Israel Shock Announcement: Saudis Go Nuclear...All Tehran's Fault

The Latest from Iran (24 August): The 4-D Chess Match

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Last Saturday, the Saudi Arabian newspaper Al-Watan reported the statement of Saudi Arabia’s minister of water and electricity, Abdullah bin Abdul-Rahman al-Husayen, that Riyadh was looking at building its first nuclear power plant. The announcement follows a May 2008 US-Saudi Memorandum of Understanding on civil nuclear energy cooperation.

This all seems fairly straightforward. The Saudis, while sitting on oil reserves, diversify their energy production. The US bolsters a strategic alliance.

Except that, of course, in today's framing of the Middle East, everything has to be connected to Iran. Israeli defense officials immediately said that Saudi interest in nuclear power was connected to Tehran's continued quest for The Bomb: "The Saudis are genuinely scared of what will happen if Iran turns nuclear. This is part of their response."

Now Tel Aviv's defense officials probably know that the civilian nuclear programme of Saudi Arabia has been established jointly with the United States, since a Memorandum of Understanding isn't exactly secret, and has been developed within the framework of International Atomic Energy Agency regulations. But why pass up a pretext for showing the Iran-inspired “danger of the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Middle East”? After all, you can convert not only Saudi Arabia's interest but that of the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Yemen, Morocco, Libya, Jordan, and Egypt into a fear-induced response to the bad boys in the Iranian capital.

Fun Fact 1: Iran has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Israel has not.

Fun Fact 2: Iran has 0 nuclear weapons. Israel has (estimated) 150.

Video and Transcript: President Obama's Ramadan Message (21 August)

On Friday, President Obama offered a special Ramadan message to Muslims around the world. Celebrating the beginning of the holy month, Obama reiterated his “to do list” for a “peaceful” world. That list begins with a two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, withdrawal from Iraq, and the waging of a “necessary” war in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

And a special note for the domestic front: President Obama emphasized his Christian faith in order not to give any room for renewed speculation that he is a "secret Muslim".

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UncWt4VKZQo[/youtube]

OBAMA: On behalf of the American people – including Muslim communities in all 50 states – I want to extend best wishes to Muslims in America and around the world. Ramadan Kareem.

Ramadan is the month in which Muslims believe the Koran was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, beginning with a simple word – iqra. It is therefore a time when Muslims reflect upon the wisdom and guidance that comes with faith, and the responsibility that human beings have to one another, and to God.

Like many people of different faiths who have known Ramadan through our communities and families, I know this to be a festive time – a time when families gather, and meals are shared. But I also know that Ramadan is a time of intense devotion and reflection – a time when Muslims fast during the day and perform tarawih prayers at night, reciting and listening to the entire Koran over the course of the month.

These rituals remind us of the principles that we hold in common, and Islam’s role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance, and the dignity of all human beings.

For instance, fasting is a concept shared by many faiths – including my own Christian faith – as a way to bring people closer to God, and to those among us who cannot take their next meal for granted. And the support that Muslims provide to others recalls our responsibility to advance opportunity and prosperity for people everywhere. For all of us must remember that the world we want to build – and the changes that we want to make – must begin in our own hearts, and our own communities.

This summer, people across America have served in their communities – educating children, caring for the sick, and extending a hand to those who have fallen on hard times. Faith-based organizations, including many Islamic organizations, have been at the forefront in participating in this summer of service. And in these challenging times, this is a spirit of responsibility that we must sustain in the months and years to come.

Beyond America’s borders, we are also committed to keeping our responsibility to build a world that is more peaceful and secure. That is why we are responsibly ending the war in Iraq. That is why we are isolating violent extremists while empowering the people in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan.

That is why we are unyielding in our support for a two-state solution that recognizes the rights of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security. And that is why America will always stand for the universal rights of all people to speak their mind, practice their religion, contribute fully to society and have confidence in the rule of law.

All of these efforts are a part of America’s commitment to engage Muslims and Muslim-majority nations on the basis of mutual interest and mutual respect. And at this time of renewal, I want to reiterate my commitment to a new beginning between America and Muslims around the world.

As I said in Cairo, this new beginning must be borne out in a sustained effort to listen to each other, to learn from each other, to respect one another, and to seek common ground. I believe an important part of this is listening, and in the last two months, American embassies around the world have reached out not just to governments, but directly to people in Muslim-majority countries. From around the world, we have received an outpouring of feedback about how America can be a partner on behalf of peoples’ aspirations.

We have listened. And like you, we are focused on pursuing concrete actions that will make a difference over time – both in terms of the political and security issues that I have discussed, and in the areas that you have told us will make the most difference in peoples’ lives.

These consultations are helping us implement the partnerships that I called for in Cairo – to expand education exchange programs; to foster entrepreneurship and create jobs; and to increase collaboration on science and technology, while supporting literacy and vocational learning.

We are also moving forward in partnering with the OIC and OIC member states to eradicate polio, while working closely with the international community to confront common health challenges like H1N1 – which I know is of particular to concern to many Muslims preparing for the upcoming hajj.

All of these efforts are aimed at advancing our common aspirations – to live in peace and security; to get an education and to work with dignity; to love our families, our communities, and our God. It will take time and patient effort. We cannot change things over night, but we can honestly resolve to do what must be done, while setting off in a new direction – toward the destination that we seek for ourselves, and for our children. That is the journey that we must travel together.

I look forward to continuing this critically important dialogue and turning it into action. And today, I want to wish Muslims across America and around the world a blessed month as you welcome the beginning of Ramadan. May God’s peace be upon you.

Saturday Debate: Prosperity or Invasion in the West Bank?

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Israel's high-profile Ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, has been on an intense public-relations campaign over the last week. He had a nice chat with Fareed Zakaria on CNN and then wrote last week in the  On August 13, The Wall Street Journal published "The West Bank Success Story". Oren explained that the economy of the West Bank has been flourishing because of the decline of terrorism and corruption and because of Israel’s contribution to the area's financial boom. After “the Palestinian initiative [on security] and the responsible fiscal policies of West Bank leaders”, supported by Israel’s initiatives through “removing dozens of checkpoints and road blocks, withdrawing Israeli troops from population centers, and facilitating transportation into both Israel and Jordan”, the West Bank is enjoying “an annual economic growth rate of 7%, declining unemployment, a thriving tourism industry, and a 24% hike in the average daily wage". Meanwhile, in Gaza, “Hamas has spent millions of dollars restocking its supply of rockets and mortar shells”.

Slovaj Zizek, not quite as high-profile as Oren, begs to disagree. Zizek, the international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, wrote on Tuesday, "Quiet slicing of the West Bank makes abstract prayers for peace obscene". Zizek claims, "While paying lip-service to the two-state solution, Israel is busy creating a situation on the ground that will render such a solution impossible.” Israel’s “bureaucratic invasion” of the West Bank, with legal  settlement constructions, is the main obstacle to peace:

The state of Israel is clearly engaged in a slow, invisible process, ignored by the media; one day, the world will awake and discover that there is no more Palestinian West Bank, that the land is Palestinian-free, and that we must accept the fact. The map of the Palestinian West Bank already looks like a fragmented archipelago.

So, what do you think? Is the Netanyahu Government deliberately slowing the peace process through “the pretext of economic flourishing”, whose primary outcome is the widening of the gap between Gazans and the inhabitants of the West Bank? Or is this economic growth the only way to reach a settlement through a “bottom-up” process, even if the issue of settlements is still a political problem to be resolved?

West Bank Success Story

The Palestinians are flourishing economically. Unless they live in Gaza.
Michael B. Oren

Imagine an annual economic growth rate of 7%, declining unemployment, a thriving tourism industry, and a 24% hike in the average daily wage. Where in today's gloomy global market could one find such gleaming forecasts? Singapore? Brazil? Guess again. The West Bank.

Read rest of article....

Quiet slicing of the West Bank makes abstract prayers for peace obscene

Condemnation of 'illegal' settlements and violence only blurs the reality of what the Israeli state is sanctioning, day by day.
By Slovaj Zizek

On 2 August 2009, after cordoning off part of the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in east Jerusalem, Israeli police evicted two Palestinian families (more than 50 people) from their homes; Jewish settlers immediately moved into the emptied houses. Although Israeli police cited a ruling by the country's supreme court, the evicted Arab families had been living there for more than 50 years. The event – which, rather exceptionally, did attract the attention of the world media – is part of a much larger and mostly ignored ongoing process.

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Turkey and Israel: Will There Be a Misstep in Their Diplomatic Dance?

Turkey: Manoeuvring Against Israel Over Palestine
Shifting Alliances: The Israel-Turkey-Syria Triangle

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The complex dance between Ankara and Tel Aviv --- how does one keep in step on vital economic and military ties when there are so many tricky political issues to negotiate? --- continues.

On Monday, the military relationship got a symbolic and real boost with Turkish, Israeli, and American participation in the annual Reliant Mermaid search-and-rescue naval exercise in the Mediterranean. On the other hand, the Turkish Government’s criticism of Israel policies, pursued in part for domestic political benefits, has not come to an end.

Last week Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Israel would no longer be a part of Turkish-mediated talks with Syria. Ayalon added that this was not because of Ankara's "failure” but because of Syria’s “intransigence”, but this was not enough for Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu. Davutoglu said this week that the time has come for Israel to openly display its will for peace, if it has any such intentions.

The daily manipulations and challenges in diplomatic circles continue to overshadow the strong links between the security institutions of Turkey and Israel. So a vital question emerges, beyond Ankara's domestic calculations. If Israel continues to pursue policies at odds with Turkey's manoeuvres with Middle East states, which gives way: Ankara's hopes for expansion of influence in the region or its economic-military bonds with the country hindering that grand strategy?

Israel and Sweden: When Democracies Fight

UPDATE 1300 GMT: The Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, Danny Ayalon, spreads his message by Twitter: "Calling on the Swedish government to strongly condemn these accusations"

Warning lights are blinking for the diplomatic relationship between Sweden and Israel. First, the "shocking" news came from a Swedish court in April that an Egyptian-born Palestinian found guilty of terror attacks against U.S. and Jewish targets in the 1980s could have his life sentence commuted to a 30-year prison term.

Then, on 4 August, Sweden criticized the State of Israel via the Swedish President of the European Union said, "The presidency of the European Union reiterates its serious concerns about the continued and unacceptable evictions in east Jerusalem, notably the evictions by Israeli authorities of two families….House demolitions, evictions and settlement activities in east Jerusalem are illegal under international law."

After the release of the report of the Jerusalem-based conservative NGO Monitor criticising “Swedish government funding for radical NGOs under the guise of human rights and humanitarian aid", eyes returned to Stockholm when the Swedish government declared on August 12 that 50 million Kronor ($6.9 million) would be given to the Palestinian Authority to help pay wages and pensions of local officials.

And that is not the end of the story. On Tuesday, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz printed Donald Boström’s claim, from his article in Sweden's largest daily newspaper, the left-leaning Aftonbladet, that Israeli soldiers are abducting Palestinians to steal their organs:

"Our sons are used as involuntary organ donors," relatives of Khaled from Nablus said to me, as did the mother of Raed from Jenin as well as the uncles of Machmod and Nafes from Gaza, who all had disappeared for a few days and returned by night, dead and autopsied.

Israeli diplomatic circles reacted with fury. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Yigal Palmor called the newspaper's decision to publish "a mark of disgrace": "In a democratic country, there should be no place for dark blood libels out of the Middle Ages of this type….This is an article that shames Swedish democracy and the entire Swedish press."

There has been no reaction from the Swedish Government to the latest Israeli statements.