US TAKES 1350 PALESTINIANS

Risking Israel's ire, US takes 1,350 Palestinian refugees
By Patrik Jonsson – Tue Jul 7, 5:00 am ET

Atlanta – The State Department confirmed today that as many as 1,350 Iraqi Palestinians – once the well-treated guests of Saddam Hussein and now at outs with much of Iraqi society – will be resettled in the US, mostly in southern California, starting this fall.It will be the largest-ever resettlement of Palestinian refugees into the US – and welcome news to the Palestinians who fled to Iraq after 1948 but who have had a tough time since Mr. Hussein was deposed in 2003. Targeted by Iraqi Shiites, the mostly-Sunni Palestinians have spent recent years in one of the region's roughest refugee camps, Al Waleed, near Iraq's border with Syria.Really for the first time, the United States is recognizing a Palestinian refugee population that could be admitted to the US as part of a resettlement program, says Bill Frelick, refugee policy director at Human Rights Watch in Washington.Given the US's past reluctance to resettle Palestinians – it accepted just seven Palestinians in 2007 and nine in 2008 –the effort could ruffle some diplomatic feathers.For many in the State Department and international community, the resettlement is part of a moral imperative the US has to clean up the refugee crisis created by invading Iraq. The US has already stepped up resettlement of Iraqis, some who have struggled to adjust to life in America.The resettlement of Iraqi Palestinians is an important gesture for the United States to demonstrate that we're not heartless,says Alon Ben-Meir, a professor of international relations and Middle Eastern studies at New York University.But some critics say the State Department is sloughing off its problems onto American cities, especially since in this case the Palestinians were sympathizers of Hussein, who was deposed by the US.

This is politically a real hot potato,says Mark Krikorian, director of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, adding, [A]merica has become a dumping ground for the State Department's problems – they're tossing their problems over their head into Harrisburg, Pa., or Omaha, Neb.

Saddam's guests
Palestinian refugees came to Iraq in successive waves over several decades, first in 1948, then in 1967, and in 1991. They were treated well under Hussein but were also used to attack Israeli policies, and their presence was resented by many Iraqis.After Hussein was deposed in 2003, many of these Palestinians were driven out of their homes and now live at the mercy of the weather in rough camps along the Syrian and Jordanian border, says Mr. Ben-Meir. The number of Palestinians in Iraq has fallen from around 34,000 to an estimated 15,000, with about 2,773 living in camps, according to the State Department.The US, which takes in about 80,000 refugees annually, hopes to bring 17,000 Iraqi refugees this year.

Categorized as Iraqi refugees
While the US generally doesn't accept Palestinians, Todd Pierce, a spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, says that the Iraqi population of Palestinians falls under a different category from those in Gaza and the West Bank. Each applicant will be carefully scrutinized for terrorist ties, he adds.The US reluctance to accept Palestinians is because it doesn't want the refugee program to become an issue in its relationship with Israel,says a diplomat in the region, who requested anonymity because he is not cleared to talk to the press. But these Palestinians, he says, will be processed as refugees from Iraq.Mr. Krikorian says the US should be the last refuge for those fleeing persecution. Only Jordan of all the Arab countries routinely grants citizenship to Palestinian refugees, he notes. More recently, says Mr. Frelick, Jordan has also shut its borders to Palestinians coming from Iraq.Frelick, who has visited a camp on the Jordanian border, said the Iraqi Palestinians are apolitical, and basically desperate, scared, miserable, and ready to just get out of Iraq.

German foreign minister starts Mideast tour Sun Jul 5, 5:31 pm ET

BERLIN (AFP) – Germany's foreign minister left for Israel Sunday at the start of a two-day tour that will also take in Syria and Lebanon and is aimed at lending support to the new US engagement in the region.Frank-Walter Steinmeier is to hold talks in Jerusalem Monday with Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres and the leader of the opposition Kadima party, Tzipi Livni.He will also pay his respects at the Holocaust memorial Yad Vashem and meet representatives of the Palestinian Authority.Steinmeier, who is also vice-chancellor and is challenging conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel in a September general election, is on his 14th Middle East tour since taking office in November 2005 in a left-right government.He aims to underline Germany's desire to actively back US President Barack Obama's drive to kickstart the dormant peace process between Israelis and Palestinians and enlist the support of regional neighbours.We have had new momentum in the Middle East peace process since the new government took office in Washington and support its fresh efforts to reach a two-state solution and a return to negotiations, a ministry spokesman, Andreas Peschke, told reporters Friday.Germany sees the absence of violence surrounding the Lebanese elections on June 7 and improved relations between Lebanon and Syria as factors that present a window of opportunity that Europe must help to seize.

Peschke said Germany was pursuing a Middle East policy, in close consultations with its European partners and the United States, that moved away from slogans and focused on practical assistance on the ground.Such steps include development assistance for the Palestinians and training for security forces in the territories to help prepare for eventual statehood.Steinmeier faced criticism from the chancellery, the United States and France for earlier efforts to engage Syria.But each has since softened its stance toward the country. The Obama administration has said it would send an ambassador back to Damascus after a four-year hiatus amid a region-wide drive to lay the groundwork for Middle East peace.During his stop in Damascus Tuesday, Steinmeier holds talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem and President Bashar al-Assad before meeting with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman and designated prime minister Saad Hariri in Beirut.He will return to Berlin late Tuesday.

Saudis would ignore Israeli jets en route to Iran: report Sun Jul 5, 8:12 am ET

LONDON (AFP) – Saudi Arabia would turn a blind eye to Israeli warplanes flying over the kingdom in any raid on Iran's nuclear sites, The Sunday Times said in a report denied by Israel.Citing diplomatic sources, it said the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence service had assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Saudi Arabia has tacitly agreed to the use of its airspace.Netanyahu's office denied the report, however, calling it fundamentally wrong and baseless.The Sunday Times said Mossad director Meir Dagan had held secret talks with Saudi officials to discuss the possibility.The Saudis have tacitly agreed to the Israeli air force flying through their airspace on a mission which is supposed to be in the common interests of Israel and Saudi Arabia,it quoted a diplomatic source as saying.Israel and Saudi Arabia have no formal diplomatic relations but Mossad has working relations with the Saudis, the newspaper added, citing an Israeli defence source.

Israeli sub enters Suez Canal for first time: report Sun Jul 5, 3:20 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – An Israeli submarine used the Suez Canal for the first time recently to get to military exercises in the Red Sea, a paper said, adding the move was aimed as a message to arch-foe Iran.The Dolphine submarine entered the canal that connects the Mediterranean and the Red Seas during the day and was escorted by Egyptian navy vessels sometime in June, the Yediot Aharonot daily said.Previously Israeli submarines rounded the whole of Africa to get to exercises in the Red Sea, Israel's biggest-selling newspaper said.The daily said that with the move Egypt and Israel wanted to show their coordination in the face of Iran pursuing its nuclear programme.No comment on the report was immediately available from either Israeli or Egyptian officials.Israel, widely considered to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power, suspects Iran of trying to build atomic weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear programme, a charge Tehran has vehemently denied.The Jewish state sees the Islamic republic as its top enemy following repeated assertions by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that Israel is doomed to be wiped off the map.

Palestinian police arrest West Bank plotters Sat Jul 4, 12:34 pm ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) – Palestinian security forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas have seized large cash sums and West Bank homes from men they accuse of plotting to kill government officials, a security source said on Saturday.The official, who could not be named, said evidence would only be produced at a later date but added that over the past few weeks men known to have connections to Islamist Hamas have been arrested at a number of locations in the West Bank.Security forces have seized some $8.5 million in cash since March until now and have arrested a number of people who have recently purchased homes adjacent to government and military installations, mainly in the city of Nablus. We will produce the evidence at the appropriate time,the official told Reuters.He said investigators suspected that the location of the homes allowed operatives loyal to Hamas to observe movements by government officials and security forces.The official said forces had also seized uniforms used by various Palestinian security forces.Hamas's intention is to establish a parallel security services in the West Bank,the source said.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

Last week, Tayyeb Abdel Rahim, a top aide to Abbas, said about 10 Hamas loyalists were arrested on suspicion of planning attacks against Palestinian officials and institutions in the West Bank. Hamas said the accusations were false.Saturday's accusations are the latest in series of claims and counter-claims by the rival factions, both of whom seek dominate the Palestinian political scene.Tension between Islamist Hamas and Western-backed Abbas's secular Fatah faction has increased since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in a brief but bloody civil war two years ago. Fatah still holds sway in the West Bank.Both sides also accuse each other of arresting men from the other faction and of torturing detainees.For months, Fatah and Hamas have tried to agree a power-sharing deal in Egyptian-brokered reconciliation talks but earlier this week they again failed to clinch a deal, missing a July 7 deadline for an agreement.The Egyptian mediators have now set July 28 as the target date for a deal.Abbas wants to reinstate his authority in the Gaza Strip and Hamas hopes a deal can persuade the West to ease restrictions imposed on it over its refusal to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept Israeli-Palestinian interim peace accords.(Reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah, writing by Ori Lewis; editing by Philippa Fletcher)