Israel Says Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Behind for Arms Ship

Israel says Iran’s Revolutionary Guard is behind the arms ship that was intercepted by Israeli commandos on high seas in the Mediterranean on Tuesday. At 300 tons, the cargo seized was far greater in size than the quantity of weapons and ammunition captured aboard the Karine-A seven years ago. The German vessel flying the flag of Antigua contained hundreds of crates filled with a variety of weapons, including thousands of rockets that were manufactured in Iran, China and Spain. Israeli excitement at the successful interception is tempered by what security officials see as the underlying message of the incident: the likelihood that other arms ships have successfully made their way to Syria, their deadly cargoes on to Hizbullah and Hamas; and the presumption that Iran will devise other methods of shipping arms to their proxy terror groups. Hizbullah has denied it had anything to do with the shipment. 

American U.N. Ambassador Skips Goldstone Debate

Underscoring its rejection of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Goldstone report on Israel’s military incursion into the Gaza Strip, American Ambassador Susan Rice failed to appear for the General Assembly debate on Wednesday. The debate is over a resolution that demands Israel investigate allegations contained in the report and instructs Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to remand the full report to the Security Council. The White House has dismissed the report as biased and one-sided, and a resolution was overwhelmingly approved in the House of Representatives this week that rejects the Goldstone report and asks President Obama to oppose any endorsement of its findings.  

‘Ariqat Unveils Threat to Drop “Two-State” Goal

[News and Analysis] Palestinian chief negotiator Sa’ib ‘Ariqat on Wednesday raised eyebrows when he threatened that the Palestinians will drop the goal of a two-state solution and turn to the one-state alternative if Israel does not concede on  the issue of building in post-1967 communities. Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud ‘Abbas has steadfastly refused to return to the bargaining table since Binyamin Netanyahu became Israel’s prime minister in April. ‘Abbas drew his “line-in-the-sand” behind a demand that Israel halt all construction in communities that are located on land Israel acquired in the 1967 War – communities commonly referred to as “settlements.” Israel refuses to halt limited building it claims is necessary to accommodate the “natural growth” of those communities and refuses to include Jerusalem within the categorization of disputed land at all. ‘Ariqat has been saying that the absolute Palestinian position is “not a precondition” for talks, but rather an “Israeli obligation under the Road Map” peace process. But even the Obama Administration, which backs the Palestinian demand for a total building freeze, says that the construction halt is not a pre-requisite for negotiating according to the Road Map. The Israelis counter, saying they have no obligations at all until the Palestinians have dismantled terrorist organizations, including Hamas, which now controls the Gaza Strip. Everybody’s feathers were ruffled over the weekend when American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared to reverse longstanding White House policy by commending Netanyahu for offering “unprecedented concessions” on the settlement issue although his policy hadn’t ostensibly changed from what it was when it was being called the “obstacle to peace.” Clinton spent the next few days among Arab leaders trying to do damage control by averring that the U.S. is absolutely against all settlement building “past, present and future.” But she said in Cairo after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that the administration favors returning to peace talks even before a freeze is in place, opining that, “Getting into final status negotiations will allow us to bring an end to settlement activity.” 

Jordanian Engineers in Hot Water for Applying for Israeli Visas

Members of the Jordan Engineers Association are in trouble with their organization’s “Anti-Normailzation Committee” after it was learned that they had applied for visas to visit Israel. The committee exists to prevent “normal” relations between Jordan and Israel. The Jordan Times is reporting that the committee has told the JEA’s membership that anyone found with an Israeli visa stamped into his passport could face expulsion from the union. The underlying incident occurred when a group of engineers attended a Palestinian conference and were warned not to accept Israeli visas, but only visas issued by the Palestinian Authority. The head of the Anti-Normalization Committee was quoted as saying that “any type of normalization [between Jordan and Israel] will harm Jordan.” In spite of the efforts of anti-normalization committees in various disciplines, trade between Israel and Jordan increased 59% in 2008 over the previous year.

Saudi Beheading, Crucifixion Upheld on Appeal

The sentence of beheading and crucifixion handed down to a man convicted of multiple child rapes has been upheld on appeal before a Saudi Arabian court. The 22-year old defendant was convicted of raping five children and leaving one to die in the desert. His sentence is that he be beheaded and his headless body tied to wooden beams and left on public display. The sentence has come under criticism from international rights groups. About 40 public executions have taken place in Saudi Arabia this year. Beheading is the method of choice for the crimes of rape, murder and drug trafficking.

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