, that the Israeli-Palestinian situation is not black and white,
there is gray, and in that gray lies the ability of this president to understand
the needs and requirements of Palestinians. Is that on Benjamin Netanyahu’s
mind? There’s no question that that’s there.”
Mr. Obama’s past suggests why, four months into his presidency, the answer to
the question remains elusive. His first book, “Dreams From My Father,” delves
deeply into matters of race and nationality and the need to belong somewhere,
issues that permeate the Arab-Israeli conflict. But in the book Mr. Obama does
not address specifically how he views Israel and the plight of the Palestinians.
As a state senator in Chicago, Mr. Obama cultivated friendships with
Arab-Americans, including Rashid Khalidi, a Palestinian-American scholar and a
critic of Israel. Mr. Obama and Mr. Khalidi had many dinners together, friends
said, in which they discussed Palestinian issues.
During the 1990s, Mr. Obama also attended tributes to Arab-Americans, where he
often seemed “empathetic” to the cause of Palestinians, said Ali Abunimah, a
Palestinian-American journalist in Chicago.
This contrasts with the more “tabula rasa” image of the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict that many of Mr. Obama’s predecessors brought to their presidencies — a
blank slate that was then shaped by the strong alliance with Israel that is a
fixture of politics in the United States, many Middle East experts say.
“I think this president gets it, in terms of the suffering of the Palestinians,”
said Charles W. Freeman Jr., a former United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
“He gets it, which is already light years ahead of the average elected American
politician.”
Mr. Obama’s predecessors, Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, came of
age politically with the American-Israeli viewpoint of the Middle East conflict
as their primary tutor, said Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator.
While each often expressed concern and empathy for the Palestinians — with Mr.
Clinton, in particular, pushing hard for Middle East peace during the last
months of his presidency — their early perspectives were shaped more by Israelis
and American Jews than by Muslims, Mr. Levy said.
“I think that Barack Obama, on this issue as well as many other issues, brings a
fresh approach and a fresh background,” Mr. Levy said. “He’s certainly familiar
with Israel’s concerns and with the closeness of the Israel-America relationship
and with that narrative. But what I think might be different is a familiarity
that I think President Obama almost certainly has with where the Palestinian
grievance narrative is coming from.”
None of this necessarily means that Mr. Obama will chart a course that is
different from his predecessors’. During the campaign he struck a position on
Israel that was indistinguishable from those of his rivals Hillary Rodham
Clinton and John McCain, going so far as to say in 2008 that he supported
Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel. (He later attributed that
statement to “poor phrasing in the speech,” telling Fareed Zakaria of CNN that
he meant to say he did not want barbed wire running through Jerusalem.)
Still, many Palestinian-Americans who hoped that Mr. Obama would come into
office and quickly seek to press the Israeli government on Palestinian issues
have been disappointed.
“In practice, despite the hype, there is much more continuity with previous
administrations,” Mr. Abunimah said. “People get carried away with the
atmospheric change, but the substance of the U.S. policy towards Israel has been
the same policy.”
Last year, for instance, Mr. Obama was quick to distance himself from Robert
Malley, an informal adviser to his campaign, when reports arose that Mr. Malley,
a special adviser to Mr. Clinton, had had direct contacts with Hamas, the
militant Islamist organization that won the Palestinian legislative elections in
2006 and that controls Gaza. Similarly, he distanced himself from Zbigniew
Brzezinski, a former national security adviser who was often critical of Israel,
after complaints from some pro-Israel groups.
And Mr. Obama offered no public support for the appointment of Mr. Freeman to a
top intelligence post in March after several congressional representatives and
lobbyists complained that Mr. Freeman had an irrational hatred of Israel. Mr.
Freeman angrily withdrew from consideration for the post.
But Mr. Freeman, in a telephone interview last week, said he still believed that
Mr. Obama would go where his predecessors did not on Israel. Mr. Obama’s
appointment of Gen. James L. Jones as his national security adviser — a man who
has worked with Palestinians and Israelis to try to open up movement for
Palestinians on the ground and who has sometimes irritated Israeli military
officials — could foreshadow friction between the Obama administration and the
Israeli government, several Middle East experts said.
The same is true for the appointment of George J. Mitchell as Mr. Obama’s
special envoy to the region; Mr. Mitchell, who helped negotiate peace in
Northern Ireland, has already hinted privately that the administration may have
to look for ways to include Hamas, in some fashion, in a unity Palestinian
government.
Mr. Obama’s meeting with Mr. Netanyahu, while crucial, may only preview the
beginning of the path the president will take, Mr. Freeman said.
“You can’t really tell anything by what happened to me and the fact that he
didn’t step forward to take on the skunks,” he said, referring to his own
appointment controversy and Mr. Obama’s silence amid critics’ attacks. “The
first nine months, Nixon was absolutely horrible on China. In retrospect, it was
clear that he had every intention to charge ahead, but he was picking his
moment. He didn’t want to have the fight before he had to have the fight.”
“I sense that Obama is picking his moment,” Mr. Freeman said.
**Ben Werschkul contributed reporting.
Hamas says Israel recognition not for discussion
CAIRO (AFP) - The Islamist Hamas movement said on Saturday that it will not
discuss the recognition of Israel with president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party
during reconciliation talks in Cairo.
"We can discuss with Fatah all the options... which do not contradict our
national goals and the rights of our people, except the American card which
stresses recognition of the Zionist entity and the conditions of the Quartet,"
Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said in Gaza.
"This is not open for discussion."
The so-called Quartet -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the
United States -- has long demanded that Hamas renounce violence and recognise
Israel and past peace agreements as a precondition for dealing with any
Palestinian government in which the Islamist movement is represented.
Representatives of Fatah and Hamas began a new round of reconciliation talks in
Cairo on Saturday which Egyptian officials say have entered their final phase.
"The Palestinian national dialogue has entered its final phases," a senior
Egyptian official told the state MENA news agency.
The two groups have been bitterly divided since Hamas seized control of Gaza in
June 2007.
Egyptian efforts to reconcile them have so far foundered amid disagreements on
the composition and obligations of a proposed unity government.
They are also expected to discuss the status of the security apparatus in Gaza
as well as the new electoral law.
The key stumbling block has been Hamas's refusal to accept past peace deals with
Israel signed by the Palestinian leadership.
Abbas has said that if the parties manage to form a unity government, that
cabinet will have to abide by past agreements.
Reconciliation between the rival factions is vital for the reconstruction of
Gaza after Israel's devastating offensive at the turn of the year as aid pledges
from international donors are conditional on the money passing through Abbas's
Palestinian Authority.
There has been mounting pressure on the Palestinians to overcome their
differences.
On Friday, the presidents of Turkey and Syria said it was essential for a
comprehensive peace settlement.
"Palestinian reconciliation lies at the heart of any settlement in the region,"
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said.
"Without a united Palestinian position, there will be no peace on the
Palestinian track, no two-state solution and no return of occupied land," added
the Syrian president who held talks with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud
Abbas on Thursday.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul echoed his comments.
"The formation of two Palestinian states is unthinkable. Therefore, it is
absolutely essential that the Palestinians unite," Gul said.
Fatah and Hamas began their negotiations in Cairo on March 10 under the
supervision of Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman.
But the talks have made little headway so far in healing the deep rift between
the West Bank-based government of Abbas and the Islamist rulers of Gaza.
The two groups are due to pursue talks on Sunday