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Retired Israeli Generals Support Obama
The Jewish Council for Education & Research has officially endorsed Obama. They have created a short film expressing why Obama is better for Israel. In this short film, many of the most respected military and intelligence experts in Israel discuss the impact of the Bush/McCain foreign policy on Israel, the need for the United States to engage directly with Iran, and their personal feelings about Sen. Barack Obama. Produced by ReviseFilms and presented by the Jewish Council for Education and Research (JCER).
Retired Generals of the Israeli Defense Forces and high-ranking Mossad officials on Barack Obama... from www.JCER.info on Vimeo.
Keep Israel and Syria Talking
by Bilal Y. Saab and Bruce Riedel
16 September 2008
Washington, DC - The indirect negotiations between Syria and Israel that began last May have gone as far as they can. Their purpose – to break the ice between the two states after eight years of not talking, and to test one another’s resolve over certain issues – has been achieved. Now, Syrian President Bashar Assad wants to move forward, as evidenced in his proposal to Israel for direct peace talks at a recent four-way summit in Damascus involving Syria, Turkey, France and Qatar.
But Assad knows there are still two big uncertainties surrounding the prospects of a historic peace deal with the Israelis: the position of the next US administration and the results of a possible Israeli election. While Assad is grateful for the role Turkey has played so far in hosting four rounds of negotiations (a fifth is scheduled for 18-19 September, according to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan), and for France’s pledge of help in any direct Syrian-Israeli talks, he is only interested in a peace agreement with Israel if it is mediated by the United States.
An agreement endorsed by Washington would not only guarantee the return of the Golan to Syria (in exchange for a long-term security deal with Israel), but also – and perhaps more significantly – end Syria’s isolation in the world. The most important lesson Bashar Assad learned from his father is that good relations with Washington, more than any other foreign capital, serve Syria’s strategic interests. But, until a new US administration is in place, he knows there’s little point in proceeding with the negotiations he’s proposing.
Miracle of Holy Fire in Jerusalem
by Maria C. Khoury
April 26, 2008 - Pilgrims from all over the world gathered in Jerusalem today to witness the greatest of all miracles-the Miracle of the Holy Fire. The miracle has turned into a magnificent cultural event but many simply could not get anywhere near the Holy Sepulchre. The soldiers, the police, the large crowds, the noise, the drums of the Boys Scouts and the Girl Scouts anxiously waiting to receive the Holy Fire from the Life Giving Tomb of Christ is a day long adventure. It was a miracle in itself that Sam and Janet from our Sister Parish, Annunciation Church in Little Rock attended.
Accept the Saudi Initiative
JERUSALEM - Four years after it was first presented, the Arab Peace Initiative is finally coming to centre stage. Rumours of behind the scenes meetings and negotiations on the Initiative between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Saudi national security advisor Prince Bandar bin Sultan have been strengthened by reports that the Saudi prince is trying to modify the Initiative so that it will be more acceptable to Israel.
by Gershon Baskin
Palestinians as partners
 Ziad Asali writes, "A historic negotiated compromise that results in a viable state of Palestine on land occupied in 1967, with mutually agreed borders and with Arab Jerusalem as its capital, is an Israeli imperative as it is a Palestinian need. It is Israel's best guarantee to survive the new existential strategic threats and the ultimate guarantee for security and peace for both nations. And for Palestinians to achieve their freedom and viable state, they must repudiate Hamas' regression to the olden days of rejection of Israel's pre-1967 borders." |
Israel and Hamas' Truce Offer
 One of the most common themes heard in discussions of U.S. policy in the Middle East these days is that Washington should be speaking to the key players in the region -- like Syria, Iran, Hamas and Hizbullah -- instead of boycotting them. Yet when it comes to Israel speaking with Hamas in Palestine, the same rational suggestions are not heard. Israel remains a state that enjoys unique standards of behavior in the world, both in terms of what it should and should not do. |
No negotiations, no peace
| "It is true that with the current chaos and almost complete breakdown of law and order on the Palestinian side, it seems almost absurd to renew the peace process. However, it is also absurd not to understand that the developing alternative to Hamas, if the situation there continues to deteriorate, is not a return of Fatah but the rise of al-Qaida and similar groups," says Gershon Baskin. |
