US Congress frets over anti-Americanism on TV in Mideast
Tue Dec 8, 7:01 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US House of Representatives Tuesday adopted a bill asking the US president to report to Congress on incitement to anti-American violence on television networks in the Middle East.
Lawmakers adopted the measure in a decisive 395-3 vote.
The bill asks the US president to report, six months after the text has passed,on anti-American incitement to violence in the Middle East, and for other purposes.For years, media outlets in the Middle East have repeatedly published or broadcast incitements to violence against the United States and Americans, the bill read.
Given the dangers such incitement poses to American soldiers and civilians in the ... region and at home, it is long past time for the US and other responsible nations to stop this growing threat, said Republican Gus Bilirakis, author of the bill.It calls for punitive measures for networks deemed to be fueling terror.Among the networks mentioned are Al-Aqsa, Hamas' television station, which broadcasts from Gaza, and Hezbollah's Al-Manar.The US Senate has yet to weigh in on the issue.
Status of Jerusalem should be negotiated by parties: US
Tue Dec 8, 4:46 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States Tuesday noted an EU statement welcoming the idea of Jerusalem becoming the future capital of two states, saying the US view was that the parties should decide that in final status negotiations.Israel and the Palestinians earlier Tuesday welcomed an EU statement that Jerusalem should be the capital of both the Jewish state and a future Palestinian state.We are aware of the EU statement, but our position on Jerusalem is clear and we believe that as a final status issue, this is best addressed inside a formal negotiation among the parties directly, said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.The text adopted fell short of an earlier draft proposed by the Swedish EU presidency which infuriated Israel for stating outright that occupied east Jerusalem should become the Palestinian capital.
EU says Jerusalem future capital of two states
Tue Dec 8, 11:18 am ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) – EU nations agreed on Tuesday that Jerusalem should be the capital of both Israel and a future Palestinian state, assuaging Israeli anger over earlier mention of east Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital.Jerusalem should provide the future capital of the two states, as part of a negotiated settlement, European Union foreign ministers agreed in a text released after talks in Brussels.However an earlier proposal by the Swedish EU presidency, to explicitly support the idea of east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state, was dropped by the foreign ministers.The European drafters' work achieved the significant feat of being welcomed on both sides of the Middle East divide.In view of the extreme draft submitted by the Swedish presidency at the start of the talks, we can only welcome the fact that at the end of the process the voice of the responsible and balanced states prevailed and helped balance and improve the text, Israel's foreign ministry said.The Palestinians also welcomed the statement, but expressed regret that the Swedish text was dropped by the foreign ministers.This is a positive step even though we hoped for something stronger and clearer, said Nimr Hamad, a senior advisor to president Mahmud Abbas.But we recognise the heavy pressure exercised by Israel and other sides, including European countries, in order to modify the text, he told AFP.
Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt defended the compromise text, saying the controversy over the original version has demonstrated that our voice carries much greater weight than we were perhaps aware of.The EU text did still mention a contiguous as well as viable Palestinian state, something which would require the inclusion of part of Jerusalem.It also states that the European Union has never recognised the annexation of East Jerusalem.The issue had been subject to intense discussion among the European ministers, with some nations wanting to keep the mention of east Jerusalem in the text and others reluctant to be seen as prejudging the result of any eventual Middle East peace deal.Luxembourg's foreign minister Jean Asselborn was one of the ministers most supportive of the original Swedish proposal.
East Jerusalem is not part of Israel, he said.Others EU nations, notably Germany, Italy and the Czech republic, were reluctant to be seen to be imposing a settlement on Israel and the Palestinians.To decide here in Brussels what the future status of Jerusalem should be would be very frustrating for the negotiators, said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat wrote an open letter to new EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton warning of the possible consequences of splitting up the city which Israelis view as the indivisible and eternal capital of the Jewish state.Throughout the history of the world, there is not one important city that was divided that functioned successfully. They either reunited or ceased to function properly. The lesson is too clear. Jerusalem must stay united, he argued.
The EU initiative also raised some hackles in the United States.
EU members should join responsible nations in opposing any plan to recognise Arab east Jerusalem as capital of a future Palestinian state, said Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the House of Representatives' foreign affairs committee.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center also criticised the EU draft resolution. Once again the EU is rushing with a laundry list of what's expected from Israel, but when will the European Union finally demand action from the Palestinians? asked Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Jewish human rights group.
Sleeper cells in Lebanon Palestinian camps: experts by Natacha Yazbeck – Mon Dec 7, 9:52 pm ET
AIN AL-HELWEH, Lebanon (AFP) – Despite the relative calm of Lebanon's Palestinian refugee camps in recent months, experts warn that Islamist groups are still operating within and could strike at any time.At Ain al-Helweh, the largest of Lebanon's 12 camps, which is known to harbour extremists and fugitives, small sleeper cells have kept a low profile but could mobilize quickly depending on developments, they say.In theory, this is the sort of environment Al-Qaeda, for example, generally chooses for its sleeper cells, which could be used at any time, said Hazem al-Amin, a journalist and expert on regional Islamist groups.And that is not a reassuring thought. It might not happen immediately, but it is always a possibility.His comments came as Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas discussed the plight of the refugees with Lebanese officials on Monday.The spread of Islamist groups in the camps was brought starkly into focus in 2007 when Fatah al-Islam, an obscure Al-Qaeda-inspired militia, fought fierce battles with the Lebanese army at Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon.
The fighting killed 400 people, including 168 soldiers, and displaced some 30,000 refugees from the camp, which was levelled in the fighting.There were widespread fears at the time that Ain al-Helweh, near the southern coastal town of Sidon and home to about 70,000 refugees, would be the next front for the Islamists.Reports say that Abdul Rahman Awad, dubbed the Prince of Fatah al-Islam, is holed up in the camp despite army calls to hand him over.The group has been linked to deadly bombings targeting UN peacekeepers in the south and civilian buses.By long-standing convention, the Lebanese army does not enter the camps, leaving security inside to the Palestinians.At Ain al-Helweh, the main Palestinian factions moved quickly to try to contain the situation following the Nahr al-Bared battles and drew up a pact with the army to preserve the calm.But parts of the camp where radical factions are thought to be based remain off-limits to outsiders.Sahar Atrache, an analyst with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, said the camps, notably Ain al-Helweh, are fertile ground for extremism.It's a little prison: the conditions are deplorable and there are no prospects for the inhabitants, Atrache told AFP. And these are the grounds where jihadis find their young recruits.And I?m not talking about the conventional Islamic Jihad and Hamas, but groups who follow the so-called global jihad.Atrache and others say successive Lebanese governments are largely to blame for the miserable conditions of the refugees who are denied basic human rights.
The new cabinet headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri has acknowledged the need to address the issue, and included it in its policy statement.The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) lists nearly 400,000 refugees in Lebanon. But Lebanese and Palestinian officials say the number may be as low as 250,000 as UNRWA does not strike off its figures Palestinians who move to other countries.
In Ain al-Helweh, the scars of poverty and violence cannot be ignored.
Shanties fight for space, low-hanging electricity wires dangle haphazardly between bullet-riddled walls, and battered vehicles, pedestrians and sewage share a labyrinth of alleyways. If I had lived there, I would be the world's biggest terrorist, Khalil Makkawi, former head of the Lebanese-Palestinian Dialogue Committee, told AFP of conditions at the camp.Mounir Maqdah, who commands the main police force in Ain al-Helweh, said he was well aware of the danger of extremist groups exploiting the sense of hopelessness among the younger refugees. We do realise that there are groups who could take advantage of the situation of our youth, he said.But Maqdah and others downplayed concerns that groups close to Al-Qaeda could be taking root inside the camp. It is true there is a wave of Islamism which is affecting the whole world, said Sheikh Jamal Khattab, a Sunni cleric at Ain al-Helweh who heads the Haraka Islamiyya Mujahida and has allegedly recruited fighters for Al-Qaeda in Iraq.But if there were really any groups like Al-Qaeda in Ain al-Helweh, Lebanon today would be another Iraq.Still, experts say it could be just a matter of time before the next bout of violence. Like any problem, you can ignore it, but it could explode at any moment, warned Atrache.The way the Lebanese are dealing with it, it's ignoring the real problem.
Key US lawmaker chides EU over Jerusalem
Mon Dec 7, 3:55 pm ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) – European Union members should join responsible nations in opposing any plan to recognize Arab east Jerusalem as capital of a future Palestinian state, a key US lawmaker said Monday.Any move to divide Jerusalem would undermine our ally Israel, deal a blow to religious freedom, and undercut the cause of peace, said Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Responsible nations must acknowledge this reality, recognize undivided Jerusalem as Israel?s capital, and move their respective embassies to Jerusalem, she said in a statement.Ros-Lehtinen wrote a letter underlining that message to each EU member state's foreign minister ahead of a European Union summit at the end of the week, as staunch US ally Israel condemned any support for dividing Jerusalem.In a first draft of a statement drawn up for the summit, Europe's leaders spoke in favor of a viable state of Palestine comprising the West Bank and Gaza and with east Jerusalem as its capital.Such wording angered Israel whose foreign ministry said it harmed Europe's ability to play a mediating role in the Middle East.A new version of the draft text, seen by AFP Monday, drops the explicit reference to east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.Like any other sovereign, democratic state, Israel has the right to designate its own capital -- Jerusalem, said Ros-Lehtinen in a statement.
Israel considers Jerusalem to be its indivisible and eternal capital.
Some US lawmakers have mounted a fresh push for Washington to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a step technically required under a 1995 US law that gives the US president special powers to waive the move.
Israeli PM prefers French for Syrian mediation
Mon Dec 7, 2:09 pm ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he would prefer French rather than Turkish mediation in the event that indirect talks with Syria are revived.Turkish-mediated indirect talks between Israel and Syria were broken off during the Gaza Strip war at the turn of the year.We are ready for immediate negotiations without preconditions, a senior official quoted Netanyahu as telling parliament's powerful foreign affairs and defence committee.During our meeting, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told me that the Syrians prefer Turkish mediation and I told him that we prefer either direct contacts or French mediation, Netanyahu was quoted as saying.According to Channel 10 television, Sarkozy told Netanyahu Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was ready for peace talks with Israel without the Jewish state first withdrawing from the key Golan Heights it occupied in 1967.Netanyahu met Sarkozy in Paris in mid-November, and the French leader met Assad the following day.Turkey has been Israel's key regional ally, but relations turned sour in January when Ankara launched an unprecedented barrage of criticism of Israel's war on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip in December-January.The last round of direct peace talks between Israel and Syria broke down in 2000 when Israel baulked at the demand for the return of all of the Golan, right down to the shores of the Sea of Galilee, its main water source.Israel captured the strategic plateau from Syria in the Six Day War and then annexed it in 1981 in a move never recognised by the international community.Syria has always made the return of the Golan a non-negotiable condition for peace.
World Bank gives Palestinian Authority $64 million
Sun Dec 6, 2:48 pm ET
RAMALLAH, West Bank – The Palestinian Authority on Sunday signed an agreement with the World Bank and other donors for $64 million to help it prepare for statehood.
World Bank official Shamshad Akhtar says the goal was to boost Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad's plan to set up institutions for a state within two years, though talks with Israel are stalemated.The World Bank will administer the project, with part of the funding coming from Sweden, Denmark and the German development bank.
A World Bank delegation visiting the West Bank and Gaza Strip will also look for ways to ease entry of construction materials into Gaza.Last winter Israel launched a three-week military offensive there to stop daily rocket fire, causing widespread destruction. Israel refuses to let building materials into Gaza, fearing they would end up in the hands of Gaza's Hamas rulers.
Jordan urges EU to oppose Israel settlements in Jerusalem
Sun Dec 6, 2:14 pm ET
AMMAN (AFP) – Jordan's King Abdullah II on Sunday urged the European Union to help put a halt to Israeli settlement building in Jerusalem, ahead of an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Brussels.European countries should press Israel to stop its unilateral actions in Jerusalem, a palace statement quoted the monarch as telling EU ambassadors to Amman at a meeting.Such actions threaten Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, seek to change the city's landmarks and get rid of Arab residents there, he said, referring to settlement building in the Holy City's mainly Arab eastern sector.The king hailed a proposal by the EU's current Swedish presidency that east Jerusalem should become the capital of a future Palestinian state as part of a Middle East peace deal.Peace, stability and security will not be achieved in the region unless an independent Palestinian state is established, said the king, whose country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994.A row has broken out between Israel and the EU over a proposal that the bloc call for an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable state of Palestine comprising the West Bank and Gaza and with east Jerusalem as its capital.The draft text was prepared for a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels on Wednesday, but diplomats said it could change ahead of the talks because of opposition from member states.
Israel occupied and annexed east Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and considers it the Jewish state's eternal indivisible capital, in a move never recognised by the international community.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a freeze on new permits for house construction in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank but the decision does not affect east Jerusalem.
