LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March
29/2010
Bible Of the
Day
John 12/12-22: " On the next day a great
multitude had come to the feast. When they heard that Jesus was coming to
Jerusalem, 12:13 they took the branches of the palm trees, and went out to meet
him, and cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,
the King of Israel!” 12:14 Jesus, having found a young donkey, sat on it. As it
is written, 12:15 “Don’t be afraid, daughter of Zion. Behold, your King comes,
sitting on a donkey’s colt.”* 12:16 His disciples didn’t understand these things
at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things
were written about him, and that they had done these things to him. 12:17 The
multitude therefore that was with him when he called Lazarus out of the tomb,
and raised him from the dead, was testifying about it. 12:18 For this cause also
the multitude went and met him, because they heard that he had done this sign.
12:19 The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, “See how you accomplish
nothing. Behold, the world has gone after him.” 12:20 Now there were certain
Greeks among those that went up to worship at the feast. 12:21 These, therefore,
came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir,
we want to see Jesus.” 12:22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn, Andrew
came with Philip, and they told Jesus.
Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special
Reports
John Bolton: 'Obama resigned to
nuclear Iran'/JPOST/March 28/10
Iran: Two More Secret Nuclear
Sites/By: Benjamin Joffe-Walt/March 28/10
Re-Packaging Illusion/By Jonathan
Spyer//March 28/10
Is Israel's deterrence losing
steam?/Jerusalem Post/March 28/10
Nabih Berri and the Owl of
Revenge!By Mshari Al-Zaydi/March 28/10
Lebanon/The quarry
question/Uncontrolled quarry activities continue to blight Lebanon/Now Lebanon/March 28/10
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for March 28/10
Arab Summit: Turkey Blasts
Israel, Dialogue with Iran Not Welcomed/Naharnet
IAF simulates integrated missile
defense/JPOST
Netanyahu: Israel will
respond to any attack/Ha'aretz
Iran: Two More Secret
Nuclear Sites?/The
Media Line
Golani
deputy commander laid
to rest/Jerusalem Post
Lebanon aims to become hub for
inter-faith dialogue (Feature)/Monsters and Critics.com
Amnesty
International Points to Libya's Complicity in Sadr's Disappearance/Naharnet
Nasrallah to React
to Leaked Info about Hizbullah Men Summoned in Hariri Murder/Naharnet
Jumblat
in Syria April 4/Naharnet
Nasrallah to discuss Lebanese,
regional developments during Al-Manar interview on Wednesday/Now Lebanon
Israel runs tests for its
multilevel missile defense system, Ynet reports/Now Lebanon
Arab Summit: Turkey Blasts Israel, Dialogue with Iran Not Welcomed
Naharnet/Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan unleashed a vehement attack
on Israel's policy in Jerusalem at an Arab summit in Libya as Arabs turned down
a proposal to open dialogue with Iran. Erdogan, a guest speaker, blasted as
"madness" Israel's policy in dealing with the whole of Jerusalem as its united
capital.
"Jerusalem is the apple of the eye of each and every Muslim... and we cannot at
all accept any Israeli violation in Jerusalem or in Muslim sites," he said in
his speech at the opening of the Arab League summit in the Libyan town of Sirte
Saturday. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who was likewise invited by
Libyan leader Moammar Qadhafi to address the summit, said "now is the time to
give peace a chance." "We have the possibility, we have the responsibility and
we feel the urgency," he said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ruled out
U.S.-brokered indirect peace talks with Israel unless it freezes all settlement
construction, as Arab leaders closed ranks over Jerusalem.
Abbas, in a speech at the opening of the two-day summit, echoed widespread
concern that the Middle East peace process was at risk, urging his Arab peers to
"rescue" Jerusalem.
"We cannot resume indirect negotiations as long as Israel maintains its
settlement policy and the status quo," he said. U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon also
addressed the summit, seeking Arab support for the peace talks. He urged Arab
leaders to facilitate Israeli-Palestinian "proximity" talks, saying "our common
goal should be to resolve all final-status issues within 24 months."
Ban also criticized as "illegal" Israeli settlement construction in mainly Arab
east Jerusalem and stressed Jerusalem must emerge "as the capital of two
states."
Abbas accused Israel of seeking to wipe out the Arab identity of Jerusalem
through "ethnic cleansing." He insisted that Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem must
be the capital of any future Palestinian state. "We have always said that
Jerusalem is the jewel in the crown and the gate to peace," Abbas said.
Fresh U.S. efforts to broker indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks earlier
this month were still-born when Israel announced plans to build 1,600 new homes
for Jewish settlers in east Jerusalem. The timing of the announcement during a
visit to Israel by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden angered Washington and the
Palestinians, who just days earlier had agreed to give peace talks another
chance after a year-long hiatus. Arab leaders from both the pro-Western and
radical camps have also been angered by the opening of a restored 17th-century
synagogue near east Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third-holiest site
in Islam.
The 13 Arab leaders attending the summit along with Qadhafi are due to adopt a
resolution to raise 500 million dollars in aid to improve living conditions for
Jerusalem Palestinians.
After a plenary session for speeches, the leaders broke for lunch and returned
for talks behind closed doors before wrapping up the first day of meetings.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa, who said before the summit that peace talks with
Israel had become "pointless," asked the leaders on Saturday to examine "the
chances of failure of the peace process" due to Israel's policies. He also said
the Arabs should open a dialogue with Iran, which is locked in a dispute with
the West over its controversial nuclear program, and set up an "Arab
Neighborhood Zone" that would include the Islamic republic and Turkey.
"I understand that some of us have concerns about Iranian positions. This does
not rule out but maybe confirms the need for a dialogue in order to define our
future relations with Iran, with whom we differ on many issues," he said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit told reporters that the afternoon
session discussed Moussa's proposal on Iran "but most of the Arab countries
don't welcome this for now." He did not elaborate. The Arab summit follows the
worst violence in the blockaded Gaza Strip in 14 months, and comes after Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected anew on Friday international calls to
stop settlement building in east Jerusalem. Israeli tanks carried out an
incursion into southern Gaza and killed a Palestinian militant on Saturday after
the army lost two soldiers in clashes the previous day along the border with the
coastal strip. The Sirte gathering is the first annual summit to be hosted by
Qadhafi, who considers Israel an implacable "enemy" of the Arabs.(Naharnet-AFP)
Beirut, 28 Mar 10, 08:26
'Obama
resigned to nuclear Iran'
By JPOST.COM STAFF
28/03/2010 05:31
http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=171949
Bolton says Washington pressuring Israel not to strike nuke facilities.
Talkbacks (30)
Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton expressed concern Sunday that
Washington was coming to terms with a nuclear Iran.
“I very much worry the Obama administration is willing to accept a nuclear Iran,
that's why there's this extraordinary pressure on Israel not to attack in Iran,”
Bolton told Army Radio.
The former envoy claimed that this pressure was the focus of last week's
meetings in Washington between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyhau and US
officials, including President Barack Obama.
Bolton said that the Obama administration had embraced the view, prevalent in
Europe, that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the key to the resolution of
all other conflicts throughout the Middle East, including the Iranian conflict.
He added that the rift in US-Israel relations stemmed from a fundamental
difference in the understanding of the Middle East and Israel's role in the
Middle East, and is not really about east Jerusalem at all.
Bolton said that the treatment Netanyahu received during his visit "should tell
the people of Israel how difficult it's going to be dealing with Washington for
the next couple of years."
On Saturday, meanwhile, The New York Times reported that international
inspectors and Western intelligence agencies suspect that Teheran is preparing
to build more sites in defiance of United Nations demands.
According to the report, half a year after the revelation of a secret Iranian
nuclear enrichment site northeast of Qom, the UN inspectors assigned to monitor
Iran’s nuclear program are now searching for evidence of two additional sites,
prompted by Israeli assessments as well as by recent comments by a top Iranian
official that drew little attention in the West.
The paper said that the inspectors were looking into the mysterious whereabouts
of recently manufactured uranium enrichment equipment.
In an interview with the Iranian Student News Agency, the official, Ali Akbar
Salehi, head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, said Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had ordered work to begin soon on two new plants. The
plants, he said, “will be built inside mountains,” presumably to protect them
from attacks.
“God willing,” Mr. Salehi was quoted as saying, “we may start the construction
of two new enrichment sites” in the Iranian new year, which began March 21.
One European official noted to the Times that “while we have some evidence,”
Iran’s heavy restrictions on where inspectors can travel and the existence of
numerous tunneling projects were making the detection of any new enrichment
plants especially difficult.
The paper went on to quote American officials as saying that Israel had "pressed
the case" with their American counterparts that evidence points to what one
senior administration official called “Qom lookalikes.”
The revelation that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the
United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, now believe that there may be two new sites
comes at a crucial moment in the White House’s attempts to impose tough new
sanctions against Iran, the Times report added
IAF simulates integrated missile defense
By YAAKOV KATZ
28/03/2010 06:39
Iron Dome anti-rocket system entering final development stage.
The Israel Air Force Air Defense Division has held a series of laboratory tests
and simulations to create an integrated operational doctrine for the various
missile defense systems it is developing to protect the State of Israel.
Israel is currently in the final stages of developing the Iron Dome system to
defend against short-range rockets like the Kassam and Katyusha rockets which
form the backbone of Hamas and Hizbullah’s arsenal; together with the US, Israel
is developing the David’s Sling, which will be capable of intercepting
medium-range missiles. It is also currently developing the Arrow 3, an upgraded
version of the Arrow missile that Israel currently operates.
According to Lt.-Col. Avi Cohen of the IAF’s Air Defense Division, the drill
will assist the IAF in improving the missile defense systems currently under
development, and will help the Air Defense Division create an operational
doctrine which will know which system to use against which threat.
“We checked a number of simulations from launches from different countries and
different ranges,” said Cohen. “We checked which defense system we will use for
which missile.
“Some systems can deal with a number of different threats, and we need to set up
the doctrine for how we will use them.”
Named Tiramisu after the popular Italian layered cake, the exercise was
conducted in a computer laboratory and did not include actual firing of
missiles. The IAF also checked how the Israeli systems integrate with long-range
American systems – such as the THAAD and the Aegis – which could be deployed
here in the event of a large-scale conflict.
The IAF is planning a number of similar drills for the coming year, and is also
considering establishing a single operations room for all of the systems once
they are operational.
The Iron Dome is scheduled to be deployed along the Gaza border by the summer;
David’s Sling will likely be declared operational by 2013, and the Arrow 3 by
2014.
Assad, Ghaddafi to PA: Quit talks, embrace resistance
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
28/03/2010 17:56
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=171981
As Arab leaders speak out against contact with Israel at Libya summit, Abbas
aide Abu Rudeineh calls on them to be "realistic" about ME peace process.
SIRTE, Libya — Syria and Libya teamed up Sunday to pressure the Palestinian
leader to quit peace talks with Israel and return to violence, delegates to an
Arab leadership summit said.
An adviser to the US-backed Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas,
quickly rejected the suggestion, calling for the 22 nations represented at the
gathering in Sirte, Libya, to be "realistic." Despite the opposition from two of
Israel's longtime foes, the summit was expected Sunday to renew backing for
Palestinian peace talks with Israel.
Still, the calls to abandon the effort reflected the depth of frustration and
anger over the stalled process and continued Israeli construction in areas
claimed by the Palestinians, particularly east Jerusalem.
Syrian President Bashar Assad urged Abbas to withdraw from a US-supported peace
plan and resume armed resistance to Israel, according to two delegates who spoke
on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
They said Assad also urged Arab countries to halt any contacts with Israel,
though only Egypt and Jordan have peace deals with the Jewish state.
"The price of resistance is not higher than the price of peace," one delegate
quoted Assad as telling Abbas.
Libyan leader and summit host Moammar Ghaddafi warned that his nation may
withdraw support for an initiative launched at a 2002 Arab League summit in
Beirut calling for an exchange of land for peace with Israel, the delegates
said.
Senior Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rudeineh dismissed the pressure.
"Let us be realistic. We will not follow those who have special agendas," he
told Al-Jazeera television.
"We are ready for any Arab option. If they want to go to war let them declare
that and mobilize their armies and their people and we will follow suit," Abu
Rudeineh said.
Earlier this month, Arab nations opened the door for Abbas to enter four months
of indirect, American-brokered negotiations with Israel - the so-called
'proximity talks'. But they later threatened to withdraw support for the
negotiations after Israel announced plans for new Jewish homes in east
Jerusalem, the part of the city Palestinians claim as the capital of a future
state.
Speaking at the summit Saturday, Abbas urged Mideast peace brokers to push
Israel to stop settlement construction, and he vowed that the Palestinians will
not sign any peace deal with Israel without the Jewish state ending its
"occupation" of east Jerusalem.
He accused Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu's government of trying to create a
de facto situation in Jerusalem that would torpedo any future peace settlement.
The Palestinians are also asking Arab nations for millions of dollars in funding
for Palestinians living in east Jerusalem.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa urged leaders at the opening of the summit to
create a new strategy to pressure Israel and stressed the peace process cannot
be "open ended."
The summit registered a higher than usual number of no-shows from Arab leaders.
Eight heads of state stayed away, including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Recent Arab summits have been marred by
disagreements among Arab leaders, divided between pro-Western rulers and more
radical regimes. The divisions tend to water down joint Arab positions.
Nabih Berri and the Owl of Revenge!
27/03/2010
By Mshari Al-Zaydi
http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=20378
Asharq Al-Awsat /Nabih Berri, the Speaker of Lebanese
Parliament and the Shia Amal movement as well as other followers of Imam Musa al
Sadr, were opposed to the idea of Lebanon being represented at the upcoming Arab
Summit to be held in Libya under Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.
It is said that following the uproar, Lebanon, egged on by Amal and its allies,
decided to lower its level of diplomatic representation. There are claims that
the Lebanese ambassador to Egypt will represent Lebanon at the Arab Summit as a
form of protest against Colonel Gaddafi and Libya. Supporters of Imam Musa al
Sadr have long accused Tripoli of being responsible for the disappearance of
Lebanese Shia Imam Musa al Sadr in Tripoli along with his two companions Sheikh
Muhammad Yacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine in August 1978.
Since then, Colonel Gaddafi has consistently denied responsibility for the fate
of Musa al Sadr and his two companions, whereas supporters of Muqtada al Sadr
and the Shia Amal movement headed by Nabih Berri continue to accuse Libya of
killing Imam Musa and his companions.
The story of Imam Musa al Sadr has transformed into a permanent Lebanese Shia
“Holocaust” and another Karbala especially for Nabih Berri’s group.
It goes without saying that what happened to Imam Musa al Sadr and his two
companions is a heinous crime and the perpetrators of such an atrocity should be
exposed and what happened to this political and religious leader should be
revealed, whether he met his end in Libya or elsewhere. I have no objection to
Nabih Berri’s insistence and that of the Lebanese Shia who are part of religious
and semi-religious parties to keep the case of Musa al Sadr alive. The truth is
never lost because of the passing of time, or at least it never should be.
Back in the old days, the Arabs used to believe that the spirit of a murdered
man continues to wail and weep until his death is avenged. They believed that a
bird that they called “al Sada” [or the death-owl] would continue to hoot over
the grave of a slain man whose death had not been avenged. The bird would
continue to hoot endlessly until the slain man’s death was avenged. The
death-owl of al Sadr cries for revenge in the form of Nabih Berri’s fiery
statements and repeated protests against Lebanon’s expected attendance at the
forthcoming Arab summit to be held in Sirte. Even long before the summit, the
owl of al Sadr has been hooting for revenge. However, we are still clueless as
to when this will happen.
However, are there not any other death-owls hooting for revenge in Lebanon,
whether they are owls in the pre-Islamic mythical sense or in the form of
prominent Lebanese political figures whose tragic deaths are yet to be avenged?
Rafik al Hariri and Kamal Jumblatt are just two prominent examples.
Unfortunately, the death-owl of Kamal Jumblatt, represented in his son and
current Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, has stopped hooting. Al Hariri’s
death-owl of revenge is on the same track.
The only death-owl that continues to hoot, and has been doing so for three
continuous decades is that of Imam Musa al Sadr. Perhaps the idea of revenge and
the sanctity of blood is far more intense in the culture of al Sadr’s followers
than it is in the culture of al Hariri's and Jumblatt’s supporters.
Nevertheless, a tragedy is still a tragedy and the balances of power control
everything, even the sentiments of death and the gruesomeness of the crime.There
is even envy in death.
Amnesty International Points to Libya's Complicity in Sadr's Disappearance
Naharnet/Amnesty International has written a letter to the Arab Summit about
Libya's complicity in the 1978 disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr and his two
companions, according to a statement released by the Supreme Islamic Shiite
Council. The statement said Amnesty International urged Arab leaders to "address
human rights violations and continuing phenomenon of impunity in the Arab
world." The document included a paragraph on Libya's "complicity" in the
disappearance of Sadr. "Amnesty International points out that the legacy of
impunity prevails over the forthcoming Arab Summit and the conference will be
held in the absence of a high-level Lebanese delegation because of the Libyan
government's alleged complicity in the forced disappearance of a prominent
Shiite cleric in 1978," said the letter by the non-governmental worldwide
organization. Beirut, 28 Mar 10, 09:07
Jumblat in Syria April 4
Naharnet/Druze leader Walid Jumblat will reportedly visit Damascus April 4 for a
meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the daily Ad-Diyar said Sunday.
It said Jumblat will travel to Damascus alone. Asked about the timing of
Jumblat's expected visit to Syria, Assad said in a television interview last
Saturday that Damascus would receive the PSP leader after the Arab League summit
in Libya. Assad said the Syrian decision to receive Jumblat was due to mediation
efforts by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on the one hand and a change
in the Druze leader's political stances on the other.
Re-Packaging Illusion
By Jonathan Spyer *
March 28, 2010
The Obama administration's approach to the Middle East is characterized by an
apparent desire to revive the sunny illusions of the 1990s peace process - in an
era that is far more uncertain and dangerous. This is particularly noticeable in
the Israeli-Palestinian arena, in which the United States, the dominant world
power, sets the parameters of debate. As a result, international discussion of
the conflict is now more detached from reality than at any time in the past 40
years.
There are two layers to the edifice of unreality in which mainstream debate on
the Israeli-Palestinian issue is now taking place. The first and most obvious
one concerns the Hamas enclave in Gaza. It is now over four years since the
movement's victory in elections to the Palestine Legislative Council, and nearly
three years since the Hamas coup in Gaza. It is therefore past time to
acknowledge that a single, united Palestinian national movement no longer
exists.
Since this is, apparently, a reality too terrible to be admitted, the U.S. and
the Europeans have chosen, in public at least, to ignore it. The fiction that
the West Bank Palestinian Authority speaks in the name of all Palestinians is
politely maintained. Behind the scenes, however, the reality is widely
acknowledged. The intended means for coping with it constitutes the second layer
of illusion.
The inability of even mainstream Fatah-style Palestinian nationalism to accept
partition as the final outcome of the conflict has prevented its resolution
twice - in 2000 and 2008. This type of nationalism understands the conflict as
one that pits a colonial project against a native, authentic nationalism.
From such a perspective, partition of the land means admitting defeat. But
Palestinian nationalism does not feel defeated. It is characterized, rather, by
a deep strategic optimism. From its point of view, it is therefore not
imperative to immediately conclude the struggle - but it is forbidden to end it.
Hence the endless reasons why the partition deal somehow can never be inked.
The solution to this obstacle, the West has now decided, is that a new
Palestinian leadership, unburdened by this outlook, must be created and
defended. The manifestation of this approach is the meteoric career of Salam
Fayyad, who was first imposed upon Palestinian politics as finance minister in
2002 by then-secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, and is today PA prime
minister. Fayyad is working closely with Western representatives to build up the
institutions and the economic prosperity that are supposedly going to transform
Palestinian political culture from the all-or-nothing logjam that has prevented
conflict resolution until now, into something with which the world can do
business.
The essential logic of this is the same wishful thinking that doomed the 1990s
peace process: namely, the idea that institution-building and economic
advancement will - and must - eventually have a transformative effect on
political outlook. This idea, experience has shown, is fundamentally flawed.
Some liken Fayyad to Konrad Adenauer, the German chancellor who presided over
the transformation of political culture and the emergence of democracy in his
country after 1945. But Adenauer operated in an era in which the anti-modern,
anti-Western element in German political culture had just experienced a final,
crushing Gotterdammerung, and Germany was living under a massive and permanent
occupation.
In the Palestinian territories, by contrast, the anti-Western and anti-modern
element is flourishing, and has state backers in Iran and Syria. It would
probably quickly consume Fayyad, were he to cease to be cradled in the arms of
the West.
Like the pleasant, well-dressed leaders of the March 14 movement in Lebanon -
who have now been devoured by Syria and Hezbollah - Fayyad and company are the
product of Western wishful thinking. And like those of March 14, they will
survive for precisely as long as the West is willing to underwrite them. And no
longer.
This would be fine. The economic development Fayyad is promoting in the West
Bank is wholly positive. The problem is that this fantasy version of Palestinian
politics is now being seen as real in Brussels and Washington. There are those
in the West who seem to have convinced themselves that their creation can walk
by itself.
The pleasant figure of Fayyad allows outside observers to pretend that the
underlying realities of Palestinian politics do not exist. From there, it is a
short step to convincing oneself that the only reason there isn't peace in the
Middle East is because Interior Minister Eli Yishai wants to build houses for
ultra-Orthodox families in north-central Jerusalem.
In the case of the U.S. administration, it is not entirely clear if this view
derives from genuine naivete, or a calculated rationale. There are those who
suspect that President Obama will find a way to hold Israel responsible for the
absence of peace, regardless of the truth of the situation, because of broader
considerations that in his view require the distancing of Washington from
Jerusalem. Either way, it is difficult to discern what advantage the
administration's approach will bring for Western interests and good governance
in the region. The main impression to be gained is that the West and its allies
are confused, disunited and fractious. A cause for celebration for their
enemies, no doubt, but hardly an impression one would expect Washington to wish
to promote.
* Dr. Jonathan Spyer is a senior research fellow at the Global Research in
International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, Herzliya, Israel
Is Israel’s deterrence losing steam?
By YAAKOV KATZ
Jerusalem Post
28/03/2010 06:41
A year after Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, the clashes along the border
may be a sign that Hamas has become the primary and most immediate security
challenge for Netanyahu.
After a year of no wars or major terror attacks, the clashes along the border
with the Gaza Strip over the weekend may be a sign that Hamas has become the
primary and most immediate security challenge for Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu.
With three IDF soldiers killed last week, Netanyahu was faced with a major
decision about the level of Israel’s response.
A year after Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip, it appears that the
deterrence Israel achieved there during its three-week operation in early 2009
has significantly eroded. This is in contrast to the volatile border with
Lebanon, where despite the almost four years that have passed since the Second
Lebanon War, Hizbullah continues to refrain from attacking Israel.
What was interesting about Friday night’s attack was that while it is presumed
that it was carried out by Islamic Jihad, Hamas also claimed responsibility.
This will force a reassessment within Military Intelligence regarding Hamas’s
involvement in terrorist attacks. Until recently, IDF officers openly admitted
that they were impressed by the way Hamas was refraining from terror activity
and was even in some cases rounding up operatives from other groups who were
firing Kassam rockets into Israel.
Nevertheless, Israel’s response will likely be measured. While Friday
afternoon’s clash in Gaza was costly and included the deaths of two soldiers,
one of them the deputy commander of the Golani Brigade’s 12th Battalion, it is
unlikely that it will lead Israel to launch Cast Lead II.
There are a number of reasons for this. First, at the moment Israel does not
have the diplomatic justification for another big operation like it had on the
eve of Cast Lead. The combination of the effect of the Goldstone Report, the
fallout from the Mabhouh assassination in Dubai and the current crisis with the
United States makes clear that for Netanyahu, quiet is most important.
On the other hand, he could surprise us. With Israel already suffering
diplomatically, some might argue that now is the time for another major
operation on the basis that there is not much more to lose.Whatever happens, the
attack leaves the IDF with two clear conclusions.
First, while rocket attacks are down since Cast Lead, attempts to plant bombs
along the border are up. The public just doesn’t hear of most of them since they
usually end without any Israeli casualties and are dealt with by tanks or attack
helicopters. If this is the most immediate threat to Israel, then the IDF needs
to be sure that it has invested the right amount of resources in neutralizing
it.
Second, there is the erosion of Israel’s deterrence that needs to be dealt with.
This will not be achieved by bombing yet another smuggling tunnel or empty arms
manufacturing plant. On the other hand, Israel likely will decide against a
large-scale operation, meaning that while the objective is clear, the means of
getting there are not
Golani deputy commander laid to rest
By JPOST.COM STAFF AND YAAKOV KATZ
28/03/2010 13:41
Tearful mother stands between graves of her two sons who were killed in action.
Maj. Eliraz Peretz, 31, deputy commander of the Golani Brigade’s 12th Battalion,
was laid to rest Sunday, two days after he and St.-Sgt. Maj. Ilan Sviatkovsky
were killed during combat with Palestinian gunmen in the southern Gaza Strip,
near Khan Yunis. Thousands attended the funeral procession, which began at Givat
Ze'ev's Darchei Noam synagogue and continued to the capital's Mount Herzl
cemetery. Peretz led a force into Gaza after two Palestinians were spotted
laying improvised explosive devices near the border security fence. During the
ensuing fire exchange, a grenade in Peretz’s vest was hit by a bullet and
exploded, killing him and wounding two of his soldiers. Sviatkovsky was then
shot and killed as well.
House Majority to Clinton: Calm Down on Israel
by Hillel Fendel/ /Arutz Sheva
More than 75 percent of Congressmen in the U.S.House of Repreentatives have
signed a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing support
for Israel and demanding an end to the highly-publicized state of tensions with
Israel. Signed by 327 Representatives, out of 435, the letter calls on Clinton
and the Obama Administration to settle its disputes with Israel in a non-public
and friendly fashion. The current tensions “will not advance the interests the
U.S. and Israel share,” the letter states, as “above all, we must remain focused
on the threat posed by the Iranian nuclear weapons program to Middle East peace
and stability."The letter was initiated last week by leaders of both parties,
including the top Representatives of each one: Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Eric
Cantor (R-Va.).
Additional excerpts from the letter:
“We are writing to reaffirm our commitment to the unbreakable bond that exists
between our country and the State of Israel, and to express to you our deep
concern over recent tension. In every important relationship, there will be
occasional misunderstandings and conflicts… Differences are best resolved
quietly, in trust and confidence, as befits longstanding strategic allies…
"We are reassured that Prime Minister Netanyahu's commitment to put in place new
procedures will ensure that such surprises [a municipal Jerusalem announcement
on approval of another step towards the construction of 1,600 apartments in a
post-1967 Jerusalem neighborhood during U.S. Vice President Biden's recent visit
to Israel], however unintended, will not recur.”
"The United States and Israel are close allies whose people[s] share a deep and
abiding friendship based on a shared commitment to core values including
democracy, human rights and freedom of the press and religion. Our two countries
are partners in the fight against terrorism, and share an important strategic
relationship…Strong Israel is an Asset to U.S.
"A strong Israel is an asset to the national security of the United States and
brings stability to the Middle East. We are concerned that the highly publicized
tensions in the relationship will not advance the interests the U.S. and Israel
share. Above all, we must remain focused on the threat posed by the Iranian
nuclear weapons program to Middle East peace and stability.”
Netanyahu returned on Thursday from Washington after a highly-unpublicized
meeting with President Obama there. The lack of a press conference and photo-ops
is widely viewed as an Obama snub of Netanyahu, though the excuse has been
offered that the meeting was barely planned in advance. Obama's One-Sided
Demands on Israel
Obama demands that Netanyahu stop building in eastern Jerusalem and make a
series of other gestures to the Palestinian Authority, while not demanding
anything from the other side. Netanyahu has not agreed to do so, but met with
his mini-cabinet of seven ministers on Friday to try to formulate a response.
The ministers plan to meet again before the Passover holiday, which begins
Monday night.
IDF Prepares for Large-Scale Missile Attack
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu /Arutz Sheva
The Air Force this past week has tested new anti-missile systems by simulating a
large-scale attack from several enemies using missiles ranging from the
primitive Kassam rocket to Iran’s advanced Shihab missile.The computer-simulated
tests involved several defense systems, including Iron Dome and Arrow 3, against
simultaneous attacks from Gaza, Lebanon and Iran.
The anti-missile systems are expected to become operational over a period of
years, with the Iron Dome system against short-range Kassam rockets expected to
be ready before the end of 2010. Lt. Col Avi Cohen, head of the Arrow program,
explained that the exercise was staged to help determine how different systems
can function in a large-scale attack requiring the use of different anti-missile
systems. He said that intensive purchase programs have enabled the Israel
Defense Forces to make breakthroughs in technology, which require testing to
enable the Air Force to prepare the systems for operation. Additonal tests are
scheduled throughout the year.
Iran: Two More Secret Nuclear Sites?
Written by Benjamin Joffe-Walt
Published Sunday, March 28, 2010
http://www.themedialine.org/news/news_detail.asp?NewsID=28394
IAEA suspects Iran is developing two more secret uranium enrichment sites.
A seemingly innocuous statement by an Iranian official has sparked a UN hunt for
two new uranium enrichment plants secretly built inside mountains as part of
Iran’s clandestine quest to make nuclear weapons.
Inspectors with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’
nuclear watchdog, have mounted a search for the sites, the New York Times
revealed over the weekend. The newspaper's sources all insisted on anonymity,
given the highly-classified nature of Western satellite surveillance and
on-the-ground intelligence operations to ascertain the progress of Iran's
nuclear program.
The search was reportedly triggered by a little-noticed interview with Ali Akbar
Salehi, the director of of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, with the Iranian
Student News Agency. Salehi alleged that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
has ordered that two plants "be built inside mountains" so as to protect them
from potential military airstrikes.
Iranian analysts have noted that the IAEA has taken on a much more active
approach to Iran’s nuclear program since its former Director General Mohamed
ElBaradei handed over the reigns to Japanese diplomat Yukiya Amano. They also
were skeptical of the reports, saying Iran was not as keen or capable of
manufacturing nuclear weapons as the West has asserted.
"The IAEA's stance has changed since ElBaradei left his post," Hamid Tehrani,
the Iran editor of Global Voices Online, told the The Media Line. "Most of
ElBaradei's statements were not decisive. He would say that Iran was not
cooperating but that the situation was not clear. Now the IAEA has been much
more active."
The IAEA intelligence is partially based on circumstantial evidence that Iran’s
newly manufactured centrifuges have not been delivered to the nuclear facilities
which are monitored by international nuclear inspectors. This has raised
suspicions that the centrifuges, which spin at high speeds to enrich uranium
needed to produce bombs, were secretly delivered to clandestine sites.
The news of the alleged secret sites came just six months after the United
States revealed the existence of a secret nuclear enrichment site inside a
mountain near Qom, a city that is home to the majority of Iran's clerical
establishment. Immediately after the Qom site was revealed, it was leaked that
IAEA staff had privately concluded that Iran had acquired "sufficient
information to be able to design and produce a workable implosion nuclear
device" based on highly enriched uranium.
US President Barack Obama had hoped the announcement would help raise support
for a fourth round of economic sanctions against Iran, an initiative which has
so far been rebuffed by China and Russia.
Iran is known to have mastered at least two of the three steps needed to
effectively launch a nuclear weapon: developing a medium-range rocket capable of
striking Israel and Arab nations allied with the West, and acquiring highly
enriched, weapons grade uranium. But Western intelligence agencies rare split on
the final step, whether it is capable of developing a warhead capable of being
attached to a missile.
But many Iran analysts refute the assertion that Iran is pursuing a nuclear
weapons program.
"Iran doesn't have the knowledge yet to do much," Pujan Ziaie, an Iranian
analyst supportive of the opposition told The Media Line. "I'm not saying that
they don't want it, and I assume that they are getting some help from Russia or
China, but I don't think that at the moment their priority or policy or goals
are to get nuclear weapons."
Ziaie added that the secrecy of Iran's program did not necessarily mean it's
goal was clandestine.
"Every country has secret sites," said Ziaie, a former strategist with the
campaign for Mehdi Karroubi, a prominent reformist candidate in last year's
presidential campaign and former chairman of Iran's parliament. "The Iranian
government doesn't accept a number of international rules and standards, but
they probably thought that if they announced these sites the Western countries
would stop them and close the sites down."
Dr Seyed Mohammad Marandi, a lecturer at the University of Tehran, argued the
intense Western focus on Iran's nuclear program was much ado about nothing.
"There is nothing secret about what is going on here," he told The Media Line.
"The only reason Iran is building sites under mountains is because of direct
threats made by the United States and the Israeli regime. There's no other
reason the Iranians would decide to build enrichment plants inside of mountains.
So in the eyes of Iranians, the sides that should be blamed are the Americans
and the Israelis for making direct threats against the Iranian people."
"Iran wants to create a recognition that threats by America will no longer
work," Dr Marandi said. "It's just anti-Iranian propaganda. Iran has a clean
slate and is working within its obligations to the IAEA and within the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran has never even contemplated developing nuclear
weapons, over the years not a single shred of evidence has been produced to
prove that Iran's nuclear program is non-peaceful, and the fact that Iran has
never used or developed any weapons of mass destruction despite being the victim
of American and European funded chemical weapons."
Kourosh Ziabari, an Iranian journalist and a political correspondent with
Foreign Policy Journal, agreed that Iran was being unfairly singled out.
"As an Iranian citizen, I am opposed to any kind of nuclear weapon, whether they
are produced in Iran, the United States or Israel," he told The Media Line.
"However, I don't believe that Iran has ever had the capacity to develop nuclear
weapons nor do I believe they will ever develop such a capacity. "
"American's are spreading Iranophobia and we are the victims of propaganda,"
Ziabari said. "Israel has over 200 nuclear warheads and North Korea has
developed nuclear weapons. You don't see much attention on them. So the problem
is not nuclear weapons, it's that Iran's political system is seen as not in
compliance, or is not compatible, with the Western world."
"This is just a way to fill Western newspapers," Ziabari said. "What you see on
TV is not what is actually happening behind the scenes. This is a meaningless
skirmish between Iran and the US over a number of issues, and this conflict is
being played out through the nuclear debate, which gives the US and their
European allies a pretense for confrontation with Iran. So now that the election
issues is over, the Western focus is back on Iran's nuclear program."
But Hamid Tehrani, the Iran editor of Global Voices Online, maintained such
arguments were evasive.
"Whatever you mention against the Iranian political establishment, from nuclear
enrichment to abuses of human rights, they call propaganda against Iran," he
said. "So I am not really surprised. All of Iran's nuclear activities have been
revealed step step, and if you look at the last couple of years, there have been
at least five UN resolutions against Iranian nuclear policy, three of which have
included sanctions and been supported by Russia and China, which have extensive
economic relations with Iran."
Copyright © 2010 The Media Line. All Rights Reserved.
Bolton: Israel must attack Iran now
Israel today/Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton on Sunday said Israel is
now facing the reality that if it does not attack Iran very soon, it will have
to accept the Islamic Republic as a nuclear power. Speaking to host Aaron Klein
on WABC radio, Bolton brushed aside political and military naysayers, and
insisted that Israel is capable of adequately damaging Iran's nuclear
facilities. "We know about the facilities... We know where they are," Bolton
said. "I think they are susceptible to an Israeli attack."
The former ambassador insisted that an Israeli strike is the only option left
that will prevent Iran from getting nukes, as the Obama Administration will not
act in time and weak European sanctions have proved ineffective
Bolton to Israel: Attack Iran or Accept Nuclear Power
2010 March 9/by NewsReal Blog.by Maayana Miskin/Former United States ambassador
to the United Nations John Bolton warned Sunday that Israel has just two
choices: a strike aimed at Iran’s nuclear facilities, or a nuclear Iran. Bolton
spoke with reporter Aaron Klein in a radio interview for Klein’s new show on
WABC. “We know about the facilities… We know where they are,” Bolton said of
Iran’s nuclear program. “I think they are susceptible to an Israeli attack.” The
United States will not take action in time to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear
weapons, the former ambassador warned.
Clinton in Moscow
Article published March 27, 2010
http://toledoblade.com/article/20100327/OPINION02/3270312/0/COLUMNIST14
RUSSIAN Prime Minister Vladimir Putin greeted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
in Moscow this month with the same sort of disagreeable surprise that Israel
gave Vice President Joe Biden during his visit to the Middle East.
Mrs. Clinton wanted to consult the Quartet - the European Union, Russia, the
United Nations, and the United States - on how to get the stalled Middle East
peace talks going again. She planned to address continuing U.S. efforts to get
Russia and China to agree to tougher sanctions against Iran, so that it would
limit its nuclear development program. Also on the itinerary was accelerating
Russia's movement to agree with the United States on a new Strategic Arms
Reduction Treaty.
Progress was announced on two items. The Quartet called on Israel and the
Palestinians to return to negotiations and seek a settlement that would create
an independent Palestinian state within 24 months. At a news conference, Mrs.
Clinton said after a meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that U.S.
and Russian negotiators were near a nuclear arms agreement. A final treaty was
announced yesterday.
All of that was preceded by Mr. Putin dropping a bomb on Mrs. Clinton's call for
help with reining in Iran's nuclear ambitions. He said Russia plans to complete
a nuclear power plant this summer that it has been building for Iran.
Mr. Putin's news mimicked the Israeli announcement to build 1,600 Jewish housing
units in East Jerusalem, made as Mr. Biden arrived to boost the "proximity"
peace talks between Israel and Palestinians.
Russia's role in Iran is not necessarily bad. Both countries are signatories to
the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and accept to some degree oversight by the
International Atomic Energy Agency. Russia has been a partner of Iran's in
nuclear development for many years.
In the broader analysis, Russia and Israel have no doubt remarked that the
primary focus of the Obama Administration has been on domestic matters, as it
should be.
It would be naive to imagine that the two countries would not take advantage in
some international pushing and pulling while the United States is obviously
preoccupied.
The quarry question
Uncontrolled quarry activities continue to blight Lebanon
Hayeon Lee, March 28, 2010
Last Tuesday, Minister of Environment Mohammad Rahhal said his ministry would
not clamp down on Lebanon’s controversial quarries, as they made too much money
for the treasury.
Rahhal’s statement is only the latest blow; unregulated quarrying has been a
national problem for decades, spurred by the high demand for material for
post-war reconstruction. Current estimates suggest that there are between 700
and 1,000 quarry sites nationwide, though even this wide range is disputed.
Samir Skaf, the national secretary of the Green Party, for instance, puts the
figure closer to over 1,300. Yet even the lowest estimate, according to
independent writer Farid Zantout, places Lebanon among the countries with “the
highest ratios of quarries per km2 of land, worldwide,” according to his online
statement.
Uncontrolled quarrying produces water, air, soil and noise pollution, which
impacts humans and wildlife alike. The irreversible damage due to excessive
quarrying also blights Lebanon’s natural landscape.
Abdallah Zakhia, lawyer and activist who helped stop tens of illegal quarries
from operating, says of his hometown Amchit, “The mountains became ugly. Also,
houses were trembling due to the quarrying, and the walls of houses were
cracking… There was a lot of dust. The water underground became polluted by
chemicals as well because of the dynamite used in quarrying.”
Further, people owning land around quarries, says Mazen Awad, a long-time
environmental activist, “are forced to give their lands to quarries at very low
prices, because the damage is done around the area, so the value of the land
decreases.”
It is not as if the quarry problem persists because there are no laws and
regulations. As the Ministry of Environment’s decrees 8803/2002 and 8803/2006
attest, the government has made strides toward developing adequate procedures
and standards.
In accordance with the decrees, numerous mines have been shut down in recent
years, although many have since resumed illegal operations. Legislation also
requires that quarries have licenses and follow certain environmental standards
of operation, such as rehabilitating damaged landscape and replanting trees, as
well as limiting daily excavations, says political analyst and Lebanese Green
Party member Oussama Safa.
However, these standards are rarely respected. Skaf says only three quarries in
Lebanon “repair” land after extractions. Also, the regulation requiring digging
only three meters deep into the mountain is often ignored, and some quarries are
up to 70 meters deep. “Take the new Metn highway, and you will see for yourself
how ugly the mountains are,” says Skaf.
While the Green Party advocates the legalization of quarries, provided they
follow regulations to protect the environment, other groups are trying to
abolish them altogether.
In the summer of 2007, Awad started a campaign against quarries in his village
of Almat, one of the biggest towns in the Jbeil region. A mountainous area with
thick forests, Almat’s sand and rock quarries were damaging the environment and
scarring the landscape.
Awad, with the help of the Association for Forests, Development & Conservation
(AFDC), started a petition, published articles and photos in the Lebanese daily
An-Nahar, and mobilized villagers. Then-President Emile Lahoud himself ordered
the closing of these quarries, and their owners seemingly obeyed. But after six
months, they resumed activity.
When Awad continued his activism, the quarry owners, some of whom were his
relatives, forcefully entered and vandalized his home. The incident was settled
out of court and quarrying was stopped for another year. Yet again, owners
resumed their digging in the past year, usually working at night or every other
day.
But even if Awad or others report the illegal activity to the police now, “they
would go up there and be bribed,” says Awad. “It’s a continuous struggle. It’s
like the fox and the chicken.”
Quarry owners without licenses often use political connections and/or bribes, as
was the case in Awad’s village, to protect their interests. Another example of
illegal quarrying at Deir Mkalles, a convent near Kesrouan, was reported by An-Nahar
last month. The monastery owned some endowed land, upon which the Khazen family
built an illegal sand quarry. Deir Mkalles sued and won, but the police patrol
sent to serve the warrants was turned away twice. As Safa puts it, quarry owners
have to make only “one phone call” to stop being shut down.
The reason for the owners’ recalcitrance is, of course, monetary. Quarrying is
big money, and observers report that the daily revenue of some of the biggest
quarries in Daher al-Baidar, many of which are owned and run by the family of
Zahleh MP Nicholas Fattouch, can be as much as $400,000. And while quarries in
Daher al-Baidar might have licenses, activists consider them illegal because of
their reckless destruction with no respect for environmental standards.
With huge profits involved, widespread corruption and the public’s lack of
awareness, campaigners are not hopeful that quarries will be regulated any time
soon. What’s needed, according to Safa, “is a really strong political will for
enforcement, just like many other things in Lebanon. Political will is lacking.
I think the Ministry of Environment should lead, along with civil society and
political parties, and make a big stink about this.”