US MediationIsrael and Palestine
The US would like to believe it is fair and balanced and a fair broker for the conflict. Most of the rest of the world, and especially the Arab street, see things otherwise. Why? What do do we say and do to promote that view? Do we even recognise that we do it?
Monday, May 30, 2005
U.S. to indict two senior AIPAC [American Israel Public Affairs Committee] officials under Espionage Act
title: "30/05/2005 | U.S. to indict two senior AIPAC officials under Espionage Act | By Nathan Guttman, Haaretz Correspondent
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Justice Department is expected to file indictments against two former senior staffers at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) - Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman - and, according to sources familiar with the affair, the charges will be subsumed under the Espionage Act.
A Virginia grand jury is now examining the evidence in the case, which involved receipt of classified defense information from Larry Franklin, a Pentagon official, and its transfer to the representative of a foreign country, Naor Gilon, of the Israeli embassy in Washington.
Sources involved in the case confirmed that the Espionage Act is on the agenda. But there is also the possibility that the Justice Department is raising the intention to use that law with the purpose of reaching a plea bargain concerning a lesser offense, albeit one that is still covered by anti-espionage legislation in the U.S."
...
The classified material is said to involve information about Iranian intentions to harm American soldiers in Iraq, and it was supposedly given to the two former AIPAC staffers during lunch in Virginia on June 26, 2003.
But suspicions against Rosen and Weissman focus on a meeting a year later, on July 12, 2004. Franklin was cooperating by then with the FBI, which had threatened him with an indictment after tracking his earlier meetings with the AIPAC men, discovering the alleged hand-over of secret information. He agreed to take part in a sting operation in which he would give the two information and the investigators would then follow them.
Franklin called Weissman and asked for a meeting to discuss an important subject. At the meeting, in a mall near the Pentagon, Franklin told Weissman that Iranian agents were trying to capture Israeli civilians working in the Kurdish area in northern Iraq. Around the same time there had been conflicting reports in Washington about an Israeli presence in Kurdish Iraq. Journalist Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker had written that Israelis were operating there, but Israel - and the Americans -denied it.
title: "30/05/2005 | U.S. to indict two senior AIPAC officials under Espionage Act | By Nathan Guttman, Haaretz Correspondent
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Justice Department is expected to file indictments against two former senior staffers at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) - Steve Rosen and Keith Weissman - and, according to sources familiar with the affair, the charges will be subsumed under the Espionage Act.
A Virginia grand jury is now examining the evidence in the case, which involved receipt of classified defense information from Larry Franklin, a Pentagon official, and its transfer to the representative of a foreign country, Naor Gilon, of the Israeli embassy in Washington.
Sources involved in the case confirmed that the Espionage Act is on the agenda. But there is also the possibility that the Justice Department is raising the intention to use that law with the purpose of reaching a plea bargain concerning a lesser offense, albeit one that is still covered by anti-espionage legislation in the U.S."
...
The classified material is said to involve information about Iranian intentions to harm American soldiers in Iraq, and it was supposedly given to the two former AIPAC staffers during lunch in Virginia on June 26, 2003.
But suspicions against Rosen and Weissman focus on a meeting a year later, on July 12, 2004. Franklin was cooperating by then with the FBI, which had threatened him with an indictment after tracking his earlier meetings with the AIPAC men, discovering the alleged hand-over of secret information. He agreed to take part in a sting operation in which he would give the two information and the investigators would then follow them.
Franklin called Weissman and asked for a meeting to discuss an important subject. At the meeting, in a mall near the Pentagon, Franklin told Weissman that Iranian agents were trying to capture Israeli civilians working in the Kurdish area in northern Iraq. Around the same time there had been conflicting reports in Washington about an Israeli presence in Kurdish Iraq. Journalist Seymour Hersh of The New Yorker had written that Israelis were operating there, but Israel - and the Americans -denied it.
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
Abesmirching the Palestinian image? "I am 100% sure that these incidents are fabricated from A to Z by the Shin Bet,"
Aljazeera.Net - Israeli attempt to discredit Abbas?: "By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank | Wednesday 25 May 2005, 16:11 Makka Time, 13:11 GMT
The Palestinian Authority has accused Israel of fabricating stories about Palestinian boys carrying explosive belts on their way to carry out attacks against Israeli targets.
The Israeli army on Tuesday said a Palestinian boy carrying an explosive belt was captured at a roadblock outside the northern West Bank town of Nablus.
The army earlier contacted foreign correspondents in Israel, briefing them on the incident and asking them to cover the story.
The occupation army made a similar claim about another boy being captured, prompting speculations that the Israeli Shin Bet might be behind these reports for the purpose of besmirching the Palestinian image prior to President Mahmoud Abbas's visit to Washington.
"I am 100% sure that these incidents are fabricated from A to Z by the Shin Bet," said Ahmed Subh, Director-General of the Palestinian Ministry of Information.
Aljazeera.Net - Israeli attempt to discredit Abbas?: "By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank | Wednesday 25 May 2005, 16:11 Makka Time, 13:11 GMT
The Palestinian Authority has accused Israel of fabricating stories about Palestinian boys carrying explosive belts on their way to carry out attacks against Israeli targets.
The Israeli army on Tuesday said a Palestinian boy carrying an explosive belt was captured at a roadblock outside the northern West Bank town of Nablus.
The army earlier contacted foreign correspondents in Israel, briefing them on the incident and asking them to cover the story.
The occupation army made a similar claim about another boy being captured, prompting speculations that the Israeli Shin Bet might be behind these reports for the purpose of besmirching the Palestinian image prior to President Mahmoud Abbas's visit to Washington.
"I am 100% sure that these incidents are fabricated from A to Z by the Shin Bet," said Ahmed Subh, Director-General of the Palestinian Ministry of Information.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Independent Palestinian state, was unlikely to win a serious commitment from the Bush administration.
Aljazeera.Net - Israel comes first, says US politician: "| Sunday 22 May 2005, 14:07 Makka Time, 11:07 GMT
A US senator has dispensed bitter pills to Arab leaders, pointing out that the United States is not ready to risk the prestige needed to create a Palestinian state.
Speaking on Saturday at the World Economic Forum being held in Jordan, Senator Gordon Smith said Washington's priority was to secure Israel in a way that, if possible, was just to the Palestinians.
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Smith, a Republican from Oregon, said the peace process, aimed at bringing about an independent Palestinian state, was unlikely to win a serious commitment from the Bush administration.
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Asked why the United States was willing to anger Arab countries in favour of Israel, another Congressman, Republican Christopher Shays, said simply that America was not a neutral player in the Middle East.
"We are Israel's strong ally," Shays, Republican of Connecticut, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"It would be foolish for people to think that somehow we are neutral," he added.
Aljazeera.Net - Israel comes first, says US politician: "| Sunday 22 May 2005, 14:07 Makka Time, 11:07 GMT
A US senator has dispensed bitter pills to Arab leaders, pointing out that the United States is not ready to risk the prestige needed to create a Palestinian state.
Speaking on Saturday at the World Economic Forum being held in Jordan, Senator Gordon Smith said Washington's priority was to secure Israel in a way that, if possible, was just to the Palestinians.
...
Smith, a Republican from Oregon, said the peace process, aimed at bringing about an independent Palestinian state, was unlikely to win a serious commitment from the Bush administration.
...
Asked why the United States was willing to anger Arab countries in favour of Israel, another Congressman, Republican Christopher Shays, said simply that America was not a neutral player in the Middle East.
"We are Israel's strong ally," Shays, Republican of Connecticut, said in an interview with The Associated Press.
"It would be foolish for people to think that somehow we are neutral," he added.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
Laura Bush heckled in Jerusalem shrine visit: "Why are you hassling our Muslims? How dare you come in here?"
Excite News: "Laura Bush heckled in Jerusalem shrine visit | May 22, 11:51 AM (ET) | By Adam Entous
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Protesters jostled and harangued U.S. first lady Laura Bush on Sunday when she visited a flashpoint Jerusalem shrine holy to both Muslims and Jews and at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israeli police and U.S. Secret Service agents formed a tight cordon around her to push back crowds in what for Bush, on a Middle East goodwill tour, was a rare close encounter with hostile demonstrators.
A small crowd of about two dozen people pressed in on Bush as she entered the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem's walled Old City. A Palestinian worshipper cried out at her: "You are not welcome here. Why are you hassling our Muslims? How dare you come in here?"
...
"We neither welcome nor reject her visit. We have no stance," said Ikrima Sabri, the Muslim grand mufti of Jerusalem.
"We do object to the heavy Israeli security in order to give the impression to the visitor that Jerusalem is under Israeli sovereignty," Sabri told Reuters.
Excite News: "Laura Bush heckled in Jerusalem shrine visit | May 22, 11:51 AM (ET) | By Adam Entous
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Protesters jostled and harangued U.S. first lady Laura Bush on Sunday when she visited a flashpoint Jerusalem shrine holy to both Muslims and Jews and at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Israeli police and U.S. Secret Service agents formed a tight cordon around her to push back crowds in what for Bush, on a Middle East goodwill tour, was a rare close encounter with hostile demonstrators.
A small crowd of about two dozen people pressed in on Bush as she entered the Dome of the Rock mosque in Jerusalem's walled Old City. A Palestinian worshipper cried out at her: "You are not welcome here. Why are you hassling our Muslims? How dare you come in here?"
...
"We neither welcome nor reject her visit. We have no stance," said Ikrima Sabri, the Muslim grand mufti of Jerusalem.
"We do object to the heavy Israeli security in order to give the impression to the visitor that Jerusalem is under Israeli sovereignty," Sabri told Reuters.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Restrictions Imposed On Aid to Palestinians
Restrictions Imposed On Aid to Palestinians: "Bill Avoids Directing Funds to Authority | By Glenn Kessler | Washington Post Staff Writer | Thursday, May 5, 2005; Page A16
Congress imposed the tight restrictions on aid to the Palestinians that President Bush had announced with fanfare in his State of the Union address, possibly dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to support new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
In the emergency spending bill that lawmakers completed late Tuesday, the White House had sought $200 million 'to support Palestinian political, economic, and security reforms,' as the president said in his February State of the Union address. But the fine print of the document gives $50 million of that money directly to Israel to build terminals for people and goods at checkpoints surrounding Palestinian areas. Another $2 million for Palestinian health care will be provided to Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, while the allocation of the rest of the money is tightly prescribed.
The bill appears to make it difficult for the White House to give any of the aid directly to the Palestinian Authority, as Palestinians had hoped. Instead, the assistance must be funneled through nongovernmental organizations.
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Direct aid to the Palestinian Authority is symbolically important for Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen. Shortly after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in November, Bush allowed $20 million to be delivered directly to the Palestinian Authority. Under an agreement with Congress, however, that money was immediately transferred to pay bills owed to Israel's electric company.
Restrictions Imposed On Aid to Palestinians: "Bill Avoids Directing Funds to Authority | By Glenn Kessler | Washington Post Staff Writer | Thursday, May 5, 2005; Page A16
Congress imposed the tight restrictions on aid to the Palestinians that President Bush had announced with fanfare in his State of the Union address, possibly dealing a blow to U.S. efforts to support new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
In the emergency spending bill that lawmakers completed late Tuesday, the White House had sought $200 million 'to support Palestinian political, economic, and security reforms,' as the president said in his February State of the Union address. But the fine print of the document gives $50 million of that money directly to Israel to build terminals for people and goods at checkpoints surrounding Palestinian areas. Another $2 million for Palestinian health care will be provided to Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, while the allocation of the rest of the money is tightly prescribed.
The bill appears to make it difficult for the White House to give any of the aid directly to the Palestinian Authority, as Palestinians had hoped. Instead, the assistance must be funneled through nongovernmental organizations.
...
Direct aid to the Palestinian Authority is symbolically important for Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen. Shortly after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat died in November, Bush allowed $20 million to be delivered directly to the Palestinian Authority. Under an agreement with Congress, however, that money was immediately transferred to pay bills owed to Israel's electric company.
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Israel blacklisted by U.S. --- among the world's worst offenders when it comes to violation of intellectual property rights
Ynetnews - Money - Israel blacklisted by U.S.: "American International Trade Commission says Israel among world's major intellectual property violators By Ynetnews
WASHINGTON - Israel is among the world's worst offenders when it comes to violation of intellectual property rights, a U.S. International Trade Commission report says.
The Commission decided to blacklist Israel as one of 14 countries identified as serious infringers when it comes to the protection of intellectual property.
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In the past year, Israel and the U.S. have been engaged in negotiations in a bid to resolve the matter, but the Americans were not satisfied with measures taken by Israel.
Countries that have been blacklisted by the U.S. are subject to special American supervision in areas such as film, music, and software.
Other countries placed in the unflattering list include Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil, India, Venezuela, Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, China, the Philippines, Russia, and Pakistan.
Ynetnews - Money - Israel blacklisted by U.S.: "American International Trade Commission says Israel among world's major intellectual property violators By Ynetnews
WASHINGTON - Israel is among the world's worst offenders when it comes to violation of intellectual property rights, a U.S. International Trade Commission report says.
The Commission decided to blacklist Israel as one of 14 countries identified as serious infringers when it comes to the protection of intellectual property.
...
In the past year, Israel and the U.S. have been engaged in negotiations in a bid to resolve the matter, but the Americans were not satisfied with measures taken by Israel.
Countries that have been blacklisted by the U.S. are subject to special American supervision in areas such as film, music, and software.
Other countries placed in the unflattering list include Indonesia, Argentina, Brazil, India, Venezuela, Turkey, Kuwait, Lebanon, Egypt, China, the Philippines, Russia, and Pakistan.
