Mideast Media Sampler 05/05/2011

From an email from DG:

1) Those wily Zionists

Ban Ki Moon

Hezbollah on Thursday evening condemned UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, accusing him of being a member of the “Zionist rank.”

Bin Laden

Ismail Kosari, a member of the Iranian parliament's Security and Foreign Policy Commission and a close affiliate of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, postulated that bin Laden was actually operated by Israel.   

"He was just a puppet controlled by the Zionist regime in order to present a violent image of Islam after the September 11 attacks," he said, adding that the al-Qaeda leader's assassination proves he had "an expiration date" forcing the US to kill him.

Al Jazeera

Saleh said in the conversation, according to govermental sources that Al-Jazeera channel Serves Zionist and terrorist groups, adding that the media is supposed to have a noble message, which is to serve the truth, reinforce unity and peace, help face challenges and expose plots in the Arab World.

2) The Washington Post gets it mostly right

The Palestinian 'reconciliation' - Washington Post editorial

The full consequences of the Palestinian deal are hard to predict because it leaves many crucial questions unanswered — and it could still fall apart. A caretaker government of “technocrats,” which is to prepare for elections in a year, has yet to be named, and it is not clear whether it will recognize Israel. If it does not, the Obama administration will be legally required to cut off $600 million in U.S. aid, and Congress may do so in any case. If Hamas prisoners now held in the West Bank are released, what has been close cooperation between Israel and the U.S.-trained Palestinian security forces could come to an abrupt end. Elections in a year could produce a new Palestinian leadership. But will a vote be fair if Hamas is not required to give up its stranglehold on Gaza? 

Recognition of Israel is the least of the problems, but still this is correct. The next paragraph reads:

The Obama administration had been planning a new effort to get Middle East negotiations going. Now it will need a new strategy. Its first priority should be to prevent a renewal of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed after two years of relative calm. That will mean insisting that West Bank Palestinian security forces continue to work with Israelis to stop terrorist attacks; pressing Egypt and the new Palestinian government to require a cease-fire from Hamas; and urging Mr. Netanyahu to refrain from provocative Israeli actions.

As the editorial noted earlier, Abbas hasn't exactly been the most dedicated negotiator, so saying that the administration needs to get negotiations going is desperate hand waving. Why isn't the Post worried about Fatah-Hamas bloodshed?

And when even "moderate" Fatah shows its contempt for peace, why are the Post's editors concerned with Israeli provocations? And shouldn't the Obama administration be out in front fighting the PA's UN gambit diplomatically?

The editorial is far from perfect, but at least it puts blame where it belongs. It's heartening that even a paper that can't be called "pro-Israel" isn't blind.

3) Another WaPo editorial that's on target

Targeting Mr. Gaddafi

It’s not very surprising, then, that twice in less than a week, NATO airstrikes demolished buildings associated with Mr. Gaddafi. On April 25, two missiles struck the complex where he lives, destroying offices and a library. Not just the dictator’s spokesmen but Russian officials are calling these assassination attempts. Yet U.S. and NATO spokesmen insist the strikes are merely aimed at “command and control” structures. The Canadian commander of the operation insisted in one briefing that the bombing was “not about individuals” and “not about regime change.” 

Such dubious assertions are the logical product of an operation being conducted by an unwieldy coalition under U.N. auspices. Apart from the muddled message they send to Libyans and the world, they reflect the deeper mismatch between NATO’s actual aim — to overturn the Gaddafi regime — and the means so far devoted to it. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) may have done the Obama administration a favor last Sunday when he spelled out a mission that actually makes sense. “We should be taking out his command and control,” Mr. McCain said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “And if he is killed or injured because of that, that’s fine.”

4) Warning Assad

U.S., Italy warn Syria

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini say Syrian authorities must be pressured to end the violence that has left more than 550 people dead since the uprising began, as security forces cracked down on protests. Scores of soldiers also have been reported killed. 

Clinton says the U.S. is looking at boosting sanctions it has already imposed on Syrian leaders. Frattini says Italy would support similar measures by the European Union.

Tweeter Edward Dark has been very worthwhile following for events within Syria.

5) Reaching out to the EU

The New York Times reports

Mr. Netanyahu, in London to meet Prime Minister David Cameron, labeled the unity deal a “tremendous blow to peace and a great victory for terrorism,” illustrating the gulf between Palestinian and Israeli strategies and perceptions. HamasIsrael’s destruction and Israel, like the United States and theEuropean Union, classifies the group as a terrorist organization and refuses any dealings with it. is sworn to  

While Mr. Abbas seemed certain to laud the advantages of Palestinian unity, European aversion to Hamas may well make Mr. Netanyahu’s mission easier, analysts in Paris said, though many European countries, including France, have been largely sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. 

Maybe Hamas's explicit genocidal program and commitment to terror explain the European "aversion." I would hope that the feeling is more universal than just in Europe.

6) Inciting violence

In Yemen

Tunisia’s toppled dictator and his wife are facing charges of inciting violence in connection with a bloody crackdown following his January ouster, the official TAP news agency reported Wednesday.

Inciting  violence a crime. Who knew?

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