Archive for Mid-East News

| February 10, 2013
No comments

Suha: I tried divorcing Arafat a 100 times

Former PLO Chief Yasser Arafat’s wife, Suha, of 14 years, calls marriage to him a ‘big mistake’ explaining she wanted to leave him time & again but Arafat stopped her every time.

Ynet

 

Nine years have lapsed since the death of former Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, and his widow revealed that she attempted to divorce him over 100 times, but that he prevented her from doing so.

Suha and Yasse Photo: Reuters

Suha and Yasser
Photo: Reuters

“I loved Arafat, but the marriage to him was a big mistake on my part,” said Suha Arafat to the Sabah Turkish newspaper.

“I know there were a lot of women that wanted to marry Arafat. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| February 10, 2013
No comments

Pentagon study: U.S. anti-missile shield against Iranian missiles is seriously lacking

 

U.S. congressional investigators say $US-multibillion missile defense system for Europe faces problems that can be corrected, but the ‘adjustments’ could stir a diplomatic row with Russia.

 

Secret U.S. Defense Department studies cast doubt on whether a multibillion-dollar missile defense system planned for Europe will ever be able to protect the U.S. from Iranian missiles as intended, congressional investigators say.

A Ghader missile is launched from the area near the Iranian port of Jask port

A Ghader missile is launched from the area near the Iranian port of Jask port on the shore of the Oman Sea during an Iranian navy drill, Jan. 1, 2013. – Photo by AP

Military officials say they believe the problems can be overcome and are moving forward with plans. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| February 10, 2013
No comments

Hamas blames Abbas for unity talks failure

Hamas member, Musa Abu Marzouk, blames Abbas for the failure of the Egyptian sponsored reconciliation talks in Cairo.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

 

Representatives of Hamas and Fatah who met in Cairo over the weekend concluded their talks without reaching any agreement, Palestinian officials said on Saturday.

PA chief Abbas and Hamas leader Mashaal in Cairo - Photo by ReutersThe two sides met in a renewed bid to end the dispute between the two groups, but could not agree on the formation of a Palestinian unity government or holding new elections.

Musa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas official, held Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas responsible for the failure of the Egyptian sponsored reconciliation talks.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| February 9, 2013
No comments

IDF foils building of another illegal Palestinian outpost

Once again, Palestinian activists try constructing outpost in West Bank.

IDF arrives to stops setting up tents, then confiscates equipment.

Activist says, ‘Palestinians own this land.’

Elior Levy

 

Some 20-30 Palestinian and foreign activists tried to construct a new Palestinian outpost overnight, south of Mount Hebron in the West Bank.

Outpost near Burin, last week – Photo: AFP

However, IDF troops arrived at the scene and confiscated their equipment, the activists reported.

The troops took down the only tent the activists had managed to set up and stopped them from any further activities in the area.

The IDF confirmed that some 20 Palestinians tried to build an illegal outpost Friday night in south Mount Hebron, and that “Soldiers who arrived at the scene evicted the people in the outpost. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| February 9, 2013
No comments

Egypt court orders YouTube Blocked for 30-days over anti-Islam film

Egyptian Court orders blocking of YouTube for 1 month as punishment for broadcasting ‘Innocence of the Muslims’, which sparked some unrest in Muslim world. (View full Movie)

By REUTERS

 

CAIRO – An Egyptian court ordered the suspension of online video service YouTube for a month on Saturday for broadcasting a film insulting the Prophet Mohammad, state media reported.

Screenshot from 'Innocence of Muslims'

Screenshot from ‘Innocence of Muslims’ – Photo: YouTube Screenshot

The country’s administrative court ordered the ministries of communication and investment to block YouTube, owned by Google , inside Egypt because it had carried the film Innocence of Muslims, said state news agency MENA.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| February 9, 2013
No comments

The Hamas-Egyptian Lifeboat Alliance

 

The fall of Mubarak’s reign has been a blessing for Hamas, which has emerged as a major player. Now Hamas knows that it can always rely on Morsi & the Muslim Brotherhood to stay in power & increase Hamas’s influence.

By Khaled Abu Toameh

 

Did Hamas dispatch 7,000 militiamen from the Gaza Strip to Egypt to protect President Mohamed Morsi, who is currently facing a popular uprising?

Egyptian President Mohamed MorsiReports that appeared in a number of Egyptian opposition media outlets in the past few days claimed that the militiamen entered Egypt through the smuggling tunnels along the border with the Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| February 8, 2013
No comments

Palestinian diplomatic mission to Cyprus upgrades to Embassy status

Cyprus continues to support the Palestinians after their successful bid last year in the UN General Assembly to have its status elevated from UN observer to ‘nonmember observer state’.

 

Cyprus’ foreign minister said Friday that the Palestinian diplomatic mission to her country has been upgraded to embassy status.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arriving in Cyprus last week - Amos Ben Gershon / GPO

By The Associated Press |Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arriving in Cyprus, February 20, 2012.          Photo by Amos Ben Gershon / GPO

Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis said after talks with Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki on Friday that the upgrade is in line with Cyprus’ recognition of Palestinian statehood in 1988 along with seven other European countries that have also since become European Union members. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| February 8, 2013
No comments

Ahmadinejad Attacked in Egypt for 2nd Time

Now it’s an Egyptian citizen who attempted to assault Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

By Elad Benari

 

An Egyptian citizen attempted to assault Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Cairo on Thursday evening.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Cairo

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Cairo – Reuters

According to a report in the website of the Egyptian daily Al-Masry Al-Youm, the assault occurred at the residence of Mojtaba Amani, the acting Iranian ambassador in Cairo, during a ceremony commemorating the anniversary of the Iranian Islamic Revolution.

The attacker attempted to physically assault Ahmadinejad as he chanted, “Down with Iran, he must leave,” Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.

A journalist for the Turkish news agency Anadolu who was present at the scene said that the aggressor was swiftly removed by security guards. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| February 8, 2013
No comments

Dore Gold’s Lessons from the Eisenhower debate

According to former President Nixon, Eisenhower said that the Suez Crisis was the biggest foreign-policy “blunder” of his administration. There is substantial evidence that Eisenhower came to renounce his own Suez policy.

 

By Dore Gold

Israel should stay clear of the internal American debate over the candidacy of former Senator Chuck Hagel to be the next defense secretary. The identity of the defense secretary can have profound implications for Israel, but this is an internal American decision. At the same time, it is impossible to ignore one aspect of this issue which touches on the history of U.S.-Israel relations. Recently, David Ignatius, one of the leading columnists of The Washington Post tried to compare Hagel’s worldview to that of President Dwight Eisenhower, who had to contend with the joint operation of Britain, France, and Israel against Nasser’s Egypt.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| February 8, 2013
No comments

Chuck Hagel: U.S. Should ‘Reverse Optics’ in its Relationship With Jewish state

Former senator Chuck Hagel does not elaborate on his claim or explain how he believes Israel is keeping “Palestinians caged up like animals,” according to the Journal Star report. The comment is, however, consistent with Hagel’s long anti-Israel & anti-Jewish record.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

 

The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations recently published a recording of a speech given by former senator Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s highly controversial nominee for secretary of defense, in which he said that the United States has to “reverse optics” in its relationship with the state of Israel.

Chuck HagelIn order to restore its credibility as an honest broker between Israelis and Palestinians, America has to “reverse optics” in its ties with the Jewish state, the former Republican senator from Nebraska said in 2007, as first reported by Breitbart.com. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| February 8, 2013
No comments

Hezbollah status to be discussed at summit meeting by EU leaders

Despite Burgas bombing probe, European & Israeli officials are a bit skeptical that Hezbollah will be blacklisted.

 

Israeli officials expressed satisfaction Thursday that the question of placing Hezbollah on the EU’s terror blacklist was expected to be discussed at a two-day summit of the leaders of the 27 European Union states that began Thursday evening in Brussels.

Bulgaria bus bomb.

Bulgaria bus after terrorist’s bomb. – Photo: REUTERS

Though there was no expectation that any decision would be made at the meeting, one official said the very fact that it would be discussed by the European leaders was a step in the right direction.

Continue Reading »
Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| February 8, 2013
No comments

Syria denies Israel targeted missile convoy on way to Lebanon

In a letter sent to UN Security Council, Syria rejected statements made by U.S. officials, claiming Israel had struck a research center and not a convoy carrying anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbollah.

 

Syria‘s UN ambassador says there is “no truth” to reports that an Israeli airstrike last week, which seriously damaged a scientific research center, had targeted a convoy heading to neighboring Lebanon.

Israeli F-15 jets

Israeli F-15 jet – Photo by AP

International media reported on July 31 that Israel launched an overnight air strike on Syria-Lebanon border.

Syrian state television said the attack targeted a research center near the capital Damascus, and later aired video footage purporting to show the site of the alleged Israeli strike. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| February 7, 2013
No comments

Former Egyptian PM: Morsi’s gov’t nearing ‘end of the road’

From Abu Dhabi, his new home in exile, former Egyptian PM Ahmed Shafik slams his homeland’s current regime, implies Muslim Brotherhood is ‘insane’

By Reuters

 

Former Egyptian prime minister and air force pilot Ahmed Shafik, who ended his career amid corruption allegations and fled to the Gulf, is confident that with Egypt in turmoil seven months into its experiment with Islamist rule, its often-reviled political old guard will eventually be seen by Egyptians, and by Washington, in a more kindly light.

Shafik after 2012 election – Photo: EPA

“Egyptians reject the current regime,” said the last prime minister of Hosni Mubarak, the president who was ousted in 2011 after three decades in power. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| February 7, 2013
No comments

After being ridiculed, reporter apologizes for suggesting Israel bribed Bulgaria

Daragahi, a correspondent for the Financial Times only apologized after a harsh statement concerning his comment by HonestReporting.

By JTA

 

A correspondent for the Financial Times apologized for suggesting that Israel may have bribed Bulgaria to frame Hezbollah.

tweet

Screenshot

 

“Sincere apologies and regret for ill-conceived tweet yesterday about Israel and Bulgaria,” Borzou Daragahi, the London-based newspaper’s Middle East and North Africa correspondent, wrote Wednesday on Twitter.

The previous day Daragahi had tweeted, “I don’t doubt Hezbollah/Iran could be behind Bulgaria bombing, but also think Israel could pay Sofia to say anything.” He included a URL of a Reuters article quoting Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov as blaming two Hezbollah operatives for the July 18 bus bombing in Burgas in which six people were killed, including five Israeli tourists. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| February 7, 2013
No comments

Is Abbas the last PA president?

With the fading significance of the Palestinian cause those concerned with peace may need to consider contingency plans for a West Bank without Abbas.

Muhammad Dahlan was a possible replacement until allegations by Abbas that Dahlan had murdered Arafat using poison.

By MUDAR ZAHRAN

 

After Israel’s most recent military operation in Gaza, which ended with a cease-fire, Hamas has been claiming victory and enjoying popularity with the Palestinians, which comes as a setback for Hamas’s rivals; Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah faction.

Mahmoud Abbas Photo by Marc Israël SellemWith Hamas popularity on the rise, Abbas was left with one desperate option to boost his image: pressing his quest for UN recognition of Palestine as an independent state. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »