Hummus war looms between Lebanon and Israel By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 7, 1:42 PM ET
BEIRUT, Lebanon - The latest conflict simmering between Lebanon and Israel is all about food: Lebanese businessmen accusing Israel of stealing traditional Middle Eastern dishes like hummus. Fadi Abboud, president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association, said Tuesday his group plans to sue Israel to stop it from marketing hummus and other regional dishes as Israeli.It is not enough they (Israelis) are stealing our land. They are also stealing our civilization and our cuisine, said Abboud.He said his group also seeks to claim the eggplant spread baba ghannouj and tabbouleh, a salad made of chopped parsley and tomatoes, as Lebanon's own.Hummus — made from mashed chickpeas, sesame paste, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and garlic — has been eaten in the Middle East for centuries. Its exact origin is unknown, though it's generally seen as an Arab dish.But it is also immensely popular in Israel — served in everyday meals and at many restaurants — and its popularity is growing around the globe.While Abboud cites a history of complaints by Lebanese businessmen about Israel exporting and marketing Lebanese dishes as Israeli, it's not clear where the Lebanese might file suit since the two countries are officially at war.
Israel's Food Industries Association and the Foreign Ministry both declined comment.
Abboud compares his suit to the one over feta cheese in which a European Union court ruled in 2002 the cheese must be made with Greek sheep and goats milk to bear the name feta. That ruling is only valid for products sold in the EU.Abboud acknowledged an uphill battle, particularly over hummus — which Palestinians also claim as their own.Hummus might be debatable, in any case we will be happy if the Palestinians win... But nobody can even discuss whether tabbouleh or baba ghannouj are Lebanese, Abboud added. We don't have to win. The important thing is to try.
Medvedev vows constructive Mideast role to Olmert: reports Tue Oct 7, 1:23 PM ET
MOSCOW (AFP) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev assured outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday that Moscow wants to play a constructive role in the Middle East, news agencies reported. Our relations are developing well and consistently and this is one of the key factors of settlement in the Middle East, Medvedev told Olmert during the Israeli leader's visit here, according to Itar-Tass and RIA Novosti agencies.Russia will continue in the future to play a constructive and active role in this process, the Russian news agencies quoted him as saying.
Olmert, who stepped down on September 21 but remains at the helm of a transitional government, invited Medvedev to make an official visit to Jerusalem.Russia is a world power and its voice on both regional and global issues is in the view of Israel very important, said Olmert, quoted by the agencies.Besides the Middle East peace process, Olmert was expected to touch on the Iran nuclear crisis and possible Russian weapons sales to Syria during their talks.Russia's arms-export monopoly Rosoboronexport on Monday denied Israeli claims it plans to deliver S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Iran or Syria, the Interfax news agency reported earlier.Olmert's defence minister, Ehud Barak, on Sunday urged Russia not to upset the strategic balance in the Middle East with arms sales to Muslim countries.During a telephone conversation last month, Olmert told Medvedev it would be a waste for Syria to spend billions of dollars on buying weapons that Israel would eventually destroy, Israeli media reported.
Hamas delegation in Egypt for Palestinian unity talks by Adel Zaanoun
Tue Oct 7, 1:08 PM ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) - The Islamist Hamas movement sent a delegation to Egypt on Tuesday for talks aimed at restoring Palestinian unity amid a dispute over the presidency that could sharpen internal divisions. The delegation headed by Musa Abu Marzuk, the number two official in Hamas's Damascus headquarters, also includes Mahmud al-Zahar, Said Siyam and Khalil al-Hayya, all senior leaders of the movement in the Gaza Strip.
We will arrive in Cairo today, and tomorrow we will begin meetings with our Egyptian brothers, Zahar, who is widely considered the most influential leader in Gaza, told AFP before he crossed into Egypt with the Gaza delegation.The talks are expected to focus on repairing the bitter Palestinian divisions left by Hamas's seizure of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 that split the Palestinian territories into hostile rival camps.Cairo plans to host a meeting on November 4 that will bring together all the major Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the secular Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, which was driven from Gaza in the takeover.
Zahar said his movement will do everything to ensure the success of the dialogue while ruling out any unilateral concessions.The purpose of these meetings is to return to the geographic, political, and administrative situation that prevailed (before June 2007) but not at any price, he said.The head of Fatah's parliamentary bloc meanwhile told reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah that his movement supported a transitional government of national consensus but refused to form a national unity government with Hamas.Such a (unity) government can only be formed after presidential and parliamentary elections are held, Azzam al-Ahmed said, adding that Hamas had every day put a new condition in the way of dialogue.Salam Fayyad, a politically independent former World Bank economist who was appointed prime minister by Abbas after the Gaza takeover, also called for a non-factional transition government.What must happen is an agreement to reunite the country, that's our top priority, Fayyad said during a visit to Brussels.Such a solution would help the international community, which shuns Hamas, to deal with the transitional unity government until new elections are held, Fayyad said.But in a sign that the divisions may be growing deeper with time, Hamas MPs announced on Monday they will no longer recognise Abbas as president after his term expires on January 8.According to Palestinian law, presidential elections must be held every four years, meaning that Abbas's term officially ends in January 2009.
Abbas's supporters, however, have pointed to another provision of the constitution that says presidential and parliamentary elections must be held at the same time, which they say extends his term to January 2010.Hamas won parliamentary elections in 2006 and has 74 MPs in the 120-member assembly, 30 of whom are currently jailed by Israel.Although Abbas severed all contacts with the movement after the Gaza takeover, Hamas still recognises him as the head of the Palestinian Authority.Israel and the West consider Hamas a terror organisation and in the past have refused to have any contacts with a Palestinian government that includes the group sworn to the destruction of the Jewish state.
Palestinian PM calls for 'non-factional' unity government Tue Oct 7, 11:02 AM ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) - Talks between Egypt and the Islamist Hamas movement on Wednesday must work towards a non-factional unity government for the Palestinian territories, Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad said. What must happen is an agreement to reunite the country, that's our top priority, Fayyad said Tuesday in Brussels after talks with Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme.He called for a non-factional national consensus government... that everybody agrees to but a government of individuals without party affiliations, at least transitionally.Such a solution, Fayyad agreed, would also help the international community, which shuns Hamas, to deal with the unity government.It would be transitional in the run-up to general elections both presidential and legislative.The Cairo talks must also address taking advantage of offers to help oversee our efforts to rebuild our security services and law and order services, again transitionally until our own capacity is restored, said Fayyad.If the issue is approached this way I would say the prospects are good that there would be an agreement and that this dialogue would lead to a conclusion, he added.In June international donors committed millions of dollars to security projects they hope will help pave the way to a viable Palestinian state.The money will be passed to the Palestinian Authority over the next three years for measures like putting more police on the beat and building police stations and courthouses, according to sources.
As for the wider peace talks with Israel, Fayyad asked, how are we going to implement a peace deal unless our country is united? Hamas is to begin talks in Egypt on Wednesday aimed at restoring Palestinian unity amid a dispute over the presidency that could sharpen internal divisions.The delegation is headed by Musa Abu Marzuk, the number two official in Hamas's Damascus headquarters and includes senior leaders of the movement in the Gaza Strip.The talks are expected to focus on repairing the bitter Palestinian divisions left by Hamas's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 that split the Palestinian territories into hostile rival camps.Cairo plans to host a meeting on November 4 that will bring together all the major Palestinian factions, including Hamas and the Fatah party of secular Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, which was driven from Gaza in the takeover.In a sign that the divisions may be growing deeper with time, Hamas MPs announced on Monday they will no longer recognise Abbas as president after his term expires on January 8.The Palestinian leader was paying a friendly visit to Brussels, with no scheduled talks with EU officials.He was to attend a major exhibition of Palestinian art in the evening.
Russia's Jerusalem land claim worries Israelis By TIA GOLDENBERG, Associated Press Writer Tue Oct 7, 6:59 AM ET
JERUSALEM - The Russians are coming to downtown Jerusalem, reclaiming ownership of a landmark with the approval of the Israeli government, just as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visits Moscow to try to iron out serious policy differences between the two countries. After years of contacts, Olmert's Cabinet agreed Sunday to hand over the small tract known as Sergei's Courtyard. The area, which once accommodated Russian pilgrims visiting the Holy Land, now houses offices of Israel's Agriculture Ministry and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.The property includes a lush garden and the massive buildings around it — a turret-like structure at the intersection of two downtown streets and the sand-colored fortress-like wings leading from it.The timing of the gesture is clear. After years of relatively smooth relations, serious problems have cropped up between Israel and Russia. One concerned Russia's summer invasion of Georgia, which has become a close ally of Israel in recent years. More importantly, Israel is concerned about Russia's role in helping, or not stopping, the nuclear program of Israel's archenemy, Iran.Olmert hopes to talk through those issues during his two-day trip to Moscow. He was scheduled to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday before returning to Israel.
Not everyone is happy about Israel's Jerusalem goodwill gesture. Hardline groups bridle at any transfer of control in Jerusalem, because they oppose Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts that would require sharing the city.Israel TV described the transfer as Russian autonomy in downtown Jerusalem. The Cabinet decision says no major changes can be made at the site without approval of both governments.The official transfer may be delayed because of an appeal filed by the nationalistic Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, which said the deal is a breach of Israeli sovereignty.Nachi Eyal, the group's director, warned the deal could set a precedent for other land claims.A Russian official denied accusations it seeks greater influence in the Middle East through the acquisition of Sergei's Courtyard, calling its desire to own the place a matter of historical significance.This has nothing to do with what is being called imperial ambitions because it's not a military base or something that can serve those purposes, said Alexei Skosyrev, a political counselor at the Russian Embassy in Tel Aviv. He said the building will be used as a Russian cultural center to promote bilateral relations between the two countries.The site, named for Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, a son of Czar Alexander II, was built in 1890 and is part of the larger Russian Compound, most of which Israel purchased 45 years ago. It paid in oranges because it lacked hard currency.Negotiations over the site began in the 1990s. In 2005, after years of lagging progress on the deal, then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised former Russian President Vladimir Putin the land would be returned.
Hamas blames US Jewish lobby for financial crisis Tue Oct 7, 6:46 AM ET
GAZA CITY (AFP) - The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip on Tuesday blamed what it called a Jewish lobby in the United States for the global financial crisis. Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said in a statement that the crisis was due to bad administrative and financial management and a bad banking system put into place and controlled by the Jewish lobby.While pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into a rescue package, US President George W. Bush has remained silent about the Jewish lobby that put the US banking and financial sector into place, he said.
He said the lobby controls the US elections and defines the foreign policy of any new administration in a manner that allows it to retain control of the American government and economy.The Anti-Defamation League said last week that the US financial crisis has provoked an outpouring of anti-Semitism on the Internet, with Jews being blamed for the debacle on Wall Street.The age-old canards about Jews and money are always just beneath the surface, said Abraham Foxman, the national director of the US group which fights anti-Semitism.
Hamas lawmakers: Abbas term ends in January By IBRAHIM BARZAK, Associated Press Writer Mon Oct 6, 5:55 PM ET
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas will cease to recognize Mahmoud Abbas as Palestinian president after Jan. 8 and replace him with one of its own leaders, according to a resolution approved by the Islamic movement's legislators Monday. The Hamas resolution demands that Abbas issue a decree by Wednesday to hold new presidential elections within three months, to coincide with what Hamas says is the end of his term.Abbas aides said the resolution appeared aimed at stepping up pressure on the president, a political moderate, ahead of a new attempt by Egypt to mediate a power-sharing deal between the rival camps and is certain to deepen the split between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah movement.I believe Hamas is coming to this point just to undermine the national dialogue before it starts in Cairo, said Abbas aide Nimer Hamad referring to the Egyptian-brokered talks expected to begin next month.If Hamas does withdraw recognition from Abbas, it would sever another link between the two sides and also undermine Abbas' legitimacy in the eyes of many Palestinians.
Abbas, the leader of the Fatah movement, was elected president in January 2005. A year later, Hamas defeated Fatah by a landslide in parliamentary elections.Hamas has been in control of Gaza since its violent takeover of the territory in June 2007, leaving Abbas only in charge of the West Bank.The Basic Law, a forerunner to a Palestinian constitution, says both president and parliament are elected to four-year terms. Before leaving office, the Fatah parliament passed a law stipulating that future presidential and parliamentary elections be held simultaneously.However, the Hamas-controlled parliament never amended the Basic Law to include this new clause. As a result, Hamas argues Abbas' term ends in January, while Fatah says he can stay in office an extra year.The Hamas resolution demands Abbas issue a decree by Wednesday to hold new presidential elections within three months, to coincide with what Hamas says is the end of his term.If Abbas does not step aside in January, Hamas says it will install deputy parliament speaker Ahmed Bahar of Hamas as Abbas' temporary successor until elections are held.The job would normally go to the parliament speaker, Abdel Aziz Dueik, but he is in an Israeli jail, along with scores of other Hamas lawmakers from the West Bank. Bahar said Monday he would accept the job, if asked.The resolution left a loophole, suggesting that Abbas' term could be extended by parliament if deemed to be in the national interest.
Reconciliation appears increasingly unlikely, since neither side appears to have a compelling interest to share power.Hamas has consolidated control of Gaza and kept the territory afloat despite a virtual blockade of its borders, while Abbas would risk Western support if he agreed to a partnership with the militants. Hamas is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the U.S. and European Union.
Terror case: Top court won't hear ex-prof's appeal Mon Oct 6, 1:19 PM ET
McLEAN, Va. - The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from a former Florida professor once accused of being a top Palestinian terrorist. The high court's decision Monday means that Sami Al-Arian, who once taught at the University of South Florida, is a step closer to facing trial in northern Virginia for refusing to testify to a grand jury.Al-Arian struck a plea bargain in 2005 admitting that he conspired to assist the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. He argued that the terms of the deal barred the government from demanding his testimony in other terror cases.But a federal appeals court disagreed, and now the U.S. Supreme Court is refusing to intervene. A judge in Virginia had wanted the appeal to be resolved before trying Al-Arian for contempt of court.
Hamas blames Israel for stalled Schalit talks Mon Oct 6, 11:16 AM ET
PARIS - The exiled leader of Hamas says talks with Israel over the possible release of an Israeli sergeant are at a standstill.Khaled Mashaal blames a lack of reliability of Israeli negotiators in the discussions toward the possible release of Israeli Sgt. Gilad Schalit.Le Figaro newspaper quoted Mashaal on Monday as saying that Israeli negotiators continue to rehash issues already agreed. The daily said he gave the interview from a residence in Damascus, Syria.Schalit was captured by Gaza militants two years ago. Hamas wants Israel to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Schalit.
Israel's Livni in coalition talks Mon Oct 6, 6:05 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni pressed ahead with efforts to secure a ruling coalition on Monday, a day after delivering her first foreign policy speech since being named to form a new government. Elected on September 17 to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the head of the Kadima party, Livni needs to put together a governing coalition if she is also to take over as premier while averting a snap election.She planned to meet on Monday with leaders of two religious parties -- the Shas, which has 12 mandates in the 120-seat parliament, and the United Torah Judaism, which has six MPs -- media reported.On Sunday, she held talks with Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who leads the Labour party, the main ally in the governing coalition, with 19 seats in the Knesset. Kadima has 29 mandates.Livni, 50, a former Mossad spy, was formally asked by President Shimon Peres on September 22 to form a new government, after she took over as Kadima chairman from Olmert who stepped down as police recommended he be indicted over graft allegations.At a conference organised by her ministry on Sunday, she delivered her first foreign policy speech since the Kadima election.Israel wants to achieve peace with all its neighbours, including the Palestinians, the Syrians and the Lebanese. Israel wants to achieve peace and normalisation with all the Arab countries, she said.
She also said Iran, which Israel considers a strategic threat, is an issue that should be dealt with at the international level.Iran is not just a problem for Israel, it is not just a problem for the region, she said. We must act together ... We must fight it.Israel, widely considered to be the only nuclear armed state in the Middle East, believes Iran is seeking to build a nuclear arsenal.Tehran insists its nuclear drive is entirely peaceful but has been under international sanctions and the threat of more over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment work.
Gaza smugglers boast of heaps of tunnels by Mehdi Lebouachera
Sun Oct 5, 7:14 PM ET
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AFP) - Smuggling is so rife across the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt that the number of tunnels along which traffickers bring in contraband has swollen into the hundreds, their operators claim. The ground at Rafah is a real Swiss cheese. If there were an earthquake the whole lot would cave in, the boss of one of the tunnels told AFP.People come from everywhere to find work: Gaza, Jabaliyah, Deir al-Balah ... This tunnel alone keeps 15 families alive, he said.
The exact number of tunnels is impossible to verify but the rapid growth of excavation work is plain for all to see.At 10 in the morning in Rafah, the only sounds come from the nearby border, where the grinding of motors draws attention to smugglers busy digging more passages beneath this sandy frontier.The presence of scores of tunnels is revealed by plastic huts camouflaging their entrances and by the heaps of earth visible along the 14-kilometre (8.5-mile) demarcation line.It is a growth industry because of the blockade of Gaza and the closure of frontiers, said Abu Khaled, in charge of one of the sites, where tunnelling began 10 days ago.Around his tent alone, three more tunnels are under construction.Not very long ago it was difficult to meet smugglers or talk to them, but now they operate openly and with everyone's knowledge and they are not bothered by anyone except, they say, when it comes to paying taxes to the Hamas government, which controls Gaza.
There is no work anywhere and I need money
The smugglers' brazenness compares with the continuing secrecy around tunnels operated by Islamists, which Israel suspects of being used to bring in weapons.We work every day, round the clock, six people by day and six people by night, said Abu Khaled, a former member of Force 17, the elite Palestinian group in charge of protecting president Mahmud Abbas.From time to time, Hamas passes by to tell us it is forbidden to traffic in weapons or hashish, he said as he helped an earth-spattered young worker to fill in a 20-metre (67-feet) deep pit.Abu Khaled says Hamas also takes its percentage on the products that enter the Gaza strip, where crossings with Israel remain closed since the Islamists took power in June last year.
As the blockade has continued, the number of tunnels has multiplied, with the blessing of Hamas, which sees them as a way of breaking the Israeli siege.Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, in an unsourced report, said this week that a team of American and Egyptian soldiers located 42 tunnels in less than a month thanks to state-of-the-art detectors.With unemployment at record levels in Gaza, tunnel owners have no difficulty finding workers despite the danger of death at any moment from the collapse of a passage, lack of oxygen or operations by the Egyptian army. In the shed of Majid Arbi'a, formerly director of a cement works that has closed for lack of raw materials, most of the labourers are students. In other places they might fund their studies by being waiters or beach attendants. In Gaza, they dig tunnels at 500 dollars for 100 metres completed. There is no work anywhere and I need money, said 29 year-old Yussef, a photography student at the University of Deir al-Balah, in the centre of Gaza. Everyone who works here is at university like me. Some are even working on their doctorate, Yussef said.
Israelis see delay in Iran-Russia missile deal By Dan Williams
Sun Oct 5, 1:13 PM ET
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Iran has not received Russia's advanced S-300 anti-aircraft system yet though the countries are still discussing a purchase, Israeli defense sources said on Sunday, revising earlier statements that a deal was imminent. The S-300 would help Tehran fend off any Israeli or U.S. air strike against its nuclear facilities. Analysts believe a purchase of the system by the Iranians could accelerate the countdown to military action designed to deny them the bomb.Israeli defense sources said last July that Iran was set to take delivery of the S-300 by year's end, and possibly as soon as September -- assessments not supported by the United States, which has led a diplomatic drive to rein in Iran's atomic plans.
Iran's Defense Ministry, which already has Russian TOR-M1 anti-aircraft missiles, said in December the S-300 was on order. On Sept 1, Iran's Foreign Ministry said there was no such order.We know that, as of now, nothing has been shipped, an Israeli defense source said on Sunday. There seems to be some kind of hold-up. The Russians and Iranians are discussing this, but we have also been speaking to Russia about our concerns.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert flies to Moscow on Monday for talks in which he is expected to ask Russia to curb defense sales to Iran and Syria, another of the Jewish state's enemies.Russia has denied intending to sell Iran the S-300, the best version of which can track 100 targets and fire on planes 120 km (75 miles) away. The system is known in the West as the SA-20.A second Israeli source who has access to intelligence briefings said Iran appeared to be vacillating on whether to buy the newest version of the S-300 or a less advanced model.Delivery schedule will greatly depend on which version they eventually settle on. If the new one, then it's years away. The other version is readily available, the source said.
Neither source agreed to be identified given the sensitivity of the subject. Olmert told his cabinet that his Moscow visit would address both the supply of weapons to irresponsible elements, the actions of which greatly disturb us, and the Iranian problem, in which Russia has special weight.Israel, which is believed to have the Middle East's only atomic arsenal, describes Iran's nuclear programme as a potential threat to its existence.Iran says its nuclear work is a peaceful project to generate electricity, but has stirred war fears by predicting the Jewish state's destruction.
Like Israel, the United States has alluded to military force as an option against Iran. Yet the allies have often differed on when Iran's uranium enrichment plants might yield enough fissile material for warheads. Israel's timeline is routinely shorter.(Editing by Dominic Evans)
Israel's Livni says committed to peace talks By Jeffrey Heller
Sun Oct 5, 12:38 PM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, in her first policy address since being nominated to form Israel's next government, voiced her commitment on Sunday to press ahead with peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Annapolis will continue, Livni said, referring to a U.S.-sponsored peace conference last November that restarted talks on a Palestinian state that have shown few signs of progress.
Let us not allow dates or political changes to stand in our way, she said in an address at a policy conference at Israel's Foreign Ministry also attended by Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki.Israeli and Palestinian leaders have expressed doubts they could meet Washington's goal of reaching a peace deal by the end of the year, before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office.We see that the next months are maintaining a level of uncertainty and that level of uncertainty is getting higher and higher, Malki said in his English-language address to the forum at the Israeli Foreign Ministry.We are waiting to see who will be the next president, (Barack) Obama versus (John) McCain, and believe me there is a big difference between the two vis a vis the situation in the Middle East ... the Middle East peace process and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Malki said.He did not elaborate on the Palestinian view of the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates.Livni was asked by President Shimon Peres on September 22 to form a government in 42 days following the resignation, under a cloud of corruption allegations, of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.Olmert, who launched the current peace talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, remains prime minister in a caretaker capacity until a new government is formed, either through a coalition deal or an early election.We hope that (Livni) will succeed (to form a new government) because this will also show continuity and commitment to the peace process and to the negotiations (for) a Palestinian state, Malki said.Commenting on a key issue that has blocked progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, Malki described Israel's settlement activity in the occupied West Bank as a timebomb.But he said the Palestinian Authority remained committed to the talks as a strategic choice and to pursuing an internal dialogue to reconcile with Hamas Islamists who seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007.(Additional reporting by Joseph Nasr, Editing by Dominic Evans)
