Doc's Talk: Hariri says he has evidence of Syrian assassination plots

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Hariri says he has evidence of Syrian assassination plots

Rym Ghazal
Daily Star staff (Arab media)
Wednesday, October 31, 2007

BEIRUT: The head of the parliamentary majority MP Saad Hariri was due to meet Free Patriotic leader Michel Aoun in Paris on Wednesday, after Hariri announced on Tuesday that he had evidence of Syrian assassination plots against himself and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
Hariri made the accusation after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Tuesday in response to a question about alleged assassination plots by Syrian President Bashar Assad's brother-in-law and head of intelligence Assef Shawkat.
"We have intelligence about this and we are following it up," Hariri told reporters on Tuesday.
"The intelligence is correct and our security services are working on it," Hariri said.
Shawkat is among 10 Syrian officials and Lebanese politicians Washington accuses of undermining the Lebanese government, and who are banned from entering the United States.
"There is cooperation between Lebanese security services and Arab security services to avoid such assassinations," Hariri added, without specifying which countries were helping in the investigations.
Just hours after Hariri's announcement, Aoun's office in Lebanon told the media that the FPM leader was on his way to Paris to meet with Hariri.
Sources close to the FPM told The Daily Star that Aoun will meet with Hariri on Wednesday.
Hariri left for Paris on Tuesday night after concluding his meetings in Egypt, where he briefly met with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Hariri said his talks with Mubarak in Cairo focused on the upcoming presidential vote and "the interference of certain states to prevent the holding of these elections."
Hariri said that Mubarak had promised to help prevent "any interference in the Lebanese presidential election or anything that might prejudice the stability of Lebanon."
"We feel that this is a way of undermining Lebanese dialogue and Lebanese consensus," he said, after pointing out that most recent political assassination of a March 14 lawmaker came just a few days after Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri had appealed for dialogue.
Six people were killed in September in a Beirut car bombing, including MP Antoine Ghanem, just days before Parliament was scheduled to convene to choose a new president.
Hariri also met with Palestinian President Mahmmoud Abbas and other Palestinian officials in Cairo, where they discussed the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and Hariri expressed his support for the Palestinian cause.
Earlier this month, Hariri was at the forefront of Lebanese efforts to push for the international court to try those behind his father killing, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others, as he appealed for increased international pressure to set up a court as soon as possible.
"We asked for a harder position from the United Nations in the face of those assassinations," Hariri said told UN chief Ban Ki-moon in New York on October 9.
There was no response from Egyptian or Syrian officials to Hariri's statements.
The US State Department said Tuesday it cannot confirm Hariri's claims that Syria plotted his and Siniora's assassination.
"Without commenting on the specifics on those allegations, it's clear that there is a pattern of threat, intimidation and use of violence against those who are trying to further the process of political reform in Lebanon," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
The State Department's top diplomat for the Middle East was meeting in Paris with French diplomats who are also worried about the upcoming election and the fate of the fragile Lebanon government.
US and French diplomats plan to hold a strategy session to help Lebanon's paralyzed democratic government ahead of crucial elections.
In meetings set for Wednesday in Paris, Assistant Secretary of State David Welch will meet French envoy Jean-Claude Cousseran as well as officials from the French president's office. The two sides will "emphasize our strong view that the next president must be chosen in accordance with the Constitution and repeat our strong view that this process needs to happen free of foreign interference," a State Department official said Tuesday.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb

Also Tuesday, Siniora held a joint news conference in Beirut with Saudi Ambassador Abdel-Aziz Khoja, during which the premier was asked about Hariri's comments, to which he responded: "It is true and we have been informed about it."
Siniora also stressed his government's commitment to the Lebanese Constitution and to holding presidential elections on time. "The government has always respected the Constitution and it will continue to do so," Siniora told reporters, adding that he never said he is against "amending it."
Hariri also mentioned in Cairo that there is possibility of an amendment, "only if there is agreement and consensus on amending the Constitution."
Concerning the letter sent to the UN, Siniora said that is a "position paper" in which the Lebanese government outlined the latest developments regarding the UN Resolution 1701, including the latest violations by Israel of Lebanon's sovereignty.
Siniora also thanked Saudi Arabia for offering $20 million to pay registration fees for all public school students.
For his part, Khoja told reporters that Saudi Arabia "will not bother with any stray comments made against Saudi Arabia from either the majority or the opposition camp."
Khoja also stressed that the Lebanese presidential election is an "internal Lebanese matter" and does not involve Saudi Arabia. "I have great faith that the various Lebanese leaders are making progress and that the elections will take place peacefully," he said.
Khoja also met with Berri, after which the Saudi ambassador informed the media that the speaker is "optimistic that the presidential election will happen on time."
"We have no opinion on any of the candidates, and it is up to the Lebanese to agree on one candidate," Khoja said on Tuesday after meeting Berri.
However, the head of the Democratic Gathering bloc, MP Walid Jumblatt, declared during an interview with Al-Jazeera television that he had called on the US to support a president elected by a "half plus one" formula.
"There is no other choice at this point ... but for the US and regional forces to support a president elected by half plus one," he said, as he called for sanctions on Syria.
Jumblatt also dismissed any possibility of an amendment to the Constitution.
"We are not going to change the Constitution to allow the head of the army to become president," Jumblatt said on Tuesday, referring to General Michel Suleiman, who has been named as a possible interim president if the Lebanese cannot reach a consensus.
"Suleiman can become president when he is not longer the commander of the army," Jumblatt said.
Jumblatt also called on Suleiman to preserve the army's role in maintaining stability by standing against any attempts to spread chaos.
Away from the barrage of statements made by senior Lebanese leaders, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir received the recommendations of the Bkirki quartet committee.
Sfeir made a brief comment to the media after receiving the committee report, saying he will "study it" before making any further announcements.
Member of Hizbullah's politburo Sayyed Hussein Mousawai warned the Lebanese against handing over the decision on the presidency to the United States.
"Our disagreements are not about the [presidential] seat itself ... but rather about independence and dignity, where we refuse to hand over Lebanon to the US," Mousawai said during a ceremony in Baalbek.
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner has agreed to hold talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid Moallem in Istanbul this week, the French Foreign Ministry announced late Monday.
The announcement followed a visit to Syria by Kouchner's envoy, Jean-Claude Cousseran.
The upcoming Kouchner-Moallem meeting, the first since the French official refused to meet his Syrian counterpart during the UN General Assembly deliberations in September, will be held on the sidelines of a three-day conference on Iraq opening in Istanbul on Thursday.
Kouchner had cancelled a September meeting with Moallem in New York in response to the assassination of the Lebanese lawmaker Ghanem. - With agencies

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

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