Kuwait emir: Israel must act on peace Mon Aug 3, 3:38 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmed al-Sabah told US President Barack Obama on Monday that Arab states will act on their peace initiative only once Israel implements and fulfills its obligations.I affirmed to President Obama that we are interested in bringing about peace in the Middle East. It is in our interest that peace be brought about,the emir said through a translator as he met with Obama at the White House.The visiting leader noted pan-Arab support for the initiative presented by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and stressed: We will implement this peace initiative when Israel implements and fulfills its obligations.The Arab peace initiative offers Israel full normalization of ties in return for its withdrawal from occupied Arab land and the creation of a Palestinian state.It also calls for a just solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees to be agreed upon in accordance with the UN General Assembly Resolution No. 194,which the Jewish state has repeatedly rejected.The fate of the Palestinian refugees and their descendants who fled or were driven out of their homes in what is today Israel in the 1948 war -- now numbering 4.6 million -- is a core issue in the Middle East conflict.Obama thanked Kuwait for hosting US troops in support of operations stemming from the March 2003 invasion of Iraq, and said he and his guest would discuss the conflict in Afghanistan, counterterrorism cooperation, pressure on Iran over its nuclear program, and the Middle East peace process.And I'm confident that, based on this conversation and ongoing work between our two countries, that we can strengthen not only Kuwaiti-US relationships, but also to create a more stable region of peace and security,said Obama.
Texan says God sent him to seek oil in Israel by Patrick Moser – Mon Aug 3, 3:18 am ET
MAANIT, Israel (AFP) – Texan John Brown says he is on a divine mission to find oil in the land of milk and honey.Brown, who calls himself Zionist Christian, is convinced that oil-dependent Israel is sitting on vast reserves of crude. Their location is mapped out in the Bible, he says.Standing on the platform of a 45-metre- (150-foot-) high rig in central Israel, Brown says he expects the black gold to start flowing within months. There's no maybe -- it's going to happen, the 69-year-old says.He is not the only one who has faith that there is oil under the Holy Land. Brown points out that his Zion Oil and Gas company, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, recently raised 21 million dollars.But his claim that the Bible shows where the treasure is buried has raised more than a few eyebrows.He is prospecting in a country where former premier Golda Meir once joked that Moses took the Jews through the desert for 40 years only to end up in the one spot in the Middle East that has no oil.I think she was wrong, says Brown, holding the well-worn Bible he always carries with him, and which he says is clear in mentioning the blessing of the deep that lies beneath.Brown says he became a born-again Christian in 1981 and was deeply influenced by Jim Spillman, an evangelical minister who preached at his local church.Spillman wrote a booklet -- The Great Treasure Hunt -- that claims to have found the X that marks the spot in the quest for Israeli oil.He is convinced that key clues are contained in a Biblical passage that calls for blessings upon the head of Joseph, and a map of the 12 Biblical tribes of Israel that shows what he says looks like the outline of a head.That is exactly where our licence is,Brown says.But he stresses that Zion Oil, which he founded in 2000, has also conducted extensive surveys.What started as a faith journey became more proof positive in that we have seismic and scientific evidence to back up what we're doing. We have plenty of that.
It's the geology confirming the theology,adds Brown, who has no previous experience in searching for hydrocarbons but has surrounded himself with veteran oilmen.Brown also got a major psychological boost when Isramco, a local venture whose major shareholder is US oil company Noble Energy, discovered vast natural gas deposits off the coast of Israel in January.The gas field 90 kilometres (55 miles) off Haifa has estimated reserves worth 15 billion dollars and was hailed by the then infrastructure minister as a historic discovery.Texan oilmen, a Turkish drilling crew and Israeli geologists work around the clock at Zion Oil's Maanit onshore rig, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Tel Aviv.Pointing to just how much work is involved, company officials say it took more than 60 trucks to transport the 2,000-horsepower rig, leased from Turkish company Aladdin Middle East Ltd, from Haifa harbour to the site. Zion Oil says it recorded shows of hydrocarbons at the Maanit well in 2005 at depths of 3,636 to 4,696 metres (12,000 to 15,500 feet) but could not test them successfully because of mechanical problems. It re-entered the well in May and expects to reach a depth of about 5,450 metres (18,000 feet) drilling directionally to a distance of 750 metres (2,500 feet) from the rig. Until recently, people would laugh when we told them them we planned to drill for oil,says Zion Oil CEO Richard Rinberg.Company officials believe the reason no significant oil deposits have been found so far in Israel is that no one has been drilling deep enough.Zion Oil's deep drilling comes at a price -- 30,000 to 50,000 dollars a day, according to Brown. The Delaware-registered company currently holds two onshore petroleum exploration licences in Israel, covering a total area of 327,000 acres (130,800 hectares).Is its vision statement, Zion Oil says it has a calling to assist Israel in the restoration of the land by finding and producing oil and gas, helping to make Israel politically and economically independent.I do believe things don't just happen by chance, and that God, when he saved me, sent me here... to do this,says Brown.A significant oil find would have major implications for Israel and the Middle East as a whole, where surrounding nations that profess little love for Israel boast most of the world's known oil reserves.And Brown is convinced that the oil will be top grade.I couldn't imagine God giving Israel anything less than the Arabs have.
Israel evicts Palestinians from Jerusalem homes by Charly Wegman – Sun Aug 2, 9:07 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Club-wielding Israeli riot police evicted two Palestinian families from their homes in occupied east Jerusalem, defying international protests over Jewish settlement activity in the area.Clashes erupted after police moved in at dawn around the homes in the upmarket Arab district of Sheikh Jarrah following an Israeli court decision ordering the eviction of the 53 Palestinians, including 19 minors.I was born in this house and so were my children, said Maher Hanoun, whose family was evicted along with the neighbouring Ghawi household.Now we are on the streets. We have become refugees.The Supreme Court ordered the evictions following an appeal by the Nahalat Shimon International settler group which claimed Jewish settlers have title deeds for the properties, despite UN and Palestinian denials.Jerusalem authorities have also given permission for the construction of about 20 homes in Sheikh Jarrah, in defiance of global calls for a halt to all settlement activity in occupied east Jerusalem and the West Bank.Sheikh Jarrah is one of the most sensitive neighbourhoods closest to the so-called Green Line separating east and west Jerusalem, with the fate of the city one of the thorniest issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.As some settlers carried boxes containing the belongings of the expelled families to a truck, others moved into the houses holding drills, shovels and ladders.
Police clashed with protesters and detained around 10 people.
We are all afraid of being kicked out, said Amal Kassem, a Sheikh Jarrah resident for more than five decades.She said Jewish settlers were holding fake title deeds to homes which the Palestinians obtained in line with a deal struck between Jordan and the UN agency for refugees in 1956, when Jordan had jurisdiction over the area.Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat expressed outrage.Israel is once again showing its utter failure to respect international law,he told reporters.New settlers from abroad are accommodating themselves and their belongings in the Palestinian houses and 19 newly homeless children will have nowhere to sleep.The evictions also drew strong words from Israel's closest ally, the United States, which in recent months has placed increasing pressure on the Jewish state to halt settlement construction.The eviction of families and demolition of homes in east Jerusalem is not in keeping with Israeli obligations, said a senior US diplomat, who described the events as provocative.Unilateral actions taken by either party cannot pre-judge the outcome of negotiations and will not be recognised by the international community,he told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The United Nations too condemned the actions.
I deplore the totally unacceptable actions by Israel in which Israeli security forces evicted Palestinian refugee families ... to allow settlers to take possession of their properties,said Richard Miron of the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.The British consulate, which is in Sheikh Jarrah along with several other foreign missions, echoed the view. The Israelis' claim that the imposition of extremist Jewish settlers into this ancient Arab neighbourhood is a matter for the courts or the municipality is unacceptable,it said in a statement.These actions are incompatible with the Israeli-professed desire for peace. We urge Israel not to allow the extremists to set the agenda.Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it in a move not recognised by the international community. It sees all of Jerusalem as its eternal, undivided capital and does not consider construction in east Jerusalem to be settlement activity.The Palestinians want to make the east -- home to some 200,000 Jewish Israelis and 268,000 Palestinians -- the capital of their future state.
UNRWA says needs at least $30 mln to meet deficit Sun Aug 2, 4:58 am ET
AMMAN (AFP) – The cash-strapped UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Sunday it needs at least 30 million dollars to meet a deficit in its 545-million-dollar budget this year.UNRWA needs 30 million dollars... minimum. But the figure is so flexible and could change anytime, depending on the donations, Richard Cook, the agency's operations director, told AFP.Cook said the situation at the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees is the worst since I joined UNRWA 24 years ago and was unlikely to improve in the coming two years.The agency faces chronic financial problems, but we hope our traditional donors would continue to be generous because our situation is very difficult, Cook added.In all, the agency cares for some 4.2 million Palestinian refugees in the Middle East, including around 1.8 million in Jordan.The agency made a 160-million-dollar appeal last November to oil-rich Arab states in the Gulf to help meet growing demands for it services in 2009.
Fatah to reject Israel as Jewish state at congress: document Sat Aug 1, 3:51 pm ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction will reaffirm its refusal to recognise Israel as a Jewish state at a major congress next week, according to a document obtained by AFP on Saturday.The congress document also reiterates the refusal of the Palestinian leadership to resume peace talks with Israel as long as it continues building Jewish settlements in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.The Fatah congress that opens in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday will be the mainstream Palestinian faction's first such meeting in 20 years, with some 2,000 delegates expected to attend from around the world.Israel has come under diplomatic heat over its settlement activity particularly in east Jersualem which it captured in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed it in a move not recognised by the international community.Israel sees all of Jerusalem as its eternal, undivided capital and does not consider construction in east Jerusalem to be settlement activity.The Palestinians want to make the east of the city -- home to some 200,000 Jewish Israelis in 121 settlements and 268,000 Palestinians -- the capital of their future state.In the document Fatah underlines its refusal to recognise Israel as a Jewish state as demanded by Israel's hardline Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Fatah links this refusal to its determination to protect the right of Palestinian refugees to return to homes they fled at the time of the creation of Israel in 1948.Abbas's faction is also expected to again endorse a 2002 Saudi-sponsored peace initiative with Israel.The offer calls on all Arab states to establish full and normal relations with Israel in exchange for the Jewish state's withdrawal from all lands occupied in the 1967 war and the creation of a Palestinian state.
The Islamist movement Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip has banned Fatah members from attending the congress and has warned it will take legal action against those who defy the order.Mahmud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader in Gaza, said earlier this week that the ban on taking part in the congress would be lifted if the rival Fatah freed all Hamas prisoners in the West Bank.Hamas-Fatah tensions boiled over in June 2007 when the Islamists seized control of Gaza after a week of deadly street clashes, confining the writ of Palestinian president and Fatah leader Mahmud Abbas to the West Bank.
Saudi rebuffs US on improving ties with Israel By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jul 31, 4:53 pm ET
WASHINGTON – Saudi Arabia on Friday bluntly rejected U.S. appeals for improved relations with Israel as a way to help restart Middle East peace talks, saying the Jewish state is not interested in a deal.After talks with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said his country will not consider steps suggested by U.S. Mideast peace envoy George Mitchell until Israel accepts Arab demands to withdraw from all occupied Palestinian territories.
Incrementalism and a step-by-step approach, has not and, we believe, will not lead to peace, Saud said as Clinton looked on at a joint State Department news conference. Temporary security and confidence building measures will also not bring peace.What is required is a comprehensive approach that defines the final outcome at the outset and launches into negotiations over final status issues,the prince said, referring to the borders of a future Palestinian state, control of Jerusalem, the return of Palestinian refugees, water and security.President Barack Obama, Clinton and Mitchell all have been urging Arab nations to improve ties with Israel with confidence-building measures such as opening trade offices, allowing academic exchanges and permitting civilian Israeli aircraft to overfly their airspace as a way of demonstrating their commitment to peace.Clinton repeated that call in her remarks, saying the Obama administration wants the Arab states, including our friends in Saudi Arabia, to work with us to take steps to improve relations with Israel, to support the Palestinian Authority and to prepare their people to embrace the eventual peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis.Saudi Arabia's continued leadership is absolutely vital to achieve a comprehensive and lasting peace, she said.A bipartisan group of more than 200 members of Congress delivered a similar message Friday to Saudi King Abdullah, urging him to drop opposition to the administration's appeal for intermediate confidence-building steps.We have been disappointed thus far to see the public reaction of your government to President Obama's request, the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the monarch.We urge you to assert a strong leadership role and help lead the Middle East to a new era of peace and reconciliation by stepping forward with a dramatic gesture toward Israel akin to the steps taken earlier by the leaders of Egypt and Jordan.But Saud flatly ruled that out. He maintained that Israel was trying to distract the world from a Saudi-proposed Arab-Israel peace deal in which Arab states would recognize Israel provided it withdraws from Arab territory seized in the 1967 war.The question really is, What will Israel give in exchange for this comprehensive settlement offer? Saud said, noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ignored U.S. calls to stop constructing Jewish settlements in the West Bank and building housing in East Jerusalem.
Israel hasn't even responded to an American request to halt settlements, which President Obama described as illegitimate, he said.The Saudi stance is complicating Mitchell's efforts to bring the Israelis and Palestinians back to negotiations.But Clinton denied that the odds were insurmountable. She said Mitchell, who just returned from his fifth trip to the region, was making progress and developing a formula to get the two sides talking again.We feel like we're making headway and we are determined to do so in as short a period of time as possible, she said.
Rocket-battered Israeli border town enjoying calm By ARON HELLER, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jul 29, 4:21 pm ET
SDEROT, Israel – Six months after Israel ended its bruising offensive against Gaza Strip militants, the people of this rocket-scarred border town are enjoying their calmest stretch in recent memory.The rocket attacks that made life unbearable have all but stopped. Playgrounds are filled with children on summer vacation, stores are bustling and the town's public swimming pool is open for the first time in five years.
People are out more. There is movement. There is a different atmosphere, said Avigail Hazan, a 42-year-old storekeeper.It was worth going through the war for this. It's fun now; I'm calm.Life before the war — it wasn't life, agreed the town's deputy mayor, Rafik Agaronov. Now, thank God, there is quiet. Hopefully it will stay like this forever. If our children are calm, we are calm.Israel's anger and frustration over the incessant rocket fire on this working-class town less than a mile from Gaza's border was the loudly proclaimed reason for its invasion of Gaza. The fact that the attacks have all but ended has improved the atmosphere and set the stage for possible talks between Israel and the Palestinians.The U.S. has sent a parade of envoys to the region this month to explore the prospects. Those efforts have focused on bringing Israel together with Hamas' bitter rival, the moderate West Bank government of President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas, which took control of Gaza from Abbas' forces two years ago, remains internationally isolated.Hamas has not ruled out firing more rockets, but the militants seem to no longer be targeting Israel.A Hamas spokesman, Abu Obeida, insisted Wednesday the militant group has not changed its policy regarding rocket attacks and called them one of the legitimate tools of the resistance.Still, rocket fire has dropped dramatically since the Gaza offensive ended in January, with some 220 rockets fired on southern Israel, according to the army. The last rocket attack on Sderot was May 19.That compares to 7,865 rockets and mortars fired on southern Israel since Israel withdrew from Gaza in September 2005, according to the military. At least 4,000 of those hit Sderot, making life miserable and increasingly dangerous. Eight people were killed and hundreds were wounded. The economy was paralyzed and nearly everyone was traumatized by the frequent wail of sirens and explosions.The heavy rocket fire brought life in Sderot to a virtual standstill as hundreds fled to get out of range. Those who stayed behind kept close to home and to their fortified shelters.
Israel's massive air and ground assault, which began last December, killed more than 1,100 Palestinians, wounded thousands more and caused massive destruction.Despite a backlash of international criticism and war crimes allegations, Israel says the assault achieved its primary goal of stopping the rocket fire. Israeli officials believe the offensive proved to be a powerful deterrent, though they also say Gaza's Hamas rulers are using the lull to rearm.Eager to win international acceptance, Hamas may now be showing restraint to gain favor with the outside world. The head of Israel's Shin Bet security service, Yuval Diskin, said this month that Hamas was giving more attention to diplomatic efforts to end its isolation.Israel has also dramatically scaled back its military activities, though the stifling economic blockade it has maintained since the fighting ended has prevented Gaza from rebuilding.With renewed fighting always a possibility, the residents of Sderot are enjoying the calm as long as it lasts.Perhaps the most visible change in town is the reopening of the Olympic-size pool, providing a welcome place to cool off from the sweltering Israeli summer. In recent years, the rocket attacks made the pool too dangerous to enter.The kids missed this, they needed this, said Zion Peretz, the pool manager, as campers jumped into the water behind him.It's given us a joy for life again.
But not everyone has been able to erase old memories that quickly.
Experts have warned of long-lasting psychological damage inflicted on Sderot's 24,000 residents, particularly children, who suffer from exceptionally high rates of anxiety and bed-wetting compared to other Israeli children, according to local psychologists.
Yaeli Biton says she is still under psychological care and takes daily anxiety medication. I hear a car screech, a refrigerator door slam, the air conditioner make noise, and I panic, said the 50-year-old Biton.It's been like this for eight years. The feeling doesn't go away in one day.Many in Sderot said they believe the current calm won't last, and that Hamas was using the tranquil period to prepare for another round of fighting. That looming possibility is evident in the barricaded shelters scattered throughout town. Even the pool has a safe room for bathers to scamper to in case of emergency.Still, residents say they can't remember a better time for their hard-hit town. On cooler evenings, it's not unusual to see people drinking a beer with their neighbors outside their homes, or playing backgammon or chess in the park.
Dina Keinan, who owns a bike store, said her sales have increased in recent months.
People didn't buy bicycles because they were afraid to ride them for long periods, she said.It's different now.Atara Orenbouch, a 37-year-old mother of six, said life in Sderot was almost a normal life. Her children can now walk around freely like all other Israeli children. At least they have a chance to have a little bit of a normal childhood, she said.(But) in the back of my mind, I am sure we will have a bad awakening.We just assume that we will go back to the rockets, but in the meanwhile we are happy.Associated Press Writer Jen Thomas contributed to this report.
Gaza father held in honor killing of daughter By RIZEK ABDEL JAWAD, Associated Press Writer – Wed Jul 29, 12:07 pm ET
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – A Gaza man is being held on suspicion he bludgeoned his daughter with an iron chain, cracking her skull in a particularly brutal family honor killing,two human rights groups said Wednesday, citing police and forensics reports.
The assault was triggered by Jawdat Najjar's discovery that his daughter Fadia — a 27-year-old divorced mother of five — owned a cell phone, the groups said. He suspected she used it to speak to a man outside the family, according to the groups' reports.
Dr. Mohammed Sultan, who examined the victim, told The Associated Press that her head and face were bloodied, her body covered by bruises and that she suffered internal bleeding.Police confirmed Wednesday that Najjar turned himself in a day after the July 23 killing but did not give details. The officer at a police station in northern Gaza spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.Three of the woman's brothers were also detained on suspicion that they acted as accomplices, said the rights groups Mezan and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), citing police and forensics reports. The groups did not say how they obtained the reports.Fadia Najjar was the 10th victim of a so-called honor killing this year in the Palestinian territories and among Arab communities in Israel, according to rights groups.In such killings, a woman's life is taken by male relatives who suspect her of inappropriate conduct. Such killings are still widespread in the Middle East, where a woman's perceived misconduct can hurt the standing of a family and where tradition says the stain can only be removed by shedding her blood.
Traditionally, assailants have received light sentences.But the killing of Najjar shocked even activists used to detailing such crimes.Her father used an iron chain to beat her, while also kicking and punching her for about 40 minutes until she died of a fatal blow to the head, said Mezan and the PCHR.It's shocking, said Samir Zakout of Mezan.But it's not surprising because killers know they won't be punished harshly.In the West Bank and Gaza, honor killing assailants serve between six months and three years in prison, said Mona Shawa of PCHR. Gaza is ruled by the Islamic militant Hamas, while the West Bank is run by Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Justice officials in the two territories were not available for comment.In Jordan, officials said Wednesday they have set up special tribunals to deal with honor killings, hoping to speed up trials.The New York-based Human Rights Watch reported Wednesday that the Syrian government abolished a law that waived punishment for some honor killings and now allows judges to sentence perpetrators to at least two years jail.Associated Press writer Diaa Hadid contributed from Ramallah, West Bank.
US national security advisor meets Israeli officials Wed Jul 29, 8:49 am ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – US National Security Advisory James Jones was holding talks with senior Israeli officials on Wednesday as part of a push by Washington to revive stalled Middle East peace talks.Jones, the last of three senior US officials visiting the region this week, met Defence Minister Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv, Barak's office said without providing details on the discussions.Jones is also due to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before holding talks with the Palestinian leadership on Thursday in the occupied West Bank.Earlier this week US Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell held talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials on separate trips.The administration of US President Barack Obama is on a diplomatic drive to relaunch the stalled Middle East peace process with a view to a comprehensive deal between Israel and all its Arab neighbours.
Appeals court keeps alive suit against Iran By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer - Tue Jul 28, 5:17 pm ET
WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court on Tuesday kept alive a wrongful death lawsuit against Iran over Hezbollah's assassination of the former chief of the country's armed forces 25 years ago.The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington said the lower court applied the wrong law when it dismissed the claims of Gholam Oveissi's grandson, who sued Iran because it funded and directed Hezbollah's activities.Oveissi was a four-star general and chief of Iran's armed forces until early 1979, when revolutionaries deposed the Western-backed shah and established an Islamic Republic. Oveissi fled to the United States and then to France, where he took up residence in Paris.His grandson, Amir Oveissi, was born in California but moved in with his grandfather in Paris when he was a few months old. Gholam Oveissi was an outspoken opponent of Iran's revolutionary government and was gunned down while walking on a crowded Paris street on Feb. 17, 1984.Lebanon-based Hezbollah claimed responsibility. Oveissi's family fled Paris, eventually settling in Virginia.Amir Oveissi sued Iran in 2003 in U.S. District Court in Washington for intentional infliction of emotional distress and wrongful death. Iran did not respond or participate in the trial, and U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled in 2007 that Iran was culpable in Oveissi's assassination.But the judge dismissed Amir Oveissi's claims. Lamberth said California law should determine the claim since he was born there, and California law said Amir Oveissi didn't have the legal right to bring to bring a claim over the death of an Iranian citizen.But the appeals court ruled that French law should apply because the assassination took place in France and both Amir and Gholam Oveissi lived there at the time. It ordered the lower court to apply French law to the case.
