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Turkey Follows Israel Snub with Syrian Exercises: U.S. Critical of Turkey
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Turkey is following up its decision to allow joint military exercises with the U.S. and NATO dissolve rather than participate alongside Israel with another pointed tweak at Jerusalem. Syrian Defense Minister Ali Habib told a news conference on Tuesday that Damascus and Ankara will hold their own joint military exercises next week. In a rebuke to the Turks, U.S. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said it is “inappropriate for any nation to be removed from an exercise like this at the last minute," but stopped short of framing the American position in terms of the Arab-Israeli conflict or in terms of the specific affront to Israel. Turkey’s decision to ban Israel from the annual air force exercises was reportedly in response to pressure to punish the Jewish state for its military incursion into the Gaza Strip last January. Israel’s military manufacturers fear its industry is rapidly losing one of its best customers. Numerous reports of negotiations over arms deals drying up are being heard.
Palestinians Plan 30,000 New Housing Units The most ambitious housing project to be mounted in Palestinian areas is being launched with support from the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF). Fund Chairman Dr. Mohammad Mustafa told The Media Line this week that capitalization will be almost $250 million, and that the goal is to build 30,000 new housing units during the next decade. PIF, which is expected to reach $2 billion in assets within the next five years, is active in many sectors of the Palestinian economy. Mustafa addressed a group of international entrepreneurs visiting the Palestinian territories, outlining a series of steps being taken to increase the private economic sector despite the Palestinian economy’s continued dependency on donations from the Arab world and the international community.
Diplomatic Assault on Israel at U.N., Human Rights Council Palestinian representatives to the United Nations are spearheading a massive diplomatic assault on Israel through U.N. bodies including the Human Rights Council and the Security Council. The Goldstone report on Israel’s military incursion into the Gaza Strip last January will be mentioned in Wednesday’s Security Council monthly review of developments in the Middle East, but the Council turned down a Libyan request to debate the report. The focal point of Palestinian efforts is before the Human Rights Council where on Thursday and Friday a resolution drafted by the Palestinians will be placed before the body. The resolution will be voted upon on Monday. The resolution attacks Israeli management of east Jerusalem, accusing the Jewish state of not allowing free access to religious sites and demands an end to all Israeli archaeological excavations. It also accuses Israel of causing a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and calls for the council to endorse the recommendations of the Goldstone report. There have been reports that Obama administration officials have told Jewish American activists that it seeks to let the Goldstone report run its course within the Human Rights Council and prevent it from going farther. Israel is therefore looking closely at this week’s proceedings, seeking to judge whether the Obama assurances are realistic.
Fatah Memo: Hope in Obama Has “Evaporated” An internal memo of the Palestinian Fatah faction laments that "All hopes placed in the new U.S. administration and President Obama have evaporated.” The memo blamed “the Zionist lobby” which, it says, caused Obama to “retreat from his previous positions on halting settlement construction and defining an agenda for the negotiations and peace." Fatah is headed by Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud ‘Abbas; and is the faction the U.S. and other western nations find “acceptable” in comparison to Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel; foreswear terrorism; or honor the agreements of previous governments. Egypt is brokering a reconciliation deal between Fatah and Hamas that will pave the way to a national election, presently targeted for June 2010.
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