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FULL ARTICLESMonday, September 8
Most Israeli officials have refrained from commenting on the appointment, but Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom warned there would be no progress in the peace process if Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat continued to control things from behind the scenes.
"As long as Arafat is in the region, he won't let any other leader develop," Shalom told Army Radio.
Shalom spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday to discuss Abu Ala's possible appointment, Army Radio reported. Shalom stressed Israel's position that Arafat continued to be the most negative factor in the Middle East and was directly responsible for the fall of Abu Mazen's government, the radio said.
Israeli officials at first refrained from commenting on the possibility that Abu Ala would be appointed as prime minister due to the assessment that Abu Mazen could possibly be persuaded to return to his post, after submitting his resignation on Saturday. Yesterday afternoon, however, Abu Mazen told reporters it was too early to consider a return to the Palestinian leadership and that his resignation was final.
"It doesn't matter which Abu is in charge," an associate of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Yediot Aharonot. "What will determine things is whether Abu Ala will dismantle the terrorist infrastructure or will just serve as another marionette of Arafat."
Powell: Palestinian PM must go after Hamas
Powell said yesterday that whoever was appointed Palestinian prime minister, his first mission would be to combat terror. "That person has to have political authority and the determination to go after terrorism," Powell said on ABC's "This Week.""We did everything we could to support" Abu Mazen, Powell said. "The major challenge we had, and he had, was that Hamas, a terrorist organization, would not stop its terrorist activities. And the Palestinian Legislative Council and Mr. Arafat and other authorities within the Palestinian community did not give Mr. Abbas the resources he needed in order to go after Hamas. We have to change that or else we will not find progress ahead of us," Powell said.
Powell also stressed that the United States was opposed at this time to Arafat's expulsion from the Palestinian territories, which would "put him on the world stage as opposed to the stage he is currently occupying."
Powell also expressed opposition to Israel's "targeted killing" strikes at Hamas leaders, saying Israel should consider the consequences of its actions.
Will Israel negotiate with Abu Ala?
International media reports said it "remained unclear if Israel would agree to deal with the new Palestinian leader." Shalom said last week that Israel would not negotiate with a Palestinian government headed by Arafat.Sharon has met with Abu Ala on a number of occasions, including in February talks aimed at achieving a cease-fire. Abu Ala, 65, also negotiated with former foreign minister Shimon Peres towards an interim agreement with the Palestinians that would have resulted in Israel's immediate recognition of a Palestinian state.
Considered a Palestinian moderate and a pragmatist, Abu Ala was a key player in the secret talks that led to the 1993 Oslo accords. Abu Ala is also considered an Arafat "loyalist" who has no intention of doing anything to undermine the PA Chairman's authority.
In a 1997 interview, Abu Ala told IMRA, Independent Media Review and Analysis, that there could be no compromises on Jerusalem, and that the neighborhoods of French Hill and Ramat Eshkol had to be part of a future Palestinian state. In 1998 interviews, Abu Ala said that the borders of the future Palestinian state would be based on the 1947 UN Partition lines.
Abu Ala, who returned to the Palestinian territories in 1993 with Arafat, lives in Abu Dis, east of Jerusalem. He is reportedly in good health after recovering from cancer.
By Ellis Shuman
Shalom: Abu Ala's appointment won't change things, if Arafat still in charge
From Israel Insider: http://web.israelinsider.com/bin/en.jsp?enPage=ArticlePage&enDisplay=view&enDispWhat=object&enDispWho=Article%5El2724&enZone=Diplomacy&enVersion=0&
European Union Declares Hamas' Political Wing a Terror Organization
RIVA DEL GARDA - European Union foreign ministers denounced the political wing of Hamas as a terrorist organization on Saturday following the group's claim of responsibility for a truce-shattering bomb attack in Jerusalem.
The decision, long sought by both Israel and the United States, opens the way for Europe to freeze the group's assets and place its leaders on a terrorist blacklist.
"A consensus emerged to decide on putting Hamas on the list of terrorist organizations French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told reporters, dropping France's earlier objections to outlawing the Palestinian militant movement.
Hamas incurred the EU's wrath after it said it was behind the August 19 suicide bombing which killed 22 Israelis and pushed the Middle East's precarious peace process to the verge of collapse.
But a Hamas official decried the EU decision to brand it a terrorist organization.
Ismail Haniya was speaking to Arabic television Al Jazeera after what he said was an Israeli assassination attempt against himself and Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in the Gaza strip.
"Let the world and let the EU, which is discussing placing Hamas on the terrorist list, witness this attack. We say to the Europeans you must be just and place the Zionist enemy on the top of the global terrorist group list," Haniya said.
Yassin and about 15 others were wounded in an Israeli air strike, the latest in a series of military attacks against Hamas since the Jerusalem bus bombing.
The Palestinian militant group is opposed to the state of Israel and has carried out suicide bombings that have killed hundreds of Israelis since a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began about three years ago.
A group of EU intelligence experts will start work on Monday to determine what action should be taken against Hamas.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, whose country has long urged the EU to join the United States in banning the political wing, suggested there would be swift financial repercussions.
"There was complete agreement that, given the outrage perpetrated by Hamas ... which killed so many innocent people and for which there was no conceivable justification, we've taken a political decision to freeze the assets of Hamas and other actions," he said.
Israel hailed the EU decision.
"It is about time that the whole of Hamas was put on the terrorist list and we hope this step and others will eventually stop Hamas's activities," said Haim Assaraf, spokesman for the Israeli embassy to the EU in Brussels.
The United States also welcomed the move. "This is an important step in halting the financing of terrorist activities. We look for the EU to carry through ... and to take action against Hamas on an urgent basis," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
The EU last year put Hamas's military wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, on its terrorist blacklist but held back from ostracizing the political wing, with France arguing that it had a potential role to play in peace efforts.
Paris also said it provided much-needed social services to the Palestinian people.
However, recent events have hardened attitudes within the EU, which is the largest aid donor to the Palestinian authorities.
By Reuters
EU denounces Hamas political wing as terror group
From Ha'aretz: http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/337267.html
PM Sharon Arrives in India for Talks on Counter-terrorism, Defense Systems
NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrived Monday in India, a prime defense client, for a visit underscoring a mutual struggle with Islamic militancy.
The prime minister made no comment to the media at the high-security airport in New Delhi, where he was greeted by 25 Israeli children waving flags and singing a song about peace.
Sharon's four-day trip to New Delhi and Mumbai is the highest-level Israeli visit to India since ties were established 11 years ago. He is to meet Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and other top officials.
The prime minister's visit, the first by an Israeli premier, dovetails nicely with the intensive Indian interest in terror. The mantra on everyone's lips - at least those who support the visit - is "common destiny, similar threats, and the joint struggle of two democratic states against fundamentalist terrorism."
According to the Indian press, a joint statement will be issued during the trip announcing closer ties in the fight against terror, increased intelligence cooperation between the two countries - including cooperation agreements against hijackings - and there might be a signing of an agreement about technology sales and Israeli training of Indian special forces against suicide attacks. Additionally, Indian officials will put the seal of approval on the sale of Israel's Phalcon advanced airborne radar package.
The deal has sparked protest from India's nuclear rival, Pakistan, which warned Monday of the "dangerous consequences" of military ties between Israel and India.
"I think such a collaboration should be avoided at all costs," Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan told reporters, adding it would hurt peace in the region.
Israel's main goal is to increase defense sales from $1.2 billion this year to $2 billion, government sources said. Sharon goes to New Delhi on Monday and will meet with the top echelons of the government, and on his last day will be in Mumbai, for meetings with the business community and the Jewish community. He returns to Israel on Friday morning.
The Indian authorities are not taking any chances at the luxurious Taj Mahal Hotel, where Sharon and his 150-person entourage will be staying from Monday evening. Two metal detectors have gone up in the lobby, loiterers are asked what room they are staying in and people telephoning from outside the hotel go through a brusque questioning from the operators about who they are calling and why.
Sharon's huge entourage can also expect street protests by left-wing and Muslim groups that note India has been a longtime supporter of the Palestinian struggle for self-rule and claim Sharon has no place in the land of Mahatma Gandhi.
Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Muslim cleric of New Delhi's main mosque, called on "all who believe in justice and democracy" to join a protest march Tuesday.
"Sharon is the man behind all savage and brutal activities of Israel against Palestinian Muslims," he said in a statement Monday.
The Israeli entourage is taking up several floors and dozens of Shin Bet security personnel are already evident everywhere. According to the Hindustan Times, there are at least 40 Shin Bet and Mossad field operatives directly responsible for the premier's safety while the local police will provide general security.
Indian officials explain they have a genuine concern about terror. A week ago, security forces shot to death two members of Jaish el Mohammed, the army of Mohammed, in New Delhi. India believes the group is backed by Pakistan.
Last month's terror attacks in Mumbai are also still fresh in the mind, as is the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament. The Indian intelligence community believes that terrorists could strike in the coming days, against key targets, VIPs or foreigners. Randomly leafing through the local papers from the past weekend shows that terror seems to be the top of the agenda now in India.
Most Indian commentators regard the visit as very important, and some call it "fateful" for the fight against terror. Many note that India has surpassed Turkey as the main customer for Israeli arms exports, that Israel is about to move past Russia as the main weapons supplier to India.
There are also those who remember that during the 1999 armed clashes with Pakistan, Israel was the only country ready to sell advanced weaponry to India. "For too long we invested in courting regimes that couldn't manufacture a safety pin," complained columnist Dileep Padgaonkar, praising Israeli defense technology.
Nonetheless, there are those who want to put the visit into perspective: "The great admiration in India for Israel's struggle against terror is part of our anti-Pakistani collective consciousness. For the Indian right, Israel represents the opposite of what Pakistan represents, and it is in effect 'negative admiration,'" says Hindu editor Harish Karah.
"The identification with Israel is marginal. Interests are the key here," writes Amit Baruah, the diplomatic correspondent for the Hindu Times. And Praful Bidwai, a popular columnist, presents it in its most extreme form: As far as he is concerned, the visit's proximity to 9/11 is nothing more than "cynical exploitation of both sides that together with the U.S. want to demonize their common enemy - Islam."
By Adar Primor and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies
PM in India for talks on counter-terrorism, defense systems
From Ha'aretz: http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/337990.html
Pro-Israel, Pro-India Lobbies Now Working Together in U.S.
Last July, the pro-Israel and pro-India lobbies in Washington, D.C. held a joint reception for senators from both sides of the aisle, prompting a reporter for The Washington Post to call it a "cacophony of accents" where "women in saris mingled among men in yarmulkes."
Tom Lantos, the Democratic Congressman from California, a Holocaust survivor, greeted the reception, emphasizing the commitment of Jews and Indians to respecting others, rule of law and democracy, and adding that lately the two lobbies have grown closer, because of a shared enemy of fanatic Islamic terror.
Cooperation between the lobbies only began in recent months but has already recorded some successes, including approval for the Phalcon airborne radar system sale from Israel to India, as well as an amendment added to an aid to Pakistan bill that requires the White House to report to Congress on Pakistani government prevention of infiltration into India. The next goal is to win congressional approval for an Arrow missile system sale to India.
Indian commentators are enthusiastic about the relationship. "This is the fulfillment of Pakistan's worst nightmare," wrote Indrani Bagchi, an India Today commentator early in August.
There are about 5.2 million Jews in the U.S. and about 1.8 million Indian immigrants. According to a Merril Lynch study conducted in May, the Indian community doubled in size during the 1990s, making it the fastest growing immigrant community in the U.S. Their median income is about $60,000 a year - many are employed in high tech - nearly twice the national average.
But unlike the Jewish community, which has 37 people in Congress, far beyond the Jewish population's proportions in the U.S., they are not politically organized. There's not a single representative of Indian descent in the national legislature.
That's one of the reasons the pro-Indian lobby regards the newfound ties with the pro-Israel lobby so important. "They are not organized around a temple, church or mosque," said American Jewish Committee staffer Eran Lerman, "and that makes it difficult for them to organize."
The AJC is planning to open an interests office in New Delhi and in November, AIPAC is planning to send a high level delegation of donors to India on a fact-finding mission. That same month, the Wiesenthal Center is sending a exhibition on the Holocaust to the Mahatma Gandhi Museum in New Delhi.
"The idea is to create cultural ties and not merely strategic military ties," said Rabbi Abraham Cooper of the Wiesenthal Center.
By Amiram Barkat
Pro-Israel, pro-India lobbies now working together in U.S.
From Ha'aretz: http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=337921&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
Documentary on Hadassah University Hospital Trauma Unit Wins Emmy
An NBC documentary on the trauma unit at Hadassah University Hospital in Ein Karen was last week awarded an Emmy at the News & Documentary Awards Ceremony in New York.
The documentary, entitled "Jerusalem ER," focused on Prof. Avi Rivkind, the director of the hospital's Surgery and Trauma Unit. The prize, awarded for outstanding coverage of a continuing news story in a regularly scheduled newscast, was accepted on behalf of NBC's Israeli bureau by reporter Martin Fletcher, who is also the bureau chief, his deputy, Gila Grossman and editor Paul Goldman.
The documentary was broadcast on the CNBC network, on the Brian Williams news show. According to Fletcher, he and his colleagues first found out about Prof. Rivkind during their coverage of terror attacks in Jerusalem. Fletcher says that he spotted Rivkind at the entrance to the hospital when victims were being brought to the hospital for treatment, and he became curious.
"The most important thing in television is to find the right character," says Fletcher. "Although we spent an uneventful day and a half with Rivkind, we found him to be a wonderful character, who understands the media well and is easy to empathize with."
This is Fletcher's fifth Emmy. Three of the prizes, including the most recent one, were awarded for work he did in Israel. "I feel terrible," says Fletcher, "that people here are suffering and my career is blossoming."
By Anat Balint, Haaretz Correspondent
Documentary on Hadassah ER earns an Emmy
From Ha'aretz: http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/338021.html
Basketball: Resurgent Israel Crushes Latvia
By Haaretz Sports Staff
Basketball / Resurgent Israel crushes Latvia to breathe again
From Ha'aretz: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/337674.html
