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1. Israel Revokes Diplomatic Privileges for Qureia, Dahlan
by Chana Ya'ar
Former Palestinian Authority chief negotiator and prime minister Ahmed Qureia is no longer able to simply drive his car to Jordan through the Allenby Crossing.
Israel has downgraded Qureia’s status, as well as that of Fatah security chief Mohammad Dahlan, who had also been accorded the diplomatic privilege.
Although the government said it had notified Qureia prior to his trip Wednesday, the PA official nevertheless tested Israel’s resolve by driving to the Allenby Bridge, where he found his way blocked by IDF soldiers.
Qureia, currently the chairman of the PA parliament, was told that that he could continue through the crossing by bus if he wished, but chose instead to return home.
Only PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and PA prime minister Salam Fayyad have retained the privilege of crossing into Jordan in their private vehicles, according to the IDF Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories (CoGAT), Eitan Dangot.
According to security sources, the move came in response to statements by Qureia slamming Israel’s policies in Judea and Samaria, and his threats that the PA would have no choice but to resort to violence if final status talks collapse.
Abbas has repeatedly dragged his feet on launching the talks over the past year, despite frequent calls by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for the PA to come to the negotiating table.
After finally agreeing to talks several months ago, Abbas nevertheless reneged after two meetings, when a 10-month freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria expired as scheduled on September 26.
2. Will Israel and Armenia Unite Over Turkey?
by Elad Benari
Israel’s new Ambassador to Armenia, Shmuel Meirom, recently submitted his credential to Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. While this protocol event would normally not receive much attention, an analysis that appeared in ArmeniaNow suggests that the appointment of new Israeli ambassador to Armenia might mean that a new level in the relations between Armenia and Israel could be reached.
According to the analysis, this new level of relations could be a direct result of the recent complications in Turkish-Israeli relations.
The report suggests that if Armenian-Israeli relations deepen, the powerful Jewish lobby in the United States could theoretically back the Armenian resolutions on genocide and undermine Turkey.
During and after World War I, the Ottoman Empire, whose seat of power became independent Turkey, uprooted Armenians from their homes, and conducted forced marches to the desert of what is today Syria. This became known as the Armenian Genocide. Some 1 to 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered between 1915 and 1923.
The Republic of Turkey, however, refuses to acknowledge that the Ottomans indeed performed genocide on the Armenians and attempts to block all recognition of the Armenian debacle.
In an article in The Washington Times under the headline “American Jewish community ends support of Turkish interests on [Capitol] Hill”, Eli Lake reminded readers that in 2008, leading Jewish organizations decided that they would no longer block the adoption of the Armenian Genocide resolution in Congress. Lake believed that this was a response to the worsening Israeli-Turkish relations at the time, a circumstance that could very well repeat itself now.
Relations between Turkey, a non-Arab Moslem state, and Israel, which were once friendly, have been strained recently, and particularly since last May’s Gaza aid flotilla. Turkey has demanded an apology from Israel for overtaking the Mavi Marmara ship after IDF soldiers were attacked by the so-called peace activists on board. Israel has refused to issue such an apology.
Meirom, the new Ambassador to Armenia, is a career diplomat with more than 30 years of experience. Previously, he headed the Israeli Foreign Ministry department for CIS countries, and in recent years was Israel’s ambassador to Croatia. When he handed his credentials to the Armenian president, Meirom said that “cooperation between Armenia and Israel can contribute to peace and prosperity in the region” and assured the Armenian leadership that “Israel wants to raise bilateral relations to an excellent level.”
On the flip side, relations between Turkey and Israel have received another blow following reports that Turkey has added Israel to its so-called "Red Book," a top-secret security document that lists the country's threats and enemies.
The Los Angeles Times on Monday quoted Turkish media reporting that the Red Book, a document drawn up by Turkey's National Security Council and amended every five years, now identifies Israel as a "strategic threat" to Turkey, accuses it of being a destabilizing force and says Israeli actions could provoke a regional arms race.
There are conflicting reports on whether or not Iran has been removed from the same list.
In response to Turkey’s move, Israeli Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov called on Israelis to boycott Turkey as a tourist destination out of what he called “national honor.” Turkey had been Israeli tourists favorite spot for vacations, a function of proximity and lower costs than western countries.
At the same time and in what some see as a surprising move, Turkey has excluded Armenia from the Red Book. Armenian website NEWS.am quoted Turkish studies expert Ruben Melkonyan who attempted to explain the move and said that while “Armenia cannot be considered as an external threat to Turkey,” Turkey’s actions “pursue far-reaching goals to drive a wedge between Armenia and Diaspora. This step may be followed by a statement indicating that the Armenian Diaspora, not Armenia, is posing a threat from the viewpoint of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide.”
Melkonyan addressed Turkey’s addition of Israel to the list and noted that by doing so Ankara wants to strengthen its position in the Muslim world by showing that Turkey’s actions against Israel are intentional and not just demonstrative.
3. Intelligence Chief’s Warnings of War Taken Seriously
by Hillel Fendel
Outgoing Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin says Israel's next military conflict will cost more casualties than previous battles; NSC chief Uzi Dayan says Iran, Turkey, and terrorists are increasing dangers to Israel.
Yadlin, head of IDF Military Intelligence, gave a stark report on Tuesday in his briefing to the Knesset - the last one before leaving his post in the coming days. He warned of new, state-of-the-art Russian-made Syrian weaponry and two new Iranian nuclear sites.
National Security Council chief Uzi Dayan filled out the picture by warning that missiles from Gaza could hit Tel Aviv and that terrorists in Lebanon are digging further into and behind civilian populations.
“In the next war,” Dayan told Arutz-7’s Benny Tucker, “we have to be more concerned with our potential civilian casualties than military casualties.”
“Yadlin’s assessment means that uncertainty has returned to our region,” Dayan said. “Iran continues to build nuclear weapons [though at a slower pace than it had hoped, Yadlin said – ed.], Turkey has returned to the axis of evil, and the terrorist organizations continue to dig in.”
Only 40 Miles Wide
“The incoming IDF Chief of Staff, Gen. Yoav Galant, will have to deal with many challenges, beyond the issue of terrorism and Iran,” Dayan said. “We will have to prepare for an eastern front against us… .The Jordan Valley is one of our most critical areas. Between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean there are only 64 kilometers (40 miles); this is our entire strategic depth, and we must not give it up. We must have defensible borders. This position must be presented in the negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.”
The dangers in Gaza and southern Lebanon must be neutralized, Dayan said, and this is done by capturing territory. “Gaza is in danger of becoming an Iranian stronghold, in terms of missiles directed at Tel Aviv. We must conquer enemy territory [in Gaza] and demilitarize it; the same in southern Lebanon. The terrorists today take cover amidst civilian populaces, assuming that we will not capture that territory. We must uproot that type of thinking.”
Soldiers Protect Citizens, Not Vice-Versa
Dayan feels that it is very dangerous to plan wars by worrying about military casualties at the expense of civilian casualties: “In Operation Cast Lead [two years ago, when Israel last fought against Hamas in Gaza, following some 8,000 rockets fired at Sderot, Ashkelon and environs – ed.], we should have caused the collapse of Hamas… I hope that we have learned the lessons of that war and of the Second Lebanon War; we must punish the terrorist organizations harshly… I want to remind us that the function of the army is to protect the citizens; we can’t have a situation where the public discourse about battles centers around the threats to the soldiers. The job of the army is to protect the citizenry, and if we have to count potential casualties, it has to be those of civilians and not soldiers.”
4. Stoning Execution of Iranian Woman Delayed
by Chana Ya'ar
Iran has not yet executed a woman who is imprisoned and awaiting death by stoning.
Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a 43-year-old widow and mother of two convicted of adultery, was also charged for allegedly conspiring in the death of her husband, but said she was subsequently acquitted of the murder.
“The man who actually killed my husband was identified and imprisoned, but he is not sentenced to death,” she observed in a conversation with The Guardian in August.
So far, a worldwide campaign to appeal to the Iranian government not to execute her as sentenced on November 3 has apparently been successful, at least temporarily.
British Foreign Minister William Hague, who called the sentence “barbaric,” warned in a news conference that the execution would “damage Iran in the eyes of the world. It will be much better not to proceed with it.”
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had also appealed to his counterpart, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who Koucher said told him “a verdict in the case… had not been reached by the Iranian legal authorities and that the information on her alleged execution did not correspond to reality.”
“She is currently enjoying full health and is at the Tabriz Prison,” reported the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Wednesday, which quoted the head of the province judiciary, Hojatoleslam Malek Azhdar Sharif. “Her case is being processed by the relevant judicial authorities of the province and is going through the due process,” he said.
After a confession obtained under torture, Ashtiani was lashed 99 times in the presence of her 17-year-old son. Her torturous prison term continued for four years, and she was subsequently sentenced to death by stoning.
Her son, Ghaderzadeh, and one of her lawyers, Hootan Kian, were both arrested last month and jailed. So were two German journalists who tried to interview them, according to Mina Ahadi, spokeswoman for the International Committee against Stoning. Ashtiani’s other former lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, fled Iran and taken refuge in Turkey, where he is being protected by diplomats after he reported that Iranian authorities tried to arrest him without cause.
According to CNN, the government has refused to allow Ghaderzadeh and Kian, to receive a lawyer, claiming that they don’t need one.
5. Op-Ed: Is the Sakineh Execution Timing An Accident?
by Prof. Phyllis Chesler
Phyllis Chesler, Ph.D. is emerita professor of Psychology and Women’s Studies at City University of New York. Well known author of fifteen books, including Women and Madness (Doubleday, 1972), The Death of Feminism: What's Next in the Struggle for Women's Freedom (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005) and most recently, The New Anti-Semitism, she is the co-founder of the Association for Women in Psychology and the National Women's Health Network. Prof. Chesler is often on international media and is a frequent contributor to INN as well as FOX News, Pajamas Media, and Middle East Quarterly.
This article is reposted with the author's permission from Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/11/02/phyllis-chesler-iran-sakineh-execute-adultery-torture-death-stoning-al-qaeda/
The Iranian Islamic government is about to execute Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani in Teheran for the crime of committing "adultery" (which presumably occurred after her husband's death). She was also charged for allegedly conspiring in the death of her husband.
Sakineh's death was set for November 3. After torturing her for four long years, including lashing her 99 times in the presence of her 17-year-old son, Sakineh's death is now set for a time when Americans will be totally occupied with our own midterm elections.
The story of her legal ordeal is as Byzantine and treacherous as that of Alfred Dreyfus who was falsely accused of treason in France and sentenced to life on Devil's Island.
Her so-called "confession" was obtained under torture. She was lashed 99 times—twice. Sakineh's family has been threatened. Her lawyer had to go into hiding. Her sentence: Death by stoning. Her Sharia-compliant death verdict has merely been delayed—never countermanded. How they plan to kill her remains unknown.
Muslim and ex-Muslim feminist activists, including Maryam Namazie and Mina Ahadi, have just gathered at the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Paris; they are now marching to the European Parliament in Brussels. Namazie says: "We must save Sakineh's life and secure her freedom and that of her son, lawyer and the two German journalists. And we must end stoning now!"
The anti-Islamist Muslim and ex-Muslim feminists are marching. The American government under President Obama is doing nothing.
This President's record on Iran is as bad as—no, it is even worse than—President Carter's, on whose watch American diplomats were held hostage for 444 brutal days by Khomeini's thugs; Ahmadinejad was among the young thugs.
Human rights for the very Muslims Obama claims to champion, whose favor he seeks, matters little.
President Obama has not said anything significant about the incessant persecution of Christians by Islamists in Muslim countries. The latest outrage: Al Qaeda's suicide mission in a Catholic Church in Iraq. On Sunday, October 31, Al Qaeda terrorists took over a Catholic Church in Baghdad; they took 100-150 Christians hostage. When Iraqi forces stormed the church, the terrorists exploded their vests, killing 58, including two priests and six terrorists, and wounded at least 78 people. A group linked to Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia claimed responsibility and said that the attack "marked a beginning of a campaign to eliminate Christian minorities from Iraq."
They are very clear. Islamic terrorists despise and wish to kill Christians—even, or especially, at prayer because the reason for their "racist" hatred is simply the fact that Christians are not Muslims, have not converted to Islam; their presence, like the Jews before them, will not be tolerated by Islamist terrorists or even by Islamic regimes.
A Baghdad priest apparently tried to "reason" with the armed terrorists. They immediately killed him.
Look: The pope has condemned this "ferocious" attack. The pope knows that his ability to protect his flock has been compromised.
President Obama, concerned voters of America -- are you paying attention?
6. PA Threatens More Hands-On Jerusalem Activity
by Hillel Fendel
PA prime minister Salam Fayyad announces that not just in words, but also in actions, Jerusalem will be the “eternal capital of Palestine.”
In his most recent weekly radio speech, Fayyad announced that the Palestinian Authority provides, and will increasingly provide, municipal services in “all spheres” in Jerusalem. The city will be the “eternal capital of Palestine," he stated.
Fayyad thus continues his campaign to focus on Jerusalem as the capital of what he hopes will be the future Arab-Muslim state of Palestine. Earlier this week, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu banned him from taking part in the dedication of a new Arab school in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem. Fayyad took advantage of the opportunity to declare that all of northern and eastern Jerusalem – including neighborhoods such as Ramot, N’vei Yaakov, Pisgat Ze’ev, and Gilo – actually belong to the Palestinian Authority.
Violation of Oslo Accords
Official PA activity in Jerusalem, such as maintaining headquarters, funding schools, paving roads and providing municipal services, is outlawed under the Oslo Accords.
Article XVII of the 1995 Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, also known as Oslo II, states that Israel retains full control of Jerusalem in all administrative and other areas, and bars the PA from exercising any authority or conducting any official activity in the city.
“Israel’s policies and decisions regarding Jerusalem will not change the fact that eastern Jerusalem is occupied Palestinian land," Fayyad told his radio audience, "which will be the eternal capital of Palestine.”
Another Violation
Despite Oslo, Fayyad has focused his efforts of late on strengthening PA control of Israel’s capital. Several months ago, he similarly focused on a campaign to ban consumption of Israeli goods produced in Judea and Samaria – another violation of a treaty, specifically, the Israel-PLO Economic Agreement signed in Paris in April 1994.
Fayyad’s talk included further incitement against the “settlers,” whom he accused of “daily terrorism against Palestinians” and attempts to “rip away the city from its Palestinian expanse, and to remove it from the map of the State of Palestine.”
“I repeat my call via the local broadcasting authority,” Fayyad said, “to all Palestinian institutions to formulate additional important initiatives [in strengthening PA control of northern and eastern Jerusalem], especially those that can be implemented quickly.”
Abbas' Term is Over; Will Fayyad Succeed Him?
Fayyad is seen by some – though others strongly disagree – as the future successor to Mahmoud Abbas, who is currently the Temporary Acting President of the Palestinian Authority (a designation to which Hamas objects). Abbas’ term in office ended officially nearly a year ago, yet he refuses to hold new elections for fear that Hamas will defeat Fatah.
7. Israel Suspends its Cooperation with UNESCO
by Elad Benari
Israel announced on Wednesday that it will be suspending its cooperation with The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), due to its decision to declare Rachel’s Tomb a mosque. The suspension will be in place until the organization reverses its decision
Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who made the announcement regarding the suspension, said of the resolution by UNESCO: “This resolution was adopted by the Arab automatic majority, lead by the Palestinian Authority, in another attempt to de-legitimize Israel. UNESCO has become a rubber stamp for the PA.”
UNESCO’s recent vote called for Rachel's Tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs – the burial site of the other Biblical Patriarchs and Matriarchs – to be removed from Israel's National Heritage list.
The Palestinian Authority has claimed that Rachel's Tomb is holy to Muslims as the site of a mosque called the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque. It demands control over both the tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hevron, as well as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
In response to the resolution, the Prime Minister’s Office released a statement in which it said: “The attempt to detach the Nation of Israel from its heritage is absurd. If the nearly 4,000-year-old burial sites of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the Jewish Nation – Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah – are not part of its culture and tradition, then what is a national cultural site?”
Wednesday’s decision to suspend cooperation with UNESCO was praised by several MKs, among whom was MK Othniel Schneller (Kadima), who initiated the discussion on UNESCO's decision. Schneller welcomed the announcement and said that “UNESCO's decision to declare Rachel's Tomb as a mosque is another hypocritical decision from the United Nations. The decision ignored historical fact and turned a political controversy into a religious dispute.”
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) called UNESCO’s decision “hypocritical and anti-Semitic” and said that “Islam is trying to rob the past and falsify history.”
Eldad added, however, that the Israeli governments “who neglected Rachel’s Tonb and the Cave of Machpelah and abandoned the Temple Mount also play a part in the fact that the most important National Heritage Sites are seen by the world as mosques.” He called on the Israeli government to declare the sites National Heritage Sites and invest in their development. Doing this, said Eldad, “will shut the mouths of those who try to rob Israel of its past.”
8. Anti-Israel "Lawfare" Colors British Foreign Secretary's Visit
by Elad Benari
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman met with British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Wednesday, as did President Shimon Peres.
During the meeting, Hague reiterated the British government’s commitment to urgently resolve the “unacceptable situation”, as he called it, with regard to "universal jurisdiction", a form of lawfare that allows courts to try anyone who lands in their country and is accused of violating human rights or war crimes in any place in the world.
Although instituted as a deterrent to terrorists and dicators, the principle of universal jurisdiction is now being used by anti-Semitic groups to put Israeli government representatives in danger of imprisonment in Great Britain for fighting the terrorism that endangers the British as well as Israel. On Tuesday, it was reported on Israeli television that Minister Dan Meridor cancelled a scheduled trip to London because anti-Israel organizations prepared to demand British courts prosecute him and issue a warrant for his arrest. Opposition leader Tzipi Livni cancelled a trip several months ago and General Almog did not leave his plane when he landed in Britain to speak at a charity function.
In May 2010, United Kingdom Attorney General, Baroness Patricia Scotland, lecturing on lawfare at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, suggested that British law could be amended to give her office the power to veto arrest warrants for foreign political figures accused of war crimes. However, despite promises, there is no immediate change anticipated and this, said a Foreign Ministry official, has "halted UK-Israel bilateral dialogue"
The Foreign Ministry meeting of the two focused on the status of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Leiberman and Hague discussed the need to get beyond the current impasse in the peace talks, and also discussed shared concerns including the threat posed by Iran’s attempts to obtain nuclear weapons capability and the need for international cooperation against terrorism. The two also discussed Middle East regional developments, including the situations in Yemen, Iraq, and Sudan.
The atmosphere at the meeting was positive despite the lawfare issue, and came after several recent controversial statements made by Lieberman. In September when Lieberman told the UN that a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority would not be signed in the next few decades.
In October, during a meeting with his French and Spanish counterparts, Bernard Kouchner and Miguel Moratinos, Lieberman told the two: “Before you teach us how to resolve conflicts here, I expect at the very least that you solve all the problems in Europe.”
At the end of their meeting, Hague and Lieberman signed a Film Co-production Agreement which marked another milestone in the extensive cultural cooperation between the two countries.
The Foreign Secretary found timet to visit the Schalit protest tent opposite the Prime minister's residence and call for his release. He also met with PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and other PA officials in Ramallah.
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