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Arab Media Slams Pro-Israel Lobby over Freeman Controversy
Tweet Share on Facebook March 13, 2009 Comment (93)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
Arab media appalled over Freeman debacle
Even relatively liberal Arab newspapers are appalled at the inside-the-beltway fight that caused Charles Freeman, a former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia, to withdraw as newly named chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Like Freeman himself, Arab media blame the pro-Israel lobby and worry that this is a sign that the Obama administration, like its predecessor, will be afraid to challenge Israeli policies. Lebanon's Daily Star editorializes:
The unjustifiable character assassination succeeded in prompting Freeman to resign from his post—and in depriving Obama of the advice of a man who has shown a realistic understanding of the Arab world. But it did not make Israel or America any safer.
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Bush's Iraqi Shoe Assailant Gets Three Years in Jail
Tweet Share on Facebook March 12, 2009 Comment (5)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
The Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former President George W. Bush has been sentenced to three years in prison. Muntandher al-Zaidi also called Bush a "dog" during the ex-president's December 14 joint news conference in Baghdad with Iraqi President Nouri al-Maliki, and the defendant's family shouted the same epithet at judges following the sentencing. Muntandher says he was tortured in custody. The Qatar-based satellite TV station Al Jazeera reports:
The journalist, who became a hero to many Iraqis after the December 14 incident, arrived at the court under a heavy police escort. Asked if he was innocent, al-Zaidi responded: "Yes, my reaction was natural, just like any Iraqi (would have done)." After the verdict on Thursday, al-Zaidi's 25-strong defense team emerged from the courtroom to scenes of chaos. Several family members screamed: "It's an American court ... sons of dogs."
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Israel Cautions U.S. on Talking to Iran
Tweet Share on Facebook March 10, 2009 Comment (93)Israel now considers Iran to have "crossed the technological threshold" toward building a nuclear weapon, in the words of Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, head of Israeli military intelligence, who warned that U.S. and European diplomatic overtures to Iran will very likely backfire. The Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post reports:
Iran's attainment of nuclear military capability is now a matter of "incorporating the goal of producing an atomic bomb into its strategy," OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin told the cabinet on Sunday.
"Iran is continuing to amass hundreds of kilograms of low-enriched uranium, and it hopes to exploit the dialogue with the West and Washington to advance toward the production of an atomic bomb," he said.
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Hamas Gains in Popularity With Palestinians After War With Israel
Tweet Share on Facebook March 9, 2009 CommentBy Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
Israel's recent war in Gaza has not only failed to halt rocket fire on Israel's southern cities, but it has also strengthened Hamas in the West Bank at the expense of the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority. A key casualty of the war is the Palestinian Authority's prime minister, who resigned. Salam Fayad, a former World Bank executive and political independent, had been crucial to U.S. hopes for rekindling the peace process. Fayad said he resigned to clear the way for a national unity government between Hamas, which controls Gaza, and Fatah, which controls the PA in the West Bank. The PA was obliged by Palestinian and pan-Arab public opinion to seek a unity government after the war cast it in the image of a collaborator while raising Hamas up as the Palestinian symbol of resistance. The Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot reports on a poll showing the shift:
The survey said [Hamas Prime Minister Ismail] Haniyeh would garner 47 percent support, beating [PA President Mahmoud] Abbas with 45 percent, if a presidential election was held today. Three months ago, Abbas received 48 percent and Haniyeh 38 percent.
The face-to-face poll of 1,270 people by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research was conducted on March 5-7 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as the factions tried to reach agreement on a unity government with Egyptian mediation.
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In Iraq, an 'Ugly Battle' for Power Predicted After U.S. Drawdown
Tweet Share on Facebook March 6, 2009 Comment (5)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
An "ugly battle" for power and influence in Iraq is expected to begin after the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops by August 2010, President Obama's announced target date, writes Tariq Alhomayed, editor in chief of the influential pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Alawsat. Unless Iraq's ethnic factions can come together in the name of national unity, the power vacuum left in the country by the U.S. drawdown will likely be filled by Iran or, possibly, by other neighbors, Syria or Turkey, Alhomayed writes.
There must be more European, American and Arab communication with Iraq on all levels so that Baghdad will have choices other than Iran. Moreover, the Iraqis, Americans and Arabs must pay attention to the danger of the imminent period; it will be equivalent to a battle for the sake of influence and filling the power vacuum in Iraq. There is no doubt that it will be a difficult and ugly battle.
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Iran: Our Missiles Can Hit Anywhere in Israel
Tweet Share on Facebook March 5, 2009 Comment (10)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
In its war of words with Israel, which has heated up since last week's test of an Iranian nuclear power plant, a top Iranian military official warned that an Israeli attack will be met with missiles that can hit "all Israeli land." This claim is considered 100 percent credible by Israeli defense experts, but they are divided about the extent of Iran's ability to arm its long-range missiles with chemical or biological warheads. The Dubai-based Al Arabiya satellite TV station reports:
"Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran has missiles with the range of 2,000 km (1,250 miles), and based on that all Israeli land including that regime's nuclear facilities are in the range of our missile capabilities," the commander-in-chief of the Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jafari, said.
"The doctrine of our system is defensive, but in the case of any action by enemies, including the Zionist regime, we will respond firmly using missiles and deter attacks," he said in comments carried by the ISNA news agency.
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Netanyahu Makes Last-Ditch Efforts to Avoid Right-Wing Government in Israel
Tweet Share on Facebook March 3, 2009 Comment (3)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
When he takes office as prime minister, very likely in the next few weeks, Binyamin Netanyahu would like to have a party flanking him to the left in a national unity government, but the centrist Kadima party is balking because Netanyahu will not commit to negotiations toward a Palestinian state, while the Labor Party, which did extremely poorly in the February 10 election, fears extinction if it serves as the fig leaf for a right-wing, Netanyahu-led coalition. However, there are people within Kadima and Labor who want to join the government, so Netanyahu isn't giving up on his goal. He is focusing on recruiting Ehud Barak, a former Labor prime minister, in particular. The Jerusalem Post reports:
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Clinton Upholds U.S. Boycott of Hamas on Mideast Trip
Tweet Share on Facebook March 2, 2009 Comment (1)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
In her first trip to the Mideast, addressing an international donor conference in Egypt to raise postwar rehabilitation funds for the Gaza Strip, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton upheld the U.S. boycott of Hamas, Gaza's radical Islamic ruler. This position may not be final, though: Many observers argue that because Hamas's is the undisputed regime in Gaza, there can be progress toward Israeli-Palestinian peace only by recognizing the movement.
Still, Clinton said the $900 million the United States is donating—only $300 million of which will go to Gaza, the rest earmarked for the West Bank—will be funneled through the U.S.-backed Palestinian Authority, which, with Israeli military support, holds nominal power in the West Bank. Following the Sharm al-Sheikh conference, Clinton was due to make her first visit as secretary of state to Jerusalem and Ramallah. The Israeli daily Ha'aretz reports on her speech to the conference:
Clinton was adamant that none of that money would go to Hamas, which rules Gaza and which Washington labels a terrorist organization. "We have worked with the Palestinian Authority to install safeguards that will ensure our funding is only used where and for whom it is intended and does not end up in the wrong hands," she said. Clinton reiterated a U.S. demand that to be recognized in that government, Hamas must recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous Israeli-Palestinian peace agreements.
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Muslim World Cool Toward Bin Laden, but Cooler Toward the United States
Tweet Share on Facebook February 27, 2009 Comment (87)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
A poll of political attitudes in Muslim countries finds that the Palestinian territories are the only place where a majority holds a positive view of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. However, large majorities in several Muslim nations contend that the United States is working to "divide and weaken" the Islamic world. The Jordan Times reports on the findings of the WorldPublicOpinion.org poll:
The only respondents where a majority had a positive view of Ben Laden were Palestinians residing in the West Bank and Gaza, 56 per cent of whom reported to have positive feelings, compared to 22 per cent negative and 22 per cent "mixed".
In Egypt, 44 per cent of citizens have a positive view of Ben Laden compared to 17 per cent negative, while 25 per cent of Pakistanis have positive views versus 20 per cent negative.
The only predominately Muslim countries polled where a majority had negative views of Al Qaeda leader were Azerbaijan (82 per cent) and Turkey (68 per cent). Approximately 80 per cent of Jordanians believe the US is actively working to "divide and weaken" Islam, the report asserts, compared to 87 per cent of Egyptians, 87 per cent of Palestinians and 82 per cent of Turks.
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Iran Buoyed by Nuclear Plant Test Run
Tweet Share on Facebook February 26, 2009 Comment (3)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
Iran is claiming success on the test run of its first nuclear power plant, although the testing seems likely to hasten efforts by the United States and Israel to prevent Iran from going nuclear. In reaction to the test, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice repeated the administration's pledge to block Iran's nuclear ambitions via diplomacy, while Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, whose country was far more comfortable with the Bush administration's confrontational approach, repeated his nation's vow not to take "any option off the table" to stop the nuclear threat. None of this background noise served to dampen Tehran's enthusiasm, the Qatar-based satellite TV station Al Jazeera reports:
The long-delayed reactor, in the southern port city of Bushehr, could come on line within [four to seven] months, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, said on Wednesday.
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