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By Gareth Porter, Asia Times, August 30, 2007
WASHINGTON - Israeli officials warned the George W Bush administration that an invasion of Iraq would be destabilizing to the region and urged the United States instead to target Iran as the primary enemy, according to former Bush administration official Lawrence Wilkerson.
Wilkerson, then a member of the US State Department’s policy planning staff and later chief of staff for secretary of state Colin Powell, recalled in an interview that the Israelis reacted immmediately to indications that the Bush administration was thinking of war against Iraq. After the Israeli government picked up the first signs of that intention, said Wilkerson, “The Israelis were telling us Iraq is not the enemy - Iran is the enemy.”
Wilkerson describes the Israeli message to the Bush administration in early 2002 as being, “If you are going to destabilize the balance of power, do it against the main enemy.”
The warning against an invasion of Iraq was “pervasive” in Israeli communications with the US administration, Wilkerson recalled. It was conveyed to the administration by a wide range of Israeli sources, including political figures, intelligence, and private citizens. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on August 31, 2007 - י"ז אלול תשס"ז at 10:12 am
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By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashedm, Asharq Alawsat, 27 August 2007
The glaring farce today is that forces from the Hamas movement are the ones presently guarding the Israel-Gaza border, while al Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade and Fatah are the ones bombarding Israeli towns with missiles. As for Ismail Haniyeh, the head of the state of Gaza – or rather, the head of the coup – he gave a speech last Friday in which he stated that there is a local, Arab and international conspiracy that aims to undermine Hamas so as to ensure the failure of the Islamic model of governance.
It may be useful for the world to review this alleged Islamic model of governance, which is responsible for making the whole world fearful. It is a model that cannot even provide electricity except through diesel that is delivered via Israel and is financed as a donation from the European Union (EU). Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on August 30, 2007 - ט"ז אלול תשס"ז at 1:12 pm
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By Barak Cohen, Israel 21C, August 26, 2007
In just two days at the end of July, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped nearly 520 points. The reason: fear of “a breakdown in the low-grade mortgage and corporate lending markets stock market,” according to the Wall Street Journal.
For those of us still unsure exactly what a ‘breakdown’ of this nature entails, it is hard to rationalize the international panic. Having survived a potential economic crises following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, how can we explain US vulnerability to fluctuations in the mortgage and corporate lending markets?
As the Israeli economy continues to feel the tremors from these recent losses, we are reminded of our susceptibility to global economic fluctuations. However, Israelis can take comfort in the strength and buoyancy of our economy. We have endured far greater trials.
Reports at Israel’s foremost economic policy meeting last month, the 15th Annual Economic Policy Forum convened by the Israel Democracy Institute, told a story of unusual economic resilience and growth in 2006-2007. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Business and Commerce, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on August 29, 2007 - ט"ו אלול תשס"ז at 11:39 am
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Despite the Hamas takeover of Gaza in June, Israel continues to work to allow humanitarian aid, including food and fuel, into Gaza. Israel is also working to bring patients seeking urgent medical attention through to Israel for treatment in Israeli hospitals. All of this is done through the various Israel-Gaza crossings.
The following aims to gives readers a factual briefing on the situation surrounding the crossings into Gaza following Hamas’s takeover. It seeks to give a clear understanding of what has happened and what is happening regarding these crossings and the humanitarian aid that passes through them. It also outlines Hamas’s treatment of Gazans since their its takeover. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on August 23, 2007 - ט' אלול תשס"ז at 1:15 pm
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By Patrick Clawson and Michael Jacobson, Washington Institute, August 17, 2007
On August 15, the New York Times and Washington Post reported that the Bush administration was considering sanctioning Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for its terrorist-related activities. This designation could have a significant impact, as Iranian leaders are vulnerable to the types of “smart sanctions” that would result. Finding others to join in this designation, however, would make it far more effective.
Ratcheting up the Pressure
A terrorist designation for the Revolutionary Guards would mark the culmination of the administration’s recent campaign to highlight the IRGC’s dangerous activities. Speaking in Dubai in March 2007, U.S. under secretary of the treasury Stuart Levey warned, “When corporations do business with IRGC companies, they are doing business with organizations that are providing direct support to terrorism.” In a July 2007 speech, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson focused on the Revolutionary Guards, arguing, “The IRGC is so deeply entrenched in Iran’s economy and commercial enterprises, it is increasingly likely that if you are doing business with Iran, you are somehow doing business with the IRGC.” Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on August 20, 2007 - ו' אלול תשס"ז at 8:37 am
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By Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis, Jewish Press, August 15, 2007
I am writing this article en route from Budapest to New York. Whenever I visit Hungary and pray at the gravesites of my ancestors who were all gedolim, tzaddikim, righteous holy souls who dedicated their lives to the service of G-d and led their people with love and devotion, I am overwhelmed by one thought – “How could it have happened?” How could that magnificent Jewish community have disappeared? How could they have wiped out six million of our people overnight?
As our car wended its way through the shtetlach of Hungary, I gazed out the window… I saw the scenic landscape, I saw the peasants and their modest, but well-kept houses, many of which were once homes where the light of Shabbos illuminated the darkness and the sweet voice of Torah was heard. No matter where I looked, in my mind’s eye, I saw only our people.
In every hamlet, in every community, there were yeshivos, batei midrash – shuls, Jews, who despite their poverty, managed to rise above their wretched existence and create lives of nobility and goodness. And now they are no more… How could it have happened? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on August 20, 2007 - ו' אלול תשס"ז at 8:20 am
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The Edge of Evolution
The Search for the Limits of Darwinism
By Michael J. BeheFree Press. 320 pp. $28
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Evolutionary Biology, Recent Posts on August 19, 2007 - ה' אלול תשס"ז at 10:38 am
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Posted August 16th, 2007 by Indian-Muslim
Tel Aviv/New York/New Delhi, Aug 16 (IANS) A delegation of Indian Muslim leaders are touring Israel in an unprecedented visit that is part of the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) efforts to showcase the country as a tolerant society and to improve Muslim-Jewish relations.
Maulana Jamil Ilyasi, president of the All India Organisation of Imams and Mosques, is leading the Indian delegation.
“We are coming with the message of peace and goodwill from Indian Muslims who believe in the Indian tradition of resolving issues through dialogue and peaceful means,” said Ilyasi, who is the leader of 500,000 imams across India.
“Our visit to Israel will be historical in terms of developing a dialogue between Judaism and Islam in the Indian subcontinent, where more than 40 percent of the world’s Muslim population lives. Interaction with both Palestinian and Jewish sisters and brothers and their religious leadership will lay a solid foundation for future engagement,” llyasi said. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Judaism, Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on August 16, 2007 - ב' אלול תשס"ז at 10:44 am
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Press Release from IMRA, August 14, 2007
August 14th - 6:00 AM - Israeli based, humanitarian organization, Save A
Child’s Heart, welcomes its first group of children from Rwanda to be
operated on in Israel at Wolfson Medical Center.
Save A Child’s Heart (SACH) welcomes the arrival of its first group of
Rwandan children suffering from heart disease to be operated on in Israel at
the Wolfson Medical Center. The five children, who range from just a few
months old to 15 years of age, will land in Israel on Tuesday, August 14th,
2007, accompanied by a Rwandan Nurse as well as by two mothers.
The arrival of the children to Israel marks a new phase in the partnership
between SACH and the people of Rwanda which began in mid-March 2007, during
an inaugural visit to Rwanda, following the organization’s annual medical
mission to Ethiopia. The 48 hour introduction visit to Rwanda included
meetings with various officials and medical personnel who strive for the
development of an improved healthcare system. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Health Sciences, Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on August 15, 2007 - א' אלול תשס"ז at 10:36 am
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The Binyamin region, where King Saul was born, and which became the first capital of Israel, is a place where you can see the remnants of the Biblical stories. Efrat Natan from the Yad Ben Tzvi Institute goes out to the sites where history is still alive
By Efrat Natan, YNet News, August 14, 2007
Nebe Samuel is a quiet site on an ordinary day, but underneath, it is teeming with historical spirits. For example, once a year, on the twenty-eighth of Iyar, the place comes alive.
On this day, which according to tradition is the day Samuel died, a joyous celebration in his memory takes place, with roots stretching back to the Middle Ages, and which rivals the celebrations in Meron.
The place is identified with Mitzpe, the city in the Binyamin portion where Samuel’s dramatic anointing of Saul occurred. It is where Samuel gathered the nation of Israel against the Philistine enemy, and cast the lots, which identified Saul as a man of Binyamin, where he was crowned king of Israel.
In Mitzpe, Gedalya Ben Achikam lived after the Babylonian conquest and the destruction. His fellow Jews who did not accept his reign murdered him. It is also the place where Judah Maccabbee gathered his army during the era of the Second Temple because “Mitzpe is a place of prayer for Israel”.
Another detail that is not widely known about the place is that it was completely destroyed during World War I. The British methodically restored the original building on its ruins, yet the site, which has wall-to-wall history, was only built ninety years ago. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, Middle East Report, Monotheistic Religions on August 14, 2007 - ל' אב תשס"ז at 7:17 pm
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