Israel already an apartheid state says outgoing French ambassador, discussing Trump’s peace plan - Israel News - Haaretz.com
Gérard Araud recalls that ’once Trump told Macron [the French president], ‘I have given everything to the Israelis; the Israelis will have to give me something’’
▻https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/israel-is-already-an-apartheid-state-says-outgoing-french-ambassador-1.7151
Outgoing French Ambassador to the United States, Gérard Araud, gave a bombastic interview to the Atlantic, published Friday, as he ends his five year tenure in Washington, D.C. Araud told Yara Bayoumy that Israel is already an apartheid state and that U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan is 99% doomed to fail.
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Araud, who Bayoumy notes is known for “his willingness to say (and tweet) things that other ambassadors might not even think,” also offered his opinion on Trump’s foreign policy team. He said that John Bolton is a “real professional,” even though “he hates international organizations” and that Jared Kushner is “extremely smart, but he has no guts.”
Araud recalled that “once Trump told Macron [the French president], ‘I have given everything to the Israelis; the Israelis will have to give me something.’ He is totally transactional. He is more popular than [Benjamin] Netanyahu in Israel, so the Israelis trust him.” Araud cited that exchange with Macron as evidence that Trump will ask for something tough from the Israelis in his peace proposal.
Read the full interview in the Atlantic
He concluded, however, that “disproportion of power is such between the two sides that the strongest may conclude that they have no interest to make concessions.” He continued by discussing Israel’s dilemna in the West Bank, noting that Israel is hesitating to make “the painful decision about the Palestinians” - to leave them “totally stateless or make them citizens of Israel.”
He concludes, “They [Israel] won’t make them citizens of Israel. So they will have to make it official, which is we know the situation, which is an apartheid. There will be officially an apartheid state. They are in fact already.”
Trump’s Middle East peace plan will not involve giving land from Egypt’s Sinai peninsula to the Palestinians, an American envoy said on Friday.
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Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s Middle East envoy, apparently sought to deny reports on social media that the long-awaited plan to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would involve extending Gaza into the northern Sinai along Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.
“Hearing reports our plan includes the concept that we will give a portion of Sinai (which is Egypt’s) to Gaza. False!”, Greenblatt, one of the architects of the proposal, tweeted on Friday.
The American plan is expected to be unveiled once Israel’s newly re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu forms a government coalition and after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends in June.
Trump’s senior advisor Jared Kushner said on Wednesday the plan would require compromise by all parties, a source familiar with his remarks said.
It is unclear whether the plan will propose outright the creation of a Palestinian state, the Palestinians’ core demand.
Reuters contributed to this report
]]>UK May Reopen Its Embassy In Damascus Soon – Reports
▻https://southfront.org/uk-may-reopen-its-embassy-in-damascus-soon-reports
The United Kingdome may reopen its embassy in the Syrian capital of Damascus in a year or two, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper hinted in a report on January 6 citing a British diplomat.
“Give it a year or two and you can bet we’ll be reopening our embassy,” the unnamed diplomat said in the what the British newspaper described it as “an off-the-cuff remark.”
During the last two weeks, the restoration of the Syrian-British relations was discussed by several unofficial figures. On December 30, former UK Ambassador to Syria said that we may witness the return of the British and French ambassadors to Damascus during 2019.
Le même jour : ▻https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/05/roads-lead-damascus-world-welcoming-bashar-al-assad-cold
All roads lead to Damascus: How the world is welcoming Bashar al-Assad in from the cold
et
Bashar al-Assad’s international rehabilitation has begun
▻https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2019/01/05/assads-long-road-to-international-rehabilitation
Jewish Arab village in the spotlight after Israel passes nationality law
▻https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2018/07/israel-palestinians-nationality-law-neve-shalom-coexistence.html
Some ambassadors to Israel celebrate their country’s national day at the poolside of their official residences in Herzliya, just north of Tel Aviv. Others mark the day with receptions at fancy Tel Aviv hotels. Swiss Ambassador Jean-Daniel Ruch chose to celebrate his country’s independence in a unique spot. He will welcome his guests, among them government, Foreign Ministry and Knesset representatives, to the Jewish Arab village of Neve Shalom-Wahat al-Salam, which lies midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The principles on which this community, the first and only one of its kind, was founded run counter to the spirit of the nationality law — Israel’s new law that excludes the country’s 20% Arab minority, strips their mother tongue of its official status and negates their national narrative.
The official invitation to the event says that Neve Shalom — Hebrew for “Oasis of Peace” — is a village of Jewish and Palestinian Israeli citizens working together for justice, peace and equality in the country and the region. Its vision, the invitation quotes from Neve Shalom’s founding principles, is to offer "a model of equality, mutual respect and partnership, challenging the existing patterns of racism and discrimination as well as the continued conflict.” Contrary to the nationality law, which reads that Israel “views the development of Jewish settlement as a national value and will act to encourage and promote its establishment,” the 70 Jewish and Arab families living in the village reject the idea of Jewish-only communities. The Arabic language has equal footing with Hebrew. The village children attend a bilingual school and unlike other Israeli schoolchildren, are allowed to mark the Palestinian Nakba and to protest the Israeli occupation.
]]>21 Books You Don’t Have to Read | GQ
▻https://www.gq.com/story/21-books-you-dont-have-to-read
C’est bone liste pour la Californie. Et pour la France, l’talie, le Sénégal, le Cameroun, le Congo, l’Égyte, la Russie, l’Inde et la Chine ? Et pour l’Allemagne ?
Une fois ces listes réunis je me prends un an de vacances avec des amis et on se traduit et s’explique mutuellement le pour et le contre des livres.
On commence là sur #Seenthis ?
We’ve been told all our lives that we can only call ourselves well-read once we’ve read the Great Books. We tried. We got halfway through Infinite Jest and halfway through the SparkNotes on Finnegans Wake. But a few pages into Bleak House, we realized that not all the Great Books have aged well. Some are racist and some are sexist, but most are just really, really boring. So we—and a group of un-boring writers—give you permission to strike these books from the canon. Here’s what you should read instead.
...
1. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
Instead: The Mountain Lion by Jean Stafford
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
Instead: Olivia: A Novel by Dorothy Strachey
3. Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves
Instead: Dispatches by Michael Herr
4. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Instead: The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
5. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Instead: Near to the Wild Heart by Clarice Lispector
6. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
Instead: The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard
7. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
Instead: The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
8. John Adams by David McCullough
Instead: Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard
9 & 10. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Instead: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Fredrick Douglass
Instead: The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll by Alvaro Mutis
11. The Ambassadors by Henry James
Instead: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer
12. The Bible
Instead: The Notebook by Agota Kristof
13. Franny and Zooey by J. D. Salinger
Instead: Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
14. The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien
Instead: Earthsea Series by Ursula K. Le Guin
15. Dracula by Bram Stoker
Instead: Angels by Denis Johnson
16. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Instead: The American Granddaughter by Inaam Kachachi
17. Life by Keith Richards
Instead: The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard
18. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
Instead: Too Loud a Solitude by Bohumil Hrabal
19. Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
Instead: Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon
20. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Instead: Veronica by Mary Gaitskill
21. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
Instead: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne
]]>#football Stars who chose to be ICO Football Ambassadors
▻https://hackernoon.com/football-stars-who-chose-to-be-ico-football-ambassadors-c490fdc5f949?sou
With the recent surge of #blockchain and cryptocurrency projects, competition has become stiff among companies concentrating on the same niche. Therefore celebrities have become a secret weapon, to companies that can afford them, to turn the market to their favor.Celebrity endorsement can go a long way in boosting a brands global profile. In the recent past, there have been a few football stars fronting ICO ad campaigns. In this post, we shall explore four famous football stars that have come in handy as ICO ambassadors.So, let’s delve in and explore:1. Luis Figo for STRYKZFrom Left to Right: Luis Figo, Dirk Weyel (Strykz CEO)“When I heard about Football-Stars for the first time I immediately liked the idea. Football becomes more and more data-driven with detailed statistics about all (...)
]]>Egypt and Sudan: Diplomatic pacification, unresolved affairs | MadaMasr
▻https://madamirror.appspot.com/www.madamasr.com/en/2018/03/08/feature/politics/egypt-and-sudan-diplomatic-pacification-unresolved-affairs/?platform=hootsuite
Quietly and without an official announcement is how Osama Shaltout, Egypt’s ambassador to Sudan, returned to his post in Khartoum on Tuesday. On the same day, Abdel Mahmoud Abdel Halim, Sudan’s ambassador to Egypt, returned to Cairo two months after he was recalled due to tension between the neighboring countries.
Shaltout spent the better part of two months in Cairo, as the Egyptian government worked to resolve the tension. Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid told Mada Masr on Wednesday morning that the reason for the ambassador’s stay in Cairo had been to “take part in official meetings.” Abu Zeid also stressed that Cairo did not recall Shaltout, either in response to Khartoum’s January decision or at any point since.
Although the return of both ambassadors to their respective posts is an indication of the end of the public escalation of tensions, several Egyptian and Western diplomats as well as observers believe that the matters which originally triggered the crisis earlier this year have yet to be settled, even if the restoration of diplomatic relations is a step in the right direction.
“The kind of escalation we saw in the January [between Sudan and Egypt] was kind of a negotiation being carried out in public, with a ratcheting up of rhetoric that didn’t necessarily match what was happening on the ground,” International Crisis Group’s Horn of Africa Analyst Magnus Taylor tells Mada Masr. “Of course, there are some real structural problems in the relationship on the Renaissance Dam, on the Muslim Brotherhood, the border conflict over Halayeb. But I’ve never really seen any of those issues as escalating into a border war or proxy war.”
]]>Israel sets up secret firm with top ex-generals, envoys for online ’mass awareness’ campaign ’to fight delegitimization’
Among the shareholders are former UN ambassador Dore Gold and ex-generals Amos Yadlin and Yaakov Amidror. The new initiative will not be subject to the Freedom of Information Law
Noa Landau Jan 09, 2018 3:26 PM
read more: ▻https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.833817
The Strategic Affairs Ministry has set up a public-benefit corporation to engage in what it calls “mass awareness activities” as part of “the struggle against the delegitimization campaign” against Israel internationally.
Haaretz has obtained a list of the shareholders and directors of the company, Kella Shlomo, who include former Israeli ambassadors to the United Nations.
The government recently allocated 128 million shekels ($37 million) to the initiative, in addition to the 128 million shekels it will raise from private donors around the world.
The new initiative will not be subject to the Freedom of Information Law, in accordance with the secrecy policy of the ministry, which refuses to release detailed information about its activities.
The shareholders and directors include former ministry director general Yossi Kuperwasser; former UN ambassador Dore Gold, who is also a former adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; and former UN ambassador Ron Prosor.
Reuven Rivlin with Amos Yadlin. Mark Neiman
FILE PHOTO: Protestors march behind a banner of the BDS organization in Marseille, southern France, on June 13, 2015George Robert / AP
They also include businessman Micah Avni, whose father, Richard Lakin, was killed in a 2015 terror attack in Jerusalem; Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin, who heads the Institute for National Security Studies; and Col. (res.) Miri Eisin, who served as the prime minister’s adviser on the foreign press during the Second Lebanon War.
skip - Israel Publishes BDS Blacklist
Also on the list are a former National Security Council chief, Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, and Sagi Balasha, a former CEO of the Israeli-American Council, which has casino magnate Sheldon Adelson as a major supporter.
Most refused to discuss the initiative and referred questions to the office of Strategic Affairs Minister Gilad Erdan.
The most recent data from the Companies Authority shows that the last report the company submitted to the authority came this past October. On December 28, the cabinet approved an allocation of 128 million shekels to the company over three years. The decision to provide the funding was made by the special procedure under which a government resolution is distributed to the ministers and goes into effect automatically if no one objects or demands a discussion.
According to the government resolution, the funding was granted “to implement part of the ministry’s activities related to the struggle against the phenomena of delegitimization and boycotts against the State of Israel.” It says the agency will work to raise its portion of the financing for the initiative (around half) from “philanthropic sources” or “pro-Israel organizations.” A steering committee will be appointed for the initiative to comprise government representatives and representatives of the other funding partners.
Ron Prosor at the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon oath ceremony forr his appointment as the Secretary-General of the United Nations for second termShachar Ezran
Itamar Baz of the media watchdog website The Seventh Eye has been covering the Strategic Affairs Ministry, most of whose activities are concealed from the public. He reported Monday that while ministry officials have for months been advancing legislation that would exclude the company from being subject to the Freedom of Information Law, the law in any case does not apply to this new agency so its activities will be easy to hide.
He also revealed that Liat Glazer, the ministry’s legal adviser, wrote in a legal opinion that the activities conducted through the company would be “those that require ‘non-governmental’ discussions with various target audiences.”
According to a ministry document, Kella Shlomo people would work via social networks because “the enemy directs most of its awareness and motivating efforts to this area.” Similarly, the document, published by The Seventh Eye, says the organization was expected to carry out “mass awareness activities” and work to “exploit the wisdom of crowds,” an activity defined as “making new ideas accessible to decision-makers and donors in the Jewish world, and developing new tools to combat the delegitimization of Israel.”
A report in the daily Yedioth Ahronoth the day after the cabinet approved the funding described the initiative positively, saying it would “raise the level of efforts in the struggle against BDS” — the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. Yedioth said the new company would “provide a speedy and coordinated response to efforts to stain Israel’s image around the world,” for example, in the event of a military operation, terror attacks or UN votes against government policies.
This would be done by launching online campaigns, lobbying, engaging organizations abroad and bringing delegations to Israel.
The Strategic Affairs Ministry declined to clarify whether the company would act in accordance with the principles of the Freedom of Information Law.
“This is a joint initiative that meets all the requirements of the law for this type of engagement and is similar to other government initiatives like Taglit [Birthright] and Masa,” the ministry said.
“In the agreement with [the company] there are distinct control procedures, as defined by the Finance Ministry and the Justice Ministry during the joint work with them on setting up the project. It will be subject to auditing by the state comptroller,” it added.
“In addition, as the ministry leading the initiative, one that attributes great importance to it as part of the campaign against the delegitimization of Israel, the ministry has allocated additional control tools and functions to what is required. Both the ministry’s legal adviser and its controller will sit on the steering committee managing the project.”
skip - WTF is BDS?
]]>Swiss Newspaper reveals: Secret military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel
Middle East Monitor - January 8, 2018 at 3:17 am
▻https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20180108-swiss-newspaper-reveals-secret-military-cooperation-betw
The Swiss newspaper Basler Zeitung revealed the fact that there exists a “secret alliance” between Saudi Arabia and Israel, intended “to restrain Iran’s expansion in the region, despite the absence of any official relations between the two countries.”
“For the time being, Riyadh rejects any official normalization of relationships with Israel as long as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not resolved and normalization has not been publically declared by Arab countries and thus there will be no exchange of ambassadors,” said Pierre Heumann, the newspaper’s correspondent in Israel in his report.
“There is an intensive secret cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Israel in order to achieve the main goal of curbing Iran’s expansion project and undermining its regional ambitions,” said the reporter. He added that “there exists indeed military cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Tel Aviv.”
The reporter quoted unidentified sources from Riyadh as saying “the Kingdom is currently considering the possibility to purchase Israeli weapons and it has shown an interest in purchasing defence systems for the tanks and the iron dome, which Israel claims has proven to be effective in countering rocket attacks from Gaza Strip.(...) ”
]]>President Abbas says he can’t understand why Arabs didn’t expel US ambassadors or cut their ties with the US following Trump’s #Jerusalem announcement.
]]>Il “vicedittatore” eritreo, aggredito a Roma: è colui che ha ordinato il mio rapimento in Somalia
Il 5 luglio scorso a Roma all’uscita da un ristorante l’ambasciatore dello Stato di Eritrea,
Petros Fessazion, è stato aggredito da alcune persone, quasi certamente suoi connazionali
stanchi di un regime repressivo che nega le libertà fondamentali dell’uomo.
Ma con l’ambasciatore Petros, probabilmente c’era Yemane Gebrehab, il numero due della dittatura
al potere nell’ex colonia italiana, rimasto gravemente ferito a uno zigomo.
Ma nell’ospedale romano dove è stato ricoverato non risulta nessuno con quel nome.
Che abbia dato generalità false per evitare di essere riconosciuto è assai probabile, ma, ovviamente
non è certo. Per altro la presenza di Yemane era prevista in numerose iniziative in Europa
dove il “vice-dittatore” non è comparso. Massimo Alberizzi scrive a Petros e a Yemane,
che a suo tempo l’aveva condannato a morte e fatto rapire in Somalia.
#Petros_Fessazion #Erythrée #Yemane_Gebreab #Isaias_Afeworki
Et quelques #victimes du régime:
Dove sono finiti in miei amici #Petros_Solomon, #Haile_Woldensaye, #Mohammed_Sharifo , ex ministri, o #Isaac_Dawit, giornalista, solo per citarne alcuni, arrestati e messi in qualche arroventata galera dell’infuocato bassopiano? E Aster, la moglie di Petros? Avete ingannato anche lei, una combattente per la libertà, una vostra compagna d’armi.
]]>Endocrine Disruptors | Corporate Europe Observatory
▻https://corporateeurope.org/food-and-agriculture/2017/09/endocrine-disruptors
The TTIP negotiations have been a major source of pressure against the EU taking action on endocrine disruptors. For instance, in March 2013, the US and EU pesticide lobby groups Croplife America and ECPA paid a joint visit to the Commission’s Secretary General to talk about the way the EU would deal with endocrine disruptors and how that seemed contrary to the goals of TTIP. Croplife America’s position was that the US should take action at the WTO “if the EU pursues its proposed new regulatory regime for endocrine disruptors without an approach based on risk assessment”. (Toxic Affair p.14).
Three years later, mid-June 2016, the Commission had finally presented a proposal for criteria to identify endocrine disruptors. It was strongly criticised, among others by the Endocrine Society: the Commission criteria require “a level of certainty that are nearly unachievable scientifically”.
One month later on 13 July 2016 Health Commissioner Andriukaitis received a visit from the ambassadors of the United States, Canada, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, specifically to address the issue of EU regulation of endocrine disruptors and the impacts on international trade... The minutes of this meeting, obtained by Oneworld.nl, show how the US ambassador opened the meeting by “expressing concern of countries on proposals submitted by COM [the Commission, red] on criteria for ED [endocrine disruptors, red], in particular their impact on import tolerances”.
The Commission then responded: “COM proposal foresees possibility to establish MRLs [maximum residue levels, red], which should be accepted as an ambitious proposal to address the concerns expressed by the Ambassadors”.
]]>Joshua Landis on Twitter: “In some respects, Syria’s move to USSR was driven by the Arab/Israeli conflict.”
▻https://twitter.com/joshua_landis/status/884387103718735873
1. In some respects, Syria’s move to USSR was driven by the Arab/Israeli conflict.
2. US was planning to rebuild Syrian military in 1947, with training mission and arms sales.
3. The start of fighting in Palestine in 1947 caused Sec State Marshall to cancel the agreement & training mission.
He knew that congress could not support helping Syria military w war looming in Palestine. Also Tripartite Arms Embargo imposed by US/FR/GB
5. Once Syria’s Pres. Quwatli was told of US retraction, his men began counseling him to seek arms from USSR. Quwatli refused for fear of GB
6. But the refusal of all Western Powers 2 help Syrian military, caused it to turn 2 USSR w friendship agreement & follow Nasser’s arms deal
7. These BBC interviews w Syrian statesmen & PM, underline that they did not associate Friendship Agreement w becoming Communist, as US did
8. By organizing failed coups against Khalid al-Azm and Sabri al-Asali’s government, the US undermined the pro-Western politicians of Syria.
The Baath Party leaders and their military officer sympathizers used the West’s interventions and plotting to go to Nasser & form the UAR.
10. Politicians, such as Azm & Quwatli, who knew making Nasser was a bad idea & who had fought for Syrian independence, had to go along.
11. They feared being called Western stooges. They also were confused by the West’s stupidity and aggression against them.
12. This is the context of these BBC interviews, which were carried out during the lead up to the UAR and the time of the Suez Crisis.
13. Between 1955 and 1958, Syria received about $294 million from the Soviet Union for military and economic assistance.
14. In a meeting of Ambassadors at end of WWII, US decided best postwar strategy was to align w KSA & Syria. The KSA because of oil & Aramco
15. Syria, because pipelines would run from KSA thru Syr. Also Syria had no exclusive agreement with FR or GB. It was free & turned to US
16. Khalid al-Azm who was PM at end 1948, negotiated military agreement w US & base rights w GB, which wanted 2 est MEDO - Mid East Def Org
17. But the US broke off these agreements to support Jewish State in Palestine & then supported Chief of Staff Husni Zaim to overthrow Azm.
18. US supported Azm/Quwatli overthrow, even though they were democratically elected gov, because Zaim offered to sign armistice w Israel.
19. Zaim also offered to build Tapline, oil pipeline that Syr parliament put on hold, and to arrest communists, etc.
The US was not a driving force behind Zaim coup. Zaim was determined 2 take power, b/c Quwatli gov was going to accuse him of corruption.
21. Pres Quwatli was going to use Zaim as the scapegoat for loss of 1948 war. Major corruption trials were leading to top officers.
]]>Hack, fake story expose real tensions between Qatar, Gulf
▻https://apnews.com/f5da3293be18401a954d48249f75394e
While Qatar quickly denied the comments attributed to ruling emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Saudi-owned satellite channels repeatedly aired them throughout the day Wednesday. The incident revived suspicions that exploded into the open three years when several Gulf nations pulled their ambassadors from Qatar over similar worries about its politics.
The alleged hack happened early on Wednesday morning and hours later, the website of the Qatar News Agency still was not accessible.
The fake article quoted Sheikh Tamim as calling Iran an “Islamic power” and saying Qatar’s relations with Israel were “good” during a military ceremony.
Online footage of Qatari state television’s nightly newscast from Tuesday showed clips of Sheikh Tamim at the ceremony with the anchor not mentioning the comments, though a scrolling ticker at the bottom of the screen had the alleged fake remarks. They included calling Hamas “the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people,” as well as saying Qatar had “strong relations” with Iran and the United States.
“Iran represents a regional and Islamic power that cannot be ignored and it is unwise to face up against it,” the ticker read at one point. “It is a big power in the stabilization of the region.”
The hackers also purportedly took over the news agency’s Twitter feed and posted alleged quotes from Qatar’s foreign minister accusing Arab nations of fomenting a plot against his country. A series of tweets said Qatar had ordered its ambassadors to withdraw from Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates over the plot. The tweets were later deleted.
]]>The Angry Arab News Service/وكالة أنباء العربي الغاضب
►http://angryarab.blogspot.fr
#catastrophe_arabe (1)
Franchement, c’est très compliqué. Si j’ai bien suivi la chose, et je vais essayer de donner quelques éléments : un jour après le grand show Trumpien en arabie saoudite, les équilibres politiques dans le Gofe semblent voler en éclats. En cause, une violente dispute, sur les médias et via les agences de presse, entre le Qatar d’un côté et l’Arabie souadite (Egypte, Emirats, Bahreïen) de l’autre.
Le Qatar se fâche très fort parce qu’on l’accuse de (soutien au) terrorisme (notamment parce qu’il s’obstine à conserver des liens, même ténus, avec l’iran). Des nouvelles ont circulé selon lesquelles le Qatar retirait ses ambassadeurs des pays mentionnés, puis la nouvelle a été démentie. Au milieu d’une vraie bataille médiatique de la part des chaînes arabes, le Qatar - si j’ai bien compris - a levé le drapeau blanc en disant que le site de l’Agence de presse officielle a été hacké. Naturellement, on “explique” déjà que ce sont les Iraniens qui ont fait le coup.
Ci-dessous, un bricolage de liens :
Le 1er signalement chez Angry Arab : Qatari-Saudi feud out in the open
So what happened today: the Qatari News Agency was hacked and it posted statements by the Qatari Emir in which he criticized US policies and declared that Hamas and Hizbullah are resistance movement and had warm words about Iran. Al-Arabiyya TV (owned by the deputy Crown Prince) went berserk: it unleashed on the Qatari regime and hosted various guests to attack the Qatari regime even AFTER the Qatari regime issued a statement denying that the Emir made those statements.
PS Wow. Al-Arabiyya can’t stop. They are still unleashing against the Qatari regime. More fun in inter-Arab relations is ahead of us.
Un autre, trois heures plus tard : What is happening in Qatar?
Qatari foreign minister now says that his statements were misinterpreted and that he did not call for recall of Qatari ambassadors in GCC countries (except Oman) and Egypt.
Et, parmi toute une série, le dernier, 5 heures après le premier : Stupid Western media theories about the origins of the Saudi-Qatari rift
Of course, it will start now: that Iran will be blamed for hacking the Qatari News Agency website and starting the rift between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Only those who don’t know a word of Arabic and who has not read or watched the media of the two regimes in the last 12 hours will believe this. It was clear that Saudi regime was prepared for this in advance: the column already appeared in the morning papers against Qatar, and the guests were already lined up to voice criticisms of the Qatari regime and its Emir. It makes more sense that the Saudi regime was behind the hacking if there was any hacking. The statements of the Emir sounded true to me, and they are in line with the previous stances of Qatar. So either there was an inside sabotage within the Qatari regime or the Saudis were behind the hacking with the assistance of their friends the Israelis. And if Iran was behind the hacking, why were the statements about Iran not far more favorable?
Israel fighting to stop FIFA from suspending settlement soccer teams -
Move against six teams initiated by Palestinians, backed by FIFA panel; Israelis pessimistic
Barak Ravid Apr 20, 2017
read more: ▻http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.784442
Israel is increasingly concerned that when the FIFA Congress holds its annual meeting in another four weeks, the international soccer federation will decide to suspend six Israeli soccer teams based in West Bank settlements.
Consequently, ambassadors in dozens of capitals worldwide have been ordered to work with officials of their host countries to foil the move.
An official involved in the issue said that two weeks ago, Israel learned that Palestinian Football Association President Jibril Rajoub had asked to put the issue of the settlement teams on the agenda of both the FIFA Council, which will meet in Manama, Bahrain on May 9, and the FIFA Congress, which will meet in the same city on May 10 and 11.
On Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry sent a cable to dozens of Israeli embassies instructing embassy staffers to try to persuade their host countries to remove the issue from FIFA’s agenda or ensure that no vote on it takes place. But the official said Israel must be prepared for the worst-case scenario, in which a vote does take place. If so, Israel’s chances of winning are negligible.
“Our growing assessment is that the FIFA Congress is liable to make a decision on suspending six Israeli teams that play over the Green Line, or even on suspending Israel from FIFA,” the cable said. “We urge you to contact your countries’ representatives on the FIFA Council as soon as possible to obtain their support for Israel’s position, which rejects mixing politics with sport and calls for reaching an agreed solution between the parties ... and to thwart an anti-Israel decision if it is brought before the council.”
]]>#Israel’s Scramble for #Africa
▻http://africasacountry.com/2017/02/israels-scramble-for-africa
Israel has eleven embassies in Africa. Last week Prime Minister #Benjamin_Netanyahu met the ambassadors in Jerusalem. He had a clear message for them: “The automatic majority against Israel at the UN is composed – first and foremost – of African countries. There are 54 countries. If you change the voting pattern of a majority…
]]>Jordan ponders a change of course on Syria | The National
▻http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/jordan-ponders-a-change-of-course-on-syria
“Since the beginning of the crisis, we haven’t operated against the regime at all, our relations with the regime have remained, and our diplomatic relations with Syria have also remained,” he said. “Our objective is to fight terrorism anywhere.”
Crucially, Lt Gen Freihat noted that Jordan has remained in touch with the Syrian government despite his country’s anti-Assad position.
Driving the backchannel contacts was the status of the border and the refugee flows that have placed social and economic strain on Jordan. The message from Amman was clear: once the Syrian army re-establishes control of the border, Jordan will move to reopen it completely.
Less than a week after these remarks, Mohammed Al Momani, Jordan’s minister for information, echoed Lt Gen Freihat’s comments, stating Jordan had maintained diplomatic relations with Syria throughout the crisis and embassies in both countries remain open. Mr Al Momani noted that the Arab League had voted to suspend Syria’s membership and recall Arab ambassadors from Damascus, with Jordan voting in favour of the first motion, but abstaining from the latter.
]]>Do we all have a right to cross borders?
In early December, British foreign secretary Boris Johnson was forced to deny reports that he’d told a group of ambassadors he was personally in favour of the free movement of people across the European Union.
►https://theconversation.com/do-we-all-have-a-right-to-cross-borders-69835
#frontières #liberté_de_mouvement #mobilité #citoyenneté #asile #migrations #réfugiés
Do we all have a right to cross borders?
►http://theconversation.com/do-we-all-have-a-right-to-cross-borders-69835
n early December, British foreign secretary Boris Johnson was forced to deny reports that he’d told a group of ambassadors he was personally in favour of the free movement of people across the European Union.
Given his previous negative public statements on the issue, reports of his private support for the principle, which allows all EU citizens to move freely around the bloc, came as a surprise. Speaking to a Czech newspaper in mid-November, he had rubbished the idea that free movement is a central principle of the EU and denied that “every human being has some fundamental God-given right to move wherever they want”.
]]>UN resolution is a breath of hope in sea of darkness and despair -
It’s now even more crystal clear: The world thinks the settlements are a crime. All the settlements and all the world
Gideon Levy Dec 25, 2016 12:12 PM
▻http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.761114
On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to establish a Jewish state (alongside an Arab state) in the Land of Israel. Sixty-nine years later, on December 23, 2016, the UN Security Council voted to try to save it. Resolution 2334 that was approved Friday is a gust of good news, a breath of hope in the sea of darkness and despair of recent years.
Just when it seemed that everything was going downhill – the deepening occupation increasingly supported by America, with Europe galloping to the right – along came a Hanukkah resolution that lights a thin candle. When it seemed that the evil ones would remain victorious, along came New Zealand and three other countries and gave the world a Christmas gift.
Read more on the Security Council resolution: It’s the settlements, stupid: UN failure is entirely Netanyahu’s / Analysis | Obama, where have you been for 8 wasted years? / Analysis | Why the Palestinians are jubilant and Israel is spooked / Analysis | Security Council punch knocks Netanyahu down from hubris to humiliation
So thanks to New Zealand, Venezuela and Malaysia. True, the Christmas tree they’ve supplied, with all its sparkling lights, will soon be removed; Donald Trump is already waiting at the gate. But the imprint will remain. Until then, this temporary rejoicing is a joy, despite the expected hangover.
We of course must ask U.S. President Barack Obama in fury: Now you’re doing something? And we must ask the world in frustration: What about actions? But it’s impossible to ignore the Security Council decision that rules that all the settlements are illegal by nature.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu can call back his ambassadors, while his right-hand minister Yuval Steinitz can shriek that the resolution is “unfair.” (He has a sense of humor.) And opposition leader Isaac Herzog can babble that “we need to fight the decision with all means.” But there isn’t a person in the world with a conscience who won’t rejoice over the resolution.
There also isn’t a decent Israeli who ought to fall for the propaganda that calls the resolution “anti-Israeli,” a definition that the Israeli media rushed to adopt – with its characteristic slavishness, of course.
This decision has brought Israel back to the solid ground of reality. All the settlements, including in the territories that have been annexed, including in East Jerusalem of course, are a violation of international law. In other words, they are a crime. No country in the world thinks otherwise. The entire world thinks so – all Israel’s so-called friends and all its so-called enemies – unanimously.
Most probably the tools of brainwashing in Israel, along with the mechanisms of repression and denial, will try to undermine the decision. But when the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia unite in such a clear statement, this will be difficult work.
So you can say “the entire world is against us.” You can scream “anti-Semitism!” You can ask “What about Syria?” In the end this clear-as-crystal truth will remain: The world thinks that the settlements are a crime. All the settlements and all the world.
True, the world doesn’t lift a finger to have the settlements removed, but maybe one day this will happen. Still, it will be too late by then, too late.
Resolution 2334 artificially distinguishes between Israel and the settlements in that it is aimed at the settlements, not the occupation. As if the guilt of Amona were on its settlers and not all Israelis. This deception proves how much the world continues to treat Israel with leniency and hesitates to takes steps against it, as it did with Russia’s conquest of Crimea, for example.
But Israelis who don’t live in Amona, who have never been there, who have no real interest in its fate – it seems most Israelis – have to ask themselves: Is it really worth it? All this for a few settlers they don’t know and don’t really want to know?
Resolution 2334 is meant above all for Israeli ears, like an alarm clock that makes sure to wake you up on time, like a siren that tells you to go down to the bomb shelter. True, the resolution has no concrete value; true, the new U.S. administration promises to erase it.
But two questions won’t let up: Why don’t the Palestinians deserve exactly the same thing that Israelis deserve, and how much can one country, with all its lobbying power, weapons and high-tech, ignore the entire world? On this first day of both Hanukkah and Christmas, we can enjoy, if only for a moment, the sweet illusion that Resolution 2334 will rouse these questions in Israel.
]]>Israel to pay Turkey $20 million in compensation after six-year rift | Reuters
Wed Aug 17, 2016
▻http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-turkey-israel-deals-idUKKCN10S13M
Turkish lawmakers on Wednesday submitted to parliament a settlement deal with Israel that would see Israel pay Ankara $20 million (15.38 million pounds) within 25 days in return for Turkey dropping outstanding legal claims, ending a six-year rift.
Relations between the two countries crumbled after Israeli marines stormed a Turkish ship in May 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, killing 10 Turks on board.
Israel had already offered its apologies for the raid. Both countries are to appoint ambassadors, and Turkey is to pass legislation indemnifying Israeli soldiers as part of an agreement partly driven by the prospect of lucrative Mediterranean gas deals.
(Reporting by Gulsen Solaker; Writing by Ece Toksabay; Editing by David Dolan)
]]>Few American women have broken the glass ceiling of diplomacy
Since the beginning of U.S. diplomatic relations with the rest of the world, American ambassadors have overwhelmingly been men, an imbalance that speaks to a persistent diversity challenge within the U.S. Foreign Service. The numbers make it clear. Over 4,600 U.S. ambassadors have served in foreign countries since the founding of the nation – and only 9% of them have been women.
On Iran-Saudi rift, Gulf Arab states tread with caution
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/us-saudi-iran-gulf-states-idUSKCN0UP1TL20160111
Gulf Arab states rallied dutifully behind Saudi Arabia when it cut relations with Iran last week, recalling their ambassadors and cancelling flights to Tehran in solidarity with the oil-rich kingdom after its embassy in Iran was torched by protesters.
But all apart from Bahrain stopped short of severing ties, responses that suggest these small states - energy powers but military minnows - wish to safeguard strategic interests and avoid a full-blown conflict with Iran in which they would fare poorly.
Non traduit en français.
]]>Israeli, Turkish officials meet in secret, reach agreements
▻http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4740867,00.html
Mossad chief Yossi Cohen Joseph Ciechanover, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s special envoy to Turkey, met secretly in Switzerland on Wednesday with Feridun Sinirlioğlu, the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s Undersecretary. The two nations agreed on a number of steps: Israel will found a compensations fund for victims of the raid on the Marmara; all charges against Israel will be cancelled; the ambassadors will be returned to work; and high-ranking #Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri will be banned from entering Turkey.
Additionally, discussions on a gas pipeline from Israel to Turkey are expected to begin soon.
]]>The Illusion of Palestinian Sovereignty - Opinion - Israel News - Amira Hass Dec 01, 2015
▻http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.689502
Israeli military incursions into the West Bank’s Area A and even Area B – the districts where only Palestinians live and the Palestinian Authority operates – have one positive aspect. Yes, even when they include the destruction of radio stations or raids on hospitals. Despite all the shock and the denunciations, these raids are a lesson in reality. For a few hours, they destroy the illusion of Palestinian sovereignty. It’s a virtual sovereignty, fragmented and curtailed. Therefore, it’s an illusion – but an illusion that works.
Broadcasters in Hebron think they can tell their listeners where soldiers are located, as if they lived in an independent state. Palestinian Facebook users inhabit a virtual reality twice over: They see the real world in cyberspace and are convinced that it protects them from raids and arrests. Doctors treat people with bullet wounds and forget that the sovereign is the settlement defense forces, which don’t recognize the immunity of medical institutions.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas receives ambassadors with great pomp, but is dependent on exit permits from the army. And professors from abroad are shocked when Israeli security services raid the campus of Al-Quds University in Abu Dis; their political geography classes evidently ended in 1993. That is when Zionism achieved one of its greatest military and diplomatic successes.
Short of expelling every Palestinian or “causing them to flee,” this is the outcome most closely resembling transfer that was possible to achieve. The international political circumstances didn’t allow the territory to be emptied (again) of its Palestinian inhabitants. So reservations were set up (Areas A and B). They were supposed to be temporary, but meanwhile they’ve become permanent.
It’s not important for now whether this is exactly what Zionist leaders intended when they concocted the Oslo Accords’ interim agreements. The result is the same either way: Palestinian pseudo-sovereignty in territorial capsules, which is one of the main reasons why the current uprising hasn’t taken off.
The checkpoints that surround these enclaves block any mass demonstration that might, for instance, seek to march toward another water-sucking, land-swallowing settlement or a shepherds’ village that’s about to be demolished. But what’s most effective of all, from the standpoint of Israeli interests, is that people have gotten used to the illusion. Within these population enclosures, life is lived in a way that closely resembles normalcy.
In Tel Rumeida, the silence is blood-curdling. But beyond the concrete that isolates the neighborhood, one hears the enticing municipal clamor of Hebron. Cars honk, vendors in the market sell their wares, pedestrians chat. A multitude of seminars takes place in the hotels of cozy Jericho and Ramallah, while half an hour’s drive to the north, Israel’s Civil Administration is demolishing the houses of the tiny village of Hadidiyeh and the army is once again expelling 13 families from their tents in Khirbet Khumsa. Studies at An-Najah National University in Nablus take place as normal, but a few kilometers southward, settlers burst into the villages of Madama and Burin and sow fear.
Just how strong the delusion of sovereignty is can be seen in the way East Jerusalem residents, and even Palestinian citizens of Israel, often travel to these West Bank enclaves and feel a sense of relief. In these enclosures, which are free of any army presence, they get a break from routine Israeli racism and vulgarity. This temporary feeling of rest and relief is only strengthened by the necessary return to Israel via an intimidating path of walls, barbed-wire fences, pointed rifles, threatening policemen and soldiers, and deluxe, verdant suburbs for Jews only.
The foreign ruler and his permanent aggression are divided into fractions and experienced differently in every Palestinian “territorial cell,” as they are called in army jargon. The more numerous, smaller and fragmented these territorial cells are, the harder it is for the Palestinians to develop a uniform response to Israeli aggression and violence.
That is how the phenomenon of the lone-wolf stabbers emerged – for lack of any other choice. This is a privatizing of the natural and general urge to rebel, a response to Israeli violence that breaks up into dozens of supposedly unconnected little incidents.
This privatization of the struggle is the opposite of an intifada, which is a mass uprising. But because it has become such a widespread phenomenon, it constitutes an internal message: that the normalcy of the enclaves isn’t normal.
]]>Abbas Urges Netanyahu to ’Stop the Chaos’ at Al-Aqsa - Diplomacy and Defense - Haaretz Sep 23, 2015
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.677191
(...) Senior Palestinian officials told Haaretz that the Palestinians have no expectation that the U.S. administration will present a new peace plan and so Palestinian efforts will focus on the international arena along with attempts to move things ahead in the Palestinian domestic arena. In that vein, Palestinian officials reported that a meeting will take place this weekend between Fatah and senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad officials ahead of a special meeting in October in Cairo of leaders of Palestinian factions.
Abbas said this week that he sent a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently warning of the severe consequences of the ongoing diplomatic stasis. The message was sent via former cabinet minister Meir Sheetrit, whom Abbas invited to a secret meeting in Ramallah two weeks ago.
Abbas revealed the fact of the message and his use of Sheetrit as an envoy during a meeting in Paris on Monday with four retired Israeli diplomats who served in the past as ambassadors to France: Daniel Shek, Nissim Zvili, Elie Barnavi and Yehuda Lancry. The meeting was hosted by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
Shek, who served as ambassador to France in 2006-2011, told Haaretz that Abbas said he is willing to meet with Netanyahu, but “a third party who isn’t Israeli” opposes holding such a meeting and has prevented it from taking place. The Israeli diplomats tried to find out who this third party is, but Abbas refused to say.
#Anne_Hidalgo, #Mahmoud_Abbas , #Daniel_Shek, #Nissim_Zvili, #Elie_Barnavi
]]>Brésil:des militants israéliens ont demandé le rejet de l’ambassadeur à Brasilia | i24news - 21 Septembre 2015
▻http://www.i24news.tv/fr/actu/israel/diplomatie-defense/86511-150921-bresil-des-militants-israeliens-ont-demande-le-rejet-de-l-ambas
Un groupe de militants de gauche, dont trois anciens ambassadeurs israéliens, ont demandé au gouvernement brésilien de ne pas approuver la nomination de Dani Dayan au poste d’ambassadeur au Brésil, rapporte lundi le site israélien Haaretz.
La demande a semble-t-il été entendue puisque samedi, la présidente brésilienne Dilma Rousseff s’opposait publiquement à la nomination au poste d’ambassadeur d’Israël dans son pays de Dayan qui a présidé de 2007 à 2013 le Conseil de Yesha, une organisation liée au Conseil des implantations en Cisjordanie.
Lors d’une réunion il y a deux semaines avec les ambassadeurs du Brésil en Israël et dans l’Autorité palestinienne, les militants ont affirmé qu’accepter la nomination de Dayan reviendrait à légitimer « l’entreprise de colonisation ».
Cette campagne est menée par des membres du comité diplomatique du Forum des ONG pour la paix, une organisation qui coordonne les activités entre les ONG israéliennes et palestiniennes qui soutiennent une solution à deux Etats, présidé par Mossi Raz, ancien député du Meretz (gauche).
Les trois diplomates qui ont fait campagne contre Dayan (l’ex-directeur général du ministrère des Affaires étrangères Alon Liel, l’ancien ambassadeur en Afrique du Sud Ilan Baruch, et l’ancien ambassadeur en France Eli Bar-Navi) ont rencontré les ambassadeurs du Brésil peu après l’approbation par le Cabinet israélien de la nomination de Dayan.
]]>#EUNAVFOR_Med: Council adopts a positive assessment on the conditions to move to the first step of phase 2 on the high seas
The Council adopted a positive assessment that the conditions to move to the first step of phase two on the high seas of EUNAVFOR MED have been met, the naval operation having fulfilled all military objectives related to phase 1 focusing upon the collection and analysis of information and intelligence.
This assessment is part of the formal steps required in the process of transitioning the operation to phase 2 on the high seas and will be followed soon by a force generation conference and approval of rules of engagement for phase 2 on the high seas. Once these rules are agreed and the Operation Commander indicates that he has the required assets, the EU Ambassadors within the Political and Security Committee will decide when to launch the first step of phase 2.
This important transition will enable the EU naval operation against human smugglers and traffickers in the Mediterranean to conduct boarding, search, seizure and diversion on the high seas of vessels suspected of being used for human smuggling or trafficking, within international law.
▻http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2015/09/14-eunavfor-med-council-adopts-positive-assessment-on-conditions-to
#migrations #réfugiés #mer #haute-mer #asile #contrôles_frontaliers #passeurs #Méditerranée #Eunavfor
cc @reka
Halting demolition of this Palestinian village will be the exception, not the rule
Whether or not Sussia is saved from destruction, Israeli bulldozers will continue their work on others.
By Amira Hass | Jul. 21, 2015 Haaretz Daily Newspaper
▻http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.667141
The United States and Europe in recent days made out a check in the name of “Sussia.” Once again they have raised expectations about their ability to put the brakes on Israel’s colonizing madness. The temptation to be optimistic is great. The fear of bitter disappointment (and the joy of the enemies of logic) are even greater.
Although Sussia is not a story that moves the Israelis as a whole, the bleeding hearts among us draw encouragement from the fact that at least this particular check might be cashed. That is, that the plans to destroy the village might not be carried out. Sussia has become a symbol. And that is precisely the trap.
The European foreign ministers know the name of this village in the southern Hebron Hills as if it were a suburb on the way from the airport to Brussels. The spokesman for the U.S. State Department rolls the name off his tongue as if he had drunk coffee in one of the tents slated for demolition. The call on Israel not to uproot Sussia (and the generally unnoticed Bedouin community of Abu Nwar) is specifically included in the conclusions of this week’s monthly meeting of the EU Foreign Council. It is very unusual that such a small place is mentioned in the written conclusions. The State Department spokesman knew to say that the implications of demolishing the village were greater than the impact on its inhabitants. He also said the demolition would set a damaging standard for displacement and land confiscation.
But if Sussia is destroyed (again), perish the thought, that will not be a new standard. Even if we start counting from 20 years ago, Israel had already set the standard for uprooting and destroying Palestinian communities in the West Bank – at the height of the “peace process.”
How many harsh documents by the European Union have we read in recent years, including a sharp analysis of the danger in which Israel’s policies place the fate of the two-state solution? True, with modest European funding, various services were and are provided to tens of thousands of Palestinian residents of Area C (water, prefabricated structures, solar-heating systems) – which makes it easier for them to wage their heroic struggle against Israeli displacement plans. The European Union regards the cautious funding as a broad hint that it does indeed envision Area C (60 percent of the West Bank) as an inseparable part of the future Palestinian state. But Israel does not understand hints, it only benefits from the flow of European charity that prevents the humanitarian disaster from growing worse.
Because Sussia has become a symbol, along with its courageous and stubborn inhabitants who have so far thwarted plans to wipe out their community (supported for many years by Israeli organizations, chief among them Ta’ayush and Rabbis for Human Rights), it might be saved. Then the Western foreign ministries will note with satisfaction that their warning worked. But Israeli bulldozers will quietly turn, helped by Israeli public support, to continued destruction of lives and homes in other Palestinian communities, no less courageous and stubborn – just less well-known. Or, on the other hand, perhaps precisely because Sussia is a symbol, Israel will decide to arm wrestle over it, treat it as a special case, and demolish it.
And what will Europe and the United States do then that they have not done yet? Will the United States cease its security cooperation with Israel? Will Europe recall its ambassadors and close its airports to Israeli tourists?
Perhaps the statements about Sussia do show a change of approach, and that Western patience, even that of the United States, is eroding for the Israeli pyromaniac. But the pace of change and erosion is much slower than the fire.
]]>La Cour suprême américaine rejette une proposition d’obliger le président à reconnaître Jérusalem comme capitale d’Israël
U.S. Supreme Court decision : Small step for presidency, big blow for Jerusalem - West of Eden
The massive effort to use Zivotofsky’s passport petition for recognition of Israel’s capital only made things worse.
By Chemi Shalev | Jun. 9, 2015
Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News
▻http://www.haaretz.com/blogs/west-of-eden/.premium-1.660323#
The U.S. Constitution gave the president the authority “to receive ambassadors and other public ministers.” Ever since the Founding Fathers first thrashed it out in 1793 over George Washington’s wish to muzzle an irksome envoy of revolutionary France, the so-called “reception clause” has been interpreted as giving the President wide powers in making foreign policy. Monday’s Supreme Court decision further cemented his (or her) exclusive authority over recognition of foreign countries and their sovereignty over geographical areas, or, in this case, lack thereof.
By a 6-3 majority, the Court decided, that this presidential prerogative encompasses American-issued passports and their contents. Therefore, the judges noted, a clause in a 2002 Congressional bill that sought to compel the administration to allow Jerusalem-born Americans to have “Israel” registered in their passports as their country of birth was unconstitutional. The court rejected the petition brought by Benjamin Zivotofsky, born shortly after the law was enacted, ruling that his passport would continue to list a country-less Jerusalem as his place of birth.
The decision had nothing to do with the specific legal status of Jerusalem or with the consistent refusal of successive U.S. administrations – from Harry Truman through Ronald Reagan and George Bush all the way to Barack Obama – to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the city. Rather, the judges dealt with the eternal dilemmas of the American constitutional regime, including separation of powers and the conduct of foreign affairs: Where the constitution doesn’t grant it a foothold, the judges ruled, Congress cannot barge in.
It was not a victory for Barack Obama, but for the office of the presidency, and a limited one at that: The Court did not rule, as administration lawyers had suggested, that the president has exclusive control of the country’s entire foreign policy. Thus, for example, the decision has little legal bearing on the upcoming battle over the Iran nuclear deal: First, because the Constitution gives Congress considerable say about foreign treaties and second, because that issue was dealt with in the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act legislated last month.
Legalities and technicalities aside, however, the decision was nonetheless a considerable public relations blow for Israel and for perceptions of its status in Jerusalem. Together with myriad Jewish organizations fighting for the cause, Israel had sought to exploit Zivotofsky’s understandable request to have his country of birth registered in his passport, conducting a legal battle that lasted over a decade, consumed millions of dollars, raised hopes sky high and ended in a thundering crash. The world’s media are bound to dwell less on the debates between Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton over the conduct of America’s foreign policy and more on the ruling’s bottom line. If you hadn’t known until now that Israel’s greatest ally refuses to recognize its sovereignty over its capital in either East or West Jerusalem, you’re certainly aware of it now.
Israel and the Jewish groups who turned the Zivotofsky case into a cause celebre turned out to be too clever by half. They thought that by combining strong Congressional support, persuasive amicus briefs submitted by well-respected Jewish groups and a personal story bound to spark sympathy they might circumvent long standing U.S. policy and get in through the back door. A clear majority of the judges – including all the liberal ones, whose positions may have been colored, for all we know, by their attitude towards current Israeli policies – decided to slam the door on their toes.
Most observers believe that Israel has already lost the battle over a nuclear agreement with Iran as well, if and when one is signed – it just doesn’t know it yet, or at least is unwilling to concede. It’s been a recurring theme in recent years, especially in the government’s ties with America: Why try to cut your losses when you can emerge from the fight not only bloodied and beaten, but tarred and feathered as well?
]]>Rasmus Tantholdt de la 2e chaine de la télévision danoise filme les migrants battus à coup de bâton à Misrata en Libye.
“The sad life of #Migrants in #Misrata #Libya. Beaten with a stick while we are filming today. #migrantcrisis #euco ▻http://t.co/HqJbUngnEz”
▻https://twitter.com/RasmusTantholdt/status/591320937359867904
The sad life of #Migrants in #Misrata #Libya. Beaten with a stick while we are filming today. #migrantcrisis #euco
#migrations #asile #libye
]]>IDF cites rise in number of overseas volunteers joining its ranks -
| Haaretz
►http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/.premium-1.652927
A resurgent desire to defend the Jewish state, along with improved support for recruits from abroad, have boosted the number serving over the past two years.
By Alona Ferber | Apr. 22, 2015 |
He was the youngest of four, from a comfortable Jewish home, with loving parents who gave him everything he wanted, and he had always dreamed of being a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces.
Then, last summer, three “lone soldiers” — an IDF term for recruits alone in Israel, often from abroad — died in Gaza. Their deaths gave this young Diaspora Jew the final push he needed to enlist.
“They put their lives on the line for us, for Israel, for all the Jewish people,” says the lone soldier, who asked to remain nameless. He is referring to Max Steinberg, 24, from Los Angeles, Sean Carmeli, 21, an American-Israeli, and Jordan Bensemhoun, 22, a French-Israeli — the three will be added to a list of more than 20,000 names when the country marks Memorial Day on Wednesday.
As he puts it, “If they can do it, I can do it, too.”
Military service is mandatory for Israelis and immigrants under a certain age, depending on gender and other factors. The term “lone soldier” refers both to ordinary conscripts who lack a support network, such as orphans, Israelis whose parents are abroad for part or all of the year, and the more than 1,000 from countries around the world who every year become soldiers, exchanging their civilian clothes for an IDF uniform.
At the end of 2014, there were 3,484 such soldiers in the IDF, according to army figures, including non-Israelis who joined through Machal, a program for volunteers who don’t have Israeli citizenship. Today the army has soldiers from more than 70 countries; a quarter of these foreign recruits are from the United States.
Around 2,700 are recent immigrants, according to Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that works with Israeli immigrants. Nefesh B’Nefesh runs its Lone Soldiers Program in partnership with the army and a U.S. nonprofit group, Friends of the IDF, which provides funding for lone soldiers.
The numbers are small, but the increase last year was marked. By the end of 2014, the number of foreign lone soldiers in active service — both immigrants and non-immigrant volunteers — had increased by 330 from 2013, army figures show. That rise was a mere five soldiers the previous year and 11 the year before that.
“There’s no doubt that in the past two years we see a bigger increase than before,” a senior officer in the army’s Manpower Directorate told Haaretz.
A banner year in 2014
Among new immigrant recruits, the numbers have increased steadily between 5 and 10 percent over the last three years since Nefesh B’Nefesh founded its Lone Soldiers Program, the organization says.
Between 2002 and 2012, the average number of lone soldiers in total — both Israeli and foreign — was 5,500 a year, with a high of 6,332 in 2002 and low of 5,110 in 2005, according to army figures cited in a 2013 Knesset report. The total last year was 6,191, according to IDF figures.
One reason given for the recent jump among foreign recruits is the snowballing word-of-mouth recommendation network back home. “A friend brings a friend; these soldiers are our best ambassadors,” the senior officer says.
Meanwhile, Israel’s increasing isolation and the perceived rise in global anti-Semitism has galvanized Zionist Jews around the world to help defend the Jewish state, she says.
A full 57 percent of lone soldiers serve in combat units, both as fighters and in support roles such as combat engineering. But with many joining after college, the army often uses their maturity and language skills in intelligence roles, the senior officer says.
Women, who make up 30 percent of lone soldiers, also serve in combat units; as paramedics, for instance. “Today, girls can do almost everything, and foreign girls come highly motivated,” she says. The number of female recruits has been increasing, she adds, though the army declined to give figures.
Still, the low number of women compared to men makes sense, the senior officer says. “In most countries, women don’t go to the army .... It’s harder for parents to send a girl to a country alone to join an army,” she says. “But yes, there is an increase in women joining, also in the army in general. There is an increase in women in higher ranks and in combat roles.”
Female lone soldiers also serve in combat units as lookouts. “Today girls can do almost everything, and foreign girls come highly motivated,” the officer says.
Laura Himmelstein from Atlanta, 27, is one of the 30 percent. With a BA in business and an MA in public policy, she works in the International Cooperation Division, in a section managing the information flow with foreign militaries. She has nearly completed her one-year enlistment period, which started just before the the Gaza war last summer.
Laura Himmelstein.
Twenty-six when she became an Israeli citizen in 2013, she was past the age where she had to serve but insisted on volunteering, even though that meant being told what to do by 19-year-olds.
She wanted to learn Hebrew quickly, to assimilate and grasp the Israeli mentality, but her thinking was also ideological. “People can live here because others take their turn,” she says. “I wanted to take my turn.”
The Gaza war contributed “without a doubt” to the increase in lone-soldier enlistment, says Dar Iwler of the Tel Aviv branch of the Lone Soldiers Center in Memory of Michael Levin. This organization, which provides support for these soldiers, was named for a lone soldier who died in the Second Lebanon War.
Thinking back to last summer, Iwler recalls how “people arrived and said ‘I want a draft,’ or reserve soldiers came to me and said ‘I want to be on reserve duty.’ People asked me, ‘what can I do just to help in the fighting?’”
Facebook and Instagram
The majority of immigrant lone soldiers that Nefesh B’Nefesh works with come from the United States, Russia, Ukraine, France and Canada. A full 35 percent come from the States.
With soldiers sharing their experiences with family and friends back home on Facebook and Instagram, there is a greater awareness of the option, which has helped feed the increase, says a 27-year-old reserve soldier from the United States who preferred to remain nameless. “People see their friends, cousins, classmates or whatever posting pics in IDF uniforms, and it makes it seem possible,” he says.
Lone soldiers serve between six and 30 months, depending on age, sex and pathway into the army. Applying for lone-soldier status is part of the draft process; benefits include monthly salary stipends, food vouchers, and days off if parents are in town for a visit. The army also provides language classes for troops who need to brush up their Hebrew.
Meanwhile, outside the army, a range of initiatives for lone soldiers have sprung up in recent years. Garin Tzabar, which places lone soldiers together on kibbutzim, has been around since the ‘90s. The Lone Soldier Center was founded in 2009 by a group of former lone soldiers, friends of the late Michael Levin.
The Benjy Hillman Foundation, named for another lone soldier who fell in Lebanon, was founded in 2006 and opened its home for lone soldiers — Habayit Shel Benjy — in Ra’anana in 2013. Nefesh B’Nefesh launched its Lone Soldiers Program three years ago.
For the army, lone soldiers are seen as ambassadors, and the IDF actively tries to spread the word to potential recruits abroad through groups like Nefesh B’Nefesh.
“They are our spokesmen, they go home and explain what Israel is really like,” the senior officer says. A big part of Nefesh B’Nefesh’s work comes before future immigrants move to Israel, ensuring they are aware of what is involved once they enlist, says Eric Michaelson, vice president of the organization.
Still, though the initiatives provide support, and activities such as Passover seders and
Independence Day barbecues help foster a lone-soldier community, little can be done to soothe the rough edges of serving in a new country. Any lone soldier will tell you that homesickness is one of the toughest challenges.
Nir Katz, 29, a reserve soldier who lives in the United States and flies back annually for reserve duty on his own dime, recalls the loneliness of coming home to an empty apartment during his service. “No one is there waiting for you,” he says. “In the winter your house is cold, and it takes a few hours for the heating to get the house warm.”
For new immigrants, a second challenge comes after serving in the army: acclimatizing to civilian life. “We refer to this as aliyah shniyah” — second immigration — says Michaelson, who estimates that around 10 to 20 percent of new immigrants who find it hard to adjust leave Israel after the army.
As for the lone solider who asked to remain nameless, he probably won’t stick around after he finishes serving. Aside from the fact that his mother wants him home already, he thinks he can forge a better life across the Atlantic. There are bigger opportunities there, he says — “Thank God Jews in New York live well; there isn’t much anti-Semitism.”
]]>Brazil and Netherlands recall Indonesia ambassadors over drug executions | World news | The Guardian
Brazil and Netherlands recall Indonesia ambassadors over drug executions
Brazilian Marco Archer Cardoso Moreira and Dutchman Ang Kiem Soei among six convicts executed by firing squad under tough anti-drugs laws
▻http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/18/brazil-netherlands-recall-ambassadors-indonesia-executes-drugs-offender
]]>EU seeks talks with Israel over ‘red lines’ in West Bank
Israeli officials fear that proposed negotiations are prelude to further European sanctions.
By Barak Ravid | Oct. 22, 2014
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.622099
The European Union is interested in opening negotiations with Israel with the aim of preventing a series of Israeli moves in the West Bank deemed “red lines” which may jeopardize the possibility of a future Palestinian state alongside Israel, an internal EU document obtained by Haaretz reveals. Officials in the Israeli Foreign Ministry are concerned the negotiations are a prelude to further European sanctions against Israel.
In recent weeks, since the Israeli appropriation of 4,000 dunams in Gush Etzion in the West Bank and even more since the push forward in planning for additional construction in Givat Hamatos, a neighborhood beyond the Green Line, a series of discussions have been taking place in the EU’s headquarters in Brussels between the ambassadors of the 28 members states over the European response.
During these discussions, which ended last weekend, it was decided to relay a sharp message to Israel in the name of all EU members, focusing on the Israeli moves which create a “focused and increasing threat to the possibility of the two-state solution.”
The EU’s ambassador to Israel, Lars Faaborg-Andersen, is set to relay the message to Israel. He is expected to meet in the coming days with Foreign Ministry Director Nissim Ben Sheetrit and with national security advisor in the Prime Minister’s Office Yossi Cohen to propose negotiations over the issues which raised the EU’s concerns.
Haaretz obtained an internal EU document with instructions as to the content of the message Ambassador Faaborg-Andersen is supposed to relay to the ministry’s officials and to the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The EU considers the preservation of the two state solution a priority,” the document reads. “The only way to resolve the conflict is through an agreement that ends the occupation which began in 1967, that ends all claims and fulfills the aspirations of both parties. A one state reality would not be compatible with these aspirations.”
The two-page document defines several of the EU’s “red lines” regarding Israeli actions in the West Bank:
1. Construction in the Givat Hamatos neighborhood, beyond the Green Line in Jerusalem: The document said that construction in that area would jeopardize the possibility of a contiguous Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as the capital of both states. The EU “cautions the Israeli government not to move ahead with tenders and construction. Such a development would constitute one more grave “fact on the ground” which would be liable to crucially prejudge the outcome of peace negotiations,” the document reads.
2. Construction in the E1 area between Ma’aleh Adumim and Jerusalem: The document said construction in that area would also jeopardize the possibility of contiguous Palestinian state, and added that it has already publicly and strongly opposed plans for E1’s development.
3. Further construction in the Har Homa neighborhood in Jerusalem, beyond the Green Line.
4. Israeli plans to relocate 12,000 Bedouin without their consent in a new town in the Jordan Valley, expelling them from lands in the West Bank, including E1: “The EU strongly urges Israel to put these plans on hold and search for other solutions together with the concerned populations and the Palestinian Authority. The EU underlines that implementing those plans may amount to a serious breach of International Humanitarian Law (IV Geneva Convention),” the document reads.
5. Harming the status-quo at the Temple Mount: The document said that attempts to challenge the status-quo have led to instability in East Jerusalem and increased tensions. A top European diplomat noted that EU states consuls in East Jerusalem and in Ramallah planned to hold a joint tour of Temple Mount, but aborted their plans following instructions from Brussels, fearing Israel would consider such a visit a provocation.
According to the document, the EU ambassador in Israel was instructed to clarify to the Foreign Ministry director and to the national security advisor that the EU is interested in holding “thorough discussion” on these and other issues related to the occupied Palestinian territories. “…there is a legitimate expectation to have a constructive dialogue with the Israeli authorities on measures from their side which may impact on our assistance and its ultimate objectives of creating a sound enabling environment for economic and social development in the occupied Palestinian territories and contributing to create the conditions for a viable Palestinian state,” the documents reads.
Red lines still vague
Senior European diplomats noted that in the discussions in Brussels the European “red lines” in the West Bank to be posed to the Israelis during negotiations have yet to be fully defined, if at all, and what would the repercussions for crossing them would be.
“Some countries, first of which is France, believe Israel must be presented with specific sanctions to be leveled if Israel takes specific actions so that there won’t be any surprises and the price is clear,” a senior European diplomat said.
“However, this issue is still under discussion and no final decision has been made.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry has followed the EU preparations to up the tone against Israel for several weeks. In discussions held over the issue in the ministry on Tuesday the expectation was floated that the message relayed by the EU ambassador would be the opening shot ahead of new European sanctions against the Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
“The negotiations the EU is offering are really the hearing before the sentence,” a senior official in the ministry said.
“We have a feeling they’re expecting us to reject the offer for negotiations and give them an excuse to push the sanctions against us, or that we’ll agree in any case to negotiations in which we’ll discuss which sanctions will be leveled,” he added.
EU ambassador Lars Faaborg-Andersen refused to comment.
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L’UE établit une liste des “lignes rouges” à ne pas franchir par Israël
▻http://www.i24news.tv/fr/actu/international/48200-141022-l-ue-liste-les-lignes-rouges-a-ne-pas-franchir-par-israel
Certaines mesures prises par Israël constituent une « menace ciblée (…) à l’option d’une solution à deux Etats »
L’Union européenne veut adresser un message clair à Israël pour empêcher que des « lignes rouges » ne soient franchies et mettent en péril la création d’un futur Etat palestinien, révèle un document européen interne cité par le quotidien Haaretz.
Ces dernières semaines, plusieurs réunions ont eu lieu à Bruxelles sur la réponse européenne à adopter après l’approbation de constructions israéliennes à Givat Hamatos début octobre.
Au terme de ces rencontres, l’UE a décidé de relayer un message fort à Israël, soulignant le fait que ce type de mesures constituent une « menace ciblée (…) à l’option d’une solution à deux Etats. »
Dans le document consulté par Haaretz, l’UE établi une liste de points censés représenter la position européenne, relayée par l’ambassadeur européen en Israël Faaborg-Andersen lors de ses prochaines rencontres avec le directeur du Ministère des Affaires étrangères, Nissim Ben Shitrit et le conseiller à la sécurité nationale du Premier ministre, Yossi Cohen.
La poursuite des constructions israéliennes à Jérusalem-est et en Cisjordanie figurent en tête de liste, ainsi que le relogement des Bédouins dans la vallée du Jourdain sans leur consentement. L’UE insiste également sur le maintien du statu-quo sur le Mont du temple pour éviter tout embrasement à Jérusalem-est.
Un responsable israélien du Ministère des Affaires étrangères a critiqué la stratégie européenne qui selon lui, vise à trouver une excuse pour imposer des sanctions à Israël.
« Nous avons le sentiment qu’ils attendent que nous rejetions leur offre de négociations afin de leur donner une excuse pour décider de sanctions contre nous », a-t-il confié à Haaretz.
]]>UN nuclear assembly rejects Arab bid criticizing Israel’s ’atomic arsenal’ - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.617755
For the last three months the Foreign Ministry and the Israel’s nuclear agency made a global diplomatic effort to foil the Arab nations’ efforts. All of Israel’s diplomatic missions worldwide were conscripted for the task, and Israeli ambassadors raised the issue to the highest officials in their respective countries.
]]>Letter to #Kenya
▻http://africasacountry.com/letter-to-kenya
Dear Kenya, my friends and family know I have been one of your biggest advocates and ambassadors. I love you. You are mine and I am yours. I chose to leave the bright lights of the west to come home and use my craft towards building our vision of our self and transform the world’s […]
]]>Pan-Arab daily expects tough Saudi measures against Qatar over Gaza stance
Text of report by London-based Arabic e-newspaper Ra’y al-Yawm on 28 July
[Unattributed report: Saudi Arabia Is Preparing for Taking Escalatory Measures Against Qatar After the Id, and Prince Al-Faysal’s Attack on Doha and Accusing It of Antagonizing Egypt and Its Role in Supporting HAMAS and the War on Gaza Are a Prelude to an Imminent Conflagration."]
For the Gulf officials to exchange congratulations on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan and to call one another over the telephone on the occasion of the blessed Id al-Fitr, this is something that is within the framework of the norms and traditions that are usually followed, but for one of them to make a quick tour of the Gulf capitals 48 hours before the advent of Id al-Fitr, this is something unusual and indicates something that is highly important that cannot be delayed.
We are speaking here about the tour which Prince Muqrin Bin-Abd-al-Aziz, deputy crown prince of Saudi Arabia and second deputy prime minister, has made to Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, and the Sultanate of Oman and ended without visiting the State of Qatar, which is a Gulf country, something which means that this tour concerns it and the relations with it, and that the message which Prince Muqrin is carrying from the Saudi leaders deals with one of two main issues:
The First: Is that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and after the meeting which took place between Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin-Hamad Al Thani and the Saudi monarch King Abdallah Bin-Abd-al-Aziz in Jedda last Tuesday, has received guarantees and promises from its Gulf sister that stress the implementation of the Riyadh’s document signed last November and the articles in it that are related to the security and stability of the Gulf countries and not harming them, which subsequently means returning the ambassadors of three countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Bahrain) to Doha.
The second: Is that the Saudi leadership has reached a firm conviction that the State of Qatar has not fulfilled its promises to which it was committed towards the implementation of the Riyadh document, something that requires taking other measures against it, which are greater than the step of the withdrawal of ambassadors, such as closing the airspace or the suspension of Qatar’s membership in the Gulf Cooperation Council.
The deadline of six months Saudi Arabia has given to the State of Qatar was due to end late in the month of Ramadan and by the end of Id-al-Fitr’s holiday, and perhaps this is the reason that made Prince Muqrin choose the timing of his Gulf tour carefully just two days before the Id.
Both possibilities are likely since the news that have been leaked about Prince Muqrin’s Gulf tour are very slight and the tour was carried out amid full secrecy, and all that has been said by the official news agencies was that “discussions dealt with the bilateral relations and the situation in the Gulf and the region.” However, it is clear that the second possibility, which is to take tougher measures against the State of Qatar, is probably the most likely one, and there are several indications in this respect:
First: Muqrin’s tour has excluded Doha, which indicates that Doha is targeted. Had the first possibility been likely, which is returning the ambassadors to it, it would not have been excluded, and every Gulf step from this or that side is intentional and indicates a message from this or that side, whether the way he was received, the team accompanying him, the identity of the prince who is receiving him at the airport and his job and hierarchical order in the family, or even the colour of cloak in some cases.
Second: The Saudi-Qatari relations are witnessing great tension these days against the backdrop of the disagreement between the two countries on the current regime in Egypt, the support for the Muslim Brotherhood, and the current war in Gaza. While the State of Qatar strongly supports HAMAS in this war and launches an initiative in parallel with the Egyptian initiative and makes great political and media efforts to stop the war, Saudi Arabia strongly supports the Egyptian initiative and accuses HAMAS of igniting this war with Qatari and Turkish support to implicate the ruling Egyptian regime and embarrass it on the Arab and international levels. An article by Prince Turki al-Faysal in the Saudi newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat on Saturday pointed out this fact when he “held HAMAS responsible for the repercussions of the massacres that are going on in Gaza as a result of its arrogance and the repetition of the past mistakes,” pointing out that “Qatar and Turkey are ! concerned with depriving Egypt of its leadership role more than preventing Israel from destroying Gaza.” He accused HAMAS and not Israel of being responsible for the war, which reminds of a similar Saudi charge to Hizballah during the Israeli aggression against Lebanon in 2006.
Third: The State of Qatar has not altered its supportive stand for the Muslim Brotherhood for even one millimeter, and continued its “unfriendly” stands towards the Egyptian regime. This has clearly been reflected in the coverage by Al-Jazeera of the developments of the situation in Egypt and the intensification of the charges of failure and betrayal by the Egyptian regime towards the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip and of closing the Rafah crossing in face of the wounded and the relief teams even if such charges have been made by guests, experts, commentators, or Palestinian officials from HAMAS.
Fourth: The relations between Qatar and Iran, which are developing quickly, and the signing of defence agreements by the two countries, and the occurrence of a “change” in the Qatari stand towards the Syrian crisis, as well as the hegemony of the Saudi wing in the Syrian opposition and the Opposition Coalition in particular, and excluding those who are loyal to Qatar from the Political Body, the latest of whom is Prime Minister Ahmad Tu’mah during the leadership elections held in Istanbul one week ago.
Fifth: The gradual restoration of relations between the Lebanese Hizballah and the State of Qatar on a noteworthy pace. The observers have seriously noted that Al-Jazeera has broadcast the full speech which [Hizballah Secretary General] Sayyid Hasan Nasrallah delivered on Friday on the occasion of the International Jerusalem Day.
Therefore, we should expect surprise and important developments on the level of the Qatari relations with the Saudi, UAE, and Bahraini triangle by the end of Id al-Fitr holiday, which began in the Gulf states yesterday, and the only interpretation of Prince Muqrin’s tour, who has not made any similar tour since he was appointed in his post nearly one year ago, is that he wanted to inform all the Gulf leaders with whom he met of the details of the expected Saudi decisions.
It is clear that Saudi Arabia, and the same as has been said in the article of Prince Turki al-Faysal, has decided to launch a media war as a prelude to a political war against the State of Qatar, since Prince Al-Faysal cannot write an article that includes these serious charges to the State of Qatar without consulting on them with his leadership, and within the framework of a greater estrangement between the two countries that is going to happen.
Source: Ra’y al-Yawm, London, in Arabic 0000 gmt 28 Jul 14
BBC Mon ME1 MEEauprt 300714 mj
]]>Oral Histories by US Ambassadors to Israel and Consuls General, Jerusalem
▻https://t.e2ma.net/webview/57upj/9b331d7d456cc79d60e67011a539e2d5
Oral Histories by US Ambassadors to Israel and Consuls General, Jerusalem
The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST), a nonprofit group, has published hundreds of oral histories by American diplomats who have served around the world. This archive is a rich and unique source of information and analysis covering decades of American diplomacy. The entire ADST oral history collection can be found at adst.org.
For analysts, scholars, historians and others who study the Arab-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the following oral histories by American diplomats who served in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem are valuable resources. See links below to oral histories by US Ambassadors to Israel in Tel Aviv and by US Consuls General in Jerusalem.
For oral histories by other US diplomats who have served in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem since 1948, or otherwise involved, see ASDT’s Excerpts from the Israel Country Reader, adst.org/oral history/country-reader-series/
]]>Tony Blair under pressure to stand down as Middle East peace envoy | Mail Online
Three former UK ambassadors to Middle East sign open letter against Blair
Other signatories include Ken Livingstone and former minister Crispin Blunt
Letter organised by makers of George Galloway’s ’The Killing of Tony Blair’
By JAMES CHAPMAN, POLITICAL EDITOR
PUBLISHED: 18:21 GMT, 23 June 2014 | UPDATED: 12:19 GMT, 24 June 2014
Read more: ▻http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2666213/Blair-growing-pressure-stand-Middle-East-peace-envoy-diplomats-demand-r
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
▻http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2666213/Blair-growing-pressure-stand-Middle-East-peace-envoy-diplomats-demand-r
Three former UK ambassadors to the Middle East will tomorrow join calls for Tony Blair to be removed from his role as Middle East peace envoy.
Signatories to an open letter, led by Mr Blair’s former ambassador to Iran Sir Richard Dalton, describe his achievements in the region as ‘negligible’, criticise his money-making activities and accuse him of trying to ‘absolve himself’ of responsibility for the crisis in Iraq.
Other former diplomats to sign the letter are Oliver Miles, Britain’s ambassador to Libya when diplomatic relations were severed after the killing of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, and Christopher Long, ambassador to Egypt between 1992 and 1995.
+1
Step down: Three former UK ambassadors to the Middle East will tomorrow join calls for Tony Blair to be removed as Middle East peace envoy
Tony Blair is under pressure to stand down as Middle East peace envoy over his continued support for military action in the region
Other signatories include former London mayor Ken Livingstone, former Conservative prisons minister Crispin Blunt, the human rights barrister Michael Mansfield QC and the former Liberal Democrat peer Lady Tonge, who resigned her party’s whip in 2012 over anti-Israel remarks.
The letter has been organised by the makers of Respect MP George Galloway’s film The Killing of Tony Blair. It has been timed for this week’s seventh anniversary of Mr Blair’s appointment as envoy on the Middle East to the ‘quartet’ of the UN, the EU, Russia and the US.
The letter is addressed to John Kerry, the US secretary of state; Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister; Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general; and Cathy Ashton, the EU’s self-styled ‘foreign minister’.
It argues that Mr Blair’s 2003 invasion of Iraq is to blame for the rise of ‘fundamentalist terrorism in a land where none existed previously’ and he should be removed from his position.
The letter says: ‘We, like many, are appalled by Iraq’s descent into a sectarian conflict that threatens its very existence as a nation, as well as the security of its neighbours. We are also dismayed, however, at Tony Blair’s recent attempts to absolve himself of any responsibility for the current crisis by isolating it from the legacy of the Iraq war.’
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It alleges that Mr Blair ‘misled the British people’ by suggesting Saddam Hussein had links to al-Qaeda.
‘In the wake of recent events it is a cruel irony for the people of Iraq that perhaps the invasion’s most enduring legacy has been the rise of fundamentalist terrorism in a land where none existed previously. We believe that Mr Blair, as a vociferous advocate of the invasion, must accept a degree of responsibility for its consequences,’ it adds.
Criticising the former prime minister’s business interests, the letter alleges that his ‘conduct in his private pursuits also calls into question his suitability for the role’.
Mr Blair has faced criticism for a lack of transparency in the way he organises his personal finances. The letter accuses him of ‘blurring the lines between his public position as envoy and his private roles at Tony Blair Associates and the investment bank JPMorgan Chase.’
Mr Miles said: ‘Tony Blair is the wrong man in the wrong job. The wrong man because he is identified with the war in Iraq; criticism has concentrated on his misreading of intelligence and his lies, but equally important was his failure to plan for the peace, with the result we see today. The wrong job because patching up the Palestine economy sounds good but avoids the real issue, the repression and misery of the occupation; that is what the quartet should tackle. Seven years on it’s time to blow the whistle.’
Former top diplomat Sir Richard Dalton is one of the signatories of the letter
Mr Blunt said: ‘It’s time to end Tony Blair’s personal calvary as quartet envoy following his disastrous statesmanship in office on the Middle East. His role as envoy was neutered politically almost as soon as it began, and is now a distraction from the increasingly desperate need for a comprehensive peace deal.’
The letter adds to growing calls for Mr Blair to stand down. Last week former foreign secretary Lord Owen criticised Mr Blair for his claims that the 2003 invasion was not a factor in the current unrest in Iraq.
‘Tony Blair should no longer be allowed to speak for the EU on the Middle East and someone else found for helping Palestine without his past record and crusading messianic fervour,’ he said.
A spokeswoman for Mr Blair said: ‘These are all people viscerally opposed to Tony Blair with absolutely no credibility in relation to him whatsoever.
‘Their attack is neither surprising nor newsworthy. They include the alliance of hard right and hard left views which he has fought against all his political life. Of course he completely disagrees with them over the Middle East. He believes passionately in the two State solution but also believes that can only be achieved by a negotiation with Israel.
‘The truth, and anybody who knows anything about the situation in respect of Palestine knows this, is that transformational change is impossible unless it goes hand in hand with a political process. There was hope that this could progress with the recent US led talks which were underpinned by a hugely ambitious economic plan spearheaded by Mr Blair.’
Of the criticism of Mr Blair’s business interests, she added: ‘Mr Blair has done no work for JP Morgan in the Middle East – he is the chair of their International Advisory Council – where he provides advice on global political issues.’
Mr Blair’s allies also pointed out that Mr Miles had criticised the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war on the basis that two of its members ‘are Jewish’.
People are being urged to support the call for Mr Blair to be removed by signing a petition here
]]>Arab countries threaten sanctions against #Australia in East #jerusalem row
▻http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/arab-countries-threaten-sanctions-against-australia-over-east-jer
Australia’s foreign minister will meet ambassadors angered by the country’s decision to stop referring to East Jerusalem as “occupied,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Sunday as he stressed there was “no change in policy.” Australia has been warned of possible Arab trade sanctions after last week’s move, which Attorney-General George Brandis said was made because the term “occupied” carried pejorative implications and was seen by the Australian government as neither appropriate or useful. read more
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