The Murders at al-Sukariya

On October 26, 2008, U.S. helicopters stormed a farm near the Iraq-Syria border in order to assassinate leading al-Qaeda operative Abu Ghadiya. One year later, the authors report from Syria that the raid may have been botched, and the lives of seven innocent civilians were mistakenly taken instead.
By Reese Erlich and Peter Coyote
Vanity Fair, WEB EXCLUSIVE October 22, 2009

Shells from the air are tearing out chunks of concrete, punching holes through the cinder blocks as if it were paper. The noise of the guns and motors is deafening. Hamid pulls himself along the rutted ground, peers fearfully over the edge of the bank, and slithers away, taking advantage of a lone tree for cover. He does not understand what is happening.

Some of the eight soldiers on the ground move forward and take up positions outside the high walls, but they don’t seem to notice him. The hovering helicopters continue firing, tearing up the ground between him and the farm. “I thought it was safe because they didn’t shoot at me,” Hamid says later. After watching for about 15 minutes, he jumps on his bike to escape but, he says, “that’s when they shot me.” A bullet rips through his right arm, breaking it, mangling the muscles and nerves badly, and knocking him to the ground. Struggling to his feet, he sees the soldiers watching him as they climb into the helicopters and leave. “I was the last one they shot,” he recalls. “No one was shooting at the soldiers,” Hamid continues with certainty. “No one was shooting back.”

AKRAM HAMID: "I was the last one they shot."

…..Larry Johnson, a former C.I.A. analyst …who has spoken to people with knowledge of the raid, says the U.S. was sending a message to the Syrians: “We’ve told you in the past to stop it. Now we’re serious.” He calls the raid “a Jim Croce incident,” referring to the 1970s singer known for the lyrics “You don’t tug on Superman’s cape / You don’t spit into the wind / You don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger / And you don’t mess around with Jim.”…

At dusk, Suad al-Khalf sat on the bare floor of the tent while Hassan ran in and out. The weather was temperate and the sides of the tent flapped lightly. Five construction workers got ready to quit for the day: the foreman, Daud Mohammad Abdullah, and his four sons, Ibrahim, Thiab, Awad, and 16-year-old Faisal. At about 4:30 p.m., Ahmad Raka al-Khalifa, a neighbor, walked over to visit with the workers.

The men were laughing and relaxing after a hard day’s work when they heard helicopter engines overhead. Laughter turned to surprise, then panic. The helicopters rolled in, according to eyewitnesses, machine guns blazing away, drilling holes in the iron gate and concrete wall closest to the Euphrates. The machine guns and assault rifles fired so rapidly that the muzzles appeared to be shooting flames.

According to Suad al-Khalf, two helicopters landed inside the walls. (Another witness, Hamid, the mechanic, remembers seeing only one go in.) Dirt was blowing everywhere as soldiers leapt from the bellies of the aircraft. They quickly shot and killed the construction workers and the neighbor. “No one fired back because no one had weapons,” says al-Khalf, who, unaware of the level of carnage, stayed inside the tent and grabbed her son.

A U.S. soldier then entered the tent carrying an assault rifle. He looked at al-Khalf and Hassan and walked out. Another soldier followed moments later. He made a palm-down gesture with his hand—the universal signal for “do not move.” Al-Khalf did not. But the big man with the gun frightened Hassan, and he fled from the tent. Without thinking, his mother followed him outside. It was then that they shot her, and she fell to the ground, like the others lying along the walls……

Once the copters had pulled out for good, the two men ran into the farm, where they were the first to witness the six dead men, the dead teenage boy, and the seriously wounded Suad al-Khalf. Hassan stood above his mother. The police didn’t arrive for about 15 minutes.

“I recognized them,” Muhammad al-Abed says now, speaking of the dead. “All of them were workers here. I knew the father personally, but also knew other members of his family.” He doesn’t know if the Americans took any prisoners or bodies with them. With his mother nearby, Hassan later tells us, “There were many soldiers.” Asked if he knows where his father is, he replies, “He passed away. The Americans shot him.”….

The coroner who administered to the victims, Dr. Aysar al-Fara, is a slight, precise man, wearing a nicely tailored, dark-blue Western suit. His mustache and nails are impeccably trimmed. He stares into the middle distance as he begins a ghastly and meticulous chronicle of the deaths. He speaks in a flat, clinical tone that one often expects from people for whom trauma is a way of life. “Each of the dead received between 10 and 15 bullets in the chest area,” he says. “None received less than 10. Also, each was shot once in the area of the navel.”

He speculates that they were shot by sharpshooters who were “seeking to snap the spine.” U.S.-military sources contacted later have never heard of such a practice. Special-ops troops are instructed to fire at the head and chest. So the stomach wounds remain a mystery. Dr. al-Fara is absolutely sure, however, that “the men were shot to be killed, the woman to be wounded.”

It is time to leave, but we have a last concern about Suad al-Khalf. The doctor who treated her had given her only a 50 percent chance of recovering. But after several operations in Damascus, she survived and returned to her home. When Dr. al-Fara treated her on October 26, she couldn’t explain what had happened. “She was hallucinating,” says Dr. al-Fara. “She kept saying, ‘Go, go, go, go,’ these four words over and over in English.” Those words, we speculate, may have been what the men from the helicopters were shouting as they went about their work…..

In addition, the U.S. never produced any proof of Ghadiya’s death as it had after the assassinations of other high-ranking figures such as al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Saddam Hussein’s sons, Uday and Qusay. (There are examples, however, in which the U.S. has claimed to have killed terrorists without releasing proof.) There have been no photos, eyewitness accounts, or captured computers, cell phones, or weapons. Furthermore, in a statement few close observers would argue with, Mekdad notes that Syria had nothing to gain from cooperating with groups such as al-Qaeda in Iraq. In fact, Syria has cooperated with the U.S. to combat such jihadist groups because they not only threaten Iraq but also have attacked Syria. Just before the raid, in September 2008, Sunni jihadists detonated a car bomb near a major shrine in Syria, killing 17 people and wounding 14 more….

Army special-ops consultant Larry Johnson speculates that the U.S. took the terrorist leader’s body out in a helicopter. “In the case of a high-value target, they would take him back to get a DNA sample,” he says. As for claims by local Syrians to have known all the men, he notes that it wouldn’t be unusual for a terrorist cell to have a cover story…..

The explanation given by anonymous U.S.-government officials is “total bullshit,” exclaims Bob Baer, a C.I.A. field officer in the Middle East for 21 years, whose memoir, See No Evil, served as the basis for the film Syriana. Baer suspects that the intelligence on the raid was botched. “Where’s the body? Where are the documents or the cell phone? If they brought back an al-Qaeda body, why don’t they have something? There’s no conceivable way they would have killed him and not shown it.”

U.S. actions can be explained easily, according to Syrian political analyst Ahmad al-Dulemi. The Iraqi government forwarded inaccurate information about the al-Sukariya farm to U.S. forces, he argues. The U.S. was acting on faulty intelligence and bungled the raid.

Baer confirms that U.S.-military actions are currently carried out with far less diligence than in the past. “It used to be a Delta Force rule that you had to have eyes on your target for 24 hours in advance,” he says. Now “these raids are done in the dark. Since 9/11, you can act on fragmentary reports. If the C.I.A. says it got info from Iraqi sources, that’s enough.”

Congressman Nick Rahall, a Democrat from West Virginia who has traveled to the Middle East for 30 years to meet with leaders there, also concludes that the Bush administration mishandled the raid. Syrian civilians “lost their lives in an unfortunate attempt by the previous administration to once again mislead, bully, and isolate a regime,” he says in an interview from Washington. Such attacks across borders have a “disastrous effect on American foreign policy. They alienate civilians. The cowboy diplomacy of the past led America to some of its lowest [public-opinion] ratings around the world.”

At least one Syrian official is convinced that then vice president Dick Cheney and the neoconservative faction in the White House advocated the raid in an effort to derail future U.S.-Syria relations. That might explain Syria’s muted reaction to an attack that was, under international law, an act of war. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Mekdad says Syria was in no condition to respond militarily against the much stronger U.S. He suggests that the Bush White House was interested in creating a roadblock for its successor.

“The neocons and their headmaster, Vice President Cheney, wanted to create problems so that a rapprochement between the [Obama] administration and Syria will be made more difficult,” he says. The Syrians decided to take their lumps and bide their time. That calculation may have paid off.

In 2004, the Bush administration had slapped Syria with economic sanctions and, in 2005, withdrawn its ambassador from Damascus. The Obama administration has taken a different tack, having sent four diplomatic and security missions to Syria and having agreed to re-install an ambassador, although no name or date has been announced.

The American public may not learn the full details of the al-Sukariya raid for some time, perhaps not until classified U.S.-government documents are released, years in the future. But the Arab world certainly believes the Syrian version of events, which contributes to growing anti-U.S. anger in the region. The perception that the U.S. launches raids and missile attacks without regard for civilian casualties is widespread in the region…..

Alix Van Buren of La Repubblica, Italy’s leading newspaper, interviews King Abdullah II of Jordan.

His Majesty King Abdullah and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano shake hands at the end of a press conference in Rome on Tuesday - Oct 20, 2009.

AMMAN – What worries His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan most? The Iranian nuclear threat or a possible Israeli intransigence? His Majesty’s line of reasoning is likely to dampen any expectation of a swift regional solution, according to the timeline and the methods formulated by US President Obama:

During my visit to Washington, I heard many voices saying Iran, Iran, Iran. Instead I keep repeating Palestine, Palestine, Palestine. The failure to resolve the Palestinian Israeli conflict and achieve Arab Israeli peace is the most serious threat to peace and to stability in the region, including in the Mediterranean. That must be the priority. In the beginning there were great hopes. But now the horizon seems to moving farther away.

If one then inquires about His Majesty’s sensitive relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he has already dealt politically at the beginning of his reign just ten years ago, he is very straightforward:

My first experience was not a very pleasant one. We had major crisis between Jordan and Israel, the worst since the peace process. When we met in this office last May, sitting right here, the Israeli Prime Minister he made promises of pursuing peace: but since then Israel has not moved on those promises.

Understandably, on the eve of his State visit to Italy, King Abdullah takes action:

I will trade notes with our Italian friends, we have a very strong relationship, both economically and politically, dating back a long time. I will engage with the Italian government, as part of the European Union, on the issue of the Israeli Palestinian peace process. We are interested in coordinating on mega projects that we are about to launch in Jordan, in construction, in alternative energy, water conveyance, rail roads and other projects worth about $ 20 billion over the coming 10 to 15 years.

And here is the young King, leader of the moderates of the Arab world, steady in the alliances and sympathies with the West, always on the front line in striving for peace and for the development of his nation. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, he is a direct descendant of the Prophet Mohammed. Sporting a blue blazer, his eyes azure and jovial, he greets la Repubblica in his study in a pretty Arab palace on top of a hill above the city. His upright stature reveals his training at Sandhurst, in Great Britain, and his descendant from an illustrious lineage of warriors: his great-grandfather lead the Arab Revolt against the Ottomans in 1916. General, commander of the Royal Special Forces, he exhibits the same charisma as his father King Hussein I, idolized by the soldiers of the Arab Army largely recruited among the Bedouins of the desert inland, strongly devoted to the Crown. In his free time, the King is found of cinema: a declared fan of the science fiction series Star Treck, in his days as a prince he appeared in an episode. In physical shape, he is an expert motorcycle rider, rally driver, skydiver and frogman. Like his father, he flies with ease helicopters and jets. And with the same deep voice, in his English spiced by American ease, he starts hammering on the urgency of moving fast towards a peace settlement.

Your Majesty, after seven missions by President Obama’s special envoy to the Middle East, America and Israel don’t seem to have reached an understanding. Are you disappointed?

I’ll be honest – I was expecting more, and more quickly. President Obama, in the first 24 hours of his mandate, called for resolving the Israeli Palestinian issue. I was expecting more of a dramatic breakthrough in early Summer, and stronger showing at the United Nations, last month, with a true launch of the peace negotiation. But there has definitely been a delay. The issue of Israeli settlements, which the international community considers illegal, continues to be the outstanding issue. We are all asking a freeze, even if temporary, so that you can get Israelis and Palestinians to the table.  I don’t understand why Israel is pursuing this settlement policy. If it really believes in a two-State solution, then it knows that those settlements inside the Palestinian territories will become Palestinian property. Stopping the settlements is vital as proof that Israel’s commitment to peace is sincere. Actually, the interpretation across the Arab world is that Israel does not want peace.

On October 26, it will be 15 years since the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel. Is it real peace?

It is a cold peace, and our relationship is getting colder. To make matters worse, there is Jerusalem. There is an attempt to change the political aspect, as we start to see Israelis encroaching on East Jerusalem, which is part of Palestinian territories occupied in 1967. You can’t change realities on the ground while negotiations are ongoing. I told Prime Minister Netanyahu: Jerusalem is of tremendous importance for Jordan, this is a red line that can not be crossed. Even more so regarding the issue of the Mosque.

What is at stake in that issue?

Why continue with the works and excavations when our documentation shows that they could undermine the foundations of the al-Aqsa Mosque? The sanctity of Jerusalem must be understood, as well as the potential for turning Jerusalem into a tinderbox. Why increase activities, with the risk of inflaming passions, at this critical time? Those actions are extremely provocative, not only to the Muslims but also to the Christians.

Would you please explain, Your Majesty?

The Hashemite Kingdom, as acknowledged by the peace treaty (with Israel), is responsible for both Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. This is a tremendous responsibility that I inherited from His Majesty, the late King Hussein. We must protect property in Jerusalem that is undermined, slowly taken over by the municipality or the Israeli government. Yet Jerusalem should be a symbol of harmony, of peace between the three monotheistic faiths. A city closed to the any of the followers of the three monotheistic religions is a catastrophe.

Netanyahu prefers, at present, an “economic peace” and he invites the Arab world to come and invest. Should the Arab world respond?

How can you have an economic peace when there is no political security for the future of the Palestinians. It seems like we are always sidestepping the issue. We need to have a two-State solution, and this is what we are waiting for.

Why does Jordan consider the two-State solution an issue of national security?

Because, without that, the whole region will never enjoy the peace and stability it deserves. I hear discussions again, in Israeli and Palestinian circles alike, about a one-State solution, should the other one fail. Well, that is not a solution: it simply postpones the problem. Let’s assume, by pure hypothesis, that they achieve it – in other words that Israel were to remove the Palestinians of the West Bank into Jordan, against international condemnation. Does it solve the problem for the future of Israel? It doesn’t.

Why?

Because inside of Israel, the Israeli Arab population in a few years will be 50 per cent of the Jewish State of Israel. As you can see, Israel would have solved nothing. What is needed is a much broader vision, a comprehensive peace with Arabs and Muslims. We are talking about an agreement with 57 nations, (note by the editor: from the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference), that don’t recognize Israel. Do you know what that means? It is a third of the world.

And what if that doesn’t happen?

If the statu quo were maintained, it would mean sliding into darkness, with all the imaginable consequences.

Which ones?

I think the window is very limited, because as we go into 2010, if Israel does not believe in a two-State solution, the future of a Palestinian State is under fire, geographically, physically, on the ground. Already it is cantonized and it looks like a Swiss cheese. If we find ourselves, a year or two from now, still asking the same questions, then I fear that our generation will not see peace.

In that case, what should be done to move the peace process?

It would be up to America and Europe: We need courage from the Israeli politicians to sit down with the Palestinians, under very strong cover from the US President and very strong support from Europe, to move the process forward. It must decide: either integrate itself in the whole Arab/Muslim world, 57 nations that do not recognize it, or whether it wants to continue to stay fortress Israel and live with all the calamities that this will bring not only to Israelis and Palestinians but to all of us in the region, including the Mediterranean. At present Israel is digging a deeper and deeper whole.

Still, there is the obstacle of Hamas, the divisions between Palestinian factions. How do they affect the peace process?

We support Egyptian efforts to reconcile Hamas and Fatah. Reconciliation is essential for serving the interests of the Palestinian people. America and Europe decide their own policies. But we must recognize the urgency of the situation, the huge price we will all pay if we do not move forward. We must also recognize that there is a human catastrophe in Gaza, that the international community has to move faster to end the blockade. We are approaching winter now, and the human suffering can worsen.

The West, at present, seems more focused on the negotiations with Iran. For the first time in thirty years, Washington and Teheran are talking. Would it be better for the Middle East?

It is a development that I welcome strongly. There is no alternative to dialogue. Certainly our part of the world has witnessed too many wars: it does not need another cause for conflict, nor a conflict with Iran. And this is a concern. What is to be seen is if the dialogue leads to a fruitful understanding between Iran and America. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and see what happens.

Would you regard an Iran armed with atomic weapons as a major threat?

Our position has always been against any nuclear proliferation in the whole region, whether it is Iran or other countries. The Middle East will certainly be better off without nuclear weapons. But there is another crucial point.

That is?

The challenge in the Middle East is the ambiguity of nuclear power, regarding many countries. The nuclear capabilities and programs of each nation should be declared, openly.

Are you referring to Israel?

Not only. Jordan itself is embarking on a peaceful nuclear energy program, but we want to be the model of total transparency. We are planning on a peaceful nuclear energy programme, that will enable us not just to be self sufficient but also to be a regional energy provider.

Your Majesty, you are part of a new group of young leaders; you ask for results within this generation. Will that happen?

Well, some define me as young; but I am 48 years old and getting on in age. And I have to remember that 70 percent of my country is younger than me. It has a right to peace and prosperity. Therefore, yes, I am in a hurry. The future is now. Today is the role of the younger generation.

Was the Nobel prize awarded to President Obama also hurried? Or will it encourage him to strive for peace?

I have congratulated President Obama on receiving the Nobel Prize. In Jordan, we have greatly appreciated his efforts to strengthen diplomacy and cooperation between people. However, beware: all the positive feelings generated by President Obama’s positive messages and gestures will evaporate unless people see real progress on the ground.

The price of occupation
Stephen Walt, FP, 10/14/2009

If you ever questioned whether Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza was bad for the United States and for Israel too, you ought to ponder Turkey’s decision to suspend a multinational air-force exercise last weekend. Why? Because it’s a prime example of how pursuing the goal of “greater Israel” — which means retaining control of the West Bank and Gaza and preventing a true two-state solution — is undermining U.S. and Israeli interests…..

If you are interested in knowing why Muslim countries get fed up, read the following article in the Washington Times about how a group of congressmen are drumming out Muslim interns as “spies.” Read: “House GOP seeks Muslim ‘spy’ probe.” Paul Broun, Representative of Georgia, said of CAIR:

“If an organization that is connected to or supports terrorists is running influence operations or planting spies in key national security-related congressional offices, I think this needs to be made known,” Mr. Broun said.

If this kind of nonsense were said about Jewish interns placed by AIPAC in congressional offices …..

And, AIPAC representatives sit in on the writing of US foreign aid legislation, something that has been accepted as normal procedure for decades. Not a good time to be a Muslim in America.

Syrianair’s Fleet Reduced to Three Aircrafts (lead story of the Syria Report.)

The fleet of Syrian Arab Airlines has been reduced to three aircrafts after the US Government intervened to ground the engines of two of the planes that were under repair in Germany.

The Sad State of Turkish-Israeli Relations
Der Spiegel: By Daniel Steinvorth in Istanbul, 2009-10-19

Ankara’s New Foreign Policy The Sad State of Turkish-Israeli Relations By Daniel Steinvorth in Istanbul REUTERS New friendships: Ministers from Turkey and Syria lift up a barrier to celebrate the visa exemption …

Legislation: Thanks to POMED‘s The Weekly Wire.

On Wednesday (10/14), the House passed H.R. 1327, authorizing state and local governments to divest from companies who do business with Iran’s energy sector. The bill passed in a 414-6 roll call vote, and was referred to the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs.

Also on Wednesday (10/14), Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced resolution H.Res. 833 “honoring the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan” and commemorating the 10th anniversary of King Abdullah II’s ascension to the throne.

On Thursday (10/15), Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) introduced H.R. 3832, which would place additional sanctions on refined petroleum imports to Iran and would require the Secretary of Defense to develop plans for military action against Iran’s nuclear program.

Also on Thursday (10/15), Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) introduced, with two co-sponsors, a resolution (H.Res. 840) condemning violations of religious freedom in the Middle East. The resolution was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Chairman Berman (D-CA) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee has scheduled a mark-up of the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, but Rep. Berman calls unilateral sanctions a last resort. In addition, the Senate passed the Department of Energy’s proposed 2010 budget (H.R.3183), which includes a prohibition on government contracts with companies that sell fuel to Iran. The bill will now go to President Obama to be signed.

Despite these moves by Congress, Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett argue ”there is not a serious sanctions ‘option’ for resolving the nuclear issue,” especially given that Russia and China are not likely to cooperate. David Kay agrees that sanctions will not work, so he instead prescribes an “overwhelming” military strike. In addition, Greg Bruno provides a general background of Iran’s ballistic missile program.

In support of regime change, Jonah Goldberg argues the “Regime is Iran’s disease; nukes are just a symptom.” Max Boot explains why the opinions of the Iranian diaspora should be included in the analysis, but always with some skepticism of their authoritativeness.

Hizbullah Takes Credit for ‘Thwarting’ Israeli Spy Surveillance as Lebanese Army, UNIFIL Go on Alert (Naharnet)

Israel’s Secret War on Hezbollah, Wall Street Journal, by Ronan Bergman

Iran’s proxy army in Lebanon will think twice before launching another round of missile attacks. ….

senior military officers in Israel’s Northern Command are confident that the embarrassing outcome of the last round will not be repeated.

“By all means, let the Hezbollah try,” one officer told me two weeks ago when I asked if he was concerned about the possibility of warfare. “The welcome party that we are preparing for them is one that they will remember for a very long time.” That sentiment is shared by many of his colleagues.

The recent explosions have highlighted the weakened geopolitical status of Hezbollah, a diminishment which no one could have foreseen at the end of the last war. In 2006, on both sides of the border—and elsewhere in the Middle East—Hezbollah was seen as having triumphed…..

….

In short, despite the fact that Hezbollah today is substantially stronger in purely military terms than it was three years ago, its political stature and its autonomy have been significantly reduced. It is clear that Nasrallah is cautious and he will weigh his options very carefully before embarking on any course of action that might lead to all-out war with Israel. There are some experts in Israel who believe that even Hezbollah’s retaliatory role in the Iranian game plan is currently in question.

Whether or not this is the case, all of this is being considered in Jerusalem as part of Israel’s calculations about whether to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Mr. Bergman, a correspondent for the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, is the author of the “The Secret War With Iran” (Free Press, 2008).

Abbas approval plummets after UN delay
Ma’an News Agency
October 19, 2009

President Mahmoud Abbas lost significant public support over his role in delaying international action on a United Nations report that accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza, a new opinion poll shows. The survey released on Sunday by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Centre (JMCC) indicates that if an election were held today, Abbas would receive just 16.8 percent of the vote, and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh 16 percent. A similar percentage said they would vote for Fatah leader Marwan Barghouthi, who is currently in prison in Israel.

Abbas is a dead man – Netanyahu and Barak killed him
By Yossi Sarid
Tags: Israel News

Mahmoud Abbas might as well be considered a dead man; Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak have killed him. Following a brief and angry meeting, they left a cyanide pill for him on the table and exited the room. He still managed to make two or three trans-Atlantic telephone calls and in a moment of despair swallowed the Goldstone report, which he is now trying to regurgitate in Geneva.

To force the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, of all people, to withdraw his demand for a discussion of the report – that is an Israeli-American dictate tantamount to pressuring him to commit hara-kiri. Extortion through the use of threats has paid off, and once again there is no party to speak with, nor will there be in the near future. This is what happens when one turns a partner into a collaborator.

Top French officials weigh in on cabinet formation
“I have a special relationship with Syria… But it is mainly in the interest of Lebanon.”
Daily Star staff

“…. The secretary general of France’s Elysee Claude Gueant Palace said, in comments published on Sunday that positive ties between France and Syria were beneficial for Lebanon…..

Asked by the Saudi-owned (Al Hayat) newspaper about beliefs in Lebanon that he was close to Syria, Gueant said: “I visit Syria a lot because I have built up a relationship with the Syrians and we want preserve this important link. It is important for Lebanon and the region too. “I have a special relationship with Syria. But it is mainly in the interest of Lebanon.”

Gueant said Syria did not have “a major influence on Lebanese political life or … political figures as some claim.”

Asked if he thought a new war would erupt between Israel and Hizbullah with Syrian consent Gueant said: “I don’t see any sign that would make me believe that Syria wishes something like that to happen. I believe that peace and stability in Lebanon are in Syria’s interest.”

Russia says won’t let Goldstone Report reach Hague
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Ynetnews
by Roni    Sofer – October 19, 2009

Russia has made it clear to Israel that it will oppose a Goldstone Report discussion at the United Nations Security Council or at the International Criminal Court in Hague, although its representatives voted in favor of adopting the report accusing the Jewish state of committing war crimes at the UN Human Rights Council, Foreign Ministry officials told Ynet on Sunday night.

Netanyahu: Israel and U.S. have resolved settlements row
Haaretz, by Barak Ravid – October 19, 2009

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero last Thursday that talks between Israel and the United States over construction in the settlements on the West Bank had ended. “We solved the matter of the settlements with the Americans,” Netanyahu told his Spanish counterpart. “I cannot say more than that. If you are interested in hearing more details, ask in Washington,” added Netanyahu.

Obama’s mettle is about to be tested
The Guardian, by Simon Tisdall – (Opinion)  October 19, 2009

It’s getting harder each day for the Obama administration to maintain the illusion of progress in Middle East peacemaking….. After his embarrassingly unproductive summit with Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, in New York last month, Obama instructed his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, right, to personally deliver a progress report by mid-October. They are expected to meet after Mitchell’s latest talks. But what can she honestly tell him? … Egyptian efforts to reconcile the rival Palestinian factions appear, meanwhile, to have stalled, partly due to US meddling….. Mitchell had told Egypt that the proposed deal would harm the peace process. His objection appears rooted in the US and Israel’s ideological refusal to deal, however loosely, with Hamas…… There can be little doubt that Netanyahu’s bullish confidence stems from the perception on the Israeli right that after a tense few months, he has “seen off” Obama and his naive peacemaking notions. US diplomats warn of a serious mistake. Obama is “a man of steel”, a senior official said – he would not give up on Middle East peace….

Conference in Damascus: Syria Trust for Development

The Syria Trust for Development is pleased to announce and invite you to submit papers or case studies on development interventions and related applied / policy-oriented research to

The First International Development Conference of Syria 2010
Emerging Role of Civil Society in Development

to be held in Damascus, Syria from 23-25 January, 2010.

The conference aims to raise awareness of the development challenges facing Syria and the region, discuss policy alternatives, and develop the capacity of the emerging development sector in Syria and the region. Moreover, we hope that the conference will provide an excellent opportunity for the development community to engage, network, and exchange experiences.
Please find attached a detailed call for papers / case studies that includes additional information about the conference and submission procedures. Conference registration information will be posted shortly at: www.syriatrust.org.
Please help us circulate this announcement to other individuals / institutions who might be interested. For additional information or questions about the conference or submission procedures, please contact me directly or contact the conference organizing team at [email protected].

Director of Research, P.O.Box 2783 Damascus, Syria, Tel: +963 11 612 5026

Many thanks, Nader Kabbani, Ph.D.

Israeli drive to prevent Jewish girls dating Arabs
Jonathan Cook,  September 25. 2009 UAE

NAZARETH // A local authority in Israel has announced that it is establishing a special team of youth counsellors and psychologists whose job it will be to identify young Jewish women who are dating Arab men and “rescue” them.

The move by the municipality of Petah Tikva, a city close to Tel Aviv, is the latest in a series of separate – and little discussed – initiatives from official bodies, rabbis, private organisations and groups of Israeli residents to try to prevent interracial dating and marriage.

In a related development, the Israeli media reported this month that residents of Pisgat Zeev, a large Jewish settlement in the midst of Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, had formed a vigilante-style patrol to stop Arab men from mixing with local Jewish girls.

Hostility to intimate relationships developing across Israel’s ethnic divide is shared by many Israeli Jews, who regard such behaviour as a threat to the state’s Jewishness. One of the few polls on the subject, in 2007, found that more than half of Israeli Jews believed intermarriage should be equated with “national treason”.

Since the state’s founding in 1948, analysts have noted, a series of legal and administrative measures have been taken by Israel to limit the possibilities of close links developing between Jewish and Arab citizens, the latter comprising a fifth of the population.

Largely segregated communities and separate education systems mean that there are few opportunities for young Arabs and Jews to become familiarised with each other. Even in the handful of “mixed cities”, Arab residents are usually confined to separate neighbourhoods.

In addition, civil marriage is banned in Israel, meaning that in the small number of cases where Jews and Arabs want to wed, they can do so only by leaving the country for a ceremony abroad. The marriage is recognised on the couple’s return.

Dr Yuval Yonay, a sociologist at Haifa University, said the number of interracial marriages was “too small to be studied”. “Separation between Jews and Arabs is so ingrained in Israeli society, it is surprising that anyone manages to escape these central controls.”

The team in Petah Tikva, a Jewish city of 200,000 residents, was created in direct response to news that two Jewish girls, aged 17 and 19, were accompanying a group of young Arab men when they allegedly beat a Jewish man, Leonard Karp, to death last month on a Tel Aviv beach. The older girl was from Petah Tikva.

The girls’ involvement with the Arab youths has revived general concern that a once-firm taboo against interracial dating is beginning to erode among some young people.

In sentiments widely shared, Mr Hakak, a spokesman for Petah Tikva municipality, said “Russian girls”, young Jewish women whose parents arrived in Israel over the past two decades, since the former Soviet Union collapsed, were particularly vulnerable to the attention of Arab men.

Dr Yonay said Russian women were less closed to the idea of relationships with Arab men because they “did not undergo the religious and Zionist education” to which more established Israeli Jews were subject.

Mr Hakak said the municipality had created a hotline that parents and friends of the Jewish women could use to inform on them.

“We can’t tell the girls what to do but we can send a psychologist to their home to offer them and their parents advice,” he said.

Motti Zaft, the deputy mayor, told the Ynet website that the municipality was also cracking down on city homeowners who illegally subdivide apartments to rent them cheaply to single Arab men looking for work in the Tel Aviv area. He estimated that several hundred Arab men had moved into the city as a result.

Petah Tikva’s hostility to Arab men mixing with local Jewish women is shared by other communities. In Pisgat Zeev, a settlement of 40,000 Jews, some 35 Jewish men are reported to belong to a patrol known as “Fire for Judaism” that tries to stop interracial dating.

Unusually for a settlement, Pisgat Zeev has attracted a tiny but growing population of Arab families, both from East Jerusalem and from inside Israel. Because Pisgat Zeev sits within Jerusalem’s municipal borders, Arabs with Israeli residency rights can live there as long as Jewish settlers are willing to rent to them.

One member, who identified himself as Moshe to the Jerusalem Post newspaper, said: “Our goal is to be in contact with these girls and try to explain to them the dangers of what they’re getting themselves into. In the last 10 years, 60 girls from Pisgat Zeev have gone into [Palestinian] villages [in the West Bank]. And most of them aren’t heard from after that.”

He denied that violence or threats were used against Arab men.  Last year, the municipality of Kiryat Gat, a town of 50,000 Jews in southern Israel, launched a programme in schools to warn Jewish girls of the dangers of dating local Bedouin men. The girls were shown a video titled Sleeping with the Enemy, which describes mixed couples as an “unnatural phenomenon”.

Haim Shalom, head of the municipality’s welfare department, is filmed saying: “The girls, in their innocence, go with the exploitative Arab.” …. Safed’s chief rabbi, Shmuel Eliyahu, told a local newspaper that the “seducing” of Jewish girls was “another form of war” by Arab men.

Both Kiryat Gat and Safed’s campaigns were supported by a religious organisation called Yad L’achim, which runs an anti-assimilation team publicly dedicated to “saving” Jewish women. According to its website, the organisation receives more than 100 calls a month about Jewish women living with Arab men, both in Israel and the West Bank. It launches “military-like rescues [of the women] from hostile Arab villages” in co-ordination with the police and army.

“The Jewish soul is a precious, all-too-rare resource, and we are not prepared to give up on even a single one,” says the website.

Rattling the Cage: Our exclusive right to self-defense

Oct. 7, 2009
Larry Derfner , THE JERUSALEM POST

Virtually all of Israel is now speaking in one voice against the Goldstone report, against any attempt to blame us over the war in Gaza. We’ve honed our message to a sharp point and, inspired by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s performance at the UN, we’re delivering it with just the right tone of outrage:

How dare anyone deny us the right to self-defense! How dare anyone deny us the right to fight back against terrorism!

Very nice. Puts everyone else on the defensive. The right to self-defense is up there with motherhood and apple pie – who’s going to come out against it, especially for us, for Israel, for the Jews, for the people of the Holocaust?

The right to self-defense – perfect.

But I’d like to ask: Do the Palestinians also have the right to self-defense?

Syria is having second thoughts about signing the European Economic Agreement. Evidently,  Syrians worry that it will compromise their economic sovereignty.See the following article on “Syria Steps.”

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Turkey-Israel Row Could Signal Geopolitical Change In Region By Ron Synovitz, RFE/RL

“….Indeed, after Turkey announced Israel’s exclusion from this week’s NATO exercises, Syria said it would conduct military exercises with Turkey. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mualem welcomed Turkey’s decision, saying it “reflects the way Turkey regards the Israeli attack in Gaza.”

Israel dismissed the Turkish-Syrian announcement. Israeli cabinet minister Benny Begin says Turkish-Syrian exercises are part of Syria’s desire to create a new bloc of countries in the Middle East that would include Iran, Syria, Turkey, and Iraq.

But Joffe says it is not yet clear whether there has been a complete breakdown of the Turkish-Israeli alliance. “It is perhaps the Gaza incident that has persuaded the Turkish government that it can’t afford to maintain too close a relationship with Israel. And therefore, it is trying to distance itself little by little,” he says.

“Whether that will mean a breach and the complete transformation in relations is not yet clear. But it is quite clear that there is some fundamental change taking place, and I think that mirrors the internal changes in Turkey in terms of the relationship between the government and the army command.”

Joffe says the declining influence of the Turkish military on Ankara’s decisions would be a cause of concern for Israel…..”

Netanyahu: Turkey can’t be ‘honest broker’ in Syria
2009-10-18, Haaretz

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not want Ankara serving as mediator in any future diplomatic negotiations with Syria, in view of the crisis in relations between Israel and Turkey. On Friday, Israel’s ambassador in Ankara, Gabi Levy, …

“For Iraqis, prison in Britain is probably better than living in Syria,” Mr. Sultan, Iraqi minister of displacement and migration, said.
NYTimes…”Iraq Sends 41 of 50 Deported Refugees Back to Britain”

The National Security Advisor, General James L. Jones,

reiterated the Administration’s commitment to establishing a Palestinian state and determination to move forward with peace talks, At the Fourth Annual Gala of the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP).

“We are clear, unambiguous and consistent,” said Gen. Jones, “The time has come to relaunch negotiations without preconditions to reach a final status agreement on two states.” The National Security Advisor emphasized that, “President Obama’s dedication to achieve these goals is unshaken, is committed, and we will be relentless in our pursuit of achieving these.” He said that ending the conflict and the occupation is essential because what is at stake is “nothing less than the dignity and the security of all human beings.” “We must move beyond talking about talks and get to the hard work of addressing the core issues that separate Israelis and Palestinians,” Jones said.

Egypt: Fatah-Hamas deal deferred due to ‘inappropriate conditions’
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: Gaza, Fatah, Israel News

Egypt announced on Saturday the latest postponement of a reconciliation agreement between rival Palestinian movements Hamas and Fatah was due to “inappropriate conditions.”

The announcement came after Fatah unilaterally signed the pact in Cairo on Thursday without reservations. Hamas, however, said it needed another few days to consider the document, and that the Islamist group had reservations about it.

Egypt, which has been attempting to broker the deal, had initially planned for the sides to sign the accord on Thursday. The country has yet to set a new date for a signing ceremony.
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Hamas’ deputy political leader, Abu Marzouk, said: “Today the Hamas leadership will relay to Egypt a document containing the necessary reservations and amendments for the Egyptian document.”

According to the Damascus-based official, one of the reservations is about the U.S. demand that the unity deal follow the conditions of the Quartet, which include recognition of the State of Israel, acknowledging earlier agreements and renouncing terrorism.

UN: Most Iraqi refugees in program go to US (AP)

GENEVA — The U.N. refugee agency says more than 30,000 Iraqis have moved to the United States under a resettlement program that began in 2007.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says much smaller numbers have gone to more than a dozen other countries.

UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic says the agency has recommended the resettlement of 82,500 people.

But Mahecic says that so far only 33,000 have been accepted by their proposed host countries.

UNHCR urges nations to expedite the resettlement of the Iraqi refugees particularly at risk.

The agency says most of the 2 million Iraqi refugees are still living without permanent homes in neighboring Syria and Jordan.

“Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat

received advice to advance the date of his visit to Syria so that it precedes the visit of PM-designate Saad Hariri to Damascus after the cabinet’s formation.  According to information circulated in tight circles, Jumblat is seriously studying the possibility of visiting Syria in a few days on the occasion of a ceremony held in Syria to commemorate Sultan Basha al-Atrash.

Naharnet also learned that the occasion will turn into a major popular ceremony where the Druze sect followers will participate largely in it.

The sources added that Jumblat’s participation will regain his status as the first Druze leader after ex-Minister Wiam Wahab managed to penetrate the Syrian Druze community backed by the Syrian leadership due to the divergence between Jumblat and the Syrian officials in the previous period.”

Despite promises to Obama, construction continues in dozens of W. Bank settlements
By Akiva Eldar and Chaim Levinson

UN Human Rights Council PASSES Goldstone Report on Gaza War Crimes ++ Israel Latest Settlement Spree
By M.J. Rosenberg – October 16, 2009,

Haytham al-Maleh, 78, prominent lawyer and rights activist, disappeared on October 14, 2009. Three Syrian human rights activists told Human Rights Watch that they believe that Political Security is detaining him. Two said they believe that the reason for his arrest is a phone interview that aired on October 12 on an opposition television station, Barada TV, in which he criticized the Syrian authorities for their ongoing repression of freedom of expression.

The Syrian embassy announces:

“The Syrian government welcomes the release of two of its citizens, Bisher Suleiman Ahmad Maqt and Assem Mahmoud Ahmed Wali after spending 25 unjust and grueling years in Israeli prisons where they faced different forms of gruesome torture.”

In the comment section, one reader asked:

“Would it be conceivable that Syria comes to terms with the Israeli occupation of the Golan as it has come to terms with Turkey’s occupation of Hatay?”

Israel plan does seem to be to wear Syria down on the Golan issue. It may also be America’s default plan, as well. President Bush pursued this policy fairly openly.  Although it was not Bush’s stated goal, his attempt to force Syria to give up support for Hizbullah and Hamas without linking such concessions to the Golan issue was tantamount to asking Syria to accept Israel’s ownership of the Golan. The Obama says he wants to stop Israel’s settlement to pursue internation law, but has been unable or unwilling to articulate the goal, not to mention act on it with conviction.

Daniel Kurtzer, twice ambassador to Israel and close Obama adviser, just visited the University of Oklahoma and gave a series of fine talks. He argued that the two state solution is the only solution for Israel. “There is no plan B,” he said. I asked him whether the status quo was the likely solution on the Golan. Kurtzer did not answer directly – but raised his eyebrows and smiled. This was after he suggested that Israel could wait 4 or 5 years before opening negotiations with Syria in order to take advantage of what he argued was a deteriorating economic and environmental situation in Syria that would weaken its position further. Declining oil and water reserves were drivers of this weakness. His argument was that Syria would be more inclined in several years to climb down from its demand for all the Golan.

The problem with this argument is that as Syria becomes weaker, Israel is also likely to shift its demands and become less willing to make concessions. Israel is not interested in negotiations with Syria today because Syria is too weak. Israel has no compelling incentive to make difficult political concessions on the Golan. In short, I think it is safe to say that the current Western position – perhaps not openly articulated – is to wait Syria out.

Syria has no immediate answer to this Israeli-American strategy. Syria’s attempts to change the military balance of power in its favor have not been successful. Israel and the US have thwarted them, i.e. Israel’s bombing of Syria’s “nuclear” facility, Western pressure on Russia, Iran, and N. Korea not to supplied advanced weapons to Syria while tricking out Israel with its most advanced weapons. One can also point to the West’s policy of maintaining Israel’s crushing military advantage over its Arab adversaries as proof that Western governments favor Israel’s permanent acquisition of occupied lands. Some of these politics are: protection of Israel’s nuclear advantage, proscription of anti-Israeli resistance as terror, support for Israel’s bombing of Lebanon and Gaza as an appropriate response to resistance from Arabs, Israel’s success in getting Egypt and Saudi to turn against Arab resistance, and pressure on Iran to abandon its anti-Israel stand.

The terrible drought now devastating swaths of Syria’s Eastern provinces only underscores Syria’s weakness.

Can president Assad reverse this equation so that Syria will get stronger in comparison to Israel? I will not pretend to know the answer to this question. Syrians are now rejoicing in Turkey’s pro-Arab stand, which they see as an important shift in the regional balance of power in their favor. They also hope that Syria’s  economic liberalization will liberate the capitalistic talents of their people, which have long been bottled up by socialism and bad management. They look to Saudi Arabia’s recent step toward Syria as a sign that Arabians will not completely abandon the notion of pressuring Israel and helping Syria in its struggle with Israel. Syria hopes that as Iraq sorts itself out from the body blows it has suffered it will take a concerted “Arab” stand. The recent contretemps with Iraq over Sunni militants is not auspicious, however. The old competition between Iraq and Syria is not likely to abate simply because the regime has been changed.

I cannot say that I am optimistic about the immediate prospects of the Arabs sorting out their difficulties in time to retrieve the Golan. All the same, the objective of getting back the Golan is much more deeply embedded in Syria’s nationalist psyche than was Alexandretta. Syrians will not easily give it up.  Much can go wrong for Israel in the coming 30 years to reverse the balance of power.

It took Syria 70 years to overcome the loss of the Alexandretta, which was a separate administrative unit under the French Mandate. The Golan has been occupied for only four decades and was an integral part of independent Syria. There are risks to Israel’s strategy of gambling on a future of Syrian weakness. Many things could change the balance of power in the region. Arabs could find unity. The position of the US may decline. China and India may eventually take an interest in mediating Middle East conflict as their dependency on oil and trade with the region grows and as the US monopoly over Middle East security fades. They are both likely to take a less pro-Israel view than the US. As Turkey becomes more democratic it is likely to become more hostile to Israel in response to public antipathy for Israel’s displacement of its Muslim subjects. Europe could take a more pro-Arab view both for economic reasons and if it”s roughly 5% Muslim citizenry were to organize and responded to an organized Arab position on the Arab-Israeli conflict. None of these possibilities seems particularly immanent today, but 30 years is a long time.

[end of Landis analysis]

Realistic Engagement
by Theodore H. Kattouf, former U.S. ambassador to Syria and the United Arab Emirates; president and CEO, AMIDEAST. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.

Syria has shown that it can play an unhelpful role if it wishes, but a more constructive role if it wants. … Both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia have had to recognize that it’s better to deal with Syria than not, if they want to make at least some progress toward their aims. But the fact remains that everyone needs to be realistic, because the regime still insists on recovering every last inch of Syrian-held territory occupied in the Six-Day War, and it wants a new relationship with the United States whereby it would be removed from the state sponsors of terrorism list, and similar such sanctions’ legislation. …

To my mind, the key to a better U.S.-Syrian relationship, is a successful U.S.-brokered Israeli-Syrian negotiation. An Israeli-Syrian peace treaty would by definition require Syria to quit supplying military materiel to Hezbollah and to stop offering succor to Palestinian rejectionist groups. Moreover, a Syria at full peace with Israel would have no rational reason to do so. Then, and only then, could the U.S. remove all sanctions against Syria and encourage others to help develop its economy. …

I suspect that the Syrian-Saudi talks may have encompassed the formation of a new broad-based government in Lebanon. If that comes to pass, the U.S. could endorse what has been done and let it be known that it appreciates the efforts of the Syrians and the Saudis to help the Lebanese move this along.

The words I would advise the administration keep in mind when dealing with Syria are mutual respect, patience and sequencing. The two previous administrations at times erred in giving the Syrian regime too much attention or largely shunning it. I think this administration get’s it and is looking for a middle way. The Syrians don’t give something for nothing. We have to be willing to think a bit outside the box and outside the sanctions regime about how we can reciprocate Syrian gestures in ways that do not violate strictures that Congress has laid down in law. I think there are some things that either will not cost us much or may even be to our benefit. Syria wants to make application to the World Trade Organization, why should we block that? It will take years for Syria to satisfy the organization’s requirements. The administration has allowed Syria access to some spare parts for the Boeing aircraft. Good, who would want to see a civilian aircraft go down and innocent life lost because the United States was not allowing the needed spare parts into the country? The EU has an economic association agreement with Syria. Leaving aside whether or not Syria wants to sign it, at one point the U.S. urged friends within the EU not to go ahead with this agreement. We could now say that we’re fine with it. Syria has taken in well over a million Iraqi refugees. It needs more resources to support them, and we have a moral obligation to help.

There are many intermediate steps that both countries could take toward one another short of us requiring the Syrians to end all relations with Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the Syrians expecting the United States to take it off the terrorist list when it has not ended its support for the groups that we consider terrorist.

Ultimately, the United States cannot get what it wants from Syria without persuading the Netanyahu-led government in Israel to engage seriously with Syria in peace negotiations. That doesn’t have to come immediately but if engagement is going to be successful, eventually it has to come.

Solving the Syrian Puzzle
Mohamad Bazzi,, CFR.org:
2009-10-14

Syria this year has been in diplomatic high gear, holding more than six high-level meetings with the new administration of U.S. President Barack Obama and working to mend regional relations as well. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah paid a visit to …

Bashar al-Assad actually has the strength to deliver a peace deal whereas [Palestinian Authority leader] Mahmoud Abbas really can’t deliver a peace deal”…

Assistant Secretary Details Banking Industry’s Key Role in Foreign Policy
by Jason Ditz
October 12, 2009

When covering America’s interventionist foreign policy, certain departments and agencies come up a lot. The Defense Department, certainly. The CIA, usually. The State Department, the NSA, the list goes on. Rarely does the Treasury Department come up, but maybe it should.

Speaking at a conference for the American Bankers Association, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury David S. Cohen went into excruciating detail about his department’s role in ensuring that the American banking industry is on the front lines of fights the world over.

And it really is the world over. From propping up Mexico’s government in what he called “a courageous fight against the drug cartels” to preventing Iran from “developing nuclear weapons,” there appears to be no overseas endeavor in which Secretary Cohen doesn’t envision a massive role for the Treasury Department, and for the ostensibly private organizations that make up the banking industry…..

Opposition Leader Livni calls for renewed efforts for two-state solution

Fatah signs reconciliation plan, placing onus on Hamas October 14, 2009

Ramallah – Ma’an – Fatah signed an Egyptian-backed deal for reconciliation with its archrival, the Hamas movement, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday, senior officials said. Jamal Muheisin, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, told Ma’an that they signed the deal because of the movement’s “positive” outlook on the plan. He also said Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmad will hand over the signed document Wednesday or Thursday.

a poll found that March 8 politicians are more popular than March 14 members.

Delay in delivery of Herons behind drill crisis, not politics

Turkey agreed four years ago to buy 10 Heron UAVs for over $180 million from Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Elbit Systems, Ltd. Turkey agreed four years ago to buy 10 Heron UAVs for over $180 million from Israeli Aerospace Industries (IAI) and Elbit Systems, Ltd. What spurred the cancellation of this week’s NATO air force exercises in Turkey was yet another delay in the delivery of unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, to Turkey by Israel, and not Turkish opposition to the country due to its devastating offensive into the Gaza Strip, an air forces official told Today’s Zaman.

The official, who wanted to remain anonymous, stated that Israel has failed yet again to deliver the Israeli-made surveillance drones, known as Herons, to Turkey. “Turkey needs those vehicles in its fight against terror. What led to the recent crisis between Turkey and Israel was the delay in the delivery,” he noted.

Turkish, Syrian ministers establish new chapter of cooperation

Davuto?lu: Common destiny, history and future is slogan of Turkey and Syria

Daniel Levy in TPM

“… Shimon Peres had this to say on the linkage between reaching peace with the Palestinians and addressing the Iran issue:
In my opinion, if we move forwards with peace and make peace with the Palestinians, and if we start negotiations with Syria and Lebanon, we will remove the main pretext for the Iranian madness – against us and against the other residents of this region. (President Peres, October 12th in the Israeli Knesset ).
Now Mr. Peres is in reality not exactly the dove he is portrayed to be (he authorized many of the settlements , he supported Israel’s recent wars with Lebanon and Gaza, and he never really earned his own Nobel peace prize ), but this was nonetheless an interesting acknowledgement of the linkage from Israel’s head of state–and it seems to directly contradict the messaging coming from Israel’s ambassador to Washington D.C., Michael Oren.

Here’s Michael Oren in an interview on October 3rd for Newsweek :

Q: Do you believe that the Arab states would make their support of action against Iran contingent on progress in the peace process?

A: No, there is no linkage whatsoever. The Arab states understand that the peace process is going to take a while, and we don’t have a while with Iran. The peace clock and the Iranian nuclear clock are running at completely different speeds.

Oren was simply, and spiritedly, sticking to a lame PR line that has now been exposed as rubbish by none other than Israels’ own president. … Netanyahu tried a similar trick, arguing that Iran would have to be dealt with first and that the Palestinian issue could be placed on the backburner. But President Obama wasn’t buying any of that, insisting that both issues be addressed in parallel, and much to the chagrin of the Likud hawks, making Israeli-Palestinian peace a priority–something he repeated whenresponding to being awarded the Nobel peace prize last Friday .

The linkage, though aggressively denied by occupation apologists, is all too real (and credit to President Peres for acknowledging that). Here’s how it works.

Iran’s ability to spread influence and use leverage in the region is partly a product of the largesse it spreads around and of the allies it has through denominational allegiance or simple patronage. But crucially, it also depends on the narrative that Iran espouses–and the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict is central to that….

Rather, the narrative which allows Iran to speak to the Muslim and notably Sunni street, above the heads of Arab leaders, can be paraphrased as follows:

Only we, Iran, are standing up to the Israelis and the Americans in defense of our downtrodden Palestinian brothers and sisters; you, the Arab leadership who are close to America, host American troops, visit Washington and do Washington’s bidding, and are even openly or sometimes secretly in contact with the Israelis–all these friendships have done nothing to help the Palestinians or address their grievance; our version of resistance is therefore honorable when compared to your shameful collusion.

… Ending the occupation and delivering peace would fundamentally undermine Iran’s narrative and its leverage. Realizing a comprehensive peace can be done as part of a process of U.S. dialogue with Iran in which these issues are also raised, or it can be done in parallel to an engagement with Iran (it should not be done as part of a blunt, unsophisticated frontal assault on Iran, as was tried at Annapolis during the Bush presidency).

However, it appears that the neoconservatives in this country and their Likud friends in Israel, who expend so much time and energy in refuting this linkage, just forgot to cc Israel’s president on the talking points memo.”

(Google translation from Tayyar.org.) Via FLC
“Jamil Sayyed declared that French Judge Fabian Bos issued a summon calling for a judicial hearing to the judge Detlev Mehlis as a defendant in the matter of “false witnesses” in the case of the assassination of President Rafik Hariri…

Judge Fabian Bos, the investigating judge in the First Court of Instance in Paris,issued an international judicial summon to listen to Detlev Mehlis as a defendant in a case of using false witnesses, including Mohammed Zuhair al-Siddiq ,Hussam Hussam and others, to lead a libel campaign of fabrications and attacks through the media directed at General Al-Sayyed, even after he left the Chair of the International Commission of Inquiry….and despite his loss of international immunity …”

NNet

“Druze leader Walid Jumblat has reportedly said that not a single Lebanese party would be able to thwart the Saudi-Syrian understanding reached over Lebanon.

As Safir daily on Tuesday quoted Jumblat’s visitors as saying that the MP fears the U.S. would sabotage the results of the summit between Saudi King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar Assad.

However, Jumblat, according to his visitors, has said not a single internal Lebanese party could thwart the understanding reached between the two regional powerhouses while at the same time no Lebanese side would be able to reject the summit’s results.

Meanwhile, Damascus visitors quoted a top Syrian official as saying Syria’s doors are open to Jumblat and any Lebanese official who believes in the historic ties between the two countries, Arabism and the choice of resistance…”

Alex Gives a History of the Saudi-Syrian Rapprochement and Argues, “We are not there yet.”

The visit of King Abdullah to Damascus this past week is just a bit more than a photo opportunity. The real story started to take place after Syria’s ally, Hizbollah, managed to force the United States, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and France to rethink their strategies for the new Middle East in summer 2006.

First France, the US and their “moderate” Arab allies realized they might have to lower their expectations… the unsuccessful use of American and Israeli power (“shock and awe” style) in Iraq and Lebanon led to nothing more than an almost total disrespect for such arrogant use of force by the people in the region… Ask anyone today what he thinks of an Israel or American military conflict with Iran and he will answer you: “They would be crazy to attack Iran”

After 2006, some, such as Prince Turki Alfaisal, started to advocate an arrangement in which Syria’s prominence in the Levant would be respected by Saudi Arabia.

“Syria would be at the forefront (of the new alignment), Jordan would have a share in it and the Palestinians would have a niche,”

But others, like Prince Bandar, continued to try finding other ways to weaken Syria. He visited Iran and offered them to work together in Lebanon (excluding Syria) .. that did not work out too well for him, King Abdullah visited Turkey twice (he never did before) trying to offer them incentives to abandon the Syrians. That also failed.

In addition, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the UAE continued to support Syria through billions of dollars invested each year.

Then Hizbollah settled a quick armed conflict with Saudi Allies in Lebanon to its advantage.

Meanwhile … the UN investigation into the murder of Rafiq Hariri continued to show that there is nothing solid against Syria … Syria’s four Lebanese allies were released without a single charge against any of them … one of them is suing Mehlis and claiming he has proof that Mehlis tried to fabricate evidence against Syria.

King Abdullah decided at the Kuwait summit that it is time for him to make a decision … So he opted to make peace with the young Syrian president, while a visibly surprised Hosni Mubarak was instead prepared to escalate his confrontation with Assad.

Since then Saudi Arabia has been trying, on and off, to make the painful move towards recognizing Syria’s role as almost being equal to that of Saudi Arabia in the region… the same arrangement they had during the time of late President Hafez Assad.

Their ego resisted that move … some of their American allies resisted … the Egyptians are still resisting … and God knows what Prince Bandar says, or is allowed to say, these days.

If you want a demonstration of how difficult it is for the Saudis to think of Syria as an equal, listen to this one hour show on Al-Hurra Television station (in Arabic). (clip will be accessible through that link for about a week)

The Saudi guest (debating Jihad Makdissi, spokesman for Syria’s embassy in London) stated repeatedly that at the time of the late, “wise” President Hafez Assad, Syria used to know how to handle its relations with Iran. This implies of course that the current young President is still not up to the task and that the Saudis (as the guest says in other parts) helped him realize his mistakes …

So we are not there yet … but there is improvement.

[end]

Ibrahim Hamidi on Turkey on the eve of the first meeting of Syrian-Turkish Strategic Council which will meet at the border between the two countries on Tuesday.  (AL-HAYAT & LBC Bureau Chief Damascus)

Syria and Turkey: History in the making
By Ibrahim HAMIDI

Syria and Turkey have just signed a high-level cooperation agreement in different fields, during a groundbreaking visit by President Bashar al-Assad to Istanbul, which took place on September 16, 2009. Among other things, the two countries decided to coordinate foreign policy regarding all international conventions. In order to appreciate the importance of such an agreement, all one has to do is go back to the 1990s, when bilateral relations between Damascus and Ankara were at their worst. Only then will people realize how far the two countries have come.

The two nations decided to do away with visa regulations, facilitating the flow of goods and people on both sides of their 800 km border. Back in the 1990s, there was an ongoing war of words between the Syrian and Turkish media, and anybody wanting to cross the border had to watch out for the hundreds of land-mines, scattered on both sides, aimed at preventing the infiltration of terrorists. Daring to consider—let alone implement—normalization between Turkey and Syria was nothing but a dream that crossed too many red lines in both countries.

Syria accused Turkey, among other things, of depriving it of its rightful share of the Euphrates, contaminating water, and constructing dams to prevent the flow of water into Syria. The Syrians were equally angry with the Turks for a military pact they had signed with Israel. For their part, the Turks accused Syria of supporting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which they branded a terrorist organization, and of drumming up anti-Ottoman sentiment in the Arab world. More than once, the Turkish Embassy in Damascus filed official complaints against Syrian television dramas that depicted torture practiced in Ottoman Syria prior to World War I. Turkey was also uneasy with Greco-Syrian cooperation, which had an immediate effect on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Following such turbulent history the changes taking place today are monumental, and indeed, are re-writing an entire chapter of Syrian-Turkish relations. The two countries signed a security agreement in 1998, and in June 2000, Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer came to Syria to take part in the funeral of the late President Hafez al-Assad; an act that further pushed bilateral relations forward. The real breakthrough was when President Bashar al-Assad went to Ankara in 2004, becoming the first Syrian president to visit Turkey since independence was achieved in 1946.

The main theme behind the Syrian leader’s visit was: instead of disagreement, let us make of our borders a source of agreement. Let us remove the mines from both sides of the border and replace them with mutual projects.

Today, five years down the road, much has been achieved. Bilateral trade, which once stood at a mediocre “millions of dollars” has now reached an impressive $2 billion annually. The country that once sided with Israel is now, under leadership of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), mediating indirect talks between the Syrians and Israel, aimed at restoring the occupied Golan Heights to Syria. In fact, Syria now insists that the Turks be present at any future talks with the Israelis, be they direct or indirect, because the Turkish mediator, it believes, has proven to be “honest, reasonable, and trustworthy.”

Turkey is now Syria’s gateway to Europe and the rest of the world while Syria is the Turkish gateway to the Gulf and the rest of the Arab world.

Impressive indeed. It is history in the making.

Armenia, Turkey Reach Accord Washinton Post

ZURICH, Switzerland, Oct. 10 — Armenia and Turkey signed a landmark agreement Saturday to establish diplomatic ties, after a dramatic last-minute intervention by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to keep the event from falling apart….

Turkey bars Israel from military drill
By ARON HELLER (AP)

JERUSALEM — Turkey has called off an international military drill because it opposed Israel’s participation, Israeli defense officials said Sunday, a move that sent strained relations between the two nations to a new low.

Turkey has long been the Jewish state’s best friend in the Muslim world. But ties have deteriorated dramatically since Israel’s war last winter against Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip, which killed hundreds of civilians…..

Turkey’s surprise cancellation of the air force drill, which was also to include the U.S. and NATO, was the first time its criticism of Israel has been translated into concrete action.

“The Israeli Embassy informed J Street of its concern that the new lobbying group advocates policies that could “impair Israel’s interests,” an embassy spokesman has told The Jerusalem Post……

J Street has taken several positions at odds with the Israeli government in recent months, including arguing against the immediate imposition of additional sanctions on Iran even as Israel pushes for greater action, and backing US President Barack Obama’s call for a complete settlement freeze in the face of Israeli opposition. The organization has also been criticized in certain Israeli and American Jewish circles for attacking other Jewish groups in ways that some feel breed division…”

Obama has betrayed mission to forge Mideast peace
By Gideon Levy, Haaretz, October 11, 2009

What has the new Nobel laureate done so far in our region? Mitchell Shmitchell, a bitter and lost struggle over settlement expansion, a bizarre struggle against the Goldstone report, a disgraceful silence about the Gaza siege, and the ultimate proof that there’s […]

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, left, and Syrian President Bashar Assad at al-Shaab palace in Damascus on Oct. 7, 2009

Analysts are universally positive about King Abdullah’s visit to Damascus. They have moved closer on a policy toward Israel – at least in words now that it is clear that Israel has no time for the Saudi peace plan or Obama’s efforts to get something started. It is not clear whether Saudi-Syrian rapprochement will make any difference to Israel, which can lick all the Arabs with one hand behind its back. Netanyahu just confirmed that Obama has agreed to cover again for Israel’s refusal to join the international nuclear agreement.

Qifa Nabki doesn’t think that Saudi and Syrian influence will be decisive in resolving the deep differences among Lebanese, even if the two countries come to a meeting of the minds on the outlines of a new government. Sami Moubayed argues that Iraq, not Lebanon, is now more important to Saudi Arabia – and on Iraq, Syria and SA are in broad agreement. Peter Harling of ICG is positive but warns “against overestimating how much of a difference reconciliation between Syria and Saudi Arabia would make in a region that remains fundamentally unstable.” Always good advice.

With Saudi Arabia back at Syria’s side and the EU ready to sign its long awaited economic agreement with Syria, the way is clear for president Obama to begin hacking away at some of the economic sanctions that the Bush administration has thrown up over the years. It will be a hard fight because congress will stand against him as it did in his effort to have Israel halt settlement expansion. All the same, with Israel refusing to cooperate on anything, there is no reason for the president to be completely acquiescent to its demands. Syria can profit from Israel’s intransigence. Many analysts are calling this a new era of regional diplomacy. It does signal the end to the Bush era. The great divide between Syria and Saudi Arabia and between “moderate” and “radical” Arab states has been bridged. But a new era? That may be going too far. Rebuilding amicable relations with Saudi Arabia, howeve, is an achievement for Syria, especially if the King’s statements about easing the way for greater Saudi economic investment in Syria comes true. Assad’s effort to pursue resistance to Israel and provide rapid economic growth for Syrians at one and the same time is more realistic today than it was last week.

Saudi Arabia, Syria call for a unity govt in Lebanon
Arab News – 09 October, 2009

Saudi Arabia and Syria called Thursday for the formation of a national unity government in Lebanon. They also backed the Yemeni government in its ongoing efforts to reinforce peace and stability across the country.

“With regard to Lebanon, the two sides emphasized the importance of achieving the unity and stability of the country through the strengthening of consensus among its groups and speeding up the formation of a national unity government,” said a joint communiqué issued at the conclusion of the state visit of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to Damascus.

The communiqué urged joint Arab and Islamic action to stop the continuous Israeli aggression on the Palestinians. The two sides stressed the need to lift the Israeli siege on Al-Aqsa Mosque and confront the measures taken by Israel to Judaize Jerusalem, it added.

Saudi Arabia and Syria stressed the need for ensuring the unity and Arab identity of Iraq and opposed interference in its internal affairs. They supported Yemen’s efforts to end an insurgency that has been threatening the country’s unity and security.

King Abdullah returned to Riyadh on Thursday at the end of a two-day visit. He held a final round of talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad before leaving Damascus, with discussions focusing on major regional and international issues.

“King Abdullah received President Assad at his residence in Ash-Shaab Palace in Damascus on Thursday and the two leaders completed their discussions, which they began Wednesday, on a number of topics,” the Saudi Press Agency said, adding that the talks were attended by Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah, the king’s adviser.

The two countries agreed to strengthen political, cultural and media cooperation as well as hold a meeting of the Saudi-Syrian Joint Commission as early as possible. They also agreed to expand economic, commercial, customs and investment cooperation, the communiqué added.

A meeting of the Saudi-Syrian Businessmen’s Forum will be held in the first quarter of next year to boost joint ventures while the capital of the Saudi-Syrian Company for Industrial and Agricultural Investment will be increased.

King Abdullah arrived in Damascus on Wednesday at the head of a high-level delegation in what analysts said a historic visit by the Saudi leader to improve ties. The visit saw the signing of an agreement between the two countries to prevent double taxation and avoid tax evasion.

Finance Minister Ibrahim Al-Assaf, who signed the accord with his Syrian counterpart Muhammad Al-Hussein, said it would reduce tax burden on investors and businessmen in both countries.

Al-Assaf held a meeting with Al-Hussein on Thursday to discuss prospects of expanding economic cooperation between the two countries. “The two ministers agreed on studying the issue of fees imposed on Saudi and Syrian trucks that carry goods to both countries or pass by them,” said an official statement after the meeting.

Al-Assaf and Al-Hussein also explored prospects of cooperation in banking and insurance including establishment of a Saudi-Syrian bank and a joint insurance firm in Syria. They said the volume of trade, now only $ 2 billion a year, would begin growing in the coming days.

“We have decided to remove the hurdles to commercial exchanges, notably the taxes recently imposed by Syria on products exported to Saudi Arabia,” such as olive oil and ceramics, Hussein was quoted as saying. For his part, Al-Assaf spoke of Abdullah’s visit, his first after becoming the king in 2005, as “very important for strengthening economic relations.” The two leaders underlined their “commitment to pursue coordination and consultations at all levels on matters that interest both peoples,” the Syrian news agency SANA said, adding that they wanted to “remove the obstacles that have hindered their relations.” Analysts said the royal visit would have great impact on the region’s peace and stability. “It was a positive visit and the talks were held in an amiable atmosphere. Both the Syrian and Saudi sides expressed their satisfaction with the talks,” said Waddah Abd-Rabbo, the editor of the semi-official Syrian paper Al-Watan.

“The Saudi monarch’s visit is expected to open up new horizons between these two influential countries, who play an important role in the region and on the international level,” Abd-Rabbo said.

Assad’s political and media adviser Bouthaina Shaaban said Syrian-Saudi relations were making excellent progress. “There is a strong need to create an Arab atmosphere that can utilize the Arab capabilities to raise the voice of Arabs on regional and international forums.”

Read the fulsome praise for the Saudi King by Buthaina Shaaban, here – (in Arabic)

“Why Discuss” wrote this analysis in the comment section:

It is impossible that Syria will go to war to liberate the Golan. It does not have the means. Bashar seems to have opted for a “petits-pas” strategy:

– Getting closer to Israel’s established friends and get them to quietly show Israel that it may lose its few friends in the region if it refuses to return to serious negociations: Turkey is one of them. Erdogan, while keeping his relationship with Israel, is now openly supporting the Goldstone report and has publicly shown his anger to Peres about Gaza.
– Getting military powerful friends that Israel fears: Iran.
– Getting back its rich Arab friends who are close to the US : KSA
– Quietly returning to the international community after 3 years of ostracism orchestrated by the friends of Israel in Lebanon and in the UN ( Mehlis’s politically motivated Agatha Christie reports on Hariri’s murder): UE trade agreement, which is to be signed next month.

Will these petits-pas approach have chances to succeed? Assad is not pressed for time. Israel is, as its reputation and reliability is gradually eroding in the international community and the new US administration, hopefully here for the next 7 years, does not seem to buy blindly what Israel is claiming. The International community is slowly following the US in this respect.

No Chance of Peace for Years, Says Israel’s Foreign Minister
BY: AMY TEIBEL | THE INDEPENDENT

There is no chance of an early solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and people must “learn to live with it”, the Israeli Foreign Minister warned yesterday.

A Rapprochement Between Syria and Saudi Arabia?
By Andrew Lee Butters Thursday, Oct. 08, 2009

Syria has been slowly accommodating American and Saudi positions on several issues as well as opening an embassy in Beirut, gracefully accepting the electoral defeat of its Lebanese allies in June, and restricting the flow of foreign fighters across Syrian land into Iraq.

For their part, Saudi Arabia’s leaders have grown increasingly worried about the rising power of Iran. The Persian and Shi’ite dominated Islamic Republic is both a religious and racial challenge to Arab and Sunni Saudi Arabia’s dominance of the region, and Iran has deftly exploited the divisions in the Arab world by allying itself with radical anti-Israeli movements, in concert with Syria. With Iran’s ongoing nuclear-development program — which many Arab countries suspect is a cover for producing weapons — raising those concerns to a fever pitch, Saudi Arabia has decided it can no longer afford open confrontation with Syria.

But wooing Syria away from Iran will be no easy matter. Syrian officials have long said they would be open to a regional peace if Israel returned occupied Syrian land in the Golan Heights and offered a just settlement to the Palestinian question. But they have also maintained their right to continue Syria’s relationship with Iran and support for Hamas and Hizballah, just as the U.S. arms and supports Israel……

Indeed, rather than distance themselves from Iran, the Syrians recently gave the greenlight for Iran to expand its embassy in Damascus, already Iran’s largest in the region….

Obama agrees to keep Israel’s nukes secret
October 2, 2009
Eli Lake in Wash Times

President Obama has reaffirmed a 4-decade-old secret understanding that has allowed Israel to keep a nuclear arsenal without opening it to international inspections, three officials familiar with the understanding said.

The officials, who spoke on the condition that they not be named because they were discussing private conversations, said Mr. Obama pledged to maintain the agreement when he first hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in May.

Under the understanding, the U.S. has not pressured Israel to disclose its nuclear weapons or to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which could require Israel to give up its estimated several hundred nuclear bombs.

Israel had been nervous that Mr. Obama would not continue the 1969 understanding because of his strong support for nonproliferation and priority on preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The U.S. and five other world powers made progress during talks with Iran in Geneva on Thursday as Iran agreed in principle to transfer some potential bomb fuel out of the country and to open a recently disclosed facility to international inspection.

Mr. Netanyahu let the news of the continued U.S.-Israeli accord slip last week in a remark that attracted little notice. He was asked by Israel’s Channel 2 whether he was worried that Mr. Obama’s speech at the U.N. General Assembly, calling for a world without nuclear weapons, would apply to Israel.

“It was utterly clear from the context of the speech that he was speaking about North Korea and Iran,” the Israeli leader said. “But I want to remind you that in my first meeting with President Obama in Washington I received from him, and I asked to receive from him, an itemized list of the strategic understandings that have existed for many years between Israel and the United States on that issue. It was not for naught that I requested, and it was not for naught that I received [that document].”

…….The secret understanding could undermine the Obama administration’s goal of a world without nuclear weapons. In particular, it could impinge on U.S. efforts to bring into force the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty, two agreements that U.S. administrations have argued should apply to Israel in the past. They would ban nuclear tests and the production of material for weapons.

A Senate staffer familiar with the May reaffirmation, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said, “What this means is that the president gave commitments that politically he had no choice but to give regarding Israel’s nuclear program. However, it calls into question virtually every part of the president’s nonproliferation agenda.The president gave Israel an NPT treaty get out of jail free card.”

……..David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security, said he hoped the Obama administration did not concede too much to Israel.

“One hopes that the price for such concessions is Israeli agreement to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty and an acceptance of the long-term goal of a Middle East weapons-of-mass-destruction-free zone,” he said. “Otherwise, the Obama administration paid too much, given its focus on a world free of nuclear weapons.”

Syria, Saudi Arabia plot peace path
By Sami Moubayed, Asia times

DAMASCUS – The visit of Saudi King Abdullah to Syria, his first since assuming the throne in 2005, is being hailed as groundbreaking and historic by Middle East observers.

Abdullah, who is married into a Syrian family, visited Damascus countless times for decades, in private and for work, when serving as crown prince under his brother, King Fahd. He attended president Hafez al-Assad’s funeral in June 2000, and was the first Arab leader to visit Syria after President Bashar al-Assad came to power in July that summer.

Relations remained strong throughout 2000-2005, when Syria fully backed the Abdullah plan for peace, later renamed the Arab Initiative, but soured with the assassination of Lebanon’s former prime minister Rafik Hariri, a long-time friend of the Saudis, in 2005…….

…..  Both are keen to bring about a rapprochement between Hamas in Gaza, which is backed by Syria, and Fatah, which is backed by the US and Saudi Arabia. More importantly, the Saudis are backing Syria in its current feud with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. They believe Syria had nothing to do with the six attacks that ripped through Baghdad on August 19 that killed 100 Iraqis, although the Iraqi government claims the masterminds were Iraqi Ba’athists based in Damascus.

Saudi Arabia is not too fond of Maliki, seeing him as a sectarian leader who has worked hard at promoting Iranian influence in Iraq at the expense of Saudi Arabia. He has refused to mend fences with Iraqi Sunnis, making no effort to bring them back into power after they walked out on him in 2007, and done nothing about Shi’ite militias in Iraq, striking at the Sunni community in revenge for having produced former president Saddam Hussein.

They are fearful that some in Maliki’s entourage are still toying with the explosive option of creating an autonomous district for Shi’ites in southern Iraq, similar to the Kurdish region in the north. If that happens, Iraqi Sunnis, who have traditionally fallen under the umbrella of Syria and Saudi Arabia, would be left in central Iraq, where there is no oil.

Both Syria and Saudi Arabia are eyeing the situation closely in Iraq, fearing that if Maliki gets the upper hand in parliamentary elections in January, Iraq will slip into more sectarianism, violence and chaos – three elements that could dangerously spill over the border into neighboring Syria and Saudi Arabia.

The more Maliki escalates tension with Damascus – as he has done by taking the August 19 case to the United Nations – the more this brings the Syrians and the Saudis closer. The countries have similar visions for the future of Iraq, once the Americans leave in 2012, and both can fill the vacuum that is expected to arise.

…. Syria is a reasonable, secular and moderate country, which has no history of radicalization against either Saudi Arabia or the United States (with the notable exception of the Bush era). By distancing themselves from Syria in 2005-2008, the Saudis only strengthened the Syrian-Iranian alliance, at the expense of Syrian-Saudi relations. That immediately backfired on Saudi interests in Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon.

Far from breaking it, Saudi Arabia wants to invest in the Tehran-Damascus alliance, similar to the situation when most of the Arab world sided with Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war of 1980-1988, the Saudis insisted that Syria remained allied to Iran. Syria had the ear of Iranian decision-makers, and the Saudis were keen that this channel with Tehran remained open during the 1980s.

……. Iraq, for example, is more of a priority for both countries today than Lebanon and so is the situation in Jerusalem, where fighting is escalating between Palestinians and the Israeli Defense Forces. The Saudi king’s visit comes only days after a senior meeting failed to solve pending problems between Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in New York……

Sami Moubayed is editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine in Syria.

On Afghanistan, I always find Rory Stewart brilliant and fun to read

Syria Fashion Designers Splash Out in Debut Show
2009-10-07 By ZEINA KARAM

Damascus, Syria (AP) — The svelte models strutted down the catwalk in sexy dresses with bare backs and short hemlines — all under the watchful portraits of Syrian President Bashar Assad and his late father, Hafez. The glitzy occasion was Syria’s first ever fashion design competition, meant to encourage young Syrian talents and local products. But perhaps more importantly, it was part of the authorities’ recent efforts to soften Syria’s image and open up the authoritarian country. A tightly controlled nation often vilified by the West for harboring militant Palestinian organizations and criticized for alleged support for Iraqi insurgents, Syria has worked hard in recent years to shed its drab, socialist image and transform itself economically….

EU Gives Tentative Go-Ahead to Sign Trade Accord With Syria
2009-10-08 By James G. Neuger

Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) — European Union governments tentatively agreed to sign a trade pact with Syria after adding language that allows the EU to suspend the accord in case of Syrian human rights violations.  The accord, first negotiated in 2004, would cover areas such as trade, transportation and research and development. It parallels efforts by the U.S. to end strains with Syria as partof President Barack Obama’s outreach to the Muslim world.  EU representatives in Brussels today endorsed the signing of the accord after reassuring the Dutch government that it could be suspended for human rights breaches, two EU officials said. The final decision is up to EU foreign ministers, who next meet Oct. 26.

The 27-nation EU imported 3.6 billion euros ($5.3 billion) of goods from Syria in 2008 and exported 3.5 billion euros, according to EU statistics.  The text of the accord, which updates a 1977 EU-Syria pact, hasn’t been published. Saving the Special Tribunal for Lebanon from failure: a response to Jamil al-Sayyed and Antonio Cassese Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah began his landmark visit to Damascus on Wednesday opening a new era in Saudi-Syrian relations. President Bashar Assad honored the king by conferring on him the country…

Fearful of Iran’s influence, Saudi king reaches out to Syria

Saudi Arabia, a close US ally, has switched from a policy of isolation toward engagement. Some hope the warming could bolster US Middle East peace efforts.

“There is an overall positive momentum in the region which kicked off with the exodus of George W. Bush,” says Mr. Moubayed, crediting Obama’s regional outreach for the more harmonious atmosphere. ….

Andrew Tabler from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, says, “The Abdullah visit is significant symbolically in that it opens the door for Damascus to move away from an increasingly isolated Iran toward Washington’s Arab allies,” he says. “All of this will just be a photo shoot, however, if it doesn’t lead to progress on key issues, most notably the formation of a government in Lebanon and reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.” …

“Yes, the king is here, but the [Syrian] president was in Iran one month ago,” says Moubayed. He argues that Iran’s opponents should use Syria as gateway to the Iranian state, rather than seeking to break the relationship.

UN warns over Syria drought ‘disaster’
By Ferry Biedermann in Beirut
October 8 2009

The United Nations is gearing up to bring emergency relief to north-east Syria, where a severe and persistent drought has forced more than 300,000 people to leave their homes, but the international community has not yet come up with the necessary funds because of Syria’s tense diplomatic relations with other countries.

“Drought is a slowly ongoing disaster and because of the political situation donors do not give money easily for humanitarian action in Syria,” said Mostafa Shbib, of the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Damascus.

Syria’s relationship with many western and some Arab countries is still fraught with difficulty over a range of regional issues, in spite of recent moves towards engagement by the US and Saudi ­Arabia.

“We want more parties to be involved in this problem because we, the Syrian ­government and the people, are doing all we can but the problem is bigger than our abilities to deal with it,” said Nabi Rashid Mohammad, Syria’s deputy minister of agriculture, who heads a committee to co-ordinate the aid.

The UN is seeking some $53m (€36m, £33m) in emergency funds but has not received any money yet from donors. Mr Shbib said that he expected the organisation’s own emergency response fund to allocate some money next week, which should allow the operation to start.

Jordan faces up to water crisis

Personal Reflections on Karim Arabji
By Ahed al Hindi

Following the sentencing of Kareem Arabji on September 13, 2009, the number of openly identified bloggers imprisoned in Syria today approaches nearly a dozen. Arabji was sentenced to three years in prison by the state security court in Damascus. The court’s hall has now witnessed the unjust verdicts of thousands of Syrian political activists, journalists, dissidents and bloggers….

Shenker

David Shenker accuses Syria (copied below) of trying to divide Washington officials because, as he explains, the Syrians came to Washington during the Jewish high holidays in the hope of talking only to Gentiles. He writes:

“Mekdad landed in Washington on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, a time when most Jews — including those employed by the US government — were in synagogue.”

I guess we are to assume that the Syrians have planted an anti-Jewish agent in the State Department to help them schedule meetings on Jewish holidays? Shenker assures us, however, that the sneaky Syrian plan is not working. They cannot turn Gentile against Jew in the Obama administration because the administrators in charge of the Levant – Shapiro, Feltman, and Mitchell – Jew and Gentile alike – are on the same page. It is heartening to hear that sectarianism is a Middle Eastern disease incommunicable on these shores.

Shenker argues that no one in Washington will dismantle sanctions before Syria has relinquished some cards.  Why? Shenker assures us that: “there is more agreement than disagreement on the nature of the Assad regime” among Obama administrators. Shenker believes that the Syrian regime is just bad and does not want peace for the Golan. We are all familiar with this tune.

Unfortunately, Syrians return this skepticism in spades. Syrians want to first see a decisive move by Obama on sanctions. Syrians are in agreement about the nature of the US administration – they are doubtful that it will dismantle sanctions even if Syria delivers on issues Washington wants. Syrians reason that just as Obama backed down on his pledge to stop Israeli settlement expansion because of staunch opposition in congress, he will back down on dismantling Syria sanctions, which are supported by a broad coalition of Jews and Gentiles in congress.

For WINEP, however, the key is that “Washington is showing little interest in pursuing a mediation role in Israeli-Syrian negotiations,” which means that Obama will not push Israel to return the Golan. If Shenker is correct, Obama’s stated goal of pushing for a conclusion to the Arab-Israeli conflict is all but dead. The Palestinian track is moribund. He backed away from his initial tough stance on settlement expansion in the West Bank after 56 congressmen flew to Israel in August to show support for Netanyahu against their own president. Their montra while there was “settlers are not a problem, Iran is.” If Obama will not seek a reversal to Israel’s occupation of the Golan, there is nothing left to advance.

So can Sarkozy make a difference?

Patrick Seale

Patrick Seale explains that President Sarkozy is not on the same page as the Obama administration on the topic of sanctioning Syria. He still believes that a two state solution for Israel and Palestinians can be pushed through, which would help resolve outstanding differences between Syria and France. He is willing to go hard on Iran in order to win a better hearing for his more generous policy toward Syria. France and Europe, however, have precious little power to influence either Israel or the US on the Golan or sanctioning Syria. So what can France hope to gain by being an advocate for Syria? It will get preferential treatment for French firms in Syria; it improve the environment for French schools in Syria and for its cultural policy of spreading the French language. French is being made an obligatory secondary language in Syrian schools, Seale explains.

François Burgat

Hopefully Sarkozy’s policy will also lead to an expansion of the IFPO – France’s premier institute for graduate studies and research in Syria. The director – François Burgat  – is extremely talented and unlike many academics is a gifted administrator with ambitious plans to expand the IFPO’s Arabic training program, which is the best in Syria, and possibly the entire Middle East. The IFPO remains the Mecca of academic life in Damascus for foreigners and many Syrians. If the IFPO can get a boost from Sarkozy’s policies, France will have done well.

Sarkozy’s Love Affair with Syria and Lebanon
by Patrick Seale

France seems intent on becoming the dominant external power in Syria and Lebanon – commercially, politically and culturally, says Patrick Seale.

In a series of diplomatic moves, France has managed to establish itself as the most influential external power in Syria and Lebanon, outdistancing other European countries, as well as the United States itself.

France’s courtship of Syria began in 2008 when President Nicolas Sarkozy invited President Bashar al-Asad to the launch of the Union for the Mediterranean in Paris on 13 July, followed the next day by his attendance at the high-profile 14 July military parade.

This was a major event marking Syria’s rehabilitation as a Middle East power that could neither be ignored nor isolated, as former U.S. President George W. Bush had attempted to do. In this past year, numerous ministers from Europe and elsewhere have made their way to Damascus, signaling the end of Syria’s isolation.

The Union for the Mediterranean is one of Sarkozy’s pet projects. By means of major infrastructural projects, it aims to build bridges between the European Union and countries bordering the Mediterranean. The underlying hope is that such joint projects will serve to advance Arab-Israeli peace.

The Franco-Syrian love affair was taken a stage further this past week with a highly successful visit to Paris by Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem. It ended with what he described as a “very constructive” meeting with President Sarkozy. French sources speak not just of total confidence between the two countries, but of real “complicity.”

France describes Syria as a “key partner,” with which it enjoys “excellent bilateral relations in all fields.” France is to urge its EU partners to sign Syria’s Association Agreement with the European Union as soon as possible.

In Paris, Muallem, in turn, spoke of France’s important role in promoting Arab-Israeli peace, and in contributing to security and stability in both Iraq and Lebanon. France and Syria were agreed, he declared, that Lebanon should have a national government as soon as possible, but that the Lebanese alone should decide its composition. Syria and France wanted a government “made in Lebanon,” he said.

On the cultural front, a second French school is opening in Damascus, while the French language is to be made a compulsory subject in Syrian schools from the third grade up to university entrance.

Hardly had Muallem left the French capital than Sarkozy this weekend despatched Claude Guéant, the powerful secretary-general of the Elysée Palace, to Damascus, and Henri Guéno, his chief diplomatic adviser, to Beirut.

As well as courting Syria, Sarkozy, however, has been the sharpest European critic of Syria’s close ally, Iran — and in particular of Iran’s nuclear programme. This French position is evidently intended to reassure Israel.

What then is France’s game plan?

France seems intent on becoming the dominant external power in Syria and Lebanon — commercially, politically and culturally — a position it enjoyed between the two world wars, when it was granted a League of Nations Mandate over the two countries.

At the same time, Sarkozy is much concerned with safeguarding Israel’s security (although he has little sympathy for extreme right-wing members of Israel’s government, such as the racist and intemperate foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman.) Sarkozy believes that the present situation is untenable and that strong international accompaniment, including guarantees for both sides, will be necessary if the Arab-Israeli peace process is to have a chance of success.

Sarkozy is determined to play a prominent role in crafting a comprehensive Arab-Israeli settlement — including the creation of a Palestinian state which, in his view, is the only guarantee of Israel’s long-term survival.

Worried that U.S. President Barack Obama may falter in his peace-making, Sarkozy believes that another summit meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean could be a fruitful way of bringing Israeli and Arab leaders together.

France lent its support to Turkey’s mediation between Syria and Israel, a mediation interrupted by Israel’s assault on Gaza last December/January. In Paris, Muallem declared that Syria was ready to resume indirect contacts with Israel, through Turkey’s good offices.

Syria’s greatly improved relations with France and other EU members have been matched by its broad reconciliation with the Arab world. Of this, the most prominent signal was President Bashar al-Asad’s recent visit to Riyadh. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdallah is expected to pay a return visit to Damascus as early as this coming week.

In Paris, Foreign Minister Muallem made a clear profession of faith. “Syria,” he declared, “is an Arab country, and is proud of it. This is a reality we live with every day. We have close relations with all Arab states, including members of the Gulf Cooperation Council.” But, he added, Syria also had good relations with Iran, a country which had given firm support to the Palestinian cause since 1979.

“When the world boycotted and isolated Syria,” Muallem said, “some Arab and European countries followed suit. But Iran chose to strengthen its relations with us.” He added, however, that the security of the Arab Gulf was a red line for Syria. Iran needed to reassure the Gulf states that its nuclear programme was peaceful.

Regarding the West’s conflict with Iran over its nuclear programme, Muallem said: “We want a solution through negotiations and not by means of sanctions or confrontation.” On this subject alone, France and Syria do not see eye to eye.

Patrick Seale is a leading British writer on the Middle East, and the author of The Struggle for Syria; also, Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East; and Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire.

Who Decides on the Levant in Washington?
David Schenker
Daily Star
October 6, 2009

Last week, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Feisal Mekdad travelled to Washington for meetings at the State Department and White House. While the Obama administration extended the invitation some time ago, the timing of Mekdad’s arrival seemed more than mere coincidence. Mekdad landed in Washington on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, a time when most Jews — including those employed by the US government — were in synagogue. For the Syrians, the fortuitous timing of the trip practically assured the absence of senior American Jewish officials from meetings at Foggy Bottom.

Whether the timing was planned or happenstance, it highlighted an ongoing theme in Washington’s diplomatic engagement with Damascus. Since the inauguration of the Obama administration, in an effort to improve its diplomatic position, the Assad regime has sought to determine its American interlocutors. Indeed, from day-one, Damascus expressed concern with the appointment of the National Security Council’s senior Middle East adviser, Daniel Shapiro, and the assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, two allegedly Jewish “hardliners” on Syria. (While Shapiro is, in fact, Jewish, Feltman is a Protestant).

Later, the Syrians sought to sideline Feltman and Shapiro in hopes of conducting talks with the administration’s peace envoy George Mitchell, who Damascus presumably believed would be more sympathetic. More recently, Syria’s ambassador in Washington, Imad Mustafa, suggested during an interview with the London-based Saudi daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat that President Barak Obama himself would determine Washington’s Syria policy by “using his executive authority to freeze the implementation of the important clauses in the sanctions laws [affecting Syria].”

Despite Syrian efforts to shape the environment of the engagement, regardless of the individual interlocutor, the Obama administration has presented a unified front it its representations to Damascus. While the Syrians have succeed to some extent in blurring the three tracks of the United States’ engagement — the Iraqi border security initiative led by US Central Command, the Lebanon and Syrian-support-for-terrorism basket headed by Feltman, and Mitchell’s peace process track — Damascus has not driven a wedge in what has been, to date, a fairly coherent policy.

Today, while there appears to be some minor divergence of opinion in the Obama administration regarding Syria, there is more agreement than disagreement on the nature of the Assad regime and what is required to move ahead. The policy is based on the widespread administration consensus that despite conciliatory US gestures, until now Damascus has done precious little to reciprocate. Eight months on, the administration — which came to office on a platform of engagement — has been chastened.

Notwithstanding Syrian efforts to shuffle the deck, the key administration actors focused on Lebanon and Syria today remain Feltman, Shapiro and Mitchell. Dennis Ross, who months ago shifted from the State Department to the NSC, does not appear to be actively involved in the Lebanon-Syria portfolio. Within the military, the commander of Central Command, General David Petraeus, and, to a lesser extent, the top commander in Iraq, General Raymond Odierno, have also emerged as key voices on Syria. Despite philosophical divergences in approach — Petraeus, for example, is said to favor senior-level talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad — the administration is under no illusions as to the chances for success.

…..Based on the lack of progress on all the key issues, however, significant US concessions to Damascus — such as the lifting of these sanctions — remain off the table. Meanwhile, at least in part due to the lack of bilateral US-Syria progress, Washington is showing little interest in pursuing a mediation role in Israeli-Syrian negotiations.

As with Iran, the Obama administration engagement initiative with Syria has yet to bear fruit. In spite of the Assad regime’s efforts to divide and conquer Washington’s Syria policymakers, for the time being at least, the administration continues to read from the same sheet of music. Stuck with Feltman, Shapiro, and Mitchell, and a coordinated US policy on Syria, Damascus, if it truly wants to improve relations with Washington, may actually have to change some of its policies.

George Ajjan writes: A great documentary for all Syrian Americans: Mustapha Akkad:  From Aleppo to Hollywood

Syria To Raise $4B On Local, Intl Mkts
2009-10-06
By Maria Abi-Habib
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

ISTANBUL (Zawya Dow Jones)–Syria plans to raise $4 billion through a mixture of bonds and loans on local and international markets, the country’s central
bank governor said Tuesday. The money will be used mostly for energy projects but also for other infrastructure plans, Adib Mayaleh told Zawya Dow Jones in an interview.
“Through a partnership with the European Investment Bank, or another institution, we will (raise) $2 billion externally,” Mayaleh said. “The loans will be raised from international banks in one year.”

Mayaleh added that over the next three years, the central bank plans to issue $1 billion worth of bonds to local Syrian banks and another $1 billion will be raised on international bond markets. “Maybe in a year we’ll issue the $1 billion bond…on international markets,” he said. Syria is slowly opening up its economy to international banks. The move to
raise capital will help boost the country’s profile internationally, said Mayaleh.

Mayaleh said earlier Tuesday that the country will raise foreign ownership limits in Syrian banks to 60% from 49%. The move will help “Syria’s economy open up internationally,” he said.

Angelina Jolie took Syria by storm. She and Brad met with President Assad and his wife as part of their effort to bring attention to Iraqi refugees that remain stranded.

Syria’s 2009 GDP Growth Rate Projected at 3.0 Percent
according to the International Monetary Fund. (Syria Report: Thanks Jihad Yazigi)
Foreign Investors Still Few in Syria’s Industrial Cities: In spite of strong interest from local investors, Syria’s industrial cities have yet to attract significant numbers of foreign companies.

Video: Anger at Abbas over Goldstone report delay – 05 Oct 09Al Jazeera (Many wonder if Abbas my be brought down over the cancellation of the Goldstone report.)

Saudi King’s Visit to Syria a Sign of Improved Relations
Saudi King Abdullah will visit Damascus and meet with Syria’s president this week in the strongest sign of improving relations between the two Arab rivals after years of tension, the Syrian and Saudi Arabia state-run news agencies reported Monday…. In a prelude to the thaw in relations, Assad and Abdullah have held three meetings in the past two years, the last time in Saudi Arabia last month… many in Lebanon hope a full reconciliation between Damascus and Riyadh will have positive effects in Beirut.

U.S. Takes Harsher Stance vis-à-vis Syria, according to the Memri Blog

According to opposition-associated Lebanese dailies, the U.S. is taking a harsher stance vis-à-vis Syria.

Al-Safir reported that U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison had expressed objections to senior Lebanese officials regarding the upcoming visit of Saudi King ‘Abdallah bin ‘Abd Al-‘Aziz to Damascus, on the grounds that Syria was not cooperating with the U.S. in Iraq.

Sison also dismissed the agreement between Sa’d Al-Hariri and the opposition to allocate to the latter 10 ministers, and to granting the opposition the veto right of one-third.

Al-Akhbar reported that Sison had told senior March 14 Forces officials that the U.S. administration was disappointed at their capitulation to the opposition and that it would not welcome understandings between Al-Hariri and Hizbullah, since they would be detrimental to America’s Christian allies.

Both newspapers, as well as the Syrian daily Al-Watan, assessed that Sison sought to thwart the forming of a Lebanese government as well as the Russian-Saudi summit slated for the near future.

Will Syria benefit from Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon? (From the comment section)

Shai writes:

I doubt Syria will benefit from a regional nuclear arms race because the Gulf countries and Turkey will get nuclear weapons and Syria could remain one of the few nations WITHOUT nuclear technology. And then what? It will be at far greater risk than it is under today.

Idaf writes:

I see your point, but if Syria managed to “tolerate” a nuclear Israel for 40 years, it will definitely be able to tolerate a nuclear much friendlier Iran in the long run, unless that nuclear Iran becomes very friendly with the nuclear Israel, which is highly unlikely in the long run.

I actually argue that nuclear countries existing in the same region (Iran, Israel, Syria, Saudi, etc.) would be far more reluctant to use their nuclear weapons against each other.

If a nuclear Iran triggers a nuclear race in the Middle East then Syria would benefit from that in the short run as well in its strategic goal of regaining the Golan. Any US administration will BE FORCED to solve and defuse regional problems in the Middle East (say returning the Golan to Syria) if everyone gets a nuclear weapon. Israeli politicians understand this and this why they are nervous about a nuclear Iran, not primarily because the potential threat of nuclear Iranian weapons falling in Israel (which has much less probability than Iran (and its allies) utilizing its new standing in the nuclear club to get leverage with the US and Israel in any future negotiations)

So in all cases, it makes much sense for Syria to want a nuclear Iran (as the next best thing to a nuclear Syria). This will strengthen Syria’s position in any future negotiation and will definitely expedite Israel’s (and US Congress’) acceptance to return the Golan. It is another one of Syria’s “cold war” tactics if you like.

Simohurtta writes to provide “Some reality to the discussion of the “Iran threat”.”

The military expenditures of the region are the following
Iran 6.3 billion USD 2.5 % of GDP
Israel 13.3 billion USD 7.3 % of GDP
Syria 0.8 billion USD 5.9 % of GDP
Jordan 1.4 billion USD 8.6 % of GDP
Lebanon 0.5 billion USD 3.1 % of GDP
Turkey 31 billion USD 5.3 of GDP
Saudi Arabia 31 billion USD 10 % of GDP
Eqypt 3.3 billion USD 3.4 % of GDP

Iraq 32 billion USD 8.6 % of GDP

Kuwait 3 billion USD 5.3 % of GDP
See numbers by wikipedia

Even though the figures are from different years they “show” the reality. Iran uses the least money per capita counted in the region and has no military capability and equipment for expansive wars. It has a limited capacity to defend its own area and to retaliate if attacked.

Zuhair Siddiq gets UAE Jail Time, AFP via FLC

“……… given six months in jail and deportation for entering the UAE on a forged Czech passport. The Supreme State Security Court in Abu Dhabi pronounced its verdict, which cannot be appealed, in the presence of defendant Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq, a former member of Syria’s intelligence services. “The penalty ends in mid-October,” defence lawyer Fahd al-Sabhan told reporters after the verdict was announced, referring to the time his client has already spent in custody. “We have previously annulled the request that he be handed in to the Syrian authorities. But he could be deported or not deported depending on the sovereign executive decision.”

A Community, Shaken
A wealthy, insular Syrian Jewish enclave in Brooklyn reels after rabbis’ arrests
By LUCETTE LAGNADO, Brooklyn, N.Y.

When Morris Setton was a young man here, he and his brother Joshua went door to door selling bags of pita bread to the crush of Jewish immigrants from Syria and Egypt.

It proved to be an excellent business venture. The brothers, Jews of Syrian descent who emigrated from Cairo in the late 1950s with $5 in their pockets, found a community along the elegant Brooklyn boulevard of Ocean Parkway that disdained American white bread and was homesick for the tastes and scents of the Middle East—the spices, flaky pastries, black olives, rose water, cheeses and nuts the immigrants were used to savoring, and which were missing from their new lives.

Fifty years later, Mr. Setton, 68, is America’s King of Pistachios. He is the co-owner of a vast enterprise, Setton Farms, that has a large warehouse in Long Island and farms and processing plants in California. He can live anywhere, but has remained planted in the corner of Brooklyn where he started, at the heart of what he calls “The Community”—a little-known enclave of more than 75,000 Jews from Syria and other Arab lands, many of whom have prospered in America while sustaining strong ties to the cultural traditions of homelands that today are inhospitable to Jews.

Brooklyn’s Syrian Jewish Community….

That community has been reeling since the July arrests of three of its major rabbis on charges of money-laundering, following a sting using a federal government informant….

His store, now called Chalouh International Foods, is today run by a Syrian Jew who emigrated from Damascus in the 1990s. A stone to guard against the evil eye, called a “shabah,” is a brisk seller at $2.

On a Friday morning in August, long lines formed at the kosher food stores lining Deal’s Norwood Avenue. Piled high on the tables of Kings Highway Glatt were packages of kibbe, the delicious little meatballs stewed in sour cherries or mushrooms that are the staple of Syrian cuisine and the centerpiece of the Friday-night sabbath meal. There was yebrak—grape leaves stuffed with rice and meat—and artichokes medias—artichoke hearts stuffed with ground meat and covered with sauce.

Older generations of Syrian women made these dishes from scratch, but these days, women line up to scoop up multiple ready-made packages of these delicacies. Some this summer were dressed for the beach, in pants or shorts and revealing halter tops. Others were in long skirts and long-sleeved blouses, their hair covered with a wig or a hat.

Come Friday, every woman in the community is busy making kibbe hamda, an aromatic dish that involves preparing a lemony broth, then adding garlic, mint and other spices, then throwing in vegetables and the meatballs.

“On Fridays you can drive down the streets of Deal or Brooklyn and know that every house has that kibbe hamda cooking,” says Poopa Dweck (no relation to Solomon Dwek), a resident of Deal and author of the cookbook “Aromas of Aleppo.” “You feel it—you smell it—the mint and the garlic and the kibbe that is boiling and everyone telling everyone not to be late.”

Iraqis claim SU blocking attempt to investigate terrorist attacks in their country

“An Iraqi politician says that Baghdad’s efforts to create a tribunal to investigate terrorist attacks in the country are being stymied by the United States, RFE/RL’s Radio Free Iraq (RFI) reports.
Mohammed Naji, a representative of the Unified Iraqi Alliance, told RFI on September 30 that he thinks Washington is opposed to the commission because it might complicate its relations with Syria. Other members of Unified Iraqi Alliance said Iraq is also being pressured by Iran and Turkey not to investigate the attacks, including a high-profile strike on Baghdad last month that left some 100 people dead. Kurdish parliamentary deputy Mohsen al-Saadun called on the Iraqi government to resist pressure from the Americans and others, saying that their resistance only heightens questions concerning Syria’s role in such attacks.

Deputy Syrian Foreign Minister Faysal al-Mekdad’s visited the House of Representatives suggests that Washington is trying to help Syria get sanctions lifted. Sanctions are the sticking point of US-Syrian engagement. The US wants a Lebanese government and headway on Iraq and Palestine. Syria wants sanctions lifted. Ultimately it wants the Golan. But the US is in no position to offer it the Golan. Israel is not playing ball for the time being.