The Middle East English Language Press. What They Are Saying.

A review of news of interest to Jewish and non-Jewish communities world-wide.

Russia says Assad could go in Syria settlement.

Jordan Times: “Russia said on Tuesday it was prepared to see Syrian President Bashar Assad leave power in a negotiated solution to 15 months of bloodshed that has claimed more than 13,000 lives. Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said a day after meeting mediator Kofi Annan in Geneva that Russia would back any peaceful settlement to the crisis as long as it did not involve the use of outside force. “We have never said or insisted that Assad necessarily had to remain in power at the end of the political process,’ Gatilov told the ITAR-TASS news agency in Switzerland. “This issue has to be settled by the Syrians themselves.’ The comments represent one of Russia’s most explicit declarations of a position first signalled by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a day after a February 7 meeting in Damascus with Assad. Lavrov at the time refused to explicitly back Assad and said the leadership structure of Moscow’s Soviet-era ally ‘should be the result of agreement between the Syrians themselves.’ Russia has been facing mounting pressure to back Assad’s departure as a first step in a settlement that would see his inner circle assume command on an interim basis.”

Facing a collapse in its vote, [Egypt's] Muslim Brotherhood is desperate to reassure the public.

Al-Ahram Weekly, Egypt: “The surprise in the first round of the presidential elections was not that Mohamed Mursi would come in first and head to the run-offs against Ahmed Shafik but how narrow the margin was between them. Of 23,265,000 legitimate ballots 5,765,000 were cast for Mursi and 5,505,000 for Shafik, a difference of just 150,000 votes. That was not the only surprise for the Muslim Brotherhood. Despite its organisational capabilities, the group’s candidate won only 25 per cent of the vote, down from the 45 per cent the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) secured in the parliamentary elections. The decline in its popularity places the Muslim Brotherhood in an unprecedented dilemma. . . There is also a fear that should the Muslim Brother seize control over both the legislature and the executive Mursi, as president, would only be a facade. The real ruler of Egypt would be the Muslim Brotherhood’s supreme guide. Yet despite Mursi’s promises anxieties over the prospect of Muslim Brotherhood rule remain. Liberals, in particular, fear the Brotherhood will turn Egypt into a theocracy ruled by the Supreme Guide and that Mursi’s pledges to be a president for all Egyptians will turn into a sick joke. . . The business community, too, is anxious. They see the Muslim Brotherhood throwing an Islamic cloak over all business and financial transactions, abolishing banks which, under Islamic Sharia, are regarded as usurious. People in the tourist sector are also alarmed. They fear that if the Muslim Brothers outlaw alcohol and forbid beachwear they will drive the final nail into the coffin of the Egyptian tourist industry. People in the press and media are biting their nails at the prospect of Muslim Brotherhood rule. The Shura Council is already studying changes to the organisation of the press that could see Muslim Brothers take charge of the state owned media. Some political analysts fear how the Muslim Brotherhood, with its connections with Hamas, will handle the Palestinian cause, possibly abrogating the Camp David peace treaty and inviting Israeli intervention in Sinai. Fears and anxieties abound. The Muslim Brothers are trying hard to dispel them before the runoffs. It is far from clear that they will succeed.”

Khamenei warns Israel of ‘thunderous’ blow.

Kuwait Times: “Any attack by Israel on Iran will blow back on the Jewish state ‘like thunder,’ Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said yesterday. Khamenei also said that the international community’s suspicion that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons is based on a ‘lie’ and he insisted that sanctions imposed on his country were ineffective and only strengthened its resolve. His speech, broadcast on state television to mark the 1989 death of his predecessor and founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, contained no sign Iran was prepared to make any concessions on its disputed nuclear program. Instead, it was infused with defiance and Khamenei’s customary contempt for Iran’s arch-foes Israel and the United States. If the Israelis ‘make any misstep or wrong action, it will fall on their heads like thunder,’ Khamenei said. The Jewish state, he added, was feeling ‘vulnerable’ and ‘terrified’ after losing deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak as an ally. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in Stockholm the threats against Israel were ‘nothing new’, insisting she would judge Tehran by its actions at upcoming nuclear talks in Russia.”

Palestinian Abbas urges Israel to accept 2-state deal.

The Daily Star, Lebanon: ”Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Israel on Tuesday to accept a two-state solution based on 1967 borders, warning that the opportunity ‘may not stay on the table for a long time’ given the political upheavals caused by the Arab Spring. Abbas set out the Palestinian case for statehood and full U.N. membership at a World Economic Forum conference in Istanbul, stressing that membership of the United Nations should not prejudice negotiations with Israel. ‘I would like to address our Israeli neighbours and say we are seekers of peace and freedom and our people made a major sacrifice when they accepted establishing their state on less than a quarter of the area of historical Palestine,’ Abbas said. ‘So do not turn your backs on this opportunity … this opportunity may not stay on the table for a long time because the region is witnessing rapid developments,’ he said. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told the conference the Palestinian issue remained the ‘the most important problem threatening peace and stability in the region,’ and said there was mounting anger with Israel over its policies.”

Israel deploys nuclear missiles on German submarines.

Gulf News, Qatar: “Israel is arming submarines supplied and largely financed by Germany with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles, influential German news weekly Der Spiegel reports in its issue to be published on Monday. The magazine said in a cover story likely to touch off a debate in Germany that Berlin had until now denied any knowledge that German submarines were being used as part of an Israeli atomic arsenal. Israel is the Middle East’s sole if undeclared nuclear-armed power. However, former high-ranking officials of the German defence ministry told the magazine that the government always assumed that Israel was putting nuclear warheads on the Dolphin-class vessels. The article, based on a months-long probe, cited files from the foreign ministry in Berlin indicating that the West German state was aware of the practice as early as 1961. Germany has already supplied Israel with three of the submarines in question, footing most of the bill, and another three are to be delivered by 2017 under a recently signed contract. Meanwhile, Israel is weighing whether to order three more, according to the report.”

Fatah withdraws from Gaza rally over flag dispute.

Ma’an News Agency, Palestinian Territories: “Fatah supporters on Tuesday withdrew from a rally in Gaza because protesters were flying factional flags instead of the Palestinian flag, a party official said. The rally was held to mark the Naksa, the 45th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.’Fatah’s withdrawal along with some PLO factions from today’s march is the result of not committing to holding the Palestinian flag which is the only flag that should be lifted in such a demonstration as agreed earlier,’ said Fayez Abu Eita, Fatah’s spokesman in Gaza, in a statement.”

Israel’s Decision to Impose Its Laws on Syrian Golan Null and Void.

Syrian Arab News Agency: “In a letter sent to the UN Secretary General, the Syrian Foreign and Expatriates Ministry affirmed that Israel’s decision to impose its laws, authority and administration is null and void and devoid of any legitimacy as per the UN Security Council resolution no. 497 of 1981.The letter, which details Syria’s stance regarding the UN General Assembly decision no. 66-19 on the Syrian Golan, said that the aforementioned decision stipulates that Israel cease changing the constructional characteristics, demographic composition, institutional structure and legal status of the occupied Syrian Golan, and to specifically stop constructing settlements. The letter also voiced Syria’s stern condemnation of the Israeli government’s decision in June 2011 to build an isolating wall east of the occupied town in Majdal Shams and its decision to increase settlement in the occupied Syrian Golan, saying that these practices show Israel’s true intentions which reject peace. The Foreign Ministry denounced all the Israeli practices which violate the UN General Assembly decisions that stress that the Arab populace of Golan are sovereign over their natural resources, calling on UN member countries to reject the import of natural products seized from the occupied lands or the ones manufactured in it.” 

Iran not to relinquish its nuclear rights.

IRNA, Iran: “Rapporteur of Iran’s Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Kazem Jalali said on Tuesday Iran will never relinquish its own nuclear rights. He told reporters on the sidelines of an open session of Majlis that Iran has explained its stance in its package of proposals in Baghdad, so its stance is clear in the next round of nuclear talks in Moscow. Jalali said Iran does not trust the West so it believes that the best way to settle the differences is purposeful talks. Saying the International Atomic Energy Agency misled the nuclear talks by sending Iran’s nuclear case to the United Nations Security Council, he said the first step towards confidence building is returning the case back to IAEA. The lawmaker said the West is continuing with nuclear talks on the one hand and imposing new sanctions on Iran on the other but this policy of stick and carrot policy cannot work to force Iran to give up its rights.”

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The Middle East English Language Press: What they are saying

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Iranian Culture Minister: International Qods Day to be held in 57 Islamic countries this year

TEHRAN: Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister said here Monday upon Iran’s proposal and OIC’s approval, as of this year International Qods Day rallies would be held simultaneously at entire 57 Islamic countries on last Friday of fasting moth of Ramadan. Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini who was speaking Monday night at Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN) TV’s “Two Half Hours” announcing the news added, “Also based on a proposal by the Islamic Republic of Iran and the approval of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), it was agreed that the 10th OIC Summit would be held in Tehran in the year 2013. According to the culture and Islamic guidance minister, also in order to support the oppressed Palestinian nation and to confront the moves made by the enemies of Islam in their Islamophobia and anti-Islamic propagations, an internet TV network would be launched with the collaboration of the Islamic countries and Iran is a member of its Executive Committee. The annual anti-Zionist day of protest was conceived originally by the late leader of Iran’s Islamic Revolution and founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini (P). In August 1979, the year of the Revolution, in solidarity with the Palestinians, Khomeini declared the liberation of Jerusalem a religious duty to all Muslims. He stated, “I invite Muslims all over the globe to consecrate the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan as Al-Qods Day and to proclaim the international solidarity of Muslims in support of the legitimate rights of the Muslim people of Palestine. For many years, I have been notifying the Muslims of the danger posed by the usurper Israel which today has intensified its savage attacks against the Palestinian brothers and sisters, and which, in the south of Lebanon in particular, is continually bombing Palestinian homes in the hope of crushing the Palestinian struggle. I ask all the Muslims of the world and the Muslim governments to join together to sever the hand of this usurper and its supporters. I call on all the Muslims of the world to select as Al-Qods Day the last Friday in the holy month of Ramadan – which is itself a determining period and can also be the determiner of the Palestinian people’s fate – and through a ceremony demonstrating the solidarity of Muslims world-wide, announce their support for the legitimate rights of the Muslim people. I ask God Almighty for the victory of the Muslims over the infidels. - IRNA, Iran, April, 23 2012.

Jordan sees influx of unaccompanied Syrian children

AMMAN: Dozens of Syrians were injured when Syrian military forces ambushed a group attempting to cross into Jordan late Saturday as part of a new military campaign targeting refugees, according to security sources and relief workers. A Jordanian military source stationed in the border region said Syrian military forces opened fire on hundreds of civilians attempting to cross into the Kingdom illegally late Saturday, injuring dozens. Al Kitab and Sunna Society, one of the major charity organisations providing assistance to displaced Syrians in the north, confirmed that 180 families had entered Jordan between late Saturday and early Sunday, many of them suffering from bullet wounds and third-degree burns. Security personnel transferred the injured to government hospitals in Ramtha and the surrounding area, where one of them was pronounced dead on arrival, the military source added. Relief workers say Ramtha witnessed an influx of unaccompanied Syrian children on Sunday, sparking fears that their parents and relatives had been either arrested or killed in Saturday’s attack…Saturday’s attack came amid a recent increase in the number of Syrians arriving in Jordan, at a pace aid agencies say has reached some 500 per day. – Jordan Times, April 23, 2012.

New Brotherhood candidate pitched into Egypt race. Candidate says will seek hardline Islamist voters

CAIRO: The Muslim Brotherhood’s new presidential candidate, pitched into the race after its first choice was disqualified, promised yesterday to govern in coalition and to steady Egypt after more than a year of political turmoil. Mohamed Mursi, 59, the head of the Brotherhood’s political party, said he would seek the votes of ultra-conservative Muslims after a popular hardline Salafi candidate was barred too, but he promised to be a president for all Egyptians. The quietly spoken engineer is trying to make up ground after Khairat Al-Shater, a millionaire businessman and top Brotherhood strategist, was blocked from running because of a conviction handed down in President Hosni Mubarak’s era when the Islamist group was banned.- Kuwait Times, April, 23, 2012.

Tehran: No place for Israel, U.S. with strong Iran, Iraq

TEHRAN: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Sunday at the start of a two-day visit to boost relations between their Muslim states. “If Tehran and Baghdad are strong, the region will have no place for the United States and the Zionist regime,” Ahmadinejad said, quoted by state news agency IRNA, in reference to Tehran’s arch-foe Israel. He said there was “no limit to the strengthening of political, economic and cultural ties” between them. Such moves would serve to “boost stability and security in the region,” chimed in Maliki, who also held talks with parliament speaker Ali Larijani. The visit notably comes ahead of a May 23 meeting to be hosted in Baghdad between Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers on Tehran’s disputed nuclear program. The mission underlines the current good ties between the two Shiite-dominated administrations – a far cry from the war in the 1980s when Baghdad was run by Saddam Hussein and his Sunni-led government. - The Daily Star, Lebanon, April 23, 2012.

Ship suspected of carrying arms intercepted in Turkey

Turkey has intercepted a vessel in the Mediterranean suspected of carrying weapons and ammunition to Syria, a diplomatic source said yesterday. “We received information that the vessel has a cargo of arms and ammunition headed for Syria,” the source said on condition of anonymity, adding that Turkish authorities would search the vessel. The Antigua and Barbuda flagged Atlantic Cruiser which anchored off the coast of Iskenderun port yesterday morning belongs to a German company. The search of its cargo was delayed until this morning due to stormy weather, the Anatolia news agency reported. The German shipping firm denied allegations on Monday that its vessel was carrying Iranian arms to Syria, violating EU sanctions against the Damascus regime. German news weekly Der Spiegel reported at the weekend that the Atlantic Cruiser, owned by German company Bockstiegel but chartered by a Ukrainian firm, had been stopped on the high seas with Iranian weapons on board. - Gulf News, Qatar, April 19, 2012.

Israel not welcome at NATO summit: Turkey

ISTANBUL: Turkey has refused to allow Israel to take part in a NATO summit next month because the Jewish state has not apologized for the 2010 killing of Turkish activists in a raid on a ship taking aid to Palestinians, a Turkish official said yesterday. Relations between the regional powers deteriorated sharply after Israeli commandos raided the Mavi Marmara aid vessel in May 2010 to enforce a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and killed nine Turks in clashes with activists. Last September, Turkey expelled Israel’s envoy and froze military cooperation after a UN report on the raid failed to prompt an apology from Israel. “We did not give our consent on that issue,” a Turkish official told Reuters when asked if Turkey was blocking Israel’s participation in a NATO summit in Chicago on May 20-21. He said Turkey was still seeking an official apology and compensation for the victims of the Mavi Marmara raid. “NATO is an alliance and even though Israel is not a member its attendance means … positive dialogue with NATO and all its members and without sorting this issue out we deem it not appropriate for Israel to be around,” the official said.Turkish media reported that some NATO members had sought Israel’s participation in the summit as part of the alliance’s partnership cooperation program, designed to strengthen relations with non-member countries. Israel is a member of the Mediterranean Dialogue, a NATO outreach program, along with six other non-NATO countries.- Arab News, Saudi Arabia, April 23, 2012.

Palestinian doubts 2-state solution

ABU DIS, West Bank:  With gloom deepening over prospects for peace, a leading Palestinian is suggesting they might drop the “two-state solution” that has underpinned two decades of negotiations, aiming for Israel and a Palestinian state next to each other. Instead, Palestinians might seek a multi-ethnic state covering all of historic Palestine — including today’s Israel, said former Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia in an interview at his office in this West Bank town. Deriding what remains of the peace process as “no more than a waste of time,” Qureia condemned the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for settling the occupied West Bank with Jews and blocking Palestinian access to their hoped-for capital in Jerusalem. “If this is the policy, I think it is a big lie to talk about the two-state solution,” said Qureia. “They are killing the opportunity of two-state solution. If it dies … there are other choices. “One state is one of the choices.” Qureia is subtly aligning himself with a narrative that turns the standard Israeli-Palestinian discourse, with its focus on Palestinian victimization, on its head: Israel may need an end to its occupation of Palestinian lands more urgently than the Palestinians do, to avoid being overwhelmed by sheer numbers of Arabs. He is the highest ranking Palestinian to articulate a view that is increasingly heard behind closed Palestinian doors: despite the privations of the occupation, time is oddly on their side, and Israel is shooting itself in the foot with its settlements and stalling. – Khallej Times, UAR, April 23, 2012.