MIDEAST NEWS DIGEST
Israel Fighting To Block UN Fact-Finding into Jenin Massacre
On April 20, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan named members of the UN-sponsored Fact-Finding team to inevestigate alleged war crimes in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. First, former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the probe, and then hours later the Sharon government said "nyet" to the entire investigation, even though the Israelis had initially "approved" it, saying they had "nothing to hide."
As of Sunday, April 28, the UN Security Council continued heated debate, as the Sharon government continued to block the UN commission and some rescue agencies that are trying to reach the wounded and bring out the dead.
From the outset, the Sharon government rejected every top UN official who had ever criticized Israeli military actions and closure of the Palestinian territories, including Terje Roed-Larsen, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East; Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; and Peter Hansen, the Commissioner of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian Refugees.
On April 25, Kofi Annan met Israeli officials to try to work out a settlement of the stalemate. Israel's Ambassador to the UN, Yehudi Lancry, specified that Israel wants military and counter-terrorism experts added to the mission, and not just as advisors. He also said that the mission's mandate must be changed so it also investigates the "terrorist network which has flourished in Jenin and which generated the Israeli military operation."
The President of the UN Security Council, Russian Ambassador Sergei Lavrov, reiterated April 23 that the members of the Council expect the "expeditious implementation" of the resolution calling for the Fact-Finding Mission. Even the British Foreign Office weighed in on the side of action, with Junior Minister Ben Bradshaw warning that Israel is doing itself irreparable damange in the eyes of the international community by failing to cooperate. "If Israel has nothing to hide, they have absolutely no reason not to allow this team to go ahead," he said.
Peres Demands Immunity from War Crimes Charges
On April 25, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres reversed himself on permission for a UN Fact-Finding Commission to visit Jenin on April 25, even after UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had altered the composition of the Commission as requested by Israel.
The real reason for the delay is that Israeli officials are dictating beforehand that no Israeli soldier be brought before the international court, or be charged with war crimes in any venue. Peres told Israeli radio that: "We want assurances that the testimony of Israelis cannot be used against them ... [and] that the mission include an anti-terrorism expert and that this mission will draw no conclusions."
Also on April 25, it was revealed that Israel's international legal advisor, Daniel Behlehem, a British international law expert and barrister, wrote a memo warning that the mission could uncover war crimes which would have a dramatic and adverse effect on Israel's position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The memo stated:
"I am dismayed that the political level could have agreed to such a procedure without first consulting its officials/advisors and having a clear sense of how the process will unfold.... Unlike the Mitchell inquiry, this exercise is not focussed on finding a pathway back to negotiations. It is an exercise inquiring into allegations of war crimes. Given the nature of the allegations against Israel, this inquiry is much more serious and poses much greater risk for Israel than the Mitchell inquiry.
"For all practical purposes, Israel is faced with a war crimes investigation" the seriousness of which "should not be minimized," Bethlehem continued, adding that: "If the committee's findings uphold allegations against Israeleven on poor reasoningthis will fundamentally alter the dynamics of the Israeli-Palestinian leadership and may make it impossible for Israel to resist calls for an international force, the immediate establishment of a Palestinian state and the prosecution of individuals said to have committed the alleged acts."
President Mubarak: Israel Waging State-Sponsored Terrorism
On April 24, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak went on national television in Egypt to deliver a powerful attack on Israel for conducting state terrorism against the Palestinians. But he promised that Egypt would continue to pursue peace options with Israel, and moderation. In a televised address commemorating the 20th anniversary of the full return of Sinai to Egypt, following the Camp David agreements of 1979, he said:
"Israel has prevented aid agencies and media from entering towns, villages and refugee camps in order to conceal the brutal crimes the Israeli Army committed," adding that Israel committed "barbaric aggression."
"Israel uses arguments equating legitimate Palestinian resistance with occupation and terrorism ... to avoid its ugly Israeli practices being depicted as state terrorism." Mubarak warned that the attack on the refugee camp at Jenin, and the refusal of Israel to allow international UN investigators to get to the bottom of the actions, "will only deepen the feelings of hatred, resentment, and the desire for revenge among not only the Palestinian people, but some 300 million Arabs."
Pope John Paul II Condemns Siege of Church of the Nativity
On April 21, Pope John Paul II, lamenting that the Church of the Nativity has been the site of "clashes, blackmail and insupportable exchanges of accusations," urged Israel and the Palestinians to have the courage to make peace.
The Pope's comments, to thousands of the faithful and visitors to St. Peter's Square, came as Israeli forces claimed be withdrawing from the West Bank, but continued their siege of the Church of the Nativity. "For nearly 20 days, the Basilica and the attached buildings have been the theater of clashes, blackmail, and insupportable exchanges of accusations," he said. He prayed for the two sides to have the courage for peace, and the international community the persistence of solidarity, and that the Holy Land "finally becomes a sacred land and a land of peace."
Sharon Plans To Annex Half the West Bank
The existence of the Sharon plan to annex half of the West Bank was first reported by Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh, a member of the Labor Party, who said: "As far as I know, the strategy is to annex 50% of the West Bank and this is incompatible with a two-state solution."
In an interview on Sunday, April 21 on NBC's "Meet the Press," Israeli Foreign Minister Peres was asked about reports of the Sharon plan, and he answered, "It's accurate for awhile, because that's what Sharon suggests as an interim agreement." Peres said the Sharon camp knows that this is not a solution, and that it is an "unofficial proposal."
Bernard Lewis Exposes Himself by Branding Arafat a 'Terrorist'
Dr. Bernard Lewis, the chameleon-like Orientalist, showed his claws in an April 17 interview on the Charlie Rose show, where he branded President Yassir Arafat a "terrorist," even as reports mount that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is preparing to assassinate the Palestinian leader. Lewis, who actually invented the "Clash of Civilizations" drive against Islam before Harvard professor and Trilateral Commission member Samuel Huntington took credit for the term, is often mistaken for a "balanced" Middle East academic because of his knowledge of Arabic and of the history of Islam. He is anything but balanced, especially given his little-known family tie, through son Michael Lewis, who serves AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) as a special operations officer.
Sounding like a P.R. man for Sharon and his generals, former British military intelligence officer Lewis, now a professor emeritus of Princeton University renounced his own previous support for Oslo, and said:
"Now the crucial point, I think was the offer made by then-Prime Minister Barak to Arafat.... Some people will tell you that this was an extremely generous offer, that he was offering more than any Israeli leader had ever before offered, even including compromises on Jerusalem.... Arafat was perfectly entitled to reject the offer.... But in that case, the appropriate course would be to make a counter-offer, to make a counter-proposal, not break off negotiations and launch an armed insurrection ... one is irresistibly driven to the conclusion that he didn't want peace and that the reason he rejected Barak's offer was there was a serious danger that peace might break out.
"Arafat is a terrorist. He had been all his life a terrorist. This was the only thing in which he really excelled. And remember, this is the man of the Munich Olympics, the Achille Lauro, the embassy murders in Khartoum, and various other thingsthe hijackings. And this is what he knew very well and at which he was very good. He was a pioneer in this new art of terrorism in the age of television. And the Irish and the Basques and others are his disciples.
"Now the question is, was this a step towards getting a peace process ... or ... was it a step towards the ultimate objective of the destruction of Israel? ... The terrorist activities, as far as we know, are almost entirely planned, or at the very least, approved by him. I mean, the stuff that has come to light now in captured documents and so on indicate a quite elaborately organized infrastructure of terrorism and Arafat is the head of it.... Asking Arafat to give up terrorism would be like asking Tiger Woods to give up golf.... And if the peace succeeds he would become the tin pot dictator a a mini-state. His dream of establishing a Palestinian state is genuine ... [but,] in the ultimate program there is no room for Israel....
"The business of the suicide bombers, I think, was what really turned me.... The Palestinian Authority is not an open democracy. It is a tightly controlled authoritarian state like most of the other states in the region and I don't think anything happens without Arafat's approval.... I wouldd agree with Sharon on this particular point, that Arafat is not and is never likely to be a peace partner. And that Arafat should bedealing with Arafat should be seen as part of the war against terrorism.... For Arafat and his people, peace is a tactic; war is a strategy...."
An extensive profile of Lewis and his role in turning the Sept. 11 irregular warfare attack into a means for an Anglo-American war against the Arab world appeared in EIR magazine.
'Christian Zionists' Blackmail Bush To Withdraw Support for Palestinian State
The "Christian Zionists" (a.k.a. "Fundies"), in league with the neo-conservatives and the hard-core right-wing Zionist Lobby, have been on an all-out drive, to capture President Bush for their insane war plan, and drive Secretary of State Colin Powell out of the government altogether. Their objective is to force Bush to give Sharon the green light for his Hitlerian massacres.
On April 11, the day Colin Powell arrived in Jerusalem, Gary Bauer, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, the Rev. John Hagee, Marlin Maddoux, Ed McAteer and the Rev. Tim Timmonsall leading Darbyite Zionistsissued a letter to President Bush, assailing him for sending Powell on a peace mission, warning, "We believe the Bush Doctrine is in great jeopardy and the war on terrorism with it. We believe it is imperative for the United States to stand with our friend and ally Israel as they attempt to defeat the same forces of terrorism that we have been battling since Sept. 11, 2001. We would ask you to end pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon so that he has the time necessary to complete the mission he has undertakenthe elimination of terrorist cells and infrastructure from the West Bank territories.... Secretary Powell's current peace-making trip is sending a dangerous message."
The Bauer-organized "Fundie" letter appears to have been part of a campaign, first launched in February of this year, with a $200,000 war chest put together, for a series of ads attacking Arafat and demanding that Bush put Arafat and the PA/PLO on the foreign terrorist organizations list. The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) and the Religious Roundtable co-sponsored the initiative, which included an ad on the Karine A, signed by Gary Bauer, calling Arafat and the PA "the Nazis of the modern era."
Prince El Hassan of Jordan Praises Jewish Philosopher Moses Mendelssohn
EIW has received two speeches from Prince El Hassan bin Talal, who was the keynote speaker at an April 7 Plenary Session of the Trilateral Commission entitled, "Islamic World and the Trilateral Countries in the Era of Globalization." In his keynote speech by that title, the uncle of the current King of Jordan said:
"Moses Mendelssohn, the German Jewish philosopher, developed a philosophy of inter-faith tolerance based on the existence of a common denominator of all religions. He considered that they all share a universal religion of reason, each with its own traditional version of the revelationbe it through the book of Moses, the Gospel or the Qur'an."
In a second speech Prince Hassan debunked former Trilateral Commission Executive Director Zbigniew Brzezinski's "Arc of Crisis" theory, saying: "Plagued by a score of raging and potential disputes, and with a broad range of causes of conflict, the region does not even have a mechanism of conflict avoidance.... Water and energy are likely to top the list of conflict causes."
In contrast to Prince Hassan's statecraft, another Trilateral panelist was Bernard Lewis, cited above.
Sharon, a.k.a. 'The Slippery One,' Stuck in Funding Scandal
On April 21, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was questioned for seven hours by the Israeli National Fraud Squad regarding allegations of illegal financing of his 1999 election campaign in the Likud primaries. The investigation has been going on for several months, but this was the first time that the police questionned Sharon himself, reported the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.
It may be significant that the other suspect in the case is Uri Shani, who just resigned as Sharon's bureau chief. Another suspect is his lawyer, Dov Wiesglass, who just replaced Shani as Sharon's bureau chief.
Under questioning, usually reliable sources report that Sharon denied doing any fundraising or being involved in the financial affairs of the campaign. He told investigators, "I didn't know, ask my son Omri." (Apparently, he is prepared to sacrifice his son.) However, the police showed him checks he had signed from his own bank account. He again blamed his son, claiming that Omri must have just put them in front of him to sign.
Omri refuses to cooperate with the police. But, the police have evidence, including audio and videotapes, in which one of those involved in the case recorded A Omri, former Sharon bureau head Uri Shani, attorney Dov Weisglass, and Sharon himself. One of those involved handed material that refers to the route used to bring the money from overseas to Israel and even mention the names of some of the fictitious companies used for the purpose.
Apparently because of his lying, the police have given Sharon a new nickname: "The Slippery One."
Even Sharon's Hamas Denounces Children Becoming Martyrs
The Palestinian Authority issued a blistering statement against those who train or use children as terrorists against Israel. The statement followed the incident on Wednesday, April 24, when three Gaza 14-year-old youths, armed with a home-made pipe bomb, an axe, and a knife, tried to infiltrate a heavily fortified Israeli settlement nearby, and were shot dead by Israeli soldiers. The Palestinian Authority issued a statement condemning the use of children in this way. The boys, all reported to have been excellent students in school, had left letters for their parents indicating that they expected to be martyrs.
The PA said, "We disapprove killing Israeli civilians and we denounce such acts, because many Jews are demonstrating for our cause and against the Israeli practices." Sending boys to be slaughtered "is an unforgiveable mistake and even a crime, it is a crime against our children, our future and our ethical codes, and we must question those behind it and try them.
"[T]hose who prepare them for the operations are criminals that have betrayed and disgraced the Palestinian society ... that has proudly presented true heroism to the whole world." The statement declared that the proper Palestinian image was presented to the world during the heroic resistance in Jenin, Nablus, and other towns, villages, and refugee camps, and that the "stupidity" of sending children to their deaths, has diminished the Palestinian image.
Obviously feeling the pressure, both Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which support suicide terrorism, issued statements criticizing any use of children as martyrs; Hamas's statement called on teachers and religious leaders to spread the message of restraint among young boys, and it urged youngsters to "remember that their lives are precious and should not be sacrificed."
Gulf State Leaders Say 'No' to America's War on Baghdad
As the German Frankfurter Allgemeine daily reported in two articles on April 25, American preparations for military strikes against Baghdad are running into problems, as not only Saudi Arabia, but also the Emirates that the U.S. planned as alternate military bases, say "no."
Most visible is the opposition in Oman, the Defense Minister of which categorically denied Western press reports that the Americans have been given additional stationing rights. He said that the new air base under construction in the Musanaa region is reserved for the Oman air force only. And the Americans have no rights other than those related to stops for aircraft on their way to Afghanistan. Oman is not intending to allow any bases for foreign troops on its territory, and this includes even the British troops, which are regularly conducting big exercises in Oman, traditionally.
Others in the region also oppose U.S. plans against Iraq: Bahrain and Masquat have issued statements to this effect, and on April 16, Abdurrahman Al-Atiya, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, declared that the organization's member states have the common view that "any strike on Iraq would only add to the suffering of the Iraqi people, and will threaten security and stability in the region." The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain.
CFR President: 'We Must Not Allow a Clash of Civilizations'
Deep fissures within the Anglo-American establishment over the "Clash of Civilizations," were again revealed at a Council on Foreign Relations event one April 22, called "U.S.-Saudi Energy and Economic Relations in Global Perspective."
A reporter from EIW had raised the question to moderator and CFR president Leslie Gelb, as to what was to be done to stop the now dominant "Clash of Civilizations" gang, as epitomized by "the Wolfowitz cabal." Shortly thereafter Gelb said: The morning panel discussion had reminded him of a story about U.S. movie director Woody Allen, who had described a man who came to a fork in the road. Down one direction led economic destruction and genocide. Down the other way, was nuclear war and destruction of the planet. "You must choose wisely," was Woody Allen's quip. Gelb concluded: "September 11 let some terrible forces loose. We must not allow a 'Clash of Civilizations.' We must not allow war against one billion people, just because they are Muslims."
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