INTERNATIONAL PULSE Period: September 2009 End-Time Church / Pluralism Global Politics Israel

ISRAEL    Visit 'Peace In Jerusalem' for more comprehensive ongoing reports by Retired Pastor/Teacher James McCutchan - Jmccutchan@aol.com ----- OPINION: THE SECOND ISLAMIC REVOLUTION By DAVID HOROVITZ - Jun 25, 2009 The watching world well understands the young, pro-Western aspect of the ruthlessly countered post-election revolt in Iran. But what makes this outburst different, says The Jerusalem Post's Sabina Amidi, just returned from Teheran, is that many pro-Islamists have turned on the regime as well.           Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi in Teheran. Azadeh Moaveni has recorded her experiences in Iran in the two years that followed the presidential election that catapulted Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. Photo: AP Way back in the days of the Shah, Sabina Amidi tells me down the phone in one of the few lighter moments of our conversation, it was easier for Iranians to get visas to Tel Aviv than to Mecca. So lots of Iranian Muslims came to visit the Jewish state. "This friend of our family, a middle-aged woman, was telling me last week about how she'd come to Jerusalem in the mid-1970s, gone to the Western Wall, and seen all the Jews there praying to God and leaving messages between the stones," Amidi went on. "She felt left out. She also wanted to leave a message for God. So she told me she too went up to the Wall, and wrote a plea: that she would find a good husband. Six months later she met the love of her life, they've been deliriously happily married for more than 30 years, they have three children... and she - this very conservative Muslim lady - still talks excitedly about that trip to Israel, and about how God answered her prayers at the Western Wall." And this lady too, Amidi continued, in serious mode now, this devout Muslim friend who lives in fealty to Islam and its laws, today shares the widespread sense of betrayal that so many Iranians feel with regard to the regime of the ayatollahs. She's not been out on the streets, risking her life to scream "Down with the dictator." But she's watched the brutally suppressed protests from her apartment window, and she hopes, sooner or later, that they'll have their effect. Continued: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245924931912&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull ----- BARACK OBAMA VS INTERNATIONAL LAW Jerusalem Post - June 25, 2009 - By CAROLINE GLICK - US President Barack Obama consistently couches his demand that Israel prohibit Jewish people from constructing or expanding our homes and communities in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria in legal-sounding language. Obama has called settlements "illegitimate." And he has said that Israel "has obligations under the road map," while referring disparagingly to "settlements that, in past agreements, have been categorized as illegal." Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell have repeatedly uttered similar statements. By characterizing its demand that Israel prohibit Jews from building homes in Israel's capital city and its heartland as a legal requirement, the Obama administration portrays Israel as an international outlaw. After all, if building homes for Jews is a crime, and Israel is not prohibiting Jews from building homes, then Israel is at best guilty of enabling a crime to take place, and at worst, it is a criminal state. It makes good political sense for the Obama administration to make its case against Israel in this fashion. According to a survey of US public opinion published in early 2006 by the Boston Review, whereas only 7 percent of Democrats support going to war to spread democracy - versus 53% of Republicans; 71% of Democrats - versus 36% of Republicans - support going to war to help the United Nations "uphold international law." What this poll shows is that for Obama supporters, the idea that Israel should be treated poorly because it is in breach of international law resonates deeply. Continued: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245924931885&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull ----- FULL TEXT OF THE ROADMAP April 20, 2003 - The full text of a roadmap to peace in the Middle East, presented to Palestinian and Israeli leaders by Quartet mediators - the United Nations, European Union, United States and Russia. A performance-based roadmap to a permanent two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict The following is a performance-based and goal-driven roadmap, with clear phases, timelines, target dates, and benchmarks aiming at progress through reciprocal steps by the two parties in the political, security, economic, humanitarian, and institution-building fields, under the auspices of the Quartet. The destination is a final and comprehensive settlement of the Israel-Palestinian conflict by 2005, as presented in President Bush's speech of 24 June, and welcomed by the EU, Russia and the UN in the 16 July and 17 September Quartet Ministerial statements. A two state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will only be achieved through an end to violence and terrorism, when the Palestinian people have a leadership acting decisively against terror and willing and able to build a practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty, and through Israel's readiness to do what is necessary for a democratic Palestinian state to be established, and a clear, unambiguous acceptance by both parties of the goal of a negotiated settlement as described below. The Quartet will assist and facilitate implementation of the plan, starting in Phase I, including direct discussions between the parties as required. Cont'd http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2989783.stm ----- INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THE ARAB-ISRAEL CONFLICT Extracts from "Israel and Palestine - Assault on the Law of Nations" by Julius Stone - Editor: Ian Lacey, B.A., LL.B. - The late Professor Julius Stone was recognised as one of the twentieth century's leading authorities on the Law of Nations. Israel and Palestine, which appeared in 1980, presented a detailed analysis of the central principles of international law governing the issues raised by the Arab-Israel conflict. This summary provides a short outline of the main points in the form of extracts from the original work. Also included in this second edition are extracts from the subsequent international documents, and updated commentary. Israel and Palestine was written by Julius Stone in 1980, and the first edition of this short summary appeared in 1990. Since then the rights of the parties have been modified by agreement, and the optimism which followed the various agreements has been succeeded by violent conflict. This second edition therefore appears in a climate in which legal assertions are once again a central part of the political discourse, a context which has renewed the relevance of Professor Stone’s clear analysis of the status under international law of the Territories which came into Israel’s possession in 1967. A new section has been added which deals with the effect on the legal status of the Territories of the Oslo Accords, the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty and the "Roadmap", in the form of documentary extracts. There is also a further section comprising extracts from the international instruments relating to the revived Palestinian claim to a "right of return". The writer is grateful for the suggestions of David D. Knoll, author of The Impact of Security Concerns upon International Economic Law and Peter J. Wertheim, author of Unlawful Coercion and the Law of Treaties: the case of Syria and Lebanon. This booklet is, of course, a mere description of the legal position, and it charts no course for the future. However it is hoped that this summary will contribute to a more general understanding of the basic issues. Ian Lacey Part 1 THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE TERRITORIES Julius Stone examines the principles governing legal title to the Territories known as the Gaza Strip and the "West Bank", which are part of the territory which came into Israel’s possession during the war of 1967. In his analysis Stone draws upon the writings of Professor Stephen Schwebel, the former Chief Judge of the International Court of Justice. Since Stone wrote, the legal status of the Territories has been affected by the agreements implementing the Oslo Accords of 1993, which provide for a sharing of governmental powers in the Territories with the Palestinian Authority, with specified security powers reserved to Israel (See Part 5). However those agreements are on an interim basis, pending and subject to the negotiation of a "permanent status agreement", and they leave the underlying legal title intact. Also the peace treaty of 1994 now sets the international boundary between Israel and Jordan at the centre of the Jordan river, "without prejudice to the status of [the] Territories". Continued: http://www.aijac.org.au/resources/reports/international_law.html ----- IRANIAN GOVERNMENT SAYS NEDA SOLTAN'S MURDER WAS 'STAGED' July 01, 2009 - Reuters - A woman identified on Flickr as Neda Agha Soltani is seen in an undated headshot uploaded to the site on June 22, 2009. The murder of 26-year-old protester Neda Soltan was staged, Iran's chief of police said Wednesday — a statement that rights groups and Iran watchers are calling a propagandistic lie. Soltan became the icon of protesters in Iran following her bloody shooting June 20, which shocked the conscience of world leaders and millions more who watched videos posted online that showed her slowly bleeding to death. Soltan's family and those with her at the time of her death said that members of the paramilitary Basij militia drove by on a motorcycle and shot her in an alley near a major protest in Tehran. But, according to Iran's Press TV, police chief Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqadam declared Wednesday that the shooting was a "prearranged scenario" — a "premeditated act of murder" that could not have been committed by Iranian police. The White House called that allegation part of Iran's "ongoing campaign of misinformation" about the country's widely-disputed June 12 presidential elections, which returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to office and sent hundreds of thousands into the streets in fury over what they claim was a stolen election. "I think the notion that the death of an innocent woman would be staged is — even with them — it's shocking," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday. Continued: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529780,00.html ----- JERUSALEM WORLD NEWS BLOG http://myjwn.com/ ----- HOLODOMER PROVES IT ONCE AGAIN: "The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia was the work of Jewish planning and Jewish dissatisfaction. Our Plan is to have a New World Order. What worked so wonderfully in Russia is going to become Reality for the whole world." http://globalfire.tv/nj/09en/jews/holodomor.htm ----- "THE PRESIDENT DID NOT SEND A U.S. DELEGATION TO THE WORLD CONFERENCE ON RACISM FOR FEAR OF OFFENDING JEWS AND ISRAEL.." http://globalfire.tv/nj/09en/jews/obama_and_them_jews.htm ----- IN JULY 2009 IDF PLANNING LARGEST-EVER DRILL TO PREPARE FOR WAR By Anshel Pfeffer - HAARETZ UPDATED 7/04/2009 - The Home Front Command is preparing to hold the largest exercise ever in Israeli history, scheduled to take place in about two months, in hopes of priming the populace and raising awareness of the possibility of war breaking out. Should there be a war, Israel would have insufficient emergency and rescue response units, according to a senior Home Front Command officer. Speaking with Haaretz, Col. Hilik Sofer, who is in charge of the Department for Population at the Home Front Command, said that "in wartime there will be insufficient Magen David Adom, rescue and chemical and biological warfare units. Even if we call up the reserves of the Home Front Command, we will have to rely on the population itself." "We need to train for a reality in which during war missiles can fall on any part of the country without warning," he said. The Home Front Command is hoping to convince the population that in a future war the entire country can become a front without warning. The aim of the nationwide drill, Sofer said, "is to transform the population from a passive to an active one. We want the citizens to understand that war can happen tomorrow morning." The exercise is scheduled to last an entire week and test a series of scenarios that include missile strikes with conventional and non-conventional warheads, fired by Hezbollah, Syria or Hamas. Sofer emphasized that in time of war the citizens will be required to mostly rely on themselves. In emergency situations, the policy of the Israel Defense Forces and the Defense Ministry is not to carry out mass evacuations of civilians, even in areas that are close to the border with territory controlled by Hezbollah and Hamas. Officers in the Home Front Command insist that they are not trying to scare anyone beyond a "healthy sense of fear," according to Sofer. In an effort to blunt the severity of the message, the command has prepared an information campaign that is based on questions of children. For the ultra-Orthodox who do not watch television, CDs with information will be distributed, and instructions will also come in Yiddish. "The entire population will participate in the exercise, not only the schools - everyone," Sofer said. "We will all need to practice for the short warning that we will have to seek shelter from the moment missiles begin falling." Each area will be given a listing with the warning time available to it, and magnets will be printed with the information that can be put it on fridge doors. Knowing that Tel Aviv residents have two minutes to prepare for impact will, the command hopes, encourage people to prepare a family emergency pack with a flashlight, bottled water, a radio and batteries. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1077035.html ----- HOME FRONT COMMAND TRAINING VOLUNTEER CORPS FOR FUTURE EMERGENCIES HAARETZ - January 21, 2009 - By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent - Home Front Command on Wednesday said it is planning to create volunteer units within the local authorities in preparation for future conflict scenarios. The volunteers will be trained by Home Front Command and will operate in the following capacities: assisting people in bomb shelters, distributing food to and caring for the needy and elderly, assisting disabled children, volunteering in hospitals and providing information to local residents at public service centers. Home Front Command intends to establish the volunteer corps over the coming months. The volunteers will operate according to the need of each local authority under the supervision of Home Front Command. The will also be insured by the National Insurance Institute and will be covered by them should they be injured while on duty. The group will experience its first test in June, as part of a national drill planned by Home Front Command called "Turning Point 3," which will assess Israel's overall preparedness for dealing with various emergency situations. Two such drills have already taken place in Israel since the Second Lebanon War in 2006. They included alarms sounding across the country and in educational and public institutions and residents entering bomb shelters or other secure locations. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1057479.html ----- AN IDENTITY CRISIS FOR BLAIR FORMER PM DESCRIBES JERUSALEM AS 'HOME' By Simon Walters - April 12, 2009 Tony Blair has always tried to present himself as a visionary leader when he talks about his twin passions: politics and religion. But judging from his entry in the VIP visitors’ guest book at the British Embassy in Washington during a recent trip to the US, his role as a Middle East peace envoy may have led to a mid-life identity crisis. His signature is there but where guests are invited to state their ‘home’ Mr Blair wrote ‘Jerusalem’. Home? Middle East envoy Tony Blair at a news conference in Jerusalem on April 6 The former Primer Minister does not own anything that could be described as a home in the Middle East. He is said to spend an average of one week a month at the American Colony hotel in Jerusalem, despite local officials insisting that his visits are less frequent. More...Cherie Blair left red-faced after she forgets to put stamps on letters to fellow barristers - leaving them to pay postage fee Indeed, The Mail on Sunday can disclose that he faces growing criticism from senior figures at the United Nations for not spending enough time on his role as head of the Quartet, the foursome of the US, Russia, the EU and the UN tasked with building peace in the Middle East. They say they are unhappy about the time Mr Blair devotes to the lucrative international lecture circuit and to lobbying to become the first permanent president of the EU. The position will be created if Ireland votes ‘yes’ to the Lisbon Treaty this autumn. Mr Blair’s signature was left in the embassy guest book on January 14 when he was collecting the presidential medal of freedom from George Bush. The bizarre entry will also increase speculation about Mr Blair’s domestic arrangements. Asked during an interview in January how often he manages to see Cherie and his eight-year-old son, Leo, he replied: ‘Not nearly as much as I should.’ The Blairs have two homes in the UK, a £3.6million townhouse in London’s Connaught Square and a Buckinghamshire mansion bought last year for £4million. A spokesman for Tony Blair would not say why he had written ‘Jerusalem’. He said: ‘Mr Blair’s role in the Middle East continues to take up the largest proportion of his time. On the EU presidency, there is no campaign and no campaign team. The job doesn’t even exist yet. Mr Blair is fully focused on his role in the Middle East.’ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1169342/An-identity- crisis-Blair-Former-PM-describes-Jerusalem-home.html http://article.wn.com/view/2009/04/11/An_identity_crisis_for_Blair_Former_PM_describes_Jerusalem_a/ ----- BRITISH FOREIGN OFFICE FIRST TO WARN, EXAMINE ISRAELI KIDNAPPING ISRAELIS INTERCEPT GAZA AID SHIP BBC Jul 02, 2009 - The British Foreign Office said on Tuesday ..."We would be concerned if the stories of the Israeli Navy boarding the boat in international waters were true," a spokesman said. "We have made it clear to Israel that we are very concerned for the safety of British nationals." The mission is the latest by the Free Gaza Movement, which has renamed the ferry Spirit of Humanity. "This is an outrageous violation of international law against us. Our boat was not in Israeli waters, and we were on a human rights mission to the Gaza Strip," said Ms McKinney in a statement.. "President [Barack] Obama just told Israel to let in humanitarian and reconstruction supplies, and that's exactly what we tried to do. We're asking the international community to demand our release so we can resume our journey." - On Monday, a report by the International Committee of the Red Cross described the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza as people "trapped in despair", unable to rebuild their lives after Israel's offensive. Donors have pledged $4.5 billion for reconstruction and rehabilitation in Gaza following the 22-day offensive which left more than 50,000 homes, 800 industrial properties and 200 schools damaged or destroyed, as well as 39 mosques and two churches. http://whtt.org/index.php?id=PhariseeWatch&cat=2 ----- TIME FOR AN ISRAELI STRIKE? July 2, 2009 - By: John R. Bolton - The Washington Post - With Iran's hard-line mullahs and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unmistakably back in control, Israel's decision of whether to use military force against Tehran's nuclear weapons program is more urgent than ever. Iran's nuclear threat was never in doubt during its presidential campaign, but the post-election resistance raised the possibility of some sort of regime change. That prospect seems lost for the near future or for at least as long as it will take Iran to finalize a deliverable nuclear weapons capability. Accordingly, with no other timely option, the already compelling logic for an Israeli strike is nearly inexorable. Israel is undoubtedly ratcheting forward its decision-making process. President Obama is almost certainly not. He still wants "engagement" (a particularly evocative term now) with Iran's current regime. Last Thursday, the State Department confirmed that Secretary Hillary Clinton spoke to her Russian and Chinese counterparts about "getting Iran back to negotiating on some of these concerns that the international community has." This is precisely the view of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, reflected in the Group of Eight communique the next day. Sen. John Kerry thinks the recent election unpleasantness in Tehran will delay negotiations for only a few weeks. Obama administration sources have opined (anonymously) that Iran will be more eager to negotiate than it was before its election in order to find "acceptance" by the "international community." Some leaks indicated that negotiations had to produce results by the U.N. General Assembly's opening in late September, while others projected that they had until the end of 2009 to show progress. These gauzy scenarios assume that the Tehran regime cares about "acceptance" or is somehow embarrassed by eliminating its enemies. Both propositions are dubious. Obama will nonetheless attempt to jump-start bilateral negotiations with Iran, though time is running out even under the timetables leaked to the media. There are two problems with this approach. First, Tehran isn't going to negotiate in good faith. It hasn't for the past six years with the European Union as our surrogates, and it won't start now. As Clinton said on Tuesday, Iran has "a huge credibility gap" because of its electoral fraud. Second, given Iran's nuclear progress, even if the stronger sanctions Obama has threatened could be agreed upon, they would not prevent Iran from fabricating weapons and delivery systems when it chooses, as it has been striving to do for the past 20 years. Time is too short, and sanctions failed long ago. Only those most theologically committed to negotiation still believe Iran will fully renounce its nuclear program. Unfortunately, the Obama administration has a "Plan B," which would allow Iran to have a "peaceful" civil nuclear power program while publicly "renouncing" the objective of nuclear weapons. Obama would define such an outcome as "success," even though in reality it would hardly be different from what Iran is doing and saying now. A "peaceful" uranium enrichment program, "peaceful" reactors such as Bushehr and "peaceful" heavy-water projects like that under construction at Arak leave Iran with an enormous breakout capability to produce nuclear weapons in very short order. And anyone who believes the Revolutionary Guard Corps will abandon its weaponization and ballistic missile programs probably believes that there was no fraud in Iran's June 12 election. See "huge credibility gap," supra. In short, the stolen election and its tumultuous aftermath have dramatically highlighted the strategic and tactical flaws in Obama's game plan. With regime change off the table for the coming critical period in Iran's nuclear program, Israel's decision on using force is both easier and more urgent. Since there is no likelihood that diplomacy will start or finish in time, or even progress far enough to make any real difference, there is no point waiting for negotiations to play out. In fact, given the near certainty of Obama changing his definition of "success," negotiations represent an even more dangerous trap for Israel. Continued: http://support.tjci.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5633 http://www.jerusalemonline.com/specials10.asp ----- HEZBOLLAH'S LEADER HAS ACCUSED ISRAEL OF FALSELY IMPLICATING HIS GROUP MIDDLE EAST NEWS - Beirut, Lebanon July 3, 2009 - Hezbollah's leader has accused Israel of being behind a report by a German magazine that falsely implicated his group in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Syeed Hassan Nasrallah says the report in the weekly Der Spiegel was aimed at fomenting strife between Lebanon's Sunnis and Shiites. Hezbollah has dismissed Saturday's report as based on fabrications. After Hariri's killing, many blamed Syria, which had long dominated Lebanese affairs. Syria denied it had a role. The Der Spiegel report quoted sources close to the international tribunal investigating the killing as saying that Hezbollah carried it out, not Syria. Russia, Syria, Lebanon and other countries came to the defend of Hezbollah and claimed the report is based on Israeli propaganda in order to discredit the Lebanese Resistance in reference to Hezbollah. The Lebanese group Hezbollah fought Israel in South Lebanon and had forced its forces out of the country, which was occupied for over 22 years. Hezbollah enjoys a wide popular support in Lebanon and the Arab and Muslim worlds. Hezbollah claims Israeli Security services ordered the killing of the late prime minister Rafik Hariri. Israel did not deny its involvement. In recent weeks, Lebanon arrested several Israeli spies throughout the country, and the interrogation of the collaborators is leading to the theory that Israel was behind the assassination of Hariri. And in order to shift public opinion, it is alleged that teh Israeli Mossad planted the report blaming Hezbollah in Der Spigel. The Christian leader Michel Aoun on Monday alleged that the Der Spigel magazine is Zionist found and supported. http://www.middleeastnews.com/ ----- AHMADINEJAD SAID HIS COUNTRY PROUD OF 2 MAJOR NUCLEAR ACCOMPLISHMENTS MIDDLE EAST NEWS - Isfahan, Iran -July 3, 2009 - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country could be proud of two major nuclear accomplishments. The first is "the packaging of fuel and making the fuel ready to be put inside the reactor" at Iran's only nuclear plant to produce power, Ahmadinejad said, speaking on his nation's National Nuclear Technology Day. He said the second is the testing of two new types of centrifuges whose capacity is "several times greater" than existing capacity. Centrifuges are used to enrich uranium. Ahmadinejad's comments were broadcast nationally from the city of Isfahan, about 100 miles south of the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility in central Iran. The United States, some European nations and Israel contend Iran's nuclear development is aimed at developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies that charge, saying its its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes. Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, who heads Iran's nuclear program, said in Isfahan that 7,000 centrifuges have been installed at Natanz, and the goal is to produce 50,000. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signaled both skepticism about the latest Iranian claims, and a willingness to push forward with U.S. intentions to speak directly to Iran. In a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency, Ahmadinejad said Iran was "ready to cooperate" toward nuclear disarmament as long as those efforts did not create obstacles. In February, the Institute for Science and International Security released a report that concluded Iran does not have a nuclear weapon but does have enough low-enriched uranium for a single nuclear weapon. But an official at the IAEA cautioned about drawing such conclusions. The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Iran's stock of low-enriched uranium would have to be turned into highly enriched uranium to be weapons-grade material. The official said Iran has not done so, and the agency's monitors and surveillance equipment at the Natanz facility would be able to detect any such activity. On Monday, the semi-official Mehr News Agency quoted minister of power Parviz Fattah saying he hoped the nuclear power plant will produce electricity for use as early as this summer. Editor's Note: Israel is the only regime in the region allegedly to have nuclear weapon, over 200 war heads. The IAEA has turned a blind eye to the Israeli arsenal and concentrates on Iran, go figure. http://www.middleeastnews.com/ ----- CATHOLIC BISHOPS OUTRAGED OVER REPULSIVE ATTACKS ON JESUS CHRIST AND MARY MIDDLE EAST NEWS - Occupied Jerusalem -- July 3, 2009 - Catholic bishops in the Holy Land expressed outrage over what they called "repulsive attacks" on Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary after an Israeli TV program spoofed them. "We, the members of the Assembly of the Catholic Bishops in the Holy Land deplore and condemn with utter dismay the repulsive attacks on our lord Jesus Christ and on his mother, the blessed Virgin Mary, carried out on Channel 10 of the Israeli television," a statement by the bishops said. The Lebanese Resistance group, Hizbullah said it was "deeply concerned with the insults against the blessed Virgin Mary and one of our great prophets Jesus Christ." "Hizbullah puts this heinous offense in the hands of all defenders of human rights and freedom of belief," it said. "Zionists should put an end to their racism and their ridicule of religious symbols." Olmert, the alleged war criminal of Israel, condemned the show for insulting Jesus and the Virgin Mary and the Christian faith. http://www.middleeastnews.com/ ----- THE U.N, U.S., EU AND IRAN JOIN IN DIRECT TALKS OVER TEHRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM MIDDLE EAST NEWS - United Nations, New York -- July 3, 2009 - In a dramatic break from previous policy, the United States will join direct talks between U.N. and European powers and Iran over Tehran's nuclear program, the State Department announced Wednesday. The Obama administration has asked the European Union's international policy chief, Javier Solana, to invite Iran to new talks with the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said. "If Iran accepts, we hope this will be an occasion to seriously engage Iran of how to break the logjam of recent years and work in a cooperative manner to resolve the outstanding international concerns about its nuclear program," Wood said. Iran so far has refused Security Council demands to halt its production of enriched uranium, which it has said will be used to fuel nuclear power plants. The United States has accused Tehran of concealing efforts to develop a nuclear bomb, and the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency said it has failed to resolve questions about the aim of Iranian program. Watch how U.S. policy on Iran is changing. The former Bush administration had insisted that Iran first stop its nuclear program before any talks with the United States or its allies could go forward. Wednesday's announcement is the latest step in the Obama administration's efforts to engage the Islamic republic diplomatically after nearly three decades without formal ties. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, briefly addressing the administration's decision Wednesday, told reporters that "pursuing very careful engagement on a range of issues that affect our interests and the interests of the world with Iran makes sense." http://www.middleeastnews.com/ ----- IRAN JORDAN TIMES EXCLUDES JEWS FROM ITEM ON INTERFAITH CONFERENCE Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA - July 3, 2009 Excerpts:Jordan's new Crown Prince. Saudi sacks mosque sermonizers for 'extremist thought', etc.Update on Iran.Jordan Times excludes Jews from item on interfaith conference.Jordan's new Crown Prince. Saudi sacks mosque sermonizers for 'extremist thought', Excerpts:Jordan's new Crown Prince.Saudi sacks mosque sermonizers for 'extremist thought', etc.Update on Iran.Jordan Times excludes Jews from item on interfaith conference.Jordan's new Crown Prince. Saudi sacks mosque sermonizers for 'extremist thought', etc.Lebanon needs guarantees from Syria (dismantle Palestinian bases, demarc border). Assets frozen of 'foreign terrorist outfit'.Syria's demands on Lebanon 3 July 2009 Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=44261 ----- MOSQUE SACKINGS FOR 'EXTREMIST THOUGHT'' AND 'NEGLIGENCE' Mosque sackings for 'extremist thought' and 'negligence' By Naeem Tameem Al-Kaheem. The Chairman of the Imams and Khateebs Assessment Committee at the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Azzam Al-Shuway'er, has said that a number of imams and khateebs (persons who give Friday sermons) have been dismissed from their positions citing as reasons "extremist thought, illness and negligence of mosques". Al-Shuway'er described the dismissal of khateebs as "not easy", requiring numerous approvals and procedures. "Field committees first file a request to Shariah committees at the ministry where it is then passed on to a higher committee," Al-Shuway'er said. "A sacking has to be approved at all of these three stages." Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=44261 ----- IRAN'S LEADERS FEAR THEIR OWN PEOPLE MOST THE DAILY STAR Lebanon - 3 July '09 - By Shaazka Beyerle Update on Iran QUOTE: "Iran's rulers may generate conspiracy theories about 'a velvet revolution staged by foreigners', but in reality it is their own legacy and people they fear" On Monday (29 June) something surprising happened in Iran. It wasn't the Guardian Council's certifying the results of the June 12 presidential election - the questionable victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over Mir Hossein Mousavi. It wasn't that thousands of people took to the streets even though electricity, landline and mobile phone connections were cut. Nor was it that security forces were out en masse. It was that citizens confounded the authorities with dispersed actions. According to Roozonline, rather than concentrating in one place, groups formed across Tehran - "something that government agents did not expect, and so [they] did not know how to respond ..." Civil resistance is more than huge demonstrations. People power is expressed through the sustained, strategic use of noncooperation, civil disobedience, mass actions, strikes, boycotts, social networking, and over 200 nonviolent tactics designed to win popular support, shake-up the status quo, and weaken the oppressor's sources of control. The Mahatma Gandhi once pointed out, "Even the most powerful cannot rule without the cooperation of the ruled." Iran's clerics depend on people to carry out their orders - to run the country and to suppress. Nonviolent movements succeed not necessarily when there are masses on the streets, but when a large enough number of citizens withdraws its cooperation from the system, disobeys and disrupts, thereby dissolving the power of the oppressors and undermining their rule. . . .Reports indicate that Iranians are indeed engaging in low-risk mass actions, such as turning on car headlights and, apparently, writing slogans on money and standing in front of security forces holding the Koran. The nightly rooftop calls of "Allahu Akbar" are increasing by the day, and people are wearing black both as a symbol of defiance and as a sign of mourning for dead protesters. Last week, Mousavi urged citizens to walk about the bazaars but refrain from buying. A report in The Los Angeles Times says that "commerce has slowed to a trickle" in the grand bazaar, which normally would be at its busiest as Ramadan approaches. Second, as in past cases, a campaign to win over parts of the security forces may be pivotal. According to Iranian analyst Afshin Molavi, "the Basiji volunteer militia ... [is] not monolithic." The Revolutionary Guard's Tehran chief was detained, and 16 Guard members were apparently arrested after disobeying orders to shoot protesters. If these reports are correct, they are signs of the regime's growing weakness. Finally, nonviolent discipline must be maintained. Only nonviolent methods can enlist the active participation of citizens, spur defections, and encourage disobedience among those carrying out the oppressors' orders. Moreover, nonviolent discipline denies oppressors the excuse to crack down, so when they do, as is happening in Iran, they lose credibility among their own supporters. There are growing rifts in the ruling establishment. Pro-reform clerics have expressed anger and Grand Ayatollahs Yousof Sanei and Hossein-Ali Montazeri have called Ahmadinejad's government illegitimate. Faezeh Rafsanjani, the daughter of the former president, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, openly backs Mousavi. Her father, who chairs the Assembly of Experts, is attempting to consolidate support to remove Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the supreme leader, and replace his position with a small committee of senior ayatollahs. Iran's Parliament speaker, Ali Larijani, has announced that he wants to set up a parliamentary committee to examine the recent post-election violence in an "evenhanded way." Ayatollah Abdul-Karim Mousavi Ardebili stated that "people's protests should not be silenced through the use of force." On top of this, around a hundred parliamentarians snubbed Ahmadinejad's victory dinner. If these rifts widen, the system could begin breaking apart. The Nobel laureate, Thomas Schelling, wrote 30 years ago that nonviolent actions can deny oppressors what they need, including money, food, supplies and manpower. From this perspective, can the Iranian regime indefinitely cut electricity, phone links and internet without hurting its own interests? Even attempts to demobilize the popular movement have costs. Moreover, coercion isn't cheap. It requires huge sums to feed, transport and arm security forces, as well as to maintain the loyalty of the inner circles and top commanders in the state. During the "people power" revolution in the Philippines, the public withdrew its money from banks associated with the Marcos dictatorship and stopped paying utility bills. Will Iranians invent their own low-risk disruptions? Iranians can draw upon their own rich history of nonviolence, spanning over a century, for inspiration, including the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ended the brutal rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Iran's rulers may generate conspiracy theories about a "velvet revolution staged by foreigners," but in reality, it's their own legacy and people they fear. *Shaazka Beyerle is a senior adviser with the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=44261 ----- KINGDOM'S INTERFAITH EFFORTS HIGHLIGHTED IN KAZAKHSTAN JORDAN TIMES - 3 July '09: - By Hani Hazaimeh AMMAN - Jordan's history of interfaith dialogue took centre stage as dozens of religious leaders gathered on Thursday in Kazakhstan. Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah at the Third Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, which opened in the Kazakhstani capital Astana on Wednesday(1 JULY), Director of the Royal Al al Bayt Foundation for Islamic Thought Saeed Hijjawi underlined the Amman Message, the Common Word Initiative and the recent visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Kingdom as some of the many steps Jordan has taken to improve interfaith relations. In his address, titled, "The Virtue of Tolerance and the Recognition of Differences", he underlined the Kingdom's role in support of dialogue among civilisations. "Jordan has been keen to highlight the true image of Islam out of its spiritual and historical responsibility," Hijjawi said, stressing that King Abdullah's efforts in this regard have contributed to the increasing global respect of Islam. The Amman Message, which was launched in November 2004 and translated into several key languages, seeks to reveal a message of tolerance and humanity and rejects extremism as a deviation from Islamic beliefs. It stresses the true values of Islam and advocates a proper understanding of the faith, which honours all human beings and provides common ground among different faiths and peoples. Meanwhile, the Common Word Initiative seeks to provide common ground for several organisations and individuals working in the area of interfaith dialogue around the world. The initiative was launched on October 13, 2007 as an open letter signed by 138 leading Muslim scholars and intellectuals (including such figures as the grand muftis of Egypt, Syria and Jordan) to the leaders of Christian churches and denominations all over the world.[IMRA: No Jewish clerics?] The Astana conference, which was initiated by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, saw the participation of representatives from different world religions, including Christianity, Islam and Zoroastrianism, Kazakhstan's Ambassador to Jordan Bulat Sarsenbayev told The Jordan Times in an interview earlier this week. The ambassador said the conference aims to highlight the role of religious leaders in "building a world based on tolerance, mutual respect and cooperation". "Kazakhstan is a good example of coexistence where people of various ethnic groups live in one country peacefully and in harmony," Sarsenbayev said, noting that the country is home to more than 120 ethnic groups. "It is a national idea in our country to accept the other and be tolerant," he added. Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=44261 ----- KING HUSSEIN NAMED 15 YEAR-OLD ELDEST SON CROWN PRINCE JORDAN TIMES 3 July '09:" - AMMAN (JT) - A Royal Decree was issued Thursday (2 July) naming HRH Prince Hussein, the eldest son of His Majesty King Abdullah, as Crown Prince effective July 2, 2009. The decree read: "We, King Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, acting under Paragraph A of Article 28 of the Constitution, issue our Royal Decree naming our eldest son, His Royal Highness Prince Hussein Ben Abdullah II, as Crown Prince. He shall be vested with all rights and privileges pertaining to this decree." The Crown Prince was born on June 28, 1994. Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=44261 ----- GEMAYEL: WE WON'T FORGET THE PAST, WE NEED GUARANTEES FROM SYRIA NAHARNET (Lebanon) 3 July '09:"Damascus should give guarantees and show its good intentions," Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel said Friday (3 July) that Syria has to prove its good intentions towards Lebanon by dismantling armed Palestinian bases and demarcating the border. "We want good relations (with Syria) and we support technical visits between the two countries. But we need to know where are we heading and what are the guarantees," Gemayel told LBC TV network. He said Damascus should give guarantees and show its good intentions by not resorting to the obstruction of Lebanese government work, dismantling armed Palestinian bases, demarcating the border, unveiling the fate of missing Lebanese and recognizing the Lebanese identity of Shebaa farms area. "The difference between us and Syria is that it wants a relationship based on turning the page on the past," the Phalange leader told LBC. "Our stance is clear: We didn't make all these sacrifices to neglect the country again," Gemayel said. "We need to know who killed the martyrs." On the Syrian-Saudi summit that is expected to take place in Damascus on Monday(6 July), Gemayel said: "It's better for the summit to be held in Riyadh if Lebanon wants to participate in it." Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=44261 ----- U.S. SANCTIONS ON KATA'IB HIZBULLAH, IRAN ADVISER NAHARNET - Lebanon - 3 July '09 - Agence France Presse Assets frozen of 'foreign terrorist outfit' The United States imposed financial sanctions Thursday (2 July) on an adviser to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Iraq-based Shiite group Kata'ib Hizbullah, branded a foreign terrorist outfit. The U.S. Treasury Department said it froze the assets of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, an adviser to the commander of Iran's Qods Force, an arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Shiite "extremist" group Kata'ib Hizbullah for being a security threat in Iraq. Al-Muhandis was identified also with 19 aliases. The IRGC was accused of providing material support to various militant groups -- Lebanon-based Hizbullah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine -- General Command. Further, the IRGC-Qods Force provided "lethal support to Kata'ib Hizbullah and other Iraqi Shiite militia groups who target and kill" U.S. or Coalition troops and Iraqi security forces, a Treasury statement said. The IRGC-Qods Force was named a "specially designated global terrorist" group by the Treasury Department in 2007. The State Department also on Thursday designated Kata'ib Hizbullah a "foreign terrorist organization" for allegedly "committing or posing a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism." "Al-Muhandis and Kata'ib Hizbullah have committed, directed, supported, or posed a significant risk of committing acts of violence against Coalition and Iraqi Security Forces," the statement said. Between March 2007 and June 2008, Baghdad-based Kata'ib Hizbullah members participated in multiple rocket-propelled grenade and improvised rocket-assisted mortar attacks against U.S. forces, it said. It alleged that Kata'ib Hizbullah was funded by the IRGC-Qods Force and received weapons training and support from Lebanon-based Hizbullah. In one instance, the statement said, Hizbullah provided training to Kata'ib Hizbullah members in Iran. The Treasury sanctions came under an executive order targeting insurgent and militia groups and their supporters. "These designations play a critical role in our efforts to protect coalition troops, Iraqi security forces, and civilians from those who use violence against innocents to intimidate and to undermine a free and prosperous Iraq," said Stuart Levey, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.(AFP) Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=44261 ----- SYRIA WANTS PRICE TO FACILITATE DEAL ON LEBANON GOVERNMENT NAHARNET (Lebanon) 3 July 2009: "Syrian conditions are 'impossible to implement' "Syria, not only has set conditions, but reportedly wants a price beforehand to facilitate formation of a new Lebanese government.. . . Syria has proposed that the various Lebanese parliamentary blocs visit Damascus to strike a deal on the formation of a national unity government. It said Syria is seeking to reach an agreement in Damascus similar to that of Doha in May 2008 which ended a long-running political crisis that nearly drove the country to a new civil war. The daily An Nahar,...said the Syrian conditions are "impossible to implement." Among these conditions, An Nahar said, was a visit to Damascus by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri as part of a tripartite summit between Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia prior to government formation. It said the basket of conditions appeared to be closer to pushing the March 14 coalition into relinquishing the victory after achieving a majority in Parliament. While the opposition declined to comment on media leakage about Saudi-Syrian contacts, sources concerned with the issue told al-Hayat that Damascus was in a rush toward normalization of ties. Sue Lerner - Associate, IMRA http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=44261