Copyright © 2005 The Daily Star

Saturday, June 25, 2005
Abbas' castles in the air toppled in Jerusalem

By Michael Glackin
Daily Star staff

As humiliations go, it could have been worse. But short of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas being physically thrown out of this week's summit in Jerusalem it's hard to imagine how. Less than a month after getting his long-desired photo opportunity on the White House lawn last month Abbas received a dose of reality in Jerusalem.

Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon's two-hour dressing down of Abbas on Tuesday once again exposed the Palestinian leader's weakness. He can only gain what Sharon is willing to concede. And right now, Sharon has no new bones to throw him.

What are euphemistically referred to as "confidence-building gestures" such as removing Israeli checkpoints in the Occupied Territories and ceding full control of land, sea and air crossings into Gaza, particularly the reopening of Gaza airport, after this August's Israeli pullout are no longer on Sharon's agenda.

Should anyone be surprised? The sad truth of this week's Jerusalem summit is that no one should be shocked by its outcome, for it was actually predicted by this newspaper as far back as February.

When Abbas and Sharon met at Sharm al-Sheikh earlier this year the dye for all future negotiations was cast. Those talks centred entirely on security. Amid the smiles and back slapping, very little was said about a long-term political settlement capable of bringing peace to the region.

I wrote at the time that while handshakes and talk of cease-fires are welcome, there is no such thing as a free truce and the devil in the detail may well come back to haunt the optimism that has greeted the Sharm al-Sheikh truce. I warned the summit's mutual declaration to end violence that Abbas does not ultimately control and Sharon is unlikely to be bound by doesn't in reality offer much hope for the future.

And so it has proved. Militant attacks continued and Israel has reverted to its policy of targeted assassinations.

For Sharon only one thing counts, the security of Israeli troops during the upcoming Gaza pullout. Sharon will discuss nothing until that is completed, particularly since in his view, Abbas still needs to comply with the first phase of the "road map," which includes dismantling armed militant groups and confiscating illegal weapons.

Against fast diminishing support for the pullout at home, Sharon fears Israeli soldiers and civilians will come under fire when the Jewish settlements in Gaza are abandoned in August. Yet against the backdrop of plummeting public support for the plan Sharon cannot afford to delay its implementation. And Sharon's eagerness to pursue this policy is key.

In Jerusalem Sharon was dismissive of Abbas' appeal for concessions to help bolster his fast-shrinking credibility among Palestinians because the Israeli premier doesn't need a strong Abbas to ensure the success of the pullout.

Sharon can, and no doubt will, use the army to clear the area of any militant threat ahead of time in order to avoid a repeat of the Israeli Army's farcical withdrawal from Southern Lebanon a few years ago when Hizbullah sniped and harried the army across the border.

An Israeli show of force along these lines may well lead to the final unraveling of Abbas.

Not long after his election as PA president I described Abbas as so much yesterday's man he could barely be heard behind the embalming fluid.

Perhaps that was harsh, but for all the international goodwill he has garnered, Abbas is pitiably weak at home. Despite his landslide election victory in January he has failed to establish control over the PA government. He has failed miserably to tackle corruption and, as he readily admitted to Sharon, he has no control over the gunmen and bombers.

Meanwhile his assurances to Palestinians on the willingness of Israel and the U.S. to a two-nation state solution are increasing looking like cheques drawn on a failing bank.

His shortcomings have increased support for the hard-line Hamas at the expense of Fatah. Conscious of his plummeting stock value at home and worried about Hamas' success in this year's local authority polls, Abbas has postponed next month's parliamentary elections and failed to fix a date when they will take place. This makes him look more like the kind of leader the Middle East is trying to move away from, and definitely not the type U.S. President George W. Bush wants to entertain on the White House lawn.

So is the search for peace, which was supposed to be entering a new phase after the death of Yasser Arafat still on track? Abbas had a hard enough job convincing people that ending the intifada will secure meaningful concessions from Israel. This week's events have proved beyond doubt that Sharon isn't even paying lip service to the road map.

And by exposing for all to see the utter weakness of Abbas, Sharon may well have wrested the last vestige of control of the situation from the PA president to the gunmen.

Palestinians want a state and in the face of America and Israeli stalling on the road map, they are becoming more convinced that even if Hamas, through the bullet and the ballot box, doesn't offer a better route to achieving it, it is at least not allowing itself and the Palestinian people to be taken for a ride by Washington and Tel Aviv.


Michael Glackin is the managing editor of The Daily Star.



Copyright © 2005 The Daily Star

Israel angry with Iran's growing regional influence - spokesman: Tehran, 26 June:

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said here Sunday [26 June] the Zionist regime is furious with Iran's growing development, economic growth and influence on regional and Muslim states.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9299.htm

http://snipurl.com/fv9t



Second teen dies after shooting in West Bank :

Aviad Mantzur, 16, of the settlement Otniel, was fatally wounded in the ambush that killed his friend, Avichai Levy, 17, of Beit Haggai, on Friday. Mantzur died in Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital in Jerusalem.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/592464.html

http://snipurl.com/fv9u



Israeli soldier guilty of manslaughter:

An Israeli military tribunal has convicted a former soldier of manslaughter for killing a Briton who was helping Palestinian children to take cover from an elevated guard post in Gaza in 2003.
http://snipurl.com/fv9v



U.S. to Israel: Stop Expanding Settlements:

The United States has turned up the pressure on Israel to stop expanding West Bank settlements, Israeli officials said Sunday. In the Gaza Strip, military bulldozers began flattening former resort homes to prevent pullout opponents from occupying them.
http://snipurl.com/fv9x



Cartoon Of The Week : A Bump In The Road!

Bowing to U.S. pressure, Israel to curb arms deals : Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz last week agreed to comply with the Americans' demands regarding the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) deal with China and changes in the supervision of Israel's arms exports.
http://snipurl.com/fv9y



Israel apologises for NZ passport fraud:

New Zealand arrested two men - Uri Kelman and Eli Cara - in March 2004, who it said were working on behalf of an Israeli intelligence agency.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1400767.htm

http://snipurl.com/fv9z



Apology proves spies were in NZ: Clark:

Israel's apology for two of its citizens who illegally obtained New Zealand passports is proof the pair were secret agents, Prime Minister Helen Clark said.
http://seven.com.au/news/worldnews/89714

Riot Police Encircle Anti-Torture Protesters and Beat Back Those Trying to Break Through:

Riot police in front of Egypt's state security building on Sunday encircled a group of protesters demanding the trial of security officers accused of torture, beating demonstrators who tried to break through.
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB7OY9UFAE.html

http://snipurl.com/fva8

--------------------
The Fresh New Face of Israeli Defiance
--------------------

Right-wing youths are seen as heroes -- or pawns -- for protesting Sharon's pullout plan.

By Laura King
Times Staff Writer

June 28 2005

JERUSALEM; The detainee was the very picture of defiance.

The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/wo...-home-headlines

Video: Mosaic: World News Reports from Middle East TV For 06/27/05:

The nation's only uncensored compilation of daily television news reports from more than 15 countries in the Middle East. QuickTime Video.
http://snipurl.com/fw8r



War Pimp Alert:

Israeli Envoy Says Iran Nuclear Program Must Be Stopped :

"The clock is ticking, and time is not on our side," Ayalon said.
http://snipurl.com/fw8s

Israeli troops tell of tactics to abuse Palestinians :

FORMER soldiers in the Israeli Defence Force have come forward with claims of widespread abuses against the Palestinians amid what they say is a growing climate of "moral corruption".
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9318.htm

http://snipurl.com/fw9k

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-06/...ent_3159719.htm

Palestinian militants shell Gaza settlements

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?t...storyID=8942913

Israel police eject radical Jews from Gaza bastion

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-06-30-voa17.cfm

Israeli Army Storms Jewish Outpost in gaza

http://www.voanews.com/english/Sharon-Warn...se-Violence.cfm

Sharon Warns Opponents of Disengagement Not to Use Violence

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=720912005

Israel closes off territory after violent clashes

http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=8734

Israel shuts Gaza settlements

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FE7...7871A0CDC4F.htm

Israeli jets pound South Lebanon

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FE7...7871A0CDC4F.htm

Israeli jets pound South Lebanon

Video: Mosaic: World News Reports from Middle East TV For 06/29/05:

The nation's only uncensored compilation of daily television news reports from more than 15 countries in the Middle East. QuickTime Video.
http://snipurl.com/fy13

Two Israeli soldiers believed captured:

Confusion surrounds the fate of two Israeli soldiers, reportedly kidnapped in the West Bank city of Nablus.
http://snipurl.com/fy17



Good morning, settlers :

Suddenly the leaders of the Jewish settlers in the territories have become very sensitive people with respect to morals and values. All of a sudden there is nothing in the world more important to them than honesty
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/593544.html

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-07-02-voa18.cfm

Palestinian Authority Invites Hamas to Join Government

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/n...l_nm/mideast_dc

Israeli president fears Sharon assassination

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-07-12-voa27.cfm

Suicide Bomber Hits Israeli Shopping Center

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-07-12-voa55.cfm

US Condemns Suicide Bombing in Israel, Urges Palestinian Crackdown

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-07-12-voa15.cfm

Israel Issues Warning to Disengagement Opponents

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-07-11-voa40.cfm

Israel Seeks $2.2 Billion in US Aid for Gaza Pullout

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-07-10-voa30.cfm

Israel Approves Construction of Barrier Around Jerusalem

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/599246.html

three killed, dozens hurt in Islamic Jihad suicide; Israel vows fierce response

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/599244.html

Analysis/ Israel may renew policy of assassinations

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/599240.html

Analysis/The value of an Islamic Jihad pledge

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/599235.html

ADL polls: Americans back Israel, Europeans don't

http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives...20from%20it.htm

Suspicious Suicide Bombing Kills 3 Israelis, Wounds 30, Harms Palestinian Interests, Johad Leaders Dissociate themselves from it

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/EA0...96AC3F3B804.htm

Sharon shuts Gaza settlements
Wednesday 13 July 2005, 14:17 Makka Time, 11:17 GMT

Israel has sealed off all Jewish settlements in occupied Gaza in its most far-reaching move to choke off resistance to a planned withdrawal from the coastal strip next month.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday signed an order closing all of Gaza's 21 settlements to non-residents after ultranationalists announced plans for a march that could have brought an influx of thousands of pro-settler protesters in coming days.

The closure by the army - the second in recent weeks - enraged settler leaders, who may now step up anti-pullout demonstrations within Israel.

The army closed off the Gaza settlements on 30 June after days of violence between settlers and security forces as well as Palestinians.

Rightist opponents to Sharon's plan, which he has billed as "disengagement" from conflict with the Palestinians, have blocked highways and planted fake bombs.

"This is an incomprehensible act," settler council chief Avner Shimoni said of the closure. "Is there no democracy?"

Israel declared a closed military zone to prevent more settler supporters from swarming in and hunkering down to reinforce Gaza settlers vowing to resist eviction in mid-August.

Security officials fear that a hardcore of activists could turn violent, though most settlers have promised only passive resistance.

"The situation required it," one government source said after the border was sealed.

Support

Cars and trucks quickly backed up at a main crossing between Israel and Gush Katif, Gaza's largest settlement bloc, with irate drivers waving identity cards at police and demanding to be let through.

Most Israelis support Sharon's
pullout plan, a poll shows

Polls show most Israelis support the pullout, which Sharon says will boost the Jewish state's security after nearly five years of conflict.

But rightist opponents, many of whom claim a biblical birthright to Gaza and the occupied West Bank, claim it is a gift to "Palestinian militants" who have spearheaded attacks during an uprising against Israeli occupation.

Sharon's plan calls for removing all of Gaza's settlements and four of 120 enclaves in the West Bank, territories Palestinians want for a future state.

Between 8000 and 9000 settlers live in Gaza, cloistered from more than 1.3 million Palestinians.

The International Court of Justice has said Israel's settlements are illegal under international law. Israel disputes this.

Foreigners taken hostage

In a separate development on Wednesday, two engineers from Britain and Austria were being held at a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip after being taken hostage by a Palestinian family trying to secure the release of their jailed relatives.

A fellow employee of the two men, who asked for the pair not to be identified, said they had been abducted overnight from outside their house in Gaza City.

"We can confirm that two foreigners have been kidnapped and are being held at the Buraij camp by members of a family. It is not related to any political activity but a family dispute"

Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman

British diplomats said they were liaising with the Palestinian
Authority (PA) to secure the pair's release.

A spokesman for the Palestinian Interior Ministry confirmed that the pair were being held at the Buraij refugee camp, to the south of Gaza City.

"We can confirm that two foreigners have been kidnapped and are being held at the Buraij camp by members of a family. It is not related to any political activity but a family dispute," the
spokesman said.

Security sources said the family behind the abductions was trying to put pressure on the PA to secure the release of seven of their relatives who are currently in prison for activity that is not related to the conflict with Israel.

A Warning from Israel:

Circulating and publishing this text may constitute a significant factor in deterring the Israeli government, thus protecting the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip from this very possible catastrophe and contributing to prevent yet more war crimes from occurring.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9490.htm

http://snipurl.com/c0vm

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?Stor...18-091244-2809r

Sharon set to hit back at militants

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?ed...rticle_id=16891

Abbas fails to restrain Gaza attacks

http://menewsline.com/stories/2005/july/07_19_1.html

Egypt Requests Additonal Weapons

Israeli Forces on Highest Alert in Standoff with Disengagement
Protesters

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=E3FDB7:2F72C9D

Thousands of security forces face off with thousands of Jewish
settlers and their right wing supporters at Kfar Maimon, a communal
farm in southern Israel Israeli security forces have been put on a
high level of alert as they continue their standoff with tens of
thousands of rightwing opponents of the government's plan to pull out
of Gaza. The protesters have vowed to continue their march toward the
southern Gaza settlements, later in the day.

An Israeli soldier scuffles with an anti-disengagement activist at the
entrance to Kfar Maimon, southern Israel , Tuesday, July 19,
2005Thousands of security forces are already at the site and thousands
more could be sent, as they face off with thousands of Jewish settlers
and their rightwing supporters at Kfar Maimon, a communal farm in
southern Israel.

Police allowed protesters to camp there, overnight, but Public
Security Minister Gideon Ezra says the demonstrators will not be
allowed to continue their march toward Gaza. Speaking on Israel radio,
the minister said the authorities had made it very clear that the
protesters would not be allowed to head further west to Gaza.

Monday police and soldiers set up roadblocks and stopped busloads of
protesters from reaching Netivot, where the protest march began.

March organizers condemned the police ban against their protest action
and vowed to press on. Settler leader Bentsi Lieberman told Israel
radio negotiations will continue with the police. Mr. Lieberman says
the protesters will stay in Kfar Maimon during the day, but they will
continue to seek permission to continue the march in the evening.

The protesters hope to reach the Gaza settlements and prevent the
dismantling of the Jewish enclaves, scheduled to begin in one month.

The protest action comes amid heightened tensions in Gaza between
Israeli security forces and Palestinians, following a sharp rise in
violence over the past week. An Egyptian delegation has been in Gaza
talking with militant leaders to try to restore a cease-fire Israel
and the Palestinians agreed to, five months ago.

The Israeli military says it has lifted roadblocks in Gaza, which had
cut the territory into three sections and restricted Palestinians from
moving between them. The roadblocks were set up late last week, after
militants launched a barrage of rocket and mortar attacks against
Israeli targets.

Despite some measure of renewed calm in Gaza, sporadic violence
continues. A gun battle erupted Tuesday morning between Hamas
militants and Palestinian security forces in northern Gaza. And, in a
village near the West Bank town, Jenin, Israeli security forces shot
dead two suspected Palestinian militants.

Israeli Disengagement Opponents Remain Defiant

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=E4471D:2F72C9D

Protest enters third day as police continue to block march to Gaza

Supporters of the Jewish settler movement stand behind a fence as
police block protesters from leaving the southern Israeli town of Kfar
Maimon, near the Gaza Strip

Israel's parliament, the Knesset, today overwhelmingly rejected a
motion to delay the disengagement from Gaza and small portions of the
West Bank by up to one year. The vote came as thousands of
disengagement opponents remain camped out near the Gaza border in a
three-day stand-off with police.

The final vote on the floor of the Knesset was 69 to 41, with two
abstentions against delaying the withdrawal.

The outcome of the vote was not in doubt, but it was a last ditch
chance for opponents of the disengagement plan to make their move.

For many months now, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has done some deft
political maneuvering to ensure the plan goes through, despite hefty
opposition from within his own Likud Party.

Mr. Sharon says dismantling the 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four
small ones in the northern West Bank is vital to Israel's long-term
security and survival.

The issue has split Israeli society, with a majority still in favor of
the withdrawal, but a sizable minority, including settlers and
religious and nationalist hardliners, vehemently against it.

Opponents of the plan set their hopes on a mass protest rally this
week. An estimated 20,000 men, teenagers and women with small children
began a march to the settlement block of Gush Katif in the southern
Gaza Strip, hoping to then stay there and prevent its dismantling.
But, security forces blocked their progress and the protesters have
been camping out for two sweltering days and nights, surrounded by
police, in the small farming village, Kfar Maimon, in southern Israel.

By Wednesday morning the number of protesters was dwindling, with
police estimating that between seven to 10,000 people remained.

But, settler leader and protest organizer, Bentsi Lieberman remained
defiant. He says the protest will continue.

Mr. Lieberman says protesters do not want a confrontation with police,
but will still try to reach Gush Katif.

The Gaza withdrawal is to begin in less than one month. Much of the
international community welcomes the plan, hoping disengagement will
lead to renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice comes to the region, later
this week, for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders and to
ensure the disengagement stays on track.

http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?Stor...20-012537-9766r

Thousands of demonstrators ready to move
Joshua Brilliant

http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1059

Zarqawi Dilutes Iraq Netowrk, Leads New Al Qaeda Offensive in Europe and Middle East

From DEBKA-Net-Weekly of July 15 Updated by DEBKAfile
July 23, 2005, 8:49 AM (GMT+02:00)

DEBKAfile’s terrorism sources note Al Qaeda struck in Sharm al Sheikh Friday night, July 22, just 24 hours after US secretary of state Rice landed in the Middle East. At least 59 people were killed, 200 wounded in a series of al Qaeda car bomb attacks minutes apart. Britons, Dutch, Spaniards, Qataris, Kuwaitis and Egyptians were among the casualties. One Israeli was initially reported with minor injuries.

Egyptian police say there were 4 to 7 car bombs – starting at the Old Market area and following in Naama Bay near the Ghazala Gardens and Moevenpick hotels. The bars and market were packed. People fleeing from one explosion were trapped in another.

Last October, al Qaeda struck resorts in northern Sinai resorts including Taba Hilton killing 34, among them 13 Israelis.

On July 15, DEBKA-Net-Weekly 214 reported that al Qaeda was diluting its Iraq force for a major terror offensive in Europe and Middle East engineered by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and on its recommendation.

The countries targeted were named as Britain, Italy, France, Denmark, Russia – with the UK and Italy at the top of the list; and, In the Middle East, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Zarqawi in one recent release: Israel is in our sights – and very soon.

Al Qaeda’s ability to carry out tightly coordinated strings of attacks very close together in different parts of the world has shocked many terrorism experts. According to our sources, the organization’s networks are now operating across the Middle East, Europe and West Africa from a headquarters established by Zarqawi in Iraq’s western province of Anbar. This large area bordering Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia has passed under his control. To relay operatives, instructions, explosives and funds to the bomber teams on the ground, the Jordanian terrorist is working with Middle East criminal smuggling rings linked to European and African mafias.

The car bombs blown up at Sharm el Sheikh bore Egyptian customs marks, indicating they were imported from outside Egypt. One fairly easy route would be the sea car ferry connecting Sharm el Sheikh to the Jordanian port of Aqaba.

Exerpts from DEBKA-Net-Weekly July 15.

While the Bush administrations prepares a troop buildup in Iraq, al Qaeda is engaged in the elaborate logistic process of shifting 1,000-1,200 terror combatants out of Iraq and getting them ready to fight on new warfronts. Everything is done in total secrecy. The terrorists are first repatriated to their countries of origin and provided with new passports and identities, before going on to join networks in Europe and the Middle East.

Reporting exclusively on these surreptitious movements, DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s Al Qaeda and counter-terror experts estimate that the terror group has already kicked off its new offensive. The coordinated bomb blasts on three London Tube trains and a bus on July 7 was one of its initial strikes – although not the only one - and there are more are to come.

At least two major attacks already carried out in London and Damascus herald the new terror offensive:

The Syrian authorities have never released any figures or details of this attack. Scores are believed to have died and hundreds injured, including holidaymakers from Gulf Arab states, when a busload of armed men opened fire on the teeming cafes and restaurants of the Mount Qassioun resort overlooking the Syrian capital. DEBKA-Net-Weekly reveals here for the first time that it was the work of a Jordanian crime mob known as the Semadi Gang. They were aided by several al Qaeda adherents who were resting in Syria from their terrorist activity in Iraq.

Our counter-terror experts describe the Mount Qassioun attack as a landmark in al Qaeda methods as well as marking the onset of its Middle East offensive.

The gangster Muhammed Sharif Semadi who planned the operation has a lurid past. He spent time in a Jordanian prison where he got together with inmates associated with al Qaeda. After his release, he took his mob to Iraq and joined up with a fellow Jordanian, al-Zarqawi and persuaded him to press Jordanian criminal elements into service for the first time as terrorists. This influx would boost the terrorist network’s ranks while making use of the gang’s far-flung connections with crooks across the Middle East and Europe.

This experiment work so well, that DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s counter-terror experts report that Zarqawi has hooked up with another three large Jordanian crime outfits.

One is the Jerabiya Gang, which based in the south Jordanian town of Maan, a notorious stronghold of Muslim extremists. Another is the Mustafa Abu Roman Gang from Salt and a third is a mixed Palestinian-Jordanian group called the Kuwait Returnees, which engages in criminal activities to support adherents, but whose basic philosophy is religious and extremist.

Most of its members are Palestinians deported from Kuwait in 1992 after the Gulf War for collaborating with Saddam Hussein. One sub-faction calls itself “Disappointed with the Palestinian Revolution” and is dedicated to overthrowing Mahmoud Abbas.

Zarqawi designed an ambitious multiple attack for Jordan as his crowning venture. It did not come off. The scheme had four parts: One, to blow up the Iraqi-Jordanian oil pipeline from Kirkuk to Zarqa; two, to torch the hundreds of American and Jordan tanker trucks waiting outside Jordanian pumping stations including H4. The Jordanian-Iraqi border terminals were to have been attacked at the same time and the villages around the terminals and oil pipeline set on fire.

Four would have emanated from the first three: the cutoff of the main energy lifeline from Jordan to the US army in Iraq and Baghdad.

Jordanian intelligence got wind of the danger in time and aborted the plot.

DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s anti-terror sources reports that Zarqawi placed one of his lieutenants, Abu Abd al Raham al-Afghani in charge of this operation. His real name is believed to be Ismail Abu Awda. The man on the ground in Jordan was to have been Fahd Faiqi, a Saudi Arabian aged 26, who lives in Jordan and acts as Zarqawi’s main contact with Jordanian crime gangs.

It was not the only success chalked up by Jordan’s intelligence services. However, the information elicited from the dozens of detained members of Zarqawi’s networks and the frequency of the major attacks thwarted – an average of one every three or four weeks - sheds a sinister light on the Jordanian master terrorist’s immediate plans.

He and al Qaeda are edging the focus of their operations out of Iraq into new arenas.

The extensive operational network al Qaeda and its top-flight operations chief have laid down in Jordan is matched in Syria. This organization, according to our sources, goes under the name of The Organization of Syrian Fighters” (Tanzim Jund al Shem). Many of its Syrian members fought in Afghanistan in the late 1980s and early 1990s and have joined the terror war against US forces in Iraq.

Al Qaeda-Syria has two commanders: Abu Rida al Shemi, a Syrian extremist close to Zarqawi. He was falsely reported killed in battle in the west Iraqi Anbar Province; and Abu Huzeifa, about whom nothing is known.

All Qaeda’s Syrian logistical infrastructure depends largely on pacts its Iraq commander struck with elements of the two Iraqi tribes, the Rawi and the Dulaim, which straddle the two countries and whose sub-groups are scattered around the Middle East.

According to intelligence estimates, Zarqawi holds on to Anbar – a territory roughly the size of Texas - with a little more than 5,000 men, of whom roughly 1,000 are Saudi and Yemeni zealots, 300 Jordanian and an unknown number of Syrians, Moroccans and Palestinians. His firm grip on Anbar persuaded the al Qaeda hierarchy in Pakistan and Afghanistan that 1,000 men could be expended from other parts of Iraq and diverted to the new terror offensive outside Iraq.

In a message to his superiors, revealed here for the first time, Zarqawi offered his estimate that after three years of joint combat, Iraqi insurgents ought to be capable of running the guerrilla war against the Americans on their own. He therefore recommended reducing the terror organization’s involvement in Iraq to the minimum needed to retain its control and focus on preserving al Qaeda-Iraq’s grip on Anbar Province for use as a territorial base and springboard for attacks in other parts of the Middle East and Europe.

These attacks will aim at engulfing additional territories in the region and toppling regimes.

The onset of the new al Qaeda offensive in London, Syria, Jordan and now Egyptian Sinai, indicates that Zarqawi’s superiors gave him the go-ahead.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Death toll rises to 83 in al Qaeda car bomb attacks at Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh Friday night, July 21. Thirty-five of the 200 injured moved to Cairo hospital. Victims still trapped in the rubble. Mubarak arrives to inspect scene.

July 23, 2005, 1:37 PM (GMT+02:00)

Al Qaeda-linked group called Abdullah Azzam Brigades in Levant and Egypt claimed responsibility . DEBKAfile’s sources report the group is named for the Palestinian terror ideologue who was Osama bin Laden’s early mentor.

Russian, Kuwaiti, Dutch, British Saudi and Qatari tourists among the casualties as well as many Egyptians. One Israeli woman reported slightly injured.

First of some 4 to 7 explosions on Egypt’s national holiday - marking the 1952 revolution anniversary - struck the Old Market which was packed with tourists. Some 17 Egyptians were killed in a coffee house. Blasts then hit the Naamah Bay luxury hotels - a suicide car smashing into the 4-star Ghazala Gardens reception, another going off near the Moevenpick. Tourists in the bars and restaurants fled in all directions in panic.

Israeli government renews its warning to citizens to stay away from Egypt and Sinai. Last October, al Qaeda struck resorts in northern Sinai resorts including Taba Hilton killing 34, among them 13 Israelis. This latest attack is the most deadly since the 1997 Islamic extremist massacre in Luxor that left 58 dead.

Sharm el-Sheikh is a traditional venue for Middle East peace conferences. Last February, Israeli and Palestinian leaders Sharon and Abbas shook hands on a ceasefire there. President Mubarak’s winter residence is not far from Naamah Bay.

Copyright 2000-2005 DEBKAfile. All Rights Reserved.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


U.S. to seek sanctions on Hizbullah

The U.S. government recently drew up a proposal for the UN Security Council to impose an international arms embargo on the terrorist group Hizbullah.
The goal of the embargo will be to prevent arms from reaching Hizbullah terrorists operating in Lebanon.

London's Arabic newspaper Al-Sharq al Awsat, quoting French government sources in Paris, said the proposal has been conveyed to U.s. allies, including Britain and France.

The goal would be to disarm Hizbullah in Lebanon, which is moving toward democracy.

Iran is Hizbullah's main arms supplier, along with Syria, which has provided key logistic support for the arms to the Shi'ite terrorist group, which has been blamed for numerous bombings and attacks in the Middle East and around the world.

The report said the French group agreed with disarming Hizbullah but opposed an embargo as inappropriate at the present time.

http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrat...005/07_26/1.asp

Focus on Saudi

Saudi charity that financed mosques is credited for spread of Islam in Europe

JERUSALEM — Saudi Arabia has played a major role in the growing Islamic insurgency movement in Europe.
A leading Saudi charity, the Al Haramain Foundation, has been cited as the financier of mosques and other Islamic activity in Europe. Al Haramain, sponsored by the Saudi Islamic Affairs Ministry, was said to have financed Islamic insurgency activity in several European Union states.

A woman walks past a police officer as forces evacuate the University College Hospital, partially seen in the background, near Warren Street Underground station, in central London, on July 21.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Saudi influence in the rise of Islamic insurgency movements in the Netherlands, in particular, was reviewed by Manfred Gerstenfeld, a leading analyst. Gerstenfeld told the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs that a Dutch intelligence report cited several mosque organizations established through Saudi financing.
"The Amsterdam Tawhid mosque, which in the past has put extreme anti-Semitic statements on its website, is linked financially, organizationally and personally with the Saudi Al Haramain Foundation," Gerstenfeld said during an appearance in early 2005 and later published in a report. "Several other mosques are supported financially by Saudi charities."

In December 2004, the Dutch Interior Ministry published a 60-page report, "From Dawa to Jihad," on the threat of radical Islam to the country. The report, prepared by the AIVD intelligence service, asserted that 10 recruiters were stationed in the Netherlands to identify Muslim immigrants ready to fight for Al Qaida. The report said dozens of Muslims have been recruited.

Gerstenfeld said the Dutch report detailed Saudi support to mosques linked to Islamic insurgency movements. The report cited the Arab European League Movement and urged tighter controls over the flow of funds into the Netherlands.

"Three other mosques are linked with the private Saudi mission, Al Waqf Al Islami, that is related to key figures in the Saudi establishment," Gerstenfeld said. "Though not explicitly Salafist, there are several other mosques in the Netherlands which are supported financially by Saudi charities, private philanthropists or government bodies. Sometimes the payments are not made to the mosques directly but to the imams. The [Dutch] report considers both the origin and destination of this financing to be obscure."

The Dutch report said many so-called radical Islamic clerics in the Netherlands have studied in Saudi Arabia. The report also said Saudi Arabia has not fulfilled a pledge to fully report the kingdom's financing of mosques in the Netherlands.

Dutch intelligence has estimated the number of Muslims in the country at 1 million. About 95 percent of the Muslims are not considered an insurgency threat, but a government report said Islamic attacks have increased in the Netherlands since Al Qaida's suicide strikes on the United States in 2001.

"Also within the Dutch Muslim community resistance against radical forces is low. The moderate organizations and individuals are not able to counterbalance the radical forces," Gerstenfeld said.

"The ambassador of Saudi Arabia in early 2004 promised full transparency on financing," Gerstenfeld said. "However, since then, very little has happened on that matter. While there has been some recent moderation in the sermons, the AIVD now believes the incitement takes place elsewhere in smaller, closed meetings."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Charities that fund Al Qaida operating with impunity in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia continues to allow citizens to finance Al Qaida, including its insurgency campaign in Iraq, the United States has determined.
U.S. officials said that despite numerous appeals the Saudi kingdom has not arrested financiers of Al Qaida or related groups. They said the kingdom has also failed to freeze assets of leading Saudi financiers of Islamic insurgency groups.

"Wealthy Saudi financiers and charities have funded terrorist organizations and causes that support terrorism and the ideology that fuels the terrorists' agenda," said Treasury Undersecretary Stuart Levey. "Even today, we believe that Saudi donors may still be a significant source of terrorist financing, including for the insurgency in Iraq."

It was the first time a senior Bush administration official asserted that Saudi nationals have been financing the Sunni insurgency in Iraq. The Bush administration has focused on Syria's role in the flow of insurgents and funding into Iraq over the past two years.

[In an unrelated development, the Bush administration announced on July 14 the freezing of any U.S. assets of a London-based Saudi opposition group alleged to be linked to Al Qaida. The target was identified as the Movement for Islamic Reform in Arabia.]

Officials said Levey's assertion follows increasing U.S. frustration over Riyad's failure to stem the flow of private Saudi funding to the Al Qaida-aligned insurgency in Iraq. They said the Saudi government has not directly funded the Sunni insurgency.

Instead, much of the funding to Al Qaida and related groups has been transferred through three Saudi government-sponsored charities — the International Islamic Relief Organization, the World Association of Muslim Youth and the Muslim World League. Despite decrees by the kingdom, these groups continue to finance Al Qaida-aligned activities in Africa, the Palestinian Authority, the Balkans, Chechnya and Kashmir.

"Saudi Arabia-based and -funded organizations remain a key source for the promotion of ideologies used by terrorists and violent extremists around the world to justify their hate-filled agenda," Levey said on July 13.

In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, officials said Riyad has ordered a halt to charity collection at mosques and retail shops. But the officials added Saudi authorities have not enforced these orders.

The Senate committee was told that the administration has pressed Gulf Cooperation Council states, including Saudi Arabia, to lower their reporting thresholds for international cash transfers. Saudi nationals have relayed cash through couriers to Iraq, they said.

"We continue to stress in our discussions with the Saudis the need for full implementation, including a fully functioning charities commission," said Assistant Secretary of State Anthony Wayne.

http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrat...005/07_26/3.asp

FOCUS ON SYRIA

U.S. weighs strike on insurgency network in Syria

The United States has considered attacking Sunni insurgency centers in Syria.
Western diplomatic sources and analysts said the U.S. Defense Department and Central Command have been warning of the increasing activity of a Sunni insurgency network in northern Syria. They said the Pentagon has been discussing a U.S. strike that could end the network's operation.

"The Syrians appear to be encouraging some of this activity," a diplomat said. "It's clear that diplomacy hasn't worked and Washington is considering other ideas."

The insurgency network is based in Aleppo, the sources said.



[Ret.] Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fighters from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Lebanon, Sudan and Tunisia arrive in Aleppo and undergo recruitment and training by Sunni insurgency groups linked to Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi, head of Al Qaida in Iraq.
A leading U.S. military analyst said the American military could decide to target Aleppo. The analyst, [Ret.] Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely, said Aleppo has hosted the training of operatives for the Sunni insurgency in Iraq.

"If any military action is taken in Syria, it may focus on the training areas outside of Aleppo," Vallely said in a report by the Institute for Contemporary Affairs in Jerusalem. "The U.S. should not tolerate any terrorist training camps in Syria that support attacks on coalition forces in Iraq."

Vallely, chairman of the military committee at the Washington-based Center for Security Policy, said the Pentagon was also concerned over Syria's military capability. Syria has posed a weapons of mass destruction threat to the U.S. military.

"It is possible that chemical and biological weapons of mass destruction were moved out of Iraq between January 15 and March 8, 2003," Vallely said.

"The U.S. has satellite pictures of 18-wheel trailer trucks going to two locations in Syria and one location in the Bekaa Valley."

Flynt Leverett, a former senior CIA analyst, said the Bush administration has been steadily increasing pressure on Syria. Leverett told a recent seminar that supporters of a regime change in Damascus have increased in the administration.

"I think this administration is increasingly implying, even though it's not made a formal change in its declaratory posture, to say that it's seeking regime change in Syria," Leverett told the seminar co-sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Israel and the Gloria Center. "I think increasingly that is the animating vision for our posture towards Syria."

Vallely said the United States could also decide to target Iran's nuclear facilities. That operation would be limited to an air strike unopposed by such allies of Teheran as China and Russia. "If the

U.S. selects a military option in Iran, it would probably not involve ground forces," the Vallely report said. "The action would involve covert operations and would primarily be done by air. The U.S. has the capability to do what it has to." "I believe that if the operation in Iran is done correctly, the Iranian people will take care of the rest," Vallely said. "The U.S. does not want to occupy that country."


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U.S. targets assets of Syrian suppliers to Saddam's regime

WASHINGTON — The United States has begun searching for assets of Syrian arms suppliers to the former Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq.
The Bush administration has designated two Syrian nationals and a Syrian company as supporters of the Saddam regime. Officials said the Syrians served as fronts for arms sales registered for other countries but diverted to Baghdad.

The Treasury Department identified SES International Corp., Gen. Zuhayr Shalish and Asif Shalish as supporters of the former Iraqi regime. The department said it would block the flow of any U.S. money and assets to these Syrians and the Damascus-based firm.

"Zuhayr and Asif used SES as a vehicle to put military goods into the hands of Saddam Hussein and his regime, all while evading UN sanctions," Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey said.

Officials said SES was owned by Zuhayr and managed by Asif. They said the company procured equipment for Iraq's military from many countries. Syria had been designated the end-user of these orders.

"SES would then arrange for the items to be transshipped to Iraq, which allowed the Iraqi regime to obtain military goods in contravention of UN sanctions," the Treasury Department said in a statement.

The June 9 statement said Zuhayr and Asif assisted Saddam's oldest son, Uday, and former Iraqi presidential secretary, Abid Hamid Mahmud Al Tikriti.

Zuhayr also helped Al Tikriti flee Iraq during the U.S. invasion in 2003. Saddam's younger son, Qusay, was also offered Syrian help to escape Iraq. Qusay was killed in a gun battle with U.S. forces in Mosul in July 2003.

SES has employed former Saddam aides since the fall of the Saddam regime, officials said. One aide, Munir Mamduh Awad Al Qubaisi, was identified as director of Al Bashair Trading, one of Iraq's largest weapons procurement companies.

The United States has also ordered the freezing of any American assets of Syrian Interior Minister Ghazi Kanaan and Gen. Rustom Ghazali, chief of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon. The two were accused of directing "Syria's military and security presence in Lebanon and/or contributing to Syria's support for terrorism."

"Focusing on individual officials is a creative measure that strongly signals Washington's continued concern with Syria's disruptive activities," the Washington Institute said in a report. "But on their own, such designations are more symbolic than substantive. If Syrian behavior with regard to Lebanon, Iraq, terror and proliferation does not change significantly, additional designations and further measures may well need to be considered."

http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrat...05/07_26/me.asp

Focus on Middle East

U.S. intel finds evidence Egypt is secretly backing Iraq insurgency

U.S. intelligence has made a shocking discovery that has infuriated Bush administration. Egypt, which receives nearly $2 billion a year and is regarded as the closest Arab ally to Washington, has been helping the Sunni insurgents in Iraq.
Why? Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak fears Al Qaida-aligned groups seek to overthrow his regime

U.S. intelligence sources said a quiet investigation by military intelligence has produced evidence that Egyptian government personnel, including diplomats, have been secretly helping former allies in the former Saddam Hussein regime as well as elements close to Abu Mussib Al Zarqawi. The sources said Egyptian military intelligence has provided the insurgents with intelligence, some funding and equipment. They said the effort is part of Cairo's policy to influence Iraq's Sunni community.

"We are not talking about anything major, but clearly the Egyptians are involved," one intelligence source said.

The evidence is part of a turnaround by Mubarak, besieged by opponents to his continued rule. U.S. intelligence sources said.

Mubarak has been quietly helping Islamic terrorists in such places as Iraq, Palestine and Sudan in exchange for their agreement to leave Egypt alone.

Egyptian military intelligence has been sending weapons to the Gaza Strip from a facility west of El Arish in the Sinai Peninsula. The weapons are obtained from Saudi Arabia, Sudan and the Egyptian military.

Ironically, in Iraq, Egypt has been burned. Zarqawi operatives executed the Egyptian Ambassador to Baghdad, Ihab Sharif, in early July. U.S. intelligence sources said Sharif "stepped on too many toes" in the Sunni insurgency and tried to dictate the behavior of the terrorists. His execution sent a message to Mubarak that Zarqawi and not the Egyptian president would call the shots.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Al Qaida-backed insurgents turn to desperation tactics

Sunni terrorists linked to Al Qaida have become desperate for blood. They have thrown all their resources into a wave of suicide bombings, but most of them have been foiled.
As a result, the terrorists are trying a new approach. They are torturing and killing innocent Iraqi civilians and laying their bodies in the streets of Baghdad. The idea is that once a crowd forms a suicide bomber enters and blows himself up.

The method has already proved successful. On July 17, the bodies of two Iraqi civilians were found in the New Baghdad district of the Iraqi capital. After a crowd formed, a car bomb driven by a suicide attacker blew up. One Iraqi police officer was killed and eight others were injured.

Al Qaida has also targeted funerals. On July 16, a suicide bomber was stopped before he could detonate his explosives vest at a funeral for children killed in car bombing three days earlier. The terrorist was captured and interrogated.

Here's what Iraqi authorities are learning: Al Qaida has been angered by the foiling of numerous suicide attacks. Indeed, car bombings are down by 50 percent, a major blow to Sunni insurgents.



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British bombers and U.S. sleeper cells

The Al Qaida suicide attacks in London have dispelled any doubts that Osama Bin Laden maintains sleeper cells in the United States.
The four British bombers who blew themselves up in London's mass transit system maintained links to relatives and colleagues in the United States. Western intelligence sources said some of those people might have known of the plot.

One of the suicide bombers called a New York mosque just before he left on his mission. Mohammed Sidique Khan, believed to have been the operational chief of the cell, called a man associated with the Islamic Center in Queens. That unidentified man reportedly has been suspected of being a recruiter for an Al Qaida-aligned group.

Two others accused of being involved in the London attacks were also found to have ties to the United States. One of the dead bombers is Lindsay Germaine, who recently visited relatives in Ohio. Magdy El Nashar, an Egyptian chemist suspected of helping produce the bombs, studied at North Carolina State University.

Federal and state authorities are operating on the assumption that Al Qaida maintains a sleeper network in the United States.

Israel Pushes Back Estimates on Iranian Nukes
(Orly Halpern, Jerusalem Post)
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pag...d=1122776414371

Monday, August 1
Israel has adjusted its estimates of when it believes Iran will have nuclear bombs due to the belief that that Iran no longer runs independent military and civilian nuclear development programs. According to the new estimates, Iran will probably have a nuclear bomb by 2012, but could have the capability as early as 2008 "if all goes well for it," a high ranking IDF commander told The Jerusalem Post yesterday.

"We no longer think that a secret military track runs independent of the civilian one," said the officer in an interview at IDF Headquarters in Tel-Aviv. "If it were then they could acquire weapons in 2007... We have changed our estimation. Now we think the military track is dependent on the civilian one. However, from a certain point it will be able to run independently. But not earlier than 2008."

Gaza settlers face defeat, disillusion
Religious settlers gathered Tuesday to stop the pullout, but their mood
darkened. By Joshua Mitnick
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0803/p01s03-wome.html?s=hns

http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1065
Al Qaeda’s Appearance in Gaza is a Dangerous New Terrorist Manifestation

DEBKAfile Special Report

August 3, 2005, 1:43 AM (GMT+02:00)

Tuesday, August 2, Al Qaeda claimed the establishment of a Gaza branch called “Al Qaeda-Palestine, Jihad Brigades in the Border Land.” (This is an al Qaeda locution meaning warfront.) The announcement, accompanied by a video tape, appeared on Websites normally reserved for releases on major al Qaeda strikes, such as the Madrid, London and Saudi bombing attacks and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s operations in Iraq. It is therefore to be taken seriously. The statement came out three days after the DEBKAfile exclusive disclosure of al Qaeda’s purported theological grounds for attacking Israel, as expounded in its new monthly magazine, From the Tip of the Camel’s Hump.

Al Qaeda’s Palestinian gunmen performing on the tape claim the new organization is already in action and assume responsibility for firing rockets at the Israeli communities of Neve Dekalim and Gunei Tal in the Gaza Strip Saturday night, July 30.

Military tests revealed that Sinjal rockets, which are used by the Jihad Islami and are inferior even to the hit-or-miss Qassam missiles, were indeed fired at those two places. The gunmen who are heavily masked sounded very much like Gazan Palestinians.

Israeli intelligence experts on al Qaeda have three diverse theories to explain the new development.

1. This theory holds that the three most violent Palestinian groups, Hamas, Jihad Islami and the Fatah-al Aqsa Brigades, established a new umbrella organization to execute terrorist and shooting attacks against Israel’s withdrawal operation in two weeks while eluding the charge of flouting Abu Mazen’s orders. This theory does not fully explain al Qaeda’s introduction to the Gaza Strip.

2. Al Qaeda’s agents infiltrated the Gaza Strip through northern Sinai, the Palestinian arms smuggling gangs who work both sides of the Rafah border or Hizballah cells in Gaza, and set u p a new organization based on the Hamas and Jihad Islami.

3. The Palestinian Popular Committees which bring together the al Aqsa Brigades and other terrorist splinters has split into feuding elements, one of which may have joined up with al Qaeda, promised allegiance and collaboration and received funds. That money would have paid for the film and the two attacks.

Whichever mechanism was used, it is clear that the international Islamist organization has made its first public appearance as a terrorist force present in the Gaza Strip. In every country, this hostile penetration would have captured top headlines and the security authorities and government would have been challenged for explanations. However in Israel today, the government, defense officials are media are so deeply immersed in the task of rooting out every last civilian and soldier from the affected territory against all opposition, that they are incapable of reviewing that task in the light of the new invasion.

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Egypt`s top cleric rules suicide fighters are not martyrs - unless they attack Israel

August 1, 2005, 10:58 PM (GMT+02:00)

Sheikh Tantawi is Egypt’s senior religious authority and a close associate of president Hosni Mubarak. DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal that the new radical Islamic decree issued by an influential Egyptian figure to justify Palestinian terror shocked Israel’s high command.

Our military sources affirm that nothing was finalized in Maj-Gen. Amos Gilead’s talks in Cairo Monday, August 1, for Egyptian border police to be deployed on the Philadelphi strip in place of Israel units. Cairo is still trying to use Israel’s disengagement from Gaza as a lever to bring its troops close up to the Egyptian-Israel border on other sectors too.


Copyright 2000-2005 DEBKAfile. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1064

Al Qaeda’s New Publication: “The Jews” Are Unworthy of the Promised Land

DEBKAfile’s Exclusive Report

August 1, 2005, 10:10 PM (GMT+02:00)

Shown above is the cover of al Qaeda’s new print-Internet magazine Zerwat al Sanam, - Tip of the Camel’s Hump. A lavishly produced, professionally-edited publication, it reads as though Iraq commander Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was dictating his operational creed - yet another indication of his high rank in al Qaeda’s hierarchy.

A five-page essay appearing under the transparent alias of Abu Zubeida al-Baghdadi is titled: How should Islam relate to the Jews? This is the first time this question has been discussed in theological terms in any al Qaeda publication. The writer’s choice of name – a nom de guerre rather than a nom to plume - and the cover, both bespeak violence rather than polemic. From the first week of July, the terror group’s releases have included “Israel”, the “Jews” and “Zionists” in the same threatening context as “infidels”, “Crusaders” and “sons of Satan”, the epithets reserved for the Americans and their allies. This heightened focus on Israel and Jews dates from the internal directive Zarqawi passed to his adherents, which said: “Israel is on our list of targets… and very soon.”

DEBKAfile’s Islamist experts have translated passages from this article as it appeared in the new Tip of the Camel’s Hump . [Editorial comment appears in brackets]

Al Baghdadi divides Muslim lore on the Jewish people into two stages.

Stage One: Allah decided to test the Jews when they were still an oppressed people. [Ed. In Pharaohs’ Egypt]. He seeks to lead them to the path of faith and victory and therefore urges them to conquer the Land of Israel [acknowledging that Allah caused the Jews to return to and conquer the Land of Israel]. But the Jewish people’s main weakness emerges at this early stage. Its shoulders are too feeble to carry the heavy burden; the Jews always aspire to victory, but they are not willing to devote the necessary effort, sacrifice or sweat to achieve this end.

The Jews have learned and must still learn, says al Baghdadi, that there is no victory without sacrifice. [Al Qaeda’s followers, in contrast, are ready at all times to make personal sacrifices].

To this day, the Jews have not discovered that which heaven imparted to us [the Muslims], that Allah grants victory only to he who dares cross the threshold and face danger alone. But the sons of Israel want God to go before them and win their victory for them.

The writer here differentiates between God’s authentic representatives and Jews who, he says, make cynical use of the divinity.

Stage Two: Throughout the generations it transpired that Jews, unlike Muslims, do not fear Allah and are incapable of understanding that the world’s moving force is fear of Allah, not of people. For example, they are even more afraid to fight for the Promised Land than they are of God. [Ed. This argument attempts to portray the Jews as cowards who are scared to fight for their paramount value, the Promised Land, and willing to give away parts in order to shirk war.)

For this reason, says the al Qaeda essayist, the Jewish people does not find it hard to break the covenant between God and Abram, which awarded the Land of Israel to the Jewish people for all generations. [Ed.The writer is referring to Brith Habetarim, Genesis 15: 18. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.]

That is why Allah has despaired of the Jews, in the view of the al Qaeda essayist. After bequeathing them every possible means for securing victory and independence, God found his effort had been in vain. Therefore the time has come to get rid of the Jews, because that is Allah’s wish, al Baghdadi concludes.

He then discusses the best timing for a strike against the Jews. He warns that if it delivered too early, it could miss its objective.

In another article in the same magazine, President George W. Bush is challenged as a religious Christian. If he believes in the apocalyptical Gogmagog final battle against the “people of God”, says the writer sarcastically, why not let him have that final battle?

Much of the Camel’s content delves into the Scriptures to fabricate theological weapons for the radical Islamic war against Christians and Jews, thereby also supporting al Qaeda’s territorial ambitions. The voices behind the articles bluntly place the conflict between Islam and the West in the religious-territorial arena rather than the moral-social sphere.

Israeli soldier opens fire, killing 4 :

The windows of the bus were shattered. Blood stained some of the seats. A policeman with a bullhorn, standing near the body, addressed a crowd of thousands at the scene.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8826105/

http://snipurl.com/gr4k

After Gaza, Talk
Daoud Kuttab
August 16, 2005


Daoud Kuttab is the director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al Quds University in Ramallah.

The withdrawal of Israeli troops and the evacuation of Jewish settlers from Gaza, after 38 years of occupation, is the most recent proof of the limits of military power, even when that power is overwhelming. Now is the time to take stock of the lessons learned from the years of occupation and resistance in order to understand what Israelis and Palestinians should do next.

To begin with, it is imperative to understand how much credit Palestinians can credibly claim for the Israeli withdrawal. True, Palestinian resistance and sacrifices were a contributing factor in Ariel Sharon’s decision to reverse a policy he had espoused for decades. But it would be a mistake to attribute the Israeli withdrawal exclusively to Palestinian militancy. After all, this bittersweet Israeli action was neither a clear result of military defeat nor a consequence of political negotiations.

But unilateralism is not a rational long-term and effective policy, for it will not lead to a genuine and lasting peace in the Middle East. Just as President Bush has discovered in Iraq, Sharon will also be forced to acknowledge the limits of his strategy.

Unilateralism seems very expedient to shortsighted politicians, for it obviates the need for what they perceive as the mess of actual negotiations—that is, meeting their counterparts face to face and discovering the human results of their policies. Going it alone also seems politically advantageous domestically, because leaders can decide how much and how far they want to carry out a particular policy.

To be fair, unilateralism is convenient not only for a reluctant Israeli prime minister who does not wish to make substantial compromises during negotiations; it is also attractive to hard-line Palestinians who regard multilateralism as a means of pressing them to make unpopular concessions.

In any case, the day after the completion of the Gaza withdrawal, Israelis and Palestinians will be confronted with important unresolved questions. There is no doubt that the evacuation of Jewish settlers in areas that Israelis consider part of their God-given territory represents a huge ideological reversal. But after years of preaching and practicing one of Zionism’s main tenets, will the removal of settlements continue in the West Bank, or will this be a one-time exception?

Palestinians, for their part, will be expected to answer questions—in deeds, not just in words—about their ability to build a modern pluralistic state. How will the Palestinian body politic deal with the growing power of the Islamic movements that undoubtedly will expect a significant share of power in post-withdrawal Gaza?

The international community also will have to answer some key questions. According to the Palestinian Economic Council for Reconstruction and Development, annual per capita income in Gaza continues to average roughly $700, while Israelis enjoy incomes averaging a $16,000 per capita. In the absence of relatively well-paying jobs, what will happen to the lines of unemployed Gazans? The potential flight of employment seekers—a formidable force worldwide—is only one problem. More immediately, if Gazan families are not well fed, the recurrence of cross-border violence, if not the eruption of a third intifada, will only be a matter of time.

While the economic situation in Gaza is a critical issue, the future of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will be determined mainly by the next steps in the peace process. Permanent-status issues concerning borders, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and refugees must be dealt with bilaterally. Any serious observer of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict will no doubt acknowledge that there can be no unilateral solution to these issues.

As for the peace process’s multilateral guarantors, the United States and its quartet partners—the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia–have failed to provide even the most basic facts regarding Israel’s withdrawal or how it relates to the “road map” agreed in 2003. They cannot continue to sit on the sidelines. Washington’s quixotic decision to call Israel’s unilateral move part of the road map has failed to convince many Palestinians. The prevailing opinion among Palestinians is that the road map will be put into deep freeze once the Israelis complete their Gaza withdrawal.

But the Palestinian and Israeli peoples, their leaders, and the international community must all respond to the challenges that will follow. Most importantly, the future of the conflict and the chances for genuine peace in the region will depend on understanding the limits of offensive military power, defensive resistance, and unilateralism. Serious face-to-face talks, in accordance to international law and with the help of the international community, are the only way forward.

Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2005.

http://www.antiwar.com/orig/hadar.php?articleid=6989


August 18, 2005
When a Pullout Is Just a Cease-Fire

by Leon Hadar
The unilateral Israeli withdrawal or "disengagement" from the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of about 9,000 Jewish settlers from that region have helped produce dramatic media images, including mass demonstrations being held by the evicted settlers and their political supporters in Israel.

Dressed in orange outfits and waving orange banners, the members of the right-wing nationalist and religious coalition who have been the driving force behind the Jewish settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank and Gaza have accused the ruling coalition in Jerusalem of "betraying" the Zionist ideology of settling all the Biblical Land of Israel with Jews.

In fact, some of the leaders of the Orange Rebellion, including the two chief rabbis of Israel, have depicted Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as a "traitor" to the Jewish people, and have called on Israeli soldiers to refuse orders to take part in the forcible removal of Jewish settlers from Gaza.

Indeed, many of the militant settlers have threatened to barricade themselves inside synagogues and religious schools in the settlements and to mount a violent resistance, raising the prospects of a civil war among Jews in Israel.

The Israeli security services have warned against the danger that Jewish militants will attempt to assassinate Mr. Sharon and other pro-disengagement politicians and attack Muslim religious sites.

Demonstrating the threat of such acts of violence, a Jewish militant from a settlement in the West Bank killed four Arab-Israeli citizens riding on a bus two weeks ago (he was later lynched by a mob).

Political Divisions

Reflecting the political divisions inside Israel that the planned evacuation from Gaza has ignited, Benjamin Netanyahu, a leading member of Likud, Mr. Sharon's political party, has resigned from his cabinet position as treasury minister.

Mr. Netanyahu warned that the Israeli withdrawal would help turn the area into a "terrorist base" for anti-Israeli violence and announced that he would mobilize opposition in Likud against Mr. Sharon.

Some political commentators in Israel have speculated that Mr. Netanyahu's move is the first step in a political realignment that could lead to the formation of a centrist political party, led by Mr. Sharon and Shimon Peres, the head of the Labor Party and a member of the coalition.

Against the backdrop of so much political drama, it's not surprising perhaps that most of the international media covering the pullout from Gaza have focused on the evacuation that is scheduled to be completed by the beginning of the autumn as a "turning point" in the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and as a major stage in the process that could bring about an end to the violence between Arabs and Jews and provide the basis for a final accord.

Tactical Move

Instead, Mr. Sharon's disengagement plan should be regarded as a tactical move by the Israeli prime minister that is aimed at strengthening Israel's diplomatic and military position, and not as part of a grand strategy that will help resolve the conflict with the Palestinians.

Mr. Netanyahu and other critics of the pullout plan on the political right are aware that Israel's core security interests will not be effected by the disengagement from the Gaza Strip. Israel still retains the right to deploy troops and use its air force to retaliate against potential anti-Israeli violence in Gaza and to re-invade the area.

The Israelis will also continue to control the freedom of movement of more than 1.3 million Palestinians into and out of the Gaza Strip. And while the Israelis are planning to remove a few small Jewish "outposts" in the northern West Bank, Mr. Sharon and his aides have insisted that under no condition will Israel agree to evacuate the major Jewish settlements in the West Bank or to relinquish control over Arab East Jerusalem.

It's important to remember that even before Mr. Sharon proposed the disengagement plan in an address to an Israeli think tank in December 2003, a clear majority of Israelis had already expressed their support for removing the Jewish settlers from Gaza. This Israeli consensus has little to do with concern about the Arab Gazans for self-determination or a determination to make peace with the Palestinians.

What it reflects is a recognition among Israelis that their control of a quarter of land in the Gaza strip for settlements and farming didn't make a lot of sense in terms of Israeli interests.

Why should a large number of Israeli troops continue to protect the presence of a small number of Jewish settlers living in the midst of an angry and poor Arab population? If anything, the second Palestinian Intifada (uprising) that started in September 2000 helped to demonstrate to most Israelis the rising costs of maintaining the Jewish settlements in Gaza.

So the decision by Mr. Sharon to disengage from Gaza didn't display a willingness on the part of the Israeli leaders to make a "painful and historic sacrifice" for peace, as the Israeli prime minister and other officials have stated several times. Notwithstanding the images of political strife in Israel, Mr. Sharon knows that his plan to withdraw from Gaza enjoys the support of the majority of the Israelis, most members of the political establishment in that country, the U.S. administration, and the entire international community.

The opponents of the disengagement are a relatively small and noisy minority that have proved to be quite effective in orchestrating media events. And a split in the Likud Party in the aftermath of Mr. Netanyahu's resignation is not going to threaten Mr. Sharon's political position, since even if the current government falls from power, he is expected to win reelection as leader of a new political bloc.

Cost-Effective Move

From the perspective of the relationship with the Palestinians, the United States, and the international community, Mr. Sharon's move could also be seen as cost-effective if one considers the alternative, that is, the possible implementation of the "road map" backed by the United States and the Quartet.

If Mr. Sharon had agreed to reactivate this international process, he probably would have been forced into a set of diplomatic negotiations and the need to announce Israeli commitment to the creation of a Palestinian state and the withdrawal of Israel from both Gaza and the West Bank to the 1967 lines. Instead, the unilateral Israeli move ensures that the "road map" and the two-state solution would be put on hold for a long time.

That the Israeli withdrawal should be regarded as a tactical move was made clear during an interview last year by Dov Weisglass, Mr. Sharon's top advisor, who told reporter Ari Shavit from the Ha'aretz newspaper that the "significance of the disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace process. And when you freeze that process, you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state."

For the Bush administration, the disengagement process makes it possible to create the sense of movement on the Israeli-Palestinian front, without making it necessary for the Americans to become too engaged in a long and complex process of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that could lead inevitably to frictions with the Israelis, the Palestinians, and other players over the future of the West Bank, the Jewish settlements there, and the final status of Jerusalem.

President Bush and his aides are certainly not in a mood to repeat former President Bill Clinton's experience in the failed Camp David negotiations in 2000. Like in Iraq and the prospects for ending the violence and stabilizing that country, the Bushies are highlighting a best-case scenario when it comes to the chances of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian in the aftermath of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

They are counting on Mahmoud Abbas, the head of the Palestinian Authority (PA), to provide the necessary leadership to create the conditions for political and economic reform in Gaza and for continuing negotiations with Israel and comprehensive peace.

James Wolfensohn, the former head of the World Bank and the special envoy of the United States and the rest of the "Quartet" – the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia – is expected to lead an effort to draw international aid and investment into Gaza, while the Americans are trying to help Mr. Abbas improve the effectiveness of its security forces.

The hope in Washington is that the Gaza Strip under the control of a moderate Palestinian leaders would prove to be a successful experiment in building the political and economic foundations of a future Palestinian state, which will eventually include most of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and which would peacefully coexist with an Israeli state.

Most observers, however, are expressing skepticism about the ability to Mr. Abbas and his secular nationalist coalition to win the support of the majority of the Palestinians in Gaza.

The more radical Islamic Hamas movement is very popular, especially among young Palestinians who believe that its attacks against the Israelis have forced Israel to withdraw from Gaza.

It's not inconceivable that Hamas would emerge as a winner in a fair and open election in Gaza, which explains why Mr. Abbas could find it difficult to make major concessions to the Israelis over the issues of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to the villages and towns in Israel from which they had fled in 1948.

But even if the Palestinians and the Israelis will not be ready for ending their conflict and making peace, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza could perhaps create the basis for a temporary cease-fire.

And perhaps it will permit the Palestinians in Gaza to start building their political institutions and drawing investment from the Arab world and the West into their economy, which will probably turn out to be the best-case scenario when it comes to the realities on the ground in the Middle East in the weeks and months after the Israeli disengagement.