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Israel Asks Clinton to Boycott U.N. Conference
Tweet Share on Facebook February 25, 2009 Comment (17)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
In advance of her first visit to the Middle East next week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is being beseeched by Israeli leaders to lead the fight against anti-Semitism and vilification of Israel, a trend that has increased since the war in Gaza. The Israelis will ask Clinton to boycott the U.N. World Conference Against Racism, due to take place in Switzerland in April. The U.N.'s first such conference, in Durban, South Africa, in 2001, singled Israel out for venomous condemnation, leading the Israeli and U.S. delegations to walk out in protest. The Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot reports:
Social Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog, who was tasked by the government to head its counter anti-Semitism efforts, wants to use Clinton's visit in order to create a united front against the conference.
The U.S. has yet to announce whether or not it will take part in Geneva's World Conference against Racism, although it did vote against holding it.
Herzog said the conference "can set the world dozens of years back. It stands to focus on hatred towards Israel and the Jewish people. I urge the US to announce it will not take part in it and I call on it to lead the sane nation's bloc in that move, as it has before."
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In Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu Is Likely to Build a Right-Wing Government
Tweet Share on Facebook February 24, 2009 Comment (7)Rightist government may be Netanyahu's only option
The incoming Israeli government is shaping up to be decidedly right wing as Binyamin Netanyahu, the presumptive incoming prime minister, is having no luck bringing the incumbent, centrist Kadima party into his coalition. Kadima leader Tzipi Livni says the party, which leads the outgoing ruling coalition, is headed to the opposition because Netanyahu does not share her commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state. Meanwhile, Netanyahu is getting impatient, the Jerusalem Post reports:
"I want to give Livni a real chance to join us, but we cannot wait forever," Netanyahu told his Likud faction, after a consensus of Likud Knesset members pressured him to give up on Livni ...and start formal negotiations with [right-wing factions] Israel Beiteinu, Shas, United Torah Judaism, Habayit Hayehudi and the National Union.
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Photo Blackmail in Saudi Arabia
Tweet Share on Facebook February 21, 2009 Comment (3)The official Saudi newspaper Arab News reports on the case of a Saudi teenager convicted of blackmailing a girl after being arrested by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
A court in Al-Ahsa has sentenced a 19-year-old Saudi youth to five years' imprisonment and 500 lashes for blackmailing a girl and threatening to publish her photos if she did not go out with him.
Col. Yousuf Al-Qahtani, spokesman for the Eastern Province police, said the teenager was caught by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice after the girl's brother filed a complaint last month.
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Obama's Overtures Toward Iran Worry Nearby Arab Nations
Tweet Share on Facebook February 20, 2009 Comment (88)Obama's move toward Iran worries Gulf states
While the moderate, Sunni-dominated Gulf states were outspoken critics of President George W. Bush's aggressive approach to the Middle East, President Obama's diplomatic overtures to radical, Shiite-dominated Iran also has Gulf leaders worried, reports the Jordan Times:
"Our basic demand is that America should not give concessions on the Iranian nuclear programme and its interventions in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine . . . ," said Mustafa Alani of the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre.
"We should be a part of these negotiations. We don't want any surprises. We need to be a partner and our interests need to be represented," Alani continued. Gulf Arabs, who warned against the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, now fear the early withdrawal promised by Obama will leave that country in the hands of Iranian-allied Shiite politicians who have dominated the post-Saddam Hussein government. They fear a U.S. administration that rules out military action will fail to curb Tehran's nuclear programme, and eventually leave Sunni Arabs squeezed between two non-Arab nuclear power centres—Iran and Israel.
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Possibly Driven by U.S. Pressure, Egypt Frees No. 1 Political Prisoner
Tweet Share on Facebook February 19, 2009 Comment (2)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
Egypt's most prominent political prisoner, Ayman Nour, has unexpectedly been released because of what the government says are "health reasons." Nour and his supporters credited political pressure from the United States for his release. A liberal reformer who challenged longtime President Hosni Mubarak in the 2005 elections, Nour was imprisoned more than three years ago on election forgery charges. The 44-year-old activist, who is diabetic, says he will resume his political opposition to the Egyptian regime. The Dubai-based pan-Arab satellite TV station Al Arabiya reports:
Despite three years of "political and personal hardship," Nour revealed the same optimism he showed during his presidential campaign.
"My determination has not ceased. I will work for a democratic future in Egypt and will rebuild the Gad party with the help of Egyptians who want to renew the liberal political current in the country," he added. The U.S. administration of former President George W. Bush has called repeatedly on Egypt to release Nour. Cairo says its judiciary is independent and not politically motivated.
The Qatar-based pan-Arab satellite TV station al Jazeera reports that Nour appealed to President Obama in August to aid Arab reformers and suggests that the release of Nour may be Mubarak's way of getting on Obama's good side.
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Israeli Convicted of Spying for Iran
Tweet Share on Facebook February 18, 2009 CommentIsraeli convicted of spying for Iran
As Israel remains preoccupied with the looming nuclear threat from Iran, an Iranian-born Israeli was convicted in a Tel Aviv court for spying for Tehran. The Jerusalem Post reports:
The man, 55, who could not be named due to a court-imposed gag order, was arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport on May 8 by the Shin Bet, and the police's Serious and International Crimes Unit.
Police said the suspect, who is said to live abroad, told his interrogators that he visited the Iranian consulate regularly in Istanbul.
"The suspect agreed to cooperate with Iranian intelligence officials. He gave them names of people he knew and claimed they were working for Israeli security forces," the police said.
So many Palestinians, so little money
A sign of the hapless condition of the Palestinians came as employees of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank went on strike to protest the nonpayment of their salaries. The money, it seems, went to the Gaza Strip, which remains devastated by its war with Israel. Al Jazeera reports:
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Israel May Trade Jailed Palestinian Leader for Kidnapped Soldier
Tweet Share on Facebook February 17, 2009 Comment (5)Israel may trade key Palestinian leader for soldier
Marwan Barghouti, the imprisoned Palestinian militant leader seen even by many prominent Israeli politicians as offering the only viable alternative to Hamas, may be on the verge of gaining his freedom. Israeli newspapers, quoting the London-based Al Hayat newspaper, report that Barghouti is high on the list of Palestinian prisoners who would be released in exchange for kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held in Gaza since June 2006. Barghouti is a popular leader in the Fatah movement headed by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and he is seen as a possible successor. He was arrested in 2002 during the violent Palestinian uprising and is serving five consecutive life sentences after being convicted by an Israeli court for a role in attacks that killed four Israelis and a Greek Orthodox monk. He has denied involvement in those attacks. The prisoner exchange is being negotiated in Cairo as part of an Egyptian-mediated truce between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot reports:
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In Iraq, Iranian Leader Receives Warm Welcome
Tweet Share on Facebook February 13, 2009 Comment (3)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
Ties between Iraq and Iran strengthened visibly as Iran's foreign minister met with Iraqi leaders in Baghdad. This points up an abiding fear in Washington, one that likely plays a role in President Barack Obama's call for U.S.-Iranian diplomacy: the possibility that, after the United States withdraws from Iraq, the Shiite-dominated government will draw closer to Shiite, fundamentalist Iran. Iraq Updates reports on the Baghdad meeting:
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Palestinians Give Thumbs Down to Israeli Election Results
Tweet Share on Facebook February 12, 2009 Comment (15)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
Palestinian reactions to Israel's elections Tuesday were entirely negative, differing mainly in the degree of disapproval. The general view is that the Israeli right won the election and thus it doesn't really matter who becomes prime minister. Neither Likud's Binyamin Netanyahu or Kadima's Tzipi Livni would be able to move toward peace even if he (or she) wants to. The mildest reactions came from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank. Al Arabiya reports:
President Mahmoud Abbas said whatever the next Israeli cabinet is, it would be obliged to continue peace talks and meet international obligations. "The ascent of the Israeli right does not worry us," he told Italy's La Repubblica newspaper.His Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told reporters Israel must meet international obligations. "We imagine that the expectations of the international community (toward Israel) will be the same as ours," he said.
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Israeli Election Math Favors Netanyahu
Tweet Share on Facebook February 9, 2009 Comment (10)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
Dominating the news is tomorrow's Israeli elections. While former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party has lost much support lately to the far-right, blatantly anti-Arab Yisrael Beitenu (Israel Our Home) party, leaving Likud with a very slim margin over the centrist Kadima (Forward) party, Netanyahu is still expected to become Israel's next premier. The daily Ha'aretz newspaper explains:
Even if Kadima gets one or two more seats in the Knesset than Likud, Netanyahu, together with other right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties, will be substantially larger than the center-left bloc. And even if Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman joins Kadima leader Tzipi Livni, she needs another right-wing party to form a government, because Meretz and the Arab parties won't support a government which includes Lieberman.
Livni's bloc, which today stands at about 52 or 53 seats, would lose 12 or 13 spots the moment she goes with Lieberman. And Lieberman, before he recommends that the president tap Livni to form a government, will have to think long and hard if she is capable of forming a stable coalition; otherwise he will commit suicide twice, by supporting her against the will of most of his voters and again if her attempt to form a government fails.
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