November 8, 2012

All the News thats Fit to Print

Cactus Times
Palestinians Remark, Seen as Concession, Stirs Uproar
By JODI RUDOREN

JERUSALEM Would President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority like to go to Safed, the city in northern Israel where he was born in 1935? There are no easy questions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr. Abbass answer, in an interview broadcast on Israeli television on Friday night yes, he would like to visit, but not to live there; Safed is part of Israel was widely interpreted as a surprising concession on the demands of Palestinians to return to their pre-1948 homes, perhaps the most intractable and emotional of all the unsettled issues in the decades-old dispute. The remark set off angry protests across the Gaza Strip, in which demonstrators set Mr. Abbass picture aflame. Palestinian rivals and commentators denounced him as a traitor, or worse. In Israel, the response was strong if mixed. The controversy could further complicate Mr. Abbass planned bid for nonmember statehood at the United Nations General Assembly this month, a move that has generated intense opposition from Israel and the United States but that has failed to generate much enthusiasm among his own people. His popularity had already nose-dived over the past year amid a stalemate in the peace process, severe budgetary shortfalls, a worsening rift with the rival Hamas faction that controls Gaza and growing dissent within his own party, Fatah. Khalil Shikaki, director of the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, in the West Bank, said his polls had consistently shown that a majority of Palestinians would support a deal in which only a fraction of the refugees, 100,000 or 150,000, were allowed back. But 30 percent see the right of return as their most vital goal, second only to the establishment of

a Palestinian state, according to the most recent survey, in September. This is a battle over narrative, Mr. Shikaki explained. Normally when people say something along the lines of what he said, they would distinguish that from the right of return. Hes now essentially given Hamas an opportunity to try and use this occasion to mobilize against him. Hamas seized it. The partys prime minister, Ismail Haniya, called Mr. Abbass remarks extremely dangerous, and hundreds of Hamass supporters took to the streets in Gaza on Saturday evening, carrying banners reading Abbas does not represent me, and Pioneer of concessions, its time to quit. Some burned posters showing Mr. Abbas with Israels current and former prime ministers. Although Mr. Abbas may have damaged himself among his own people, he did succeed in what many believed was the goal of the interview with Channel 2 News: inserting the Palestinian question into Israels election campaign, which has so far been more about Iran and domestic social issues. His tone was far more conciliatory than his United Nations speech on Sept. 27, when he accused Israel of ethnic cleansing and apartheid. President Shimon Peres, who is being courted to challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, issued an unusual Saturdaynight statement calling the comments courageous and Mr. Abbas a real partner for peace. Mr. Netanyahu, in turn, said there was no connection between the statements and Mr. Abbass actual actions, asserting that he had refused to negotiate. Yossi Alpher, co-editor of a Web site on the conflict, bitterlemons.net, said that Mr. Abbas had offered Israelis a genuine concession. The interview, in which Mr. Abbas also vowed that there would not be another violent Palestinian uprising, was a fairly obvious attempt to present a more moderate point of view in hopes of strengthening the Israeli left and center, Mr. Alpher said. ================================================================================

U.S. and Japan Begin Huge Military Drill

By MARTIN FACKLER

TOKYO The militaries of the United States and Japan began an enormous joint drill on Monday. Japans Defense Ministry said 37,000 Japanese and 10,000 American military personnel would be taking part in the 12-day drill, which involves United States Navy ships transporting Japanese troops. The top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, said the drill, near Okinawa, was not aimed at a specific country. Frictions between Japan and China have been intensifying over a continued dispute around control of the uninhabited island near Okinawa in the East China Sea. That friction has intensified as Chinese patrol ships have for more than two weeks been entering waters around the disputed island group, known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

It remains to be seen how Chinese authorities will react to these joint exercises, especially as they come while the Chinese leadership transition is occurring in Beijing and domestic, nationalistic sentiment has been used in the past to rally support for the regime.

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Border Dispute Escalates on Indian-Chinese Border

Delhi (UPI)It was fifty years ago this week that Chinese troops crossed into disputed territory with India in the Aksai Chin region. Humiliating the Indian army, the Chinese claimed about 4,500 lives before pulling out of the Ladakh range. Fifty years ago, the Chinese action in this disputed area came in reaction to India granting refuge to the Dalai Lama and other Tibetians as China occupied what was then known as Tibet. Today, on the fiftieth anniversary of the Indian humiliation, a half million men stand today eyeball to eyeball on the edge of the disputed frontier, now managed by China, but claimed by India. Further, the area is perilously close to the

disputed regions of Kashmir, fought over for generations by Indians and Pakistanis, the latter of whom are linked closely to Chinese friends. The risk of accidental conflict has always been there, but as both sides have increased their presence in the area, and patrols have increased, the likelihood of either side initiating fire has increased astronomically. That apparently happened yesterday, at several spots between the Ladakh range and Chinese occupied Aksai Chin. Satellite photos (this is a rather remote area with limited media presence) appear to show a dozen dead Chinese soldier on the Aksai Chin side and a similar number of Indian troops on the Ladakh range side. Initial reaction was contained on the Chinese side, but as Delhi television broadcasts began to spread the news, the information leaked into China as well, precipitating both Hindu and Chinese nationalists in Delhi and Shanghai respectively calling publicly for retribution. To date, there has been little official word from either Beijing or from the Indian foreign ministry, but the calls demanding a response on both sides have grown persistent enough that it is likely one or both sides will have to respond quickly to this emerging crisis. ==============================================================================

Is There a November Surprise Coming in the Middle East?

Tel Aviv (APU)When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was asked to comment about the outcome of the U.S. Presidential elections last night (it appeared that the Prime Minister had supported Governor Romney, albeit quietly), the Prime Minister quickly switched the topic to Iran: That red line, separating Iran from going nuclear forever, may be crossed by the Iranians before the end of this month he said. If so, we will need to move quickly to guarantee the world that it doesnt happen. We will do so, if necessary without our American allies, although it would make a great deal more sense if we could do so with their assistance. We simply cannot allow Iran to create this kind of security threat to us, the Middle East, and peace loving democracies around the world. The comments set of immediate speculation and near-panic, both in Israel and in the Middle East. Irans president denounced Netanyahus statements as being tantamount to the first steps to war and urged the BRICS states to intervene and help stop the Zionists from this deadly crusade. Israeli commentators ranged from calling the statement brave and inspiring, to stupid and dangerous, with numerous commentators trying to second guess whether or not it was meant to press the American president to push harder against Iran or if it was for domestic political consumption as Israel begins to gear up for its parliamentary elections in January.

Much of the world eagerly awaits reaction from the BRICS, and of course a White House that is still celebrating its hard won victory in the presidential elections. This has become a crisis of unprecedented proportions, even for us in the Middle East one commentator observed. ==============================================================================

Terrorists Attack in Germany as Spanish Bonds in Free-Fall, Greeks Continue Strike in the Streets, and Euro Quickly Loses Value
Brussels (Reiturs)After the American elections, the worlds attention shifted to Europe today where the European Union produced much turmoil. In Frankfurt, Germany, a suicide bomber blew up a car laden with explosives, in front of the Deutsche Bundesbank , Germanys central bank, killing 35 and injuring 86 civilians during morning rush hour. A statement delivered on the internet claimed the attack to be from Al Qaeda in Europe, an organization with ties to Hamas and the Iranian government. In part the statement read: Germans are sucking the life blood out of poor people with demands for austerity, and many of those feeling the greatest pain are our Muslim brothers in Europe (there are millions of Muslims in Germany, France, and the UK, with growing numbers of Muslims in Spain). We will not sit idly by and let the Germans and their friends benefit from such greedy practices. And we will not allow them to harm the cause of Islam. Almost at the same time, Spanish bonds lost a substantial amount of their value yesterday, and hundreds of thousands of Greeks continued their 48 hour strike street protests against austerity measures many see as being imposed from Berlin. Stock markets in New York and Europe fell heavily on the combined bad news, including indications that the German economy was also slowing down, and as the turmoil rose, the euros value, pegged against the dollar, fell by ten cents, the largest single one day drop in the euros history. Political commentators now watch to see how Germany, France, and the UK will react to these developments and whether or not they will substantially dampen the European economy, as the US and others seek to continue the recovery from the 2008 recession. ====================================================================================