Archive for Mid-East News

| July 1, 2013
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John McCain: U.S. must aid Syrian rebels to keep Iran from nuclear weapons

U.S.Republican senator, in Israel, agrees with P.M.Netanyahu: Negotiations with Palestinians must be without preconditions.

By and Reuters

U.S. Senator John McCain said in an interview published Monday that arming Syrian rebels is an important step in deterring Iran from its nuclear ambitions.

Senator John McCain, left, speaks during a press conference with Senator Lindsey Graham

Senator John McCain, left, speaks during a press conference as Senator Lindsey Graham, right, listens on, Jerusalem, June 30 2013. – Photo: AFP

Speaking to Army Radio on a visit to Israel, the Republican senator deflected concerns that weapons provided to rebels could fall into the hands of terrorists, who might use them against the United States and Israel. Continue Reading »

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| June 30, 2013
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What the White House Doesn’t Want to Know About Abbas

 

Abbas’s autocratic rule and the frustration of many Palestinians do not seem to bother Kerry. The U.S. seems to want to bring Abbas to the negotiating table with Israel at any price. Kerry seems to be seeking to cut a deal with just one person — who does not even have the backing of his people.

By Khaled Abu Toameh

 

As U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry pursues his efforts to revive the peace process in the Middle East, Palestinian officials in the West Bank are complaining that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is keeping them in the dark and refusing to brief them about his plans. Continue Reading »

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| June 30, 2013
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German Report: U.S. spied on EU diplomats in Brussels, N.Y. & Washington

According to documents taken by whistleblower Snowden, NSA ‘bugs’ allowed to them to listen to conversations and hack EU computer networks.

By DPA

 

The U.S. National Security Agency allegedly conducted spying on European Union diplomats, according to classified documents taken by whistleblower Edward Snowden and reported by German news magazine Spiegel on Saturday.

Photos of Edward Snowden, a contractor at the NSA, and U.S. President Barack Obama in newspapers

Photos of Edward Snowden, a contractor at the NSA, and U.S. President Barack Obama are printed on Hong Kong newspapers in this illustration photo June 11, 2013. – Photo: Reuters

 

The NSA bugged EU offices in Washington and at the United Nations in New York and infiltrated internal computer networks, allowing the U.S. Continue Reading »

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| June 29, 2013
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American Jewish college student stabbed to death in Egypt

Andrew Pochter (ז”ל), active at Hillel & teaching English to 7 & 8-yr-old Egyptian children, was stabbed in Alexandria when protesting against the Muslim Brotherhood.

By REUTERS, JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt – An American college student stabbed to death during a protest in Egypt was in the country teaching English to children and improving his Arabic, according to a Facebook post on Saturday that appeared to be from his family.

Protesters demonstrate in Sedy Gaber in Alexandria, June 28, 2013

Protesters demonstrate in Sedy Gaber in Alexandria, June 28, 2013 – Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghan

According to the The Kenyon Collegian, the student newspaper, Pochter was active in Hillel, the campus’s center for Jewish life, and lived at the group’s on-campus house. Continue Reading »

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| June 29, 2013
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Amman Report: 4-way peace summit to be announced

Jordanian media reports Israel capitulates to advance peace-talks by agreeing to freeze settlements, release prisoners & define borders ahead of peace talks, according to unconfirmed Palestinian sources.

By Elior Levy

Jordanian media reported that a joint Israeli, Palestinian, American and Jordanian summit will possibly be announced soon, in a move which will signal the restarting of the stalled peace process.

נתיהו וקרי, מוקדם יותר השבוע (צילום: משה מילנר, לע"מ)

Netanyahu, Kerry earlier this week – Photo: Moshe Milner, GPO

According to the reports, which cite Palestinian sources, the Americans told the Palestinian side on Friday that Israel agreed to their preconditions of settlement construction freeze, prisoners’ release and defining the borders on which basis the negotiations will be held, though these will be implemented gradually, and not all at once. Continue Reading »

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| June 29, 2013
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Real Apartheid: An Italian Jew is Banned from Joining PA Delegation

He sent Abbas a letter, a missive from a proud Jew whose words show up the cowardly Italian gov’t & the openly apartheid policies of Abbas’ Palestinian Authority.

By Giulio Meotti

 

The concept of removing a religious or ethnic community from a certain region brings back the dark memories of World War II, yet has become mainstream when it is applied to a part of the land of Israel.

Hamas cartoon – Israel news photo screenshotA recent official visit to Ramallah, the “capital” of the Palestinian Authority, by the official delegation of the Italian city of Turin, and led by leftist mayor Piero Fassino, could not include the Vice President of the Jewish Community, Emanuel Segre Amar. Continue Reading »

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| June 28, 2013
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Egypt hurts Gaza’s tunnel smuggling operations curtailing taxes to Hamas

Egypt deploys security reinforcements & sets up roadblocks across the huge Sinai desert running from the Suez Canal east to the Gaza border, causing shortages in the Palestinian enclave and hurting smuggling taxes to Hamas’ leaders.

By

 

An Egyptian security crackdown has severely disrupted smuggling to the neighboring Gaza Strip, causing a fuel shortage, doubling the price of building materials and shutting down some construction sites in the Hamas-ruled territory.

Tunnel smugglerEgypt’s military clamped down on the lawless Sinai Peninsula, which abuts Gaza, in the run-up to mass protests planned for Sunday by Egyptian opposition activists trying to force out the country’s president, Mohammed Morsi. Continue Reading »

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| June 27, 2013
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UN demands Assad & Rebels halt all military activity in Golan Heights

UN Security Council extends mandate of UNDOF deployed on Syrian-Israeli border.

By Reuters and

 

 

The UN Security Council has demanded a halt to all military activity by the Syrian government and opposition fighters on the Golan Heights and called for stepped up measures to protect peacekeepers who have been caught in crossfire.

UN peacekeeping soldiers from Austria near the Quneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria, June 2013. - Photo by Reuters

UN peacekeeping soldiers from Austria near the Quneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria, June 2013. – Photo by Reuters

A resolution adopted unanimously by the council on Thursday extended the mandate of the UN force monitoring the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights until December 31. Continue Reading »

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| June 27, 2013
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Golan Peacekeepers now to be Armed with Machine Guns

UNSC upgrades UNDOF peacekeepers with machine guns, extra body armor & more armored vehicles.

By Gil Ronen

 

The UN Security Council on Thursday backed UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights carrying machine guns, as fallout from the Syria war increases in the ceasefire zone, AFP reported.

UN base outside of Quneitra, Golan Heights – Photo IsraelandStuffPP

UN base outside of Quneitra, Golan Heights – Photo: IsraelandStuff/PP 

The 15-member council passed a resolution to extend the mandate of the force, which monitors a three-decade-old ceasefire between Syria and Israel, but which called on Syrian government and opposition fighters to stay out of the zone.

The council strongly condemned three abductions of UN peacekeepers in the Golan since March and expressed “grave concern” at violations of the 1974 ceasefire accord. Continue Reading »

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| June 27, 2013
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Victory for Syrian rebels may bring broader regional war

 

Rebel forces being trained and armed by Washington are mostly radical Islamists, with many of them loyal to Al Qaeda.

By Israel Today Staff

 

A cousin and outspoken critic of embattled Syrian dictator Bashar Assad warned that if the rebel forces that America is now arming succeed in taking over the country, it will lead to a regional war including Israel and Turkey.

Warning: Victory for Syrian rebels means regional war

Syrian rebels – Photo from Israel Today

 

Speaking to Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz from New York, Ribal Assad noted that the rebels making up the Free Syrian Army are primarily Islamic extremists “who are worse than Nazis.” Continue Reading »

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| June 26, 2013
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Jordan’s king: Palestinians may launch Arab Spring if peace talks don’t resume

London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reports King Abdullah II warning of ‘new intifada or a new cycle of violence and counter violence’ if Palestinians feel prospects for a peaceful settlement of their conflict with Israel have reached a dead end.

By Reuters

Jordan‘s King Abdullah believes that Palestinians could launch an Arab Spring-style revolt if they felt prospects for a peaceful settlement of their conflict with Israel had reached a dead end, a pan-Arab newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Jordan's King Abdullah speaks in Amman, February 20, 2011.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II – Photo: Reuters

He welcomed efforts by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, but warned of a narrowing window for peace due to Israeli settlement building, according to the report in the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper. Continue Reading »

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| June 26, 2013
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Brokered deal with Obama, broken – Israel falls prey

After extracting Israeli apology for the Marmara raid, Turkey has yet to fulfill its end of White House brokered reconciliation deal.

‘Time to make Ankara pay diplomatic price for its nasty behavior,’ top official says.

By Shimon Shiffe

Despite the fact that Israel apologized to Turkey over the Mavi Marmara incident some three months ago, Ankara has yet to fulfill any of the commitments it took upon itself as part of the reconciliation agreement brokered by US President Barack Obama, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.

Terrorist ambush on deck (Photo: IDF Spokesman's Office)

Marmara raid – Photo: IDF Spokesman’s Office

Senior Israeli officials who are familiar with the situation described Turkey’s conduct as humiliating and disrespectful, adding that it exposes IDF soldiers and officers who took part in the 2010 raid on the Gaza-bound Turkish ship to lawsuits by the victims’ families. Continue Reading »

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| June 26, 2013
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2 wounded Syrian kids treated in Israeli hospital – 2nd time this week

IDF medics transferred the 2 civilian casualties, a child & a teenager into Israel late Tuesday night for treatment in Safed’s Rivka Sieff Medical Center.

30 Syrian civilians have been hospitalized there since start of civil war.

By

 

Israel Defense Forces medical teams transferred two wounded Syrian children into Israel late Tuesday night for treatment in Safed’s Rivka Sieff Medical Center.

IDF troops on Israel-Syria border

IDF troops on Israel-Syria border, June 25, 2013. – Photo: Ap

 

One of the wounded, a 15-year-old, is in serious condition after suffering multiple internal wounds and having already undergone surgery in Syria. The other, 9-years-old, is in moderate condition after suffering shrapnel wounds all over his body and losing his right eye. Continue Reading »

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| June 26, 2013
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Nigeria adds charges against 3 suspected Hezbollah terrorists

The 3 Lebanese men captured in Nigeria with a massive weapons cache admitted Hezbollah membership.

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
 

 

BERLIN – Nigeria’s security agency issued last week new terrorism charges against three Lebanese men suspected of membership in Hezbollah who were captured with a massive weapons cache.

Military officials stand near ammunitions seized from suspected members of Hezbollah after a raid

Military officials stand near ammunitions seized from suspected members of Hezbollah after a raid – Photo: REUTERS

The Nigerian media outlet Vanguard reported on Saturday that a legal representative for Nigeria’s State Security Service, Clifford Osagie, termed Hezbollah’s military wing a terrorist entity.

Nigeria’s military said in May that the weapons were to be used in attacks on American and Israeli targets.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| June 25, 2013
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White House trying to ‘rein in’ Kerry over pledges to allies & rivals alike

America’s top diplomat, US Sec. of St. John Kerry has issued several as yet undelivered & perhaps undeliverable foreign policy promises, including a historic breakthrough in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

By

In four months as secretary of state, John Kerry has certainly promised great things. Now he has to deliver.

In the Middle East, he has raised hopes his solo diplomatic effort can produce a historic breakthrough ending six decades of Arab-Israeli conflict.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on visit to New Delhi, India.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on visit to New Delhi, India. – Photo: Reuters

 

He has pledged to bring Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government to heel and to work with Russia to end Syria’s civil war. Continue Reading »

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