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The Stalled Voyage of St. Mariam
Rannie Amiri, CounterPunch 8/27/2010
Why is Israel Terrified of a Ship Full of Women?
“We will not even bring cooking knives.” – Samar al-Hajj, coordinator of the all-women Lebanese aid vessel Mariam
The bloody wake left by the Mavi Marmara after the May 31 Israeli commando raid has not deterred 50 female activists from trying to break the four-year-old siege of Gaza. To hear Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak speak of their planned relief effort, one would think the very existence of Israel was at stake.
The women plan to set sail aboard the Saint Mariam, a Bolivian-flagged cargo ship named in honor of the Virgin Mary, a figure sacred to both Christians and Muslims. Although they intend to depart from Tripoli, Lebanon, the crew is not only composed of multi-faith Lebanese but foreign nationals as well, including a group of nuns from the United States. So as not to give Israel pretext...
Israel Threatens War with Lebanon
Stephen Lendman, Dissident Voice 8/31/2010
Palestine is belligerently occupied. Threats continue against Iran and Syria as well as Lebanon, specifically Hezbollah, elected partner in the nation’s unity government, bogusly designated a US State Department Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), what Israel also calls it, repeating veiled and overt warnings, suggesting violence or an impending attack.
Why not, after so many earlier in 1978, 1982, 1993, 1996, and 2006. Also numerous incidents besides:
– refusing to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 425 by occupying South Lebanon belligerently and illegally for 18 years until mostly, but not entirely, withdrawing in May 2000 – still holding Sheba Farms, the 14-square mile water-rich land near Syria’s Golan, also illegally occupied since 1967; in addition, Ghajar, the Lebanese village bordering Golan;
– during its occupation, using a proxy Christian South Lebanon Army as enforcer, UNIFIL Blue Helmets giving them and the IDF free reign instead of maintaining peace, how UN forces always...
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Supreme Court compels finance ministry to explain exclusion of Arab villages
Electronic Intifada/Adalah 12/22/2006
Supreme Court Compels Minister of Finance to Explain Reasons for Excluding Businesses in Four Arab Villages from Full Compensation Awarded for War Damages -- On 7 December 2006, the Supreme Court of Israel held a hearing on a petition filed by Adalah, which challenges the state’s compensation scheme for war damages incurred during the second Lebanon war. In the petition, Adalah challenged three designations and compensation formulas regulated by the Minister of Finance in July 2006 as they apply to: ’border towns’; ’restricted towns’; and ’non-governmental organizations (NGOs)’. At the hearing, the Court specifically addressed the issue of the exclusion of four Arab villages (Arab al-Aramshe, Fasuta, Ma’alia and Jesh) from the list of ’border towns’ for the purpose of receiving compensation for damages incurred during the second Lebanon war...
Harper calls Hamas ’genocidal’
The Globe and Mail 12/21/2006
Peace won’t be achieved through dialogue with groups that aim to kill, PM declares -- OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada will not talk with the "genocidal" Islamic groups Hamas and Hezbollah even though he acknowledged that dialogue is the way to peace in the Middle East." We will not solve the Palestinian-Israeli problem, as difficult as that is, through organizations that advocate violence and advocate wiping Israel off the face of the Earth," Mr. Harper said yesterday in a wide-ranging year-end interview with CTV to be aired Saturday." It’s unfortunate because with Hamas, and with Hezbollah in Lebanon, it has made it very difficult to have dialogue -- and dialogue is ultimately necessary to have peace in the long term -- but we are not going to sit down with people whose objectives are ultimately genocidal." -- See also: Canada's PM won't deal with 'genocidal' Hamas, Hezbollah: report
Palestinian Organization for the Right of Return opens Beirut headquarters
Daily Star 12/23/2006
BEIRUT: The Palestinian Organization for the Right of Return, or FIRM, its Arabic acronym, opened its headquarters in Lebanon on Friday in the presence of former Premier Salim Hoss who was the guest speaker. In a news conference held at the Press Federation headquarters in Ain al-Mreisseh on Friday, FIRM’s administrators described the organization as a non-governmental, cultural entity, whose activities encompass issues related to the Palestinian diaspora. FIRM is dedicated to championing the Palestinian refugees’ cause and their right of return to their homeland. One of FIRM’s key goals is the creation of a lobby "that would make the voice of Palestinian refugees heard," according to a pamphlet distributed during the news conference.
Exclusive: Syria builds ’death trap’ villages along border in preparation for war
Jerusalem Post 12/22/2006
Warning that Israel may face a "Syrian intifada," a high-ranking officer in Northern Command has told The Jerusalem Post that villages recently built by Syria along the border are planned to be used as "death traps" for IDF troops in Hizbullah-inspired attacks. Since this summer’s war in Lebanon, Syria, the officer revealed, has invested large amounts of money in replicating Hizbullah military tactics, particularly in establishing additional commando units and fortifying its short- and long-range missile array. The idea is to draw Israel into an asymmetric war, the officer said, like the warfare the IDF encounters in combat against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as against Hizbullah in Lebanon. Over the past two years, Syria has built a number of villages along the border with Israel...
Battle lines are drawn as Israeli allies among Arab regimes meet to coordinate the fight against the Iran-Syria axis
Ma’an News Agency 12/21/2006
Bethlehem - It has been revealed to Ma’an News Agency that a secret meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, the political advisor to the Egyptian president, Osama El Baz and the head of Saudi national security, Prince Bandar, was held two months ago, during the Eid feast following Ramadan, in Sharm el Sheikh. The source, a specialist in Israeli affairs, added that the meeting, which was held in the residence of the Egyptian president, lasted for five hours in which the participants discussed mutual coordination and cooperation between Egypt, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Israel and its allied forces in Lebanon, to jointly face the Tehran-Damascus axis and the coalition of militant groups such as Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.
Christmas and Hannukah tourism down 25% over last year
Globes Online 12/21/2006
Only 80,000 tourists will have arrived this year -- This year has seen a 25% drop in holiday tourism, according to Incoming Tourism Bureau director general Ami Etgar, who attributes the trend to the Lebanon war. During Hannukah and Christmas 2005, 120,000 tourists entered the country, compared with only 80,000 who will have arrived this year. The financial loss to the state is estimated at $80 million. Most of the tourists to Israel over Hannukah are Jews from abroad who use the Christmas break to visit Israel. Most of the tourists are from the US, UK and France with virtually no tourists this year from Scandinavia. [end]
Rate of cluster bomb casualties falling
Electronic Intifada/IRIN 12/20/2006
BEIRUT - Despite one man being killed and two injured from an explosion on Tuesday in the southern Lebanese village of Marjayoun, mine clearance specialists say that the incidence of cluster bomb casualties in the country has fallen significantly over recent weeks. From an initial average of three accidents a day in the immediate aftermath of the summer war between Israel and Hezbollah, the rate has fallen to an average of three accidents per week. "Over the past three weeks, the rate of casualties has been as low as two victims in one week," said Dalya Farran, media and post-clearance officer for the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre for South Lebanon (MACC). Farran said the low rate was because MACC-coordinated teams were now working at their full capacity.
Number of cluster bomb deaths continues to rise
Electronic Intifada/Amnesty International 12/20/2006
20 December 2006 -- The number of civilians killed and injured as a result of unexploded cluster bombs in south Lebanon, which were dropped by Israeli forces during the recent conflict between Israel and Hizbullah, is increasing steadily. Some 26 people have reportedly lost their lives, and some 186 have been injured. Cluster munitions spread small bomblets over a wide area, many of which do not explode on impact but remain live and lethal. Children are particularly vulnerable and some have been killed while playing in their towns and villages. Other people have been killed while investigating their homes for damage following the war and others while working on their land.... On 14 December 2006, UN MACC reported that it had identified 832 sites contaminated with Israeli cluster bombs in south Lebanon.
Fearing Civil Wars, Cairo Counsels Restraint
Inter Press Service 12/21/2006
CAIRO, Dec. 21 (IPS) - While the situation in U.S. -occupied Iraq has slid further into chaos and sectarian strife, Egypt has watched anxiously as two areas closer to home -- the occupied Palestinian territories and Lebanon -- have also been roiled by the specter of civil war. Although tense political standoffs in both the Gaza Strip and Beirut have prompted a flurry of diplomatic activity by Cairo, there has been little by way of progress in either case. In nearby Gaza, attempts to forge a national unity government between leading opposition party Fatah and the Hamas-led government ended in failure, with the two sides unable to agree on terms for power sharing. Calls by Fatah-affiliated Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Dec. 18 for fresh parliamentary elections further alienated Hamas...
Halutz: Internal IDF probes on war aren’t commissions of inquiry
Ha’aretz 12/22/2006
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz told Army Radio on Thursday morning that some of those conducting internal IDF inquiries on the second Lebanon war have confused their mandate to examine the army’s functioning with that of a commission of inquiry." Unfortunately some of the people believe the probe is a commission of inquiry and are looking for someone to blame," said Halutz. "That isn’t correct. Probes are intended first and foremost for learning." In addition, Halutz stressed that he does not intend to acquire legal counsel in advance of the findings being published. "I will not retain lawyers, in order to contend with the people of Israel." The IDF chief also blamed cuts in the army’s budget for some of the shortcomings during the war.
Assad ’fully supports’ bid to end crisis in Beirut - Moussa
Daily Star 12/22/2006
BEIRUT: Syria fully supports Arab League efforts to end the political stalemate Lebanon has been witnessing for months, Arab League chief Amr Moussa said on Thursday. Moussa, who met with Syrian President Bashar Assad, Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa and Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, said he "received full support and backing, to his efforts - aimed at ending months of political stalemate in Lebanon - from Assad." He added that the "core of the discussion with Assad was Syria’s support to those efforts. There is continuous Syrian support to achieve internal reconciliation in Lebanon." Assad "supports my efforts, the initiative I am making and the efforts of the Arab League in this regard," the Arab League chief said following the meeting.
Syria may close Lebanese border
Jerusalem Post 12/21/2006
If the international community establishes an international court to try suspects for political assassinations in Lebanon, then Syria may close its border with Lebanon, a senior Syrian official said during a meeting with an Arab official in Damascus earlier this week. According to a report printed in the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper on Thursday, the Syrian official also warned that other measures to prevent the establishment of an international court may include "stopping the monitoring of the border with Iraq." Also on Thursday, Arab League chief Amr Moussa met with Syrian President Basher Assad and the Syrian foreign minister to seek Syrian help to end the long-running political crisis in neighboring Lebanon. Assad gave his full support to Arab League mediation to end the long-running political crisis in neighboring Lebanon...
IPI report says political instability undermining press freedom
Electronic Intifada/International Press Institute 12/19/2006
New Report on Media in Lebanon Shows Political Instability is Undermining Press Freedom -- In a report titled, "Media in Lebanon: Reporting on a Nation Divided," the International Press Institute (IPI) provides an assessment of the current challenges to press freedom in Lebanon. Commenting on the report, IPI Director Johann P. Fritz said "The Lebanese media offers diverse and wide-ranging opinion and analysis and enjoys a greater degree of press freedom than many of its regional neighbours, which are home to the some of the most restrictive media environments in the world." "In recent years journalists have paid a high price for that freedom. The brutal murders in 2005 of publisher and IPI member Gebran Tueni and leading columnist Samir Qassir and the maiming of TV-journalist May Chidiac have created a climate of fear and insecurity..."
IDF: Hizbullah almost back to full combat strength
Jerusalem Post 12/21/2006
Predicting that it is "just a matter of time" before Hizbullah attacks Israel, a high-ranking officer from the Northern Command revealed to The Jerusalem Post Wednesday that the Lebanese guerrilla group had nearly returned to full strength and was almost at the level it was before this summer’s Lebanon war. Syria, the officer said, had used the past four months since the end of the war to transfer - sometimes on a daily basis - truckloads of advanced rockets and weaponry to Hizbullah in Lebanon. The weapon transfers, he said, were not even executed covertly, but were conducted "out in the open" for the entire world to see. "Hizbullah needs to legitimize its existence, and therefore will continue to fight," said the officer, adding that if and when Hizbullah attacked, it would be up to the country’s diplomatic echelon to determine Israel’s response.
Israeli warplanes swoop low over Tyre
Daily Star 12/20/2006
TYRE, Lebanon: Israeli warplanes carried out low-altitude flights over Southern Lebanon on Tuesday, despite past protests from UN peacekeepers, Lebanese police said. They said four planes flew over the port city of Tyre as well as areas in the western and central sectors along the Lebanese-Israeli border. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni reiterated last week that such flights were needed to monitor alleged arms smuggling by Hizbullah in order to restock following the July-August war." The only reason for these Israeli flights is to get more information," she said, noting that the border remains open between Lebanon and Syria, which Israel accuses of allowing arms to reach Hizbullah. France, which currently commands the UN mission in Lebanon, issued an angry protest to Israeli authorities in October...
Israeli intelligence warns Hamas gunmen being trained in Iran
Ha’aretz 12/18/2006
Israeli military officials said Monday that dozens, perhaps hundreds, of Hamas militants recently left the Gaza Strip to receive advanced military training in Iran. The training is similar to that received by thousands of Hezbollah guerrillas from Lebanon over the past few years, and Israel fears it will greatly improve Hamas’ military capability in any future battle with Israel Defense Forces troops in Gaza, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter. Israel waged a five-month military offensive in the Gaza Strip over the summer, after Hamas militants kidnapped Corporal Gilad Shalit and killed two of his comrades in a cross-border raid. More than 300 Palestinians were killed in the fighting,most of them militants. One IDF soldier was killed...
Peretz approves zero tolerance policy along northern border
Ha’aretz 12/20/2006
Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Tuesday agreed with a recommendation by senior Israel Defense Forces officers that Israel should respond harshly to Hezbollah provocation along the Israel-Lebanon border. Such provocation includes throwing rocks at IDF patrols, holding protests near the border and hanging Hezbollah flags along the fence - moves that IDF General Staff and Northern Command officials say are meant to test Israeli policy in the wake of last summer’s Lebanon war. Israel will not allow "the reality of the gradual erosion of directives, which took place for six years along the border, to return," Peretz told reporters. "We will not return to the situation preceding the second Lebanon war." Peretz also said the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has been doing a good job responding to Israeli requests that it deal with Lebanese provocation.
U.S. calls on Syria to open diplomatic relations with Lebanon
Ha’aretz 12/20/2006
The U.S. State Department called Tuesday on Syria to abide by the wishes of neighboring countries and open diplomatic relations with Lebanon. Spokesman Sean McCormack rejected a statement by President Bashar Assad in Russia that he wants a dialogue with the United States but "will not take instructions" from Washington. McCormack said Syria is under no obligation to follow U.S. instructions but should respond positively to requests from neighbors. One such request, he said, is for Syria to open an embassy in Beirut. "That would be a signal that they have completely renounced and given up on the idea of getting back into Lebanon," McCormack said. They could also help Lebanon "by not trying to manipulate the Lebanese political system, not helping Hezbollah sponsor marches in the street..."
Assad asks Russia to lead Mideast peace talks
Daily Star 12/20/2006
Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday urged Russia to take a leading role in sponsoring peace talks in the Middle East, and denied that Russian weapons sold to Syria ended up in the hands of Hizbullah. President Vladimir Putin hosted Assad for talks focusing on fighting between Palestinian factions and the political crisis in Lebanon - part of Moscow’s efforts to strengthen its role in the Middle East amid escalating tensions in the region." Russia could become the sponsor of the Middle East peace process and carry out this role effectively," Assad told journalists through a translator after his meeting with Putin. Assad rejected criticism from Israel and the US that Russian weaponry sold to Syria had been passed on to Hizbullah." Those who say such things.... need to provide concrete proof," Assad said.
Security budget grows by NIS 1.9 billion
YNetNews 12/18/2006
PM authorizes NIS 35 billion increase to defense budget, says original framework should not be broken. Ministry of finance may have to make NIS 600 million cut from the 2007 budget -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has authorized the expansion of the defense budget to NIS 35 billion (USD 8,360,871,000), an NIS 1. 9 billion (USD 453,803,500) increase. Following the decision the Finance Ministry will have to cut back some NIS 600 million (USD 143,329,217) from the 2007 budget proposal prior to its Knesset début before the end of December. The addition will be paid in advance until the government authorizes the entire budget, according to the Brodat committee’s recommendations. The new budget does not include the NIS 8 billion (USD 1,910,764,129) given to the army immediately after the end of the last war in Lebanon.
Moussa resumes bid to broker compromise in Beirut
Daily Star 12/20/2006
BEIRUT: The head of the Arab League returned to Beirut Tuesday in a new bid to end the political standoff between the government and the opposition after the latter escalated its demands with a call for new legislative elections. Amr Moussa said he was hopeful his mediation efforts would resolve a crisis that has paralyzed the country and spread fears among many that it would turn violent." I still hold the view that there is hope," Moussa said upon arrival at Rafik Hariri International Airport. He met leaders of all the main factions last week and reported progress but no breakthrough. Moussa expressed confidence that the differences could be narrowed further." There are some areas in which we can make progress right away," he said. "All Arab countries are worried about the dangerous situation prevailing in Lebanon and are working to save this country.
Dagan: Syria willing to attack Israel
Jerusalem Post 12/18/2006
Israel should not take the Syrian peace overture seriously because Damascus is "more prepared than ever before" to take military action against Israel, Mossad chief Meir Dagan said Monday. "Israel’s military deterrence was damaged in the second Lebanon war," Dagan told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. "[Syrian President Bashar] Assad’s self-confidence grew. They are prepared to take more risks than in the past." Dagan went on to say that the Syrian army was building up its anti-tank missile units, after having seen that tanks were Israel’s Achilles’ heel in this summer’s war. He also told the committee that Syria was stocking up on anti-aircraft weaponry in preparation for a possible aerial attack by the IAF. "Any misstep" could trigger an armed conflict with Syria, stressed Dagan.
Peretz: Current IDF budget insufficient
Jerusalem Post 12/19/2006
Defense Minister Amir Peretz warned Monday that if the defense budget is not increased beyond the current NIS 35 billion, there would be no choice but to reduce the IDF’s manpower." It’s unthinkable that following the Lebanon war, we have to weigh tanks against poor people and cannons against senior citizens," Peretz told the Knesset Finance Committee, adding that defense and social spending should not be considered mutually exclusive." If the defense slice of the national budget cake stays within the NIS 35b. limit, there is no doubt that in coming years we will need to reduce personnel quotas so that we will have fewer well-trained soldiers rather than more untrained ones," he said. Late Sunday night, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to add NIS 1. 9b. in defense spending.
Shalom questions whether Netanyahu backs talks with Iran
Jerusalem Post 12/18/2006
Following opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu’s call for negotiations with Syria, his rival for the Likud leadership, former foreign minister Silvan Shalom, questioned on Sunday whether Netanyahu would be in favor of dialogue with Iran. Netanyahu said on Saturday that he believes Israel should talk to Syria if it disconnects from the "axis of evil with Iran," stops transferring weapons to Hizbullah in Lebanon, clamps down on terrorism within its own borders and includes the US in peace talks. Shalom mocked Netanyahu’s multiple conditions and said that speaking to Syria would send the wrong message to the moderate Arab nations and to the world." Would he be in favor of negotiations with Iran if they accepted the same conditions? " Shalom asked.
In history that reads like yesterday, not even the names have changed
Daily Star 12/19/2006
Claude Boueiz Kanaan’s ’Lebanon 1860-1960’ chronicles eerily familiar political era -- Interview -- BEIRUT: Forget taking a stroll down memory lane. By the time "Lebanon 1860-1960: A Century of Myth and Politics," by former St. Joseph University history professor Claude Boueiz Kanaan, reaches its crescendo in a detailed analysis of the political crisis of 1958, it reads like a veritable time warp. The crisis of 1958, says Kanaan, "is like a symbol, an example, of all the crises we have lived through and are living with now [in Lebanon]. And if sectarian troubles continue like this, of the crises we will always be living." Kanaan’s careful discussion of Lebanese social history during the 100-odd years before, written originally as part of her doctoral dissertation in history, is really just a lead-in to her discussion of the 1958 conflict.
Opposition raises the stakes with call for early legislative elections
Daily Star 12/19/2006
Hizbullah and its allies called Monday for early parliamentary elections after the ruling anti-Syrian coalition refused to meet opposition demands for veto power in the government. "The different groups of the opposition at a meeting on Monday decided to call, first of all... for a new law for parliamentary elections, and secondly... early parliamentary elections," pro-Syrian former Prime Minister Omar Karami told reporters. He said the decision was taken "to resolve the crisis provoked by the obstinacy of the illegitimate government." The call for early elections, an escalation in opposition demands, could complicate Arab League efforts to end Lebanon’s political crisis that many fear could turn violent. Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa is due in Beirut on Tuesday to meet with rival Lebanese politicians.
Visiting US senators hold talks with top officials
Daily Star 12/19/2006
American lawmakers head for Syria next, despite White House objections -- BEIRUT: Two key US senators visited Prime Minister Fouad Siniora at the Grand Serail on Monday as part of a Middle East tour to learn more about various crises affecting the region. Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, an unsuccessful challenger to US President George W. Bush in the 2004 elections, and Senator Christopher Dodd of Connectivut, both Democrats, held talks with Siniora that covered both the Lebanese scene and the wider region. A report by the National News Agency said the two senators listened to the premier’s views on the government’s efforts to resolve the political and economic deadlock. Siniora also told Kerry and Dodd about Lebanon’s preparations to convene an international donor conference scheduled in France next month...
Displaced return amidst growing political tension
Electronic Intifada/Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre 12/15/2006
Report -- Some 200,000 people are estimated to remain in a situation of internal displacement in Lebanon following the hostilities between the Shiite militant and political organisation Hizbollah and Israeli security forces in summer 2006. Nearly one million people were displaced at the height of the conflict - the vast majority of them within Lebanon. Most of the displaced returned to their homes in south Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut immediately following a UN-brokered ceasefire in August 2006. However the destruction of homes and infrastructure, the presence of cluster bombs, and loss of livelihoods are significant obstacles to the return and sustainable reintegration of displaced people. In addition, the overall stability of the country is in doubt as disputes have intensified between Lebanon’s diverse political parties.
Hezbollah official: 250 militants killed during Lebanon war
Ha’aretz 12/15/2006
BEIRUT - A senior Hezbollah official said Friday that around 250members of the militant group were killed in the summer war with Israel, the highest toll acknowledged by the Shiite Muslim organization. Mahmoud Komati, deputy chief of Hezbollah’s politburo, dismissed Israeli claims that as many as 800 Hezbollah militants were killed, saying the group does not hide its casualties. "We are proud of our martyrs," he told The Associated Press. He estimated that around 250 militants were killed in the July 12-August 14 fighting with Israel. A tally compiled by AP from Hezbollah and police reports during the war put the group’s losses at 70 dead. Lebanon’s Higher Relief Council, a government agency that handles humanitarian crises, has said 1,191 people were killed in Lebanon, mostly civilians...
Israel Watchful of Hezbollah Moves
By Peter Hirschberg, Electronic Intifada/IPS 12/15/2006
JERUSALEM, Dec. 15 (IPS) - An Iranian and Syrian satellite, Hezbollah operating unfettered, and the Israeli army ceasing to patrol the south -- that is the fate Israeli leaders fear could befall Lebanon if anti- government forces succeed in ousting the elected government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. "What concerns us is that the parties trying to get power in Lebanon are the ones who obey Iran and Syria," former deputy defence minister and Labour Party lawmaker Ephraim Sneh told IPS. "The ambition of the Iranian regime is territorial contiguity from the border of Afghanistan to the Mediterranean. Taking over Lebanon by proxy and turning it into an Iranian satellite is one means of achieving this." For two weeks, anti-government protestors have camped outside the parliament building in Beirut...
Assad: No Middle East peace without Damascus and Tehran
Ha’aretz 12/15/2006
The United States and Europe must talk to Syria and Iran if they want a comprehensive solution to Iraq and other Middle East conflicts, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published on Friday. Assad told Rome’s la Repubblica newspaper Damascus was ready to cooperate with Washington to resolve regional issues and challenged Israel to open up to Syria. He also said Europe had a "complex" over the Jewish Holocaust. Meanwhile, European Union leaders meeting in Brussels called on Syria to stop interfering in Lebanon’s affairs and start contributing to the country’s stabilization." The fact is that we (Syrians) live in this region, we know it well," he said in the long interview, adding that Washington "needs our help" to formulate a plan for Iraq.
Missing Lebanese ’also deserve justice’
Daily Star 12/16/2006
BEIRUT: As the country remains caught in a political deadlock, the Committee for Kidnapped and Missing persons in Lebanon resurfaced again Friday with demands for the government to take their cause seriously. "We said we will continue until we reach fairness, justice and truth, and we meant it," the head of the committee, Waddad Halwani said Friday. The issue of missing Lebanese persons, either in Syrian or Israeli prisons, which had finally been making headlines earlier this year has been buried since the summer as Lebanon plunged into a series of internal problems following the July-August war." The word truth has been turned into a political slogan that is only being used for important political figures," said Halwani, "but what about the truth for the average missing or kidnapped person."
Montreal Organizations Call for Fair Coverage of Mass Protests In Lebanon
Electronic Intifada/Tadamon! 12/15/2006
MONTREAL: Several Montreal-based organizations are speaking out in defence of the popular protests which have overtaken Lebanon’s capital for more than a week. The groups are concerned with a prevailing bias in Canadian media coverage of the events in Lebanon. This bias misrepresents the purposes of the protests and the dynamics that underlie them. It also fuels a dangerous sectarianism that threatens Lebanon. Mary Foster of Tadamon! Montreal & May Hayder of Al Hidaya Association Speaking at a Montreal Press Conference, Wednesday, December 13th [Photo: Pedro Ruiz, Photojournaliste Le Devoir]"Should Lebanon become a client state of the US or does it want a government that represents its citizens and is responsive to the interests of other people in the region?..."
Siniora says Arab League mediation ’will continue’
By Leila Hatoum, Daily Star 12/16/2006
BEIRUT: Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora on Friday denied media reports that the Arab League had failed to end the political crisis in Lebanon, as he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss possible mediation with Syria. "Efforts to solve the crisis are ongoing and the mediation by Arab League chief Amr Moussa will continue," said Siniora, who met with a series of top Russian officials. "Moussa is working on developing his efforts and we have to have faith in the necessity to unite all Lebanese against external dangers," the premier added. Media reports on Thursday quoted a source close to Moussa as saying that the initiative conducted by the Arab diplomat "had failed." The premier’s visit to Moscow precedes a scheduled trip to the Kremlin by Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday, December 19.
Karami warns of ’gradual escalation’
Daily Star 12/16/2006
BEIRUT: Although Arab diplomacy has succeeded for the time being in brokering a truce between Lebanon’s government and its political adversaries, the opposition threatened Friday a gradual escalation to begin as early as next week. Former Prime Minister Omar Karami said following a visit to Speaker Nabih Berri that gradual escalation "will be carried out" to pressure Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s government to resign if Arab League chief Amr Moussa fails to reach a solution in the next few days." We say in all honesty that we will wait for two or three days until Moussa is back with something, otherwise we are considering gradual escalation to end this unacceptable situation which cannot be tolerated forever," Karami said following the rare visit to the speaker. A government source said Moussa planned to return to Beirut on Monday for more talks.
Merrill Lynch warns crisis in Lebanon may delay Paris III
Daily Star 12/13/2006
BEIRUT: A leading international investment bank warned on Tuesday that the current political crisis in Lebanon would delay the donor conference in Paris early next year. "A government surrounded by political turbulence may find it difficult to deliver its ambitious economic program, which is the key for better medium-term prospects for the country," Merrill Lynch said in a report on Lebanon. Earlier, Economy and Trade Minister Sami Haddad expressed his concern that Paris III conference may either be delayed or cancelled if the crisis continued for a long time. While it is difficult to predict the outcome of the conference, considering the recent destructive war, we believe the international community will be more sympathetic to Lebanon if it can overcome its conflicts in domestic politics," the report said.
Apparent landmine kills Lebanese soldier
YNetNews 12/14/2006
Three additional soldiers wounded in incident, Lebanon declines Israeli offer of aid -- A Lebanese soldier was killed and three additional soldiers were wounded on Thursday afternoon after apparently driving over a landmine or unexploded ordinance along the western sector of the Israeli -Lebanese border. The IDF offered to provide immediate medical treatment to the wounded soldiers via the military liaison division but the offer was declined by Lebanon. The wounded soldiers were then evacuated to a hospital in Sidon. Several weeks ago the UN reported that Israel had planted new landmines in southern Lebanon during the last war, the first time since IDF forces withdrew in 2000. The UN Mine Action Coordination Center in south Lebanon reported their estimation following the injury of two European disposal experts and a Lebanese medic...
Olmert weighs in on Beirut standoff
Daily Star 12/15/2006
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Thursday that he was worried about the current political crisis in Lebanon in an interview with the German publication Der Spiegel. "It is important that democracy in Lebanon is protected and that Hizbullah will not be supported by outside forces like Syria and Iran," Olmert said in response to a question about his view on Lebanon in the interview with Der Spiegel. The Israeli premier said he must be careful not to sound like he was "defending Siniora," but added he would have "loved" to meet with Siniora for peace negotiations." There isn’t much that separates us. In one meeting we could agree on everything," he said. Olmert also said the "weakening of Hizbullah" would help Siniora, adding that "we tried a great deal to defeat the forces that are threatening Siniora."
Israel worried Hamas and Iran developing strategic relations
Ha’aretz 12/14/2006
Members of the Israeli defense establishment are concerned by the close ties that seem to be developing between Iran and Hamas. In response to Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh’s recent visit to Tehran, experts here have said Iran is seeking to form a strategic alliance with Hamas. According to these sources, the Iranians would like to develop a relationship with Hamas similar to that with Hezbollah in Lebanon, in which the "final word" - on matters regarding Israel, too - is Tehran’s. In Israel, experts are interpreting Hamas’ move toward Iran as an act of defiance, in part based on the group’s success in minimizing the damage caused by the international embargo on its Palestinian Authority government. During his visit to Tehran last week, Haniyeh said Iran constitutes "strategic depth" for the Palestinians.
Clergy: US holds key to Mideast peace
YNetNews 12/12/2006
American religious leaders pressing government to help bring about Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire revive talks on a two-state solution and push for Israeli peace deals with Lebanon and Syria -- Clergy representing many of the largest denominations in the country are urging US leaders to once again put their vast influence behind a negotiated end to Mideast violence and make working for peace "an urgent priority." In a statement set for release Thursday, the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East said that the US did not fulfill its duty in pursuing the roadmap to a two-state solution in Israel and the Palestinian territories. That stalled plan was backed by the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers — the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia.
Losing Arab Allies’ Hearts and Minds
By Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service 12/14/2006
WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (IPS) - Attitudes towards the United States reached new lows through most of the Arab world over the past year, according to the findings of a major new survey of five Arab countries released here Thursday by Zogby International and the Arab American Institute (AAI). Based on 3,500 face-to-face interviews of randomly selected adult respondents in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, the survey found that the continuing deterioration in Washington’s image was due primarily to U.S. policies in the region, particularly with respect to Iraq, Palestine, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Lebanon. But it also found that attitudes towards U.S. cultural and political values have also become increasingly negative, compared to previous years’ surveys, although not nearly as negative as Arab views of specific policies.
Shrugging off Bush policy, U.S. senator meets Syrian president
Ha’aretz 12/13/2006
In a direct affront to the Bush administration, a Democratic United States senator spent an hour Wednesday with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus, asking him to do more to stabilize Iraq. Senator Bill Nelson, a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, met with Assad after the State Department said that it disapproved of his trip. The U.S. has limited diplomatic ties with Syria because of its support of Hezbollah and Hamas, which the U.S. deems terrorist organizations, and U.S. President George W. Bush has expressed reluctance to seek help from Damascus on Iraq until the Syrians curb that support and reduce their influence in Lebanon. Nelson, a Democrat, was named to the Senate Intelligence Committee this week and said he was on a fact-finding mission to the region.
Diplomats expect Prodi to prod olmert on Shebaa at Rome talks
Daily Star 12/13/2006
Italy hopes to increase Siniora’s credibility -- ROME: Italy will ask Israel to place the disputed Shebaa Farms under United Nations control, diplomatic sources close to Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said Tuesday, on the eve of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s arrival in Rome. Prodi will tell Olmert that "the status quo [in the Middle East] cannot continue," and ask "if progress is possible on the Shebaa Farms issue," the sources said on condition of anonymity. The initiative is aimed at supporting Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora as anti-government demonstrations in Downtown Beirut entered their 12th day on Tuesday. Siniora himself has said that if Israel gave up Shebaa, "that would be useful," one source said. Lebanon claims sovereignty over the 25 square kilometers of land...
Arab League chief scrambles to end Beirut standoff
Daily Star 12/13/2006
BEIRUT: The head of the Arab League met Lebanese leaders in Beirut Tuesday for talks aimed at ending the standoff between the government and opposition. Amr Moussa, who was visiting the capital for the second time in eight days, met with politicians from both camps in a bid to end a crisis some fear might lead to further violent clashes." I don’t carry with me initiatives, but there are ideas that I hope to discuss," Moussa said at Beirut’s airport. Asked if he was optimistic the deadlock in Lebanon might be broken, he said: "There must always be hope." Moussa met Tuesday with Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri. He is due to meet Wednesday with Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, a key Hizbullah ally.
Ball is in Berri’s court as Cabinet hands Hariri tribunal proposal to Parliament
Daily Star 12/13/2006
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Cabinet formally handed over to Parliament on Tuesday a controversial text calling for the creation of an international tribunal on the 2005 assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. In a session held at the barricaded Grand Serail, the Cabinet voted to seek Parliament ratification of the text, which would then allow the Cabinet to sign a tribunal agreement with the United Nations." The Cabinet unanimously decided to send the UN draft," Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh told Agence France Presse. "This is an important step in the ratification procedure," he said. Leaders of Lebanon’s political opposition have said any action undertaken by the current Cabinet, from which six ministers resigned in November, is by definition unconstitutional.
UNIFIL, Lebanese, Israeli officers discuss Ghajar
Daily Star 12/12/2006
BEIRUT: The commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Major General Alain Pellegrini, met Monday with senior Lebanese and Israeli military representatives in hopes of reaching an agreement over the disputed border village of Ghajar. Meeting at the UNIFIL position on the Lebanese-Israeli border at Ras al-Naqoura, the tri-party talks discussed the issue of the withdrawal of the Israeli military from the northern part of Ghajar, which is located inside Lebanese territory. The Israeli military has occupied the northern part of Ghajar since the war this summer. Pellegrini described the meeting as having been constructive and productive." Progress has been made on this issue, and I hope that this will help pave the way for the full withdrawal of the [Israeli military] from Lebanese territory," Pellegrini said.
New report on Lebanon war criticizes IDF Chief’s conduct
Ha’aretz 12/12/2006
The Israel Defense Forces General Staff received on Monday yet another report criticizing the army’s performance in the second Lebanon war. This time, it was written by one of its own, Major General Udi Shani, who retired from active service about a month ago. Shani was highly critical of the conduct of Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and of the Northern Command during the war. Halutz responded to the findings as he has done on several occasions recently, arguing vehemently with Shani and rejecting some of the conclusions. Shani was assigned to investigate the overall understanding of the war at the command levels, and also the performance of the "seam" between the General Staff and Northern Command. His conclusions overlap with those of officers investigating other aspects of the war, including Major Generals Amiram Levine, Yoram Yair and Doron Almog.
France deploys UAVs to stop IAF flights
Jerusalem Post 12/11/2006
In an effort to put a stop to Israeli overflights in Lebanon, the French Armed Forces has deployed an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) squadron in southern Lebanon to conduct intelligence-gathering missions in place of the IDF. France, a member of UNIFIL, has expressed adamant opposition to IAF overflights in Lebanon. Last month, OC Planning Division Maj. -Gen. Ido Nehushtan traveled to Paris for meetings with senior military officials during which he tried to explain Israel’s operational needs. The flights, the IDF claims, are necessary for gathering intelligence and keeping an eye on the Lebanese-Syrian border through which weapons are smuggled to the Hizbullah. Angered however from an incident in October during which French soldiers almost opened fire at an IAF fighter jet...
Trip to Lebanon’s film vault reveals gangsters and expatriates everywhere, even in the 60s
By Jim Quilty, Daily Star 12/9/2006
Review -- BEIRUT: Civil conflict may be on the tip of Lebanon’s collective tongue lately, but gangsters and emigrants are an equally persistent theme in the national experience. Hardly a surprise, then, that both are found in the country’s cinema. If you’re looking for shades of gangsterism and treatments of the emigration, you need look no further than Michel Kammoun’s "Falafel," which just opened in Beirut, or Philippe Aractingi’s "Bosta" (2005). These subjects aren’t new to local cinema, either. Witness Mohammad Salman’s "The Black Jaguar" and Gary Garabedian’s "Abou Salim in Africa," a pair of Lebanese features from 1965 restored with EU assistance and screened at the European Film Festival this week." Jaguar" is a magnificent film - in the "so awful it’s great" tradition of popular cinema.
Hizbullah smiles on Arab League plan, but Cabinet stays quiet
Daily Star 12/12/2006
Envoy says both sides have expressed ’initial agreement’ -- BEIRUT: Substantial obstacles remained to an Arab League initiative to end the standoff between the government and opposition in Lebanon on Monday, with both parties showing little flexibility on key demands. Arab League envoy and Sudanese presidential adviser Mustafa Ismail, who arrived in Lebanon from neighboring Syria on Monday, said divided Lebanese leaders are still discussing his proposal." We have suggested a proposal and we are now waiting for responses... We will try to come up with acceptable suggestions that will pave the way for the resumption of dialogue," Ismail said after meeting with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir. Ismail also met with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Speaker Nabih Berri and Parliament majority leader MP Saad Hariri.
Hariri case puts Lebanon back in spotlight at UN this week
Daily Star 12/12/2006
BEIRUT: Lebanon once again controls the lion’s share of UN consultations on a single country at the Secretariat and Security Council levels this week. Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, chief of the UN probe investigating the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri and 15 other "terrorist" attacks in Lebanon, will be presenting his latest report to UN chief Kofi Annan this week." Brammertz is expected in New York [Monday]," a spokesperson for the secretary general in New York said, adding that the report would be submitted by Wednesday." At this stage, Brammertz is not expected to hand over his report to Annan today... The secretary general will be receiving it in the coming few days, and will circulate it to UN Security Council members," the spokesperson said.
Al-Qaeda-linked militants have arrived - Fatah chief
Daily Star 12/12/2006
TYRE: A newly formed Palestinian faction calling itself Fatah-Islam, which allegedly has ties to Al-Qaeda, has sent 150 Arab fighters from Iraq into Lebanon, the head of Fatah in Lebanon said Monday. The militants entered Lebanon without the knowledge of Syrian authorities, which have since arrested a Palestinian leader on suspicion of organizing the new faction’s movements, said Sultan Abu al-Aynayn." These 150 fighters have infiltrated from Iraq into Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon," added Abu al-Aynayn. Abu Khaled al-Amli, the head of Fatah-Intifada, a separate group based in Damascus that broke away from Fatah in 1983, was "arrested along with 10 supporters 48 hours ago by Syrian authorities," he said. Abu al-Aynayn described Fatah-Islam as a "fundamentalist movement with an ideology close to Al-Qaeda and financed by [Osama] bin Laden."
Remittances are major asset for some Arab countries
Daily Star 12/11/2006
Analysis -- According to the latest World Bank report, total remittances of Arab expatriates working in the Gulf region and abroad are forecast to reach $24. 7 billion by the end of 2006, up 5. 2 percent on last year’s level of $23. 5 billion. These figures account only for remittances sent home through formal channels, mainly banks, while informal channels are equally important and if accounted for could well increase total remittances by 50 percent. The Middle East region is expected to be the fifth-largest recipient of remittances this year, while Latin America will top the list with $53. 4 billion, followed by Asia and the Pacific region with $45. 3 billion, and South Asia with $35. 7 billion. Lebanon is the largest recipient of remittances among the Arab countries with an estimated 2006 figure of $5. 2 billion, followed by Morocco...
Khiam bomb crater tests positive for uranium
Daily Star/Daily Star 12/7/2006
BEIRUT: Tests carried out on samples taken from a bomb crater in the southern region of Khiam following the summer war with Israel showed the presence of uranium, Chris Busby, the British scientific secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk, told Environment and Development magazine for its December issue." The analysis was accurate and showed the presence of depleted uranium," Busby said in a telephone interview with Environment Hotline, an environmental research team affiliated with the magazine. Busby said in late October that samples taken from a bomb crater in Khiam had been sent for analysis to the Harwell laboratory in Oxfordshire, southern England. He added, at the time, that "samples thrown up by Israeli bombs showed elevated radiation signatures resulting from a new experimental weapon used by Israel." "There is no way the signs of uranium found in Khiam were the result of natural or industrial materials... Their only source is nuclear reactors," Busby said. The magazine says Busby’s statements in October spurred the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission to take more samples from Khiam for analysis. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), which has been studying ecological damage in Lebanon after the war, had also sent another team to gather samples from Khiam, a statement said." The results will be issued soon," it added. A team of 20 UNEP activists spent two weeks with their Lebanese counterparts at the beginning of October to evaluate the environmental impact of the month-long war. The team tested air, water and soil samples at 30 heavily bombed sites in Southern Lebanon and the suburbs of southern Beirut. The samples were sent to Switzerland for analysis. However, a statement issued in early November ruled out the presence of uranium. While a UNEP statement in November reassured the Lebanese that they were not in danger of exposure to radioactive materials, it called for further research on "the effects of using depleted uranium for military purposes." The UN results mirrored those of the National Council for Scientific Research, which also ruled out the presence of uranium in Lebanon. In a statement issued on October 20, the council said 50 samples taken from several war-torn areas had tested negative for depleted uranium in tests conducted at the Lebanese Atomic Energy Commission. The council and UNEP have both vowed to follow-up on the issue and conduct more tests, the magazine said.
Draft Security Council resolution in reaction to Annan letter
Daily Star 12/9/2006
’Important progress has been made toward the implementation of Resolution 1701’ - FRENCH MISSION TO THE UN DRAFT UNSC PRST IN REACTION TO UNSG LETTER ON 1701 -- The Security Council recalls all its previous resolutions on Lebanon, in particular resolutions 1701 (2006), 425 and 426 (1978), 520 (1982), 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), as well as the statement of the president on the situation in Lebanon, in particular the statements of October 30, 2006 (S/PRST/2006/43) and of November 21, 2006 (S/PRST/2006/xx). The Security Council reiterates its full support for the legitimate and democratically elected government of Lebanon and condemns any unlawful efforts to destabilize it or intervene in Lebanon’s internal affairs.
Kaplinsky warns against Iran threat
Jerusalem Post 12/8/2006
Iran is working to strengthen its position in Syria and in Lebanon, IDF Deputy Chief of General Staff Maj. -Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky said Friday. Speaking at a convention of mayors and regional council leaders at Kibbutz Ma’aleh HaHamisha, Kaplinsky asserted that Iran had nuclear capability that would "threaten not only Israel, but all of Europe." Kaplinsky added that during the summer’s Lebanon war, the IDF had destroyed Iran’s strategic base [in Lebanon] for attacking Israel, but warned that both Syria and Hizbullah were working to improve their defense capabilities in anticipation of another armed conflict with Israel. Also on Friday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday about Iran’s nuclear program...
Israel warns UNIFIL of al-Qaida attack
Jerusalem Post 12/8/2006
Israel has warned the UN force in Lebanon that al-Qaida is planning an attack on international peacekeepers, Israel TV reported Friday. The report said Israel had received intelligence that al-Qaida’s deputy chief, Ayman al-Zawahri, had issued the order to attack the peacekeepers. It did not give details on the source of the information or when the attack might take place. There were no new videos or messages from al-Zawahri posted Friday on militant Web sites where he usually releases statements. But in a video released this year marking the anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks in the US, al-Zawahri denounced the beefed-up UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon. The force, known as UNIFIL, was deployed under a UN-brokered cease-fire that ended a month long war last summer...
Siniora accuses Hizbullah of plotting coup d’etat
Daily Star 12/9/2006
Premier rejects ’unnecessary fit of anger and rudeness’ from Nasrallah -- BEIRUT: Lebanon’s prime minister lashed out Hizbullah and its leader on Friday, accusing the group of plotting a coup d’etat against his government. Speaking during a news conference in the Grand Serail in response to Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s speech on Thursday, Siniora said the Hizbullah chief’s "position yesterday has shown that he is attempting a coup, or at least he is threatening to carry one out." The prime minister’s comments came as the UN Security Council was preparing to meet on Monday to discuss Resolution 1701 - which brokered a cease-fire on August 14 between Israel and Lebanon - as well as a French-sponsored draft resolution expressing support for Siniora’s government and warning against outside attempts to destabilize it.
Hizbullah MP pays rare visit to Maronite patriarch
Daily Star 12/9/2006
BKIRKI, Lebanon: Hizbullah MP Mohammad Raad said on Friday that the solution to the sit-in and demonstrations in central Beirut was a proposal that corresponds with the democratic system upon which Lebanon’s political structure is based. Speaking after a rare meeting with Lebanon’s influential Maronite patriarch, the head of the resistance group’s bloc in Parliament said any solution "should be based on the principle of true partnership provided by the blocking minority, which each government normally includes." The Council of Maronite Bishops, headed by Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, issued a conciliatory statement Wednesday in which it provided a "declaration of principles" for the divided Lebanese groups to follow to end the political crisis.
Mubarak warns that protests in Lebanon could split the country
Ha’aretz 12/8/2006
Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak said in Paris on Friday that he fears the consequences of the Lebanese opposition protests, calling them unreasonable and warning they could split the nation apart. Mubarak was in the French capital to inaugurate a major exhibition of ancient Egyptian artifacts from underwater excavations and was to hold a working lunch with French President Jacques Chirac. Tensions in Lebanon and elsewhere in the Middle East, as well as the expulsion this week of eight French terror suspects detained by Egyptian authorities, were expected to top the leaders’ agenda. Mubarak, speaking on France-3 television, said the Lebanese protests were "not reasonable" and urged negotiations between the Western-backed government and the Hezbollah protesters.
Hezbollah leader accuses Siniora of working with Israel during war
Ha’aretz 12/8/2006
BEIRUT - Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah accused Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora of conniving with Israel during the July-August war, alleging that he ordered the Lebanese army to confiscate Hezbollah’s supplies of weapons." Didn’t the prime minister of Lebanon work to cut off the supply lines? " Nasrallah said in his sharpest attack on Siniora since a United Nations brokered cease-fire halted the fighting in August. In a rousing speech delivered on huge screens in two central Beirut squares, Nasrallah called for a committee of Lebanese or Arab judges to investigate the government’s actions during the war. The Hezbollah leader vowed that the opposition’s protests would continue until it achieved a bigger share of the Lebanese cabinet, but he also said he was prepared to negotiate, and that violence was not an option. -- See also: Hezbollah leader urges defiance
Panel: Ecological situation ’not acceptable’
Daily Star 12/8/2006
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s environmental health has deteriorated since the July-August war with Israel, endangering people who are forced to rely on contaminated resources, a panel of environmental experts said Wednesday during a discussion of the war’s ecological impact. "In some areas the distribution network for water was completely destroyed and in municipalities, distribution of water is not on a 24-hour basis," said panelist May Jurdy, chair of the Health Department at the American University of Beirut (AUB)...." Meeting the basic water requirement of 50 liters a day isn’t plausible as only about 20-30 liters are being provided," Jurdy told the audience. "Many people are getting alternative water sources, which are not properly assessed for quality and are highly contaminated." .... an Israel attack on the Jiyyeh power plant released about 15,000 tons of oil into the sea....
’No indication’ captured Israelis are dead - Amnesty
Daily Star 12/8/2006
The head of Amnesty International, who is visiting Israel, told the Jerusalem Post in an article published Thursday that Hizbullah members have not indicated that two Israeli soldiers captured in a July border raid are dead. Irene Khan said she spoke to Hizbullah members during a three-day visit to Lebanon earlier this week." We did not get any indication from them that the two men were not alive," Khan said, adding that she asked Hizbullah to allow the international Red Cross to see the soldiers." They acknowledged that under international law there is an obligation for them to give access, but they said they would not do it, because they wanted to put pressure on Israel to release prisoners," Khan said. A senior Hizbullah official, Sheik Hassan Ezzeddine, said he knew nothing about the conditions of the two soldiers.
Study: Per capita growth could fall to zero
Globes Online 12/7/2006
Dr. Roby Nathanson: Israel’s wars and security crises have less impact on its economy in comparison with the impact of wars on the economies of other countries. -- “Israel’s wars and security crises have less impact on its economy in comparison with the impact of wars on the economies of other countries,” says Macro The Center for Political Economics general director Dr. Roby Nathanson in a comparative international study. The study compared the economic repercussions on Israel of the second Lebanon war with previous security crises, including the intifada. The study found that domestic investment in Israel will be 0. 3% less in 2006 than in 2005, because of the war. Furthermore, while Israel’s economy is in fairly good shape, it is not exploiting its full potential because of security crises...
War probe delayed by government infighting
Ha’aretz 12/8/2006
The Prime Minister’s office delayed over three months the transfer to the State Comptroller’s Office of documents pertaining to cabinet and security cabinet meetings relevant to the war in Lebanon. The matter was only resolved in recent days, after the comptroller more clearly defined the war-related subjects he intended to deal with. The dispute between the offices of the prime minister and the state comptroller emerged when the latter requested to see documents on cabinet meetings relating to the second Lebanon war. The request was turned down, with the Prime Minister’s Office maintaining that documents that include top secret information could not be released. It was also claimed that the areas to be investigated by the comptroller must be clearly defined before any material would be made available.
PMO withheld war data from state comptroller
Ha’aretz 12/8/2006
The Prime Minister’s Office delayed over three months the transfer to the State Comptroller’s Office of documents pertaining to cabinet and security cabinet meetings relevant to the war in Lebanon. The matter was only resolved in recent days, after the comptroller more clearly defined the war-related subjects he intended to deal with. The dispute between the offices of the prime minister and the state comptroller emerged when the latter requested to see documents on cabinet meetings relating to the second Lebanon war. The request was turned down, with the Prime Minister’s Office maintaining that documents that include top secret information could not be released. It was also claimed that the areas to be investigated by the comptroller must be clearly defined before any material would be made available.
Netanyahu: I will be PM and finance minister
Globes Online 12/7/2006
Zalika would not have reported irregularities when I was finance minister because he had no irregularities to report. ” -- “I will be finance minister, together with another post, that of prime minister,” MK Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) told “Globes” today in a special interview. “There is no way to carry out reform, unless the finance minister leads it with the full backing of the prime minister. ”He added, “I had that backing. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave me full support even under difficult circumstances, and I appreciated it, and continue to appreciate it. “The finance minister leads the reforms, and the finance minister pays the price. I paid the political price. But it was worth it. Israel went through the Lebanon war with a strong shekel, possibly with a too-strong shekel, with a surplus in the till.."
Nasrallah warns PM to make a deal while he can
Daily Star 12/8/2006
BEIRUT: The leader of Hizbullah vowed Thursday to press on with the rally for a unity government, but he also made a solemn oath that Lebanon’s Shiites would not be "dragged" into a sectarian war with Sunnis. "If anyone thought that we would be frightened away and just surrender and go back home, they are gravely mistaken and are living in illusions, illusions, illusions!" Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah declared in live television address. Tens of thousands of cheering demonstrators crammed around two large screens erected in the heart of Downtown Beirut to watch the speech." We will not be dragged into any strife even if you kill a thousand of us," Nasrallah promised in the speech." We will not raise our arms in the face of anyone in Lebanon... Our weapons have only been raised against our Israeli enemy," he added...
Hezbollah leader urges defiance
BBC Online 12/7/2006
The leader of Hezbollah has vowed to continue mass protests calling for Lebanon’s Western-backed government, led by Fouad Siniora, to resign. Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah told supporters camped in central Beirut that Lebanon needed a new government, one free from foreign influence. Speaking via video link, he said Hezbollah was open to negotiations, and would not fight fellow Lebanese... nd he was sharply critical of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who he accused of hampering Hezbollah’s efforts during the 34-day conflict with Israel earlier this year." Didn’t the prime minister of Lebanon work to cut off the supply lines? " Sheikh Nasrallah asked the crowds. He also accused unnamed representatives of Mr Siniora’s government of colluding with Israel to help defeat Hezbollah... -- See also: Hezbollah leader accuses Siniora of working with Israel during war
Bkirki declaration finds some favor with opposition
Daily Star 12/8/2006
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s fragmented political class Thursday seemed able to agree, for the most part, in its support for a "declaration of principles" issued by the Maronite Church. Hizbullah politburo member Hajj Ghaleb Abu Zeinab described the declaration as "positive in its general aspect," but said it contained "a few details that should be discussed." "There are several meeting points between the opposition’s demands and Bkirki’s declaration," Abu Zeinab told the Central News Agency. He said those meeting points included the implementation of "a code of honor" that would apply to all parties, the creation of an international tribunal to try former Premier Rafik Hariri’s killers, a new electoral law, and the formation of a "reconciliation" government that would hold early presidential elections. But while Bkirki said a new electoral law should be based on the qada, "others have different views about the law," Abu Zeinab said.
Baker report urges Madrid-style summit with Israel, Syria and PA
Ha’aretz 12/7/2006
One of the major conclusions of the bipartisan advisory panel on Iraq headed by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Democratic Congressman Lee Hamilton is that the United States is unable to achieve its goals in the Middle East without direct involvement in the Arab-Israeli conflict. The committee presented President George W. Bush its report Wednesday, offering recommendations on policy regarding the quagmire in Iraq. The Baker-Hamilton Study Group is recommending that talks involving Israel, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians are held within a "Madrid Conference framework," referring to the 1991 Madrid Conference. The main recommendations of the report deal with U.S. policy in Iraq, and call for shifting the primary role of American forces there from fighting to training the Iraqi military.
US blocks Hizbullah funds in S. America
Jerusalem Post 12/6/2006
The Bush administration took action Wednesday aimed at choking off a major fundraising channel for Hizbullah operating in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The Treasury Department’s action covers nine people and two entities, a shopping center in Paraguay and an electronics company, Casa Hamze, located in the shopping center. As a result, Americans are forbidden from doing business with them, and any bank accounts or other financial assets belonging to the designated people and entities found in the United States must be frozen. The department alleges that those designated have provided financial and logistical support to Hizbullah, which the United States considers a "terrorist" organization. The Lebanon-based Hizbullah is suspected of involvement in "terrorist" attacks worldwide. [sic]
Chirac calls on Israel to stop IDF flights over Lebanon
Ha’aretz 12/7/2006
French President Jacques Chirac told Israel on Wednesday it should stop flying warplanes over Lebanon in what Israel says is an effort to gather intelligence on Hezbollah arms smuggling. France and Israel failed to patch up differences the flights, which French forces call menacing and Israel insists are needed for security. French peacekeepers say they came within seconds of shooting down Israeli F-15 fighters that nose-dived repeatedly over their positions in south Lebanon on Oct. 31. The incident incensed the French military. Chirac "repeated France’s position on the overflights" at a meeting in his Elysee Palace with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, his spokesman Jerome Bonnafont said. Livni, who met with top French officials Wednesday in Paris, defended the flights as a needed security precaution...
Hezbollah: "Release Quntar for information on captured soldiers"
International Middle East Media Center 12/6/2006
The Lebanon based Hezbollah party, holding two Israeli soldiers captive, offered information of the two captured Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, in exchange for the release of Sameer Quntar, a Lebanese detainee held in Israel since 1979. An Israeli source reported on Wednesday that Israel rejected the offer especially since it does not have any information on the fate of the two soldiers. Also, Israeli sources reported that Hezbollah representatives with German mediators proposed several weeks ago providing Israel with information on the two soldiers in exchange of releasing Quntar who was supposed to be released in latest prison swap deal along with other detainees. Quntar was arrested by Israel on April 22, 1979.
New report slams Halutz’s management
Jerusalem Post 12/7/2006
In the harshest criticism of the IDF since the end of the war in Lebanon, Maj. -Gen. (res. ) Amiram Levine, former head of the Northern Command, accused Chief of Staff Lt. -Gen. Dan Halutz in a probe he conducted for the military, of direct responsibility for the IDF’s poor performance in its fight against Hizbullah." The IDF failed in achieving its goals," said Levine." The responsibility lies on the shoulders of the chief of staff," Levine concluded in a report he was asked to compile on the performance of the Northern Command during the month-long war this past summer. Levine presented his findings to the General Staff earlier this week. "You erred in your management of forces, based on the principle of giving priority to land forces," Levine told Halutz. One military source called Levine’s probe, "the harshest criticism yet of the IDF."
Internal IDF investigation finds serious flaws in conduct of recent war
Ha’aretz 12/7/2006
In a report he presented to the General Staff in late November, Major General (res. ) Amiram Levine was highly critical of the conduct of Northern Command during the recent war in Lebanon. Levine, who headed one of the in-house Israel Defense Forces investigations into the conduct of the war, described serious flaws in the actions of senior officers and said Northern Command had failed in its mission. In the meeting, which was acrimonious and accompanied by heated exchanges between Levine and other senior officers, it emerged that one of the serious flaws in the IDF’s conduct was the preference of using air power over ground forces. Levine said that the call-up of reservist units and their deployment was delayed to the point where it gave Hezbollah an advantage in countering a ground offensive.
IDF think tank accuses Hezbollah of war crimes, hiding among civilians
Ha’aretz 12/6/2006
Hezbollah operated during the second Lebanon war from within civilian structures and its operatives disguised themselves as civilians, and is therefore guilty of war crimes, according to a report authored by Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. The report also says that 650 out of the 1,084 people the Lebanese government has said were civilians killed in the conflict were in fact Hezbollah militants. According to international law on warfare, the use of civilian structures during combat is forbidden, and turns the structures into legitimate military targets. International human rights organizations and the United Nations have accused Israel of attacking civilian targets during the war. The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center works in close cooperation with the Israel Defense Forces Intelligence Corps.
Palestinian foreign minister urges other countries to copy Venezuela, also recall their envoys to Israel
Ma’an News Agency 12/6/2006
Gaza - Palestinian foreign minister, Dr Mahmoud Zahhar, has urged all countries, especially those in Latin America, to follow the Venezuelan president’s lead in the withdrawal of the Venezuelan ambassador to Israel. The minister sent a letter of gratitude to the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, and the foreign minister of Venezuela, thanking them for, "the courageous step that they have taken." Venezuelan President Chavez withdrew his country’s ambassador to Israel soon after the outbreak of Israel’s war on Lebanon. He issued orders for the ambassador’s return in the first week of August. In his letter, Dr Zahhar said, "there are people who are supporting the Palestinians. We have stated many times that Israel is not committed to international resolutions and is persistently supported by the USA."
Prince of Poets’ Jawdat Haidar passes away at 102
Daily Star 12/7/2006
BEIRUT: Jawdat Haidar, the Arab League’s "Prince of Poets," passed away earlier this week at the age of 102. Haidar was born an Ottoman subject to a large Baalbek family of wealthy landlords, Arab nationalists and intellectuals. Their Arabist leanings got Haidar’s immediate family deported to Anatolia in the years before World War I. After graduating from Beirut’s International College, Haidar traveled to France and America for a university education. He graduated from North Texas State University with a degree in Education and returned to Lebanon in 1928. Over the next 50 years he worked in the oil industry, trade and agriculture and dabbled in Lebanese politics. He wrote poetry too, emulating poets like Gibran Khalil Gibran, Amin Rihani and Mikhail Naimy who composed in English.
Artist used ancient fossils to put new twist on old home
Daily Star 12/1/2006
FALOUGHA, Lebanon: Artist Omar Zeidan Aouar has turned his parents’ home in Falougha into an exhibit for his artwork. Aouar said his "Man and Nature Foundation," the name he has given the project, was meant to achieve "calmness." Artists, scientists and representatives from international cultural organizations regularly visit the home-cum-museum to examine ancient fossils Aouar used to cover the walls of the home, as well as his distinctive artwork. Aouar used rocks and stones of many different types, sizes and colors in his creation, as well as fossils that date back hundreds of millions of years. The artist says some of the fossils used are 400 million years old, as confirmed by studies conducted by experts in the subject while Aouar was in the United States and Europe.
Compromise plans fail to break deadlock in Beirut
Daily Star 12/7/2006
BEIRUT: Compromises proposed by Lebanese and Arab diplomats have so far failed to end Lebanon’s deepening political crisis, despite positive remarks from the head of the Arab League and Saudi Arabia’s ambassador in Lebanon of a near deal Wednesday. Meanwhile, a surprising statement issued by the Maronite Church called for an early presidential election as a means to move out of the current political crisis. The demand was quickly dismissed by pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, whose term was renewed under Syria’s hegemony over Lebanon. The Church also pleaded for Speaker Nabih Berri to convene Parliament so it may find a way out of the crisis. While no comment was issued from Berri on the Church’s call, Arab League chief Amr Moussa said there was a "gleam of hope"...
Slumping dollar has nasty surprise in store for Lebanese consumers
Daily Star 12/7/2006
BEIRUT: Consumers will soon pay more for goods imported from Europe because of the US dollar’s sharp drop against the euro, importers and currency traders told The Daily Star on Wednesday. "Prices for sure will become higher," said Lina Fares, PR manager for Amine Aour Middle East Foods. More than 50 percent of Lebanon’s food imports come from Europe, she added. The dollar sank almost 5 percent against the euro in November, and was trading at $1. 33 to the euro Wednesday afternoon, according to Byblos Bank currency dealer Dany Ghanem. With Lebanon’s highly dollarized economy, a strong euro means importers pay more for European products in dollar terms, and that increase will likely be passed along to consumers. Merchants expect the dollar to fall to $1. 35 to the euro in December, Fares said.
Hamas awaits Israeli response to offer on release of Gilad Shalit
Ha’aretz 12/6/2006
Hamas is waiting for an Israeli response to its offer on a deal for the release of abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the Hamas spokesman in Lebanon Osama Hamden told a Palestinian news agency. Hamdan, who is on a visit to Damascus, said Hamas political bureau head Khaled Meshal has provided Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman with several suggestions regarding Shalit’s release." Suleiman passed the ideas on to the Israeli side last week, but as of now we are continuing to wait for a response from the Israeli side to these ideas," Hamdan told the Ramatan news agency. Another Hamas leader, Mohammed Nazzal, announced on Tuesday that a Hamas meeting would take place that night in Damascus to discuss the Shalit issue.
Cluster bomb blast kills man, wounds another in S. Lebanon
Ha’aretz 12/6/2006
BEIRUT - A construction worker was killed and another wounded Tuesday when a cluster bomb from Israel’s war against Hezbollah exploded in southern Lebanon, security officials said. The bomb went off as Hassan Mohammed Shehadeh, 40, and his nephew, AhmedMoMohammed Shehadeh, 21, were working at a construction site in the village of Kfar Tibnit, near Nabatiyeh town, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Hassan died instantly while Ahmed was rushed to hospital, the officials said. It was not immediately clear what caused the bomb to explode - whether one man stepped on it or whether it was activated by the movement of some building materials.
EU: No proof reservists are alive
Jerusalem Post 12/6/2006
Israel does not have sufficient proof that the two soldiers Hizbullah kidnapped on the Lebanese border last July are alive, the European Union’s Ambassador to Israel Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. Cibrian-Uzal said Israel knows much more about the fate of Gilad Shalit, whom Hamas kidnapped on the Gaza border at the end of June, than it does about Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev." My understanding is that Israel has received proof that Shalit is alive and in reasonably good condition. On the basis of this proof, Israel is negotiating the release of Gilad Shalit," Cibrian-Uzal said." No similar proof has been received with respect to the other two abducted soldiers in Lebanon and therefore there are no negotiations for their eventual release," Cibrian-Uzal said.
Study could "acquit" Israel of war crimes
Jerusalem Post 12/5/2006
A think tank with strong ties to the IDF has compiled a thick dossier of evidence accusing Hizbullah of using civilians as human shields during the war in Lebanon - a study the authors say can be used to rebuff war crime allegations over Israel’s pummeling of residential areas. The study was prepared by a team led by military intelligence expert Reuven Ehrlich, a retired lieutenant colonel who now heads the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. The private think tank, which maintains an office at the Defense Ministry, compiled the report in conjunction with lawyers from the army and Foreign Ministry. "I think it could offer a response to allegations of human rights organizations on why the Israel Defense Forces operated in civilian areas," Ehrlich said.
Gov’t denies Lebanon war probe access to records
Ha’aretz 12/6/2006
Neither government ministries nor the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee are cooperating with the Winograd Committee’s investigation of this summer’s war in Lebanon, and as a result, the committee’s work has been delayed, a member of the committee complained to Haaretz on Tuesday. But a spokesman for the committee denied this, saying that the panel has enjoyed complete cooperation from government agencies. About two weeks ago, the Winograd panel asked the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee for the protocols of its meetings during and prior to the war. These protocols reveal the real-time opinions of various defense officials, and therefore provide a check against the explanations that these same officials have offered after the fact. As such, they are critical to the investigation.
PM remarks infuriate families of IDF men captive in Lebanon
Ha’aretz 12/5/2006
Families of the two IDF soldiers captive in Lebanon have strongly criticized Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for remarks in which he said that he would rather they remained in captivity, than for more soldiers to have been killed in a prolonged conflict in Lebanon. Olmert, speaking to 11th-graders in Nahariya on Monday, also said that Israel lacked solid evidence that Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, the two reserve soldiers captured by Hezbollah in July, were still alive." W"What should we have done? " Olmert asked. "Keep fighting and maybe create dozens more bereaved families to accelerate the return of two people, and I hope they are still alive, for whom it’s a question of spending a little more or a little less time in captivity in the face of the possibility or certainty that many dozens more would be killed in the continued fighting? "
Donors pledge $100 million for Palestine relief agency budget
ReliefWeb/UNGA 12/4/2006
Twenty-three donors pledged approximately $99. 8 million for the 2007 budget of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), during a meeting this morning of the General Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee for Voluntary Contributions. As he opened the meeting, General Assembly Acting President Abdullah Ahmed Mohamed Al-Murad (Kuwait) said that the Assembly had an important role to play as a "parent" to UNRWA, the only United Nations programme that was a direct subsidiary of the Assembly. Since its establishment in 1949, UNRWA had grown to become the United Nations’ largest operational agency; it was currently providing education, health, relief and social services to more than 4 million Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Hizbullah rejects human-shield accusations
Daily Star 12/6/2006
Hizbullah on Tuesday dimissed a report by an Israeli think tank with strong ties to the military accusing the resistance of using civilians as human shields during the July-August war. The 300-page report - a study the authors say can be used to rebuff war-crime allegations over Israel’s pummeling of residential areas - seeks to bolster claims that Israeli attacks against Hizbullah targets in populated areas did not violate international law. It says Hizbullah deliberately operated within civilian areas, raising the civilian death toll." The whole report is fabricated," Hizbullah official Ghaleb Abu Zeinab told The Daily Star on Tuesday. He said that with the Israelis "it is not surprising to see such things. It is an attempt to cover for their failure in the war on Lebanon and the mistakes and atrocities they committed.
Official: US talks could isolate Israel
Jerusalem Post 12/5/2006
With the US Iraq Study Group expected to recommend on Wednesday that the US diplomatically engage Syria and Iran, Israeli government sources differ widely about the impact this type of engagement might have on Israel. While a senior defense official said US talks with Iran would lead to a slippery slope that would eventually leave Israel alone facing the Iranian nuclear threat, other government officials indicated that US-Iranian talks were needed to stabilize the region since Iran was "calling the shots" everywhere from Lebanon to Gaza. The long-awaited report by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, headed by former secretary of state James Baker and former congressman Lee Hamilton to make recommendations on US policy in Iraq, is to be presented to US President George W. Bush on Wednesday.
Paris, Berlin accuse Damascus of orchestrating crisis in Beirut
Daily Star 12/6/2006
European heavyweights offer reward for ’changed conduct’ -- BEIRUT: Germany and France backed embattled Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s Cabinet Tuesday, telling Syria to stop destabilizing Lebanon. As opposition protests in Downtown Beirut to force the government to resign entered their fifth day, the German chancellor and French president issued a joint statement asking Damascus to end its support for Hizbullah and its allies." France and Germany call for an end to all interference in the affairs of Lebanon," Angela Merkel and Jacques Chirac said after a summit in Mettlach, western Germany. "As far as Syria is concerned, we want that country to stop supporting forces that seek to destabilize Lebanon and the region," they said.
Israeli troops linger in Ghajar despite decision to leave
Daily Star 12/5/2006
SOUTH LEBANON: The Israeli Army continued to occupy the Lebanese border village of Ghajar on Monday, despite approval over the weekend by the Israeli Cabinet of a complete withdrawal from the area, UNIFIL spokesman Milos Strugar said. As of Monday evening UN peacekeepers had not deployed in the area, Strugar said." UNIFIL is holding talks with both the Lebanese and Israeli sides to ease the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the village as soon as possible," Strugar said in a statement." The situation in Ghajar is still the same so far... the Israeli Army is still there," he said. Israeli troops remained in the northern half of Ghajar after October 1, when their countrymen withdrew from the rest of Lebanon following the Jewish state’s July-August war on its neighbor to the north.
Amnesty International chief visits Lebanaon, Israel and the Palestinian territories to assess human rights situation
Ma’an News Agency 12/4/2006
The secretary-general of Amnesty International is in the Middle East to assess the human rights situation in the area following the summer’s conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and in light of other developments in the region. In press statement, Amnesty International has explained that the secretary-general, Irene Khan, will be visiting Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories (including both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip) where she will discuss human rights issues with members of the government and civil society. Announcing the mission, Irene Khan said: "This visit comes at a critical time where principled leadership is of the upmost importance. In regards to Lebanon, she said, "During this climate of heightened tensions in Lebanon there is a risk that human rights could be trampled.
Clinton, Barak and Lieberman talk Iran
YNetNews 12/5/2006
Iranian nuclear threat and instability in Lebanon – these are only some of the subjects high-level American and Israeli officials will discuss at third annual Saban Forum in Washington -- WASHINGTON: A former US president, two leading US presidential candidates, two former Israeli prime ministers and numerous other senior ranking American and Israeli officials will convene this coming Friday at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy in the Brookings Institution in Washington DC for a three-day forum entitled ’America and Israel: Confronting a Middle East in Turmoil. ’ The dignitaries will discuss a plethora of issues, including the situation in Lebanon and the threat of Hizbullah overthrowing the sitting government, Hamas’ control of the Palestinian Authority and the continued Qassam attacks on Israel despite the "ceasefire"...
UN secretary general’s update to the Security Council on Resolution 1701
Daily Star 12/4/2006
Report - I have the honor to submit a factual update on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 (2006) (S/2006/270), in particular on UNIFIL’s operations and other relevant UN activities. In doing so, I have noted and welcome the continuing commitment of the Government of Lebanon and the Government of Israel to all aspects of the implementation of [1701]. I. Respect for the Blue Line: Since my last report on 12 September 2006, the military and security situation in UNIFIL’s area of operation has further stabilized. The cessation of hostilities was maintained and there were no serious incidents or confrontations. Nevertheless, UNIFIL observed and reported air violations by Israeli jets and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) almost on a daily basis.
State Comptroller: Many of IDF senior officers poorly trained
Ha’aretz 12/5/2006
A significant number of senior Israel Defense Forces officers are not undergoing the required training for their posts, according to a state comptroller report released Monday. The report, which was compiled by members of the defense division in the comptroller’s office under the auspices of Major General (res. ) Yaakov Orr, paints a dismal picture of the state of training of the IDF’s upper echelons. State Comptroller Judge (ret. ) Micha Lindenstrauss presented the report on IDF officer training, planning and border police to Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik on Monday. The comptroller’s report points to shortcomings in the training programs, their supervision and the standard of personnel.... the report was written before the start of the war in Lebanon in mid-July...
Protesters lose numbers but not enthusiasm
By Leila Hatoum, Daily Star 12/5/2006
BEIRUT: An estimated 100,000 protesters spent a fourth day in Downtown Beirut Monday, continuing to call for Premier Fouad Siniora to resign. Reports emerged that an opposition delegation would visit the seat of the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkirki on Tuesday, but Hizbullah’s media officer told The Daily Star that only former Minister Suleiman Franjieh’s Marada Party was heading to see Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir. Protesters from Hizbullah, Amal, the Free Patriotic Movement and Marada spent Monday demonstrating, sleeping, studying, praying, dancing or just smoking nargileh, as they demanded the resignation of the "US government in Lebanon." A cautious calm descended over Beirut with an extensive deployment of army personnel across the capital.
Foreign governments voice support for Siniora Cabinet
Daily Star 12/4/2006
World powers voiced support for Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s Cabinet over the weekend as protests calling for the creation of a national unity government continued in Beirut. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed her full support, a statement issued by Siniora’s press office said on Saturday. The statement said that the premier received a telephone call Saturday from Rice, who "emphasized the need for dialogue" to resolve current problems in Lebanon. The statement also said that Siniora received telephone calls from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Yemeni President Ali Abdallah Saleh and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "in support of the premier’s political stands." Germany called on foreign powers Saturday to stay out of Lebanese affairs amid a mass protest led by opposition forces...
Syria smuggling missiles to Hizbullah
Jerusalem Post 12/4/2006
Long-range missiles, as well as truckloads of advanced anti-tank missiles originating in Iran and Syria, have been smuggled to Hizbullah in Lebanon during the past four months since the war ended this summer, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The IDF destroyed most of Hizbullah’s long-range missile array during the month-long war, including the Iranian-made Fajr and Zelzal. But according to new intelligence obtained by the defense establishment, in the four months since the war, Hizbullah has received weapon convoys carrying short-range missiles, anti-tank missiles and long-range missiles. Most of the weapon convoys crossed into Lebanon from Syria at night. With the increasing possibility that Hizbullah protests... would topple the US-backed government.... the Israeli defense establishment.... raised the level of alert in the North.
"Hizbullah" Irks Israeli Footballers
Islam Online.net 12/4/2006
PARIS — "Hizbullah…Hizbullah" is the favorite boo of European soccer fans when their team play Israel’s at EU football championships, provoking the players and reminding them of the army’s defeat at the hands of the Lebanese resistance movement this summer. European fans are using many provocative slogans against Israeli football players such as booing loudly ’Hizbullah…Hizbullah,’ European supporters attending last week’s UEFA Cup match between France’s Paris St Germain and Israel’s Hapoel Tel Aviv told IslamOnline. net Monday, December 4. They said at first, a French fan shouts Hizbullah and waves the group’s yellow flag to be followed later by hundreds of supporters," added Eksafi, a French supporter. Banners stressing solidarity with Lebanon and the Palestinian people were also raised during the match.
UN relief chief predicts end of cluster bombs
Daily Star 11/30/2006
GENEVA: United Nations emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland said on Wednesday that the use of cluster munitions was facing "the beginning of the end," adding he was pleased by the debate sparked in Israel over their use in this summer’s war against Lebanon." I think we’re seeing the beginning of the end of cluster munitions, cluster bombs, at long last," Egeland told journalists in Geneva." These are medieval type of weapons where you believe they have military use today and you don’t really care that civilians are killed tomorrow. This is not a way civilized nations should behave," he added. He also expressed his support for Norway’s recently launched bid to ban the weapons, independent of UN auspices. He said it was a "great thing" to seek to move forward with a group of like-minded countries...
PLO warns of new militant influx
Daily Star 11/30/2006
About 200 Arab militants arrived recently in Lebanon and have set up an Islamic grouping at a Palestinian refugee camp in the North, a senior official of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said Wednesday. "About 200 armed elements came to Lebanon over several phases," Khaled Aref said. He said the militants first joined the Damascus-based "Fatah-Intifada in Lebanon, but a few days ago, they announced their rupture at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon." "They declared that they have formed a new movement called Fatah al-Islam," he said, adding that the militants were Palestinians, Lebanese and a number of other Arabs." We don’t know their real allegiance," he said, without revealing the countries where the militants came from.
Peres in the USA: West Bank settlements should mostly be evacuated
Ma’an News Agency 11/29/2006
Bethlehem - Israeli deputy prime minister, Shimon Peres, expressed his believe that the truce announced between the Palestinians and the Israelis may lead to a resumption of peace negotiations, leading to a settlement of the conflict. In a speech at Cornell University in the United States, Peres said that this opportunity should not be lost. He also declared that most of the settlements in the West Bank should be evacuated, and those that are not evacuated, should be consolidated to ensure they cover not more than 8 percent of the West Bank. Peres added that Israel made a mistake by using cluster bombs in southern Lebanon during the war with Lebanon in the summer. [end]
Arab party not to be dissolved for Syria visit
YNetNews 11/29/2006
Attorney general, party registrar decide to reject Attorney Ophir Miller’s demand to dissolve National Democratic Assembly as ’its objective is to denounce the State of Israel’s existence’ -- Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and Attorney Yaron Keidar, the party registrar at the Justice Ministry, decided Wednesday to reject Attorney Ophir Miller’s demand to dissolve the National Democratic Assembly party because "its objective is to denounce the State of Israel ’s existence." Miller claimed that the party violated the law, after its members visited Syria and Lebanon several months ago. According to a Justice Ministry statement in response to Miller’s appeal, ".... there is currently no room to determine that the National Democratic Assembly party’s actions are against the law..."
UN begins mapping disputed Shaba Farms on Lebanon border
Ha’aretz 11/30/2006
The United Nations has started work on mapping the Shaba Farms area on the northern border, using available maps and satellite photographs. The disputed territory, or parts of it, is claimed by Syria, Lebanon and Israel. The main problem facing the experts at UN Headquarters in New York in their efforts to map the area, is that in talks on the Shaba Farms in recent years, a fundamental element has been missing: The overall territory and borders of the disputed area are unclear. Western diplomats say the interpretations each side offers on the size of the territory and its ownership are completely different from those offered by the others. Another issue delaying a solution to the problem of Shaba Farms stems from the disagreement between Lebanon and Syria on ownership.
Congenial meeting in Beirut warns against possible detractors
Palestine News Network 11/29/2006
The Lebanon-based representatives of the Fateh movement, Palestine Liberation Organization, and Hezbollah sat down for what was described as a “congenial meeting” in Beirut. The subject was the current ’cease-fire’ with the Israelis and the Palestinian national unity government formation. Khalid Al Haj Aref, Sheikh Hassan Izz Al Din and Hussein Khalil were the major players discussing the latest developments that include all factions. The Fateh movement position was clear that “resistance and the Intifada cannot falter in its diligence in looking out for Israeli violations or abuses. The resistance will continue in many forms. ”The Fateh leader continued, “The Palestinian presence in Lebanon is not limited to being supportive of the unity of Lebanon and Arabism.
Syria accuses France, US of meddling in Lebanon
Middle East Online 11/28/2006
FM brands as ‘nonsense’ US, French allegations of Syrian’s role in killings of Lebanese political figures. -- TAMPERE, Finland - Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem on Tuesday accused the US and France of interference over Lebanon and rejected similar accusations levelled by Paris on Damascus. Muallem branded as "nonsense" US and French allegations surrounding Syrian’s role in the killings of Lebanese political figures." We know who’s interfering, the Americans and the French," he said, speaking on the sidelines of a Euromed summit of EU and Mediterranean foreign ministers held in Tampere, Finland." We are playing our role according to the interest of our people and the regional interest, we are playing a constructive role," Muallem added.
Christian leaders mull ban on political banners to end clashes
Daily Star 11/30/2006
BEIRUT: Mediation efforts are taking place among Christian politicians to find ways to stop their young supporters from engaging in skirmishes, which have become frequent due to the tense political atmosphere. One suggestion is to ban the hanging of any political posters to avoid skirmishes like the one that took place in the Beirut neighborhood of Achrafieh Monday night. Youths from the Lebanese Forces and the Free Patriotic Movement clashed after a group of FPM supporters hung a poster of their leader, MP Michel Aoun, in the center of Sassine Square. Governor of Mount Lebanon Antoine Suleiman issued a decree Wednesday, outlining rules for hanging banners and posters. It warned that the hanging of any kind of publicity - political or not - will be penalized.
Israeli-planted minefield discovered in southern Lebanon
International Middle East Media Center 11/28/2006
Israel has been accused of placing a number of landmines in its invasion of southern Lebanon this summer, in addition to leaving behind one million unexploded cluster bomblets. The accusation came after three international cluster-bomb experts were maimed this weekend by landmines. The United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre announced that they have discovered an Israeli-laid mine field in the village of Deir Mimas, three kilometres northwest of the Israeli border. A UN representative stated, "This is the first evidence we have that the Israeli Forces laid new mines in south Lebanon in 2006." The revelation came after a British and a Bosnian bomb removal expert each had a foot amputated this weekend when they stepped on a landmine in Deir Mimas. Further investigation revealed that the area was full of Israeli-made landmines. -- See also: Accident reveals newly laid Israeli mines, UN says
Further Evidence Of Enriched Uranium In The Air In Lebanon Following The Recent Conflict
Stop Uranium Wars/Pandora DU research Project 11/22/2006
Part of the message of this report is that citizen groups can use simple, affordable and reliable techniques to monitor for the presence of hot radioactive particles in the environment. Green Audit recently reported the results of measurements carried out on samples from a bomb crater in Khiam Southern Lebanon. Measurements made by the Harwell laboratory in Oxford confirmed the existence of Enriched Uranium of activity 180Bq/kg and U238/U235 ratio of 108 in the sample. The discovery, which was reported in ‘The Independent’ of 28th October, has caused some concern. The United Nations Environment Programme UNEP responded that its analyses have failed to detect Uranium. The Israel Defence Force has denied using Depleted Uranium weapons. Further evidence of the widespread existence of enriched uranium in Lebanon is now reported in a new paper by Chris Busby and Dai Williams which has been accepted by the European Journal of Biology and Bioelectromagnetics and is available on the LLRC website www. llrc. org. Since the first analysis of the Khiam sample (which used Mass Spectrometry) was reported, Green Audit commissioned a second analysis using different techniques. Alpha spectrometry carried out at the School of Ocean Sciences University of Wales has confirmed the presence of Enriched Uranium but also shown the absence of significant amounts of plutonium. In addition, gamma spectroscopy has shown that there is no Caesium-137 or other gamma emitting isotopes that would be expected if the sample originated in spent nuclear fuel. There are significant and justified health concerns about exposure to the long lived and widely dispersed oxide particles formed when uranium weapons are used.
’Northern Command ordered firing of cluster bombs’
Jerusalem Post 11/29/2006
In direct opposition to an order by Chief of Staff Lt. -Gen. Dan Halutz, the IDF’s Northern Command led by its former chief, Maj. -Gen. Udi Adam, is suspected of ordering the firing of cluster bombs into populated areas during the last few days of the war in Lebanon, military sources have told The Jerusalem Post. Maj. -Gen. Gershon Hacohen, commander of the IDF’s Military Colleges, was appointed by Halutz to investigate the military’s use of cluster bombs during the war against Hizbullah. According to military sources, Hacohen, who questioned senior officers in the Northern Command during his investigation, plans to present his findings to Halutz in the coming days. IDF regulations, set by Halutz, had permitted the use of cluster bombs....
Lebanon: damage to agriculture, fisheries and forestry estimated at around $280 million
Electronic Intifada/UN Food and Agriculture Organization 11/27/2006
Damage and losses to agriculture, fisheries and forestry in Lebanon as a result of last summer’s hostilities are estimated at around $280 million, according to an FAO damage assessment report issued today. The conflict affected the agriculture sector directly, with crops, livestock and equipment damaged by the bombing. But much more important, according to the report, was the indirect economic impact in terms of lost markets and labour opportunities. Poorest hit hardest -- The military bombardments were directed mainly at southern Lebanonand the southern suburbs of Beirut, among the country’s poorest areas. Overall, agriculture accounts for almost 70 percent of total household income in southern Lebanon.
Accident reveals newly laid Israeli mines, UN says
Electronic Intifada/IRIN 11/26/2006
The Israeli army sowed landmines in south Lebanon during its summer conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, the United Nations said on 25 November. The claims came after British and Bosnian bomb disposal experts each had a foot amputated after a newly laid Israeli-made anti-personnel landmine exploded on Friday, according to a statement by the UN’s Mine Action Coordination Centre in South Lebanon (UNMACC SL). Israel has not yet established whether its forces laid landmines in Lebanon during its recent conflict, officials speaking on condition of anonymity at the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) told IRIN. An IDF official said that the mine that caused the injuries could have been laid by Hezbollah or Syria...." This is the first evidence we have that the Israeli Forces laid new mines in south Lebanon in 2006," [UNMACC-SL] said.
The deadly minefield of Deir Mimas
Daily Star 11/28/2006
Interview -- British deminers tell harrowing tale of encounter with newly laid Israeli weapons -- TYRE: The village of Deir Mimas, with its 600-year-old graveyard, sits along a breathtaking ridge strewn with ancient olive groves located a few kilometers from the Israeli border. It faces South Lebanon’s historic, craggy Beaufort Castle - a focal point for fierce fighting through the ages - while the Litani River flows through the valley between them. Occupied by Israel until 2000, it is Deir Mimas’ hilltop vantage point that has again brought a deadly conflict to its doorstep, with cluster bombs and a newly discovered Israeli minefield contaminating its fertile land. "The next thing I know I hear ringing in my ears and I think to myself, I’ve been hit," says David Alderson, formerly of the British Royal Engineers, from his hospital bed in Sidon.
Red Cross: No signs of life from abducted IDF troops in Lebanon
Ha’aretz 11/29/2006
The Red Cross has been unable to transfer letters written by their families to the two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah last summer, nor was it able to obtain any signs of life from Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, a Red Cross official told representatives of the families in Brussels on Tuesday. Though the organization promised to keep trying, Goldwasser’s mother Miki was infuriated by the news. It is inconceivable, she said, that the Red Cross could not transmit letters to her sons through Hezbollah when the organization is an official party that sits in Lebanon’s parliament. The families, who arrived in Brussels on Tuesday, also met with the speaker of the Belgian parliament, who promised to try and obtain information about the soldiers from his Lebanese counterpart, Nabih Berri.
Abbas welcomes Olmert’s ’positive’ peace overtures
Daily Star 11/29/2006
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday welcomed as "positive" peace overtures from Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, stirring hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough amid a fragile truce. In another apparent goodwill gesture, Israel has agreed in principle to let Abbas send a security force loyal to him into Gaza, where a fragile truce is in effect, an Israeli diplomatic source said on Tuesday. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyya on Tuesday embarked on his first foreign tour since taking office to lobby for political and financial support in the region. He plans to be away for several weeks and visit Egypt, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Sudan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, a trip likely to delay further efforts to form a unity government with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Siniora vows to remain in office to prevent outbreak of civil war
Daily Star 11/29/2006
Hizbullah mp warns street protests are imminent -- BEIRUT: Lebanon’s prime minister said on Tuesday that political parties had turned the country into a battlefield for regional conflicts, and added he would remain in office to prevent the outbreak of civil war. "We have turned Lebanon into a battlefield for regional conflicts... This logic is suicidal," Siniora said during a television interview with Al-Arabiyya news channel. Siniora vowed to prevent civil war from breaking out again in Lebanon, which is still reeling from the devastating 1975-1990 Civil War." We want to avoid discord. My presence here [in the government], and that of many others will prevent discord and civil war because even if there is war... in the end, we will have to sit back together" to settle disputes with dialogue, he said." I still have hope, and continue to seek that there will be no street protests," he said.
Rebuilding Lebanon: the task ahead
BBC Online 11/28/2006
BBC World Service business reporter James Whittington has been travelling around the country to look at how the Lebanese are approaching reconstruction. Life has not changed much for the 1,000 or so Holstein-Friesian cows kept in large barns in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. Rebuilding Lebanon will take a long time and cost a fortuneIn picturesThey are milked and fed regularly and the workers on the farm keep the place clean. But next door, the factory that used to turn their milk into yoghurt, drinks and cheese, lies in ruins. Lebanon’s largest dairy company, Liban Lait, was hit by an Israeli air-strike in the early hours of Monday morning on 17 July. The duty manager had decided to call off the night shift so there were no casualties. But the cost of rebuilding the factory is estimated at $20m (£10m).
Hizbullah denies training Iraqi Shi’ites
Jerusalem Post 11/28/2006
Hizbullah denied on Tuesday that it was training fighters from the Mahdi Army, an Iraqi Shi’ite militia blamed in sectarian killings in the war-torn country. A senior American intelligence official said Monday that Hizbullah had trained members of the Mahdi Army, the Iraqi Shi’ite militia led by Moktada al-Sadr, The New York Times reported. Hussein Rahhal, Hizbullah’s media chief, called the report baseless, saying it was part of a US intelligence campaign circulated by the American media to vilify the guerrilla group." These accusations are hollow and worthless. They reflect the American occupation’s impasse in Iraq, where it is trying to blame others for its defeat," Rahhal told The Associated Press. The US intelligence official, according to the Times, said that 1,000 to 2,000 fighters from the Mahdi Army and other Shi’ite militias had been trained by Hizbullah in Lebanon.
Business leaders lean on politicians to end crisis
Daily Star 11/29/2006
BEIRUT: A delegation of business leaders visited members of the ruling March 14 coalition and the opposition on Tuesday, in the first phase of a week-long push to end the political infighting that has paralyzed the government and Lebanon’s economy since mid-November. First the six representatives appointed by the Economic Committee - an association with members from several key sectors - met with the head of the parliamentary majority, MP Saad Hariri, and his ally, MP Walid Jumblatt. They later visited the head of the opposition Free Patriotic Movement, MP Michel Aoun. On both occasions they pressured the politicians to stop threatening street protests and resume national dialogue sessions. The president of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists (ALI), who participated in the talks, was not optimistic about the reception.
Bush says ’extremists’ undermining government
Daily Star 11/29/2006
US President George W. Bush accused Iran and Syria of undermining the government in Lebanon on Tuesday. "That government is being undermined, in my opinion, by extremist forces encouraged out of Syria and Iran," Bush said during a stopover in Estonia before heading to a NATO summit in neighboring Latvia. He added that a democratic Lebanon "will be a major defeat for those who articulate extremist point of views." Meanwhile, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem accused the US and France Tuesday of interference over Lebanon and rejected similar accusations leveled by Paris on Damascus. Moallem branded as "nonsense" US and French allegations surrounding Syria’s role in the killings of Lebanese political figures." We know who’s interfering, the Americans and the French," he said,...
Israel Bombed Lebanon’s Infrastructure for ’Destruction Sake’: Report
An Nahar 11/27/2006
The U. N. Human Rights Council, analyzing the various aspects of the impact on life of this summer’s Israel-Hizbullah war on Lebanon, said it was convinced "that damage inflicted on some infrastructure was done for the sake of destruction." In a report released in Geneva Sunday by the Commission of Inquiry on Lebanon, the HRC said that Israel had justified its attacks on Lebanese civilian infrastructure by arguing its hypothetical use by Hizbullah. It said that while the Commission appreciates that some infrastructure may have had "dual use," this argument cannot be put forward for each individual object directly hit during the July-August fighting. By using this argument, Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) "effectively changed the status of all civilian objects by alleging that they might be used by Hizbullah," the report said.
Jordanian king: region faces three civil wars
The Guardian 11/27/2006
Fears for Iraq, Lebanon and Palestinian territories · US ’must bring parties together’ · Israeli troops kill two Palestinians in West Bank -- King Abdullah of Jordan warned yesterday that three civil wars could break out in the Middle East, and called for "something dramatic" to come out of a summit this week that George Bush will attend. Speaking on US television, he said growing factional tensions in Iraq, the Palestinian territories and Lebanon could lead to a "tremendous crisis" in the region. The king, who will host a summit in Amman between Iraq’s prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki, and the US president, said Iraq was "beginning to spiral out of control". But the main problem in the region nevertheless remained the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said. "Palestine is the core... it is linked to the extent of what’s going on in Iraq."
UNIFIL Troops Bring Calm to the South Despite Challenges
An Nahar 11/27/2006
Three months into their mission of enforcing a cease-fire, U. N. peacekeepers have succeeded so far in keeping the peace at the Israeli-Lebanon border that previously had been a Mideast flashpoint for decades. No shooting incidents have been reported across the international border since the U. N. Interim Force in Lebanon began beefing up with the arrival of French forces Aug. 19, shortly after a U. N. cease-fire ended this summer’s Israeli-Hizbullah war. But the peacekeepers’ mission remains far from complete: Israel’s warplanes continue to fly over Lebanon, and Israeli troops continue to hold on to the divided border village of Ghajar. Perhaps most troubling to the world community, Hizbullah has so far kept its weapons, albeit hidden, despite a handful of small seizures in south Lebanon since the war’s end.
Index On Illegal Us Weapons In Lebanon
By Sarah Meyer, Index Research 4/8/2006
9/11 or 07/06? “How many people do you have to kill before you qualify to be described as mass murderer and a war criminal? " Harold Pinter, Nobel speech. A peace offer was vetoed just prior to the US / Israeli war on Lebanon. 1 Since the war started, there has been much discussion concerning the use of (US) cluster bombs, bunker-busting bombs and chemical weapons – all illegal - presently being used in Lebanon. Some have also said illegal bombs are also being used in Palestine. Protocol I, Article 85, Section 3 of the Geneva Convention: "An indiscriminate attack affecting the civilian population or civilian objects and resulting in excessive loss of life, injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects is a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions." Following is an Index of various reports and articles. US/UK Arms for Israel...
Selection of writings by Kamel Mroue focuses on history of conflict with Israel
Daily Star 11/28/2006
BEIRUT: Jamil, Karim and Malek Mroue, sons of Al-Hayat newspaper founder Kamel Mroue, have published an annual booklet to commemorate the work of their late father. The booklet compiles articles by Kamel Mroue on the Arab-Israeli conflict published between 1948 and 1966. Mroue, known as "the father of modern Arab journalism," was assassinated in 1966 in his office in Beirut. In 1946, he founded the influential Arab daily Al-Hayat, and in 1952 he began publishing The Daily Star, Lebanon’s only English-language daily. The booklet’s focus on the history of conflict with Israel developed after the Israeli war on Lebanon this summer "shed light on South Lebanon, on forgotten villages such as Kfar Kila, Adaisseh, Houla, Mais al-Jabal, Blida, Aitaroun, Maroun al-Ras and Aita Shaab," Karim Mroue writes in an introduction to the booklet.
Bush Asking Arab Friends for Iraq Help
New York Times 11/28/2006
WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 — As President Bush and his top diplomats try to halt the downward spiral in Iraq and Lebanon, they seem intent on their strategy of talking only to Arab friends, despite increasing calls inside and outside the administration for them to reach out to Iran and Syria as well. Mr. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are traveling to Jordan this week for talks that are to include Iraq’s prime minister and a number of Sunni Arab leaders but exclude the Iranians and Syrians, despite the influence they wield in Iraq and Lebanon. Meanwhile, one of Ms. Rice’s most trusted aides, Philip D. Zelikow, announced Monday that he was resigning his post as State Department counselor.... An administration official said Mr. Zelikow had been frustrated with administration policy on the Middle East, including Iraq, and North Korea.
Hezbollah Said to Help Shiite Army in Iraq
New York Times 11/28/2006
WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 — A senior American intelligence official said Monday that the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah had been training members of the Mahdi Army, the Iraqi Shiite militia led by Moktada al-Sadr. The official said that 1,000 to 2,000 fighters from the Mahdi Army and other Shiite militias had been trained by Hezbollah in Lebanon. A small number of Hezbollah operatives have also visited Iraq to help with training, the official said. Iran has facilitated the link between Hezbollah and the Shiite militias in Iraq, the official said. Syrian officials have also cooperated, though there is debate about whether it has the blessing of the senior leaders in Syria, the official said. The intelligence official spoke on condition of anonymity under rules set by his agency, and discussed Iran’s role in response to questions from a reporter.
Ahmadinejad Urges People in Mideast, Afghanistan to Expel Occupiers
An Nahar 11/26/2006
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called Sunday for the peoples of the Middle East and Afghanistan to join forces in driving out foreign occupiers." The Iraqi, Lebanese, Afghan and Palestinian people must be helped. By helping each other, we can expel the occupiers," Ahmadinejad said in a speech to the Islamic volunteer Basij militia, broadcast on state television." The people of the area can guarantee security. The presence from foreigners causes conflict," he added. Iran is an ally of the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government, the Palestinian government run by the Islamist movement Hamas, and of Hizbullah in Lebanon. Tehran had repeatedly called for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from its neighbors Iraq and Afghanistan.... "Since the corrupt foreigners arrived in Iraq, there has been nothing but corruption and death."
3 men hurt while rescuing shepherd from S. Lebanon minefield
Ha’aretz 11/25/2006
BEIRUT - A land mine explosion wounded two European mine clearing experts and a Lebanese medic as they tried to rescue a shepherd from an unmarked minefield in southern Lebanon on Friday, said a UN spokeswoman. The three men were rushed to hospital in the town of Marjayoun, said Dalya Farran, a spokeswoman for the UN Mine Action Coordination Center. The condition of the ordnance disposal experts, David Alderson of Britain and Damir Paradzik of Bosnia, was described as serious. But their wounds were "not life-threatening," said Patrick Toyne Sewell, the spokesman of their London-based employer, ArmorGroup. The three men were trying to rescue a shepherd who had led a herd of goats into an unmarked minefield. The goats detonated a land mine.
Almost 80% of Israelis Want Peretz Out Over Lebanon War
An Nahar 11/24/2006
Nearly 80 percent of Israelis want Defense Minister Amir Peretz to resign over failings from the war in Lebanon and unceasing Palestinian rocket attacks, a survey revealed on Friday. According to the poll, published in the Maariv daily, 78 percent of respondents believe Peretz should resign, compared to only 17 percent who said "no" when asked whether they thought he should step down. The survey also tracked a recent trend in rising support for right-wing parties, when respondents were asked which party they would vote for should snap elections be held immediately. Right-wing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party came in top, set to win 29 seats in the 120-member parliament, compared to the 12 that his MPs currently occupy, the Maariv poll said.
Shooting in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon results in many injuries, possible casualties
Ma’an News Agency 11/24/2006
Lebanon - A number of Palestinian refugees in Baddawi refugee camp near Tripoli in northern Lebanon were injured when a shooting suddenly erupted in the camp, according to the Lebanese News Agency. The agency suggests that there may have been casualties. The agency said that heavy and intensive shooting was heard inside Baddawi refugee camp, including the sound of projectiles from near the Al Quds mosque, on Thursday. The agency said that, according to information from inside the camp, some unknown people entered the camp and went to an apartment inside the camp that is rented by some students of Shari’a (Islamic law). Investigations are underway regarding the identity of the people who entered the camp and the reason for the shooting.
Report downgrades estimate of direct war losses
Daily Star 11/25/2006
BEIRUT: A government report said on Friday that total direct costs to Lebanon from the war of this past summer were $2. 8 billion - $800 million less than an earlier estimate. Shortly after the August 14 cessation of hostilities, the Council for Development and Reconstruction estimated direct material losses at $3. 6 billion. The new government report, which was issued by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s office, said the Israeli bombardment likely would cause GDP growth to fall to close to zero - a drop of 4-5 percent - by the end of the year. Lebanon was hoping to record GDP growth of 6 percent in 2006 based on a projected influx of tourists, surge in exports and increase in foreign direct investment. The Tourism Ministry expected more than 1. 6 million visitors to come to Lebanon in the summer season alone, generating revenues of $3 billion.
Lebanese Students Learn How to Avoid Cluster Bombs
An Nahar 11/22/2006
Jamming schools spared by the summer war with Israel, students across southern Lebanon have started a difficult year, trying to overcome traumas and learning a life-or-death lesson -- how to avoid being blasted by unexploded ordnance. In a private school in the village of Hanaway, east of the coastal city of Tyre, several hundred students, aged between five and 11, attend a one-hour session about the dangers of cluster bombs. Israel dropped more than 1. 2 million bomblets on Lebanon during its summer offensive, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz. Since the August 14 end to the war between Israel and Hizbullah, 23 people have been killed and another 136 injured in Lebanon after stepping on or handling unexploded components of cluster bombs, according to an AFP count.
MP Qaraqa’: Israeli government lives in a political vacuum as it tries to block European conference
Palestine News Network 11/25/2006
Member of Parliament Issa Qaraqa’ told the Women’s Committee for Social Action that the Israeli government lives in a political vacuum and crisis. He cited Israeli official attempts to block an international conference initiated by the French, Spanish, and Italians. Palestinian Legislative Council member and former Director of the Palestinian Prisoner Society Qaraqa’ said that the international peace conference initiative includes a call for protection for the Palestinian people. He said that the Israeli government has been “racing against time to close the path to the Europeans. ”Qaraqa’ pointed out that since the end of the war in Lebanon, the Israeli government began a bid to return to the rejected version of the Road Map. It was deemed unacceptable last year after the Israelis changed 14 major points...
Peaceful settlement of Palestine question, UN special information programme among issues addressed as Palestinian rights committee approves four texts
ReliefWeb/United Nations General Assembly 11/24/2006
Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People - 297th Meeting (AM) -- The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People this morning approved four new draft resolutions for General Assembly adoption calling for measures to be taken by the Committee, the Division for Palestinian Rights and the Department of Public Information in light of new developments in the Middle East, including the assassination of Pierre Gemayel, Lebanon’s Minister of Industry, on Tuesday. By the first text, the General Assembly would request the Committee to continue extending its cooperation and support to civil society organizations to mobilize international solidarity and support for the Palestinian people, particularly during this critical period of humanitarian hardship and financial crisis...
Former MI officer: Israel must sit down for talks with Syria
Ha’aretz 11/24/2006
Former senior Military Intelligence officer Dr. Yossi Ben Ari said this week he believes Israel should try to reach a rapid peace agreement with Syria. Ben Ari argues that Syrian president Bashar Assad and the Syrian military exploited the war in Lebanon to draw the conclusion that rocket and missile arsenals are the most important component in a conflict with Israel." If war breaks out, the sides will come to the negotiating table at the end, where they can already sit now," he said. Ben Ari will speak about his conclusions at a conference Sunday, when the complete results of a Market Watch poll on Israeli opinion about talks with Syria will also be released. Partial survey results released Wednesday indicate that more than half of Israelis would like to see Israel engage in negotiations with Syria, but are unprepared to withdraw from the Golan Heights...
Touring southern Lebanon: destroyed but standing tall
By Fadi Abu Sada, Palestine News Network 11/25/2006
They told us to be at the entrance of the American University in Beirut at exactly 1:30 pm. We were on our way to visit the southern suburb, known as the security zone of Hezbollah Haret Hreik. We became familiar with the name during the last war on Lebanon, the one that kept us in front of our televisions for days and weeks. My feelings were contradictory. I was happy to be there for the first time as a Palestinian from the occupied territories. And I was saddened because I know the depth of the mess, which I think is similar to the daily occurrences in the Palestinian territories. Before entering the southern suburb we drove near Sabra and Shatila where the infamous massacres took place against the Palestinians in these refugee camps. I trembled as we passed and I heard the names.
Siniora ignores opposition objection, schedules Cabinet meet for Saturday
Daily Star 11/25/2006
Sabaa returns in time for controversial session on hariri tribunal -- BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Cabinet is to meet Saturday to approve the UN statutes for the creation of an international court to try suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a move pro-Syrian parties say should not take place while they are not represented in the government. The draft requires approval by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s government and pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud before being forwarded to Parliament for a final vote. Speaker Nabih Berri will now play a key role in the UN blueprint’s progress as only he can put the related legislation on Parliament’s agenda once the Cabinet has renewed its approval of it. However, Berri has stated publicly that all decisions taken by Siniora’s Cabinet since six pro-Syrian ministers resigned are "unconstitutional."
Business ’strike’ falls flat as most companies ignore call
Daily Star 11/25/2006
Only banking sector was largely observant -- BEIRUT: Most businesses in Lebanon’s capital resumed regular operations on Friday, ignoring a joint call from major business groups for a two-day strike across all commercial sectors. Business leaders had hoped the move might break the political deadlock over Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s Cabinet and discourage rival parties from continuing to threaten street protests. Though supportive of the strike in principle, most merchants, industrialists, and traders were not in the financial position to adhere to such a demand, the head of the Hotel, Cafe, and Restaurant Syndicate said." The decision was taken at a bad time," Paul Ariss told The Daily Star. "It’s the end of the month and restaurants need the extra cash to pay salaries..."
Chirac, Prodi Discuss Lebanon in Relations Revival Summit
An Nahar 11/24/2006
French President Jacques Chirac and Italian Premier Romano Prodi, who held a summit meeting to shore up strained ties, reached "very broad agreement" on Lebanon, a diplomat said Friday. However the pair acknowledged differences on Syria, whose President Bashar al-Assad is barred from France. "If we must have... a few divergences of view on procedures and modalities, our goal is the same," Chirac told a news conference." It is to make Syria face up to its responsibilities and guarantee Lebanon’s stability and independence." For his part, Prodi said: "There are differences, but they are purely tactical within a strategy that is fully shared." On Thursday, Prodi said in an interview with France’s Le Figaro daily that it was necessary to talk to Syria to solve Lebanon’s problems.
Peretz: Ehud Barak fled from Lebanon
YNetNews 11/24/2006
Defense minister rages against critics, potential candidates for defense minister position; states he’s not going anywhere, is not the one who fell asleep on the job -- Defense Minster Amir Peretz told Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth Thursday regarding the possibility that former Prime Minister Ehud Barak will succeed him, “Barak wants to be defense minister? He was the architect of the escape from Lebanon." Peretz slammed the “candidates for defense minister” Barak and Shaul Mofaz, saying the withdrawal from Lebanon and the Gaza disengagement, which was carried out without an agreement, were severe mistakes that led to the current situation. “We retreated from Lebanon in an orderly fashion after the war, following an agreement,” he said. “The soldiers left quietly, not under attacks..."
Louise Arbour: Israel may be more to blame than Hizbullah
Jerusalem Post 11/24/2006
Israel could be considered deserving of more blame for its actions in the Lebanon war than Hizbullah, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post Thursday. Asked by the Post if there was a distinction under human rights law between missile attacks aimed at killing civilians and military strikes in which civilians are unintentionally killed, Arbour said the two could not be equated. "In one case you could have, for instance, a very objectionable intent - the intent to harm civilians, which is very bad - but effectively not a lot of harm is actually achieved," she said. "But how can you compare that with a case where you may not have an intent but you have recklessness [in which] civilian casualties are foreseeable? The culpability or the intent may not sound as severe, but the actual harm is catastrophic."
IDF: Gaza "terrorists" have anti-aircraft capabilities
YNetNews 11/24/2006
Israel Air Force worried, pursuant to Hizbullah success at taking down Israeli chopper in Lebanon. Senior officer: Clear increase in attempt to smuggle weapons into Gaza -- According to a senior Israel Air Force officer, "terror" organizations in the Gaza Strip have anti-aircraft capabilities." The IAF is a joint participant in most Gaza operations, particularly in pinpoint operations or assistance to ground forces. IAF sources are worried that, pursuant to Hizbullah success to take down an Israel helicopter in Lebanon, "terror" organizations in the Strip will try to arm themselves with anti-aircraft weaponry. "The threats of antitank and anti-aircraft missiles in Gaza are increasing and we are preparing for that," said the officer. He stated that the IAF has significantly increased its operations over Gaza, which is why "terror" organizations are trying to damage aircraft.
After 25 years of waiting, Palestinian visits Beirut
By Fadi Abu Sada, Palestine News Network 11/23/2006
I was six years old, when I started to know a bit of what was going on around me. I knew that my father had completed his university education in Beirut. I knew that while he was showing me some pictures of Lebanon. I looked at that picture where my father was standing on a beautiful rock in the sea; he told me it is the “Rousheh” rock in Beirut. There begins my story. In a sense I stopped having other dreams at that moment, thinking only of this wonderful scene, and how I could get there, to the same place, Beirut, where my father was. Wars broke out there, and this is what increased my pain, not only because the brothers were fighting, but because was making my dream all the more difficult to come true, to be in Lebanon. I tried every way. I constantly ask about the possibility of allowing Palestinians to enter Lebanon to no avail.
France authorizes troops to fire at IAF jets over Lebanon
Jerusalem Post 11/23/2006
French soldiers in Lebanon who feel threatened by aggressive Israeli overflights are permitted to shoot at IAF fighter jets, a high-ranking French military officer told The Jerusalem Post. Wednesday, several days after meeting with an IDF general in Paris to discuss what he said was a "blatant violation of the cease-fire." Last weekend, Maj. -Gen. Ido Nehushtan, head of the IDF Planning Directorate, traveled to Paris and met with military officials to explain why the IAF flies over Lebanon despite the UN-brokered cease-fire. Nehushtan, new to his post and previously deputy commander of the air force, told his French counterparts that Israel was conducting the flights to collect intelligence on Hizbullah positions in southern Lebanon.
IDF trains UN teams in Lebanon in disposal of cluster bombs
Ha’aretz 11/23/2006
JERUSALEM - The Israel Defense Forces said yesterday that it is helping to train U. N. peacekeepers on safe clearing of cluster bombs and mines left behind from last summer’s war with Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas. The delayed detonation of unexploded Israeli cluster bomblets have killed more that 20 Lebanese and wounded 70 since the war’s August 14 cease-fire, drawing international scrutiny and censure of Israel’s fighting tactics. Lieutenant-Colonel Amit Tesler, commander of the IDF’s international training branch, said that in September his unit trained a Spanish contingent from the UNIFIL peacekeeping force in clearing munitions. An Italian contingent was due to arrive next in Israel for the week-long course, Tesler told reporters." We are offering this service so that those people will arrive in Lebanon with the knowledge necessary..."
Lebanese Waters Still Stained Black
By Meena S. Janardhan, Inter Press Service 11/21/2006
DUBAI, Nov 21 (IPS/IFEJ) - Squally winter weather in the eastern Mediterranean poses a fresh threat to marine ecology from Lebanon to Turkey this year, due to the remnants of the oil slick caused in July when Israeli forces bombed a power plant south of Beirut.. Between 10,000 and 15,000 tonnes of crude leaked from the crippled power plant of Jiyeh, 30 km from the Lebanese capital, Jul. 13-15. The spill seriously contaminated the waters along the Lebanese and Syrian coast. Environmental damage to neighbouring Cyprus, Greece and Turkey was somewhat reduced by operations to mop up the floating oil. But the danger persists. Highly specialised teams with extensive experience need to immediately get down to work cleaning rocks and buildings before winter storms lash the region, warns the Malta-based RMERC...
Pressure, both direct and indirect, mounts on Syria
Daily Star 11/23/2006
Britain on Wednesday refused to point the finger at Syria for the killing of Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, while Western and Arab leaders voiced fears of further unrest in Lebanon and beyond. Amid Prime Minister Tony Blair’s efforts to involve Damascus in the regional peace process, the British government pointedly adopted a wait and see approach to the assassination.... Within the region, the Syrian ambassador to Washington, Imad Mustafa, said the killing of Gemayel was an attempt by Syria’s enemies to frustrate its desire for engagement with Washington over the deteriorating situation over Iraq. "Isn’t it strange that whenever the situation would become slightly, slightly toward engagement with Syria, every time this happens, immediately an assassination takes place?" he said on CNN on Wednesday.
Newspapers offer variety of perspectives on slaying
Daily Star 11/23/2006
Conflicting reactions appeared in the Lebanese and Syrian press Wednesday regarding the assassination a day earlier of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel. Despite broad condemnation in the Lebanese press of the assassination, most papers agreed that it had caught Syria’s local supporters off-guard. Hizbullah and its allies had been planning to take to the streets to demand the replacement of the Western-backed Cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora with a government of national unity. But after Gemayel’s murder, it was the anti-Syrian parties which were calling out their supporters for a mass funeral for the slain Christian politician, an outspoken opponent of Damascus, especially its former influence on Lebanon." The mass funeral on Thursday will allow the ruling majority to return to the streets and the opposition has been left in disarray," said the pro-Syrian Al-Akhbar daily." The opposition camp, which had been preparing for a showdown with the ruling majority, has been wrongfooted, and the crime has opened the door for complicated internal tensions," it added.
UN team to head for Lebanon to aid investigation into Gemayel’s murder
The Guardian 11/23/2006
Security council approves request for assistance · Syria voices objections to tribunal on Hariri’s death -- The UN security council responded rapidly last night to Lebanon’s call for help in investigating the assassination of the anti-Syrian cabinet minister, Pierre Gemayel, promising to dispatch investigators while the crime scene was still fresh. With anger over the killing expected to erupt in Beirut today at Mr Gemayel’s funeral, the 15-state council agreed unanimously to a request for help from the embattled Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora. The UN’s decision came a day after it approved an international tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of Rafik al-Hariri, the former prime minister, whose assassination 21 months ago demolished 15 years of stability in Lebanon.
Assassination heightens tensions in political arena
Daily Star 11/23/2006
BEIRUT: The assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel served as the latest point of contention among Lebanon’s political elite on Wednesday. Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir said Gemayel’s murder was a "catastrophe," and urged the Lebanese to "restrain their emotions." "Gemayel’s assassination is a disaster... It is not only the disaster of a family but also the disaster of a whole nation," the prelate said. Sfeir’s comments came during a meeting with a delegation from Gemayel’s Phalange Party." I urge all the Lebanese to think deeply on the incident and restrain themselves... Let them only think about the future of Lebanon," Sfeir added.
UN finds ’flagrant violations’ in Israeli prosecution of war
Daily Star 11/22/2006
’Excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force’ -- A UN commission on Tuesday accused Israel of "flagrant violations" of international human rights law in its month-long war on Lebanon this past summer, while Amnesty International called for a UN-led inquiry to investigate the conflict. A team of three legal experts sent to Lebanon by the top UN human rights body, the Human Rights Council, said that Israel was guilty of "excessive, indiscriminate and disproportionate use of force" during its war against Hizbullah." The commission has formed a clear view that, cumulatively, the deliberate and lethal attacks by the Israeli Army on civilians and civilian objects amounted to collective punishment," the UN said in a report on the council’s Web site.
IDF admits targeting civilian areas in Lebanon with cluster bombs
Ha’aretz 11/21/2006
The Israel Defense Forces discovered that there had been "irregularities" in the use of cluster munitions, even before the end of the recent Lebanon war, sources in the defense minister’s office said Monday. As a result of this information, Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered an "extensive inquiry" into the use of these munitions before the war’s end. Meanwhile, for the first time Monday, the IDF admitted targeting populated areas with cluster munitions. In a statement released by the IDF Spokesman’s Office, "the use of cluster munitions against built-up areas was done only against military targets where rocket launches against Israel were identified and after taking steps to warn the civilian population." The statements released by the minister’s office contradict Israel Defense Forces’ claims...
Safer Israeli cluster bombs not used
Jerusalem Post 11/21/2006
An Israeli made cluster bomblet, installed with a self-destruct mechanism, was not used by the IDF during the war in Lebanon even though they would have drastically reduced the threat to civilian populations in the target areas. Instead, Israel used cluster bomblets manufactured in the United States which did not have a self-destruct mechanism. Lebanon claims 24 civilians were killed and 76 injured by cluster bombs since the end of the war, with the shells exploding mostly in fields and orchards. Defense officials explained that the IDF did not use or buy cluster bomblets manufactured by Israel Military Industries (IMI), since Israel bought its bomblets in the United States with the $3 billion it receives annually from the US government in military aid. IMI manufactures a low dud-rate cluster bomblet which carries a self-destruct fuse.
Ex-council leader jailed for 34 months for contact with enemy
Ha’aretz 11/21/2006
Haifa District Court on Monday sentenced the former head of a Galilee regional council to 34 months in jail for maintaining contact with Iranian agents. Jirais Jirais, 57, from the town of Fassuta, also received one year’s suspended sentence. He was convicted based on his own confession, as part of a plea bargain, that he had been in touch with undercover Iranian agents in Cyprus in 2004 and 2005. The charge of conspiring to pass information to the enemy, which appeared on the original indictment, was dropped. Jirais fled Israel to Lebanon in 1970, after he was exposed as a member of a cell of the Palestinian Fatah. In Lebanon, he made the acquaintance of Hani Abdullah Matwali, who, the charge sheet states, later worked as an Iranian emissary. He returned to Fassuta in 1996, and became head of the local council in 2001.
Reinforcement of Sderot schools to be funded ahead of defense budget boost
Ha’aretz 11/22/2006
The Knesset Finance Committee is delaying approval for expanding the defense budget to cover costs of the Lebanon war until sufficient funds are earmarked for reinforcing schools in Sderot against Qassam rocket strikes. Finance Ministry officials asked the committee Tuesday to reallocate NIS 1. 5 billion from the budgets of various ministries to the Defense Ministry. Committee Chairman Yacov Litzman (United Torah Judaism) denied the request, conditioning the approval on the allotment of NIS 100 million for reinforcing Sderot schools. In an earlier hearing on Tuesday, the committee heard testimony from Israel Defense Forces GOC Home Front Command Major-General Yitzhak Gershon, who told the committee that NIS 285 million was spent on reinforcing schools in 2005-6.
Assassins claim Pierre Gemayel in broad daylight
Daily Star 11/22/2006
BEIRUT: Pierre Gemayel, Lebanon’s industry minister and the son of former Lebanese President Amin Gemayel, was shot dead in a brazen daylight attack in the northern Beirut suburb of Jdeideh on Tuesday. Conflicting reports emerged on the details of the attack, in which a sport-utility vehicle either rammed or pulled alongside a silver KIA sedan driven by Gemayel. An unknown number of assailants then fired through the driver’s side window of the vehicle, hitting the minister and at least two others. The anti-Syrian minister was pronounced dead on arrival at St. Joseph Hospital in Dora, according to hospital sources. One of Gemayel’s bodyguards, Samir Chartouni, died a few hours later from his wounds. The condition of a second bodyguard wounded in the attack was unknown. -- Pierre Amin Gemayel, 1972-2006
UN condemns assassination of Gemayel
Jerusalem Post 11/22/2006
The UN Security Council unequivocally condemned Tuesday’s assassination of a prominent anti-Syrian Cabinet member and approved a tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of another Lebanese politician - former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. US Ambassador John Bolton said the killing of Christian politician Pierre Gemayel raised the possibility of Syrian involvement. He said the United States will seek to add Gemayel’s murder to the list of those whose alleged killers would be prosecuted by the tribunal. It now includes Hariri and 14 other Lebanese who died at the hands of assassins or their bombs. The Security Council expressed grave concern at the possible impact of Gemayel’s assassination on efforts "to solidify democracy" in the country and condemned "any attempt to destabilize Lebanon..."
Assassination triggers fresh crisis in Lebanon
The Guardian 11/22/2006
Lebanon lurched closer to a fresh round of sectarian bloodletting yesterday with the assassination of its industry minister, Pierre Gemayel, a member of the country’s most powerful Christian family and a leading opponent of Syrian influence. The killing shook Lebanon’s beleaguered government and sent tremors across the Middle East, further complicating attempts to find a regional solution to the Iraq war. The Bush administration, under pressure to negotiate with Syria and Iran, yesterday hinted at the responsibility of both countries’ governments, accusing them of trying destabilise Lebanon. Speaking at an air force base in Hawaii, the US president, George Bush, called for a full investigation and pledged US support for Lebanon’s government leaders and their efforts "to defend their democracy against attempts by Syria, Iran and allies..."
ANALYSIS: The accusations against Syria are all too routine
By Zvi Bar'el, Ha’aretz 11/21/2006
The accusation leveled at the Syrians by Saad Hariri, son of assassinated former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, the hints by Prime Minister Fuad Siniora urging the establishment of an international tribunal to try Hariri’s killers, and statements by anti-Syrian elements in Lebanon, put Syria at the top of the list of suspects in Tuesday’s assassination of Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel. However pure political and diplomatic logic makes it difficult to see Damascus behind the assassination. The day Gemayel was killed, Syria chalked up one of its most significant diplomatic achievements since its defeat in Lebanon in April 2005: the renewal of full diplomatic relations with Iraq. Syria is also on the way to achieving a semi-official stamp of approval from Washington as able to calm things down in Iraq.
Hariri says Siniora unity offer ’remains in effect’
Daily Star 11/22/2006
BEIRUT: Parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri said Tuesday that Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s proposal to form a national unity government is the only solution to end the increasing political chaos gripping the country. Hariri’s speech at a news conference at his Qoreitem residence was interrupted by the news that Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel had been killed by gunmen in Jdeideh, on the northern outskirts of the capital. Choking back tears, the son of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri blamed Syria for the assassination." The ’Cedar Revolution’ is under attack," the Future Movement leader said. "Today one of our main believers in a free democratic Lebanon has been killed. We believe the hands of Syria are all over the place."
Siniora promises legislation to speed up rebuilding process
Daily Star 11/22/2006
Siniora promises legislation to speed up rebuilding processBEIRUT: Legislation to expedite Lebanon’s recontruction and support institutions that suffered losses during the July-August war with Israel will be presented to Parliament soon, Premier Fouad Siniora said Tuesday. The government has received more than $813 million of the $2 billion worth of financial assistance pledged by private donors and the international community at the Stockholm conference. Addressing the diplomatic corps at the Grand Serail about the progress that has been made rebuilding the country during the first 100 days since the August 14 cease-fire, Siniora defended his administration’s postwar performance and asked donors to continue their support.
Halutz: Troops violated ’explicit’ orders not to use cluster bombs
Daily Star 11/21/2006
Israel’s army chief launched an investigation into the military’s use of cluster bombs in Lebanon, following media reports that he had not authorized wide use of the controversial munitions in fighting. The Israeli Army said in a statement that Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz had appointed a commission of inquiry headed by a high-ranking officer who would "look into the implementation of all orders and instructions regarding the use of cluster type munitions [during the war]." Israel’s Haaretz reported on Monday that Halutz said the orders he gave to limit the use of cluster bombs during the summer war was "explicit." "There is no question that one of the things that must be investigated is the way in which the orders were given and implemented. Were the orders explicit? I believe that they were," Halutz was quoted as saying. -- See also: Confusion clouds use of cluster bombs in Lebanon
Combat service requests at all-time high
YNetNews 11/20/2006
November 2006 draft underway, number of new IDF recruits asking to serve in combat units passes 70 percent mark -- The number of new IDF recruits requesting to serve in combat units passed the 70 percent mark on Monday, an all-time high. The November 2006 draft got under way at the recruitment center at Tel Hashomer on Sunday. During his visit to the recruitment center, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. -Gen. Dan Halutz was presented with the figures by Maj. Gen. Elazar Stern who heads the army’s human resources directorate. During last year’s November draft, 69. 6 percent of recruits asked to serve in combat positions. The figures are particularly encouraging in light of the military’s failures during the recent war in Lebanon, which placed the future soldiers’ motivation in question.
Israel ups the stakes in the propaganda war
The Guardian 11/20/2006
Following its invasion of Lebanon this summer, Israel was said to have largely lost the PR battle to Hizbullah, but armed with a major web offensive, it’s fighting back -- Amir Gissin runs what he calls ’"Israel’s Explanation Department". Which is why it is surprising to hear him admit that many Israelis think "the whole problem is that we don’t explain ourselves correctly". Last week, as al-Jazeera launched an Arab view of the world into English-speaking homes worldwide, Gissin was a man under pressure. At the David Bar Ilan conference on the media and Middle East, he faced an audience of Israelis who were unhappy about the way the propaganda battle with Hizbullah was fought and lost during the war in the Lebanon. They wanted to know how it could be done better next time, because most people in Israel seem to think there will be a next time with Hizbullah soon.
’Bionic wasps’ could be miniature future weapon with a deadly sting
The Independent 11/18/2006
A high-tech and unmanned "bionic wasp" capable of destroying a cell of militants or guerrillas is among a series of futuristic weapons being discussed by a group of experts set up by the Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, Shimon Peres. A spokeswoman for Mr Peres yesterday confirmed a report that the veteran politician had set up a 15-strong group of experts in security, high technology, business and academia to discuss the use of battlefield "nanotechnology". The report carried by the mass circulation daily Yedhiot Ahronot said the emerging technology would allow weapons, based on "building blocks" the size of a millionth of a millimetre, and of the sort that "one sees today only in science fiction films". It quoted Mr Peres, a holder of the Nobel Peace Prize, as telling a recent meeting: "The war in Lebanon proved that we need tiny weapons..."
Lebanese civilians confirm that arms are still flowing in from Syria
Jerusalem Post 11/18/2006
Lebanese civilians close to the border with Syria told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that weapons for Hizbullah were being brought in by the truckload at night. Lebanese Army troops on duty at the border refused to confirm the claims. This correspondent watched as a line of trucks and lorries several kilometers long built up at one crossing on the road from Lebanon into Syria. The trucks, en route from Beirut to Damascus, were laden with a mixture of goods: everything from construction materials to fruits and vegetables. But in the late afternoon wintry chill they were stationary; their drivers had disappeared and only the occasional soldier kept guard every few hundred meters." They don’t move in the day," said Yusuf Saad, a taxi driver waiting at the border crossing.
MK Eitam: Peretz, Halutz must resign immediately
YNetNews 11/20/2006
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee members slam defense minister, chief of staff; ‘soldiers have lost faith in you,’ Eitam tells Peretz -- Knesset Member Effie Eitam (National Union-NRP) slammed Defense Minister Amir Peretz during a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, saying, “You and the chief of staff (Dan Halutz) must resign immediately. You are preventing the IDF’s rehabilitation. The soldiershave lost faith in you because of the second Lebanon war and your inability to deal with the Qassam fire. ” A sharp confrontation broke out during the meeting between MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) and Peretz after the former demanded the military launch a large scale defensive operation in Gaza, saying that the current level of activity was like "treating a dead man with cupping glass."
’American’ captured by Syria ’still alive after 23 years’
YNetNews 11/20/2006
Family solemn on birthday of Brooklyn-born Israeli soldier taken in 1982; ‘we are just trying to bring our son home,’ Zachary Baumel’s father says -- The parents of a Brooklyn-born Israeli soldier who was captured by Syrian forces 23 years ago solemnly marked the birthday of their missing son this weekend, petitioning the Israeli government to do more to work for the release of the soldier, whom they believe is still alive. Zachary Baumel, captured in Lebanon in 1982, turned 46 on Friday, surpassing the milestone at which he has spent more time in captivity than in freedom if he is indeed still alive. "We are just trying to bring Zachary home," said Yona Baumel, Zachary’s father. "I just want my son back. I wish the Israeli government would do more but so far they have largely done nothing."
Pressure mounts on Halutz to ’take responsibility’ for war
Ha’aretz 11/13/2006
Two prominent ex-generals, turning up pressure on IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, indicated Monday that Halutz should "take responsibility" for the military’s failures in the recent Lebanon war, following the example of former divisional commander Gal Hirsch, who resigned on Sunday. They spoke after Halutz Sunday largely rejected the findings of one of the committees that he himself appointed to investigate the army’s conduct during the war. Uri Segui, former chief of military intelligence, hinted in an Army Radio interview that the weight of responsibility for the blunders of the war fell on Halutz’ shoulders." I’m skeptical that the leadership that the IDF has today is capable of rehabilitating the army and bringing it to the point at which it needs to be," Segui said.
Israel Detonated a Radioactive Bunker Buster Bomb in Lebanon
By Flaviano Masella, Angelo Saso, Maurizio Torrealta, Centre for Research on Globalization - Middle East/RAI News 11/11/2006
What kind of weapon leaves traces of radiation & produces such lethal & circumscribed consequences? KHIAM SOUTHERN LEBANON: A BOMB’S ANATOMY -- The special report was triggered by the radioactivity measurements reported on a crater probably created by an Israeli Bunker Buster bomb in the village of Khiam, in southern Lebanon. The measurements were carried out by two Lebanese professors of physics - Mohammad Ali Kubaissi and Ibrahim Rachidi. The data - 700 nanosieverts per hour – showed remarkably higher radiocativity then the average in the area (Beirut = 35 nSv/hr ).... The samples were tested by Harwell’s nuclear laboratory, one of the most authoritative research centers in the world. On October 17th, Harwell disclosed the testing results - two samples in 10 did contain radioactivity. -- See also: Uranium Radiation Levels in Afghanistan Not Attributable to Depleted Uranium
Lebanon war’s deadly legacy continues to kill
By Salim Yassine, Centre for Research on Globalization - Middle East 11/13/2006
Three months after a UN-brokered ceasefire ended the 34-day conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the fields and olive groves of southern Lebanon remain sewn with a deadly crop -- unexploded cluster bombs. On Friday, farmer Mohammed Rizk became the latest victim of the summer war. Police said he was killed and a companion was wounded as they gathered olives in the village of Kfar Roumman, near Nabatiya. Since August 14 when hostilities ended, 23 people have been killed and another 136 injured by cluster munitions. The Israelis fired hundreds of thousands of the bomblets into south Lebanon during the month-long conflict, but according to the UN, clearing them has been made more difficult by Israel not revealing the precise areas they targeted.
IDF to reopen guerrilla-warfare training center in wake of Lebanon war
Ha’aretz 11/14/2006
The Israel Defense Forces intends to reopen the guerrilla-warfare training facility as a result of the Lebanon war, the IDF publication Bamahaneh has reported. The IDF shut down the facility, located at the Elyakim base in the north, following the withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. The army has been criticized internally as well as by many political leaders for, among other things, what they have called the army’s failure to effectively deal with Hezbollah’s guerrilla tactics during the Lebanon war. IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz has himself called the results of the war "mediocre." The training at the facility will include navigation using GPS satellites, constructing hidden outposts and camouflage techniques, according to the report. The facility will also include a paintball course...
Two French soldiers injured in bulldozer accident in S. Lebanon
Ha’aretz 11/13/2006
Two French soldiers serving with the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon were seriously injured on Sunday when their bulldozer rolled over, a spokesman for the UN force said. Milos Strugar said French troops were doing engineering and construction work when their bulldozer overturned at the French headquarters in the village of Bourj Qalawi near the southern port city of Tyre. Two soldiers were seriously injured and flown by a UN helicopter to hospital in the southern port city of Sidon for treatment, Strugar said. There are about 1,500 French soldiers serving with the reinforced U. N. peacekeeping force, which now numbers about 10,000 troops, that began arriving in Lebanon after a UN-brokered cease-fire resolution ended the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah war on Aug. 14.
Northern Israel residents feel let down, as Lebanese villages are rebuilt, while Israeli towns are still crumbling
Ma’an News Agency 11/12/2006
Bethlehem - Residents of the northern areas of Israel have expressed their envy of the way Hezbollah and the Lebanese government have treated the people of south Lebanon, following the Israeli war against Lebanon. When they compared that treatment with the way that the Israeli government has dealt with their suffering due to the same war, they raged at the seeming unfairness of the property tax. Civic leaders of the northern towns said in a session on Sunday, "Hezbollah tortured us for one month, while our own government has been torturing us now for the third month. While Hezbollah has rebuilt and restored the ruined villages in southern Lebanon, the Israeli government has ignored our ruins." The Israeli settlers threatened to ask the Lebanese government for support unless the Israeli government supports them appropriately. [end]
Lebanese Political Crisis Mounting: Sixth Minister Quits Cabinet
By Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, Centre for Research on Globalization - Middle East 11/13/2006
A political crisis is forming in post-war (2006) Lebanon as the Lebanese government and the Future Movement that dominates the government have both evidently lost their legitimacy. The legitimacy of the Lebanese government as the representative and governing executive body of Lebanon has been eroded. Under Lebanese law the Lebanese Cabinet and government must have representation from all of Lebanon’s diverse religious communities to be legitimate and constitutional. The composition of the Lebanese Cabinet must have representation from the Christian denominations, Muslim community, and Druze of Lebanon. Also, legally the President must be a Christian belonging to the Maronite Church (Maronite Catholic Church), the Prime Minister a Sunni Muslim, and the Speaker of Parliament a Shia Muslim.
Cluster bomb blast kills one Hezbollah fighter
International Middle East Media Center 11/11/2006
Lebanese sources reported on Friday at night that one Hezbollah fighter was killed when an Israeli cluster bomb exploded as he was clearing unexploded ordnance in southern Lebanon. The fighter was a member of a specialized team formed by Hezbollah to clear cluster bombs dropped by Israel during the war that took place between Israel and the party in July and August. The fighter was identified as Mohammad Taiseer Riziq. The incident took place in Arnoun village, in southern Lebanon. Cluster bombs dropped by the Israeli forces over Lebanon killed more than 22 people since the end of the war on August 14. The war ended by a UN-brokered ceasefire. Last Tuesday, UN Humanitarian Chief, Jan Egeland, called for an international freeze of cluster bombs.
Israel and America ’explore alternatives to overflights’
Daily Star 11/11/2006
BEIRUT: In the face of growing international criticism of Israeli overflights of Lebanon, Israel and the United States are considering alternative methods for gathering intelligence in the country, the Haaretz newspaper reported on Friday. Among the various proposals to replace the regular violations of Lebanese airspace by Israeli aircraft are the use of American satellites and intelligence-gathering flights carried out by other countries with the approval of the government of Lebanon, the Israeli daily said. Labor Minister Trad Hamadeh, a close Hizbullah ally, said any intelligence gathered in Lebanon and transmitted to Israel by a foreign country would be considered a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty. "American satellites or any other sort of intelligence-gathering or spying.... transmitted to the enemy [would be] considered a severe violation of our sovereignty."
Finns accept Israeli explanation for wartime air strike that killed UN observers, but questions remain
Daily Star 11/11/2006
HELSINKI: Finland on Friday accepted that an Israeli bombardment of a UN post in Lebanon in which four observers were killed, including one Finn, was accidental but said questions still remained. "On the basis of the material available, the Khiam expert group has no reason to question Israel’s explanation that the destruction of Patrol Base Khiam resulted from an error," a panel of military and diplomatic experts concluded. "Nor does the expert group have any evidence that the attack on the UN in Khiam was intentional," it added. But it regretted that on a number of technical military queries put to both Israel and the UN "no written replies were received." Outstanding questions remain about the position of the Israeli forces near the South Lebanon border town of Khiam...
Italy calls on the U.S. to press Israel on Palestinian conflict
Ha’aretz 11/10/2006
Italy’s Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema called on the United States on Friday to refocus its foreign policy following midterm elections, saying it was time to stand up to Israeli hawks over the Palestinian conflict. A staunch critic of the Iraq war, D’Alema said he did not expect a sudden shift in President George W. Bush’s foreign policy following his party’s defeat in mid-term elections. But he called on Bush to press Israel, where he said the military was lashing out in Gaza to prove its might after failing to defeat Hezbollah in Lebanon." I’m referring to a government weakened from the Lebanon conflict, pressed by the right, with the accusation of not being determined enough in its military operation," he said. He said the U.S. should make resolving the Palestinian conflict its priority.
Indonesian contingent arrives in Lebanon to join UN peacekeepers
Ha’aretz 11/10/2006
A first installment of Indonesian troops, including the son of the country’s president, arrived in Lebanon on Friday to join a United Nations peacekeeping force monitoring the cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah, Beirut airport authorities said. The 125-member advance team landed at Beirut airport aboard two United States Air Force planes from Istanbul. They boarded buses at the airport and headed to south Lebanon where they will take up positions along with thousands of other peacekeepers from some 20 countries in the UN’s Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL. Force Commander Brigadier General Sonny Prasetyo said his troops were here "to support UN forces in Lebanon" and help fulfill the mandate of UN Security Council resolution 1701...
On the hunt for the films that break the chaos
Daily Star 11/11/2006
INTERVIEW -- For series of documentary shorts of the summer war, filmmaker Rania Stephan let her camera be guided by a chain of chance encounters -- BEIRUT: Over the past three months, more than 50 short films made during or in response to the war in Lebanon this past summer have screened publicly in Beirut. They may be fiction or documentary, essay or reportage, rough or unpolished, experimental or unprofessional, emotionally wrought or borderline hysterical. But the appetite for these works has not dissipated. Whether projected in a proper movie theater during an established film festival or thrown onto the screen of a tiny room in a gallery, they have, for the most part, drawn sturdy crowds. The same season has also seen the rollout of a few more fully realized films...
Archaeologists uncover massive Canaanite burial ground in Jerusalem
Daily Star 11/11/2006
JERUSALEM: Archaeologists in Jerusalem have discovered a Canaanite burial ground dating back more than 4,000 years, Israel’s antiquities authority announced Tuesday. The site, uncovered at a construction site, covers more than 20 hectares and contains human and animal remains, as well as metal and ceramic artifacts and weapons, dating back to between 2,200 BC and 1,600 BC. The dig’s director, Yanir Milevsky, said that this was not the first such site found in the Jerusalem area but that "the quantity of items and their particularly good state of conservation will allow us to enlarge our knowledge of farming villages... during the Canaanite era. The ancient land of Canaan covered present-day Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, as well as adjoining coastal lands and parts of Lebanon and Syria. -- See also: 4,000-year-old cemetery uncovered in Jerusalem
Beirut arts lift off with Israel bangs
By Nayla Razzouk, Middle East Online 11/8/2006
Multimedia exhibition opens as Beirut’s artistic season reflects recent Israel-Lebanon conflict. -- How about the sound of Israeli bombs exploding in Beirut to the accompaniment of a trumpet improvisation? Or a pink Warholesque pop work of a smiling Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah? The devastating summer war between Israel and Hezbollah has inspired a multimedia exhibition opening Beirut’s artistic season at one of the Lebanese capital’s leading galleries, Espace SD. "We wanted to create a platform for artists, poets, writers and film-makers to share their work produced during or in reaction" to the July-August war, said gallery director Sandra Dagher. "Nafas (breath of) Beirut," which runs until November 17, features work by more than 40 artists, many of them under the age of 30.
Lebanon receives document setting up int’l tribunal in Hariri murder
Ha’aretz 11/11/2006
Lebanon received from the United Nations on Friday a draft document outlining the framework of a tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, Lebanese officials said. The personal representative of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Geir Pederson, handed a copy of the draft to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in Beirut. Pederson later visited Hariri’s son Saad, parliamentary majority leader, with another UN envoy. He told reporters on his way in to the meeting that he would discuss with Hariri UN Resolution 1701, which serves as a basis for a truce between Hezbollah and Israel. Hariri was assassinated on February 14, 2005, in a suicide truck bombing that killed 22 other people.
March 14, Hizbullah strike unyielding poses ahead of key consultation session
Daily Star 11/11/2006
BEIRUT: Tough statements from various sides in Lebanon’s current political showdown cast doubt Friday on the chances for headway when leaders convene Saturday morning for the fourth session of national consultation talks. Hizbullah on Friday continued to insist on the expansion of the Cabinet to include more opposition members, while the March 14 Forces reiterated their demands for the ouster of President Emile Lahoud and the creation of an international court to prosecute suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. MP Ghassan Tueni proposed to Speaker Nabih Berri that he ask the president to resign, An-Nahar daily reported on Friday. Tueni told the newspaper that he had informed Berri of a petition being circulated among MPs toward this goal.
US, Lebanon close to deal on new trade pact
Daily Star 11/11/2006
BEIRUT: The United States expects to finalize a new trade agreement with Lebanon by the end of November, marking progress in Beirut’s stalled bid for membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). Viewed as a prelude to a bilateral free-trade agreement between the two countries, the new Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) should eventually lead to Lebanon’s ascension to the WTO, US Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman said in a speech at a dinner hosted by the Lebanese American Chamber of Commerce on Friday." What that means is economic opportunities for Lebanon," Feltman said of the country’s anticipated inclusion in the world body. Lebanon, which gained WTO observer status in 1999, has missed several target dates for ascension due to the governments’ failure to adopt the required legislation...
Upgrade of Palestinian bureau to embassy?
Daily Star 11/9/2006
BEIRUT: The official negotiator for the various Palestinian factions in Lebanon said on Wednesday that he could not confirm rumors that the Cabinet was set to discuss today the question of turning the recently opened Palestinian bureau in Beirut into a full embassy. Pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reported on Wednesday that the official negotiator, Ambassador Khalil Makkawi, has repeatedly called on Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to discuss the issue with his ministers. When contacted by The Daily Star on Wednesday, Makkawi said the idea of transforming the Palestinian bureau into an embassy was nothing new and that he could not say whether the issue was up for discussion in the near future. -- See also: Cabinet puts off decision on Palestinian Embassy following contentious debate
Cabinet puts off decision on Palestinian Embassy following contentious debate
Daily Star 11/10/2006
BEIRUT: The Lebanese government suspended discussions Thursday on a controversial proposal for the establishment of a Palestinian Embassy in Beirut, after a heated debate and a request for postponement by the foreign minister. Some Lebanese politicians, including President Emile Lahoud, have expressed their fear that the establishment of an embassy would pave the way for permanent settlement of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Sources close to the government said after an intense debate, Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh requested that the issue be withdrawn from the agenda and dealt with at a later date. The head of the Lebanese portion of the Lebanese-Palestinian dialogue committee, Ambassador Khalil Makkawi, said on Thursday he was surprised by the refusal of some parties...
12 Israeli jets violate Lebanese airspace as Paris seethes over mock attacks
Daily Star 11/10/2006
Twelve Israeli jets violated Lebanese airspace on Thursday, a few hours after Paris summoned Israel’s ambassador in protest over Israeli warplanes diving on French UN peacekeepers in the South, the Lebanese Army said. The fighter-bombers entered Lebanon at 12:25 p. m. and flew high over the coastal town of Naqoura, headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) near the borders with Israel, an army statement said. They then flew over other Southern regions before flying at a lower altitude over the eastern city of Baalbek, the army added. The 12 planes left Lebanese airspace at 1 p. m. after flying over Tripoli and Akkar in the North. France on Thursday summoned Israeli ambassador Daniel Shek to complain about an incident in which Israeli warplanes dived menacingly on French UN peacekeepers...
Iran calls for emergency UN meeting on Israeli atrocities in Gaza
Mehr News Agency 11/8/2006
TEHRAN, Nov. 8 (MNA) – Iran has called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting to adopt appropriate policies to support the Palestinians’ rights and condemn the atrocities of the Zionist regime, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini announced on Wednesday. At least 18 Palestinians were killed and 40 wounded by Israeli tank fire in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun on Wednesday. “These inhumane crimes, which are a reminder of the atrocities in Qana, Lebanon, show the depth of the brutality of the Zionist regime’s leaders and are strongly condemned by the world,” Hosseini said in a statement. The fact that the leaders of the Zionist regime target women and children and the United States remains mum indicates that a conspiracy to massacre the indigenous Palestinians is underway...
Witnesses say Israel still has troops in and around Ghajar
Daily Star 11/9/2006
BEIRUT/GHAJAR: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) expects to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Lebanese part of Ghajar and other border territories today, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday. "UNIFIL is carrying out an investigative patrol in order to confirm the Israeli withdrawal from the area around Ghajar," UNIFIL spokesperson Milos Strugar told The Daily Star. "UNIFIL will verify the withdrawal tomorrow with the handover of the area to the Lebanese Army." The Israelis are still present inside Lebanese territory in Ghajar and the immediate vicinity of a few hundred meters. Hopefully, soon we will have an agreement over this." In Israel, an Israeli military official confirmed on Tuesday that ".... at the moment, we are not changing our deployment inside the village itself."
Haifa’s Arab and Jewish residents bounce back after being targeted by Hezbollah in the summer
Ma’an News Agency 11/9/2006
HAIFA, 7 November (IRIN) - With the trauma of war still fresh in their minds, the Jewish and Arab residents of one of Israel’s most mixed cities are doing their best to rebuild their lives. Rockets fired by Hezbollah from Lebanon killed 13 Jewish-Israelis and three Arab-Israelis, according to the Israeli government. And more than 480 businesses and homes were destroyed or damaged. A fifth of Haifans fled the city to escape Hezbollah’s lethal barrage, with the rest sheltering in bomb shelters as city life ground to a standstill." I was forced to cope because of my newly born daughter. But it was hard and I still think there will be trouble in the future," said Ifat Assayag, 36, a clothing store manager who gave birth a week before the 34-day war broke out on 12 July.
Army signs deal for $10.5 million in equipment from US
Daily Star 11/10/2006
BEIRUT: A visiting senior US Defense Department official said Thursday that Lebanon was on the verge of "a historical shift" toward sovereignty and independence. "In support of this upcoming change, we are proud to work with the Lebanese government to ensure that its armed forces are trained and equipped to serve and protect the Lebanese people," said Assistant Defense Secretary Peter Rodman. The US official’s comments were made after a meeting with Defense Minister Elias Murr at the Defense Ministry in Yarzeh. The meeting, also attended by US Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman, saw the signing of an agreement to provide the ar-my with $10. 5 million in military equipment." The agreement represents an important step forward in US support for Lebanon," Rodman said.
Post-conflict Lebanon: the landscape beyond Hizbullah
By Marco Vicenzino, Daily Star 11/9/2006
Expert opinion - Tensions among rival factions demonstrate growing public display of polarization -- Since the UN-brokered cease-fire on August 14, Lebanon has witnessed a growing public display of post-conflict polarization - as demonstrated by recent clashes between rival factions and the largest public rallies representing diametrically opposing views of the conflict and the nation’s future. On September 22, Hizbullah’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, defied security concerns to speak to a gathering of 800,000 supporters at a "divine victory" rally. Two days later, Samir Geagea, leader of the Christian Lebanese Forces and member of the March 14 Forces, held a rally denouncing the conflict as a major reversal for Lebanon and emphasized the need to support the central government and the disarming of all militias.
Argentina Orders Ex-Iran Leader Held
The Guardian 11/10/2006
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - A federal judge Thursday ordered the detention of former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani and eight others in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center that killed 85 people, the judge’s office said. A special prosecutor sought the order, alleging that the worst terrorist attack on Argentine soil was orchestrated by leaders of the Iranian government and entrusted to the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah. Iran’s leading diplomatic envoy in Buenos Aires, Mohsen Baharvand, told The Associated Press that his government would oppose any efforts to detain Rafsanjani or other Iranian nationals. Baharvand, Iran’s charge d’affaires, said the case was politically motivated.
More IAF flights reported over Lebanon
Jerusalem Post 11/9/2006
Israeli fighter jets were reported to have penetrated deep into Lebanon on Thursday, a day after France said its troops were "two seconds" away from firing on a squadron of F-15s that buzzed their positions in the south of the country at the end of October. The jets flew over the southern coastal town of Nakoura and the city of Tyre, as well as Baalbek in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley on Thursday, according to Lebanese officials. A senior Defense Ministry official said in response to the French complaint: "Israel sees the international forces as partners and not enemies in the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701." He added that the overflights were strictly for inspection and noted that there would be no need for them if the smuggling of weapons from Syria to Lebanon was stopped. -- See also: Israeli aircraft escapes French fire by seconds
US to train, equip Lebanese army
Jerusalem Post 11/9/2006
The United States on Thursday gave Lebanon US$10. 5 million to train and equip Lebanese soldiers as they take on the task of controlling southern Lebanon, a stronghold of the Hizbullah guerilla group. The grant is part of a US plan worth $40 million to strengthen the Lebanese Army. Thursday’s donation was made in an agreement signed by US Assistant Secretary of Defense Peter Rodman and Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr. Rodman praised the recent deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon - a part of the country where it has not served in large numbers for more than three decades owing to the presence of Palestinian and Lebanese guerillas and a political standoff with Israel. The United States wanted "to assist Lebanon in building its capacity to protect its borders and establish sovereignty over all its territory.."
Israeli aircraft escapes French fire by seconds
Middle East Online 11/9/2006
PARIS - French United Nations troops were "two seconds" away recently from firing at Israeli aircraft diving towards their position in southern Lebanon, Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said in parliament on Wednesday." Two seconds later there would have been a shot against the aircraft which were directly menacing our forces," Alliot-Marie said." A catastrophe was avoided thanks to the judiciousness of our troops," she added. The incident occurred on October 31, the defence ministry said, without giving the exact location. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said that a caution would be given to the Israeli authorities, saying that "Israeli flights over southern Lebanon are a source of serious concern... When Israeli aircraft recently ’dived’ on French UNIFIL soldiers, it is a miracle that nothing serious happened..."
UNIFIL: IDF to pull out of Ghajar
Jerusalem Post 11/7/2006
IDF troops were to begin withdrawing Tuesday from the Lebanese part of the divided border village of Ghajar, the UN peacekeeping force said. When completed, the IDF withdrawal from Ghajar would put Israeli forces behind the UN-demarcated Blue Line bordering the two countries for the first time since the summer war between the Jewish state and Hizbullah guerrillas. The army withdrew from other areas they occupied during the war in early October but remained in Ghajar, a village that is half in Israel and half in Lebanon. Maj. -Gen. Alain Pellegrini made the announcement after a meeting with Lebanese and Israeli officers at the UN peacekeeping headquarters in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura." It was agreed that the Israeli Defense Forces will withdraw their forces from most of the surrounding area of Ghajar village today..."
Wolfensohn: US may lose interest in Israel
YNetNews 11/7/2006
Former World Bank president says global economic, political changes could weaken Israel-US ties -- Former World Bank President James Wolfensohn told the Jewish Federation of Chicago that the Lebanon war was an unprecedented test to Israel’s military and withing a year or two the Jewish State will no longer be Washington’s center of attention. Wolfensohn said although the West recognizes Israel’s historical legitimacy and cherish strategic ties with Jerusalem, recent changes in the Middle East leave the Jewish State in a problematic position. Ongoing clashes between Fatah and Hamas, and the influx of arms into the Gaza Strip from Sinai, obliterated understandings reached between Israel and the Palestinians during the August 2005 disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
UN: No IDF uranium bomb use in Lebanon
YNetNews 11/8/2006
UN team carrying out environmental assessment of Lebanon after last summer’s Israel-Hizbullah war confirms IDF used artillery containing white phosphorous but finds no evidence of depleted uranium -- A UN official said Tuesday that a team carrying out an environmental assessment of Lebanon after this summer’s Israel-Hizbullah war confirmed that the Israeli military used artillery containing white phosphorous but found no evidence of depleted uranium. Achim Steiner, UN Undersecretary-general and executive director of the UN Environment Program, said samples taken by scientists confirmed “the use of white phosphorous-containing artillery and mortar ammunition” by the Israeli military during the conflict. ”No depleted uranium shrapnel, or other radioactive residue was found..."
When Rain Becomes the Nightmare: National Day Against Cluster Bombs!
By Imad Martada, Electronic Intifada 11/6/2006
Writing from Lebanon -- When it comes to cluster bombs, rain was again an issue; a big tent was put up in Martyr s square in downtown Beirut to host the event to avoid the pouring sky. Many NGOs, local and international, gathered to raise awareness about this indiscriminate weapon and to voice a demand for a ban on its manufacturing, distribution and usage. School children and adults toured the multiple sections of the event, an extensive photo exhibit revealing the perilous impact of these weapons in Southern Lebanon; a booth and area where specialists illustrated the stages in constructing prosthetics and artificial limbs, and where the public could also try them along with wheel chairs; a puppet show for children raising awareness amongst the children; a musical concert by handicapped children...
Unexploded Hezbollah rockets pose risk
Electronic Intifada/IRIN 11/5/2006
DUBAI, 5 Nov 2006 (IRIN) - Israeli bomb disposal units are combing the north of the country for unexploded Hezbollah rockets left over from the recent conflict in an operation that will continue for months, Israeli police say. Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party with an armed wing, fired nearly 4,000 rockets - including more than 100 containing cluster bombs - into the densely populated Galilee region in Israel’s far north as well as cities further south such as Haifa, killing 43 civilians. While the risks to residents of southern Lebanon from an estimated one million unexploded cluster bombs fired by Israel are well-documented, Israeli officials say the world has largely ignored the problems caused by unexploded Hezbollah rockets in their country.
Lebanese PM denies report of possible meeting with Olmert
Ha’aretz 11/7/2006
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said late Monday that remarks made by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert about a possible meeting between the two leaders are "baseless." Siniora was referring to news reports that Olmert was arranging a meeting with him. A statement issued by Siniora’s office denied the meeting and said "lately the Israeli enemy and through various means or Israeli newspapers is reporting such baseless reports." "It is very clear that the aim of the Israeli reports is to hit the national unity inside Lebanon and also to convince the (Lebanese) people that such a meeting is being worked on," the statement said. "We believe that the enemy’s premier is trying to hide his political and military failure in Lebanon by sending such press balloons," the statement said.
Jewish state claims Hizbullah, Syria planning new war
Daily Star 11/7/2006
BEIRUT: Israel is bracing itself for a possible new war with Lebanon, the chief of operations for the Jewish state’s northern border area said on Monday. "We are preparing for a second war... and we are very optimistic, but on our side we must do everything to prepare for a worst-case scenario and we are readying for a scenario that [UN Security Council] Resolution 1701 will not succeed," said Lieutenant Colonel Guy Hazoot. Resolution 1701 ended a brutal 34-day Israeli bombardment that demolished much of Lebanon’s infrastructure, displaced one quarter of the population and killed and wounded over 5,000 people." We will not give Hizbullah the opportunity to come back to these positions," Hazoot said, gesturing to Lebanese territory across the border.
Palestinian students lack funds when they need them most
Daily Star 11/6/2006
Scholarship grants dry up as poverty spreads -- BEIRUT: Palestinian students at Lebanese universities are facing a precipitous drop in loans and fellowships available to help them offset tuition costs this year. The European Union, which last year provided the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) with a $1. 1 million grant for university scholarships as a one-time offer, has declined to renew its donation this year. At the same time, the Palestinian Student Fund, a non-governmental organization which offers Palestinians students loans to cover their tuitions, responded to its own decline in funding by raising eligibility requirements and narrowing the field of specialties loan recipients can study.... the Palestinian Democratic Youth Union warned... many of Lebanon’s estimated 3,500 Palestinian university students might be forced to abandon their studies.
Beirut Diaries: ’the end of political innocence’
By Jim Quilty, Daily Star 11/7/2006
Review -- BEIRUT: "They’re making fools of us," a pretty young woman laughs tearfully into the camera. "I want to cry but I’m laughing. Everyone is crying because we don’t know what’s next." Docu Days, the Beirut International Documentary Festival, opened at Unesco Palace on Sunday night with "Beirut Diaries," a new work by Palestinian-Lebanese filmmaker Mai Masri. The film is about the Beirut Spring - several weeks of civil demonstrations that began spontaneously after the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri in February 2005, and lasted until the political class pulled the plug when the last Syrian troops withdrew from the country in late April. The demonstrations coalesced into a cross-partisan youth sit-in.... all the while being instrumentalized by Lebanon’s anti-Syrian politicians...
Lebanese politicians kick off ’ice-breaking’ talks to debate calls for unity government
Daily Star 11/7/2006
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s top politicians kicked off "ice-breaking" talks on Monday to debate the demands of Hizbullah and its allies for the formation of a national unity government. Following the four-hour session, Speaker Nabih Berri, who is sponsoring the meetings, said the leaders decided to pursue their consultations on Tuesday. Berri called for the talks in a bid to prevent rising tensions from degenerating into street clashes between the country’s political groups." It is necessary to reach a solution because we cannot stay in this situation. They were ice-breaking talks and everyone is keen to unite in order to resolve issues," Berri said later. The talks were attended by all major political leaders, except Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah who sent the head of his parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammad Raad, to represent him for security reasons.
Tehran offers anti-aircraft missiles to Beirut
Daily Star 11/6/2006
BEIRUT: Iran is prepared to provide Lebanon with anti aircraft missiles, the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Lebanon said over the weekend. "Iran is ready to supply modern anti-aircraft arms to Lebanon," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sheibani as saying after talks late Saturday with the commander of the Lebanese Army, General Michel Suleiman. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s office had no comments on the Iranian initiative. A high-ranking Lebanese Army source confirmed to The Daily Star Sunday that the statement "was indeed given by the Iranian ambassador and the Lebanese Army has no comments on the matter so far." However, the source added: "the Lebanese Army has no problem with the source of any received weapons as long as they are provided in the context of defending Lebanon."
Palestinian FM in Cairo: PM Haniyeh will visit Egypt soon on first leg of Middle East tour
Ma’an News Agency 11/3/2006
Gaza - Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh wishes to visit Egypt on the first leg of his proposed Middle East tour, the Palestinian foreign minister, Dr Mahmoud Az-Zahhar, told Egyptian officials during a meeting in Cairo on Thursday. Haniyeh is expected to soon embark on a tour of a number of Arab and Islamic countries including Saudi Arabia, Syria, Qatar, Iran and Lebanon. Az-Zahhar told the Middle East News Agency that, during his visit to Cairo, he discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian territories and "the means to stop the Israeli aggression and to lift the siege of the Palestinian people." He added that he also discussed with the Egyptians the prisoners’ exchange. He stressed to the Egyptians that the whole Palestinian people agree on the need to release Palestinian prisoners...
Germany expects no more ’incidents’ off Lebanese coast
Daily Star 11/4/2006
German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said in Beirut on Friday that he expects no more shooting incidents between the Israeli Army and German forces backing up a UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. The German defense ministry said last week that in two separate incidents, Israeli warplanes fired shots over a German helicopter and on an unarmed German vessel off the Lebanese coast." I assure you that no more incidents of this kind are going to happen... The important thing is to implement United Nations Security Council resolution 1701," Jung said following talks in Beirut with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora." We are currently implementing our mandate... and I assure that there’ll be no more incidents of this kind, so we are able to fulfill our mission here," he said before flying to Israel.
UNIFIL reaches ’initial operating capacity,’ with more reinforcements on the way
Daily Star 11/4/2006
The expanded UN force in South Lebanon said Friday that a total of 9,450 troops from 20 countries have been deployed in Lebanon since an August 14 cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbullah. "UNIFIL is progressively enhancing its operational capabilities in order to fulfill its responsibilities under Security Council Resolution 1701," a statement said regarding the UN-brokered agreement. The statement added that 7,730 troops have been deployed between the Litani River and the Blue Line, in addition to a 1,700-strong Maritime Task Force. Indonesia’s ambassador to the UN said Friday that Indonesian troops are set to join the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon this month. A 125-member advance team will leave Sunday, Rezlan Jenie, the head of the Indonesian mission to the UN in New York, told reporters.
Iranian foreign ministry condemns the Israeli assaults on Beit Hanoun
Ma’an News Agency 11/3/2006
The spokesperson of the Iranian ministry of foreign affairs condemned on Friday the Israeli atrocities committed in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip which resulted in the death and injury of dozens of Palestinians. The Iranian news agency (IRNA) has reported that the foreign ministry spokesperson, Muhammad Ali Husni, called on the international institutions, especially the UN Security Council, to stick to their responsibilities regarding security and peace in the region and end the killing of Palestinians by the Israeli army. The spokesperson added that Israel is trying to compensate for their defeat in Lebanon by exerting pressure on the Palestinian government. [end]
Peretz to Germany: We won’t ignore Iran
YNetNews 11/3/2006
Defense minister meets with German counterpart to settle issue of shooting incident in Lebanon, discuss Iranian threat. Germany’s Jung: We’ll do utmost to block Iranian nuclear armament -- Defense Minister Amir Peretz met on Friday with his German counterpart Dr. Franz Josef Jung and told him that Israel cannot ignore Iran’s armament. “This is a provocation of the entire free world,” Peretz said of the Iranian nuclear development. “The international community must act using all means available against Iran. In response, Jung confirmed that his country would do its utmost to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons. One of the issues on the agenda of Friday’s meeting was the recent incident involving IDF planes and a German helicopter along the Lebanese shore, in which shots were apparently fired...
Poll: PM’s reshuffle gained stability, not popular support
Ha’aretz 11/3/2006
A poll conducted by Haaretz and Dialog under the guidance of Professor Camille Fuchs earlier this week found that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s approval rating is only 20 percent, while 70 percent of respondents said that they were dissatisfied with his leadership. Olmert managed to stabilize his coalition by including Yisrael Beiteinu, but he has been less successful in regaining popular support since the end of the Lebanon War. His situation continues to be bad, and his climb in the polls is likely to be long and slow. His only consolation is that Defense Minister Amir Peretz’s situation is even worse. In reality, the only thing in Olmert’s favor is that there are no elections on the horizon - because if there were, it does not appear that either he or his party, Kadima, would be in a position to lead the next government.
Foreign airlines to increase flights to Israel 20% this winter
Globes Online 11/2/2006
El Al is not increasing its flights or seats, but is launching new routes. -- Foreign airlines will increase the number of flights to Israel by 20% this winter, compared with last winter. Seat availability is expected to rise by 22%, says Ministry of Transport director general Gideon Siterman. The Israel Civil Aviation Administration granted permits for additional flights, mostly before the second Lebanon war, to ten airlines, including Air France, Delta Air Lines and Hapag-Lloyd Flug GmbH (HapagFly). Air France is adding a daily flight. El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL) is not increasing its flights or seats, but is expanding or launching new routes to Beijing, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago and other destinations. The number of flights and seats by charter airlines is likely to decline because of the increase by scheduled airlines and a decline in pilgrim and tourist traffic.
Feltman says Berri and government have gained international confidence
Daily Star 11/4/2006
BEIRUT: US Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman said Friday that Speaker Nabih Berri and the government have gained the confidence of "international players who can bring resources and opportunities to Lebanon when the Paris III donor conference will be held in early 2007." "According to the US, it is not enough to support Lebanon’s survival. We should work collectively to ensure Lebanon’s economic and democratic revival," he said after holding talks with Berri. Highlighting the US commitment to preserve Lebanon’s independence, Feltman said: "Our commitment to assist Lebanon is firm and nonnegotiable." "The US is ready to support a process by which the Lebanese themselves are freely able, without intimidation or outside interference, to exercise their own responsibility for Lebanon’s future," he added.
IDF paper: Lebanon overflights aim to pressure int’l community
Ha’aretz 11/2/2006
An internal Israel Defense Forces document says the continued air force flights over Lebanon are intended in part to pressure the international community to prevent arms smuggling to Hezbollah and secure the release of IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, a senior Defense Ministry official said Thursday. The document, titled "Strategic diplomatic messages: the army must continue overflights to secure international pressure," was approved by IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, the official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss policy with the press. Foreign Ministry spokesman Aviv Shir-On said setting political objectives is not part of the IDF’s tasks.... The Lebanese army [said] its gunners fired anti-aircraft artillery at Israel Air Force warplanes as they flew over south Lebanon.
U.S. officials demand IAF cease overflights in Lebanese airspace
Ha’aretz 11/3/2006
Two Bush administration officials demanded that Israel Air Force overflights of Lebanon be halted, saying that such flights undermine the standing of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. The two U.S. diplomats, David Welch and Elliott Abrams, held short meetings Thursday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. The meeting with Olmert was dedicated to preparations for his visit to the United States and his meeting with President George W. Bush in 10 days’ time. A government source said that the two envoys did not put forth any new diplomatic initiative on behalf of the Bush administration. Olmert also met Thursday with visiting U.S. Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte, who is in Israel as the guest of Mossad chief Meir Dagan.
Up to 200,000 still displaced after war, UN says
Electronic Intifada/IRIN 11/1/2006
BEIRUT - Up to 200,000 people could still be displaced in Lebanon nearly three months after the Israel-Hezbollah conflict ended, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday." We don’t have the precise number of IDPs [internally displaced people] since there has been no formal registration, but we can estimate their number to 150,000 - 200,000," Stephane Jaquemet, UNHCR regional representative in Lebanon, told IRIN. He added that the vast majority of the displaced live with friends or relatives and not in collective centres. This has made it harder for relief workers and authorities to work out an exact figure for the numbers displaced and to assess their needs. UNHCR spokesman Simon Russel said many of the displaced had been unable to return because of unexploded ordnance littering the landscape...
Palestinian parliamentarians head to Damascus to address the Arab Transitional Parliament
Ma’an News Agency 11/2/2006
Bethlehem - A delegation of Palestinian parliamentarians is heading to the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Thursday in order to participate in the Arab Transitional Parliament, a joint Arab body comprising of parliamentarians from across the Arab world. The three-day session begins on Friday. The Palestinian delegation will be headed by Tayseer Quba’ah. Rawhi Fattouh, Sakhir Bsiso and Hanan Ashrawi also make up the delegation. The Arab parliamentarians will discuss the internal Palestinian situation and the Israeli aggressions, in addition to the situation in Lebanon and Iraq, including the Israeli attack on Lebanon last summer. According to Abdul Raouf Alami, a member of the Palestinian National Council, the Palestinian delegation will address the other Arab parliamentarians and inform them about the current situation...
Ben-Eliezer calls on Halutz to resign
Jerusalem Post 11/2/2006
A senior IDF officer denied a report claiming the Chief of General Staff Lt. -Gen. Dan Halutz plans to quit if Defense Minister Amir Peretz does not authorize his recent General Staff appointments involving officers who commanded divisions on the ground during the summer war in Lebanon. The officer, according to Israel Radio, called the report "nonsense." He claimed there was no tension between Halutz and Peretz and that the latter was in the loop throughout the process. # The second Lebanon war: JPost. com special reportInfrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) called on Halutz to resign. In an interview on Israel Radio, Ben-Eliezer said Halutz failed in his handling of the war and was not the right person to rehabilitate the IDF.
Key data withheld from army officers during Lebanon war
Ha’aretz 11/3/2006
Senior officers Northern Command and Division 91 officers were not privy to essential intelligence information regarding Hezbollah’s deployment prior to the second Lebanon War. The intelligence, which was available to the Israel Defense Forces, included accurate information about Hezbollah bunkers and positions, as well as the internal structure of such positions. The officers were aware that such information existed, but were prevented by the Intelligence Directorate’s Committee on Source Security, claiming that the information was secret. Military Intelligence decided that the information would only be made available in the event of a war. Officers’ demands to gain access to information on routine security preparations that could counter Hezbollah raids inside the border fence were also rejected...
Iran ’sending funds to Hezbollah’
BBC Online 11/2/2006
A senior Hezbollah official has told the BBC that Iran is providing the group with money to help fund its reconstruction activities in Lebanon. Kassam Allaik said Iran also had its own groups in Lebanon, rebuilding bridges, roads and mosques. Lebanon’s Finance Minister, Jihad Azour, also acknowledged that Iranian money is going directly to Hezbollah. Mr Azour said that he is trying to persuade Iran to finance the relief effort through the government. Since the end of the conflict with Israel, Hezbollah has shifted focus from fighting to reconstruction. It has paid lump sums of cash to the 15,000 or so households which lost their homes in the fighting and it has organised teams of engineers to help with the rebuilding. Mr Allaik, the head of Hezbollah’s construction arm - Jihad Construction - has "admitted" that Iran is providing funds directly to Hezbollah to help the reconstruction effort.
Hezbollah denies U.S. claim it seeks to topple gov’t
Ha’aretz 11/2/2006
Hezbollah on Wednesday denied a White House accusation that it sought to topple Lebanon’s government with help from Syria and Iran. The group accused Washington of interfering in Lebanese politics by trying to shore up Prime Minister Fuad Siniora’s government." It is just one more American interference in Lebanese affairs," chief Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahhal told al-Arabiya television. Hezbollah and its allies demands for a "national unity" Cabinet in Lebanon "has nothing to do with Syria and Iran," he said. Syria’s ambassador to Washington firmly rejected the claims as ridiculous and baseless. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, accused the White House of intervening in internal Lebanese affairs.
Israel may rethink truce commitment
Jerusalem Post 11/1/2006
Israel warned on Tuesday that it might rethink its adherence to the cease-fire resolution that ended Lebanon war this summer, following a United Nations report that Syria was smuggling arms to Hizbullah in Lebanon. It’s the first time since the war that the UN had made such a clear statement with regard to the failure to disarm Hizbullah. The report flies in the face of the commitment Syrian President Bashar Assad made to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Damascus would comply with the arms embargo against Hizbullah and would support UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for it to be disarmed." If Lebanon cannot implement its side of the resolution, obviously Israel would be entitled to rethink the implementation of our commitments," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
US wary of Syria, Iran, Hizbullah
Jerusalem Post 11/2/2006
The White House said Tuesday it was concerned by "mounting evidence" that Syria, Iran and Hizbullah were planning to topple the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. White House press secretary Toby Snow warned that such attempts would be viewed as a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and UN Security Council Resolutions 1559, 1680 and 1701. He said one motive behind Syria’s actions was to prevent the Lebanese government from cooperating with the decision of an international tribunal to try those accused of assassinating former prime minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005. Syria is suspected of involvement in the killing...." Why are they telling these new lies at this specific time? " [Syria’s] official Tishrin newspaper said in an editorial...
Knesset member warns that attacking Gaza could lead to real war
Ma’an News Agency 11/1/2006
The Israeli Knesset member representing the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, Dov Hanin, denounced on Wednesday the Israeli killing of 9 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. In a statement, the MK called for an immediate ceasefire and warned that the deterioration of the situation could lead to a real war. He said: "War in Gaza is similar to that in Lebanon. It kills security, life and any sign of hope for coexistence." [end]
PM Haniyeh to embark on Middle East tour
Ma’an News Agency 11/1/2006
Bethlehem - Mohammad Almadhun, the head of the office of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, said that Haniyeh will make his first tour outside the country which includes several Arab countries and Iran. Almadhun added in press statements that the prime minister’s office and the foreign ministry have started making the necessary communications and preparations for this tour, which is expected to start in mid November. The tour will include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, Qatar, Lebanon and Iran. [end]
Hizbullah confirms talks on prisoner exchange
The Guardian 11/2/2006
Hizbullah yesterday confirmed that indirect talks with Israel on a prisoner exchange were under way, but warned that any attempt by an international force to disarm the group would transform Lebanon into another Iraq or Afghanistan. Speaking to Hizbullah’s al-Manar television in a pre-recorded interview broadcast on Tuesday night, the group’s leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said a UN mediator had been meeting officials from both sides in a bid to win the release of the two Israeli soldiers whose capture sparked Israel’s 34-day war with Hizbullah. "They are serious negotiations... we have reached a stage of exchanging ideas, proposals or conditions," he said. He refused to say when a deal might be reached.
Peretz discusses cabinet vacancy with Vilna’i
Jerusalem Post 11/2/2006
Labor Party chairman Amir Peretz met Wednesday at the Knesset with MK Matan Vilna’i, the front-running candidate for the cabinet vacancy created by Monday’s resignation of Science, Culture and Sport minister Ophir Paz-Pines. A spokesman for Peretz denied reports that Peretz offered Vilna’i the position, but said the matter was seriously discussed in a "positive" hour-long meeting. Peretz and Vilna’i agreed to meet again in the near future to continue their conversation, the spokesman said. Vilna’i is considered one of Peretz’s harshest critics. He ran against him for the Labor leadership last year and later endorsed Shimon Peres in an effort to prevent Peretz’s election. Ahead of the war in Lebanon, Vilna’i slammed Peretz for accepting the Defense portfolio and warned that Israel was in danger with him in the position.
Knesset parley on Jewish-Arab relations draws small turnout
Jerusalem Post 11/1/2006
While most of the Knesset was in the midst of preparations for the 11-year memorial of the assassination of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, a group of five MKs gathered to discuss what could be done to improve Palestinian-Israeli relations. Although the Jaffa Convention’s "call to action" for Jewish-Arab relations in the aftermath of the Lebanon war was held in the midst of a busy Knesset day, only MKs Michael Melchior (Labor-Meimad), Ibrahim Sarsour (Ra’am-Ta’al), Nadia Hilu (Labor), Hanna Sweid (Hadash), and Ze’ev Elkin (Kadima) answered the call. While more officials - as well as MKs - are expected to attend the central event in Jaffa on November 9, many were concerned over the small turnout." Even as we create a huge memorial for Rabin, we forget the reason for his death: his fight for peace," said Labor MK Ophir Paz-Pines...
Former MI chief: War had unachievable goals
YNetNews 11/1/2006
Winograd committee to start hearings on Lebanon war on Thursday; former military intelligence chief says Olmert erred when he rejected Lebanese counterpart Siniora’s offer for a ceasefire -- The Winograd committee set up to investigate the military and political echelons’ management of the war in Lebanon will start collecting testimonies on Thursday. One of the first people to testify before the committee is former military intelligence chief maj. -gen. Amos Malcha, which will present an overview of intelligence since 2000. Malcha said Wednesday, "Someone should have warned the prime minister not to criticize harshly." "Once you set a high standard which is unattainable, it is a problem," Malcha said about remarks by politicians and military officers during the war.
Peres: Arab leaders need to stop being timid
YNetNews 11/1/2006
Speaking to reporters in London vice premier calls on Arab leaders to hold open talks with Israel like Sadat, Hussein. Clarified: flyovers will stop when Hizbullah disarms -- Israeli planes will cease their flights over Lebanon only when Hizbullah will disarm and Israel will receive the region’s arsenal maps – so said Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres to reporters in London on Wednesday. Peres, who is finishing off a visit to the British capital, said that he doubts the potential success of Britain’s special envoy to Damascus. Not because he doubts Britain’s intentions, emphasized Peres, but because of Damascus. Israel is serious about a Syrian peace, says Peres – one that may include painful concessions on Israel’s part; but Assad is trying to have it both ways and ’that is impossible. ’
EU to Israel: Mock raids could encourage cease-fire violations
Ha’aretz 10/31/2006
The European Union on Tuesday called on Israel to respect Lebanon’s borders, with several diplomats warning its mock air raids over Beirut could encourage Syria and others to violate the UN resolution that ended the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah." We want to see the full implementation" of the resolution, EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin said. "We think that is also very much in Israel’s interest." The Lebanese army issued a statement Tuesday saying its gunners fired anti-aircraft artillery at Israel Air Force warplanes as they flew over south Lebanon. The IAF jets flew at a low altitude over Beirut, its suburbs and large areas of south Lebanon on Tuesday, witnesses and Lebanese security sources said.
Senior UN envoy for Lebanon ’particularly disturbed’ by Israeli over-flights of Beirut
Electronic Intifada/UN News 10/31/2006
A senior United Nations envoy today expressed serious concern at continuing Israeli over-flights of Lebanon, especially intensive mock air raids over Beirut this morning, calling them a breach of the Security Council resolution 1701, which ended this summer’s conflict with Hizbollah." The United Nations commends the efforts of all sides in implementing resolution 1701 over the 10 weeks since its adoption," a UN spokesperson in New York, quoting Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Personal Representative for Lebanon Geir Pedersen said. "It renews its call on Israel to cease its violations of Lebanese sovereignty and calls on all parties to respect and implement resolution 1701." The statement came just a day after Mr. Annan’s latest report to the Council on Lebanon, in which he noted that Israeli over-flights have continued...
Israel may "follow Lebanese example" and flout UN 1701
Jerusalem Post 10/31/2006
Israel warned on Tuesday that it might rethink its adherence to the cease-fire resolution that ended Lebanon war this summer, following a United Nations report that Syria was smuggling arms to Hizbullah in Lebanon. It’s the first time since the war that the UN had made such a clear statement with regard to the failure to disarm Hizbullah. The report flies in the face of the commitment Syrian President Bashar Assad made to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that Damascus would comply with the arms embargo against Hizbullah and would support UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which calls for it to be disarmed." If Lebanon cannot implement its side of the resolution, obviously Israel would be entitled to rethink the implementation of our commitments," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.
Israel, Germany to expand military ties after naval incidents
Ha’aretz 10/31/2006
Germany and Israel are expanding military communications after Israel Air Force jets buzzed German naval vessels serving with United Nations peacekeepers off Lebanon’s coast, officials said Tuesday. Germany’s Defense Ministry says IAF warplanes fired shots during one of the three flyovers in recent days. Israel’s ambassador to Germany, Shimon Stein, has denied that any shots were fired. Spokesmen for German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Defense Ministry said expanded military communications had been agreed between Israel and Germany to prevent any further such incidents. Germany has sent naval ships to serve with the expanded United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) following last summer’s conflict between Israel and Hezbollah militants.
State Comptroller begins to probe Halutz over Lebanon war
Ha’aretz 10/31/2006
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss on Tuesday began investigating Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and the IDF General Staff over their conduct during the recent war in Lebanon. In the coming days, Lindenstrauss will also call in for questioning Defense Minister Amir Peretz, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and Interior Minister Roni Bar-On, among others. The state comptroller also intends to investigate Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Lindenstrauss and the State Control Committee questioned Halutz as part of the report he is consolidating on political and military conduct during the war. The comptroller has informed the Knesset that he intends to complete the report by April 2007. The investigations will continue through the end of the year.
Planes known to carry CIA terror suspects landed in Tel Aviv
Ha’aretz 10/31/2006
The Israel Airports Authority has confirmed that planes known to have been used by the CIA to transport suspects to detention and interrogation facilities stopped at Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. According to the British civil liberties organization Statewatch, at least four flights through Tel Aviv occurred between 2003 and 2004. The data compiled by the organization draws on, among other sources, information from a European parliament committee as well as various European states. On May 7, 2003, an American GulfStream jet took off from Beirut in Lebanon to Larnaka in Cyprus. From there, it flew to "Tel Aviv" (meaning Ben-Gurion Airport on the outskirts of the city). Two days later, the plane returned to Larnaka, from where it departed for Morocco.
UN agency concludes operation to feed 810,000 mostly displaced people
Electronic Intifada/UN News 10/31/2006
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today wrapped up a successful three-month operation in Lebanon to feed over 810,000 people displaced or otherwise affected by this summer’s fighting between Israel and Hizbollah, providing nearly 13,000 tons of food throughout the country." The Lebanese government will take care of the few remaining pockets that may need some assistance to secure their basic food needs, but for WFP our mission is complete," the agency’s emergency coordinator for Lebanon, Zlatan Milisic, said." It was amazing to see how we cobbled it all together," he added, noting that in a country where it had no office for many years WFP mounted an operation run by 150 national and international staff within a couple of weeks. "It is sad to leave but we should not stay one day longer than needed."
Photostory: Climbing the Hill to Jerusalem and Bethlehem
By Dr. Bill Dienst, Electronic Intifada 10/31/2006
Writing from East Jerusalem, occupied West Bank -- Central Tel Aviv along the beach seems like such a relaxed and cosmopolitan place. From here one can ignore the cataclysmic events taking place to the north in Lebanon, to the south in Gaza, to the east in the West Bank and even further to the east in Iraq. I feel tempted to just go swimming here in the Mediterranean Sea, let my feet nourish the sand, and just relax on this beach to work on my tan. It would be easy to remain oblivious here in Tel Aviv to all the turmoil surrounding us here, but I must move on. My Israeli friend Nir gives me instructions on how to take the bus up the hill from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. I board the bus, which is filled to capacity, and plop myself on the floor in the back, surrounded by young IOF soldiers. The trip takes less then an hour.
Norwegian Social Forum: BDS at the core of Palestine solidarity
Stop The Wall 10/29/2006
The Norwegian Social Forum was held between the 19th to the 22nd of October in Oslo under the title of “The Globalization Conference”. Around 1750 people attended over 60 meetings and seminars. The Norwegian Association of NGO’s for Palestine, along with members of the Palestine Community and the Tear Down the Wall campaign arranged several meetings on Palestine, taking in the issues of prisoners, the Apartheid Wall, creative forms of resistance and the boycott of Israel. One of the biggest successes was a meeting called “The Middle East is burning - roads to justice and peace” focusing on Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon. Around 400 people attended to hear speeches by Gaza-journalist Leila al Haddad, Dr. Daoud Abdallah from Al-Awda UK and other speakers.
UN investigates Israel’s ’uranium weapons’
The Independent 10/30/2006
The United Nations Environment Programme is investigating allegations, first published in The Independent, that Israel may have used uranium-based weapons during this summer’s war in Lebanon. Twenty UN experts, working with Lebanese environmentalists, have spent two weeks assessing various samples. They are planning to report their findings in December. Butros al-Harb, Unep’s Middle East director, told a Lebanese radio interviewer at the weekend: "If uranium was used, we will find out and we will announce it. We cannot confirm anything now, but we will wait for results." Yesterday Israel issued its most explicit denial yet. Major Avital Leibovitz, a spokeswoman for the Israel Defence Forces, said: "We deny using any weapons containing uranium." One official suggested that if the environmentalists had indeed found traces of uranium, they would have to look for a different explanation.
IDF denies using uranium-based warheads during war in Lebanon
Ha’aretz 10/31/2006
Israel did not use uranium-based warheads during the Lebanon war, the army spokesperson’s office said Saturday. The announcement was made in response to a report published Saturday on the website of the British newspaper The Independent. The newspaper reported that studies carried out by a European Union-affiliated organization suggest the Israel Air Force used experimental missiles employing uranium against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Saturday that "all the arms and ammunition that we use are legal and conform to international laws." Boutros al-Harb, director of the United Nations Environment Program for Asia and the Middle East said Saturday that his organization is unable to confirm or deny the report. -- See also: Chris Bellamy: An enigma that only the Israelis can fully explain
Paz-Pines resigns as cabinet minister
Jerusalem Post 10/30/2006
Labor Party ministers slammed Science, Culture and Sport Minister Ophir Paz-Pines for announcing on Monday that he intended to resign from the cabinet and run for the party chairmanship in the primary race set for May 2007. They said Paz-Pines made a big mistake that would result in him languishing in the opposition for years while Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s government continued to survive. They also said he chose the wrong issue over which to leave the government. "His decision to resign over Avigdor Lieberman’s addition to the cabinet looks too political and too dovish," a minister said. "It would have been smarter for him to leave over an issue like forming a state commission of inquiry to investigate the war in Lebanon. That could have been a consensus issue, not a petty one."
Despite failures: Division commanders won’t be dismissed
YNet News 10/30/2006
General Staff decides to allow four commanders of divisions that took part in Lebanon war to remain in their positions or be appointed to other roles in army; decision represents vote of confidence on army chief’s part -- The four commanders of the military divisions that took part in the recent war in Lebanon will not be dismissed from their positions, despite the findings of inquiries conducted after the ceasefire went into force that revealed failures in their conduct. Some of the generals will continue to serve in their roles, while others will be appointed to administrative posts after completing serving their term in office.... It appears that the officers whose names became linked to a series of deficiencies during the war can be satisfied with the decision not to reprimand them too heavily, and to allow them the possibility to continue moving up in the ranks.
PM appears before Knesset committee on second Lebanon war
Ha’aretz 10/30/2006
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday appeared before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee to give his testimony on the events of the second Lebanon war. On Sunday, the committee concluded taking testimonies by Israel Defense Forces officers and soldiers, who described serious shortcomings in the functioning of the army during the war. Colonels, majors and captains told the committee that in the first three weeks of the war the IDF fielded ground forces close to the border, where Hezbollah was thickly deployed, instead of using them to counter the short-range rockets hitting northern border communities. Officers and soldiers said ambiguous orders resulted in forces’ moving toward targets in daylight along Hezbollah-controlled routes, resulting in unnecessary casualties.
Destruction and displacement hamper vaccination campaign
Electronic Intifada/IRIN 10/30/2006
BINT JBEIL - The destruction in villages and displacement of residents in southern Lebanon from the recent war posed problems for medical volunteers on the first day of a national emergency polio immunisation campaign for children on Monday." Usually, we would know exactly where to go to immunise the children," said nurse Nawal Saab, a member of one of the teams carrying out door-to-door immunisations in Bint Jbeil, 110 km south of Beirut. "This year, because so many houses have been destroyed and so many families have had to move in with relatives, outreach has been rendered more complicated." According to the United Nations, 1,200 of 1,500 homes in Bint Jbeil were destroyed during the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in July and August.
Bolton: ’Syria, Iran violating UN arms embargo’
Jerusalem Post 10/31/2006
US Ambassador John Bolton expressed concern that Syria and Iran are trying to destabilize Lebanon’s democratically elected government by violating a UN arms embargo. Bolton stressed on Monday that Syria’s obligations to respect a UN arms embargo authorized by the Security Council resolution that ended the 34-day Israeli-Hizbullah conflict in August "are particularly important as it is the one country other than Israel that borders Lebanon." He called on Syrian President Bashar Assad to abide by the commitment he made to Secretary-General Kofi Annan to support the resolution and the arms embargo. In a speech to the UN Security Council, Bolton welcomed the Lebanese government’s extension of its authority throughout the south of the country...
PM ’sorry’ for German boat incident
Jerusalem Post 10/30/2006
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert apologized on Sunday to German Chancellor Angela Merkel for an incident that occurred last week between an Israeli fighter jet and a German naval boat that was patrolling the waters outside Lebanon. In the conversation Olmert accepted an invitation by Merkel to visit Germany in the next few weeks. In addition German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung will travel to Israel later this week. Jung is also slated to visit Beirut.... Peretz vehemently denied reports that the Israeli jets had fired on the German vessel in his talk with Jung. However, on Friday the German Defense Ministry said that Israeli jets did in fact fire warning shots over one of its ships as it assisted the German-led UNIFIL maritime force in international waters 90 kilometers off the Lebanese coast.
UN to map disputed Shaba farms area on Israel-Lebanon border
Ha’aretz 10/30/2006
The United Nations will appoint a cartographer to map the precise location and area of the Shaba Farms, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni reported to the cabinet on Sunday. The status of the territory on the slopes of Mount Hermon is disputed by Lebanon, Syria and Israel and its boundaries have never been precisely defined. Livni said the cartographer would start working in mid-November from UN headquarters in New York, and not conduct surveying at the site itself at this stage. The move was decided on following the periodical report of UN envoy Terje Larsen about the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559. Israel took over the area in 1967 and sees it as part of the Golan Heights. The UN accepted this position following the IDF’s pullout from Lebanon in May 2000 but Hezbollah and Lebanon claim that this is Lebanese territory still under Israeli occupation.
Lahoud objects to int’l court on Hariri murder
Jerusalem Post 10/31/2006
Lebanon’s pro-Syrian president objected on Monday to the draft document setting up an international court to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, and declared no agreement can pass without his approval. President Emile Lahoud, whose security chiefs are under arrest in connection with the 2005 assassination, said in a statement he had multiple objections to the draft. Under the constitution, Lahoud said, the president in agreement with the prime minister must approve any deal before it goes to Cabinet for approval. "It ends there" if the president disapproves, he said. A UN investigation into Hariri’s killing has implicated top Syrian and Lebanese security officials, a charge Syria denies.
Rice: Hizbullah must choose between terror and politics
Jerusalem Post 10/28/2006
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stepped up international pressure on Hizbullah to disarm, saying in a television interview aired Friday that the guerrilla group must surrender its weapons if it wants to remain part of Lebanon’s political process. Meanwhile, the European Union’s foreign policy chief holds talks Saturday with top Lebanese political leaders in an effort to bolster support for Prime Minister Fuad Saniora’s embattled government. Rice urged Hizbullah to lay down its arms according to the cease-fire that ended its 34-day war with Israel last summer, and choose between being a militant group and a legitimate political organization. Hizbullah is under heavy international pressure to surrender its weapons...
Russia has separate peacekeeping mission in Lebanon
YNet News 10/27/2006
UN peacekeepers deployed in Lebanon are unlikely to be able to disarm Hizbullah, as required under UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has said, a news agency has reported. "Under the UN mandate, one of the main functions of the peacekeepers is to disarm Hizbullah," Ivanov was quoted as saying by the state-run news agency RIA-Novosti on Friday. "I strongly doubt that the UN will fulfil this task." Ivanov said that concern over this aspect of the peacekeepers’ mission was one of the reasons Moscow decided to send a peacekeeping contingent to Lebanon under an accord reached separately with the Lebanese government, instead of under the UN mandate, RIA-Novosti reported.
Unemployment rate down 0.1% in August to 246,400
Globes 10/28/2006
Jobseeker numbers rose 0. 2% in September to 217,000. -- The unemployment rate fell by 0. 1% to 8. 7% of the civilian labor force in August 2006, despite the second Lebanon war, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported today. The number of unemployed fell by 2,832 persons to 246,400. Unemployment fell by 0. 2%, or 5,564 persons, from 8. 9%, or 252,000 persons in source figures, during the second quarter. The unemployment rate fell in June-August after rising by 0. 2% in January-May. However, the number of business sector employees fell by 0. 2%, or 4,000 persons, to 1. 8 million, in July, when the war broke out. The business sector added 13,000 net new jobs in January-July, an increase of 1. 4%, and 115,000 jobs since October 2004, including 52,000 since August 2005.
Report: "Several soldiers killed after requested to take photos faking capture of Lebanese town"
International Middle East Media Center 10/26/2006
Israeli reports revealed that after the army failed to capture Bint Jbeil town, in southern Lebanon, army leaders requested several soldiers to take pictures showing the Israeli flag on top of a house in the town; several soldiers were killed by Hezbollah fighters while attempting to carry out the order. An Israeli officer testified in front of the Knesset Committee of Security and Foreign Affairs and said that several soldiers who fought in Lebanon were killed while attempting to take pictures showing the army’s victory. Investigators into War events listened to the testimony of 30 soldiers from different ranks last Sunday, one of them, Eyal Bloom, testified the following events; “.... The aim was to provide proofs that we occupied the town after sever[e] battles with Hezbollah fighters..."
Solana: Reopen crossings to Gaza
Jerusalem Post 10/26/2006
Defense Minister Amir Peretz told European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana on Thursday that the IAF’s reconnaissance flights over Lebanon will continue until the two IDF reservists kidnapped by Hizbullah in July are freed." The flights over Lebanon will continue until the soldiers have been returned and the supervision of the border is arranged," said Peretz. The two men spoke in Tel Aviv a day after reports that two IAF fighter jets allegedly targeted a German warship patrolling off the Lebanese coast as part of the UN-peacekeeping force. The Defense Ministry said the planes had not attacked the ship. Solana is making a six-day visit to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt in an attempt to breathe new life into the peace process.
Middle East crisis - update 25 Oct 2006
ReliefWeb/Islamic Relief 10/25/2006
Islamic Relief’s emergency response phase in Lebanon is almost over and the focus is now turning to helping people recover from the war. Homes and infrastructure need to be rebuilt, and the affected population needs help to prepare for the oncoming winter and to recover their livelihoods. Cluster bombsCluster bombs and other unexploded ordinance (UXO) are scattered throughout southern Lebanon. Mine disposal teams are working in the area but it will take up to 18 months to clear the whole country. UN officials have seen around 100,000 unexploded cluster bomblets in 359 separate sites in Lebanon. Since the ceasefire, 13 Lebanese civilians have been killed and 53 injured by unexploded ordnance (UXO). Six Lebanese soldiers have also been killed by UXOs while clearing homes and fields.
UNIFIL: Administrative snags delaying IDF pullout from Ghajar
Ha’aretz 10/26/2006
The deputy commander of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon said Thursday that administrative issues were delaying the IDF withdrawal from Ghajar." The meeting was productive and the main focus was to finalize arrangements for Ghajar after the IDF withdrawal," Brigadier General L. P. Nehra said in after meeting senior Lebanese and Israel Defense Forces officers on the border. Israel completed its withdrawal from southern Lebanon at the start of October, but IDF troops remain in the divided border village." Minor administrative issues with relation to Ghajar residents are still pending, but UNIFIL hopes they will be solved at the next meeting early next week," the statement said. Some 10,000 Lebanese soldiers have deployed across south Lebanon. UNIFIL, in place since 1978, has boosted its numbers from around 2,000 before the war to some 7,500 since. [end]
Peretz: IAF to continue Lebanon overflights until troops freed
Ha’aretz 10/26/2006
Solana: Israel must uproot West Bank outposts, push road map -- Defense Minister Amir Peretz told the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, on Thursday that IAF overflights will continue in Lebanon as long as the UN cease-fire resolution has not been fully implemented. Peretz told the visiting Solana during their meeting in Tel Aviv that the implementation of UN Resolution 1701 must include the release of captured soldiers Udi Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Peretz also emphasized the importance of full international monitoring along the Syria-Lebanon border in order to prevent arms smuggling to Hezbollah, as called for in the resolution... Israel must evacuate all illegal West Bank outposts and do its part to advance the internationally-backed road map for peace, [Solana] told Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Thursday.
Spanish troops rotate into peacekeeping force
Jerusalem Post 10/27/2006
Some 418 Spanish soldiers arrived in Beirut on Thursday to join a UN peacekeeping force monitoring the cease-fire between Israel and Hizbullah in south Lebanon. Lt. Col. Jose Puig, spokesman for Spanish troops in Lebanon, said the soldiers arrived on two commercial flights chartered by the Spanish army. One plane carrying about 165 soldiers landed at Beirut airport at 4 p. m. (1300 GMT), and another arrived at 11 p. m. (2000 GMT) with 253 more troops, Spanish military officials said. All 418 soldiers would replace 500 who deployed in south Lebanon in September, as part of the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, said Major Pedro Herrero, another spokesman for Spanish troops in Lebanon. He said the departing troops were expected to leave in shifts later this month and in early November.
Israeli F-16s tangle with German warship off Lebanese coast
The Daily Star 10/26/2006
BEIRUT: Two Israeli warplanes and a German Navy vessel clashed off the Lebanese coast, the Defense Ministry in Berlin said on Wednesday. Details on the incident were not available by the time The Daily Star went to press. The incident is the first reported clash between the Israeli Army and the international peacekeeping force in Lebanon. German daily Der Tagesspiegel quoted a junior Defense Minister on Wednesday as telling a parliamentary committee that two Israeli F-16 fighter-bombers flew at a low altitude over the German ship and fired two shots. It wasn’t clear from the report what type of ammunition was used or where the shots were aimed. The jets also released infra-red countermeasures to ward off any missile attack, the newspaper said.
French urge Israelis to halt violations
The Daily Star 10/26/2006
BEIRUT: French officials criticized Israel again on Wednesday for its continuous violations of Lebanese airspace, as retired French Admiral Jean-Marie van Huffel arrived in Lebanon to discuss an offer of military assistance. Van Huffel met with the head of the Lebanese Army, General Michel Suleiman, for talks on the "means of cooperation between the two armies, the Lebanese and French," the National News Agency said. Officials at the French Embassy had no further comment on the retired admiral’s visit, which follows weeks of repeated criticisms by French officials of Israeli violations. UNIFIL Force Commander Major-General Alain Pellegrini voiced serious concern on Tuesday over the increasing number of airspace violations over South Lebanon, where nine such Israeli sorties occurred over a 24-hour period.
Solana: PM, Lieberman at odds on Iran
Jerusalem Post 10/25/2006
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his incoming minister without portfolio Avigdor Lieberman, who will be responsible for strategizing on the Iranian nuclear threat, are at odds about how to handle Iran, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana told The Jerusalem Post following a meeting with Lieberman at the Knesset. Solana arrived in Israel on Wednesday as the first stop in a six-nation Middle East tour that will include meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders as well as visits to Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt. He hopes to jump-start talks between Palestinians and Israelis while he is the region and to breathe new life into the peace process. But talks on Iran are also part of his agenda. Solana said that from his many past conversations with Olmert about Iran, "it will be difficult for Lieberman to be compatible with Olmert’s ideas on the matter."
War’s legacy includes both deadly bomblets and welcome charity
The Daily Star 10/26/2006
SOUTH LEBANON: While the actual war on Lebanon may have ended on August 14, citizens in the South continue to fall victim to unexploded ordinance on a nearly daily basis. Meanwhile, a more pleasant conflict has emerged in the villages hardest hit by the month-long conflict this summer, that of which country is helping Lebanon the most." Be careful," remains the most common greeting heard in the South, where fears of Israeli air strikes have been replaced with fears of what was left behind when the Israelis withdrew. Despite a national campaign to raise awareness about the 1 million tiny "bomblets" dropped by Israel in the final days of fighting this summer, Southerners continue to fall victim to the indiscriminate devices. Mohammad Jawwad, 18, was killed last week after poking one such item with a stick while scavenging for scrap metal.
UNIFIL’s Success Linked to Hizbullah Actions
An Nahar 10/25/2006
U. N. Undersecretary for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno has linked the success of the U. N. mission in Lebanon to Hizbullah actions." It depends whether Hizbullah is able to rebuild itself and humiliate the mission," said Guehenno during a speech on Tuesday at the Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in Washington, D. C. SAIS, a leading graduate school of international affairs, has been a division of the Johns Hopkins University since 1950. Guehenno, also a French diplomat, said the success of the "robust posture" of the U. N. mission in south Lebanon ultimately will hinge on the disarmament of Hizbullah, which must take place through a political process, as well as the reconstruction of Lebanon.... Since the ceasefire, Hizbullah fighters have kept out of uniform, with their weapons out of sight.
President will Receive Solana Tomorrow in Ramallah
WAFA - Palestine News Agency 10/25/2006
AMMAN, October 25, 2006 (WAFA)- President Mahmoud Abbas will receive tomorrow in the Presidential HQ in Ramallah the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Mr. Javier Solana. In a statement released by EU, it was said that the meeting comes in the framework of his visit to the Middle East that will concentrateon efforts towards an early resumption of the dialogue between the two parties to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Solana also will visit Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.
Putin: Katsav case tied to war failure
Jerusalem Post 10/25/2006
President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday avoided commenting on remarks he was widely reported to have made about rape allegations against the Israeli president, but he suggested the president’s accusers were seeking to punish him and others for their handling of the Lebanon war. During his annual televised question-and-answer session Wednesday, Putin was asked about his Kremlin exchange with Olmert and about sexual harassment. "Violence... against women, men and especially against children is always a criminal offense, a grave crime," Putin said. "It is of course absolutely inadmissible to use one’s authority in order to coerce a woman into, I beg your pardon, sexual relations."
Bush issues warning to Iran, Syria
The Daily Star 10/26/2006
US President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged Iran and Syria to support the governments of Iraq and Lebanon and warned against creating instability in those democracies. His comments came a day after US civilian and military leaders in Iraq linked Iran and Syria with Al-Qaeda as forces trying to tear the country apart and prevent the United States from establishing a stable democracy." Iran and Syria understand full well that the world expects them to help Iraq. And we’ve made that very clear to them," Bush said at a news conference focused on the Iraq war. The US also expects Iran and Syria to support the Lebanese government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Bush said." Our message to Syria is consistent: Do not undermine the Siniora government in Lebanon," Bush said.
Russian FM: Syria is Cooperating with U.N. Hariri Probe, Doesn’t Deserve Sanctions
An Nahar 10/24/2006
Syria has done nothing to deserve international sanctions as it has cooperated with the U. N. probe into ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination, Russia’s foreign minister said in an interview published Tuesday. "Frankly, I do not see what Syria could have done to deserve facing sanctions," Sergei Lavrov told the pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. "We believe that Syria is actively cooperating with the U. N. investigation in the assassination of Lebanon’s former PM Rafik Hariri. International investigators visit Syria frequently, meet Syrian officials and present their reports to the U. N. Security Council," he said. "I have not heard any accusation of default against Syria," in this regard, he told the London-based Arabic daily. U.S.... was hoping to convince its allies to back new sanctions against Syria....
Saniora: New International Tribunal Draft ’Blessed’ by Lebanese Legal Experts
An Nahar 10/24/2006
Prime Minister Fouad Saniora asserted Tuesday that the new draft of the international tribunal to look into the assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri was "blessed" by Lebanese legal experts. Saniora, in an interview published Tuesday by Asharq al Awsat newspaper, also confirmed media reports that article three of the governing principles of the tribunal, which deals with ’Crimes against Humanity,’ has been nullified. He said the draft, in its new form, would soon be handed over to the cabinet for approval. An-Nahar daily said Monday that article three has been abolished in response to a request by China and Russia. As-Safir has quoted U. N. representative to south Lebanon Gere Pederson as saying that the draft on the formation of the international tribunal was expected to be finalized by the Security Council on Monday...
Outspoken rightwinger to join Israeli coalition
The Guardian 10/24/2006
Lieberman appointment echoes public shift to right · Labour leader appears resigned to PM’s decision -- The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, yesterday finally turned his back on the centrist agenda which brought him to power earlier this year by bringing into his coalition government one of the country’s most outspoken rightwing politicians. The return to government of Avigdor Lieberman, who has called for Israel’s borders to be redrawn to exclude its Arab citizens, signals a more hawkish policy. He will be made a deputy prime minister with responsibility for "strategic threats", particularly Iran. His sudden rise to power mirrors a shift to the right among the Israeli public in the wake of the Lebanon war.... Lieberman [has called] for the trial and execution of Arab Israeli MPs who met leaders of Hamas or Hizbullah or who refused to celebrate Israel’s Independence Day...
Israel admits it used phosphorus weapons
The Guardian 10/23/2006
Minister says shells hit Hizbullah targets · MP shocked by deployment in war -- The Israeli government has admitted that it used controversial phosphorus weapons in its attacks against targets during its month long war in Lebanon this summer. The chemical can be used in shells, missiles and grenades and causes horrific burning when it comes into contact with human flesh. White phosphorus (WP) weapons are not forbidden by international law but some human rights groups believe they should be re-classified as chemical weapons and banned. The Israeli admission was made by the cabinet minister, Jacob Edery, who was questioned on the subject by Zahava Gal-On, a member of the Knesset. Mr Edery told Ms Gal-On: "The IDF [Israel Defence Force] holds phosphorus munitions in different forms..." -- See also: Ha'aretz: Israel admits using phosphorus bombs during war in Lebanon
Israel defies France on Lebanon flights
AlJazeera 10/23/2006
Israeli warplanes have carried out low-level flights over Lebanon, a day after Israel rejected a call by France’s defence minister to halt violations of the country’s airspace. The planes overflew much of southern Lebanon and the capital Beirut on Monday morning, Lebanese residents said. Neither Hezbollah nor the Lebanese army fired anti-aircraft rounds at them as they have done in previous years. At the UN’s New York headquarters on Friday, Michele Alliot-Marie, the French defence minister, called Israel’s violations of Lebanese airspace "extremely dangerous" and said they should stop immediately. She said an Israeli aircraft may mistakenly be seen by UN troops as having hostile intent, possibly causiing a "very serious incident".
Lebanese security: 12-year-old killed by cluster bomb in south
Ha’aretz 10/23/2006
A cluster bomb exploded Sunday, killing a 12-year-old boy and wounding his younger brother in a southern Lebanese village, Lebanese security officials said. Rami Ali Hussein Shibly and his brother, Khodr, 9, where picking olives in their family’s grove in Halta when the cluster bomb exploded, said the security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media. The United Nations and human rights groups have accused Israel of firing as many as 4 million cluster bombs into Lebanon during its 34-day war with the militant group Hezbollah that ended in a UN-brokered cease-fire on August 14. UN demining experts say up to 1 million of the cluster bombs failed to explode immediately and continue to threaten civilians, especially children who can mistake the ordnance for batteries or other small objects.
Israel/Lebanon Conflict Leaves Deadly Legacy
Inter Press Service 10/23/2006
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 18 (IPS) - The Israeli war against Lebanon was over soon after the United Nations brokered a ceasefire agreement last August. But while that may be true for outsiders, is not for the Lebanese. At least three to four people are getting killed or maimed every day as a result of cluster bombs used by the Israeli Air Force during the war, according to a new study released here Wednesday. Entitled "Foreseeable Harm: The use and impact of cluster munitions in Lebanon: 2006," the study points out that among those killed and wounded were numerous children under the age of 16. In the final 72 hours before the ceasefire, which officially took effect Aug. 14, the Israeli military fired 1,800 cluster rockets on southern Lebanon, containing 1. 2 million submunitions, many of which remain unexploded. -- See also: Foreseeable Harm: The use and impact of cluster munitions in Lebanon: 2006 (PDF format)
UNIFIL sees imminent Israeli pullout from Ghajar
The Daily Star 10/23/2006
Interview -- NAQOURA: "The issue of Ghajar has been settled," confirmed UNIFIL’s spokesperson Alexander Ivanko, with an Israeli withdrawal from the already divided town expected within days. As the Lebanese side "sticks to Resolution 1701," according to Ivanko, and Israel "continues to violate it with its flights" over Lebanon, "the situation remains stable." In an interview with The Daily Star, Ivanko said the latest reports of land violations by Israel, including the construction of drainage pipes near Kfar Kila to divert rainwater into Lebanon and the pumping of water from the Wazzani River, were untrue." We checked these claims three or four times about the Wazzani, and there is no water pumping by Israel as it had been widely reported," the spokesman said.
Defense Minister: IAF flights over Lebanon will continue
Ha’aretz 10/22/2006
Defense Minister Amir Peretz said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday that Israel Air Force flights over Lebanon would continue because the smuggling of weapons into the hands of Hezbollah guerrillas has not stopped. Peretz made this statement despite warnings issued by French Defense Minister Michel Alliot-Marie last week, that French troops serving in the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon could mistake IAF activity for hostility and shoot the aircrafts in self-defense. The commander of the UN peacekeeping force termed IAF overflights a clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended Israel’s month-long war with Hezbollah this summer. At the cabinet meeting, Peretz accused the Lebanese government of failing to honor its obligations under the resolution to keep Syrian and Iranian weapons from reaching Hezbollah.
Air force strike destroyed 59 Iranian-made missile launchers on second day of conflict
Ha’aretz 10/24/2006
The Israel Air Force destroyed 59 intermediate and long-range missile launchers in the Hezbollah arsenal during the second day of the war in Lebanon, during a raid that lasted 34 minutes, according to research recently published by David Makovsky and Jeffrey White of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy. The success of the raid was the greatest Israel Defense Forces achievement during the war, and according to Israeli assessments, it prevented Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, from being able to carry out his threats and strike central Israel with missiles. The air attack of 13 July struck the Zelzal and Fajr missiles in the Hezbollah arsenal, both made in Iran. The range of the Zelzal can endanger the Tel Aviv area from Lebanon.
Nasrallah, Fadlallah warn against US efforts to instigate strife among Muslims
The Daily Star 10/21/2006
BEIRUT: Hizbullah’s leader and Lebanon’s senior Shiite cleric have stressed the importance of "paying attention to the smallest developments amid the United States’ continued interference in Lebanon’s affairs." A statement issued after a two-hour meeting between Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah Friday, said there are attempts to sow strife among Muslims in more than one region of the Islamic world." The two clerics urged Muslims to be aware of the dangers of such strife, conveying their "respect" to all efforts aimed at preserving "Islamic unity." The two leaders discussed the latest developments in Lebanon and the region following the resistance’s "victory over the latest Israeli offensive."
Venezuela stops issuing tourist visas to Israelis
Ha’aretz 10/24/2006
JERUSALEM - Venezuela has ceased issuing tourist visas to Israelis, its embassy in Israel said Monday, accenting Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s harsh criticism of Israel. However, a Venezuelan official said the halt was technical in nature. Chavez recalled his envoy to Israel to protest what he called the "genocide" Israel was committing in Lebanon during Israel’s 34-day war with Hezbollah guerrillas. Israel, in response, called its ambassador to Venezuela to Israel for consultations. He has since returned. But Venezuela’s charge d’affaires has yet to return to Israel. Reached on Monday by phone from Venezuela, Hector Quintero said no tourist visas had been issued since his departure, two and half months ago.
French minister tours South, pledges help for recovery
The Daily Star 10/23/2006
BEIRUT: French Minister-Delegate for Regional Development Christian Estrosi emphasized his country’s commitment to support the Lebanese in restoring stability and rebuilding the country on Sunday. Estrosi, who is on an official visit to Lebanon, toured Southern towns on Sunday in order to inspect the damage caused during the war with Israel in July and August. He was accompanied by a diplomatic delegation that included French Ambassador Bernard Emie. The minister stopped at the Antonine College in Nabatieh to offer a grant worth 50,000 euros ($63,000 ) to the school, which was badly damaged during the summer war. In remarks during the ceremony, he stressed the "strong ties between France and Lebanon," adding that his country was "very concerned by the crises facing the Lebanese people."
Officials: IDF reluctant to complete Lebanon pullout
Ha'aretz 9/29/2006
Despite their repeated assurances of a quick troop withdrawal from Lebanon, Israeli officials said on Thursday they were reluctant to complete the pullout, though six weeks have passed since a cease-fire agreement ended a month of bloody conflict. Large and small issues remain unresolved, involving Hezbollah and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese army in the border area. Security officials say a few thousand Israel Defense Forces troops are still just across the border in Lebanon. Disagreements about deployment of Lebanese and UNIFIL troops in southern Lebanon have delayed the the final troop pullout, despite the cease-fire that went into effect on August 14, based on Security Council Resolution 1701.
French tanks face off with Israelis near border village
The Daily Star 9/29/2006
UNIFIL spokesman says incident was 'misunderstood' -- French tanks attached to UNIFIL had a brief face-off with Israeli jeeps and armored vehicles on Thursday on a road in South Lebanon where the Israeli Army has been stopping motorists at temporary checkpoints. According to AFP correspondents, four French Leclerc tanks moved up a hill to stand 500 meters from the entrance to the border village of Marwaheen as Israeli armored vehicles and jeeps operated nearby on Lebanese soil. The two sides were locked in a 20-minute face-off, the first between the Israeli Army and UNIFIL since the latter was beefed up to enforce the cease-fire in effect since August 14. The French tanks then withdrew, as observers from the UN Truce Supervision Organization deployed in the area. -- See also: UNIFIL: IDF troops violated UN-drawn border with Lebanon
UNIFIL: IDF troops violated UN-drawn border with Lebanon
Ha'aretz 9/28/2006
Israel violated the UN-drawn border it shares with Lebanon on Thursday, six weeks after its cease-fire with Hezbollah guerrillas went into effect in the region, the spokesman for the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said. Alexander Ivanko, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL, would not provide details about the violation, but denied reports that a standoff had occured between IDF and UN troops." The French peacekeepers observed an Israeli violation of the Blue Line and reported it to the UNIFIL command," Ivanko said, referring to the UN-demarcated line between Lebanon and Israel. An Associated Press photographer who witnessed the incident said an Israeli armored vehicle and two jeeps drove through the border fence and tried to penetrate further... -- See also: French tanks face off with Israelis near border village
200,000 remain displaced
Electronic Intifada/OCHA 9/28/2006
Key Developments: There may be as many as one million unexploded cluster sub-munitions, according to the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre - South Lebanon / The number of water recovery projects picks up, but the need for emergency water tankering continues / UNHCR to cease direct involvement in implementation of any temporary, transitional or permanent shelter programmes / Ninety-nine severely damaged villages, out of a total of 251, have been "adopted" by 11 countries for complete repairs and reconstruction -- Situation Overview - UXO Update: 1. "It is possible that we are looking for as many as one million unexploded cluster bomb sub-munitions" according to Christopher Clark, Programme Manager of the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre - South Lebanon (MACC-SL).
Olmert Interview: "I do not have a short fuse"
Globes 9/28/2006
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert talks to “Globes” about fiscal policy ("if Stanley Fischer says its good, it's good"), finance ministers ("I don't miss Netanyahu"), real estate scandals ("there's an organized campaign"), and his management style. -- In this New Year interview with the prime minister, “Globes” decided not to focus on operational issues arising from the Lebanon war. Ehud Olmert has already been asked about everything, and we would presumably have received the same answers as everyone else. As far as the economy is concerned, the protest wave has already passed its peak and is now subsiding. Globes: Prime Minister, there has been talk of aid from the US, following the withdrawal from Lebanon and the disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Have you considered asking for US aid, in light of the recent war and its costs?
MK Eitan: Faith in Winograd Commission disappearing
YNet News 9/28/2006
Credibility of commission tasked with investigating failures of war in Lebanon questioned after commission members meet casually with prime minister, defense minister. MK Eitan: Appointment of Winograd Commission by those being investigated damaged its public credibility. Reservists: They are acting like subordinates to prime minister and not like his investigators -- MK Michael Eitan (Likud) attacked Thursday evening the actions of the Winograd Commission tasked with investigating the failures of the war in Lebanon. According to him, "The appointment of the Winograd Commission by those being investigated damaged its public credibility. MK Gilad Erdan (Likud) called the reservists to boycott the commission discussions...
UNHCR links with social development centres to help Lebanese IDPs
Electronic Intifada/UNHCR 9/28/2006
BEIRUT - World attention may have shifted away from Lebanon, but many people continue to suffer from the recent conflict - including hundreds of displaced people in Beirut's crowded Hai Al Sullam area. Before the five-week war, the southern suburb's 275,000 permanent residents - mostly Shia Muslims and poor - lived cheek by jowl with migrants and Iraqi refugees and asylum seekers. They have since been joined by hundreds of displaced Lebanese, whose houses in neighbouring districts were destroyed by Israeli fire or who fled from the south to stay with families in the capital until it is safe to return. Uncertainty among the internally displaced people (IDPs) is high. UNHCR is reaching out to these folk - and other IDPs around Lebanon - with the help of social development centres.
'The ruin on our tongues': Anthology inspired by war proposes words where silence fails
The Daily Star 9/29/2006
With contributions from an international stable of authors, 'Lebanon, Lebanon' flourishes while being rooted in conflict -- Review - BEIRUT: "No poet has written on Dahiyeh," writes poet and critic Abbas Beydoun, in the English translation of "A Possible Poem for Dahiyeh," one of 50 contributions to the just-published anthology "Lebanon, Lebanon," from Saqi Books. "Can a poet say anything about ruined spaces that need topographers, astronomers, city-planners, cineastes, computers more than they need poets? The place consists of heaps upon heaps; of plains of ruined heaps. Can we be deviant and speak about beauty here? Or is the real ruin on our tongues?" Beydoun's possible poem could be read as a possible counterpoint to an older, oft-quoted line from Theodor Adorno.
Lebanese border village eagerly awaits Israeli pullout
The Daily Star 9/29/2006
MAROUN AL-RAS: At home, Lina and her family tread on dangerous ground. The house, partly destroyed by rockets, has two unexploded bombs still buried underneath it. Israeli soldiers are still controlling the entrance of the hilltop village, which was the first area to be occupied in South Lebanon at the outbreak of the month-long Israeli offensive that ended August 14. In the ruins of Maroun al-Ras, the rocky village that overlooks northern Israel, Lina and her family can hardly make ends meet. Three weeks ago, the young woman came home with her three daughters, her disabled husband and her parents-in-law to find their house bombarded and vandalized, and all of her tobacco fields nearly dried to the roots.
Only an antimissile system can save our tanks
Jerusalem Post 9/29/2006
The guerrillas lay in specially dug foxholes waiting for the IDF Merkava tanks. Once the tanks were spotted, the Hizbullah fighters pulled out their antitank missiles - some of the most advanced in the world - and within seconds knocked off another Israeli tank and then another. This is how it worked during Israel's second war in Lebanon, which brought Military Intelligence to a better understanding of Hizbullah's fighting tactics. The guerrilla group would train fighters for specific missions. Unlike IDF infantrymen who are trained for face-to-face combat and to fire antitank missiles in Low Intensity Conflicts (LIC) and conventional warfare, Hizbullah trained its fighters to become experts in a single field - one of those being the antitank missile, which during the war turned into the IDF's worst nightmare.
Merkava tank production to stop within four years
Globes 9/28/2006
The IDF has decided that the Merkava tank production line will be shut down within four years. "Globes" reports that the decision to stop production of the tank, one of the most expensive projects in the history of Israel's military industries and the pride of the army, was made shortly before the outbreak of the war in Lebanon. Leaders of the project decided that the benefits do not justify the cost of the product. During the fighting in Lebanon, the Merkava tanks sustained serious damage from antitank rockets fired by Hizbullah militants. The tank, which has been boasted as having the best protection in the world, and which was designed for classic tank on tank battles, was not impervious to the rockets. 500 rockets were fired at Israeli tanks, 47 Merkava tanks were hit (two more were hit by roadside bombs) and 33 IDF soldiers were killed.
Siniora calls on Germany to help revive peace process
The Daily Star 9/29/2006
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora urged Germany to do more on Thursday to secure peace in the Middle East, while calling on Israel to speed up its withdrawal from Lebanon and put an end to its "repeated violations" of his country's sovereignty. Siniora focused on Germany's role in maintaining peace in Lebanon during his visit to Germany, where he met with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss the deployment of German peacekeepers in Lebanon." It is so important that Europe can play an effective role in these matters," Siniora told the media after meeting with Merkel. "I am confident that our meeting today was a very important step in [creating] real strong foundations for the relationship between Germany and Lebanon."
Jewish state sees 'different momentum' at work after war
The Daily Star 9/29/2006
Israel said Thursday the recent war on Lebanon has created new momentum in relations with moderate Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, with the Israeli premier leaving it understood that he had met with a Royal Saudi member. Pushing ahead with efforts to revive the peace process, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will leave Washington on Sunday and plans to visit Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In lengthy interviews with the two main local radio stations, Olmert ruled out peace talks with Syria and said he hoped to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the coming days. Olmert was evasive when asked about Israeli media reports that he had met secretly in recent days with a senior Saudi official in Jordan.
Aoun to expose 'corruption and theft' at conference on plight of displaced
The Daily Star 9/29/2006
Siniora schedules talks with Berri in bid to ease tensions -- BEIRUT: The Free Patriotic Movement will hold a conference on Saturday to highlight the plight of those displaced from Mount Lebanon during Lebanon's Civil War and who have not yet received compensation to return to their villages. The "Mount Lebanon: The Right to Return" conference will be attended by FPM leader MP Michel Aoun, former MP Talal Arslan and Hizbullah and Amal Movement MPs, in addition to mayors, religious figures and the displaced. Aoun is expected to "expose" what an FPM source described as "corruption and theft" within the successive administrations of the Ministry of the Displaced since the signing of the Taif Accord, the agreement that ended the Civil War in 1990.
UN Security Council to discuss latest report into Hariri killing
The Daily Star 9/29/2006
BEIRUT: The United Nations Security Council will discuss on Friday the fifth investigative report into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The document, the third produced by the current team led by Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, corroborates the theory that Hariri was killed by a massive truck bomb detonated by a suicide bomber. It also reported progress in the probe of the February 14, 2005, explosion that killed Hariri and 22 others in Beirut. Brammertz will answer questions posed by Security Council members and is expected to point out the need to speed up the establishment of the international court to try those suspected in Hariri's murder.... Lebanon's Justice Ministry is expecting to receive a draft protocol next week outlining the steps for establishing the international tribunal.
Joint Poll: Palestinian Support for Hamas Unchanged
Palestine Chronicle 9/27/2006
The joint poll examined Israelis’ and Palestinians’ attitudes on the conflict in the aftermath of the second war in Lebanon. -- OCCUPIED TERRITORIES - 67% of the Israelis support negotiations with a Palestinian national unity government which includes Hamas. 59% of the Palestinians thought that a Hamas-led PA should negotiate with Israel. These are the results of the most recent poll conducted September 10-19 jointly by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in RamallahThe joint poll examined Israelis’ and Palestinians’ attitudes on the conflict in the aftermath of the second war in Lebanon. It tracked both publics’ attitudes regarding the resumption of a political process...
9-Year-Old Boy, 4 Other People Hurt By Cluster Bomb Explosions
An Nahar 9/27/2006
A nine-year-old boy was killed and four other people wounded in south Lebanon Wednesday in two separate cluster bomb explosions, security officials said. Mohammed Hassan Sultan was instantly killed when a cluster bomb exploded near his house in the village of Sawwaneh, some 17 kilometers north of the Israeli border. Three men were also wounded in the explosion, said officials. In Qaaqayiet al-Jisr, about 10 kilometers farther north from Sawwaneh, a 36-year-old woman was wounded in another cluster bomb explosion. U. N. de-mining experts said Tuesday that up to a million unexploded cluster bombs fired by Israel could be in south Lebanon -- nearly three times as many as previously estimated. Israel has not responded to repeated U. N. requests to hand over detailed information about the cluster bomb strikes...
Israel Stealing Wazzani River's Waters
An Nahar 9/27/2006
Lebanese officials and residents of the south have accused the Israeli army of stealing water from the Wazzani border river. Mohammad Ghamlush, the engineer heading the Wazzani river pumping systems, told Agence France Presse the Israeli army sabotaged the water pumps on the river last week and installed a pipe to pump hundreds of cubic meters to Israel. During the last weekly cabinet meeting on Thursday, the government denounced what it called an Israeli violation of. UN. Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended 34 days of Israeli-Hizbullah hostilities. Premier Fouad Saniora discussed the issue over the phone with U. N. Secretary General Kofi Annan on September 22, according to the National News Agency. In a region where water is scarce, the issue may have dramatic consequences and the U. N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has opened an investigation.
Jewish state presses bid to dictate UNIFIL's rules of engagement
The Daily Star 9/28/2006
Disputes over how the Lebanese Army and UN peacekeepers will deal with Hizbullah are holding up the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon, Israel's military chief of staff said on Wednesday. "Yesterday we met with UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army," a government official quoted Lieutenant General Dan Halutz as telling a Cabinet meeting, in reference to a discussion held in the border town of Naqoura." The issues of rules of engagement and enforcement of [UN Security Council] Resolution 1701 have not all been agreed upon. At this stage we are delaying the transfer of the territory until we reach agreement," Halutz said. Halutz said Wednesday that Israel considered "any use of military equipment, including intelligence-gathering means which are not of the Lebanese Army or UNIFIL, are violations" of Resolution 1701..."
Siniora: End occupation or cease-fire may be in peril
The Daily Star 9/28/2006
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Wednesday called on Israel to pull its troops out of his country immediately or risk jeopardizing the cease-fire. "In order for the current cessation of hostilities to be sustained, Israel must withdraw without further delay from the position it still occupies within Lebanon and must stop its violation of Lebanese territory," Siniora told the European Parliament in Strasbourg." There is also a need for concrete steps toward putting an end to the Israeli occupation of the Shebaa Farms," Siniora told the assembled European deputies. The disputed territory, located at the junction of Lebanon, Syria and Israel, was captured by Israel along with the Golan Heights during the 1967 war." We expect our friends, particularly members of the [UN] Security Council, will play an active role in helping resolve the Shebaa Farms issue..."
Berri mocks Rice for suggesting split between his party and Hizbullah
The Daily Star 9/28/2006
BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri says US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's wager of a split among the Shiite community is baseless since the alliance between Lebanon's two mainstream Shiite parties is now stronger than ever. Rice had said in an interview with the New York Times published Tuesday that there was a split within the Shiite block." The first time Amal had split from Hizbullah six months ago when the Shiite ministers walked out of Prime Minister's Fouad Siniora's Cabinet and they couldn't hold a meeting, this is a fairly remarkable thing, that you actually now have a split in that Shiite block," Rice said. This "is why I think you see Nasrallah out in the streets first saying, 'Well, if I had known, I wouldn't have done what I did..." she added. -- See also: Rice IV With the New York Times Editorial Board
Marwan Barghouti: Had Israel released Palestinian detainees, their soldiers wouldn't have been kidnapped
Ma'an News 9/27/2006
Bethlehem -- The secretary of the Fatah movement in the West Bank, Marwan Barghouti has said, from his Israeli prison cell, that the war in Lebanon has changed the state of affairs in the region, revealing the limits of Israeli power and the importance of resisting the occupation. Barghouti, who was speaking during a visit to his Nafha prison by the Palestinian Knesset member Talab Al-Sani, added, "Israel's biggest fault was the rejection of the release of Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners." Upon being asked about the possibility of releasing him personally as a part of the prisoners' swap, Barghouti said "The freedom of the Palestinian people in general is more important than my own." Barghouti also criticized the Israeli position towards the "prisoners' document", which he depicted as a revolutionary change.
Hizbullah stone-throwers fair game
Jerusalem Post 9/27/2006
"IDF troops currently stationed in Lebanon have permission to open fire on stone-throwing Hizbullah supporters," IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. - Gen. Dan Halutz said at Wednesday's cabinet meeting. The chief of staff told cabinet ministers that according to the IDF directive, troops were permitted to fire in the air and then at the legs of those hurling rocks in their direction. In addition, in the event that the troops sensed that they were in real danger they were granted permission to shoot to kill. For a Jerusalem Online video of events click hereMeanwhile, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at the meeting that the dramatic increase in arms smuggling along the Gaza-Egyptian border would force Israel to reopen last November's US-brokered Rafah understandings that led to the full IDF pullout from the area.
Gal-On asks Peretz to look into use of cluster bombs in Lebanon
Ha'aretz 9/28/2006
MK Zahava Gal-On (Meretz-Yahad) asked Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Wednesday to look into the decision to use cluster bombs in Lebanon. Gal-On made the request after soldiers told her they had fired the bombs during the war, and following reports in Haaretz. Haaretz reported about two weeks ago that the commander of a Multiple Launch Rocket System unit said his unit had fired about 600 cluster rockets and that the Israel Defense Forces had fired a total of about 1,800 cluster rockets, containing approximately 1. 2 million bomblets. The bomblets, each of which has the strength of a hand grenade, do not all explode when they hit the ground. Cluster bombs are not prohibited by international law but many experts say they should not be used in civilian surroundings.
Eizenkot appointed N. Command head
Jerusalem Post 9/27/2006
Two weeks of arguments and deliberations came to an end Wednesday night when Defense Minister Amir Peretz approved Chief of General Staff Lt. -Gen. Dan Halutz's recommendation to appoint Maj. -Gen. Gadi Eizenkot the new OC Northern Command. Eizenkot, currently the head of the IDF Operations Directorate, will replace Maj. -Gen. Udi Adam, who announced his resignation two weeks ago following the IDF's poor showing during the war in Lebanon. Halutz and Peretz were at odds over which general to appoint. Halutz initially favored OC Southern Command Maj. -Gen. Yoav Galant, but in the end changed his recommendation to be in concurrence with Peretz's preference to appoint Eizenkot to the prestigious post.
Rice planning Arab summit in Middle East
Ha'aretz 9/28/2006
WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to embark on a tour of the Middle East next week, according to sources in the American capital. Details of her visit have yet to be finalized; however, the State Department will hold meetings in the coming days in order to set the final agenda of the trip. One possibility is that Rice will hold a conference with moderate Arab leaders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the secretary of state will seek to reach understandings on efforts to block the Iranian nuclear program along with ways of possibly moving forward on the Palestinian issue. In the wake of talks between Arab leaders and U.S. officials in recent weeks, the view in the Bush administration is that the war in Lebanon has led to growing concern in Arab capitals over the threat posed by Iran to the stability in the region.
Little pressure on Hezbollah to disarm
Yahoo! News Middle East 9/27/2006
MARJAYOUN, Lebanon - Six weeks after the end of the Lebanon war, the militant Hezbollah group is facing little on-the-ground pressure to give up its weapons and disarm — despite a U. N. cease-fire resolution demanding just that. The leaders of a U. N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon say the job is not theirs. And Lebanon's ill-equipped army, some of whose soldiers wear tin-pot helmets and carry outdated M-16 rifles, shows no signs of diving into a confrontation with battle-hardened Hezbollah fighters. For now, all sides say it's likely full disarmament will happen only in the future as part of a political solution — despite the U. N. resolution that ended the 34-day war on Aug. 14 and required disarmament.... The U. N. forces and the Lebanese army are likely to have more teeth when it comes to preventing new weapons shipments.
U.N. Force Is Treading Lightly on Lebanese Soil
New York Times 9/25/2006
TIBNIN, Lebanon, Sept. 24 — One month after a United Nations Security Council resolution ended a 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, members of the international force sent to help keep the peace say their mission is defined more by what they cannot do than by what they can. They say they cannot set up checkpoints, search cars, homes or businesses or detain suspects. If they see a truck transporting missiles, for example, they say they can not stop it. They cannot do any of this, they say, because under their interpretation of the Security Council resolution that deployed them, they must first be authorized to take such action by the Lebanese Army. The job of the United Nations force, and commanders in the field repeat this like a mantra, is to respect Lebanese sovereignty by supporting the Lebanese Army. They will only do what the Lebanese authorities ask.
A Call for Submission of Poetry for Palestine Coming Book
Al-Jazeerah Info 9/27/2006
To be edited By Remi Kanazi: I am the editor of the forthcoming book of poetry, Poets for Palestine. I am working on the project with Al Jisser, the group that helped put on the Made in Palestine and Three Arab Painters in New York art exhibitions. The proceeds of the book will go to Al Jisser to fund future cultural projects related to Palestine and the Middle East. Our goal is to bring together poets, spoken word artists, hip hop artists, Palestinians, Arabs, Jews, Americans and all those who choose to raise their voice for humanity and justice. The book will also feature work related to Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan. In addition to its written works, Poets for Palestine will feature art created by Palestinians artists from the Occupied Territories and throughout the world.
Non-combatants in South move to engage international forces
The Daily Star 9/28/2006
NAQOURA/TYRE: For the residents of Southern Lebanon, the arrival of thousands of United Nations troops has brought more than security: It has meant financial prosperity, new friendships and, for some, battalions of potential husbands. Nancy Azzi was adjusting a new blue bikini on the public beach in Tyre earlier this week in the hopes that some UNIFIL troops might pass by. Images of hundreds of Spanish troops disembarking on the beach's shores were plastered across Lebanon's newspapers and television screens earlier this month." I just came to have a look," giggled Azzi, 18, who along with her friend, Solvana Rizk, drove from Jounieh north of Beirut to "enjoy" the latest addition to Lebanon's beaches.... businesses are also looking forward to boosting their clientele with night clubs, restaurant and hotels planning to organize special events for the troops.
Hi-tech firm boycotts Israel over 'war crimes'
YNet News 9/27/2006
Belgian hi-tech company specializing in development consulting notifies manager of Israeli company seeking cooperation that 'your country has conducted war crimes and is an apartheid regime' -- Following the recent war in Lebanon, Ynet has received several complaints from Israeli companies that have encountered refusal of companies from various countries to cooperate with Israelis because of the war. Avner, an Israeli businessman specializing in product management and consulting approached a Belgian company in hopes of business cooperation. The company, U2U, refused to cooperate with the Israeli businessman because of what they called "Israel's war crimes and apartheid regime." U2U manager Wim Yotrasprot wrote in a statement to Avner obtained by Ynet that "I appreciate your interest in my company, but..."
'Million bomblets' in S Lebanon
BBC 9/26/2006
Up to a million cluster bomblets discharged by Israel in its conflict with Hezbollah remain unexploded in southern Lebanon, the UN has said. The UN's mine disposal agency says about 40% of the cluster bombs fired or dropped by Israel failed to detonate - three times the UN's previous estimate. It says the problem could delay the return home of about 200,000 displaced people by up to two years. The devices have killed 14 people in south Lebanon since the August truce. The manager of the UN's mine removal centre in south Lebanon, Chris Clark, said Israel had failed to provide useful information of its cluster bomb strikes, which could help with the clearance operation. Last month, the UN's humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, accused Israel of "completely immoral" use of cluster bombs in the conflict.
IDF, UNIFIL meeting goes up in smoke
Jerusalem Post 9/26/2006
"We told UNIFIL that we plan to pull our troops out of Lebanon by Yom Kippur, although we haven't committed to a specific year," a high-ranking IDF officer said after the meeting. -- While Israel had hoped to pull its last troops out of Lebanon by the end of the week, talks between IDF officers, representatives of the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL broke down Tuesday, threatening to delay a complete withdrawal indefinitely. A source in Northern Command said the talks at UNIFIL headquarters in Naqoura, north of Rosh Hanikra, had failed, adding that the IDF had told the other parties it would stay in Lebanon until UNIFIL "took its job seriously.... The talks broke down when the Israelis demanded that UNIFIL adopt more aggressive rules of engagement.
Israelis settle in for long stay in village of Ghajar
The Daily Star 9/27/2006
ABBASSIYEH, Lebanon: The once divided Southern town of Ghajar, half occupied by Israel and half within Lebanese territory, appears to have been finally reunited under one flag. "Khalas, it is gone. It is a new Israeli town and they are even repainting it in Israel's favorite colors, pink and yellow," said 16-year-old shepherd Walid Ain Zat, who along with his two younger brothers regularly tends his flock of goats in the open fields near the border town. Ghajar appears to be excluded from reports that circulated Tuesday announcing that Israel has withdrawn from 90 percent of the territory it held in the South after the recent month-long war on Lebanon." I guess no one will ever be coming out of or going in there again," said Ain Zat, who wasn't the only Southern resident to notice "changes" in Ghajar, such as the raising of an Israeli flag....
Israel says 'snags' may delay withdrawal a few more days
The Daily Star 9/27/2006
Peretz: 'we are prepared for the exit' -- Israel said Tuesday that snags could further delay its South Lebanon pullout until next week, as Lebanese and Israeli army officers met with UN peacekeepers on the border to nail down a schedule. The coordination meeting to finalize the schedule for the last few hundred Israeli troops to pull out was held in a villa at a secret location in Naqoura on the border, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said. But a UN official said following the meeting that it was "inconclusive." Asked about the possibility of holding another meeting, he said: "Nothing is planned this week." Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz had said he expected the troops to be out "during this week, or at the latest several days later."
Disagreements remain between Israel, UNIFIL on Israeli withdrawal
People's Daily 9/27/2006
A meeting, among Israel, Lebanese army and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon, ended in disagreement Tuesday evening, Israeli Ynet news reported on its website edition. The disagreement came as there is still uncertainty about the schedule of a complete Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, though the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had initially planned to pull out its remaining several hundred troops by the end of the week, said the report." The talks didn't fall apart, but there are still some disagreements regarding coordination and the authorities that should be exercised by the UNIFIL and the Lebanese army," an Israeli army official was quoted as saying. A source from the Israeli army said that the meeting, which took place at the UNIFIL headquarters in the Lebanese town of Naqoura was a "failure"....
Hizbullah inspires 63% of Palestinians
Jerusalem Post 9/26/2006
The tactics employed by Hizbullah against Israel provide an "attractive model" for Palestinians' armed resistance, according to a poll of Israeli and Palestinian public opinion conducted by the Harry S. Truman Research Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in Ramallah. According to the poll, which was conducted last week, nearly two-thirds of Palestinians (63%) agree that Palestinians should emulate Hizbullah by firing rockets at Israeli cities, compared to 35% who disagreed. Similar levels of support for copying Hizbullah's methods were reported in July 2000, following Israel's evacuation of Southern Lebanon (65% of the Palestinians supported it then, with 27% where opposed).
Israel: Sderot still under fire
ReliefWeb/IRIN 9/26/2006
SDEROT, 26 September (IRIN) - With the end of the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, rocket attacks on the north of Israel are now no more than a bad memory. However, the small southern town of Sderot has long been the target of rockets fired from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian militants." Nobody tells the story of Sderot. We've been suffering almost six years on a daily basis. We don't have the same life as before the Qassams [rockets] came to visit," said Eli Moyal, Mayor of Sderot. With a population of 24,000, Sderot is barely a mile away from the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). The first Qassam rocket fired from Gaza landed on Sderot in April 2001. Five years on, about 3,000 rockets have hit the town - and they show no sign of abating.
Israel pressed on cluster targets
BBC 9/19/2006
The UN has urged Israel to say exactly where it fired cluster bombs during its recent bombardment of south Lebanon. Humanitarian co-ordinator David Shearer says Israel's failure to provide the co-ordinates has hampered a clear-up effort that could take many months. An average of three people are killed or wounded a day by cluster munitions since the fighting ended on 14 August. Thousands of cluster bomblets landed in farms and villages, some 30-40% of which failed to explode at the time. Israel denies using the munitions illegally against civilian targets during the conflict. But Mr Shearer said Israel has yet to explain why 90% of its cluster munitions were fired in the last days of the conflict, as UN members were finalising a ceasefire resolution. -- See also: Lebanon, a unique example of humanitarian solidarity
Damascus warns diplomatic impasse means more conflict
The Daily Star 9/27/2006
Syria's foreign minister said Tuesday the "logjam" in peace efforts meant further confrontation was likely, as Premier Ehud Olmert called the Golan Heights an integral part of Israel that would never be handed back. Speaking before the UN General Assembly, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem also said that the "war on terror" has failed and that US policies were behind the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States. Moallem spoke hours after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced in a newspaper interview that the US hoped to persuade its allies to back new sanctions against Syria over its purported role in destabilizing Lebanon and Iraq and supporting Hamas. In the interview published Tuesday, Rice told the Wall Street Journal: "We're going to have to look at tougher measures if Syria continues to be on the path that it's on."
Peretz: Don’t close door on Syria
YNet News 9/26/2006
Defense minister says 'We'll prepare for any threats, but if we believe Syria's comments regarding peace are genuine, then I suggest we take them seriously. ' Adds: IDF will leave Lebanon by weekend or beginning of next week --.... The defense minister added that there are no armed Hizbullah members present near the Israel-Lebanon border..... Peretz was slightly embarrassed when MK Dan Naveh asked Peretz if the IDF still held a naval blockade on Lebanon, and the minister answered in the positive. Eyebrows in the committee were raised, and the members exclaimed, "These aren't the facts we are familiar with." Peretz was forced to turn to his military secretary who explained that there is no naval blockade, only supervision.
Ramadan brings new job opportunities in the Palestinian territories
Ma'an News 9/26/2006
Gaza -- Palestinians are accustomed to special foods, drinks and sweets during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. These are inherited traditions which have remained unchanged for generations. These traditions provide work opportunities that would not exist without Ramadan. Many Palestinians are professionals in making special Ramadan pickles and sweets, especially the 'qatayif' which is very famous in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine during Ramadan. Another wide-spread industry is that of local natural juices which the people prefer to the imported drinks. This also creates a minor economic boom especially since the Israeli blockade which followed the formation of the Hamas-dominated government.
Industrial wages to grow 2% this year
Globes 9/26/2006
Manufacturers Association: The average monthly salary will be NIS 10,360, 36% more than the national average gross salary. -- Industrial wages will grow by 2% in real terms in 2006, to a monthly average of NIS 10,360, 36% more than the national average gross salary, the Manufacturers Association of Israel reported today. Industrial wages will increase despite the second Lebanon war, which affected employment at many enterprises in northern Israel. The average industrial wage rose 1. 5% in the second quarter to NIS 10,256 thanks to the NIS 250 increase in the minimum wage, 8. 5% annualized growth in output during the quarter, an annualized increase of 7% in the high-tech workforce, and 4. 7% growth in productivity.
Syria, Lebanon praise latest UN report into Hariri killing
The Daily Star 9/27/2006
Syria praised the latest report from the UN commission investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Tuesday, saying it proved Damascus was cooperating with the probe. Lebanon, where many accuse Syria of masterminding Hariri's murder, also welcomed the report issued Monday by UN investigator Serge Brammertz, saying the probe was making progress toward uncovering the truth. The report said Syria, which has in the past been accused by the commission of withholding cooperation, was generally cooperative this time around. But the team raised questions about information provided by Syrian officials in several interviews. They said investigators found it necessary to corroborate the answers given by those interview subjects whose cooperation was "variable."
Captains of American industry say they want to help Lebanon rebuild after war
The Daily Star 9/27/2006
Intel chairman stresses 'concrete actions, not empty promises' -- Bush encouraged American companies on Monday to invest in rebuilding Lebanon after the destruction caused by the recent war with Israel, saying he wants the country to "flourish." Bush met in the Oval Office with executives of Cisco Systems Inc. , Intel Corp. , Occidental Petroleum Corp. , and GHAFARI Inc. who have created the U.S. -Lebanon partnership Fund to aid reconstruction efforts.... The US government has committed $230 million, the White House said. Bush claimed throughout the conflict that it was important for the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to survive, and said on Monday that helping with reconstruction would show "we strongly support the young democracies in the Middle East."
Flow of many imports is still a trickle despite end of blockade
The Daily Star 9/26/2006
BEIRUT: Shoppers are reporting shortages of imported consumer items at many of Lebanon's larger supermarket chains, despite the end of the Israeli naval blockade and the subsequent arrival of tons of shipments that had been held at ports across the Mediterranean during the war. Merchants are complaining of cargo delays on arrival at the Beirut port due to new security measures put in place since activity resumed two weeks ago." We are running low on a lot of products, even though our mother companies are still making regular deliveries," a product manager at the Fattal Group, which has distribution contracts with global brands such as Johnson and Johnson and Kraft, told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity. "... we would have products on the store shelves within two weeks, but now security concerns are delaying arrival for two months.."
IAF planes to fly over Lebanon until 1701 implemented
Jerusalem Post 9/25/2006
Gearing up for the complete withdrawal of soldiers from Lebanon by the end of the week, the IDF said on Monday it would continue - even following the withdrawal - to fly surveillance planes over Lebanon until UN Security Council Resolution 1701 was fully implemented. On Tuesday, Brig. -Gen. Udi Dekel, head of the IDF's Strategic Planning Division will meet with UNIFIL commander General Alain Pellegrini and representatives of the Lebanese Army at UN headquarters in Nakoura, just north of Rosh Hanikra.... To the UN's dismay, the officer said, Israel did not plan to suspend its aerial activity over Lebanon until Resolution 1701 was fully implemented, the kidnapped soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser were released and the Lebanese border with Syria was hermetically sealed to weapons transfers to Hizbullah.
5,000 Israeli troops linger in South
The Daily Star 9/25/2006
Despite an Israeli pledge to withdraw from Lebanese territory once the number of United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon troops reaches 5,000, Israeli soldiers remain in their positions in the South on Sunday. A security source told The Daily Star that the Israeli Army "will be withdrawing behind the UN-demarcated Blue Line by the end of this month." The Israeli Army has pulled out of some Southern villages, such as Mayss al-Jabal and Mohaibeb, and redeployed to other parts of the South, but it has not withdrawn completely from Lebanese territory. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army continues to deploy its troops along the Southern border in the villages which the Israelis have already left. For the first time in three decades, Lebanese Army troops from the 6th Legion reached the Southern border point of Naqoura, south of Tyre...
UAE, Lebanese Army ink pact to de-mine South
The Daily Star 9/26/2006
BEIRUT: A new agreement was signed Monday between the Lebanese Army and the United Arab Emirates to remove mines and unexploded bombs left by Israeli troops in South Lebanon. The agreement was signed during a conference held at the UAE Embassy in Beirut, in the presence of Ambassador Mohammad Sultan Soueidi, army representative Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Faqih and UN representative Kerry Clarks. The Emirati ambassador said the agreement "falls within the UAE Program to support and rebuild Lebanon." Soueidi added that the UAE armed forces would remove mines and unexploded bombs from the areas south of the Litani River, in cooperation with the British ArmorGroup.
Israeli troops to leave South by 'end of week'
The Daily Star 9/26/2006
Israeli troops are still occupying 10 areas in South Lebanon from which they are due to withdraw completely by the end of the week, a senior United Nations official said on Monday. They remain in place in 10 zones stretching from Yarin in the eastern sector to Kfar Kila in the central area, said French Major Philippe Lebrat, military assistant to the commander of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL). The announcement comes on the eve of a meeting between UNIFIL, Lebanese and Israeli officials which is due to finalize the complete Israeli pullout from the border areas it has occupied since the month-long hostilities ended on August 14 with a UN-brokered cease-fire. Lebrat said the Israeli positions were located from between 1 and 3 kilometers deep inside South Lebanon.
IDF: Sorties will continue over Lebanon
YNet News 9/25/2006
By end of week, last IDF soldier will leave south Lebanon. Local army forces are already deployed in western south Lebanon, and IDF is satisfied with their performance -- The IDF said that following the departure of all of its soldiers from Lebanese territories, aerial sorties will continue in Lebanese skies. Israel will reserve its right to continue to carry out the flights, aimed at gathering intelligence on developments in southern Lebanon, especially in light of the fact that the two kidnapped soldiers – Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser – are still in captivity. The IDF is preparing to pull its last forces from south Lebanon, and it is estimated that the maneuver will be complete by the end of the week, in accordance with a government decision.
Authors, generals press PM on peace
Jerusalem Post 9/25/2006
A group of 68 well-known Israeli authors, academics and retired generals has called on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to open peace negotiations with the Palestinians' Hamas rulers, Syria and Lebanon. The petition - signed by internationally known novelists Amoz Oz and A. B. Yehoshua, and Nobel Chemistry Prize laureate Aaron Ciechanover - is the first sign of an organized effort to prod Olmert into negotiations since a monthlong war against the Hizbullah militia in Lebanon ended last month." We strongly recommend that he make all efforts to reach an arrangement with Syria and Lebanon and the Palestinians," another signatory, former Tel Aviv Mayor Shlomo Lahat, said Monday. Asked how Israel could negotiate with Hamas when it does not recognize Israel, Lahat replied, "We'll talk to them and then they will recognize us."
Bush weighing Mideast tour after mid-term elections
Ha'aretz 9/26/2006
U.S. President George W. Bush is planning a possible visit to the Middle East after the mid-term elections in November to discuss with leaders in the region ways to move the Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward. An alternative to a Bush tour of the Middle East, senior political sources in Jerusalem say, would be an invitation to leaders in the region to a summit with the president in the United States. According to reports from Washington, Bush is "serious" about his intentions to promote a diplomatic initiative in the region in the wake of the war in Lebanon, and in view of rising concerns among moderate Arab states over Iran's growing strength and influence. The message Arab governments are relaying to the United States is that public opinion in their countries is being affected by the anti-Israeli rhetoric of Iranian President... Ahmedinejad...
Lebanon: We need missiles against IAF aircraft
YNet News 9/25/2006
Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr says his country's army will respond if Israel violates ceasefire after IDF's withdrawal. Murr meets with his Belgian counterpart, asks to equip Lebanese army with antiaircraft missiles in order to hit Israeli aircraft -- Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr said that the Lebanese army was in need of antiaircraft missiles and antitank missiles in order to defend his country "against the Israeli aggressiveness." He also asked for helicopters in order to transfer infantry corps to different areas, as well as armored vehicles.... The Lebanese minister referred to the speech delivered Friday by Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who said that his organization was running out of patience in light of the Israeli violations in southern Lebanon.
UN team arrives to probe alleged war crimes committed by Israelis
The Daily Star 9/26/2006
BEIRUT: The UN committee investigating allegations of Israeli war crimes in Lebanon arrived in Beirut on Monday for a three-week stay. The independent committee is formed of three investigators and was assigned by the Human Rights Council to probe the accusations. The committee met Monday with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. A statement issued after the meeting said the committee would be speaking with government officials and diplomatic figures, as well as representatives from civil society organizations. The committee is expected to investigate war crimes allegedly perpetrated by Israel during the 34-day war that ended on August 14, including the systemic killing of civilians and the use of banned weapons.
Photostory: Bint Jbeil to Beirut
By Samia A. Halaby, Electronic Intifada 9/25/2006
Lebanon, 22 September 2006 -- Here is an amazing picture taken of a home in Bint Jbeil on 21 September 2006 where the front of the room had been removed by an Israeli missile and the living room is open to view from the street. The dust and destruction reminded me of Israeli handiwork done in Palestine - especially parts that I photographed in Beit Jala, Beit Shour, and Gaza. / This picture was taken in Bint Jbeil on 21 September 2006, of one of the thousands of bits of color that is the remains of family life scattered among the ashes and rubble in the heart of the old town center. The town center was full of magnificent old style stone architecture. The shredded fluff once was the clothing of family members, or it was a family home's curtains, mats, and rugs. The excessive power of the explosions blew them into twirls of fluff scattered here and there... -- See also: Signs of life in Bint Jbeil
Olmert ratings plunge as right surges ahead
The Guardian 9/22/2006
Opinion polls in Israel yesterday showed growing frustration with the prime minister, Ehud Olmert, and pointed to the rise of political rightwingers in the wake of the war in Lebanon. In a poll in the Ha'aretz newspaper Mr Olmert's approval rating fell to 22%, compared with 48% six weeks ago just before the end of the conflict with Hizbullah. Support for the defence minister, Amir Peretz, the Labour party leader who has also been criticised over the war, fell to 14% from 37% over the same period. Critics have rounded on the government for failing to emerge from the conflict with a convincing victory. An inquiry has begun into the military and political handling of the war. The polls showed a clear shift to the right. Mr Olmert's biggest potential challenger appears to be the former prime minister and senior Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu, who scored a 58% approval rating in the survey.
What Types of Gruesome Weapons Did Israel Use in Lebanon?
By Nada Sayad, Uruknet/Global Research 8/23/2006
Originally published by Samidoun Media Center -- Some doubts have been expressed regarding the use by Israel of Internationally Forbidden Weapons in its war on Lebanon. The South Medical Complex in Saida is investigating this matter. It is examining 24 samples from corps that were hit in the area of South Lebanon in a trial to discover the nature of the substances that lead to death.... Dr. Omar Morabi.... said.. a mission of the.. WHO would be travelling to to Lebanon with a view taking samples from dead bodies in South Lebanon.... after receiving a report and pictures from Dr. Bachir Cham, the president of the Said Medical Complex, took action and attempted to arrange for a meeting with UN secretary Kofi Anan. The Associaiton submitted to Mr. Anan a report together with the pictures.... dreadful smell, burn signs without being burned… a quick death caused by a sudden shut down of the nervous system accompanied by the coagulation of the blood...
Brammertz confirms truck bomb killed Hariri but refrains from pointing fingers
The Daily Star 9/26/2006
Probe also cites 'link' between series of blasts, assassination bids in 2005 -- New tests corroborate the theory that former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri was killed by a massive truck bomb detonated by a suicide bomber, a United Nations investigating team said in a report released Monday. Evidence found at the scene of the blast also included a tooth, probably of the bomber, which featured an unspecified "distinguishing mark" on its crown suggesting he may not have been from Lebanon, the report said. The document, the third from a team led by Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, reported progress in the probe of the February 14, 2005, explosion that killed Hariri and 22 others in Beirut. His supporters blame Syria, which has denied any role.
March 14 fears Hizbullah ministers will walk out
The Daily Star 9/26/2006
Hamadeh insists: 'we will not resign' -- BEIRUT: In the latest twist in Lebanon's ongoing political uncertainty, the March 14 Forces have voiced concern that Hizbullah's ministers may resign after the fasting month of Ramadan if a national unity government is not formed. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has said repeatedly that his Cabinet will remain in office for as long as it enjoys the confidence of Parliament, despite mounting calls from the opposition for the government's dismissal following the end of Israel's month-long bombardment of Lebanon. A March 14 Forces source said the anti-Syrian coalition expects that should the opposition continue to fail in its attempts to forge a national unity government, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah will withdraw his two ministers.
Jumblatt takes issues with Nasrallah
The Daily Star 9/25/2006
MUKHTARA: MP Walid Jumblatt had harsh words on Sunday for Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's "Divine Victory" speech on Friday, adding that his main disagreement with the resistance was its "adherence to the Syrian regime." "We are ready to show solidarity with the Syrian people, but we will not do so with the Syrian regime, which is responsible morally, politically and financially for the series of assassinations which Lebanon has witnessed since [Syrian President] Bashar Assad came to power," Jumblatt said during a meeting with members of the Progressive Socialist Party Youth Organization in Mukhtara." Sayyed Hassan, rest your mind, I will not reach an agreement with you. When you separate yourself from the Syrian leadership, I will possibly hold a dialogue with you," the Chouf MP said.
Geagea scoffs at Hizbullah's claims of 'victory'
The Daily Star 9/25/2006
Anti-Syrian Christian leader Samir Geagea scoffed Sunday at Hizbullah's claims of victory in the war with Israel and avowals that it wanted a strong state in Lebanon. "We are the victors, and yet we do not feel it was victory but rather that a real catastrophe befell our country, and that our fate and destiny are at the mercy of the winds," the Lebanese Forces (LF) leader and member of the "March 14" political group told a rally attended by tens of thousands of supporters. Crowds flocked to the hilltop Maronite cathedral in Harissa north of Beirut, site of a giant statue of the Virgin Mary, for a mass at the rally, which was staged as a memorial for LF "martyrs" who were killed during the 1975-1990 Civil War." We are the victors because it was us who were demanding the [Lebanese] Army's deployment.. backed by UNIFIL... while they were opposed..."
Bush sends corporate team to Lebanon
The Daily Star 9/25/2006
US President George W. Bush on Saturday named a delegation of corporate leaders to visit Lebanon in order to explore ways of helping the country rebuild following the devastating month-long war between Israel and Hizbullah. The group, which includes Intel chairman Craig Barrett, Cisco chief executive John Chambers and Ray Irani of Occidental Petroleum, will also lead a public fundraising drive to help finance Lebanon's reconstruction, the White House said in a statement. It said the aim of the campaign was to ¾demonstrate US private-sector support for Lebanon's reconstruction and development" by seeking individual and corporate donations for the rebuilding effort." This effort will highlight the generosity of the American people," it said.
Arab leaders urge Arab-Israeli talks
AlJazeera 9/22/2006
Arab leaders and the UN secretary-general have urged the UN Security Council to get involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the war in Lebanon showed the danger of leaving the core Middle East dispute unresolved. Israel objected, saying there were enough forums outside the council dealing with the issue. The United States agreed and prevented the Security Council from issuing a closing statement, diplomats said. Still, the Arab League and Greece, which holds the council presidency, managed to gather foreign ministers, including Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, for a debate on reviving the peace process and ending all Arab-Israeli conflicts. Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, said: "Like no other conflict, the Arab-Israeli conflict carries a powerful symbolic and emotional charge for people throughout the world."
Arab leaders urge Arab-Israeli talks
AlJazeera 9/22/2006
Arab leaders and the UN secretary-general have urged the UN Security Council to get involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying the war in Lebanon showed the danger of leaving the core Middle East dispute unresolved. Israel objected, saying there were enough forums outside the council dealing with the issue. The United States agreed and prevented the Security Council from issuing a closing statement, diplomats said. Still, the Arab League and Greece, which holds the council presidency, managed to gather foreign ministers, including Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, for a debate on reviving the peace process and ending all Arab-Israeli conflicts. Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, said: "Like no other conflict, the Arab-Israeli conflict carries a powerful symbolic and emotional charge for people throughout the world."
Saudi FM: 'Significant' Arab consensus to renew stalled ME peace process
Ha'aretz 9/22/2006
Arab countries have reached a "very significant" consensus after the recent war in Lebanon that there must be a new start with fresh ideas to the Middle East peace process, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Thursday. Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in separate interviews with The Associated Press around the meeting of the UN General Assembly, spoke of the urgency for an "end game" in the Middle East to resurrect the process which has been bogged down for three years. At a Security Council meeting later Thursday, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa called for initial negotiation between the two sides, with a concrete timeframe, as well as a report from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the best way to hold those negotiations.
Saudi FM: 'Significant' Arab consensus to renew stalled ME peace process
Ha'aretz 9/22/2006
Arab countries have reached a "very significant" consensus after the recent war in Lebanon that there must be a new start with fresh ideas to the Middle East peace process, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Thursday. Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in separate interviews with The Associated Press around the meeting of the UN General Assembly, spoke of the urgency for an "end game" in the Middle East to resurrect the process which has been bogged down for three years. At a Security Council meeting later Thursday, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa called for initial negotiation between the two sides, with a concrete timeframe, as well as a report from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the best way to hold those negotiations.
Chirac, Olmert discuss on phone proposal for Mideast conference
Ha'aretz 9/22/2006
French President Jacques Chirac pressed the case for an international conference to restart the stalled Mideast peace process in a phone conversation Friday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Chirac and Ehud Olmert also discussed the situation in Lebanon and agreed to stay in close contact over the matter, presidential spokesman Jerome Bonnafont said. The French leader urged "full implementation" of a new U. N. resolution aiming to cement a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters after 34 days of deadly clashes earlier this year. Its provisions include a call for Israel to pull its troops out of southern Lebanon. At the United Nations this week, Chirac discussed the French proposal for the conference with U. N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, U.S. President George W. Bush and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Chirac, Olmert discuss on phone proposal for Mideast conference
Ha'aretz 9/22/2006
French President Jacques Chirac pressed the case for an international conference to restart the stalled Mideast peace process in a phone conversation Friday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Chirac and Ehud Olmert also discussed the situation in Lebanon and agreed to stay in close contact over the matter, presidential spokesman Jerome Bonnafont said. The French leader urged "full implementation" of a new U. N. resolution aiming to cement a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters after 34 days of deadly clashes earlier this year. Its provisions include a call for Israel to pull its troops out of southern Lebanon. At the United Nations this week, Chirac discussed the French proposal for the conference with U. N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, U.S. President George W. Bush and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Lahoud: It is time for Israel to abide by all UN resolutions
Ha'aretz 9/22/2006
It is time for Israel to take responsibility and abide by United Nations resolutions, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said Thursday in his address to the UN General Assembly. Lahoud called the Israel Defense Forces' 34-day operation on southern Lebanon a "barbaric aggression," and said "this savagery did not weaken our people's resolve." "It is time to ask Israel to finally abide by past and current UN resolutions," Lahoud said. The president also called on the international community to "safeguard" resolution 1701, which led to the cease-fire between IDF troops and Hezbollah guerillas, though he accused the United Nations of having been "powerless to stop slaughter of the war." .... Lahoud also accused Israel of holding hostage Lebanese citizens, and asked the world to stand by Lebanon.
Lahoud: It is time for Israel to abide by all UN resolutions
Ha'aretz 9/22/2006
It is time for Israel to take responsibility and abide by United Nations resolutions, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said Thursday in his address to the UN General Assembly. Lahoud called the Israel Defense Forces' 34-day operation on southern Lebanon a "barbaric aggression," and said "this savagery did not weaken our people's resolve." "It is time to ask Israel to finally abide by past and current UN resolutions," Lahoud said. The president also called on the international community to "safeguard" resolution 1701, which led to the cease-fire between IDF troops and Hezbollah guerillas, though he accused the United Nations of having been "powerless to stop slaughter of the war." .... Lahoud also accused Israel of holding hostage Lebanese citizens, and asked the world to stand by Lebanon.
Saudi, Russian see consensus for peace
Yahoo! News Middle East 9/21/2006
UNITED NATIONS - Arab countries have reached a "very significant" consensus after the recent war in Lebanon that there must be a new start with fresh ideas to the Middle East peace process, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Thursday. Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in separate interviews with The Associated Press around the meeting of the U. N. General Assembly, spoke of the urgency for an "end game" that could give a glimmer of hope to both sides in the Middle East by resurrecting a process bogged down for three years. At a Security Council meeting later Thursday, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa called for initial negotiations between Israel and the Arabs with a concrete timeframe...
Saudi, Russian see consensus for peace
Yahoo! News Middle East 9/21/2006
UNITED NATIONS - Arab countries have reached a "very significant" consensus after the recent war in Lebanon that there must be a new start with fresh ideas to the Middle East peace process, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said Thursday. Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, in separate interviews with The Associated Press around the meeting of the U. N. General Assembly, spoke of the urgency for an "end game" that could give a glimmer of hope to both sides in the Middle East by resurrecting a process bogged down for three years. At a Security Council meeting later Thursday, Bahrain's Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa called for initial negotiations between Israel and the Arabs with a concrete timeframe...
Assad: War with Israel a possibility
Jerusalem Post 9/21/2006
Syrian President Bashar Assad said Thursday that the possibility of a new war in the Middle East could not be ruled out. Assad said he believed Israel could decide to attack Syria, because it was "looking for a way out of the crisis it is in through a new [military] operation." Israel might attack Syria under the pretense that the country was aiding Iran, Assad said. In this case, "Syria will resist, stand strong and never give in," Assad told Lebanon's As-Safir newspaper on Thursday. Since the end of the war between Israel and Lebanon, there has been increased discussion in political circles over the relationship between Israel and Syria. On August 21 Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter (Kadima) surprised the political establishment by announcing that he was in favor of a withdrawing from the Golan Heights...
Assad: War with Israel a possibility
Jerusalem Post 9/21/2006
Syrian President Bashar Assad said Thursday that the possibility of a new war in the Middle East could not be ruled out. Assad said he believed Israel could decide to attack Syria, because it was "looking for a way out of the crisis it is in through a new [military] operation." Israel might attack Syria under the pretense that the country was aiding Iran, Assad said. In this case, "Syria will resist, stand strong and never give in," Assad told Lebanon's As-Safir newspaper on Thursday. Since the end of the war between Israel and Lebanon, there has been increased discussion in political circles over the relationship between Israel and Syria. On August 21 Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter (Kadima) surprised the political establishment by announcing that he was in favor of a withdrawing from the Golan Heights...
Israeli, Palestinian women talk peace
Jerusalem Post 9/21/2006
The recent war in Lebanon has given the International Women's Commission new purpose and a new opportunity. The conflict showed, the commission said, that what some considered a narrow conflict has the ability to destabilize the entire region and demands an international solution. The IWC spoke with Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Finnish President Tarja Halonen and other female leaders from European Union countries, asking them to join their initiative. The Finnish president, who currently holds the rotating EU presidency, pledged support for the group and said she would look into developing a task force to address their proposals. After the war in Lebanon, the commission realized "that this was a time when the international community has become once again involved and would be debating our issue..." -- See also: Prominent Israeli and Palestinian women leaders to hold unprecedented meeting at UN with women Heads of State to initiate new Middle East peace negotiations
Israeli, Palestinian women talk peace
Jerusalem Post 9/21/2006
The recent war in Lebanon has given the International Women's Commission new purpose and a new opportunity. The conflict showed, the commission said, that what some considered a narrow conflict has the ability to destabilize the entire region and demands an international solution. The IWC spoke with Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Finnish President Tarja Halonen and other female leaders from European Union countries, asking them to join their initiative. The Finnish president, who currently holds the rotating EU presidency, pledged support for the group and said she would look into developing a task force to address their proposals. After the war in Lebanon, the commission realized "that this was a time when the international community has become once again involved and would be debating our issue..." -- See also: Prominent Israeli and Palestinian women leaders to hold unprecedented meeting at UN with women Heads of State to initiate new Middle East peace negotiations
Israel: Pullout unlikely before weekend
Yahoo! News Middle East 9/20/2006
JERUSALEM - Israel's army chief said Wednesday his nation's troops were unlikely to withdraw from Lebanon by the weekend, as he initially predicted, because final details remained to be worked out with the U. N. peacekeepers taking their place. The delay came even as the international peacekeeping mission grew to 5,000 troops, the number Israel said was needed before it could pull out of southern Lebanon. The force, known as UNIFIL, will eventually number 15,000. Israel's troop presence in southern Lebanon had been as large as 30,000 during the fighting against Hezbollah guerrillas. But the army has slowly withdrawn the soldiers since a cease-fire took effect on Aug. 14, and international peacekeepers and the Lebanese army began deploying in the area. There are currently about 9,000 Lebanese soldiers there.
Israel: Pullout unlikely before weekend
Yahoo! News Middle East 9/20/2006
JERUSALEM - Israel's army chief said Wednesday his nation's troops were unlikely to withdraw from Lebanon by the weekend, as he initially predicted, because final details remained to be worked out with the U. N. peacekeepers taking their place. The delay came even as the international peacekeeping mission grew to 5,000 troops, the number Israel said was needed before it could pull out of southern Lebanon. The force, known as UNIFIL, will eventually number 15,000. Israel's troop presence in southern Lebanon had been as large as 30,000 during the fighting against Hezbollah guerrillas. But the army has slowly withdrawn the soldiers since a cease-fire took effect on Aug. 14, and international peacekeepers and the Lebanese army began deploying in the area. There are currently about 9,000 Lebanese soldiers there.
Dr. Barghouthi: The battle for the borders of the Palestinian state has already begun
Ma'an News 9/22/2006
Ramallah -- Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's statements to the UN General Assembly about a return to the 1967 borders shows that "Israel will fail in Palestine, like in Lebanon", Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member and Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, declared in a press release on Thursday. Dr. Barghouthi also declared that Livni's statement shows that the battle for the borders of the Palestinian state has already begun. Dr. Barghouthi said, "We are now witnessing a political interpretation or political conflict to translate the results of the Intifada." He called for the "liberation of the occupied territories and the establishment of an independent and fully sovereign state", warning that, otherwise, "the situation will return to one of partial and transitional solutions."
Dr. Barghouthi: The battle for the borders of the Palestinian state has already begun
Ma'an News 9/22/2006
Ramallah -- Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni's statements to the UN General Assembly about a return to the 1967 borders shows that "Israel will fail in Palestine, like in Lebanon", Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member and Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, declared in a press release on Thursday. Dr. Barghouthi also declared that Livni's statement shows that the battle for the borders of the Palestinian state has already begun. Dr. Barghouthi said, "We are now witnessing a political interpretation or political conflict to translate the results of the Intifada." He called for the "liberation of the occupied territories and the establishment of an independent and fully sovereign state", warning that, otherwise, "the situation will return to one of partial and transitional solutions."
Peretz: Full-scale war was not planned
Jerusalem Post 9/22/2006
Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Friday that Israel did not plan for a comprehensive war in Lebanon." The missions presented by the IDF at the start the war were most certainly limited," Peretz told Army Radio. "It indicates that there was no intention for a full-scale war," he continued. In addition, Peretz rejected that IDF operations during the final three days of the war were unnecessary, claiming that this period had a major influence on the final ceasefire agreement. The defense minister said that the political echelons would not have agreed to going to war in Lebanon if the IDF leadership would have said that it did not have the necessary means for the task. "IDF commanders were certain they were prepared for war," he said.
Peretz: Full-scale war was not planned
Jerusalem Post 9/22/2006
Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Friday that Israel did not plan for a comprehensive war in Lebanon." The missions presented by the IDF at the start the war were most certainly limited," Peretz told Army Radio. "It indicates that there was no intention for a full-scale war," he continued. In addition, Peretz rejected that IDF operations during the final three days of the war were unnecessary, claiming that this period had a major influence on the final ceasefire agreement. The defense minister said that the political echelons would not have agreed to going to war in Lebanon if the IDF leadership would have said that it did not have the necessary means for the task. "IDF commanders were certain they were prepared for war," he said.
UNIFIL won't actively disarm Hizbullah
Jerusalem Post 9/22/2006
Pellegrini criticized the IAF for its daily flights over Lebanon -- Contrary to Israeli hopes that the new multinational force in Lebanon will engage and disarm Hizbullah, the beefed up UNIFIL will not immediately open fire on Hizbullah guerrillas if they are on their way to an attack or even in the midst of an attack on Israel, the commander of the UN peacekeeping force, Maj. -Gen. Alain Pellegrini, told The Jerusalem Post Thursday in an exclusive interview. In his first interview to an Israeli paper since the war in Lebanon, Pellegrini revealed that last week a Syrian weapons convoy on its way to Hizbullah was intercepted by the Lebanese army near the Lebanese-Syrian border. While the new rules of engagement set by the UN allowed the new UNIFIL force to open fire in order to implement resolution 1701, Pellegrini said he would not automatically order his troops to open fire...
UNIFIL won't actively disarm Hizbullah
Jerusalem Post 9/22/2006
Pellegrini criticized the IAF for its daily flights over Lebanon -- Contrary to Israeli hopes that the new multinational force in Lebanon will engage and disarm Hizbullah, the beefed up UNIFIL will not immediately open fire on Hizbullah guerrillas if they are on their way to an attack or even in the midst of an attack on Israel, the commander of the UN peacekeeping force, Maj. -Gen. Alain Pellegrini, told The Jerusalem Post Thursday in an exclusive interview. In his first interview to an Israeli paper since the war in Lebanon, Pellegrini revealed that last week a Syrian weapons convoy on its way to Hizbullah was intercepted by the Lebanese army near the Lebanese-Syrian border. While the new rules of engagement set by the UN allowed the new UNIFIL force to open fire in order to implement resolution 1701, Pellegrini said he would not automatically order his troops to open fire...
Balad MKs Bishara and Taha questioned over visits to enemy states
Jerusalem Post 9/21/2006
Balad MKs Azmi Bishara and Wasil Taha were questioned Thursday by the police's International and Serious Crimes Unit regarding allegations that they broke the law when they visited enemy states starting September 14. Bishara said that the questioning was "relevant and polite," but both lawmakers slammed Israeli politicians for "failing to understand" the potential benefit of their recent visit to Lebanon and Syria. On Wednesday, Balad legislator Jamal Zahalka and former MK Muhammad Kana'an were questioned about their participation in the same trip. Former MK Muhammad Miari also made the journey. The five are all suspected of violating a 2001 law forbidding political officials from traveling to enemy states. Taha said Thursday that the legislation was unconstitutional and violated MK's basic rights.
Balad MKs Bishara and Taha questioned over visits to enemy states
Jerusalem Post 9/21/2006
Balad MKs Azmi Bishara and Wasil Taha were questioned Thursday by the police's International and Serious Crimes Unit regarding allegations that they broke the law when they visited enemy states starting September 14. Bishara said that the questioning was "relevant and polite," but both lawmakers slammed Israeli politicians for "failing to understand" the potential benefit of their recent visit to Lebanon and Syria. On Wednesday, Balad legislator Jamal Zahalka and former MK Muhammad Kana'an were questioned about their participation in the same trip. Former MK Muhammad Miari also made the journey. The five are all suspected of violating a 2001 law forbidding political officials from traveling to enemy states. Taha said Thursday that the legislation was unconstitutional and violated MK's basic rights.
New Year poll: Israelis feel insecure
Jerusalem Post 9/22/2006
Israelis feel less secure today, after the war in Lebanon and with Iran building its nuclear capability, than they did a decade ago in the wake of the Rabin assassination and a spate of suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, according to a Smith Research poll for The Jerusalem Post. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they felt the country was less secure now than it was a decade ago, compared to 18% who felt the country was more secure and 19% who felt the situation was the same. The remaining 7% were undecided. Looking back on last year's Gaza Strip withdrawal, the poll found that Israelis' views had changed considerably. Fifty-five percent said they now opposed the disengagement, and 38% said they now supported it.
New Year poll: Israelis feel insecure
Jerusalem Post 9/22/2006
Israelis feel less secure today, after the war in Lebanon and with Iran building its nuclear capability, than they did a decade ago in the wake of the Rabin assassination and a spate of suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, according to a Smith Research poll for The Jerusalem Post. Fifty-six percent of respondents said they felt the country was less secure now than it was a decade ago, compared to 18% who felt the country was more secure and 19% who felt the situation was the same. The remaining 7% were undecided. Looking back on last year's Gaza Strip withdrawal, the poll found that Israelis' views had changed considerably. Fifty-five percent said they now opposed the disengagement, and 38% said they now supported it.
War boosts donations to state
Globes 9/21/2006
In the year to September 2006, the Custodian General received over NIS 142 million in donations and bequests. -- The second Lebanon war revived Zionism among Jews and many Christians, mostly in the US and France, who donated money to Israel, the IDF, and private Israeli citizens. During the war, 100 people made donations through Israeli representatives abroad. Between September 2005 and September 2006, the Custodian General received over NIS 142 million in donations and bequests, some of which were designated for specific recipients, such as hospitals and government agencies. A public committee will decide how to allocate the rest of the money. Custodian General Adv. Shlomo Shahar said the wave of donations began immediately after the outbreak of the war on July 12, and is still continuing.
War boosts donations to state
Globes 9/21/2006
In the year to September 2006, the Custodian General received over NIS 142 million in donations and bequests. -- The second Lebanon war revived Zionism among Jews and many Christians, mostly in the US and France, who donated money to Israel, the IDF, and private Israeli citizens. During the war, 100 people made donations through Israeli representatives abroad. Between September 2005 and September 2006, the Custodian General received over NIS 142 million in donations and bequests, some of which were designated for specific recipients, such as hospitals and government agencies. A public committee will decide how to allocate the rest of the money. Custodian General Adv. Shlomo Shahar said the wave of donations began immediately after the outbreak of the war on July 12, and is still continuing.
Industrial output up 1.3% in July
Globes 9/21/2006
[War dividend? ] -- Output rose by a seasonally adjusted 7. 2% in May-July. -- Industrial output rose by a seasonally adjusted 1. 3% in July 2006, and by a seasonally adjusted 7. 2% in May-July, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported yesterday. The number of industrial employees was unchanged in July, but work-hours per employee fell 4%. Some factories in the north have not provided data, because of the second Lebanon war; figures for them are derived from reports from other enterprises in area. The work-hour figure takes into account that some factories in the north were only partly operating. Trend figures indicate an annualized 13. 5% growth in industrial output in May-July, compared with 12. 7% in February-April.
Industrial output up 1.3% in July
Globes 9/21/2006
[War dividend? ] -- Output rose by a seasonally adjusted 7. 2% in May-July. -- Industrial output rose by a seasonally adjusted 1. 3% in July 2006, and by a seasonally adjusted 7. 2% in May-July, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported yesterday. The number of industrial employees was unchanged in July, but work-hours per employee fell 4%. Some factories in the north have not provided data, because of the second Lebanon war; figures for them are derived from reports from other enterprises in area. The work-hour figure takes into account that some factories in the north were only partly operating. Trend figures indicate an annualized 13. 5% growth in industrial output in May-July, compared with 12. 7% in February-April.
Halutz: Despite predictions, IDF won't be out of Lebanon by Friday
Ha'aretz 9/21/2006
Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said Wednesday that despite predictions, the army would not complete its withdrawal from Lebanon by the start of the New Year holiday, which begins at sundown Friday." We very much hoped it would happen by Friday, but in the dialogue we have been holding with the United Nations and the Lebanese army there are a few issues to be wrapped up," Lieutenant-General Halutz told Israel Radio." I hope it will take place in the next few days, but it looks likely to be after the holiday," he said. The comments contradicted remarks Halutz made Tuesday, that barring any hitches, the troop withdrawal would be complete by Friday.
Woman leaders at UN call for renewed Israeli-Palestinian talks
Ha'aretz 9/21/2006
UNITED NATIONS - Israeli and Palestinian women met Wednesday with female heads of state and foreign ministers in their continuing efforts to work toward a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The recent war in Lebanon has given the International Women's Commission new purpose and a new opportunity. The conflict showed, the commission said, that what some considered a narrow conflict has the ability to destabilize the entire region and demands an international solution. The IWC spoke with Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Finnish President Tarja Halonen and other female leaders from European Union countries, asking them to join their initiative. -- See also: Prominent Israeli and Palestinian women leaders to hold unprecedented meeting at UN with women Heads of State to initiate new Middle East peace negotiations
Merkel: Naval mission to Lebanon sign of trust in Germany
YNet News 9/20/2006
Lawmakers vote by large majority to send warships to UN Peacekeeping force in Lebanon with mandate to stop arms shipments to Hizbullah; Merkel says prior to vote 'Israel's approval of mission signal of trust in Germany, the country in whose name the destruction of the Jews and World War II began' -- German lawmakers voted by a large majority Wednesday to send warships to the UN Peacekeeping force in Lebanon with a mandate to stop arms shipments to Hizbullah guerrillas. The measure passed by a vote of 442 to 152 with five abstentions. Germany will send up to 2,400 service personnel and lead a multinational naval force patrolling Lebanon’s coast to reinforce the cease-fire that ended Hizbullah’s month long war with Israel.
Arab states urge IAEA to slam Israel for atomic arsenal
Ha'aretz 9/20/2006
Arab states on Wednesday relaunched a campaign to have the United Nations nuclear watchdog condemn Israel's reputed atomic arsenal. Israel again rebuffed two resolutions in what has become an annual Arab effort to get the International Atomic Energy Agency to press it to join the Non-Proliferation Treaty arms-control pact and help set up a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East. This year's campaign was prompted by the security threats posed by the Israel Defense Forces' operation in Lebanon this past summer, Ibrahim Othman, Syria's atomic energy commission chief said." This criminal aggression against Lebanon and Palestine must prompt us today to look at these two [resolutions] seriously, credibly," Othman said in a speech to the IAEA gathering in Vienna.
Olmert rejects criticism of his handling of Lebanon war
Ha'aretz 9/21/2006
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a special holiday interview with Haaretz that all the substantive decisions he made during the war in Lebanon were correct. Olmert rejected claims that Chief of Staff Dan Halutz and Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told the cabinet a week into the war that the goals had been achieved." Under no circumstances did the military make the statement that, from the perspective of attaining military goals, we could stop. Never. The army always asked for more time, another ten days and another ten days. I have no complaints against the army, I am just responding to charges that the army made claims like that. Never happened." According to Olmert, the only point at which it was possible to shorten the war was missed because of the "Qana disaster."
Olmert, Peretz ratings hit new low
Ha'aretz 9/21/2006
Israelis are almost equally divided between support and opposition for the government-appointed committee of inquiry into the Lebanon War, headed by retired district court judge Eliyahu Winograd, a new Haaretz-Dialog survey found. Of the 507 people who participated in the survey, 41 percent said that they had faith in the committee and its work, while 44 percent said that they were suspicious. From the point of view of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, this finding is potentially positive, in view of the poor showing that he personally made in the survey. Olmert's approval rating this week plummeted to 22 percent, compared to 48 percent six weeks ago. Defense Minister Amir Peretz fared even worse, with only a 14 percent approval rating, down from 37 percent six weeks ago.
Chavez calls Bush 'the devil'
AlJazeera 9/20/2006
Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, has called George Bush, the US president, “the devil” in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly. "The devil came here yesterday," Chavez said, referring to Bush's address at the UN assembly on Tuesday. "He came here talking as if he were the owner of the world." The leftist leader, who has joined Iran in opposing US influence, accused Washington of "domination, exploitation and pillage of peoples of the world." "We appeal to the people of the United States and the world to halt this threat, which is like a sword hanging over our head," he said. Chavez also said the UN in its current entity was unworkable and "anti-democratic." He said the US government's 'immoral veto' had allowed Israel’s recent air strikes on Lebanon to continue unabated for over a month.
UN: Israel cluster bomb use in Lebanon ‘outrageous’
YNet News 9/19/2006
Organization’s humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon says ‘most bomblets were fired by the time the conflict had been largely resolved in the form of Resolution 1701’; adds: it seems to me extraordinary that they were fired off in the last hours of the war into areas where civilian populations were known to be going -- A UN official said on Tuesday that Israel dropped at least 350,000 cluster bomblets on south Lebanon in its war with Hizbullah guerrillas, mostly when the conflict was all but over, leaving a deadly legacy for civilians,. “The outrageous fact is that nearly all of these munitions were fired in the last three to four days of the war,” David Shearer, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Lebanon, told a news conference in Beirut.
Last of Israeli troops to leave Lebanon
AlJazeera 9/19/2006
Israeli forces will leave southern Lebanon by Friday, according to the chief of Israel’s army. Dan Halutz, Lieutenant-General of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) said the last of the troops will leave Lebanon by the Jewish new year. Halutz told parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee "he hoped the last troops will leave southern Lebanon by the eve of Rosh Hashana [which takes place on Saturday]," according to a member of the panel. Israeli forces have remained in southern Lebanon for more than a month after an August 14 ceasef-ire ended the 34-day deadly war between the Jewish state and Shia guerrillas Hezbollah. Troops have gradually redeployed south of the volatile border as French-led international forces, under a UN mandate, and the Lebanese army assume control in southern Lebanon - the latter for the first time.
Artists Speak For Lebanon
Inter Press Service 9/19/2006
BAGHDAD, Sep 19 (IPS) - If art knows no boundaries, artists don't either. Through witnessing destruction all around them, Iraqi artists have found time to spare a thought and more for Lebanon. It began with a conference at the Fine Arts Academy in Baghdad Aug. 15, where artists from the group 'Where are My Rights? ' came together to condemn the failure of Iraqi and Arab non-governmental organisations to come to Lebanon's aid." In America, Australia, and those countries that supported the bombing of Lebanon, their NGOs made demonstrations against the war in Lebanon, but here in Iraq most of our NGOs said nothing," head of 'Where are My Rights? ' Ahmed Muhammad Ahmed told IPS. "We spent our own money to have this conference to express the feelings of the Iraqis."
Arab MK suspended for calling Peretz ‘murderer’
YNet News 9/19/2006
The Knesset Ethics Committee decided on Tuesday to suspend United Arab List-Ta’al MK Ibrahim Sarsur for one day after he refereed to Defense Minister Amir Peretz as a “murderer. ” Arab MK Jamal Zahalka (National Democratic Assembly) was suspended from the Knesset for three days for making similar remarks. The Ethics Committee hearing was held following complaints made by Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik and MK Yoel Hasson. It was also said that during the first days of the recent war in Lebanon Zahalka lashed out MK Benjamin Netanyahu, telling the Likud chairman, “You want war; you’re the angel of death." ... Itzik: "... this is verbal hooliganism of the lowest kind that should not be protected but condemned."
Israel outraged by Non-Aligned Mov't
Jerusalem Post 9/20/2006
A Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) "final document" praising Lebanon for its "heroic resistance to the Israeli aggression" has irked government officials in Jerusalem because some countries with close bilateral ties with Israel are a part of the movement and, as such, ostensibly signed off on the resolution. According to the 143rd clause of the 280-clause final document, "The Heads of State or Government expressed solidarity with and support for the Government and people of Lebanon, hailed their heroic resistance to the Israeli aggression, and emphasized the primordial importance of Lebanon's national unity and stability." Among the NAM members are India, Thailand, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Philippines, Honduras and Guatemala, all countries with which Israel has strong relations.
Israel blames map error for UN deaths in bombing
The Guardian 9/15/2006
The UN post had been there since 1948 and had clear markings. UN staff said they had contacted the Israelis at least 14 times that day asking them to stop bombing the area. -- The Israeli military yesterday blamed "human error" made during the duplication of maps for the bombing of a UN post in southern Lebanon in July, in which four unarmed international observers were killed during the conflict with Hizbullah. The UN post, a white building on a hilltop in Khiyam, was wrongly identified as a Hizbullah position, the military concluded in a confidential report, according to Mark Regev, Israel's foreign ministry spokesman. In the report Israel expressed "deepest condolences and sincere regret", he said.
Clinton sees new Mideast peace plan in two months
Yahoo! News Middle East 9/19/2006
LONDON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton believes a new initiative to bring peace to the Middle East could emerge in the next two months. In an interview with the Financial Times, published on Wednesday, Clinton said unrest inIraq, Afghanistan and Lebanon had set the scene for "some kind of positive movement to take place." He stressed, however, that he had no insider knowledge on the situation. Clinton told the British newspaper: "All these bad news stories have created a sense that if we don't want further disintegration to occur then we had better come up with a strategy that goes forward in creating a new sense of order that enables everybody to live together. I'm not sure you won't see some positive things come out of the Middle East in the next 60 days."
ICRC appeals for funds to cover 2006 shortfall in key operations
ReliefWeb/ICRC 9/19/2006
Geneva (ICRC) – After nine months of operations, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is appealing to donors to cover a potential shortfall in funding this year. A further 197. 8 million Swiss francs is needed to cover the ICRC's operations in 2006. This represents 22. 6% of this year’s estimated field expenditure of 875. 7 million francs. ICRC director of operations Pierre Krähenbühl outlined the situation at a donors’ meeting in Geneva today. He pointed out that the level of contributions at the nine-month point is only slightly lower than at the same time last year, leaving the ICRC optimistic that it will be possible to meet outstanding needs for the rest of 2006. Some high profile operations appear in the top ten list of "outstanding needs." .... Top of the list are Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories, Lebanon and Afghanistan.
Ahmadinejad: Security Council controlled by whim of the West
Ha'aretz 9/20/2006
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused "some permanent members" of the UN Security Council of using the powerful body as a tool of "threat and coercion" to promote their own agendas. The Iranian leader accused Western nations of guiding the Security Council's decisions on the conflict in Lebanon and on his own country's nuclear issues. He said the Security Council has been "practically incapacitated" in its desire to reach a cease-fire in Lebanon during the conflict this past summer due to the Western nations' permanent positions on the council. Ahmadinjad said Iran's nuclear activities are "transparent, peaceful and under the watchful eye" of United Nations inspectors, and reiterated his nation's commitment to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
Humanitarian Update Jun / Jul 2006
ReliefWeb/OCHA 9/19/2006
31 Jul 2006 -- Access and Protection: The months of June and July were particularly difficult for the protection of civilians (222 Palestinians killed) and humanitarian access in the oPt. Israel launched a military operation into the Gaza Strip and continued search and arrest campaigns throughout the West Bank. In addition, on 12 July, Israel retaliated strongly to the taking captive of two Israeli soldiers by Hizbollah and this developed into a full scale war in Lebanon between Israel and Hizbollah. The war diverted renewed international efforts to reduce hostilities in the Gaza Strip and address the urgent humanitarian needs there. Gaza Strip: In June and July, 198 Palestinians were killed, including 44 children, and 666 injured in the Gaza Strip.
Israelis Lose Faith in New Leaders
Islam Online.net 9/17/2006
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — A growing public frustration and disappointment at the government's handling of the latest Lebanon war has raised many questions over the "quality" and efficiency of politicians and generals nowadays with recent polls showing that the incumbent have failed the leadership test, a leading US newspaper reported Sunday, September 17." We have never been through such a loss of faith in the political and military leadership at the same time. I'm afraid people are beginning to lose confidence in the system itself," Zeev Sternhell, who fought in four of Israel's wars and is author of "The Founding Myths of Israel," told The Washington Post. Recent opinion polls show that a large majority of Israelis believe the previous leaders were better than the current ones...
Israel indicts 3 members of Hezbollah
Yahoo! News Middle East 9/18/2006
JERUSALEM - Israel on Monday charged three Hezbollah members arrested in Lebanon during the recent war with murder for involvement in deadly attacks on soldiers. In an indictment police submitted to the district court in the northern town of Nazareth, the three were charged with murder, attempted murder and membership in an enemy organization, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. A fourth Hezbollah member arrested during the war has not yet been charged, Rosenfeld said. The three are Hussein Suleiman, 22, Mohammed Sarour, 20, and Maher Housani, 30, Rosenfeld said. Suleiman was involved in planning an attack that sparked the 34-day war on July 12, in which Hezbollah militants infiltrated Israel to attack a border patrol, killing three soldiers and capturing two, Rosenfeld said.
Lebanon: War exacerbates Palestine refugee conditions
ReliefWeb/IRIN 9/18/2006
TYRE, 17 September (IRIN) - While Lebanese southerners bore the brunt of casualties and destruction to infrastructure during the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah, the pre-existing vulnerability of Palestine refugees living in Lebanon has also been greatly exacerbated. "The main problems that the Palestinians have to cope with, particularly in the south, are socio-economic," said Hoda Samra, spokesperson for the Beirut office of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA). "Whatever affects the Lebanese affects the Palestinians, given that they are residing in this country. But the Palestinians also lack coping mechanisms. Any emergency affects them even more than other groups, as the Palestinians in Lebanon are vulnerable by definition," she added.
U.N. commander: Won't disarm Hezbollah
Yahoo! News Middle East 9/18/2006
BEIRUT, Lebanon - The French general commanding U. N. peacekeeping forces in Lebanon said Monday his troops would not intervene to disarm Hezbollah, even as French President Jacques Chirac said the militant group should not keep a military wing. Maj. Gen. Alain Pelligrini told reporters the main task of his U. N. force is to ensure southern Lebanon cannot be used as a base for attacks on Israel. "The disarmament of Hezbollah is not the business of UNIFIL. This is a strictly Lebanese affair, which should be resolved at a national level," he said. Pelligrini's assessment underscored the constraints facing the beefed-up U. N. mission despite a tougher mandate and far greater manpower.
UNIFIL head restates: Group won't disarm Hizbullah
Jerusalem Post 9/18/2006
Commander of UNIFIL (United Nations Interim force in Lebanon) Major-General Alain Pelligrini reiterated on Monday that his force would not be responsible for the dismantling of Hizbullah. Their main task, he said, was to ensure that southern Lebanon could not be used as a base for attacks on Israel. "The disarmament of Hizbullah is not the business of UNIFIL. This is a strictly Lebanese affair, which should be resolved at a national level," he said. "Our mission is to have a zone between the Blue Line and the Litani (River) where there is no illegal army and from which you cannot launch hostile acts." Pelligrini said, referring to the area between the UN-demarcated border with Israel and the river.
UN General Assembly prepares to kick off 61st session Tuesday
Ha'aretz 9/19/2006
The Israeli delegation to the United Nations is preparing for the possibility that Arab and Muslim leaders will use the annual general debate of the UN General Assembly, which opens Tuesday, as a chance to condemn Israel for the Lebanon war and its treatment of the Palestinians. The ramifications of the Lebanon war on the Middle East and the possibility of a renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace process are two items on a long list of issues awaiting the 61st session of the General Assembly. Other items on the agenda include the nuclear programs pursued by Iran and North Korea, the ongoing threat of global terror, Iraq on the verge of collapse and civil war and the continued genocide in Darfur. Some UN observers expect the Arab bloc to make a concerted effort to advance an Israeli-Palestinian peace process initiated by the Arab League.
EU cancels Lebanon tour after entry refused to Israeli MK
Ha'aretz 9/19/2006
A delegation representing the European Union cancelled its visit to Lebanon after the Lebanese government refused entry to Knesset Deputy Speaker Majali Wahaba (Kadima). EU sources stated that the delegation, which was set to tour areas of Lebanon damaged during the war, would not leave without Wahaba and cancelled the trip. The group, which was to include parliamentary representatives from Europe and the Middle East, was planned as part of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership (Euromed), devoted to strengthening ties between Europe and Mediterranean countries. The team had intended to tour the country to assess damage caused in the month-long war "between Israel and Hezbollah".
'Israel's stock rises in US, Europe despite war'
Jerusalem Post 9/19/2006
Israel's public standing in both the US and Europe has improved following the war in Lebanon, according to seemingly counterintuitive figures that international pollster Stan Greenberg is presenting government officials this week. Israel's support in the US is near its highest level since Greenberg began systematically charting the numbers in April 2003, while in Europe more and more people see Israel as a moderate force in what is increasingly being perceived as a battle between moderates and extremists in the Middle East. Amir Gissin, director of public affairs (hasbara) at the Foreign Ministry, said the numbers reflected a general trend in the West, where people were beginning to widen the lens they used to interpret information about the Middle East.
UN force protests Israeli overflights
Jerusalem Post 9/14/2006
The IAF is violating the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire, and the UN force in Lebanon intends to launch an official complaint against Israel following the violations, UN sources reported on Thursday. Spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force currently stationed in Lebanon, Alexander Ivanko, said that "the alleged violations will be reported to the UN headquarters in New York and also to the IDF." The spokesman said that IAF fighter jets had carried out some 35 violations of Lebanese air space, in breach of the ceasefire agreement reached with the UN Security Council. Despite the usual IAF incursion of one flight a day, according to UN sources, on Wednesday it reportedly carried out four such forays. Lebanese security forces claimed that on Thursday the IAF carried out a large number of sorties over Lebanese space.
IDF developing measures to counter Iran's WMD threat
Jerusalem Post 9/19/2006
With Iran racing to obtain nuclear weapons [sic], the IDF Home Front Command (HFC) has shifted its focus since the war in Lebanon and is now investing most of its efforts in confronting the threat of non-conventional weapons of mass destruction (WMD), a high-ranking officer revealed Monday. The officer said the HFC was in the process of developing new technological means to deal with chemical and biological threats. The Jerusalem Post has learned that the HFC was in the process of developing mobile air-purification containers that could be brought to areas infected by chemical or biological weapons and purify the air. According to an officer involved in the development, the containers would minimize the number of dead and wounded during a chemical attack since they would quickly purify air infected by deadly chemical agents.
Lebanon World Heritage sites need repair
Yahoo! News Middle East 9/18/2006
PARIS - Three UNESCO World Heritage sites in Lebanon, including some of the Middle East's most significant ancient ruins, are in urgent need of repairs after a month of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the U. N. agency said Monday. In one case, frescos in a Roman-era tomb in Tyre were shaken to the ground when a building 500 feet away was bombed, said U. N. experts, who visited Lebanon and reported on their findings. Some of the paintings were destroyed. In the ancient Phoenician city of Byblos, ruins were stained by an oil spill. In Baalbek, another Phoenician city which has some of the finest examples of imperial Roman architecture temples may have suffered structural damage, the experts said.
Peretz to Defense Ministry employees: I'm staying put
YNet News 9/18/2006
After much talk about a portfolio shake up in cabinet, Defense Minister Amir Peretz tells employees of his office in ceremony for Jewish New Year that he has no intention of leaving his position -- Peretz told his employees Monday that "it seems that after the war, people are looking for media stories. First I would like to make it clear that not only do I intend to continue serving as Minister of Defense, it is my wish to do so." Peretz added that "the Ministry's employees will take this crisis and turn it around into a new opportunity." According to him, "there is no reason for us to define the war in Lebanon as a failure. I do think, however that there is a lot to say about some of the events that took place during the war..."
Israel keeps blockade of Lebanon ports
Yahoo! News Middle East 9/7/2006
BEIRUT, Lebanon - With a low-flying passenger jet circling the capital, Lebanon put on a boisterous show Thursday to celebrate the end of Israel's air blockade. But Israel said its closure of Lebanon's ports will remain in force until international forces arrive to watch the seas. Lebanon's prime minister and Israeli officials said they expected the naval blockade to end within days, once French, Italian and Greek navy vessels start patrolling to prevent weapons shipments to Hezbollah. The opening of the airport will be the first test for the U. N. peacekeeping force's ability to keep out weapons. Hezbollah is widely believed to have received weapons and other support from its backers Syria and Iran. The land route to neighboring Syria has already been reopened, with the Lebanese government posting thousands of troops along the rugged frontier...
Lebanese soldiers killed in explosion
AlJazeera 9/6/2006
Unexploded Israeli shells are spread across southern Lebanon -- Two Lebanese soldiers have been killed and a third wounded whilst trying to defuse unexploded Israeli ordnance in southern Lebanon, security officials said. The ordnance exploded as the soldiers tried to dismantle it near the village of Aita al-Jabal near the border with Israel on Wednesday. One of the soldiers was killed immediately and another was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died. The third casualty was reported in critical condition in the same hospital, the security officials said. The United Nations has confirmed that Israeli dropped nearly 400 cluster bombs across south Lebanon and says the bomblets have killed 14 people and wounded at least 50 since the truce.
Olmert: Without soldiers, no implementation of 1701
YNet News 9/8/2006
Prime Minister meets with Russian Foreign Minister regarding Syria, blockade on Lebanon, importance of releasing Israeli soldiers. Lavrov: Soldiers should be released as soon as possible -- Thursday evening, in a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who is visiting in Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that "until the kidnapped soldiers are released, there will not be full implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1701. Israel is implementing its side of the resolution, and thus, Lebanon must do the same and release the two kidnapped soldiers immediately." Lavrov arrived in Israel at the end of his tour in the Middle East. During his meeting with the prime minister, the two discussed Olmert's anticipated visit to Moscow on Oct. 18th, pursuant to an invitation from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
2 Arab MKs visit Damascus
YNet News 9/7/2006
Delegation comprised of current, former MKs from National Democratic Assembly visit Syria, meet with Syrian leaders to discuss state of Middle East -- Members of Knesset Jamal Zahalka and Wasil Taha, of the National Democratic Assembly, arrived Thursday for a visit to Damascus. The delegation, also comprised of former MKs Mohammad Knaan and Mihammad Miyaari, will meet with leaders in the Syrian government, members of Parliament, authors and spiritual leaders. This is the first meeting in Syria for members of the party in five years. According to the delegation, the visit is intended to discuss the state of the region, particularly following "the war of aggression against Lebanon and pursuant to threats of a second round of war."
German FM in Beirut to work out monitoring of Lebanese ports
Ha'aretz 9/7/2006
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Germany's foreign minister flew into Beirut on Thursday to work out plans for German help in monitoring at Lebanon's airport and seaports to prevent weapons shipments to Hezbollah as required under the United Nations cease-fire resolution. Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived about two hours before Israel lifted the air blockade of Lebanon. Calling the lifting of the blockade a first step, Steinmeyer told reporters at the airport there will be "accurate monitoring" of traffic through entry points into Lebanon. Germany will send customs and police officers to act as advisers to Lebanese authorities at Beirut's airport, as well as x-ray equipment to reinforce control, government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said in Berlin. It was unclear how many would be deployed.
Palestinian elite tells British PM Blair not to visit territories
Ha'aretz 9/7/2006
RAMALLAH - Hundreds of Palestinians including politicians and intellectuals on Thursday called on British Prime Minister Tony Blair not to visit Palestinian areas, accusing him of excessive support for Israel. Blair will meet Palestinian officials in Ramallah on Sunday during a visit to the region, an aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said. Blair is expected to also hold talks in Israel and Lebanon, though there has been no confirmation from his office." He is coming here in order to wash his hands, that are dripping with Lebanese blood, with Palestinian water," the group of Palestinians wrote in an ad placed in the al-Ayyam newspaper." We, the signatories... notables, intellectuals and political figures declare that Tony Blair is persona non-grata in our country."
Tony Blair to tell Olmert: Progress in PA talks vital
Ha'aretz 9/8/2006
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to raise the Palestinian issue and the aftermath of the Lebanon war when he meets Prime Minister Ehud Olmert after he arrives in Jerusalem on Saturday night. Olmert is expected to discuss the efforts to block Iran's nuclear program. Blair visited Israel several times during his nine-year term of office and hosted Olmert in London at the beginning of June this year. Their meeting centered on Olmert's realignment plan, which has meanwhile been removed from the agenda. Blair is expected to ask Olmert how he intends to proceed in the political process with the Palestinians now that the alignment is not on the agenda. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Olmert on Thursday and urged him to call an international conference "with the participation of all the parties."
Peretz: Hizbullah now realizes kidnapping price tag
YNet News 9/7/2006
Defense Minister tells fellow Labor members ‘any rational person understands that Lebanon war failures originate from previous governments’ policies; if Israel would have struck with force after 2000 kidnapping, incident would not have repeated itself’ -- Defense Minister Amir Peretz said during a speech at the Labor Party offices Thursday that “I am not claiming that the failures (of the Lebanon war) should be covered up; I realize mistakes were made and they must be revealed. “We must draw lessons; I am in favor of an in-depth investigation of all the ranks that will look into the failures and their origin,” Peretz said...." Now Hizbullah understands that the price tag for kidnapping Israeli soldiers and attacking our communities is high. The accomplishments of the war in Lebanon are made more apparent with each passing day. ”
"Terror" leader: Gaza preparing for war'
YNet News/WorldNetDaily 9/7/2006
Hizbullah aiding Palestinians in 'turning Strip into southern Lebanon'; 'We learned from Hizbullah's victory that Israel can be defeated,' says Abu Ahmed -- Local "terror" groups are working with Hizbullah to turn the Gaza Strip into the Palestinian version of southern Lebanon by smuggling in heavy weaponry and rockets, building war bunkers and preparing for a large-scale confrontation with Israel , a senior "terror" leader in Gaza told WorldNetDaily. "We learned from Hizbullah's victory that Israel can be defeated if we know how to hit them and if we are well prepared," said Abu Ahmed, northern Gaza leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades "terror" group. "We are importing rockets and the knowledge to launch them and we are also making many plans for battle."
An anti-war protest concert, without protesters
Ha'aretz 8/21/2006
If the rappers weren't there to save the day, the event might have been a sad and awkward one. No more than 50 people climbed up to the South Tel Aviv roof where the "Emergency Festival" against the war was being held, and most of them did not look particularly upset by the Israel Defense Forces activity in Lebanon. One of the performers noticed this indifferent mood and provokingly asked the crowd: "Is there anyone here from the left at all? " Silence. "I mean, really, does anyone here attend the leftists demonstrations? No? So I don't really see what we're doing here." Until the rappers grabbed hold of the mics, the anger and protest did not manifest itself in the performances...
Naval blockade to remain in effect
YNet News 9/7/2006
Sources in PM’s Office says lifting of naval blockade on Lebanon delayed until arrival of international troops tasked with implementing weapons embargo on Hizbullah, prevent weapons smuggling. Lebanese PM: I expect Israel to lift sea blockade Friday -- The office of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reported Thursday that while the aerial blockade on Lebanon has ended, the naval blockade imposed in the past eight weeks will remain in effect for the time being. Sources from Olmert's office explained that it was decided to postpone the lifting of the naval blockade because Israel is still waiting for the arrival of the international forces, so that it may implement the weapons embargo on Hizbullah and prevent weapons smuggling along the border.
Beinish unanimously approved as new Supreme Court president
Ha'aretz 9/8/2006
The Judicial Appointments Committee on Thursday unanimously voted to appoint Justice Dorit Beinish the next Supreme Court president. Beinish will be sworn in as president next Thursday, immediately after Supreme Court President Aharon Barak's retirement ceremony. Justice Eliezer Rivlin, who is also a member of the Judicial Appointments Committee, is expected to be appointed deputy president of the Supreme Court in about two weeks. President Moshe Katsav, who is under investigation for alleged rape and sexual harassment, said Thursday that he would attend Beinish's swearing in ceremony. -- From our Archives, a review of Justice Beinisch's rulings: High Court allows Gaza demolitions
High Court: IDF must secure olive harvest
High Court allows construction of fence to resume around Ariel
High Court rejects petition against closure of Gaza Strip
Shinui election ads disqualified as insulting to ultra-Orthodox
Court orders section of separation fence torn down
High Court orders IDF to protect Palestinian farmers from settlers
Court denies Druze request to allow for visits to Syria, Lebanon
Annan to meet Spanish king, PM to discuss Lebanon and Iran
Ha'aretz 9/7/2006
MADRID - United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday met with leaders in Spain before its parliament was to vote on contributing Spanish soldiers to an expanded UN peace mission in Lebanon. Annan was scheduled to hold talks with King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to discuss details of Spain's contribution to the force. Before the talks, Annan met Thursday morning with former prime minister Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez. The Spanish parliament was expected on Thursday afternoon to approve sending up to 1,100 troops to Lebanon. Annan arrived Wednesday night for talks following a tour of the Middle East, Africa and Turkey.
Meshal: Israel won't admit it can't free Shalit without a price
Ha'aretz 9/7/2006
Hamas' exiled political leader has blamed Israel for the delay in negotiations on the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, in an interview published Thursday in Lebanon's al-Akhbar daily newspaper"There is no other way except negotiations, which have not started yet because Israel refuses to admit that its attempts to free the soldier without a price have failed," said exiled leader Khaled Meshal. Israel has pursued a military offensive in the Gaza Strip to free Shalit, who was seized by Hamas militants on June 25 in a cross-border. At least 209 Palestinians, around half of them civilians, have been killed during IDF attacks since June 28. Meshal told al-Akhbar that there has been no advance in negotiations, despite the interest of international delegates.
UN counsel in Beirut to shape tribunal for Hariri murder suspects
Ha'aretz 9/7/2006
A United Nations legal counsel began talks with Lebanese authorities on Thursday to discuss the establishment of an international tribunal to try suspects in the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Nicolas Michel, under-secretary-general for legal affairs and the legal counsel, will discuss the nature and scope of the tribunal, which the Lebanese government plans to authorize in the next few weeks to try those suspected behind the attack in February 2005. Michel met Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and Justice Minister Charles Rizk, Lebanese officials said. He is expected to hold further talks before leaving Lebanon on Friday. An initial UN report said Syrian security officials and their allies in Lebanese security agencies were involved in the blast that killed Hariri and 22 others.
Abducted troops' families: Twice disappointed
YNet News 9/7/2006
Families of kidnapped IDF soldiers meet with Olmert, express disappointment in PM's empty promises, specifically lifting of blockade on Lebanon -- Thursday afternoon, families of the IDF's kidnapped soldiers gave a press conference following their meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Benny Regev, brother of Eldad Regev, said that the Israeli government was once again acting against the interests of the state and of the captive soldiers. The families had met with Olmert in Tel Aviv pursuant to his decision to lift the aerial and naval blockade on Lebanon as of Thursday evening at 6 p. m. "Since last night (Wednesday), when we heard on the news that the blockade would be lifted, we have had a very hard time. In the meeting with the PM, we expressed our strong disapprobation of lifting the blockade," Regev said.
PM calls for speedy deployment of UN naval forces to Lebanon
Ha'aretz 9/7/2006
Israel lifts Lebanon air embargo, delays end to sea blockade -- Hours after Israel ended its eight-week embargo on flights in and out of Lebanon, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called Thursday for a speedy deployment of United Nations naval forces to Lebanese waters, and said he hopes their quick arrival would allow Israel to lift its sea blockade. Israel lifted its blockade of Lebanese airports on Thursday at 6 P. M. , but delayed the planned end to a seige on sea ports for 48 hours." We decided today in coordination with the commander of the UN troops in the Middle East... not to lift the naval blockade in Lebanon at this stage until the naval forces that are slated to continue this closure in our place arrive," Olmert said in a statement issued by his office.
UN's World Food Program says sees end to Leba | |
