Yemen: 'Israel bombed U.S. embassy'

The "Organisation of Islamic Jihad" claimed responsibility for the September 17 bombing which killed 18 people. However, the leader of Yemen saw through the obvious explanation to one more popular in his neighborhood. Of course! The international Zionist conspiracy was behind it all. I guess they could be called "9/17 truth" advocates.

from AFP: Yemen says 'Israel-linked' terror cell dismantled

Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh announced on Monday the dismantling of
a "terrorist cell" which he said was linked to Israeli intelligence services.

Saleh gave no details but sources close to the investigation said he was apparently referring to a six-member cell arrested on suspicion of nvolvement in a deadly attack against the US embassy in the Yemeni capital last month.

"A terrorist cell was arrested five days ago and will be referred to the judicial authorities for its links with the Israeli intelligence services," Saleh was quoted as saying by the official Saba news agency.

He said the group operated under the "slogan of Islam."

The Yemeni president made the statement during a meeting with politicians, tribal leaders, security and military officials at Al-Mukalla University in the southeastern province of Hadramawt.

Saleh did not say how many people were arrested or detail his allegation that the cell was linked to Israeli intelligence.

"Details of the trial will be announced later," he told the gathering.

"You will hear about what goes on in the proceedings," Saleh said, urging Yemen's political parties to close ranks and cooperate to confront acts of terrorism, Saba reported.

Although Saleh said the group was arrested five days ago, sources close to the investigation told AFP he is believed to have been referring to six men rounded up in Sanaa after the September 17 attack on the US embassy which left 18 people dead.

Militants detonated a booby-trapped car before firing a volley of rockets at the heavily fortified embassy in the second attack targeting the mission since April.

The interior ministry said on September 22 that security forces were holding six key suspects over the attack, including an Islamist militant who claimed responsiblity for the strike.

"Security services succeeded in arresting six people, some of whom belong to Islamic Jihad, linked to Al-Qaeda and which claimed the attack," the ministry said in a statement.

"One of these people answers to the name of Abu Ghaith al-Yamani, who signed a statement claiming the attack," the ministry added.

The ministry said a total of 50 people were arrested in connection with the attack, in which six assailants were killed.

In Jerusalem, a spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry called Saleh's accusations "totally ridiculous."

"To believe that Israel would create Islamist cells in Yemen is really far-fetched. This is yet another victory for the proponents of conspiracy theories," Igal Palmor told AFP.

In August, Yemeni security forces arrested five suspected Al-Qaeda militants in Hadramawt, days after the authorities revealed they had uncovered a new "terrorist" cell near the port city of Al-Mukalla.

Yemen, ancestral homeland of Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, has been battling suspected Al-Qaeda militants since before the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.

In recent months, the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country has seen a series of attacks on security services and oil installations claimed by groups linked to Al-Qaeda.

The latest was the attack on the US embassy, for which an Al-Qaeda-linked group, the Organisation of Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility.

In October 2000, Al-Qaeda attacked an American warship, the USS Cole, off the southern port of Aden with a small boat packed with explosives, killing 17 American sailors.

Hat tip: Elder of Ziyon

Historian: Jewish Towns Populated by Arab Late-Comers

from Arutz Sheva: Historian: Jewish Towns Populated by Arab Late-Comers

Historian Dr. Rivka Shpak-Lissak has embarked on an ambitious project, detailing the history of Jewish towns in the Land of Israel that are now known as Arab. Seven of her articles in this series have appeared on the Omedia website, and she has many more coming.

The bottom line, Dr. Lissak told Israel National News, is that the Arabs have not been here for thousands of years, as they claim, and that in fact most of the formerly Jewish towns of the Galilee were populated by Arabs only within the last 300 years or so.

read the rest here...

Methodist voices, reasonable and unreasonable

Susanne Garrison Hoder bill herself as "the founder of the Interfaith Peace Initiative in Providence, R.I., and a member of the Divestment Task Force of the New England Conference". On the one hand, she seeks peace by bringing people of different religions together. That's admirable. On the other hand, she's part of the "task force" driving the United Methodist Church's anti-Israel activism. That's reprehensible.

For one person to fill these two contradictory roles could present certain difficulties. How can someone, on the one hand, bring conflicting parties together to work for peace, and, on the other, advocate against one of the parties? And how does this dilemma play out in the area of religion, where humanity's highest aspirations mix with its worst prejudices?

Of course, dealing with those difficulties require consciousness of them, and, judging by what she's written here, that may not be a burden Ms. Hoder has borne heavily. She has just published a piece called "American tax dollars supporting apartheid" on the United Methodist Reporter website, which is an official arm of that church. The factual distortions in the piece are many, her bias is palpable and her view of the conflict completely one-sided (although she does insert in her diatribe the non sequitur that she "celebrated Rosh Hashana with a rabbi" to reassure those who may be put off by her rancor).

But let me draw your attention to what she appears to advocate. She says "(p)eople from all over the world with Jewish ancestry are invited to live on property taken from Palestinians. Yet Christians and Muslims whose ancestors have lived in the Holy Land for 2,000 years and 1,300 years, respectively, cannot return." Hodor seems to advocate the "right of return" for descendants of Palestinian refugees from Israel, and oppose the right of return for Jews. This runs contrary to two-state solution which has been the goal of the "peace process" and provides the only real hope for peace in the region. Hers is a recipe for continued war and killing in the name of a radical, unachievable peace. That kind of peace advocate Israelis and Arabs don't need.

Here's a letter from David Preston of Jacksonville, Florida published by the United Methodist Reporter in response to Hodor's commentary:

Israel, South African "apartheid" cannot be compared

To compare a system which oppressed those who were ostensibly powerless (apartheid) with a system in which one is surrounded on vitually all sides—including within your own borders—by enemies who have as their stated goal your destruction (Israel) is nonsense and is morally indefensible.

In South Africa, blacks had very little power, military or economic, and the white government was all-powerful. In Israel, the Palestinians have routinely demonstrated their power through bombings, rocket attacks and the pressure of international governments and the press.

The Palestinians have been kept in their miserable conditions by the greed and corruption of their own leaders: Arafat, Hamas and the PA. Arab governments in the region have refused to allow the resettlement of the Palestinians in their lands in order to keep the Palestinians as a useful tool to weaken and destroy Israel.

Nelson Mandela preached reconciliation and cooperation. The Palestinians and their Arab supporters continue to advocate violence, even conditioning their own children to hate from birth. Look at some of the images of children being taught to hate Israelis, and the culture of violence and death against Israel, America and the West in general, which dominates the indoctrination they receive.

Israel is fighting for its life against a sea of violent, hate-filled people that are stuck in the 7th century. To allow Israel's destruction in the face of the genocide being waged against would be immoral.

As United Methodists, it's time to get beyond this infantile notion that holding hands and talking about peace will actually bring about peace. World War II should have taught us that lesson for all time.

UPDATE: Hoder's group promotes book by Holocaust denier Michael Hoffman II. Read about that here.

New definition of chutzpah

Nasrallah blames Israel for killing anti-Syrian pols in Lebanon

from Haaretz

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday accused Israel of killing anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon to cause strife and drag his militant movement into fighting other Lebanese communities.

In a televised speech broadcast to his supporters to mark "Al Quds" day, Nasrallah said Israel has a network of agents working in Lebanon who are responsible for the political killings.

Nasrallah, whose group leads the pro-Syrian opposition to Lebanon's U.S.-backed government, also warned the parliamentary majority against picking a president of their own to run the country if talks with the opposition failed, and called for polling the general population on their choice if the lawmakers fail to reach agreement.

The Hezbollah chief said attacks against members of Lebanon's anti-Syrian parliamentary majority in the last two years have automatically drawn condemnation from that coalition against Damascus, Hezbollah's ally, and that was the reaction the killers expected, Nasrallah said.

"The hand that is killing is Israel's," he told thousands of supporters who occasionally interrupted his speech with roars of approval.

By the way, this Haaretz article ends with an inexplicable zen koan: "Nasrallah ended the speech with a quote from the Koran which relates to the Children of Israel." The reader must meditate upon that phrase for many years to discover meaninglessness of whatever Nasrallah said.

Univ. of Cal. Backs Down from 'No Jews Allowed' Program

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

from Arutz Sheva / IsraelNN.com:

A U.S. State Department-funded University of California program which provides business training for residents of the Middle East specifically excluded Israeli Jews - until Jewish journalists protested.The University of California has now altered the program's eligibility requirement that initially barred Israeli Jews. The turnaround in policy also may have saved the State Department, whose Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) finances the program, from having to provide an embarrassing explanation. MEPI also selects the participants.

Jerusalem-based marketing specialist and businesswoman Miriam Schwab uncovered the bias last week when she checked into applying to the university's San Diego branch Beyster Institute program for Middle East Entrepreneur Training (MEET). She discovered that the program was open to citizens of "Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Israel (limited to Israeli Arab citizens), Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, West Bank/Gaza and Yemen."

The Beyster Institute, which manages the program, offers three 10-day seminars, each one with 20 eligible participants. The program includes professional coaching and offers opportunities to make new contacts and "to help promising leaders realize their aspirations to build successful [businesses]... The participation of women is highly encouraged."

The Canadian-born Schwab, who moved to Israel 10 years ago, said she was interested in the program because she employs two women in her Illuminea company in Jerusalem. "This program sounded really interesting until I got to the part about eligibility for application," she wrote on an e-mail list.

The MEET program ostensibly "does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, age, religion, national origin, or handicap."

In response to an IsraelNationalNews.com question for confirmation of the restriction in Israel, program manager Mona Yousry verified, "It is only for Arab Israelis." A subsequent question as to why Israeli Jews are not eligible for the program elicited the following reply from the Institute's Director of Entrepreneurial Programs, Rob Fuller: "I’m sorry for the unfortunate misunderstanding about eligibility for the new MEET program. To be clear, for the programs for which we are now recruiting to be held in 2008, ALL Israeli citizens are eligible to participate. Sorry for any confusion we may have inadvertently caused."

Israeli Jews originally were excluded despite the program’s stated advantage as "an important cultural exchange." Fuller did not explain the initial "confusion" in barring Israeli Jews.

The programs are to be held in Jordan, Egypt and Morocco, all of which have relations with Israel.

Following the e-mail complaints to Beyster, the US Embassy of Yemen online document which announces the program was down for more than a day until the words "limited to Israeli Arab citizens" were deleted. [View the document announcing the program by clicking here. When prompted with "Do you want to open or save this file," click on "Open."]

The US official who made the online edit, however, reposted the story in "track changes" format so that the document displays in the left margin, at the time of this writing, the words: "Deleted: Limited to Israeli Arab citizens." (See pics below).

The US Embassy document was reposted with the words: "Deleted: Limited to Israeli Arab citizens."

The full page US Embassy online document announcing the program

Nationalists Versus Islamists: The Middle East's Core Issue by Barry Rubin

from... GLORIA Center

The Middle East is in a new era, very different from the politics and strategic situation we have been used to for so long.

For 55 years the region has lived under Arab nationalist dominance. Every Arab regime, except perhaps Sudan, is Arab nationalist, governed by that basic system and world view.

Of course, these regimes have governed badly, not keeping pledges to unite the Arab world, minimize Western influence, destroy Israel, or bring rapid social and economic progress. Still, they know how to stay in power. Remember that the last real regime change from within an Arab state happened 37 years ago when Hafiz al-Asad seized power in Syria. Since then, surprisingly little has changed in Arab ideology, political structure, economic organization, or society.

It has also been 28 years since Iran's Islamist revolution took power in 1979. Since then--though not solely because of that event--Islamism has been on the upsurge. Certainly, it also suffered setbacks and almost three decades later Islamism had been unable to seize power anywhere, at least until Hamas's recent triumph in Gaza.

What has happened now, however, is that radical Islamism has reached a critical mass. It now poses serious challenges to Arab nationalism as the leading opposition in every Arabic-speaking country. Islamism plays a key role in governing Iraq, Hamas defeated Fatah on the Palestinian front; and Hizballah is close to gaining at least equal power in Lebanon.

For years, probably decades, to come, the Middle East will be shaken by a titanic battle between Arab nationalism and Islamism for control. This struggle, and certainly not the Arab-Israeli conflict, is the central theme and underlying factor in every regional issue.

This is so for several reasons. One is that the Islamist cause is now promoted by an alliance including two regimes, Iran and Syria, as well as Hamas and Hizballah which both rule territory. Syria's government, technically “secular” and ruled by a non-Muslim Alawite minority no less, behaves like an Islamist one, especially in its foreign policy, as to keep loyal its Sunni Muslim majority.

It is folly to think that this HISH alliance (Hamas-Iran-Syria-Hizballah) can be split. After all, the parties have common aims and ideologies, their cooperation is so mutually beneficial, and last but not least due to the fact that they think they are winning.

Historically, there were two barriers for Iran's trying to become the Middle East's leading power: the Persian-Arab and Shia-Sunni divides. How could Persian, Shia Iran appeal to Arabs who mostly were Sunni? The HISH alliance solves that problem. Three of the four members are Arab, and Hamas is Sunni as is the majority of Syrians. If one adds Iraq's Sunni Arab insurgency that breakthrough becomes even clearer.

Nor does this exhaust the Islamist forces working today to seize state power throughout the region. Al-Qaida is a factor, mostly in Iraq--where it cooperates closely with Syria--and Saudi Arabia. Al-Qaida is far more a threat in terms of terrorism, however, than in a strategic sense. Since it has only one tactic, in comparison to other Islamists' flexibility, al-Qaida is unlikely to take over any countries.

A third Islamist set of groups are Muslim Brotherhood movements. While Hamas arises from the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood, its Egyptian, Jordanian, and Syrian counterparts do not particularly like Iran or Shia Muslims. Still, they are also trying to transform Arab nationalist into Islamist states. Even if they use elections in pursuing this objective the goal remains the same.

To understand the region today all its issues have to be seen in the context of this nationalist-Islamist battle. If Iran gets nuclear weapons, it will greatly increase the power of HISH, the Arab regimes' readiness to appease it, and the recruitment for Islamists of all types throughout the area.

In Lebanon, Hizballah backed by Iran and Syria seeks to control the government, or at least have veto power over its policies. In Iraq, Syrian-backed Sunni insurgents fight Shias among whom Iran has considerable influence. HISH hedges its bets but on both sides tries to turn Iraq into a client state. Among Palestinians, Hamas seeks full power over the movement by ensuring that war with Israel continues and by driving Fatah out of the West Bank.

On the other side, in theory, are all the Arab regimes except Syria plus Israel. In practice, though, these forces are far from united. Arab governments will try to cut their own deals or pursue their own interests. They may be privately happy if Israel defeats Hamas or Hizballah but they will scarcely provide any help or make peace.

A good example here is Saudi Arabia. The Saudis fight Iran but do so by giving money and recruits to the Iraqi insurgency or their ill-fated attempt to buy off Hamas by brokering a deal between that group and Fatah. Neither of these tactics has been very helpful. And the incompetence, corruption, and dictatorial nature of the Arab regimes--plus their Islamist-style extremist propaganda--all help foster more opposition.

Still, this does not at all mean the Islamists will win. No one should underestimate the Arab nationalist regimes and there are huge problems with the Islamists' strategy. What is vital, however, is to understand that past realities are now outmoded and myths all-too-often dominant in media and academia are even more misleading.

The taste of flagrant lies...

from Ami Isseroff at Israel News: Jewish Psychosis: Authentic Middle East flavor in Arab world press

The American and other governments take care that the public who cannot read Arabic generally do not see and taste some of the more extravagant "cuisine" prepared in the kitchens of Middle East media: Jews capturing Christian children to make matzoth from their blood, a TV series about the workings of the Elders of Zion and their Protocols, sermons about Jewish sons of dogs and Christian sons of pigs, promises to fly the flag of Islam over London, and bring about a world without America.

For reasons related to oil greed and the stupidity of diplomacy, the United States subsidizes several Middle East regimes very heavily. The US government, and the US Middle East academic establishment, would be sorely distressed if Americans were too aware of the sort of regimes and societies that their tax dollars subsidize.

As a result of its peace treaty with Israel, Egypt enjoys an annual aid grant of about $2 billion. Despite horrendous poverty, most of this money is spent on buying armaments in the United States. Egypt is not a very democratic society. You can be put in jail for hinting that elections are fraudulent, or for criticizing the government too strongly. The press is tightly controlled as well. Nothing is published that the government would not want to be published.

Arab countries have, in addition to their Arab language media, a small English language press that is in large part for external consumption. Journals like Arab News, Al Ahram and Jordan Times put "respectable" faces on the regimes of their countries. They allow a bit more criticism of the government, and somewhat less racism and vitriolic American diatribes. Additionally, there are journals like As-Sharq Alawsat run from London, that reflect more Westernized points of view.

However, even in the English language journals, we can sample a great deal of the Middle Eastern journalistic cuisine. We can find manufactured events, such as the bombing of Baghdad with nuclear weapons, and Israel injecting Palestinian children with AIDS, and opinions based on those tales of the 1001 Arabian Nights.

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