From an email I received from DG
1.The influential Saif al-Islam el-Qaddaf
Saif al-Islam el-Qaddaf: part scholar, part monk, part model, part policy wonk
Saif al-Islam el-Qaddafi has apparently rediscovered his inner thug:
Seif Islam Kadafi, son of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi , said Thursday that forces loyal to the government were preparing for a full-scale attack on anti-government forces and that Western countries would face defeat if they chose to support the uprising, according to a report from Bloomberg News.
But he needn't worry. The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, previously stated that he has no jurisdiction over Libya.
Now, however Moreno-Ocampo seems to be changing his mind, but is keeping an open mind about Qaddafi:
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor, who is investigating Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi and members of his inner circle for possible war crimes, told the Reuters news agency Thursday that he would welcome hearing Kadafi’s version of events as part of his probe.
Given Qaddafi's record, that's quite generous.
Moreno-Ocampo, btw, doesn't extend the understanding to Israel:
Moreno-Ocampo initially dismissed the Palestinians' appeals to the ICC, saying he could not build a case against Israel as it is not a signatory of the Treaty of Rome. However, he said he was reexamining the possibility of launching an investigation against Israel after the Palestinian Authority submitted documents it said proved Palestine was a legal state with the right to request such a probe.
A further effort by the judge, to investigate an individual Israeli soldier, upset even Kevin Jon Heller at Opinio Juris:
That is a horrific prospect, one that would confirm the fears of the ICC’s worst critics, who regularly claim — without any actual evidence, at least until now — that the Court is on a vendetta to delegitimize Israel.
Heller is much too generous towards the ICC, but Moreno-Ocampo's enthusiasm for pursuing Israel, stands in contrast with his reticence in pursing the Qaddafi family.
2) Syria is apparently helping Qaddafi, even as it campaigns to take Libya's seat on the Human Rights Council
Even as a frivolous magazine celebrates the Assads:
Mrs. Assad also sports Chanel sunglasses and travels in a Falcon 900 jet. But, we're assured, she's not the ostentatious sort: "Her style is not the couture-and-bling of Middle Eastern power but deliberate lack of adornment." She once worked at J.P. Morgan, never breaks for lunch, and starts her day at 6 a.m.—all while raising three children! Just another 21st-century woman trying to do it all in style.
And her parenting? "The household is run on wildly democratic principles," Vogue reports. "We all vote on what we want and where," says Mrs. Assad of herself, her husband and their children.
For the people of Syria, not so much. Outside their home, the Assads believe in democracy the way Saddam Hussein did. In 2000, Bashar al-Assad won 97% of the vote. Vogue musters the gumption only to call this "startling." In fact, it's part of a political climate that's one of the world's worst—on par, says the watchdog group Freedom House, with those of North Korea, Burma and Saudi Arabia.
Syria or its allies are taking care of the dissenters:
The circumstances of the brothers' disappearance are murky. According to Human Rights Watch research, agents from Lebanon's Military Intelligence took at least six members of the Jasem family into custody on Feb. 23 and 24 after they handed out pamphlets calling for more democracy in Syria, a country ruled by the Assad family for decades.
One of them, construction worker Jasem Mer`i Jasem, then disappeared in the early hours of Feb. 25 along with his two brothers, who had gone to pick him up from a police station in Beirut's Baabda district, according to the rights group.
Family members worry that the brothers might have been sent back to Syria, where, rights groups say, authorities regularly arrest political and human-rights activists, block websites and detain bloggers.
3) Similarities between Fatah and Hamas
Fatah and Hamas are remaking governments:
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has gained two weeks more to form a new government, the Cabinet secretary said. Na'im Abu Al-Hums told the Palestinian news agency Ma'an President Mahmoud Abbas approved Fayyad's request Sunday.
The premier has been consulting with an array of parties since he submitted his Cabinet's resignation Feb. 14 and was reappointed.
Meanwhile, back in Gaza:
Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Thursday he has overhauled his Cabinet, replacing seven ministers and creating two new positions, including his government's first female minister, who will oversee a new ministry for women's affairs.
The move comes as rival Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank is also reshaping his Cabinet. Though Fayyad had expressed interest in including Hamas officials in his new government, so far there are no signs that Hamas will take part.
Both Fatah and Hamas are Against Holocaust education:
Hamas and Fatah have vowed to foil any attempt to teach the Holocaust in UNRWA-run schools in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The two parties said Tuesday that teaching about the Holocaust was a “provocative act.”
The Hamas government said that the UN group’s intention to include the Holocaust in school text books was a “challenge to the feelings of the Palestinians.” It accused UNRWA of carrying out a political agenda that did not serve the interests of the Palestinians and “violates their culture and unchangeable values.”
(Both Hamas and Fatah are joined by the "leftist" PFLP in this endeavor.)
Singing for Jihad
Official Palestinian Authority television has broadcast a song calling for Jihad and violence against Israel. The PA TV program on culture included an interview with singer Amar Hasan, and the playing of his song: "The oppressors [Israelis] have gone too far. Therefore Jihad is our right... draw your sword." The words call for violence against Israel in the name of both Arab pride and Islam.
Learning Jihad in Mosques
"True foundation and education start in the mosques... Do you realize what the mosque is? It is a prime factory educating men to fear and please Allah; [it is] the prime factory educating Jihad fighters...
The mosque is the life of Muslims, and the symbol of their courage and honor... The Palestinian fetus in its mother's womb, the Muslim fetus throughout the world in its mother's womb, call [on Muslims] to unite through fear of Allah, through pleasing Him, and through choosing Jihad and Resistance [terror]."
So it's not exactly surprising to learn that Hamas is benefiting from the protests:
The popular revolts in Egypt and Tunisia have brought Hamas back to life, the French news agency AFP quoted the group's political chief Khaled Meshal as saying on Sunday, adding that Hamas and Fatah must join forces in a jihad against Israel.
I guess that Israel just has to sweeten its offer to the Palestinians and we'll have peace. For sure.
4) Earlier this week I was critical of an article that wrote about Israel rights to the Old City of Jerusalem were denied by most people. But it also acknowledged that Israel respcted the ownership of the Greek Orthodox church.
Elder of Ziyon has put together a fascinating map (actually several maps) that shows roughly how much land was owned by Arabs before 1948.
More than anything, the Elder's map(s) show that the concept of the "inadmissibility of acquiring territory by force" rather than being a principle of international law is applied to a single participant in a single conflict. How else do you explain Israel withdrawing from most of Hebron for peace?
Technorati Tag:
Middle East.
No comments:
Post a Comment