Middle East Inside Line: Israel's Settlements; Syria's Defiance

Pressure on Netanyahu over Settlements: On Thursday, fifty-six members of the Knesset petitioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to allow construction of a neighbourhood in the West Bank settlement of Ariel. The building would break Netanyahu's promise to freeze building in the West Bank for 10 months.

The neighourhood would house evacuees of the former Gaza Strip settlement of Netzarim, who have been without permanent housing since Israel's disengagement in 2005.

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Syria Takes No "Step Back": Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Damascus on Sunday and urged the West to "break its silence" in the face of Israeli "aggression" in the Middle East. According to Syria's official news agency SANA, Assad said:

The region has changed and the West's policy in the area is no longer acceptable, keeping silent over Israeli violations is no longer acceptable.

If the West wants security and stability to be established in the Middle East, [it] must start to play an effective role to contain Israel and put an end to its extremist policies.

Then, he defended Damascus' ally and neighbour Iran:

The countries involved need to change their attitude to Iran's civil nuclear program, because this agreement is an important opportunity to reach a diplomatic solution and prevent a tragic dispute in the region and the world at large.

Late Sunday, Foreign Minister Walid Moallem sharpened Syria's tone during a meeting with his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle. He said that Damascus "will not be a policeman for Israel" and added:

Why are arms forbidden to Arabs and allowed to Israel? Did Israel ever stop arming itself, did it stop instigating violence or making military maneuvers?

Israel is beating the drum of war. In the absence of real peace every thing is possible.

Israel's Drill and Hezbollah: Hezbollah has mobilized thousands of its militants in southern Lebanon ahead of a major Israel Defense Forces drill, "Turning Point 4", AFP reported.

While Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo ahead of his visit to Washington, Hezbollah's deputy head, Nabil Qaouk, said thousands of Hezbollah fighters will not take part in Lebanon's municipal elections on Sunday because they are preparing for the possible attack by Israel.

Israel has sent messages to Arab states about the drill, stressing that it has no plans to launch an attack.

Washington Approves Israel's Iron Dome Defense System: The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted in favour of President Barack Obama's plans to help Israel fund the deployment of the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system.

Lawmakers, by a 410-4 margin, backed Obama's plan to give Israel $205 million for its production of a short-range rocket defense system.

Middle East Inside Line: IDF Concern over Settlers, Israel's Warning to Europeans, Barak's Tactics, Chomsky on "Stalinist" Israel

Israel Defense Forces Concern over Settlers: The head of Israel Defense Forces' Central Command, General Avi Mizrahi, told the troops of Kfir Infantry Brigade on Monday that the recent spate of settler violence could lead to a Palestinian uprising in the West Bank.

The Kfir Brigade, created in December 2005, consists of six battalions who man 30 percent of the roadblocks in the West Bank and are responsible for 60 percent of arrests. Although the IDF is not aware of any plan, Mizrahi said, the IDF must be ready for any escalation in the territory and for the possibility of fighting the Palestinian forces, trained in Jordan by US General Keith Dayton. Mizrahi continued:

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In most of the settlements, there is no problem,. Most are normative – but another mosque arson, and yet another arson, and it all comes together. But Yitzhar, Gilad's Farm, Maon, they don't believe in us at all as a state. They want only one thing, and when someone loses his boundaries, you don't know where it's going to go.

"Hands off Gaza": The Israeli Foreign Ministry warned Turkey, Greece, Ireland, and Sweden that any of their citizens setting sail for Gaza would be stopped before they could reach the coastal territory.

Earlier Monday, Israeli security forces released and deported a Turkish national arrested this month for allegedly belonging to an outlawed Islamic group.

Israel's Barak Aligning with Obama: Unlike his coalition partners, Ehud Barak prefers playing the "good guy" within the context of a regional peace under Washington's guidance. Possibly because of benefits when compared to partners' "intransigence", the Labor Party declines to hit the media with conservative and provocative statements on Jerusalem.

Barak on Monday urged Israeli lawmakers to refrain from taking any actions or making remarks that might present West Jerusalem's opposition to the Middle East peace process, according to Israel Radio. He also said that Israel must work to increase the mutual trust with its top ally, the United States, and added that the proximity talks must eventually lead to direct talks with the Palestinians.

Chomsky's Response to Israeli Officials: Having been refused entry into Israel on Sunday, Noam Chomsky likened Israel to a  "Stalinist regime". In a telephone conversation with Haaretz, Chomsky said from Jordan:

The official asked me why I was lecturing only at Bir Zeit and not an Israeli university. I told him that I have lectured a great deal in Israel. The official read the following statement: 'Israel does not like what you say.

I find it hard to think of a similar case, in which entry to a person is denied because he is not lecturing in Tel Aviv. Perhaps only in Stalinist regimes.

Israel's Lieberman on North Korea: Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday responded to a personal attack from the North Korean Foreign Ministry, which called him "an imbecile". He said, "I see it as a compliment from the North Koreans."

Middle East Inside Line: Nakba Day/Independence Day; Deterioration in East Jerusalem; Israel's Lieberman "An Imbecile"?

Independence Day/Nakba (Catastrophe) Day: Palestinians marked Nakba Day on 15 May, remembering the day in 1948 when Israel declared statehood as the prelude to the fleeing or expulsion of some 700,000 Arabs from their homes. Hundreds of Israeli Arabs took part in a rally in East Jerusalem. On the same day, leaders of Hamas and Fatah displayed rare unity in a joint rally in Gaza.

Israeli Arab MK Jamal Zahalka said that if Israel's government were to go ahead with its construction plans for East Jerusalem, a "third Intifada would erupt," calling "what is happening today in Jerusalem a second Nakba".

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On Saturday night, the National Left (Smol Leumi) movement, Peace Now, and "Ofek" (the Meretz party at Hebrew University) organized a large demonstration near Zion Square in Jerusalem. Under the banner "Zionists are not settlers!", thousands of left-wing activists called for "an end to the occupation."


East Jerusalem's Deteriorating Situation: According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (Acri), "a unified Jerusalem does not exist and he truth is, two cities exist side by side":

- Only three social service stations operate in East Jerusalem in comparison to 20 in the West.
- Less than 50 per cent of schoolchildren attend public schools; 1,000 classrooms are needed.
- The annual budget allocation per elementary school child in East Jerusalem was $152 (577 shekels) compared with $627 (2,372 shekels) in the west of the city.
- Eighty homes were demolished in 2009, leaving 300 people homeless.
- Hundreds of streets do not receive rubbish collection services.
- About 160,000 Palestinianresidents have no suitable and legal connection to the water network and 50km of main sewage lines are lacking.

Acri said Palestinians faced discrimination in almost all sectors of life, "Israel's policy for the past four decades has taken concrete form as discrimination in planning and construction, expropriation of land, and minimal investment in physical infrastructure and government and municipal services."

The report added that Israel has expropriated more than one-third of East Jerusalem land which was privately owned by Palestinians, on which it has built more than 50,000 homes for the Jewish population:

- A majority of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, including three out of four children live in poverty.
- Only 10 per cent of East Jerusalem's 300,000 Palestinians have access to social services to help remedy the situation.
- 65 per cent of Palestinian families in East Jerusalem exist below the poverty line, as opposed to 31 per cent of the city's Jewish families.

North Korea Attacks Israel's Lieberman: Looks like Pyongyang is not happy that Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has called Iran, Syria, and North Korea .the "new Axis of Evil" because of their pursuit of a "mad arms race". North Korea's Foreign Ministry said Saturday that its government has nothing to do with any spread of WMDs and called Lieberman "an imbecile in diplomacy".

Turkey Inside Line: Ankara & Russia Press Israel on Hamas Issue

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Turkish President Abdullah Gul, speaking in Ankara, dared to raise a sensitive point for Israel: the inclusion of Hamas into indirect talks. Gul said:

Nobody should be excluded when these talks are held. Unfortunately the Palestinians are divided in two. They must be united and to unite them there must be talks with both sides. The Hamas side won elections in Gaza and so cannot be ignored.

When Turkey talked [with Hamas] it faced threats but it emerged that Turkey was right. You cannot achieve peace by excluding people.

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Medvedev added, "We are facing a human tragedy in Gaza."


Both leaders saw practical advantage in their emphasis on "the necessity" of Hamas's inclusion in Washington-brokered talks.. The bargaining power of both Russia and Turkey can be strengthened in the Washington-Tehran-Tel Aviv triangle and the Damascus-Tel Aviv relationship.

During his visit to Syria, Medvedev talked to Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal and told him to reach a settlement in the Gilad Shalit case, freed the detained Israeli soldier quickly.

Middle East Inside Line: Israel-Palestine Indirect Talks; Syrian-Turkey Meeting

The Indirect Talks Begin: Following a session of several hours, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Saturday approved indirect talks with Israel. At the end of the meeting, Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the PLO committee, said: "As far as we are concerned, the start of the indirect negotiations can be announced today. The negotiations will take one form: shuttling between President Abu Mazen and the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu."

Washington welcomed Ramallah's decision. "It is an important and welcome step," US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

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In contrast, Hamas's Gaza leadership denounced the PLO decision as a “stab in the back of our people” and said the organisation does not represent Palestinians.


On Sunday, following a meeting between the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and US Mideast envoy George Mitchell, top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that he hoped Israel would give the process a chance, rather than setting facts on the ground that will complicate the talks.

The indirect talks are scheduled to last at least four months.

The Turkey-Syria-Israel Triangle: On Saturday, Syrian President Bashar Assad was in Turkey to sign two cooperation deals with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, covering joint communications projects and border crossings. This is Assad's second visit to Turkey since last August.

In a joint press conference with Turkish counter Abdullah Gul, Assad said that Israel's hostile and uncompromising policy vis-à-vis the Palestinians undermines the Middle East peace process and added:

I do not think conditions are ripe for successful (Turkish) mediation, because Israel doesn't appear to be ready for peace. If there is even a one percent chance of war breaking out, we are working to prevent it.

Gul continued:

Syria has said it is ready to resume talks where they were left off. However, we have not heard from the Israeli side. It is up to them.

The Middle East peace process is the biggest problem in the world and the world should make a settlement of the conflict a number one priority. The region cannot take another war anymore.

What happened in Gaza two years ago was the last straw. No one in the world can condone or turn a blind eye on the repetition of such a thing anymore.

During a state visit to Moscow marking the 65th anniversary celebrations of the Allied victory over the Nazis, Israeli President Shimon Peres told Russian President Medvedev, who leaves Monday for a two-day state visit to Damascus, that he should “send him [Syrian President Basher Assad] a clear message: Israel is not interested in border escalation or a war, this is the last thing we want. We extend our hand in peace to Syria, but there must be one basic condition, Assad must stop his support for terror and stop trafficking weapons and missiles to Hezbollah.”