Netanyahu says people of Gaza will overthrow Hamas JULY 28,09
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday predicted the people of the Gaza Strip will one day overthrow the Islamist group Hamas, which controls the enclave of 1.5 million inhabitants.By making the Palestinians of Gaza wear a veil, the Hamas regime is not doing much to make itself popular,Netanyahu said at the National Security Academy's graduation ceremony.If the Palestinians could, they would overthrow Hamas and believe me one day they will, Netanyahu was quoted by YNetnews website as saying.He also predicted: Eventually, radical Islam will be defeated by the global information revolution, the freedom to spread ideas and with the help of technology.This won?t happen immediately, but it will happen. The only thing that could delay or disrupt radical Islam's demise is the possibility that (radicals) will obtain nuclear arms,he said.Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after splitting with the more secular Fatah movement of Palestian president Mahmud Abbas.On Sunday, Palestinian officials said Hamas has ordered women lawyers to wear a headscarf in court.
Analysis: Israel-Palestinian calm could ease talks By STEVEN GUTKIN, Associated Press Writer – JULY 28,09
JERUSALEM – In the four months since hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to power, West Bank Palestinians have enjoyed an economic recovery and Israel has experienced a period of relative calm.That progress is the backdrop for a fresh round of U.S. diplomacy aimed at getting Palestinian-Israeli peace talks started again.But there is a major sticking point. Palestinians are refusing to resume negotiations unless Netanyahu heeds the U.S. demand to stop all construction in Israeli settlements on lands they claim for their future state.Netanyahu grudgingly accepted the idea of Palestinian statehood last month only under heavy U.S. pressure and with conditions attached. And he is still balking at President Barack Obama's demand to stop building Jewish settlements.But on the ground, the Israeli leader is pursuing his own idea of how to best achieve lasting calm. His so-called economic peace aims to create the conditions for a settlement by building up the West Bank's economy.He has focused only on the West Bank, the Palestinian territory run by a moderate leadership, as opposed to Gaza which is controlled by the rival government of the militant Hamas.Netanyahu's plan has gotten off to a pretty good start. In the West Bank, military checkpoints have been lifted, permits for importing raw materials are being granted. Shopping centers and movie theaters are popping up and concerts and sporting events are other signs that life there is taking on a semblance of normality.
The International Monetary Fund recently predicted the West Bank economy could grow by 7 percent this year, its first optimistic forecast in three years.We are not waiting. We are doing. We are opening roadblocks, we are opening ties, we are opening the roads to peace,Netanyahu said Tuesday while presiding over the extension of trading hours at the crucial Allenby crossing between the West Bank and Jordan.The Palestinian demand to stop all settlement building before they will resume peace talks is not a condition they placed on Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, who brazenly expanded settlements even as he talked peace.But two things have changed since Olmert left office: a new administration in Washington has shown less tolerance for settlement activity, and Palestinians are more distrustful of Netanyahu.
Palestinians doubt Netanyahu, who leads a coalition of rightists opposed to territorial compromise, would ever do what it takes to make peace, including uprooting tens of thousands of Jewish settlers to make room for a Palestinian state.
The Israeli leader attached so many conditions to his acceptance of Palestinian independence last month as to render it meaningless in the eyes of many Palestinians.
And some wonder whether his decision to ease Israel's chokehold on the West Bank is more about getting Obama off his back — and deflecting attention away from settlements — than any precursor to historic compromise.Netanyahu is offering real and serious improvements in the West Bank, much more than his predecessor Olmert did,said Khalil Shahen, a commentator for the al-Ayyam daily. The only explanation for this is that Netanyahu is seeking an economic peace rather than the political peace.The West Bank's economic revival sharply contrasts with the misery of Hamas-controlled Gaza, where an Israeli and Egyptian imposed blockade is stifling most economic activity.Of all the obstacles to achieving peace, perhaps none is as large as Hamas militants' violent takeover of Gaza two years ago.But even on that front, there is some improvement. The rockets that Gaza militants had been firing into southern Israel for the past eight years have all but stopped, after a punishing war at the start of the year that killed more than 1,000 Palestinians. For now, Palestinian leaders seem to be savoring the tensions brewing between the conservative Netanyahu and the liberal Obama — despite historically close ties between Israel and the U.S.I don't think that the Palestinians would resume talks with Israel before freezing settlement expansion,said Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib. Every time we had the negotiation track beside the settlement expansion track, the settlement track killed the negotiation one.
Israel captured the West Bank, now home to some 2.5 million Palestinians, in 1967. The number of Israeli settlers there has more than doubled since the mid-1990s and now stands at around 300,000, in addition to another 180,000 Israelis living in Jewish neighborhoods built by Israel in east Jerusalem, also captured in 1967. Gaza has about 1.5 million Palestinians. The Palestinians hope to establish a future state in both the West Bank and Gaza.Israeli leaders say they expect to reach an agreement with Washington over Obama's demand for a settlement freeze. But Netanyahu's public rejection of Washington's demand that it drop plans to build new apartments in east Jerusalem — which the Palestinians claim as a future capital — show that his simmering disputes with Obama are far from over.A fresh point of contention emerged on Monday on the issue of Iran's nuclear program. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, standing beside visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, suggested three times that Israel is not ruling out military action against Iran, despite Washington's clear preference to keep the focus on diplomacy. Obama's top Mideast envoy, George Mitchell, wrapped up a new swing through the area on Tuesday, announcing progress in his attempts to resolve the settlement dispute but with no word of a breakthrough.Obama's attempts to persuade Arab nations to begin normalizing relations with Israel, perhaps by opening up trade offices, could make it easier for Israel to compromise.Bahrain's crown prince, Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, wrote an unusually conciliatory op-ed piece in the Washington Post calling on Arabs to engage the Jewish state. Mitchell met with the crown prince Tuesday in Bahrain and praised his initiative, the official news agency reported.But Saudi Arabia — the country whose participation most matters to Israel — is refusing to heed Obama's call.Steven Gutkin is The Associated Press bureau chief for Israel and the Palestinian territories. AP correspondent Mohammed Daraghmeh in the West Bank contributed to this report.
U.S. envoy sees progress with Israel on peace push By Jeffrey Heller – JULY 28,09
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – U.S. envoy George Mitchell and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not agree on a Jewish settlement freeze in talks Tuesday but said negotiations were advancing.We are making progress,Netanyahu told reporters.I think we held a very important and productive talk and we will continue with the effort which, I believe, in the end will succeed in advancing peace and security between us and our Palestinian neighbors and the region in general.After more than two hours of talks with Netanyahu, Mitchell told reporters: We have made good progress.Mitchell said he looked forward to continuing discussions with Netanyahu and moving toward a comprehensive peace envisioned by U.S. President Barack Obama. He did not say when he would next meet the Israeli leader.Obama's demand, in line with a 2003 peace plan, to freeze Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem has met stiff resistance from Netanyahu, the most serious rift in U.S.-Israeli relations in a decade.Neither Mitchell nor Netanyahu, who in his public comments has played down the dispute with Washington, mentioned settlements in their public remarks.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said peace talks with Israel, suspended since late last year, could not resume unless Netanyahu stopped all settlement activity.Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has publicly raised the possibility of a deal under which Israel would halt construction in settlements but complete projects under way in return for steps by Arab countries to normalize relations with Israel.
SETTLEMENT GAP
Arab moves toward commercial or diplomatic ties with Israel could help Netanyahu persuade partners in his right-leaning coalition to accept a compromise on settlements.But there has been little indication Arab countries in the region would make such gestures without a settlement freeze.At a meeting in the West Bank Monday, Mitchell informed Abbas there was still a gap between us and the Israelis on the settlements issue,a Palestinian official told Reuters.After seeing Mitchell, Netanyahu visited the Israeli-controlled Allenby Bridge crossing between the West Bank and Jordan. He has ordered its opening hours to be extended to ease the movement of Palestinian commercial goods.We are not waiting, we are doing. We are opening roadblocks, we are opening ties, we are opening the roads to peace,Netanyahu told reporters.Separately, the Israeli leader called on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to topple Islamist Hamas rule there. Some 1,400 Palestinians and 14 Israelis died in fighting during an Israeli offensive in Gaza this year.Netanyahu said Hamas was not endearing itself to the Palestinians in Gaza,Israeli media reported.Were it possible for them (Palestinians) to cast off the regime they would do so, and I tell you, they will someday be capable of doing so,he added, the reports said.Mitchell has praised Israel for removing some of its military checkpoints in the West Bank in a declared bid to bolster the Western-backed Abbas and the Palestinian economy. But Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said Monday that moving a handful of roadblocks changed little. Netanyahu is to hold talks Wednesday with U.S. national security adviser Jim Jones and other Middle East specialists sent to the region by the White House. (Editing by Douglas Hamilton and Jon Boyle) (For blogs and links on Israeli politics and other Israeli and Palestinian news, go to http://blogs.reuters.com/axismundi)
Palestinian not amused over Bruno terrorist cameo JULY 28,09
BEIT SAHUR, West Bank (AFP) – A Palestinian man presented as a terrorist in Sacha Baron Cohen's new hit movie Bruno said on Tuesday he was not amused at the gay fashionista mockumentary and plans to sue.Ayman Abu Aita said he intends to take the outrageous British comedian to court after a scene in the movie portrayed him as a leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, one of the main armed Palestinian groups.I am not a member of Al-Aqsa,said the 44-year-old Abu Aita, a member of a regional committee of Fatah, the ruling Palestinian party to which the militant group is loosely affiliated.It's a lie, the whole thing was a lie. We were betrayed by this guy when he said that he was a journalist,said Abu Aita, a Christian.We thought he was a foreign journalist and we hoped he would speak about our cause.Abu Aita joins a long line of unwitting victims hoodwinked by the comedian, both during the filming of Bruno and his previous smash hit Borat, which generated scores of lawsuits.In Bruno, Cohen poses as a flamboyantly gay Austrian fashion reporter who in one scene goes to interview a terrorist in his quest for fame.We thought: what could people see that they've never seen before on film,Cohen said on the Late Show with David Letterman recently.And we thought one thing would be a comedian interviewing a terrorist.During his interview with Abu Aita, Bruno asks to be kidnapped and suggests he and his colleagues shave their beards because your king Osama looks like some king of dirty wizard or a homeless Santa referring to Osama Bin Laden.Asked by Letterman whether he thought Abu Aita and his associates would go see the film, Cohen said: I hope to God not.But Abu Aita said he has seen the full movie: I didn't like any of it.Neither did the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.A senior official with Al-Aqsa told AFP the group has no official stance on the matter. But he dismissed the whole story as rubbish.
In Israel, no settlement deal for US envoy – just more settlers By Ilene R. Prusher – Tue Jul 28, 5:00 am ET
Jerusalem – US Mideast envoy George Mitchell wrapped up three days of talks here on Tuesday, heralding good progress in his meetings with Israeli officials. But he made no mention of a much anticipated agreement on the most visible point of contention in recent weeks and a key issue for Arabs: freezing settlement construction in the West Bank.One of the main goals of Mr. Mitchell's visit, part of a regional trip that includes stops in Arab Gulf states later this week, had been to get Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to stop the expansion of settlements – a move President Obama sees as a jumping-off point to getting Israeli and Palestinian leaders to agree on a two-state solution. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said that he will not return to talks with Israel unless such a freeze is instituted.Figures released by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) this week indicate that settlements grew at a rate of 2.3 percent for the first half of this year, pushing the total number of Israelis living in West Bank settlements above 300,000 for the first time.The Israeli media have been abuzz with reports that the IDF is preparing to implement a government order to evacuate 23 illegal settlement outposts to fulfill a long-standing promise to Washington.But in the midst of Mitchell's three-day visit, right-wing activists set up 11 new outposts in defiance of Netanyahu's engagement with the Obama administration on the settlement issue.
Netanyahu: We are opening the roads to peace
Netanyahu and Mitchell had their final meeting at the Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan, where Netanyahu touted having extended the hours per day that the passage is open as a sign of his easing restrictions on Palestinians. In recent weeks, Israel has removed dozens of army road blocks and has eased up on checkpoints around the West Bank in a goodwill gesture meant to help create an atmosphere for peace talks.We're continuing our efforts to make life easier for the Palestinians, Netanyahu said, and this is part of the policy to work in parallel – top-down politically, bottom-up economically.He agreed to open Allenby until midnight for the next two months, after which the demand will be reevaluated with an eye towards having the key passage point open 24 hours a day. Palestinians say the limited hours and long lines constrain economic growth and freedom of movement. We are opening roadblocks, we are opening ties, we are opening the roads to peace,Netanyahu said.
Obama paved Mitchell's way with letters to Arab leaders
Mitchell is now scheduled to continue his Middle East peacemaking mission in the Arab Gulf states, in sync with expectations that Obama administration officials are working to broker some kind of kick-off for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace. In exchange for Israel showing it is serious about stopping settlement growth and reaching a two-state solution with the Palestinians, moderate Arab states that support the peace process would undertake steps toward normalization with Israel. President Obama's vision is of a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, which includes peace between Israel and the Palestinians, between Syria and Israel, and between Israel and Lebanon, and also the full normalization between Israel and its neighbors in the region,Mitchell said in a press conference with Netanyahu on Tuesday.That is our objective and it is that to which we have committed ourselves fully.Mitchell's emphasis on normalization between Israel and its Arab neighbors comes amid US urging Arab states to do more to support the Arab Peace Initiative introduced by Saudi Arabia in 2002. In short, it offers Israel peace and normalization of relations with a panoply of Arab states if it reaches a statehood deal with the Palestinians.Keen to see progress, Obama has sent letters to several Arab leaders asking them to commit to steps toward Israel as well to live up to their economic pledges of support for the Palestinian Authority, according to several media outlets, including the BBC and Yediot Aharonoth, an Israeli newspaper.
Hamas dress code aims to make Gaza more Islamic By DIAA HADID, Associated Press Writer – Tue Jul 28, 2:55 am ET
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Police order a lingerie shop to hide its scantily clad mannequins. A judge warns female lawyers to wear head scarves in court. Beach patrols break up groups of singles and make men wear shirts.It's all part of a new Hamas campaign to get Gazans to adhere to a strict Muslim lifestyle — and the first clear attempt by the Islamic militants to go beyond benign persuasion in doing so.It suggests that having consolidated its hold on Gaza in the two years since it seized control by force, Hamas feels emboldened enough to extend its ideology into people's private lives.Hamas insists compliance with its virtue campaign is still voluntary and simply responds to a Gazan preference for conservative ways. But the rules are vague and there are reports of alleged offenders being beaten and teachers being told to pressure girls to wear head scarves.The campaign highlights the differing trajectories of the West Bank and Gaza — the two parts of the Palestinian state that the Obama administration hopes to midwife. Washington's efforts move into higher gear this week with visits by U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and three top U.S. diplomats.While Hamas pushes its dress code and Gaza remains impoverished under international embargo, West Bankers are enjoying an economic revival fed by foreign aid. Although most are conservative, there's more tolerance for a fairly large secular minority.The West Bank's dominant party, Fatah, is making an attempt at a comeback, after suffering a stinging election defeat at the hands of Hamas in 2006.
Next week, Fatah will hold its first convention in 20 years, hoping to show that it has reformed itself, has shed its corruption-tainted image and makes an attractive alternative to Hamas.Hamas, known for its keen sense of public opinion, pledged after its June 2007 takeover to refrain from imposing Islamic ways.That is changing, says Khalil Abu Shammala, a human rights activist in Gaza.There are attempts to Islamize this society,he said. Hamas' denials contradict what we see on the street.The virtue campaign is being spread by the Religious Affairs Ministry in a list of do's and don'ts that feature on posters and in mosque sermons. It also calls for gender separation at wedding parties and tells teens to shun pop music with suggestive lyrics.We have to encourage people to be virtuous and keep them away from sin,said Abdullah Abu Jarbou, the deputy religious affairs minister.Another Gaza human rights activist, Hamdi Shakour, blamed the border blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt after Hamas ousted the territory's Fatah rulers. He said isolation has bred extremism and dark ideas.Gaza maintains small islands of secularism. Foreigners are rarely harassed, and Gaza women in stylish clothes and hairdos, many of them Muslims, frequent a half-dozen upmarket cafes and restaurants.But Abdel Raouf Halabi, Gaza's chief supreme court judge, this month ordered female lawyers to wear head scarves and dark robes or be barred from courtrooms when their work resumes Sept. 1.We will not allow people to ruin morals,he explained.
Only about 10 of some 150 female lawyers are affected, reflecting how deeply Islamic values already prevail. One of the unscarved is Subhiya Juma, who said the ruling is taking away our personal freedom.Juma said she would not wear a head scarf and hoped a public outcry would pressure Hamas officials to withdraw the order.In government schools, head scarves for female students are supposed to be optional. But one high school has made robes and head scarves a condition for enrollment. Teachers are now being asked to pressure the girls to put them on, said Education Ministry spokesman Khaled Radi.Police are enforcing the restrictions on mannequins and salesmen say they ripped off the tags on packages of panties and bras which showed women in underwear.
Other shopkeepers said they were told to remove the mannequins' heads so they don't violate the Islamic ban on copying the human form. Enforcement is spotty and seems restricted to working-class markets. Most traders said they moved the mannequins back after police left.Lingerie seller Mohammed Helu, 23, hid his under-clad mannequins but was allowed to display an outfit of a plunging top and miniskirt with the mannequin's head covered by a plastic bag.On a Gaza beach, Mohammed Amta, 18, said a plainclothes security man told him to put on a shirt, saying his appearance was un-Islamic, and to remove his two silver rings and woven bracelet because they were a sign of Western culture.A lifeguard said he was told to wear an undershirt and knee-length shorts. They said that's how Muslims should dress,he said. He declined to be named, fearing he would lose his Hamas-provided job. Last month, three young men walking on the beach with a female friend said they were beaten by Hamas police, detained and ordered to sign statements promising not to engage in immoral activities.
The Hamas government condemned the beatings. But it remained silent when a Hamas leader, Younis Astal, accused U.N.-run summer camps for tens of thousands of children of spreading drug use and encouraging obscene behavior for teaching swimming and folklore dance.Abu Jarbou, the deputy minister, insisted that Hamas would move gradually and not impose its views by force. Still, Islamic law is coming, he said. In the future, it's inevitable it will be implemented,he said.
Iran essential player in Middle East peace: Brazil FM Mon Jul 27, 6:18 pm ET
RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) – Iran is an essential player in Middle East peace talks, Brazil said Monday as Israel's foreign minister continued a Latin American tour aimed at boosting pressure on the Islamic republic over its nuclear aims.The involvement of countries that have influence in the region is absolutely essential,Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said during a conference organized by the United Nations in Rio.
Iran is an essential player, he said.The top Brazilian diplomat said he believed one of the reasons that successive peace plans for the region have failed is that the players have always been the same.Brazil, which is hoping to obtain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, has said it would be able to act as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians because it has the confidence of both parties.Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, in Peru on Monday, stopped in Brazil last week at the beginning of a Latin American tour intended to counter Iran's perceived growing influence in the region.In Brazil, he sought support for pressure on Iran to stop its controversial nuclear program.But the Latin American powerhouse has growing ties with Iran, and is set to receive Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on a state visit before the end of the year, despite controversy surrounding his reelection.The Iranian president recently praised his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for his courage in quickly offering Ahmadinejad congratulations on his reelection, despite the major street protests against the result that broke out after the contested June 12 vote.
Hamas threatens to derail Fatah conference By KARIN LAUB, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jul 27, 12:05 pm ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank – Palestinian rivals Hamas and Fatah on Monday were locked in a new dispute that threatens to derail next week's Fatah convention, seen as key to rehabilitating the corruption-stained party that has led peace talks with Israel.
Officials in Hamas-ruled Gaza said Monday they would only allow Fatah delegates to leave the territory and travel to the conference if Fatah's leader, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, releases hundreds of Hamas detainees in the West Bank, where his Western-backed Palestinian Authority is based.The convention, Fatah's first in 20 years, is to convene in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. More than 1,500 delegates, nearly one-third of them from Gaza and the rest from the West Bank and the Palestinian diaspora, are to choose dozens of new leaders and vote for a fresh political program.The convention is seen as crucial to Fatah's attempt to clean up its image, tainted by petty infighting and corruption, and present itself as an alternative to the militant Islamic Hamas. A stinging loss to Hamas in a 2006 parliamentary election and failure to establish a Palestinian state through negotiations with Israel have increasingly demoralized the once dominant party .Abbas aides were not immediately available for comment on the standoff with Hamas, but a senior Palestinian official said Abbas had asked Syria, Russia and Turkey to intervene and help soften Hamas' demands. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the behind-the-scenes negotiations.
Nabil Shaath, a Fatah leader, said Monday it appeared unlikely the convention would be held without the Gaza contingent.There would be a massive boycott of the conference in such a case, he said in an interview.Shaath, who has been involved in Egyptian-brokered reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah, said his own movement had mishandled the prisoner issue and that its attempt to get foreign mediators to pressure Hamas on the subject was doomed to failure from the start.It won't work, and I told everyone that,he said.Hamas and Fatah began rounding up each other's supporters when Hamas violently seized control of Gaza in 2007 from forces loyal to Abbas. Worried about a Hamas takeover of his remaining power-base in the West Bank, Abbas began cracking down on the group's activists, institutions and funding.
Shaath estimated that around 900 Hamas activists are jailed in the West Bank, while more than 200 Fatah supporters in Gaza have to report daily to Hamas offices and spend long hours there in an improvised form of detention, for lack of prison space.
Shaath said he believes many of the West Bank arrests were made without due legal process. He said Hamas in the past had been willing to accept a partial prisoner release, but that as the convention drew closer it upped the ante and now demands freedom for all the detainees.In Gaza, Hamas lawmaker Ismail Ashqar confirmed the organization's position.If Fatah wants its Gaza members to leave to the West Bank to attend the conference, they must release the leaders and supporters of Hamas in the West Bank, he said.The senior Palestinian official involved in the negotiations said Abbas has signaled he is ready to free 200 Hamas prisoners once the Fatah delegates leave Gaza.At the same time, Abbas' aides are threatening to detain more Hamas activists, including political leaders, if the standoff is not resolved, said Mahmoud Ramahi, a Hamas legislator in the West Bank.We received a clear threat from the Palestinian Authority that if Hamas does not allow Fatah members to leave Gaza, they will take harsh action against Hamas supporters, including the lawmakers, Ramahi said.
Associated Press reporter Mohammed Daraghmeh contributed to this report from Ramallah.
US calls for Arab world to normalise Israel ties Mon Jul 27, 11:38 am ET
CAIRO (AFP) – US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell called on Arab states on Monday to fully normalise ties with Israel, after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the latest leg of a regional tour.Mitchell told reporters after the talks that Washington was asking countries in the region to set the context for comprehensive peace negotiations between Israel and the Arab world.By comprehensive I mean peace between Israel and Palestinians, between Israel and Syria, between Israel and Lebanon and the full normalisation of relations between Israel and the countries of the region,he said.We're not asking anyone to achieve full normalisation at this time, we recognise that will come further down the road in this process,he said.But he added that the US administration wanted to see meaningful steps by individual countries.Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel, but neither have fully normalised ties. Some other Arab countries, such as Qatar, have trade relations with Israel.After the Mubarak meeting, Mitchell headed to the occupied West Bank where he is to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas. On Tuesday he will hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, likely to focus on US demands that Israel halt settlement activity in the West Bank.On Sunday, he met Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Olmert in Tel Aviv.
British court nixes anti-Israel move by WBank group Mon Jul 27, 11:32 am ET
LONDON (AFP) – A Palestinian human rights group on Monday failed to secure a High Court ruling against Britain's support for Israel, in the wake of the recent Gaza conflict.Al-Haq had hoped to secure a judicial review of what it said was Britain's failure to fulfil its obligations under international law by denying Israel aid and assistance.It said Britain should suspend all financial, military and ministerial assistance to Israel and called for London to halt its arms export approval system, which would prevent firms from selling arms to Israel.Al-Haq highlighted Israeli activities which allegedly breached international law including denial of the Palestinian right to self-determination (and) de facto acquisition of territory by force.But Malcolm Pill and Ross Cranston, judges at London's High Court, found the claim was beyond the competence of a domestic court.While there may exceptionally be situations in which the court will intervene in foreign policy issues, this case is far from being one of them, Pill said.The government is aware of its international obligations and it is for the government, and not the courts, to decide, in the present context, what actions are appropriate to comply with those obligations.Al-Haq said on its website that while Israel's violations of international law pre-dated the Gaza conflict in December and January, it was the distinct failure of countries including Britain to uphold international law during the conflict which prompted legal action.James Eadie, the lawyer acting for British ministers, told an earlier hearing that Al-Haq wanted the court to trespass into forbidden territory and was effectively trying to dictate foreign policy.He said the issue was the most sensitive, complex situation currently in existence, suggesting Al-Haq wanted to make the government denounce Israel's actions in whatever form the court thought appropriate.Israel launched a 22-day offensive against Gaza in late December last year. More than 1,400 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed.
Gates meets Jordan king amid US peace push Mon Jul 27, 10:36 am ET
AMMAN (AFP) – US Defence Secretary Robert Gates held talks with Jordan's King Abdullah on Monday amid a push by Washington to revive Middle East peacemaking.
Finding a just solution to the Palestinian issue that would lead to the creation of an independent state is the basis for achieving peace and stability in the region,a palace statement quoted the king as telling Gates.The king, who discussed with Gates ways to boost bilateral defence cooperation said the United States plays a key role in efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in line with a two-state solution.Jordan, a key US ally, signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.Gates was also to meet army chief General Khaled Sarayrah before holding a news conference.The defence secretary, who arrived in Jordan from Israel, is one of three top US officials in the region this week. The others are US Middle East envoy George Mitchell and US National Security Advisor James Jones.
Hezbollah's Nasrallah warns Israel over future war Mon Jul 27, 9:02 am ET
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah threatened to attack Tel Aviv if Israel were to bomb Beirut's southern suburbs, a bastion of the powerful Shi'ite military and political group.Hezbollah fought against Israel three years ago in a 34-day war after the group captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. Some 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, were killed and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, died.Israel pounded Beirut's southern suburbs as well as mainly Shi'ite southern Lebanon where Hezbollah maintains a stronghold and from which Israel withdrew in 2000.Israeli bombing also hit bridges, roads, airport runways, ports, factories, power and water networks, and military installations, and the eastern Bekaa Valley.Hezbollah's daily rocket barrages caused the destruction of some 2,000 homes and apartment buildings in Israeli cities. Tel Aviv was not hit by rocket attacks.The equations that used to apply have now changed. Now it is the southern suburbs for Tel Aviv and not Beirut for Tel Aviv, al-Akhbar newspaper Monday quoted Nasrallah as telling a group of Lebanese emigrants.I tell you, and this is not muscle-flexing, the Israeli army will be destroyed in any future war. And any force from the enemy's army that steps on Lebanese land, will be destroyed, and that is a fact.
Hezbollah and Israel have not exchanged fire since the war ended three years ago. But tensions have risen recently after a weapons cache exploded earlier this month in southern Lebanon.The United Nations, which has peacekeepers based in the south, said there are signs the stockpile belonged to Hezbollah, and added that the presence of these arms were a violation of Security Council resolution 1701 which ended the war.
Israel has also said the arms cache belonged to Hezbollah. A Hezbollah lawmaker would only say the blast was a one-off accident that involved the explosion of an arms cache that had been in place before the 2006 war. He denied the explosion was a violation of resolution 1701.Lebanon has also arrested recently more than 50 people, including three Lebanese army colonels, for spying for Israel.Lebanon has described the arrests as a major blow to Israel's intelligence gathering and has formally complained to the U.N. Security Council about its findings. There has been no official word from Israel.(Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Matthew Jones)
300,000 Israeli settlers in West Bank: report Mon Jul 27, 2:20 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The number of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank now stands at more than 300,000 people, according to government figures published by the Haaretz newspaper on Monday.As of June 30, there were 304,569 settlers living in the Palestinian territory, an increase of 2.3 percent since the start of the year, it said.The issue of settlements is one of the main stumbling blocks in the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process.The administration of US President Barack Obama, who took office in January, has repeatedly pressed Israel to halt all settlement activity as part of its efforts to revive the stalled peace process.Hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far refused to heed the calls, sending tensions between the two allies rising to levels unseen in years.The new figures were published amid a US diplomatic push that will see three senior officials -- Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Middle East envoy George Mitchell and National Security Advisor James Jones -- hold talks in Israel this week.
Israel religious party hits out at US over settlements Sun Jul 26, 3:53 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – The spiritual head of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas party, which forms part of the ruling coalition, has hit out at US demands that the Jewish state halt settlement activity.What right do they have to tell us here you can build, here you can't build, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef said in his weekly sermon, excerpts of which were re-aired on Sunday by Israeli radios.We are not their slaves,he said.It marked the latest swipe in Israel at US President Barack Obama's administration over its repeated demands that the Jewish state stop all settlement activity in the occupied West Bank including annexed east Jerusalem.The demands have created tensions between the two close allies not seen in years.Born in Iraq in 1920, Yosef is a former Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel and a controversial figure who has in the past referred to Arabs and Palestinians as snakes and vipers who were swarming like ants.
He called on God to strike down then prime minister Ariel Sharon over the 2005 withdrawal of settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip and during the Lebanon war in July-August 2006, implied that Israeli soldiers killed in battle died because they didn't follow Jewish commandments.In 2000 he sparked outrage when he said that the six million Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust did not die for nothing,but were the reincarnation of Jews who had sinned in previous generations.
