AS BRITAIN CONDEMNS UN’S FALK, IRAN BACKS SYRIAN ASSASSINS, JORDAN TEETERS, & OBAMA IS PARALYSED

Contents:

Community Colloquium: CIJR & Adath Israel present: The Coming Crisis: Israel, Iran & The U.S., Oct. 28, 2012

U.N.’s Richard Falk Accuses “Organized Jewish Community” Of Crimes Against Palestinians

The U.N. Human Rights Council’s Richard Falk is now accusing “the organized Jewish community” of being “responsible for the massive and enduring confiscation of Palestinian land and rights.”

UN Watch Letter to President Obama: Hillel C. Neuer,  Executive Director, UN Watch, Oct. 24, 2012

Tomorrow the United Nations General Assembly will give its podium to Richard Falk, a man who promotes the conspiracy theory that 9/11 was an “inside job” by the U.S. government, endorses the Hamas terrorist group, and incites virulent hatred against America, the West, Israel and Jews.

Iran's Bloody Power Play [in Lebanon]: Tony Badran, Real Clear World, Oct. 25, 2012

Iran is conducting a region-wide drive with an eye on the regional balance of power. This is what's at stake in Syria, and what's playing out in Iraq, the Kurdish Regional Government, Lebanon and Turkey. This Iranian power play best explains why Hassan was killed. 

Timidity Causes Syrian Barbarity: James Van De Velde, Jerusalem Post, Oct. 23, 2012

There are five likely futures for Syria, and none of them involve Assad, the West has no choice but to involve itself in Syria’s future. The days of the totalitarian regime of Bashar Assad in Syria are numbered.

Is Jordan The Hashemite-Occupied Palestine?:  Mudar Zahran, Jerusalem Post, Oct. 22, 2012

Hassan simply ignores the Faisal-Weizmann agreement which his clan signed in 1919, by which Jews agreed to give up 78 percent of the British Mandate for Palestine promised to them by Great Britain as a future Jewish homeland. That compromise was made by world Jewry then for a clear reason: Establishing a homeland for the Arabs in the area under the Hashemites.

On Topic Links

Jordan: King Abdullah Losing the Support of Tribes?: Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone, Oct. 16, 2012

Hizbullah’s Unspoken War in Syria : Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah, JCPA, Oct. 24, 2012

Nothing Will Be The Same : Nadine Elali, Now Lebanon, Oct. 24, 2012  

Syria’s War Spills Into Lebanon : Editorial Board, Washington Post, Oct. 24, 2012

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U.N.’S Richard Falk Accuses “Organized Jewish Community” of
Responsibility for Crimes Against Palestinians

The U.N. Human Rights Council’s Richard Falk is now accusing “the organized Jewish community” of being “responsible for the massive and enduring confiscation of Palestinian land and rights.” This is only the latest of a series of Richard Falk outrages exposed by UN Watch. Below is the letter faxed October 24 by UN Watch Director Hillel Neuer to President Obama and other world leaders and high U.N. officials, demanding an immediate condemnation. 

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UN Watch Letter to President Obama
Concerning Anti-Semitic Remarks by Richard Falk

The President                                                                                                  October 24, 2012
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
United States of America

Dear President Obama.

Today the world marks UN Day, honoring the anniversary of the 1945 United Nations Charter, whose noble principles inspire the work and purpose of UN Watch. Yet we cannot celebrate today when we know what awaits tomorrow.

Tomorrow the United Nations General Assembly will give its podium to Richard Falk, a man who promotes the conspiracy theory that 9/11 was an “inside job” by the U.S. government, endorses the Hamas terrorist group, and incites virulent hatred against America, the West, Israel and Jews. That he happens to be a top official of the U.N.’s highest human rights body only compounds the outrage.

Tomorrow, however, you have the opportunity to fight back. The United States and other major democracies can send a powerful message in tomorrow’s debate.  We respectfully call on your government and its friends to follow the lead of Britain and condemn Mr. Falk’s latest expressions of anti-Semitism.

As we noted in our earlier letter to you on this matter, Mr. Falk recently accused “the organized Jewish community” of collective responsibility for war crimes. He also provides the cover endorsement of a virulently anti-Semitic book, “The Wandering Who,” now spreading its poison around the globe. We just saw the book sitting on the shelves of Geneva’s leading university library.

As Professor Alan Dershowitz demonstrated in The New Republic, the author’s writings, both online and in his new book, “brim with classic anti-Semitic motifs that are borrowed from Nazi publications.” With Mr. Falk’s endorsement on the front cover, the author boasts about drawing "insights from a man who . . . was an anti-Semite as well as a radical misogynist,” and a hater of “almost everything that fails to be Aryan masculinity” (p. 89-90). He declares himself a “proud, self-hating Jew” (p. 54), writes with “contempt” of “the Jew in me” (p. 94), and describes himself as “a strong opponent of … Jewish-ness” (p. 186).

Sadly, other than London’s recent protest, the U.N. and its member states have responded with deafening silence.Yet if anti-Islamic acts by completely marginal and unknown figures merit a chorus of sharp and prompt condemnation by world figures, high U.N. officials, and diplomats, should not anti-Jewish acts by a U.N. mandate-holder—who speaks on human rights from the world body’s podium and with its imprimatur—merit the same, and so much more?

U.N. rights chief Navi Pillay is refusing to act. She insisted, in a letter to UN Watch, that Mr. Falk is answerable only to member states of the U.N. Human Rights Council. America is one of those council members, and indeed its leading force. We therefore urge the U.S. to assume its responsibility and speak out tomorrow, loudly and clearly.

The cause of human rights and the founding principles of the United Nations must not be subverted. Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

Sincerely, Hillel C. Neuer,  Executive Director, UN Watch

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IRAN'S BLOODY POWER PLAY

Tony Badran

Real Clear World, October 25, 2012

Who killed Brigadier General Wissam al-Hassan? Following the assassination last Friday, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt blamed Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. However, Jumblatt refrained from addressing "whether Hezbollah or any others [were] behind the assassination, because we would be doing what Assad wants us to do."

Jumblatt's concern is understandable. His priority is to avoid internal Sunni-Shiite sectarian tension and to keep the security situation in Lebanon under control. However, Hassan's assassination reaches far beyond Lebanon. There's a compelling case to be made that the elimination of the influential security chief is part of Iran's contingency planning, from Iraq to Lebanon, to consolidate Tehran's gains, especially in the event they lose their Syrian ally.

Like Jumblatt, both the Lebanese president and prime minister linked the murder to Hassan's recent arrest of former minister, and close friend of Assad's, Michel Samaha. The former minister was caught red handed and charged with plotting terrorist bombings on orders from Assad. As a result, Hassan received countless, explicit, death threats from Syria's allies in Lebanon. Therefore, in light of his role in the Samaha case, it was easy to see Assad's obvious motive.

…Jumblatt's comment shows he understands that an operation of this scale strongly suggests Hezbollah involvement. For one, the nature of the operation required an apparatus with intelligence and logistical capabilities of the kind Hezbollah alone possesses….

However, when we speak of Hezbollah, we're really speaking of Iran. To be sure, Iran shares Assad's objectives. Still, even as Tehran has marshalled all the instruments of its national power to ensure Assad's survival, it also has had to plan for his potential loss. To achieve both goals, Iran has been on a region-wide drive to consolidate its assets. Effectively, this means fortifying its position in Iraq and Lebanon.

To that end, Tehran has been aggressively pushing to secure a military and security agreement with Baghdad. Moreover, it has sought to shore up its ally, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who had faced a challenge in parliament from the president of the Kurdish Regional Government, Massoud Barzani….

Kurdish MP Mahmoud Osman explained Iran's moves in Iraq. The most important issue for Iran at the moment is Syria, Osman recently said. He then added, "The visit of [Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad] Wahidi to Baghdad and [Quds Force commander Qasem] Soleimani to Kurdistan coincided in order to convince the Kurdistan Region and Baghdad to assist Iran at this stage."

Meanwhile, in Lebanon, Iran has been even more blatant in its push for control. It has dispensed with the shackles of diplomatic protocols, openly and repeatedly declaring (what everyone knew) that Hezbollah was an arm of Tehran. It now speaks not only on behalf of Hezbollah, but also on behalf of Lebanon, bypassing the Lebanese government altogether.

Where does Wissam Hassan fit in this picture? Hezbollah mouthpiece al-Akhbar provided the clearest answer: "Hassan headlined the Lebanese-regional front active against the Syrian regime, and, secondly, against Hezbollah and Iran. […] He represents the front led by the US as well as Arab and regional states. […] He is at the heart of the open war."

In other words, for Iran, Hassan represented the confluence of its enemies in the regional Sunni pro-American bloc. Moreover, he stood atop the only security apparatus not controlled by Hezbollah. As Iran seeks to shore up its proxy's grip on the Lebanese state, as a hedge against a critical setback in Syria, it has to eliminate all threats, while also leaving the Sunnis in disarray. To quote Samaha once more, "you must be ready for anything. Along with Iraq … and Lebanon."

Iran is conducting a region-wide drive with an eye on the regional balance of power. This is what's at stake in Syria, and what's playing out in Iraq, the Kurdish Regional Government, Lebanon and Turkey. This Iranian power play best explains why Hassan was killed.  

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TIMIDITY CAUSES SYRIAN BARBARITY

James Van De Velde

Jerusalem Post, October 23, 2012

There are five likely futures for Syria, and none of them involve Assad, the West has no choice but to involve itself in Syria’s future. The days of the totalitarian regime of Bashar Assad in Syria are numbered….

Should the regime somehow prevail (by killing tens of thousands more), it would enjoy political support from no more than 30 percent of the population, given that Syria is 70% Sunni and only 20% Alawite, Shi’a and Druze, and 10% Christian.

There are five likely futures for Syria, and none of them involve Assad:

1. Assad flees and those Alawite members of the regime who remain pledge to join and cooperate with the new (Sunni-dominated) Free Syrian Army (FSA) government (the optimal, ideal, Western-driven future, although sadly there is no evidence the United States is pursuing such an outcome).

Alawite members of the Republican Guard, the Syrian Scientific Research Center (which controls the Syrian chemical and biological weapons program) and the private militias (the Shabiha) all agree to take orders from the new government as long as their minority status is protected and they have a say in the new government. The SSRC maintains control of all WMD and cooperates with Western demands to eliminate Syrian WMD (much like what occurred in Libya).

2. Assad resigns at the direction of Russia, which creates a new Syrian government (a Russian-driven future). A UN-Russian plan creates a transitional government made up of FSA members and current regime elements, made possible and heavily influenced by Russia….The United States is largely shut out of the new government, given the perception that the United States was indifferent to the opposition.

3. Assad flees at the direction of Iran (an Iran-driven future). A UN plan creates a transitional government made up of FSA members and current regime elements, but one that is heavily influenced behind the scenes in Syria by Iran, which wishes to keep Syria a client state and to continue to support Lebanese Hezbollah through Syria. The United States is largely shut out….

4. Assad flees or is killed and leaves behind chaos (a “no one is driving” future). The FSA takes over the country; the Alawites are purged from the new government. There is a scramble among the FSA, al-Qaida in Syria, Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran to secure and control Syrian chemical and biological weapons and shape the new government. The outcome of such violence is uncertain. There is no sympathy for the United States…

5. Assad flees or is killed and Alawite members of the SSRC, the Republican Guard and former regime elements – including thousands of private Alawite militia, retreat to the Latakia Province and create a defensive enclave, armed with Syrian regime weapons, perhaps including chemical and biological weapons (a sectarian-driven future) – perhaps the most likely future now….

The West has no choice but to involve itself in Syria’s future. President Obama’s passivity only allows Russia and Iran to better influence the ultimate outcome and allies al-Qaida in Syria with the opposition. With no US leadership, the war may degenerate into a human rights nightmare, with a desperate Alawite insurgency armed with chemical and biological weapons.

In order to accrue necessary political capital with the incoming regime and to forestall Russian or Iranian influence over the new Syrian government, the United States ought to consider military action, such as a stand-off air suppression campaign or a no-fly zone, to signal American support to the Free Syrian Army and its goals. (Such action alone might push Assad to flee.) Neutrality risks the appearance of indifference to the plight of the people of Syria. Military involvement of some kind is imperative to accrue some credibility and influence over a post-Assad Syria.

Similarly, the United States ought to signal to the Alawites that once (and only once) Assad flees, they would become a protected minority, roughly analogous to Bosnian Serbs in Bosnia, and ideally part of the new, non-sectarian government; and thus that the quick and early end of the Assad regime is ultimately in the interests of all Syrian religious minorities, Alawites, Shi’ites, Christians, Druze and Kurds….

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IS JORDAN THE HASHEMITE-OCCUPIED PALESTINE?

Mudar Zahran

Jerusalem Post, October 22, 2012

On October 9, former crown prince of Jordan, Prince Hassan, told a group of Palestinians in Amman that “the West Bank is a part of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which included both banks of the [Jordan] River.” Hassan added that: “I hope that I do not live to see the day when Jordan, or the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, relinquishes the land occupied in 1967 by the IDF.”

Prince Hassan’s comments come at a very critical time for the ruling Hashemite family in Jordan, with regular anti-regime protests sweeping their kingdom, open calls for toppling the king and a staggering economy. The unrest in Jordan is often overlooked by the global media, as they are occupied with bloodshed in Syria and the trouble in Egypt.

In fact, the weekly anti-regime protests in Jordan are mainly coming from Jordanian East-Bankers, or Beduin Jordanians. The last major one took place on October 5; an unprecedented anti-regime march which took place in the capital Amman, and where the Palestinian majority and refugee camps took place in the protests for the first time.

What might have been the most alarming issue for the king and his uncle Hassan is the fact that that march marked the beginning of the Palestinian majority’s participation in the anti-regime protests, which opened the window for a true revolution to come if both East Bankers and Palestinians join forces against the regime….

Furthermore, the Hashemite Kingdom’s media sources tried to play down the number of protesters who participated in October 5 march; claiming it was as low as 5,000. Still, prominent Jordanian daily newspaper Alghad slipped up and quoted a Jordanian security official saying “250,000” people were seen marching toward the protest location in downtown Amman.

In other words, the Hashemites are in trouble, and they are not necessarily immune to the Arab Spring tsunami streaming through the region. Therefore, Prince Hassan’s statement was most likely made out of desperation: he wants to export the Hashemites’ trouble to Israel by reviving the alleged Hashemite right to the West Bank. At the same time, Hassan is trying to appeal to the Palestinian majority, telling there might be a possible arrangement whereby they are absorbed. At the moment, the Palestinian majority in Jordan is excluded from government jobs, state college education and state healthcare.

Should the regime in Jordan fall or the king’s powers be compromised, the Palestinian majority will take over. Whether it’s a he or a she, an Islamist or a moderate, whoever is in charge will be a Palestinian. The possibility that Prince Hassan is trying to sweet-talk the Palestinians and to remind them that the Hashemites had ties to the West Bank is a sign of how desperate Hassan and his nephew, the king of Jordan, might be….

The King of Jordan and his uncle better realize that picking on Israel will not get them a revolution-free pass from their discriminated against and disenfranchised Palestinian majority or their angry East Bankers. The Hashemites should also relinquish any dreams of sovereignty over any part of Israel; in fact they should count themselves very lucky if they manage to maintain their rule over Jordan, where many of their subjects view them as occupiers.

(The writer is Palestinian-Jordanian writer who resides in the UK as a political refugee.)

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Jordan: King Abdullah Losing the Support of Tribes?: Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, October 16, 2012

Walid Obeidat, Jordan's new ambassador to Israel, a member of one of Jordan's largest and most influential tribes, deserves an award for being one of the most courageous diplomats not only in his country, but in the entire Arab world. His tribe has now "disowned" him because he agreed to serve as ambassador to Israel, which has a peace treaty with Jordan.

Hizbullah’s Unspoken War in Syria : Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah, JCPA, October 24, 2012

Hizbullah appears to be carving out a 20-kilometer (12-mile) border corridor to the Syrian Alawite enclave on the coast. Hizbullah appears to be seeking to control strategic access to the Orontes River Basin in Syria and Lebanon to form a contiguous Alawite-Shiite mini-state. Yet the Shiite belt would likely face a major challenge from Sunnis on both sides of the border.

Nothing Will Be The Same : Nadine Elali, Now Lebanon, October 24, 2012  

 “Nothing will remain as it was before,” was a common refrain among those who took to the streets of Tripoli following the murder of Internal Security Forces intelligence chief Wissam al-Hassan in a car bombing in Beirut’s Ashrafieh neighborhood on Friday.

Syria’s War Spills Into Lebanon: Editorial Board, Washington Post, October 24, 2012

DURING A visit to Washington in late August, Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, the intelligence chief of Lebanon’s internal security forces, offered a grim assessment of the civil war raging in neighboring Syria and its likely impact on the region.