Israel & Lebanon: Tensions Rise

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

On Friday, Lebanon's ambassador to the United Nations, Noaf Salaam, warned that Israel is planing to attack Lebanon. He condemned Israel's artillery fire on the village of Houla on Tuesday and said that the Israeli response delayed and prevented Lebanese forces from investigating rocket attacks in the area.

The Katyusha fire launched from the Upper Galilee region of Lebanon was the first rocket attack since September and the ninth one since the end of the 2006 Lebanon War. A day later, Lebanese troops found and dismantled four rockets near the border.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman stated on Thursday that Israel had deliberately planned and organized the Katyusha attack "to keep the tension high".

Israel: Goldstone Report on Gaza Leads to Divisions in Government

Israel-Palestine: Peres “Hamas Used Children as Human Shields”
Israel’s Growing Problem: Will Its Ministers Be Arrested?

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

One of the little-noticed effects of the controversy over the Goldstone Report on the Gaza War is the tensions that it has caused within Israeli politics. On Wednesday, Welfare Minister Isaac Herzog criticized Eli Yishai, Chairman of the Shas Party, and Haim Ramon, Deputy Prime Minister during the war. Herzog claimed that the remarks of Yishai and Ramon were used by Goldstone to demonstrate that Israel had knowingly planned to commit war crimes:

The Goldstone report accuses Israel's government, not the military. The report concludes that the government knowingly decided to destroy Gaza. The report bases these accusations on remarks made by Israeli leaders who don't understand that their chatter has serious ramifications.

These are people with a lofty title but without any real influence on military actions. [These remarks] are part of a culture of spin, which has no meaning. People have to understand that words that are said have the power to ultimately harm Israel's interests.

Herzog is calling on the Government, for the sake of pragmatism rather than ideology, to work with the international community and cooperate with the Goldstone commission.

Afghanistan: Attack on UN Guest House Kills 12

Afghanistan: Resignation Letter of US Official Matthew Hoh
Video and Transcript: Obama “I Will Never Rush” on Afghanistan (26 October)

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

The Taliban have claimed this morning's attack on a guest house used by United Nations staff in the centre of Kabul. The UN says six staff were killed, while police report three attackers and three Afghan security personnel died in a firefight that lasted several hours. The attack on the guesthouse was in a high-security zone near several heavily-guarded government buildings.

One of Kabul's most prestigious hotels, The Serena, was hit by mortar fire. The hotel is a favourite residence for diplomats and Western journalists. No casualties were reported in the attack, although guests were evacuated to the basement.

While it is too early to judge the effect --- symbolic and political --- of this morning's attack, it brings back uncomfortable memories of an Iraqi insurgent attack in August 2003 on the central UN headquarters in Baghdad, while killed more than 20 people including the UN's special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello. The UN withdrew all operations soon after the bombing, which marked the transition from post-Saddam "liberation" into protracted conflict.

Israel-Palestine Inside Line: No Peace Talks; Row Over Goldstone Report (Video)

A Survey of US Jews: Support For Israel and US Strikes Against Iran
Hamas-Israel Deal: 20 Palestinians for Shalit’s Videotape
Palestine: Watching the Division of a City (Hebron)

Receive our latest updates by email or RSS SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FEED
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis

Fatah Holds Line on Israel's Settlements: On Tuesday, Fatah's Central Committee, the movement's key decision-making body, met with the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Last week's tripartite meeting was discussed during the meeting. The faction declared that Abbas must not resume peace talks unless Israel freezes its settlement construction.

Mohammed Dahlan, a committee member, said the panel told Abbas he must not budge, as "settlements and negotiations are two parallel lines that will never meet". According to Dahlan, Fatah's reservation on the peace process is also an advantage that can be used as leverage against President Barack Obama's insistance on peace talks "without preconditions".

Netanyahu Blasts Goldstone Report on Gaza: Richard Goldstone told CNN on Wednesday that Israel had targeted civilian sites during the Gaza War, though he stressed that he did not believe it was an Israeli policy: "Some of the killing...was certainly intentional. There was no mistake in bombing factories. The Israeli intelligence has very precise information."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NCcexzbAkw[/youtube]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisting that any trial by the International Criminal Court of the war crimes alleged in the report would deal a death blow to peace:

[The UN] could revert back to the days when it compared Zionism to racism. It's starting in Israel, but it will reach other nations and it will hurt the UN. Anyone who supports the Goldstone report and its conclusions is in effect against peace.

If the report reaches the international court in Hague, it will bring the peace process to a halt because Israel won't take the risks necessary to achieve peace if it is not assured the right to defend itself. Anyone who desires peace must stop this report right now.