IRAN PROTESTERS AGAINST SAUDI BUILDING

Canada says will join extensive aerial operation
– Sat Mar 19, 10:52 pm ET

PARIS (Reuters) – Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Saturday that extensive aerial operations would soon start in Libya and Canada would be part of that.Harper, speaking to reporters following talks between world powers on a coordinated intervention in Libya, said naval actions were also taking place, including a naval blockade.The parameters of our mission are clear. They are wide ranging and they do not include on-the-ground action, Harper said.It is our belief that if Mr. Gaddafi loses the capacity to enforce his will through vastly superior armed forces, he simply will not be able to sustain his grip on the country.(Reporting by Vicky Buffery; Writing by Catherine Bremer; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Iran protesters stone Saudi consulate : report
– Sat Mar 19, 11:06 am ET

TEHRAN (AFP) – Hundreds of Iranians have stoned the Saudi consulate in the northeastern city of Mashhad to protest the killing of Shiites in Bahrain, a local daily reported.Nearly 700 people gathered outside the consulate on Friday in protest at the killing of Muslims in Bahrain by Saudi and Emirati military forces, the Khorasan newspaper said on it website on Saturday.The government of Bahrain, supported by troops and armoured vehicles from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has declared martial law and rounded up dissidents at gunpoint in midnight raids.Four protesters have been killed during the violent crackdown this week.Despite the heavy presence of security forces protecting the consulate, the angry protesters smashed the consulate windows and chanted slogans against Saudi Arabia and its king, Abdullah.Khorasan said police fired tear gas to disperse the angry demonstrators, who still managed to pull down the consulate's sign and hoist the Bahraini flag at the top of its gate.Elsewhere, thousands of Iranians marched in Tehran after Friday prayers in support of the revolts rocking Bahrain, Libya and Yemen.

They chanted Death to America, Death to Israel and The Saudis are committing crimes and the US supports them, according to state television.International pressure is mounting on Bahrain to exercise restraint and ensure the safety of opposition leaders arrested during a violent crackdown on month-old pro-democracy protests.
Iranian officials have severely criticised the violent crackdown , as well as the dispatch of Saudi and Emirati troops there to help confront Shiite-led protests.
Predominantly Shiite Iran has also recalled its ambassador from Bahrain, a tit-for-tat move after Manama slammed Tehran for blatant interference in the Gulf kingdom's internal affairs and recalled its envoy.

Around 50 mortars fired into Israel from Gaza: radio
– Sat Mar 19, 5:58 am ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) – Around 50 mortar shells were fired Saturday into Israel from the Gaza Strip, causing minor damage, Israeli army radio reported.Dozens of mortar shells were fired simultaneously, and 49 of them slammed into Israeli towns bordering the Gaza Strip, the radio report said.Israeli residents were advised to take shelter until further notice.

Saudi role in Bahrain brings regional stakes
By BRIAN MURPHY, Associated Press – Fri Mar 18, 1:20 pm ET

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – The battle for Bahrain is no longer just on its shores.
It's now in Tehran, where the leader of Friday prayers cursed the enemy force that includes Saudi-led military reinforcements for Bahrain's embattled Sunni monarchy. It's in Iraq, with Shiites marching under banners pledging to join the fight in the Gulf kingdom.When Saudi troops and other Gulf forces moved into Bahrain this week, the conflict was suddenly pushed onto a larger stage with larger stakes — and, in the process, becoming perhaps the most complex showdown of the Arab world's season of upheaval.Tiny Bahrain — just a speck off the Saudi coast on world maps — is now an arena for some of the Middle East's most pivotal tensions: the heavyweight rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the regional fallout from Shiite anger, and Washington's efforts to influence its strategic Gulf allies to counter Iran's growing Mideast ambitions.Bahrain is several crises wrapped into one package, said Theodore Karasik, a regional affairs expert at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.The rebellions in Yemen and Libya also have highly important issues in the balance, including the fate of Moammar Gadhafi's eccentric regime and the U.S.-led fight against an al-Qaida offshoot in Yemen's hinterlands. But Bahrain's unrest resonates even wider.It is both a bitter domestic duel — between Sunni rulers and the majority Shiites — and a crossroads for Gulf's big three: Saudi Arabia, Iran and the United States.The fast-moving events of the past week in Bahrain pushed each in different directions.

Saudi Arabia roared into action, leading a 1,500-strong Gulf force to aid Bahrain's reeling Sunni dynasty after more than a month of protests by Shiites seeking to break the royal family's 200-year-old grip on power.It was the Gulf version of a rescue mission: believing that any more advances by protesters could embolden threats to Sunni leaders around the region and allow Shiite power Iran to carve out a foothold on Saudi Arabia's doorstep.Iran strongly denounced the military intervention and pulled back its ambassador to Bahrain. Iran's ally Hezbollah in Lebanon also lobbed insults at Saudi Arabia, and Shiites in Iraq have staged a series of protest marches.U.S. officials, meanwhile, are caught in a policy bind. Washington has opposed the introduction of the Gulf military force in Bahrain, which hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. But the U.S. also is standing behind Bahrain's leaders, who say they invited the troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.Whatever the U.S. says, the bottom line is that Washington still supports the Bahrain regime and cannot go too far in criticizing its key ally Saudi Arabia, said Shadi Hamid, director of research at The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar.Bahrain is a bigger issue now than just Bahrain.Nicholas Burns, a former top State Department diplomat with long experience in the region, said the military deployment opened up a clear division between the Saudi royal family and the U.S. government on how to respond most effectively to the demonstrations for greater openness and freedom in the Arab world.This is a risk for the Saudis as their troop deployments could end up toughening the resolve of the protesters in Bahrain, he said.It's unclear how much the Saudi-led forces have been actively engaged in enforcing Bahrain's martial law-style rule, which was imposed by Bahrain's king on Tuesday.

Security forces flew Bahrain's red-and-white flag in the landmark Pearl Square in Manama after overrunning a protest camp. Military vehicles with Saudi markings have not been seen at main checkpoints, where forces wear black ski masks.But Shiite protesters claim to have heard the distinctive Saudi accent among security forces during clashes this week — although Bahrain's police and military include many Sunni Arabs from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere given citizenship to try to offset the Shiite population advantage. Shortly after Saudi forces entered Bahrain, a crowd of Shiite Muslims gathered outside the main state hospital in a ragtag resistance force. They carried what they could find: scraps of wood, pipes, a butter knife.Who will decide your future? cried one protester.Them or us? Now, the presence of the Saudi-led forces makes any incident in Bahrain a potential regional flashpoint that could drag in the U.S. Around the Middle East, Shiites and others are portraying Bahrain as under occupation by one of Washington's main Arab allies.In Tehran, a senior Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, used his nationally broadcast Friday sermon to urge Bahrain's Shiites to resist against the enemy until you die or win. Outside the prayers, protesters called Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa a killer and drew analogies to Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.One banner read: death to the House of Saud.Bahrain on Thursday lashed out at Iran for lobbying on behalf of the Gulf kingdom's Shiites, who represent about 70 percent of Bahrain's population.In Baghdad, followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr marched under banners pledging to join fellow Shiites in Bahrain to fight the Saudi-led forces. Meanwhile, the highest-ranking Shiite cleric in Iraq, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, suspended teachings at Shiite religious schools across Iraq to show solidarity with Bahrain's protesters.

There are real massacres that are taking place in Bahrain, Sheik Maitham al-Jamri, who said he was a Bahraini Shiite cleric, told protesters in Baghdad's Sadr City. But if they cut us to pieces and burn us 70 times, we won't stop our calls for change. If all communication means were blocked in Bahrain, the voices of the people in Iraq and Lebanon calling No, no to injustice! can be heard loudly.About 50 protesters gathered Thursday outside the Saudi Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, shouting Get out of Bahrain before a visit by the Saudi foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal.Saudi's King Abdullah gave no mention of the military force in Bahrain in a three-minute speech on Saudi television Friday before the announcement of a new bonanza of jobs, cash and housing in attempts to appease reformers calling for challenges of his autocratic regime.What Saudi fears was a kind of contagion, said Toby Jones, an expert on Bahraini affairs at Rutgers University. Bahrain is seen as simply too important not to intervene. They felt that the ruling Sunni fraternity around the Gulf was vulnerable and it was time to act.Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, and Bushra Juhi in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Thousands in Iran march in support of Arab revolts
– Fri Mar 18, 9:21 am ET

TEHRAN (AFP) – Thousands of Iranians marched on Friday in Tehran in support of the revolts rocking Bahrain, Libya and Yemen, state television reported.Chants backing the protests of majority Shiites in Bahrain, who are challenging the Sunni dynasty's 200-year-old grip on power, dominated the demonstration which unfolded in the capital after Muslim Friday prayers.The Saudis are committing crimes and the US supports them, and Death to America chanted protesters.Death to Israel, cried others.

Slogans in support of the rebellion in Libya and protests in Yemen also rang out.
Tehran on Wednesday withdrew its ambassador from Manama in protest at the mass killing of the people of Bahrain by its government.Iran has also criticised the dispatch of Gulf troops to Bahrain to help confront the pro-democracy protests which have wracked the kingdom's capital Manama almost daily since mid-February.Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, hardline cleric and head of the powerful Guardians Council, condemned the dispatch of Saudi troops to Bahrain after pronouncing Friday prayers.It is painful that when the authorities were about to be beaten, it called for help and asked Saudi Arabia to send in reinforcements. It is against international law.He also called on Libyan rebels to pursue their struggle.You must not accept humiliation. One must fight. Die or succeed, there is no other choice, he said adding that Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi was shell-shocked.With one look at his face you can see he is shell-shocked. Today, the Libyans woke up. The no-fly zone (adopted by the UN Security Council) will help a little... We hope the Libyans will win,he said as the crowd chanted death to Kadhafi.

Gaza protesters leave UN compound
– Thu Mar 17, 6:47 pm ET

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Sixteen protesters who took refuge in a UN compound in Gaza on Thursday to flee from Hamas police left the premises and called off a planned hunger strike, a UN official said.They all left. The authorities in Gaza gave assurances that they will be safe, said Chris Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).Two hours earlier, one of the demonstrators said the groups planned to stage an indefinite hunger strike to demand an end to Palestinian divisions and reconciliation between rival factions.Earlier, the protesters demonstrated outside the compound for Palestinian national unity before the gathering was violently broken up by security forces of the Islamist Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip, witnesses said.They chased away dozens of demonstrators and seized the memory cards from photographers and cameramen at the scene, they said.It was not immediately clear if anyone was arrested or injured.After the 16 people took refuge inside the compound, UNRWA called on Gaza's Hamas rulers to ensure their safety.

UNRWA has appealed to the relevant authorities in Gaza to allow these 16 people safe passage from the UNRWA compound and to guarantee their safety,Gunness said in a statement.On Tuesday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the Palestinian territories to demand Hamas and the rival Fatah party which dominates the Palestinian Authority end their bitter enmity.But despite leaders of the Hamas and the West Bank-based Fatah agreeing to meet to talk, the Islamist movement which who controls Gaza has since used force to disperse several follow-up demonstrations.

UK urges Israel to return to peace talks
– Thu Mar 17, 6:33 pm ET

LONDON – Britain's foreign secretary has urged Israel's defense minister to return to peace talks with Palestinians and voiced concern about settlement construction.

William Hague says he told Defense Minister Ehud Barak — who is visiting London — that Britain is seriously concerned about Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. He said the settlements run contrary to peace.The two leaders met for talks Thursday. Hague said in a statement that they also discussed developments in Libya and Egypt, as well as the recent seizure of an arms shipment, allegedly bound from Iran to Gaza.Hague said that if the shipment did originate in Iran it would offer further evidence of its intent to disrupt regional stability.

Feds eye anti-Semitism claims at Calif. university
– Wed Mar 16, 10:23 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Department of Education is investigating a faculty member's complaint that a series of pro-Palestinian events at a California university crossed the line into anti-Semitism and created a hostile environment for Jewish students.

The department's Office for Civil Rights notified the University of California, Santa Cruz, last week that it planned to look into allegations made by Hebrew lecturer Tammi Rossman-Benjamin dating back to 2001.The probe in no way implies that OCR has made a determination with regard to their merits, Arthur Zeidman, director of the San Francisco office, said in a letter to the instructor and campus officials.

In her June 2009 complaint, Rossman-Benjamin said administrators repeatedly failed to address concerns voiced by her and several students about academic departments and residential colleges at Santa Cruz sponsoring viciously anti-Israel speakers and film screenings with campus funds.She also alleged that some professors have used their classes to promote an anti-Israel political agenda and failed to intervene or joined in when students were verbally attacked for defending the Jewish state.The impact of the academic and university-sponsored Israel-bashing on students has been enormous, she said.There are students who have felt emotionally and intellectually harassed and intimidated, to the point they are reluctant or afraid to express a view that is not anti-Israel.Campus counsel Carole Rossi said the university will cooperate with the federal investigation.We not only look forward to fully participating in OCR's review of the matter, we are confident that the agency will determine that the allegations are unfounded, Rossi said in a written statement. Our campus is absolutely committed to the enforcement of policies that protect every individual from unlawful discrimination and harassment — and that value and support an atmosphere of personal and intellectual freedom.Kenneth Marcus, who used to direct the education department's civil rights office and now heads the anti-Semitism initiative at the Institute for Jewish and Community Research in San Francisco, said the department typically launches more than 1,000 investigations a year, most of them involving individual students with learning disabilities.

Investigations based on anti-Semitism bias are rare, Marcus said, in part because the Department of Education did not have regulations until 2004 allowing it to handle such cases as violations of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.The regulations were suspended in the last years of the Bush administration, but revived and clarified in October, he said.Investigations are very common, but this is anything but the usual case, he said about the probe in Santa Cruz.What they are investigating is the atmosphere throughout the university and raises very subtle questions about the definition of discrimination, the meaning of anti-Semitism and where the lines are between harassment and the First Amendment.UC Santa Cruz, a liberal, 16,000-student school known for idyllic setting amid coastal redwoods, counter-culture vibe and Grateful Dead memorabilia collection, is not the first public university in California where heated discussions about the Middle East have devolved into polarizing debates about academic freedom and alleged anti-Semitism.A former University of California, Berkeley, student who was co-president of the Zionist student group Tikvah sued the university in federal court earlier this month over her alleged March 2010 assault by the campus leader of Students for Justice in Palestine.The student, Jessica Felber, claims she was injured when the other student leader rammed a shopping cart into her as she was holding a placard reading, Israel Wants Peace.She claimed the confrontation was the latest episode of harassment, intimidation, incitement and violence directed at vocal supporters of Israel and to which university officials had turned a blind eye.The university has denied the allegations.

Meanwhile, tensions between Jewish and Muslim students have run high at the university system's Irvine campus for several years, and the campus chapter of Muslim Student Union was suspended for four months last year after a group of students interrupted a speech by the Israeli ambassador to the United States.In 2005, the Zionist Organization of America complained to the Department of Education about Jewish students at Irvine being subjected to slurs and discrimination at events similar to those at Santa Cruz. The civil rights office concluded after a two-year investigation that although offensive to the Jewish students, the speeches, articles, marches, symbols and other events at issue were not based on the national origin of the Jewish students, but rather based on opposition to the policies of Israel.Last year, the Zionist Organization of America encouraged potential Jewish students and donors to take their money elsewhere.

Israel displays weapons haul from seized ship
– Wed Mar 16, 1:50 pm ET

ASHDOD, Israel (AFP) – Israel on Wednesday displayed a haul of weapons it discovered on a seized ship, alleging they were being smuggled from Iran to Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.Soldiers laid out crate after crate of arms and ammunition on the dock of the Ashdod port, including advanced anti-ship missiles that Israel warned could change the balance of forces in the region.The Liberian-flagged Victoria was intercepted early on Tuesday by Israeli naval commandos some 200 nautical miles west of Israel's coastline.Escorted by warships, it arrived at Ashdod, just north of the Gaza Strip, early Wednesday, where troops began inspecting and unloading the shipping containers.The army said there were about 50 tonnes of weapons that had been hidden in containers holding lentils and cotton.Among the weapons discovered were tens of thousands of rounds of small-arms ammunition, 230 120-millimetre mortar bombs, more than 2,000 60-millimetre mortar bombs and six of the Chinese-made C704 anti-ship missiles.

The shipment also included two missile launchers and an advanced radar system to track targets and guide the missiles.Israel said the missiles represented an alarming escalation in attempts to arm militant groups in Gaza.The weaponry would have bolstered terrorist infrastructure at sea and on shore and directly threatened the Israeli navy and civilian vessels at the port of Ashdod, the army said in a statement.On Tuesday, the deputy commander of the Israeli navy, Rear Admiral Rani Ben-Yehuda, said the missiles had a range of 35 kilometres (22 miles).Anything within its range, of course, will find itself in danger, he said.During Israel's 2006 war with Lebanon's Hezbollah, guerrillas hit an Israeli warship off Beirut with an Iranian-made missile based on Chinese technology, killing four crewmen.Israel accused arch-foe Iran of trying to send the weapons to Gaza.These deadly weapons come from Iran. They were sent via Syria and were making their way to terror groups in Gaza,said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he inspected the weapons at the port.

This is the axis of terror we have to deal with and in the end we will break it, he said.However, Iran denied any connection to the incident.The Zionist regime is a regime blended with lies, producing lies and disseminating lies. We reject all such false news, the official IRNA news agency quoted Iranian army chief Ataollah Salehi as saying.Israel has frequently accused Iran and Syria of smuggling weapons to Gaza's Hamas rulers as well as to the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah. In November 2009, Israel said its navy had intercepted a ship carrying hundreds of tonnes of arms from Iran to Hezbollah in a raid dozens of miles off the Israeli coast.The shipment was among the largest ever seized by Israel, dwarfing the 50 tonnes of weapons found aboard the Karine A seized in 2002 on its way to Gaza, which dealt a major blow to relations between the Palestinians and Washington.In May 2001, the Israeli navy intercepted another boat, the Santorini, which was carrying 40 tonnes of rockets, anti-tank weaponry, mortars and automatic weapons for armed groups in Gaza.Israel maintains a strict naval blockade on Gaza to prevent the smuggling of weapons into the territory.Last year, the navy prevented a number of aid ships from reaching the coastal enclave.In one incident, they stormed a six-ship flotilla in an operation that went disastrously wrong, with the deaths of nine pro-Palestinian activists from Turkey.

Abbas pledges to talk unity with Hamas in Gaza
by Nasser Abu Bakr – Wed Mar 16, 1:38 pm ET

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Wednesday he was ready to go to Gaza this week for talks with Hamas about ending the split and forming a interim government.Abbas, leader of the secular Fatah movement, said he was ready to go to Gaza tomorrow for talks with the enclave's Islamist rulers about ending the bitter split that has poisoned relations within the Palestinian national movement.I am ready to go to Gaza tomorrow to end the division and form a government of independent national figures to start preparing for presidential, legislative and (Palestinian) National Council elections within six months, he said in a speech to members of the PLO Central Council.Pressed to clarify Abbas's comments, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said the aim was to meet Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya with a view to forming an interim government of neutral, national figures in what was understood to mean independent politicians not directly affiliated with Hamas or Fatah.This interim government's main task will be preparing for presidential and legislative elections, and elections to the Palestinian National Council within six months, he told AFP.The president said he is ready to delay the formation of a new Palestinian government to allow for the success of this initiative, Abu Rudeina said.

At the start of a two-day meeting of the PLO Central Council, a legislative body in which Fatah holds the majority, Abbas urged Haniya to make arrangements for the visit, which he said would happen in the next few days so the two could turn the page on this black and shameful division.United Nations special envoy to the region Robert Serry welcomed the move, saying he hoped Abbas would make the visit to Gaza soon.I think it is very important that the leaders respond to the clear wish of the people to reunite. Unity is overdue and vital for Palestinian legitimate aspirations, he said in a statement.The Palestinian leader's remarks came a day after Haniya invited him to Gaza for immediate talks to end the division, and were welcomed by the Islamists.Hamas welcomes Abbas's acceptance of the Haniya initiative, Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP. We will start preparing for the visit.The exchange between the two leaders came a day after tens of thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza and the West Bank to demand that the two factions end their long-running rivalry.Amid the protest, Haniya held an emergency cabinet meeting after which he made a televised appeal to Abbas.I invite the president, brother Abu Mazen (Abbas), and Fatah to an immediate meeting here in Gaza or in any location which we agree upon, to start national dialogue in order to achieve reconciliation,he said.

Abbas, who like Haniya expressed support for the protesters' call for unity, urged that Hamas not waste this historical opportunity to end the division, and to stand united against threats that severely damage our cause.On Tuesday, the Palestinian leader had reiterated his call for national elections as a way to end the split.I am with the people and in favour of going back to the people to put an end to the divisions through presidential and parliamentary elections, he said.Hamas had previously rejected such appeals, saying it would not participate without first securing some form of reconciliation with the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority, which rules the West Bank. Prime minister Salam Fayyad is trying to form a new government ahead of a fresh round of presidential, parliamentary and municipal elections which officials want to hold by September at the latest.In Wednesday's speech, Abbas reiterated his position that he would not stand for president in the elections.I said it repeatedly and I say it again -- I will not nominate myself to run, he said.Hamas and Fatah have been at loggerheads since the early 1990s. Tensions boiled over in 2007, when the enmity erupted into bloodshed that saw the Islamists kick their secular rivals out of Gaza.Since then, the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip has been effectively cut off from the West Bank, which is under the control of Fatah.Repeated attempts at reconciliation between the groups have led nowhere, and the collapse of the Egyptian regime of Hosni Mubarak, which played a key role in reconciliation efforts, has created new uncertainty.

Uruguay recognizes Palestine statehood
– Wed Mar 16, 12:06 am ET

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay – Uruguay has joined a string of South American nations in recognizing an independent Palestinian state.A Foreign Ministry statement says Uruguay has communicated its decision to the Palestinian Authority.However the statement does not explicitly say whether the country recognizes Palestine's borders predating the Six-Day War of 1967, when Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza.Foreign Ministry officials declined Tuesday to clarify the matter.More than a half-dozen countries in South America have recognized Palestine recently, though in different ways.Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador and Paraguay recognized the pre-1967 borders.Chile and Peru said the issue must be worked out between Israelis and Palestinians.

EU recognition of Palestinian state a 'possibility': France
– Tue Mar 15, 5:56 pm ET

PARIS (AFP) – European Union recognition of a Palestinian state is a possibility that should be kept in mind, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Tuesday amid growing disquiet over stalled peace talks.There's no point recognising the Palestinian state on our own. It must be done together, Juppe told the parliamentary foreign affairs committee of an eventual recognition by EU countries.Personally we're not there yet, I think that it's a possibility that should be kept in mind, he said.The Israeli foreign ministry spokesman declined to comment on Juppe's remarks.

Faced with a lack of progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, a number of countries have upgraded the status of Palestinian delegations, most recently Denmark on March 9.Britain previously made the same move, following in the footsteps of fellow European Union members France, Ireland, Portugal and Spain.Norway, which is not a member of the EU, had in December also upgraded the Palestinian delegation to mission and handed its chief the title of head of mission and the rank of ambassador.

Many Latin American countries have also recently recognised the Palestinian state.
Israel has come under increasing pressure in recent months over stalled direct peace talks, which grounded to a halt shortly after being relaunched by Washington in September 2010 over the issue of settlement construction in the Palestinian territories.The stalemate and Israel's continued settlement construction have angered many in the international community, resulting in near universal support for a UN Security Council's anti-settlement resolution that was vetoed by the US.
Representatives from the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia are set to meet in Paris at the end of March in an attempt to relaunch the peace process.

Israeli navy intercepts Egypt-bound ship with arms
By ARON HELLER, Associated Press – Tue Mar 15, 3:20 pm ET

JERUSALEM – Israel said Tuesday it seized a cargo ship loaded with weapons sent by Iran to Palestinian militants in Gaza, including sophisticated land-to-sea missiles that officials said could change the balance of power in the area.The takeover in the Mediterranean Sea was the latest in a series of Israeli naval raids meant to counter the growing influence of Iran, which Israel accuses of supplying rockets and other arms to Israel's bitterest enemies.The navy's deputy commander, Brig. Gen. Rani Ben-Yehudah, said investigators had found between two and four Chinese-made C-704 missiles, which land-based forces can use to attack ships.Ben-Yehudah said Iran is known to possess these weapons, the shipment included instruction manuals in Farsi and there were other clues that explicitly showed Iranian involvement.The military released a photo of a booklet with the words technical missile identification document written in Farsi on the cover. It identified the system as a C-704 Nasr missile, provided a serial number and date of issue in the Persian calendar.Such weaponry could impede Israel's ability to enforce its naval blockade of Gaza, which it imposed after Hamas took power in 2007. The captured ship, the Victoria, was being towed into Israel, and further details on its contents were expected to be released after it reached port late Tuesday.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the arms included the beginnings of an advanced system the Gaza militants currently do not possess and could affect Israel's ability to act along Gaza's coast.We will take out the gear and show it to the world, a world that is quick to blame Israel when it fights to protect its citizens. It is important that the world see what we are up against, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Israel has long contended that Iran and Syria provide arms and other support to Hamas militants in Gaza and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.Hamas has been racing to rearm since suffering heavy losses in an Israeli military offensive two years ago. Israeli military officials say Hamas has recovered, in part because of direct assistance from Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah. Israel says Hamas now possesses rockets that can strike much of Israel, as well as advanced anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.Israel imposed the naval blockade after Hamas, a group that has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks, violently seized power of Gaza four years ago. It says the measure is needed to prevent the militant group from importing arms.To get around the blockade, Israel says Hamas routinely has arms shipments delivered to Egypt, and then smuggled across the largely lawless Sinai peninsula into neighboring Gaza through a vast network of tunnels under the 9-mile (15-kilometer) border.

Netanyahu said he ordered the naval takeover overnight after receiving intelligence about the shipment. The only certain thing is the source of the weaponry was Iran, and there was a Syrian relay station as well, he said.The military said the Victoria initially departed from the Syrian port of Latakia before proceeding to Mercin in Turkey. It was headed for the port of Alexandria in Egypt when it was intercepted, some 200 miles (320 kilometers) off Israel's Mediterranean coast.Images the military released showed mortars and other arms among stacks of munition boxes. It also released video footage showing an Israeli commander informing the Victoria's captain that the ship was suspected of carrying arms. The captain immediately gave the go-ahead for troops to board for inspection. Additional video showed the commandos ascending a ladder to the deck.Israel said there were no signs that Turkey or Egypt were involved in the arms shipment.Turkey confirmed it was not involved and said many ships stop in its ports for refueling, loading or unloading materials. There was no immediate reaction from Hamas, Syria or Iran.The Victoria is German-owned, operated by a French shipping company and was sailing under a Liberian flag, the Israeli military said. German, French and Liberian authorities were notified of the seizure. Although the ship was intercepted outside of Israel's territorial waters, maritime law entitles Israel to search any merchant vessel it has reason to believe is carrying contraband to support Hamas, said Benjamin David, a former high-ranking officer in the military's legal department. The operation was reminiscent of the November 2009 Israeli takeover of the Iranian Francop vessel off the coast of Cyprus. Israel captured hundreds of tons of rockets, missiles, mortars, grenades and anti-tank weapons on board which it said were headed to Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.In 2001 and 2002, Israel seized ships carrying tons of weapons it said were intended for Palestinian militants.Israel's announcement that Turkey was not involved in the arms shipment appeared to be an effort to defuse any potential tensions with its former Mideast ally.Last May, Israeli commandoes raided a Turkish ship trying to break a naval blockade of Gaza and killed nine pro-Palestinian activists on board. Each side claims it acted in self-defense.

Settlers protest as army hunts killers near Nablus
– Tue Mar 15, 1:44 am ET

NABLUS, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Israeli settlers stoned Palestinian homes in a West Bank village where troops hunted those behind a grisly attack on a settler family, Palestinian officials said.Palestinian security officials said hundreds of settlers, some masked, had rallied on the eastern edge of Awarta village, near Nablus, with some hurling stones at houses there.One Palestinian was injured when a number of settlers broke into his property and beat him, witnesses inside the village told AFP.It was not clear whether Israeli soldiers operating inside the village had intervened.An army spokesman said the settlers had a permit to demonstrate and he was unaware of any violent incident there. By late evening the village was quiet, the Israeli military and Palestinians told AFP.The village was under curfew for the third consecutive day on Monday as troops scoured buildings in a search for the killers of five members of the Israeli settler family, including a baby.They were stabbed as they slept on Friday at the nearby Itamar settlement.

The perpetrators broke into the family home and in a frenzied attack killed five members of the Fogel family -- three-month-old Hadas, four-year-old Elad, Yoav, 11, and their parents Udi and Ruthie.The culprits are widely believed to be Palestinian, although details of the manhunt have been placed under a court gag order.The direction that's being examined, in general, is a terrorist attack, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.Amnesty International on Monday repeated its condemnation of the murders while calling on Israel to prevent settler reprisals against Palestinians.Since Saturday morning, Israeli settlers have reportedly used stones, Molotov cocktails, guns, clubs and knives to attack Palestinians in vehicles and in their homes in villages and towns across the West Bank, Amnesty said.Settlers have also burned fields, cars and property. The Israeli security forces must act to prevent reprisals against Palestinian civilians by armed Israeli settlers and bring those responsible to justice, it added.Elsewhere in the West Bank on Monday around 200 settlers from Kedumim which lies five kilometres (three miles) west of Nablus demonstrated on the main road leading north, hurling stones at passing Palestinian cars.To the east of Nablus, witnesses reported seeing settlers throwing stones from their parked cars at passing traffic.Settlers reported stones thrown by Palestinians at Israeli traffic near Nablus and close to Shiloh settlement, near Ramallah. No casualties were reported in any of the incidents.Overnight, settlers torched two Palestinian cars just north of El-Bireh, also near Ramallah, residents said. They said the two vehicles, which were set alight before dawn near Beit El settlement, were totally gutted.Both the army and the police are on alert, fearing a wave of revenge attacks in response to the killings, pictures of which were widely circulated by the settler leadership.

This act was abominable, inhuman and immoral, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas told Israeli public radio on Monday. He said Palestinian security forces had joined with Israel to hunt the killer or killers. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Abbas's remarks, but said that such strong condemnations also need to be made in the Arab press.Britain meanwhile joined international condemnation of Israel's announcement it had approved 400 more settler homes on the West Bank, a decision taken 24 hours after Itamar murders.We have consistently made clear, including at the UN with France and Germany, that settlements are illegal, an obstacle to peace and a threat to a two-state solution, said a Foreign Office spokesman.British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Saturday condemned the Itamar killings as an act of incomprehensible cruelty and brutality.

Israeli settlers want more building after murders
By ARON HELLER, Associated Press – Mon Mar 14, 1:51 pm ET

ITAMAR, West Bank – Shocked members of this hard-line Jewish settlement, reeling from a devastating knife attack that killed five members of a family in their sleep, on Monday said the bloodshed only strengthens their resolve to stay put and urged the government to respond with a new wave of West Bank construction.Friday night's attack has drawn new attention to Itamar, an isolated settlement deep inside the West Bank that has poor relations with its Arab neighbors. A young couple and three of their children, including a 4-year-old boy and his 3-month-old sister, were killed in the grisly attack.As Israeli forces continued their search for the killers in neighboring Palestinian villages, Itamar residents said they would stand firm. Settlers often refer to themselves as the first line of defense against Arab aggression and say Arab terrorism is trying to drive Jews out of land promised to them in the Bible.This is our land and it will always be the Jewish homeland, said Moshe Goldschmidt, the New York-born head of the town council. The future of Israel lies with its biblical assets. Itamar is the backbone ... No one will break our spirit.A sign at the entrance to the settlement, referring to past attacks, reads:26 years, 22 dead — the youth of Itamar will not break.The issue of Jewish settlements is at the heart of the current impasse in Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. The Palestinians say there is no point in talking peace while Israel builds new homes in Jewish communities on land the Palestinians claim for a future state.

In response to the attack, Israel defiantly announced new plans to build up to 500 new homes in settlements located in major blocs next to Israel. Israel expects to keep these blocs, home to the vast majority of Israel's 300,000 West Bank settlers, under any future peace deal.In contrast, Itamar, an Orthodox Jewish community of some 1,000 residents south of the Palestinian city of Nablus, is not included in most Israeli plans. Itamar's residents are commonly seen by other Israelis as fanatically religious, sometimes violent and dismissive of the state's laws, professing to follow only the law of God.Residents and settler leaders criticized the government's latest building plan as grossly insufficient. It is insult to us and an insult to the dead, said David Haivri, a settler leader.Itamar residents accuse the government of imposing an unofficial slowdown on construction to ease international criticism. They also bristle at occasional government attempts to remove some of the dozens of unauthorized hilltop settlement points.A banner on a fence in front of Itamar one home declared: The state destroys towns, the Arabs kill Jews. Many said they feel abandoned.Construction is the answer, said Nili Afarsimon, a 20-year-old mother of an infant. If we expand and build, it will tell the Arabs that this is our land, and they will know their place.