Iran responds to IAEA by threatening to destroy Israel… again + Australia feels the fallout
November 11, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
As outlined in yesterday’s update, the UN’s atomic energy watchdog has just released a report that just falls short of definitively stating that Iran has a nuclear weapons program – seemingly the closest that the UN ever comes to an unequivocal condemnation of a country that is not Israel. The report has emerged amid rumours that Israel is gearing-up for an attack on Iran and is busy soliciting support from allies in the UK and the US.
Predictably, Iran did not respond with steps to assure the international community that its nuclear program is peaceful, but instead blamed an American conspiracy and then threatened to destroy Israel.
Iran denies the allegations and says the evidence used by the U.N. nuclear watchdog was fabricated by the United States and its allies. It has insisted that its nuclear program is aimed only at generating electricity and ensuring an independent fuel supply for its nuclear power plants.
… “If smoke columns rise from our nuclear facilities, then this scenario could happen in other areas,” said Brig. Gen. Massoud Jazayeri, deputy chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces. “The Dimona station in Israel is the easiest…
Islamism and the Arab Spring
November 11, 2011
This Updates features three informative pieces on the seemingly increasingly Islamist tint colouring the Arab Spring movements, from Tunisia, to Libya, to Egypt, and beyond.
First up is one of Israel’s most respected and sober Middle East experts, Dr. Asher Susser from Tel Aviv University. He takes issue with the way the media and commentators have focussed too heavily on the “computer-savvy younger generation, skilled in the social networking tools of Facebook and Twitter and the modern media” which were allowed to overshadow the vast strength of the forces of tradition in Arab society. He argues that it is actually secularism that is in crisis across the Arab world, and the Arab Spring has “in many ways become a launching pad for Islamist political ascendance” with unclear effects on democracy hopes.
Media Week – Culture Wars; A Grandstanding Seat; Rice Revelations
November 11, 2011 | Jamie Hyams
Writing in the Australian (4/11) in support of the decision by UNESCO to grant membership to the Palestinians, Izzat Abdulhadi, head of the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, claimed, “Israeli occupation has not seen the protection and preservation of these riches. Israeli occupation has seen deliberate neglect, damage and the ongoing seizure of Palestine’s cultural heritage and territory as its own, violently and with impunity, excluding the interests and rights of all others. Yet Australia voted no to Palestinian membership of UNESCO, preferring, it would seem, the theft and destruction of Palestine’s and the world’s heritage and saying no to peace.” By contrast, he claimed, “Palestine is committed to the protection and preservation of these treasures.” The track record shows the opposite to be the case.
Leaked UN report reveals cognitive dissonance on Palestinian statehood
November 10, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
Just after the Palestinian Authority admitted that they are not going to win the votes needed to secure UN Security Council recognition as a state, a report prepared for the Security Council on the subject has been leaked to the media. The report, written by the UN’s Committee For the Admission of New Members, has has been leaked to American Arabic news network Al Hurra and published by Foreign Policy’s Colum Lynch. The general impression from the report is that the Committee was unable to determine whether or not Palestine can qualify for statehood, but there were a few points that were a little curious.
For starters, see if you can pick what stands out from the following paragraph…
IAEA: Iran “continuing” work on a bomb
November 10, 2011
As readers may be aware, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Tuesday released a report into Iran’s nuclear program which is being described by diplomats as “the most damning report ever published by the IAEA.” The report itself is available in full here – the key extracts are collected here and here.
We lead with a summary of the report’s key findings from Washington Institute for Near East Policy expert Simon Henderson. He pays particular attention to the report’s revelations concerning where Iran obtained its nuclear technology – from Pakistan mainly, but also possibly from Russia.
Is Bibi getting a bad rap?
November 10, 2011 | Tzvi Fleischer
As readers may have seen reported, a private conversation between US President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy at Cannes last week was accidentally overhead by reporters. In it, the two were talking rather unflatteringly about Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu. According to the reports, Sarkozy said of Netanyahu “I can’t stand him anymore, he’s a liar” while Obama responded, “You may be sick of him, but me, I have to deal with him every day.”
This story has sparked a fair amount of comment from various quarters concerning what it says about the relationship between Obama and Netanyahu (which all informed observers already knew was hardly notable for its warmth), and the wider US-Israel relationship.
Palestinians admit that they do not have statehood support
November 9, 2011 | Daniel Meyerowitz-Katz
A breaking report from the AP reveals that the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Malki, has admitted that they have failed to muster the nine votes needed in the UN Security Council in order to approve their statehood bid.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki told The Associated Press Tuesday, “It is clear now, with the U.S. counter effort and intervention, that we are not going to have these nine votes.” They can still apply to the General Assembly.
That the US has been campaigning strongly against the bid is unsurprising given the difficult situation that the PA has been placing the Obama administration in through its recent UN antics…
Has Iran run down the nuclear clock?
November 8, 2011 | Allon Lee
A new International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report due to be released tomorrow is believed to contain compelling evidence that Iran is now at the end stage of its nuclear research program and is actively working on weaponisation technologies.
Ahead of the report’s scheduled release we present a range of reading that predicts what the report will likely detail, where the effort to contain Iran’s nuclear weapons program is at and whether the time has come to move from economic sanctions to military options.
When academic anti-Zionism shades into endorsing antisemitism
November 8, 2011 | Sharyn Mittelman
Critical discussion of Israel may be one thing, but increasingly ‘academic’ discussion of Israel can cross a red line into blatant antisemitism.
Gilad Atzmon is an Israeli-born Jazz musician living in Britain who has declared himself a “proud self hating Jew.” He is known not merely for being critical of Israel but for his antisemitic writings in which he encourages belief in a global Jewish conspiracy of world domination, casts doubt on the Holocaust and blames Jewish persecution – including by the Nazis – on Jews themselves.
Therefore, it is alarming that Atzmon’s latest book The Wandering Who?, which reprises many of Atzmon’s antisemitic themes has been endorsed by ‘respected’ academics including John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Richard Falk of Princeton.
UNESCO vote on Palestine triggers UN backlash
November 7, 2011 | Or Avi Guy
The acceptance of the Palestinian Authority (PA) to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was criticised within the UN by none other than the Secretary General Ban Ki Moon.
In an interview during the G20 summit in Cannes, France, he warned against further attempts by the Palestinians to join other UN bodies and agencies and stated that such efforts are “not beneficial for Palestine and not beneficial for anybody.” He warned that “millions and millions” of people could be affected if UN agencies suffer budget cuts as a result of the Palestinian bids: “This will have implications for all the agencies of the United Nations. When an organisation is not properly functioning because of a lack of resources, you have to think about the millions and millions of people who are being impacted and affected,” he said.
Ban’s concerns are based on actions by the United States and Canada, which contributed 25% of UNESCO’s funding, and have cut off their funding following the PA vote.
